You cannot vet Walker's words routinely scrubbed from his sites
[updated 4:53 p.m.] I just used Google to find an example of a Scott Walker op-ed published by a newspaper to make the point in this parsed and increasingly trivialized debate over alleged plagiarism that it is unlikely that a politician at his level actually writes what appears under his name.
Google served up this fascinating nugget:
Google served up this fascinating nugget:
Walker posts op-ed that Times didn't publish
By of the Journal Sentinel March 29, 2011
Gov. Scott Walker has posted on his website an op-ed piece he wrote for the New York Times that he said the paper declined to publish.
You can read the op-ed here.And when you click on "here," you get:
Not Found
Just like what you get when you try to click on links posted at PolitiFact and elsewhere to get to Walker campaign sites that had posted his jobs plan so you can review his words:
Updated: An internet savvy reader found it. Raise your hand if you think Scott Walker walked into the office and knocked it out in one draft without other people editing, adding, deleting, pasting, etc.
Uh oh, it seems you've come across a page that hasn't been created yetSo what is the important issue: whose words are being used and from what sources, or whose words were used, have been deleted, and why?
Updated: An internet savvy reader found it. Raise your hand if you think Scott Walker walked into the office and knocked it out in one draft without other people editing, adding, deleting, pasting, etc.
3 comments:
Updated headline:
Walker posts op-ed that Times didn't publish that Walker hasn't apparently written"
Walker and his people are rat ba$turds, playing every trick in the book against the citizens.
That's what the internet archive is for. Hit a page you think might be deleted? Put the url into internet archive to archive it.
Just thought you had checked, but I just did.
Here is the internet archive of that link:
Original link (now a 404): www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?prid=5712&locid=177
View at Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20110412142254/http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=177&prid=5712
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The One Opinion Piece the New York Times Didn’t Want You to Read
In the weeks since Governor Walker introduced his reforms to balance the budget and protect middle-class taxpayers the New York Times has repeatedly used its editorial pages to opine on the reforms. All told there have been at least seven editorials, op-eds or columns in the paper about the Wisconsin reforms.
Below is the Op-Ed that Governor Walker wrote that the New York Times chose not to run:
In nearly every state across America, Governors are facing major budget deficits. Many, Democrat and Republican alike, are cutting state aid to schools and other local governments - which will force massive layoffs, massive property tax increases or both.
In Wisconsin, we are doing something progressive in the best sense of the word. We are implementing reforms to protect middle class jobs and middle class taxpayers. While our idea may be a bold political move it is a very modest request of our employees.
We are reforming the bargaining system so our state and local governments can ask employees to contribute 5.8% for pension and 12.6% for health insurance premiums. These reforms will help them balance their budgets. In total, our reforms save local governments more than $700 million each year.
Most workers outside of government would love our proposal. Over the past several months, I have visited numerous factories and small businesses across Wisconsin. On these tours, workers tell me that they pay anywhere from 15% to 50% of their health insurance premium costs. The average middle class worker is paying more than 20% of his or her premium.
Even federal employees pay more than twice what we are asking state and local government workers to pay and most of them don’t have collective bargaining for wages or benefits. These facts beg the question as to why the protesters are in Wisconsin and not in Washington, D.C. By nearly any measure, our requests are quite reasonable.
Beyond helping to balance current and future budgets, our reforms will improve the quality of our governments. No longer will hiring and firing be done solely based on seniority and union contracts. Instead, schools - as well as state and local governments - will be able to make decisions based on merit and performance.
This concept works well in Indiana. In 2005, Governor Mitch Daniels reformed collective bargaining. In turn, the government got more efficient, more effective and more accountable to the public. Governor Daniels even encouraged employees to come forward with ways to save taxpayer dollars and they responded. Eventually, the state was able to reward top performing employees. This is true reform – making government work for the people.
A recent columnist on these pages opined that “common problems deserve common solutions” suggesting that Republicans and Democrats work together. In principle, that is a good idea.
Continued
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