Scott Walker As Vice President Should Terrify You


Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was in Green Bay on Tuesday to sign a few bills, but the focus was less on the signing as it was on Walker’s future. When asked if he was interested in a cabinet position, Walker gave a definitive “no.” But when asked if he would consider running on a ticket for vice president, his response followed more closely to the answer-but-not-an-answer equation that defined his short, pitiful presidential campaign. “That’s just way too premature,” he said, adding to the long line of questions he has yet to answer.

As a native Wisconsinite, I feel it is my duty…nay, my mission to provide this country with the service of a fair warning. Scott Walker being a heartbeat away from the White House is more terrifying than bunnies eating berries. I could fill this page with everything he’s done to the people and communities in the state of Wisconsin, but it can really be narrowed down to one thing that metaphorically covers everything else: Governor Walker has no respect for educators or education.

Public schools in Wisconsin took the brunt of budget cuts in 2011 to the tune of $800 million when the state was trying to climb out of the same recession as the rest of the country. If they couldn’t cut it from the actual public school funding, they went after public employee benefits with the notorious and heavily-protested Act 10.

After promising to send some of that money back to public schools, Wisconsin Republicans instead shifted a huge chunk into private school vouchers. I am officially paying taxes that go towards someone’s private, religious education. The kicker came when we learned that almost 70 percent of the students receiving vouchers were already attending private school.

When K-12 education was shaved to the bone, Republicans then looked for the rest from the University of Wisconsin system of public institutions, which has been hit hard in multiple Walker budgets.

Why such disdain for public education? Quite simply, getting an education was never very important to Governor Walker. He referred to himself as an average student that was indifferent to some classes, an attitude that fits his with his forte as governor. Setting aside all the rumors of his departure from Marquette University, Walker never completed his college coursework and does not have a college degree.

Of course, his 2.59 grade point average and lack of a college degree are not what disqualifies him from the position he currently serves or, God help us, any higher position he may be asked to serve. Many people are successful without a college degree. It’s not that he lacks the political will or political skill to convince people he knows how to do the job.

What he lacks is the capacity to understand the enormity of his role. His vision of this world is so small and disorganized that he simply cannot grasp what it is he is supposed to be doing. The last time the presidency was held by another with a similar lack of capacity, it ended with two ongoing wars, a massive increase in deficit spending, and the worst economy since the Great Depression.

If Scott Walker gets even close to the Oval Office, be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

 

Featured image via Newscom

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