Over at
Talking Points Memo, Scott Walker's long history as an agent of the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is laid out in detail by Brian Murphy. With
Meet ALEC's (Hoped For) Man in Washington: Scott Walker, a seriously alarming picture of Scott Walker emerges. While it's easy to get distracted by Donald Trump's antics, Walker is a far more dangerous candidate, one who is still in the top tier of the GOP clown show, one who could move up if Trump implodes.
More below the Orange Omnilepticon.
Murphy has compiled a record (as far as can be known) of Walker's efforts to impose ALEC's agenda on Wisconsin all the way back to his days as a state legislator. His "Truth in Sentencing" bill caused Wisconsin's prison population to explode - and was a huge gift to two prison industry private corporations looking to cash in.
...One of the very first high-profile bills Walker was associated with during his time as a state legislator was a 1998 tough-on-crime ‘truth in sentencing’ bill that caused Wisconsin’s prison population to balloon.
At the time, Walker claimed original authorship of the law. But it wasn’t really his bill; ALEC’s policy shop wrote it at the behest of two ALEC funders: the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group, formerly called Wackenhut. Soon after Gov. Tommy Thompson signed it into law, Walker introduced a second piece of legislation to open the state’s soon-to-grow prison system up to the two private prison companies.
At the time, Walker never publicly mentioned ALEC’s role in this legislation. State corrections officials say he never mentioned it privately either.
Instead it was only four years later, in 2002, that Walker disclosed and described the extent of ALEC’s involvement. Interviewed for a public radio-led investigation into prison privatization, Walker recalled, “clearly ALEC had proposed model legislation, and probably more important than just the model legislation, they had actually put together reports and such that showed the benefits of truth-in-sentencing and showed the successes in other states. And those sorts of statistics were very helpful to us when we pushed it through, when we passed the final legislation.”
emphasis added
This has been the pattern of Walker's career: initiate legislation, institute policy changes, put certain individuals in key positions - and the quid pro quo is obvious. Corporations cash in at the public's expense, Walker gets money for more of the same, and it all takes place under the radar as much as possible.
Murphy's article is chapter and verse on Walker actions.
...But none of this compares to what ALEC’s sponsors have gained since Scott Walker was elected Wisconsin’s governor in 2010. Almost all of the accomplishments Walker lists in his stump speech originated as ALEC model bills. But Walker hasn’t just supported ALEC initiatives; he’s used the ready-made, heat-and-eat nature of ALEC’s model legislation to shortcut the ordinary lawmaking process in the state capital. Just as he did as a county executive, Walker’s governorship has featured unusual legislative maneuvers and a reliance on emergency special sessions to speed passage of ALEC-crafted bills. In Walker’s Wisconsin, sneak attacks are now the norm.
emphasis added
The article explains how ALEC functions, how the group's corporate members set up legislation they want passed, and send their political partners back to their states to make it happen. Walker just happens to be their most successful stooge to date. Read the whole thing: it makes clear that Walker is a serial prevaricator, the Trojan Horse the private interests behind ALEC have used to turn Wisconsin into Wississippi, as one Wisconsinite puts it. And, they're looking to put Walker in the White House so they can do it to the entire country, and not just state by state as they are currently doing quite effectively.
For all the condemnation of certain Democrats as corporate whores, next to Scott Walker they look like vestal virgins. Hell - Walker makes Jeb! almost look principled. Read Murphy's article, and spread the word. It's clear the main stream media won't do the job without a huge smoking gun to get their attention - and that's not likely to happen any time soon. This article explains why; from Mother Jones back in May it exposed the web of money and corruption now in charge in Wisconsin that shields Walker and his co-conspirators. Charles P. Pierce has a nice summary as well.
Scott Walker's continued viability as a presidential candidate is a real warning sign that the immune system of America's Body Politic has collapsed.