FREE WHITEWATER

Scott Walker

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Musk, Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.10.25: That Was Walker’s Plan? Well, It Was Dumb Enough to Be Walker’s Plan…

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:21 and sunset is 7:31, for 13 hours, 11 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 837, Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (3.2 million miles).

Yesterday’s post here at FREE WHITEWATER was about Scott Walker’s irrelevance to current Wisconsin politics. See Scott Walker, Man from Another Era. Bruce Murphy, at Urban Milwaukee, has a revealing post about how Walker tried, and failed miserably, to become relevant again. (As Murphy perceptively notes, the story depends on accepting the veracity of Walker’s account of Walker’s behind-the-scenes conduct.) Murphy lays out the details:

Musk’s approach, if we can believe Scott Walker, came from a plan hatched by Walker and the former Republican governor’s political consultant Keith Gilkes. Their pitch was for Musk to get involved in the Wisconsin race as he did in the presidential race in November. “You were effective in Wisconsin, and you can be effective in this race again in Wisconsin,” Walker said he told Musk.

Except. Musk spent money on a presidential race that polls showed was very close and with Trump leading. A relatively safe investment. And a race so close that the Musk super PAC canvassing voters door-to-door could get a big return from turning out a relatively small number of voters compared to the total number voting in Wisconsin and other swing states in November. Trump won Wisconsin by just over 29,300 votes, a margin of less than 1 percent.

Which is a very different situation than the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. The state’s previous high court race, in 2023, with the abortion the key issue, was an 11% loss for the conservatives, with liberal Janet Protasiewicz defeating conservative Dan Kelly by more than 203,000 votes. Granted, Schimel was a better candidate than Kelly, but abortion was still going to be a major issue in this year’s election. Moreover, we now know that Republicans knew Crawford was ahead in the race and their polls showed Schimel’s high point in the polls was five points behind. In short, this would not be like the presidential election, where a relatively small increase in turnout could decide the election.

See Bruce Murphy, How Much Did Musk Pay Per Vote?, Urban Milwaukee, April 8, 2025.

Astonishing. This could have been Walker’s plan: it is, after all, Foxconn-level thinking. If Walker is to be believed, Walker was able to persuade Musk to waste tens of millions on a race that Schimel was losing and was likely to keep on losing once the radioactive Musk became involved.

Walker likely did concoct this plan, and get Musk to go along. There is, after all, no evidence whatsoever that the only person who could have concocted a worse plan was involved in the Wisconsin election.

Advice from cattosbeingcattos:

Daily Bread, Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.9.25: Scott Walker, Man from Another Era

by  • 

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will see evening showers with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:22 and sunset is 7:30, for 13 hours, 8 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin and one-time presidential candidate, spoke in Madison this week. Walker is the president of Young America’s Foundation. It’s a position far from the current center of Republican gravity (in Wisconsin or nationally): far past the asteroid belt, much closer to Neptune than Earth. Walker has a well-paid gig, wears a tie, and appears occasionally to speak. He’s also desperate to trim any position he ever had to remain topical. Here’s Walker describing Trump’s anti-market tariffs:

MADISON – Former Gov. Scott Walker says he’s no fan of tariffs but he’s willing to give President Donald Trump’s gamble on taxing foreign imports a chance.

Walker spoke Monday night to about 100 students and members of the public gathered at UW’s Grainger Hall for an event hosted by Young America’s Foundation, of which Walker is the president.

Walker, who spoke on a variety of topics, said he isn’t typically supportive of tariffs and favors open trade.

But, he said, Trump is doing what he believes needs to be done to get America back on the same playing field as everyone else. Walker said that if anyone had read Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” they would know he’s a fan of tariffs.

“I think that can end up being a good thing as long as we eventually get the free trade because again, then Americans can compete,” he said. “We can innovate.”

See Laura Schulte, Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says Trump’s tariffs should end by Labor Day, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 8, 2025.

Walker is for free trade, unless Trump believes otherwise. Disorder can be a good thing as long as we get order again eventually, filthiness can be a good thing as long as we get cleanliness eventually, illness can be a good thing as long as we are healthy eventually.

It would be better to have order, cleanliness, and health from the start. Walker’s too weak, too needy, to speak sensibly.

A ridiculous man, one of many.

