Friday, April 3, 2015

On April Fool's Day in WI, the right played the fool

[Updated from Thursday, 2:27b p.m.] Walker used April Fool's Day to launch an amateurish prank that fell flat, and spent some of the day helping his allies serve up their routine, foolish right-wing radio gruel.

Walker kicked off the day with an appearance in deep-red Brookfield, Waukesha County, during righty talker Charlie's Sykes' annual live, free radio media day

Nothing new there, though Wednesday was also by coincidence the first day that 620 WTMJ-AM operated under new corporate ownership managed in Cincinnati by the Scripps media empire. 

The Ohioans can figure out if the station's conservative pitch to a declining white male suburban demographic is the best business model moving 'forward.'

Update: Case closed. Soldier on, Wisconsin.

Back to the show, where Walker used some of his free air time to rehash and rebash Obamacare, offering a glimpse of how he'll run his formal Tea Partyish campaign to replace Obama. 

Ron Johnson has dibs on Benghazi, so Walker, having parodied himself as Eagle Scout Super-Hero ISIS fighter, messed up the immigration issue with flip-flops and ducked direct statements to Indiana's gay rights uproar, will embrace Obamacare as his signature issue by throwing more obstacles in Obamacare's way.


Even though Wisconsin's 200,000+ enrollees worked their way through Walker's earlier roadblocks to get the health care coverage they absolutely need.

Note also that Obamacare has been documented by independent fact-checkers to have saved lives.

In fact, Obama's recent estimate of 50,000 lives saved - - some of whom were certainly were in Wisconsin - - was validated and, interestingly also labeled understated, the Washington Post concluded.


But Walker had already refused to provide a federally-funded online health care purchase website.


And has turned down for ideological reasons so much federal Medicaid funding that he's blown a hole in the state budget while kicking some low-income Wisconsinites off state rolls is incapable of acknowledging that Obamacare is making Wisconsin citizens healthier and more productive.

Why? Because Walker has no interest in low-income citizen/voters - - except to use them as foils and campaign tools by suggesting they need to be drug-tested to make sure they are capable of finding work instead of sitting on their sofas playing xBox.

A soulless mantra which Walker's conservative base finds entertaining.

For Walker, Obamacare provides an excuse to play his political game, not to solve real problems, as reported from the Sykes event by The Journal Sentinel:
Speaking before a conservative audience Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker suggested he would not allow Wisconsin to set up a health care exchange if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a portion of Obamacare. 
"We're going to push back," the likely Republican presidential candidate said of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. 
"This president of the United States — they've got to come up with a solution....They're going to try to put the pressure on us but we need to put the pressure right back on them."
Obamacare saves lives and improves health, but to Walker, it's all about polls and strategy and tactics to advance his personal but troubled agenda.

He reminds me of that driver up ahead who weaves in and out of lanes, even races up the shoulder through heavy traffic, just to get ahead - - regardless of the consequences.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The more Walker goes into campaign mode the more he shows that his policies are all about his election and rewarding his corporate donors. He cares for no one but himself and those who provide funds for his elections. With Walker it's not about people it's about political gain!