Shockingly, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) is not nearly as interested in education as he wants voters to believe.
Get ready for another round of Republicans pretending to care about [poverty/working families/income inequality]. The
Wall Street Journal has the latest hot take on how Republicans—or at least their presidential hopefuls—are
for real serious about taking on these issues:
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio devoted his new book, “American Dreams,” to revamping programs for the poor and middle class. Ohio Gov. John Kasich will use his inaugural address Monday to renew his call to help “people in the shadows.” And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched his political-action committee last week by spotlighting income inequality and those who believe “the American dream is now out of their reach.”
For Republicans circling the 2016 race, the focus on struggling segments of the population is a response of sorts to the 2012 contest, when the party’s nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney , struggled to present himself as an empathetic figure. Many Republicans considering bids this time seem set on forging a new path, one that stays true to conservative beliefs but with a firmer eye on seeking potential solutions to address Americans’ continued frustration with the economy.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has proposed tax breaks to spur investment in impoverished communities, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in his own inauguration, promised students a quality education, “regardless of background or birthright.” Even Mr. Romney, who told donors last week he is considering another bid, has told allies he would like to address poverty and stagnant wages.
Funny, isn't it, how Republicans discover these ideas when they have national aspirations, but not so much when they're doing their regular law-making jobs in relative obscurity? The problems here are many and varied. Let's just think about a few.
Republicans are the party that's pushed for massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, for raising the retirement age, for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, for privatizing Social Security and voucherizing Medicare, for taking health care away from millions. Now the party's presidential candidates want credit for talking about—not seriously pushing as legislation—small-bore ideas that might kinda sorta help poor and middle-class people. Or might hurt them while claiming to help.
For example, Scott Walker has slashed education funding in Wisconsin, and now he wants credit for promising a quality education?
The thing is, helping the 90 percent of people who don't typically benefit from Republican policies is not some great mystery. Just last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren laid out a number of policies that would do just that. Democrats are in the midst of rolling out a tax plan that would give big tax breaks to families making less than $200,000 by cutting tax breaks for the top 1 percent and by adding a tiny fee to Wall Street transactions. But Republicans aren't interested in real answers. They're interested in making voters think they care by pitching ideas that range from "not harmful, but too small to do any good" on over to "disguised giveaway to the top one percent."