Wis. Gov. Scott Walker pranked by journalist posing as David Koch
Republican Gov. Scott Walker speaks at a news conference inside the Wisconsin State Capitol February 21, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
/ Getty Images/Eric ThayerUpdated: 10:48 PM ET
In a political prank recalling Sarah Palin's 2008 "Nicolas Sarkozy" incident, a gonzo journalist on Tuesday spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a 20-minute phone call - throughout which he posed as the conservative financier David Koch.
Noting the trouble Wisconsin Democrats had cited in getting in touch with Walker to talk about the state's current budget standoff, Ian Murphy, a journalist for the left-leaning website "Buffalo Beast," wondered who might have better luck getting in touch with the governor.
"The obvious candidate was David Koch," Murphy writes in his report of the incident.
Koch Industry billionaires David and Charles Koch fund the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, which has launched an ad across Wisconsin as part of a "Stand with Walker" campaign. Critics of Walker point to a provision before the legislation that would allow for no-bid sale of Wisconsin state energy assets. They allege that Koch Industries would benefit from the legislation, but a spokesperson for Koch Industries told Politico that the company doesn't have any financial interest in the political battle now taking place in Wisconsin.
Bloomberg reported that Koch Industries, and its employees and subsidiaries, contributed $1.2 million in the midterm election to Republican governors who now favor curtailing the bargaining rights of state workers. Koch Industries was a major contributor to Walker's gubernatorial election campaign.
Murphy, presenting himself as David Koch, called Walker's receptionist and was directed to call back a few hours later, when he would be put through to the governor.
In the 20-minute call that resulted, Walker discusses plans for layoff notices and the strategies he is considering to punish Democratic lawmakers who have fled the state in protest of his budget proposal.
One of the strategies involved luring the Wisconsin Senate Democrats back to the Senate by physically putting their paychecks on the floor of the state Senate. He also said he was considering holding talks with a Democratic leader in order to entice the group back to the capitol, at which point, ostensibly, the Senate could make quorum.
"An interesting idea that was brought up to me by my chief of staff, we won't do it until tomorrow, is putting out an appeal to the Democratic leader. I would be willing to sit down and talk to him, the assembly Democrat leader, plus the other two Republican leaders--talk, not negotiate and listen to what they have to say if they will in turn--but I'll only do it if all 14 of them will come back and sit down in the state assembly," Walker explained.
"If they're actually in session for that day, and they take a recess, the 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they'd have quorum because it's turned out that way," he continued. "So we're double checking that. If you heard I was going to talk to them that's the only reason why."
Walker's office confirmed that it was indeed the governor on the line, and argued that he had said on the phone nothing more than the line which he has recently been towing in public.
"The governor takes many calls every day," Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said in a statement. "Throughout this call the governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget. The phone call shows that the governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having."
In a press conference on Wednesday, Walker brushed aside the significance of the call.
"I take phone calls all the time," he said. "The bottom line is, the things I said are things I said publicly all along," Walker said. "I'm not going to allow one prank phone call to distract us from the reality that we have a job to do."
Listen to the full conversation in two clips below:
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Before the election the most popular rallying cry among the conservatives was that the bully Democrats shoved the health care bill down the country's throat and the country didn't want it (never mind that it had 60% votes)
But you don't really hear that nowadays, do you? It's because it is the Republicans who are being perceived to be shoving things down the country's throat.
If Walker wins from now on every time a national Republican starts getting amped up by the health care bill a Democrat will respond with this union busting thing.
The fact is that the biggest complaint the Republicans have against unions is that the unionized workers make too much money. That resonated with the poor crackers that make up the Republican base during the election. They were jealous of those rich union workers.
Does anyone see the parallel here? If Walker busts this union then the Republicans won't have a convenient rich scapegoat to kick around. And the poor crackers will still be poor. So pretty soon they are going to figure out that eliminating the rich union members didn't get them those high paying jobs they wanted. And it's likey they will start figuring out who the real rich people are.
Just because you are union does NOT mean you are lazy. It means that a greedy company cannot and will not be able to abuse its employees. As a union member, YOU write your contract and what the employees are and are not allowed to do.
Do unions usually cost more for companies? YES!!! Because YOU the employee deserve a living a wage. A wage where you can keep a roof over your head, food on your table and protection from health care emergencies. If it was up to greedy companies they would have you living in homeless shelters and surviving on food banks. Just look at employees at Walmart...they are paid so little..they have to apply for the federally funded state health insurance for their families!! If the money does not go to union workers...it would just go to the rich and make them richer. (The top 1% of Americans control 24% of all money in the USA...twice what it was in 1980...the rich are filthy rich and the middle class is screwed because there is no one protecting them. And the rich are using their money in 503 groups with fancy names, like Education Reform Now etc) to make public employees and unions look like evil greedy people. Who is greedy a billionaire who won't give his employees health insurance or a public employee making 45K and demanding health insurance for their family?
If your company made a profit (70% of S&P 500 companies beat expectations and companies are hoarding billions in cash. Health insurance companies made RECORD profits last year and that was in the middle of a recession!!) If your company made a profit and they did NOT give you a raise (above inflation) or told you that you were "lucky" to have a job....then that company is ABUSING YOU! Stop letting greedy billionaires abuse you...stand up for yourself. You have a voice. You have a right. You have a right to feed your family. You have a right to protect your children's health. You must learn to fight for yourself against the greed of corporations.
You must stand up for yourself...support unions and become part of the only organization that can protect you and your family from greedy and abusive billionaires. It is time to act...ANYONE can join and form their own union (http://www.aflcio.org) It is time to protect yourself and your family. Unionize!!!
This may be the funniest thing to happen to the right-wing radicals since Rushbaugh got caught coming out of the child prostitution capital of the Western Hemisphere with a half-empty bottle of non-prescribed Viagra and no adult companionship of either sex.
First priority is to pass this bill and state there will be no layoffs.
Second, start working with the rich supports like Koch and award them no bid contracts.
Fire the workers who provide that service and let the private contractors hire them at half the cost and no benefits.
Repeat step two until all of the Wisconsin workers are no longer working for the state and then pass a bill recinding the collective bargining rights of the firefighters and police.
Award another nobid contract and repeat step two,
What the unions should do is conduct a global sitdown strike and shut Wisconsin down until King Walker resigns and takes his facists with him!
Well can you name anyone else who gets to talk with him for 20 minutes regarding his attempts to smash unions?
This is better than anything Rush has posted or discussed. That's for sure.
I would pay big money to hear his reaction when he found out it was a liberal blogger and not his political master!
LOL!
And that one? He's a caulk-soaker.
And that one? He's a cake-socker.
And that one in the violet stretch pants...
Ghod I love old jokes
This is from the bill so that the Koch brothers can turn Wisconsin's infrastructure into their very own for-profit venture. The next revolution will not be fought against our government but rather against the corporations that have so effectively undermined our government for no higher motivation that obscene greed.
This is from the bill so that the Koch brothers can turn Wisconsin's infrastructure into their very own for-profit venture. The next revolution will not be fought against our government but rather against the corporations that have so effectively undermined our government for no higher motivation that obscene greed.