November 30, 2011

Scott Walker “Looks Forward” To Defending His Non-Existent Accomplishments

The efforts to recall Wisconsin’s Union busting Republican governor Scott Walker is in full swing, with organizers saying last week that they already collected over 300,000 signatures in the first 12 days since starting the recall process. A total of 540,200 signatures are needed by January 17th to force the recall election in the spring of 2012.

But even with this apparent success by the recall organizers so far, Scott Walker is not at all concerned. In fact, he is looking forward to the whole process. Walker told CNBC today that he will gladly use this time to showcase the achievements Wisconsin made under his leadership.

“If come next May or maybe early June, if they actually have the signatures and it forces a new election, all of those issues will be up on the ballot. But I look forward to that,” he said. “I’d love to have the chance to talk to the voters of Wisconsin again to tell that story.”

Asked whether he believes he will win reelection, the governor predicted that his accomplishments will trump the attacks made against him.

“I think if voters hear the facts, every week, every day, every week, every month that goes by, our numbers get better because our story gets out and people see the positive impact of the results,” Walker said.

He added, “The facts, I think, ultimately trump all the attacks. If you see that the schools are the same or better and that our governments are doing well and in the end our taxes are going down, people want to hear that, and I think the results will trump everything else.”

We’re not sure what story Walker is so glad to tell, because under his leadership, Wisconsin’s economy is in a steep decline. Reports have shown that although Walker campaigned on creating over 250,000 jobs for Wisconsin residents, “Walker has consistently proved himself incapable of understanding the economic challenges facing Wisconsinites,” and his policies have caused unemployment in the state to balloon to 7.9%

Maybe Walker is a little confused. According to the Associated Press, Walker has listed about 6000 jobs on the state’s website, claiming credit for these jobs. Only problem is, these jobs were created outside of Wisconsin.

Hearing Scott Walker brag about non-existent economic successes in Wisconsin? – a dime a dozen. Watching him pack up and leave the office of the Governor after the recall election is held? – Priceless!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane – Gingrich On Abortion

As Herman Cain falls off the leader-board for the Republican nomination, we now turn our attention to the new flavor of the month, Newt Gingrich – a man who has perfected the art of the flip-flop, and who has paved the way for other indecisive Republican “leaders” like Mitt Romney.

One well documented issue that is now causing Gingrich a major headache among his base, is his support for abortion. Of course, he has already flipped on this issue, but this is a vetting process, so let’s take a stroll down memory lane…

TAXPAYER-FUNDED ABORTION

The New York Times on April 10, 1995, reported, “House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday supported the availability of federally financed abortions for poor women who are victims of rape or incest and expressed opposition to organized school prayer, positions that are at odds with many conservatives in his party.”

Also asked that year on CBS’s “Face the Nation” whether he agrees with Republicans who oppose federal abortion payments in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother, Gingrich answered: “No. First of all, I think you should have funding in the case of rape or incest or life of the mother, which is the first step.”

Later that year, Gingrich urged his colleagues in the U.S. House to accept language in an abortion bill that would not completely ban abortions under federal employee health plans, leaving in place exemptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, the Washington Times reported on Aug. 7, 1995.

TAXPAYER-FUNDED EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH

Bill O’Reilly on “The O’Reilly Factor” asked Gingrich on July 19, 2001: “Stem cell research, should President Bush approve some federal funding for that?”

Gingrich answered: “Well, I agree with Senator Bill Frist, as the only medical doctor in the Senate and as a world-class heart surgeon. I think that there are ways to have appreciation for life, to recognize the sanctity of life, but nonetheless to look at fertility clinics where there are cells that are sitting there that are not going to be used to create life. They literally today, they’re unregulated, they can be thrown away. And I think the president, I hope the president, will find a way to agree that there ought to be federally funded research.”

On ABC News’ “This Week” on July 8, 2001, Sam Donaldson asked: “So he should approve stem cell research on embryos?”

Gingrich answered: “On embryonic cells that, that are pre-fetal.”

PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION

Gingrich helped quash an effort to deny Republican Party funds to candidates who opposed legislation outlawing so-called partial birth abortions, a Jan. 21, 1998, article by the Associated Press said.

The Republican National Committee at its winter meeting that year wanted to deny party campaign funds to Republican candidates who opposed banning most late-term, or partial-birth, abortions.

Gingrich addressed the RNC meeting on Jan. 16, 1998, calling for tolerance of candidates who support partial-birth abortion, saying he would campaign for them: “It’s the voters of America who have a right — in some places they’re going to pick people who are to my right, some places they’re going to pick people who are to my left and in both cases, if they’re the Republican nominee, I am going to actively campaign for them, because when they get to Congress, whether they are a moderate Republican from the northeast, whether they are a very conservative Republican from the south or west, whatever their background.”

With Gingrich leading in the Republican nomination process and about five weeks remaining before primary voters head to the polls, the Gingrich campaign will be in high gear, trying to distance Newt Gingrich ‘Version 2’ from Newt Gingrich 1.0.