From Sarah Palin’s Facebook page on why she’s supporting Bill Walker and Byron Mallott:
Unfortunately, in desperation to halt Team Walker’s momentum, lies are running rampant. Sadly, one such lie is about their faith. Don’t believe the million dollar Outside money ads perpetuating misrepresentations; just ask the guys themselves where they stand. For example, on the issue of respecting a culture of life, a pro-family group is grossly misrepresenting Bill’s position. He is unapologetically pro-life. Groups, individuals, and incumbent politicians telling you otherwise are untruthful, and that says everything about their character. Shame on people who know better and are in positions to counter lies but turn a blind eye instead. This kind of politics of personal destruction is why our country is hurting; adding to the pain are attempts here in Alaska to destroy a good man. Participants in this do not deserve your support.
I agree.
Haha…. when I heard Randy Ruedrich was behind the new attack ads, that also reaffirmed my decision. Can that guy just leave our state alone?!
I have a tendency to agree with you on that. I’ve long been very conservative but at the same time was never able to stomach the religious right and always felt they were a drain on the party.
I until recently I have been undecided on this one. Randy Ruedrich backing Parnell settled it for me. I’d consider voting a strait communist ticket to avoid Ruedrich and his ilk.
At first glance I couldn’t believe the Palin endorsement and was turned off, but then I thought about it more and talked with other democrats and we came to a unanimous conclusion. We realized that if people from the far right and far left both believe that the Walker/Mallott ticket is what’s best for Alaska, then they probably are the team we can trust for the next four years. We already got a six year dose of Parnell’s hard right, republican agenda…. think we should give someone else a chance.
I have not seen the adds, but the article says he is a liberal democrat, which is just a blatant lie. Then says he’ll put obamacare before Alaska, which again is a lie. He has said in multiple debates that he will expand Medicaid to provide health insurance for 40,000 Alaskans (covered by the federal government), but he will NOT exand obamacare. So that’s all I know now, is what the article told us and from what I’ve heard with my own ears at debates. I didn’t like the ad of the NG victim either, but at least it was a true story. I don’t appreciate people KNOWINGLY making false statements in ads, in order to smear another candidate.
Again with the blatant lies and attacks. THERE WAS NO DEAL. This was just two Alaskans that were willing to put their differences aside for the betterment of the state they love. Walker and Mallott realize, as do most Alaskans, that Parnell has taken our state in an awful direction with our current fiscal and energy crisis. He’s had six years to make things better and they’ve only gotten worse. That’s why it makes perfect sense that these two men would join together to put Alaska first and not a party or it’s agenda. You’re right that it was a brave and noble thing that Craig Fleener and Hollis French did in stepping down from their respective positions of lieutenant governor candidates. The reason they did this was because THEY TOO realized that four more years of Parnell would cripple this wonderful state. Bill Walker has not changed his positions or beliefs because of the Unity ticket. He HAS always and WILL always put Alaska first. It’s time!
How on earth do you get hjs statement to “quit saying I didn’t do anything” as playing the victim? Walker’s retort doesn’t make Parnell’s statement mean he was playing the victim. Parnell was essentially telling him to stop lying. Where do you get victim mentality there? You’re blind to Walker’s “If I say it, therefore, it’s true” tactics and you are delusional to extract such ridiculous meanings from Parnell.
Did Walker put a Bible between him and swear there was no deal? No, of course not because he would have been struck by lightning for sure!
Of course there was a DEAL! There had to be for Walker to agree to dump Fleener and his Christian values. The Dems didn’t steal his running mate from him in the middle of the night. They didn’t hold a gun to his head to change his party to “independent.” It’s laughable to say there was no deal. His running mate, his party affiliation, his convictions – including being pro-life in policy and in word – his new group of buddies all changed over night! Anyone who says there was no deal is delusional or lying.
You mean you voted for the Candidate who was backed by Palin? As an Alaska democrat that one must keep you up at night 🙂
Why complain about Walker changing positions? He is no different than any other politician.
No different at all.
Having an innate ability to change one’s opinions on matters of perceived “great public interest” in order to suit the convenience of the moment is the first hallmark of a politician.
The second hallmark is a complete willingness to prostitute ones self.
If they have ever been elected to an office higher than that of county commissioner in this country, it’s an absolute fact that the above is true.
