Scott Walker in The Iowa Freedom Summit & Ag Summit (preparation for Iowa Caucus)
On Civil Rights:
Constitutional amendment to prevent federal gay marriage
Several GOP candidates tried to outdo one another on who could speak out most strongly against a right to gay marriage. Scott Walker noted that he voted for Wisconsin's constitutional ban and defended it through the judicial process, until the
Supreme Court refused to review a lower court ruling that his state issue marriage licenses to gay couples. "Let me be clear, I believe marriage is between one man and one woman," the Wisconsin governor said. "I still hold out hope that the
Supreme Court will rule, as has been the tradition in the past, that the states are the places that get to define what marriage is. If for some reason they don't,
I believe it's reasonable for the people of America to consider a constitutional amendment that would affirm the ability of states to do just that."
Source: Politico.com on 2015 Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition summit
Apr 26, 2015
On Immigration:
We have too many legal immigrants
Ahead of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event, Walker hardened his positions on issues considered litmus tests for social conservatives, including abortion and immigration. He suggested in an interview with
Glenn Beck that there are too many legal immigrants, a position to the right of other 2016 hopefuls.
Source: N.Y. Times on 2015 Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition summit
Apr 25, 2015
On Principles & Values:
My relationship with God drives every major decision
It is Walker's biography that could make him especially attractive to Christian conservatives. A life story that began in the Baptist churches his father led in Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin continues today at the nondenominational evangelical church he
attends in his hometown. "My relationship with God drives every major decision in my life," Walker said in an emailed statement. While that relationship does not direct his daily decisions, he said, "our walk of faith helps us prepare for those
decisions and provides us comfort as we seek to do God's will."During his political rise in Wisconsin, Walker did not often emphasize his faith.
But evangelicals make up nearly 60% of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa. They are an important factor in Southern primaries. And they continue to have an outsize influence on the Republican nominating process.
Source: N.Y. Times on 2015 Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition summit
Apr 1, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Raised as a "P.K.", Pastor's Kid, by his father Pastor Llew
Walker was raised a dutiful "P.K.," or pastor's kid. Walker's father, the Rev. Llewellyn S. Walker, was a minister in the American Baptist Churches USA, a more pluralistic denomination than the conservative and better-known Southern Baptist Convention.
Pastor Llew, as he was known, is a Republican, but politics and the social causes of the day did not animate his First Baptist Church in Delavan, Wis., where Walker lived from age 10 until he left for college. His father was foremost "a caregiver to the
congregation," said the church's current pastor. He would spend half a day sitting in the hospital room of an ailing church member, praying and shooting the breeze.Before the elder Walker retired in 1995, at the age of 56, he struggled with
depression. His wife, Pat, and the teenage Scott Walker shouldered some of his pastoral duties. "There were Sundays when Scott would preach the sermon," the current pastor said.
Source: N.Y. Times on 2015 Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition summit
Apr 1, 2015
On Environment:
Keep ethanol mandate until oil companies allow free market
[On the RFS, the Renewable Fuel Standard which requires corn-based ethanol] Scott Walker made clear that while he's generally a free market guy, he believes ethanol is being blocked from consumers and needs government
assistance: "Right now, we don't have a free and open marketplace, and so that's why I'm willing to take that position," he said.
But Walker said that his goal would be to get to a point where ethanol can compete openly and "you no longer need in the industry to have these subsidies."
Ethanol proponents argue that because oil companies own gas stations, consumers are unable to access ethanol and therefore it needs the government's support to break through oil's stronghold of the market.
Source: CNN coverage by Ashley Killough, of 2015 Iowa Ag Summit
Mar 7, 2015
On Abortion:
Passed pro-life legislation & defunded Planned Parenthood
In his 2010 and 2012 races for governor, Walker mostly steered clear of talking about his strong opposition to abortion. Nonetheless, he acted in private and signed legislation in 2013 requiring women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds and doctors
performing the procedure to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.Abortion flared as an issue in his 2014 race, and Walker ran an ad saying the measure was about patient safety and that he understood the decision to end a pregnancy
is an "agonizing one."
The governor repeatedly declined last year to say whether he would support banning abortion after 20 weeks, which is the top priority for Wisconsin Right to Life in the current legislative session. But now, as
Walker eyes the presidency, he is trumpeting his opposition to abortion at events such as his January speech to the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines. "We've passed pro-life legislation and we've defunded Planned Parenthood," he said there.
Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit
Mar 2, 2015
On Environment:
Freeze stewardship program for state lands
When White House hopeful Scott Walker talks to potential voters, he hawks himself as a leader who tells people what he will do and then does it. But the line has a snag. As a candidate for governor, Walker didn't spell out or even mention some of the
measures that would become key achievements in office.During his 2014 race to secure a second term, Walker didn't campaign on some of the most sweeping changes in his current budget proposal:
freezing a stewardship program for state lands; borrowing $1.3 billion for transportation; and cutting state universities by $300 million in exchange for unhooking them from many state laws.
For his part, Walker is sticking to his description
of himself as a politician who lays out an agenda in advance and then delivers, saying that voters "want leaders who are going to spell out what they're going to do and then have the courage to act on it," Walker said this week.
Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit
Mar 2, 2015
On Jobs:
Anti-state unions but pro-private unions
Walker never told voters [during his election campaign] about what would become his signature accomplishment--repealing most collective bargaining for most public workers. During the uproar over that unexpected legislation known as Act 10, Walker said he
wouldn't let legislation affecting private-sector workers reach his desk. Now he says he'll sign it.During the 2012 recall election pushed by public employee unions, Democrats repeatedly said that Walker would eventually take on private-sector unions
as well. The governor dismissed that talk about right-to-work legislation as political spin. "It's not going to get to my desk," Walker said in May 2012. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it isn't there because my focal point [is]
private-sector unions have overwhelmingly come to the table to be my partner in economic development."
When Senate Republicans committed to moving forward with the measure on Feb. 20, however, Walker quickly said he would sign it.
Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit
Mar 2, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018