Scott Walker bragged on the curvy couch about his tough on foreign policy stance. More specifically, he'd reinstate the Patriot Act and only use it to spy on those who intend to commit acts of terror. He'll know which data is good and which is useless, so if you're worried about Scotty Boy Walker eavesdropping on your private life, rest assured. He is a professional liar politician who just has keen insight and instincts.
After they addressed Walker's foreign policy bona fides, the issue of the economy came up. Walker claimed that 1. he helped lower the unemployment rate from 8% to 4.6% as if he's one of the most successful governors. The reality:
The fact is that over Walker’s full term in office, which began Jan. 3, 2011, the state’s job gains have been well below the national average, and rank (in percentage terms) only ninth among all 12 Midwestern states.
2. He did away with the $3.6 billion budget shortfall by cutting taxes (on the wealthiest Wisconsinites) which is complete nonsense, as he has actually done very little to fix the deficit.
The big culprit is the Koo-Koo tax cuts of 2013 and other reductions passed at the start of (last) year, which not only reduced tax rates, but also changed the withholding tables, meaning that less money came to the DOR (Dept. of Revenue) from people’s paychecks. The cynical idea that Scott Walker and company had is that this would make voters more likely to back the Republicans this November with a few more dollars in their pockets (key word- few), and much of these withholding table changes will be counteracted by what you don’t get in tax refunds over the next 2 years (basically, your refund will be less, so the state “keeps” more. Conveniently, this doesn’t happen until after the November elections).
As far as the job growth, he's being less than factual.
Walker said under his leadership, "Wisconsin median household income" is up 2.7 percent and down 1.3 percent nationally under Obama. He pointed to data from the Current Population Survey. But the data considered more accurate -- from the American Community Survey -- showed the opposite.
We rate statements that contain some element of truth but ignore critical facts that would give a different impression as Mostly False.
The biggest grift of all was his praise of the idea that education would lift people out of minimum-wage poverty. If anyone is the staunch enemy of funding education, Scott Walker takes all the (cheese) cake that garnished this segment on Fox. Just look here, here and here for just a few examples of why this is antithetical to reality.
His only hope of becoming the nominee in a field comprised of the who's who of anti-immigration, misogyny and racism, is to seem tough but reasonable and reserved. Walker attempts to be the candidate who provides a logical alternative to the bloviating Donald Trump.
We'll see the situation more clearly after the August 6 GOP debates. Walker is hoping to avoid an OOPS moment like Perry in 2012. Based on his record, it's very likely he will put his foot in his mouth, but the folks at GOP TV will have no negative commentary for the Koch Brothers' favored son. Certainly don't look to Chuck Todd to report anything negative about Walker.