Drone footage shows collapsed roof of Dominican Republic nightclub:

Search efforts continued early on Wednesday after more than 100 people died in a nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. The popular Dominican merengue singer Rubby Pérez was performing at the Jet Set nightclub when the disaster took place shortly after midnight on Tuesday and was among those killed. Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when the roof collapsed at about 12.44am on Tuesday. The club had capacity for about 1,700 people. Nearly 100 dead in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse

Bad Ideas, Business, Corporate Welfare, Daily Bread, Foxconn, Government Spending, Kleefisch, Michels, No Honor Among Thieves, Politics, Scott Walker, Trump

Daily Bread for 7.20.22: Michels Keeps His Money, Discards His Views

by  • 

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:35 AM and sunset 8:27 PM for 14h 51m 54s of daytime.  The moon is in its third quarter with 50.1% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1969, Apollo 11‘s crew successfully makes the first manned landing on…

Bad Ideas, Books, Confidence Schemes, Conflicts of Interest, Corporate Welfare, Daily Bread, Development, Foxconn, Mendacity, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, Trump, WEDC

Daily Bread for 12.11.21: A Christmas Gift For, and About, Scheming Development Men

by  • 

Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will see snow this morning, of little accumulation, on an otherwise cloudy day with a high of 36.  Sunrise is 7:16 AM and sunset 4:20 PM for 9h 04m 43s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 55.4% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1901, Morris Pratt…

Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Foxconn, Government Spending, Scott Walker, WEDC, Wisconsin

Foxconn: Perhaps – Perhaps – a Few Lessons Learned

by  • 

Scott Cohn of CNBC reports After Wisconsin’s Foxconn debacle, states and companies rethink giant subsidies. Rethinking is a hopeful prospect, but there has been significant lasting damage, as Cohn reports: Economic development officials in Wisconsin say they are more than ready to move on to other matters now that they have renegotiated a massive subsidy deal…

Bad Ideas, Boosterism, Development, Foxconn, Government Spending, Politics, Scott Walker, Speaker Vos, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin

Adding the Amounts Spent for Foxconn (So Far)

by  • 

Wisconsin’s new deal with Foxconn will reduce the cost to state taxpayers, but local governments have already spent vast sums on a project that will not – by Foxconn’s own belated admission – come close to what was originally, and ludicrously, promised. Bruce Murphy writes of The True Costs of New Foxconn Deal: the true cost…

Bad Ideas, CDA, Development, Foxconn, Scott Walker, Trump

Foxconn: Seth Meyers on One of Trump’s (and Walker’s) Biggest Scams, the Foxconn Deal

by  • 

The Wisconsin Foxconn project that Trump, Walker, and local development men touted was a house of cards, with each card in the deck no better than a three of spades. Their supposedly serious effort now finds itself a national punchline. Previously: 10 Key Articles About Foxconn, Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers,  Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes, Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s…

Bad Ideas, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, Scott Walker, Trump, WEDC

Foxconn: New, More Realistic Deal Means 90% Reduction in Goals

by  • 

After years of flamboyant lies about what Foxconn would be able to achieve in Wisconsin, there’s a new deal with that foreign corporation. That new arrangement reflects a reduction of 90% or more in what Wisconsin expects and what the state will offer. Local governments have already wasted millions on absurdly grandiose, false promises Not…

Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Development, Foxconn, Marketing, Mendacity, Public Relations, Scott Walker, Special Interests, State Capitalism, State Government, WEDC, WISGOP, YMBFKM

Foxconn’s Venture Capital Fund

by  • 

Bruce Murphy has a solid assessment of Foxconn’s much-touted (by Foxconn) venture capital fund in About That Foxconn Venture Capital Fund. It’s well worth reading in full. A few key points: Unfulfilled: Louis Woo of Foxconn had promised this venture fund for startup companies would naturally connect to Foxconn’s innovation centers in Eau Claire, Green Bay…

Bad Ideas, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin

Foxconn: Independent Study Confirms Project is Beyond Repair

by  • 

[embeddoc url=”https://freewhitewater.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Costs-and-Benefits-of-a-Revised-Foxconn-Project.pdf” width=”100%” download=”all” viewer=”google”] Previously: 10 Key Articles About Foxconn, Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers,  Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes, Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s Road Repair Budget, The Man Behind the Foxconn Project, A Sham News Story on Foxconn, Another Pig at the Trough, Even Foxconn’s Projections Show a Vulnerable (Replaceable) Workforce, Foxconn in Wisconsin: Not So High Tech After All, Foxconn’s Ambition…

Bad Ideas, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin

Town Residents Claim Trump’s Foxconn Factory Deal Failed Them

by  • 

The project has failed those residents, as it has failed Wisconsin, and become a cautionary tale for the rest of America. Previously: 10 Key Articles About Foxconn, Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers,  Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes, Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s Road Repair Budget, The Man Behind the Foxconn Project, A Sham News Story on Foxconn, Another Pig at the Trough, Even Foxconn’s…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Government Spending, Local Government, Poverty, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC

Three Fundamental Failures: Employment, Income, and Poverty

by  • 

An earlier post addressed Walker’s Fundamental Failure to meet his jobs pledge even after eight years. The record is much worse: years of corporate subsidies and meddling in the marketplace for preferred businesses & political cronies have produced failures of employment, income, and poverty. (Small town officials who copied this approach on the local level, as…