Paul – you’ve seen the ads? What do they lie about? Where you disturbed by Walker’s super PAC running an ad lying about Parnell with a soldier who suggested that Parnell did nothing about her sexual assault even though the assault occurred in 2007? Are these ads that will run worse than this smear?
Jon,
Parnell has put us in fiscal peril without cause. You know that and so do I. He bet the farm on higher commodity prices and he lost. Now we have few options except “hope” and hope is not a plan of action that I want to depend on for any solution. Parnell’s mismanagement is a firing offense.
Exactly! He only does what is convenient for him, which means he’s a fraud. No one who is staunchly pro-life suddenly believes it’s not an issue. For him, it’s not an issue because it never was. You only let go of things you never really wanted to hold onto in the first place.
Right…because Walker changed his mind and his politics and he won’t go on the record standing for anything.
If he is not standing up for life NOW, and “won’t let his personal convictions get in the way of his politics,” then he is NOT pro-life. No one goes into politics to put their deeply held personal convictions, or Christian convictions aside. If they do, they never really had them in the first place. One goes into politics precisely to effect policy with your convictions. Otherwise, why bother? Walker talks out of both sides of his mouth. And Palin defending him for being “unapologetically pro-life” is a joke. How would she know? Because he said so? Oh, like his word has any value after his back room shady deals with the dems to combine tickets so he might have a chance at winning.
Walker will say and do anything to win. If you can’t see that, you’re blind to the painfully obvious.
If he is not standing up for life NOW, and “won’t let his personal convictions get in the way of his politics,” then he is NOT pro-life. No one goes into politics to put their deeply held personal convictions, or Christian convictions aside. If they do, they never really had them in the first place. One goes into politics precisely to effect policy with your convictions. Otherwise, why bother? Walker talks out of both sides of his mouth. And Palin defending him for being “unapologetically pro-life” is a joke. How would she know? Because he said so? Oh, like his word has any value after his back room shady deals with the dems to combine tickets so he might have a chance at winning.
Walker will say and do anything to win. If you can’t see that, you’re blind to the painfully obvious.
As a democrat of 30 years, I have always voted the party line. Without a candidate this year I find myself lost, but in the end, I had to choose the candidate that I believe I can at least trust to put Alaska first. I voted Walker/Mallott
I just read a dispatch article on the negative adds Parnell’s campaign is going to run and I’m not a big fan. I’m a republican, but stooping to untrue negative adds paid for by people outside Alaska is not what we need in Alaska. Parnell and Walker both have republican values, but this kind of campaigning has me seriously questioning Parnell ethics. I’m a Walker lean because of that and will vote for Walker if Parnell’s campaign does indeed run these types of adds.
I was uncertain about who to vote for before the debate, but I just can’t get over Parnell’s inaction on the National Guard scandal and I feel strongly that Bill Walker is more likely to get the gas pipeline project complete. I don’t agree with all the different people who have endorsed him, but I think he’s got Alaska’s interests first. I’m voting Walker/Mallott.
Some many unfounded and spun messages posted.
He has always been pro life and has never wavered on that issue. It is a blatant lie if someone says otherwise.
Speaking of telling lies, how about Parnell accusing Walker of making a deal to form his partnership with Mallott. Then Walker answers, “we’re both Christians Sean and I’d put a bible between us right now and swear there is no deal.” Talk about egg on Parnell’s face. These are the kind of lies and misquoting that the Parnell Campaign is spreading. They are gearing up for a barrage of negative/false adds in order to try to buy the election.
Parnell has his polished talking points that sound great, but when Walker would come back at him exposing him for the incompetent leader he is, he would just repeat what he’d already said. Example is on the budget and he claims he “made tons of vetoes and drastically cut the budget” (paraphrased obv). Then Walker says, “you ACTUALLY increased the budget and then made some vetoes, but you still are spending way more than when you came into office.” Parnell responds, “I made tons of vetoes and drastically cut the budget.” Sean, we are spending a lot more now than when you came took over as Governor…. own up to it. AND he claims he doesn’t want to have a “gas line debate” because they’ve already had enough debates. I guess it’s understandable that he doesn’t just come out and say, “Bill Walker knows way more about the gas line and gas line issues than me and I don’t want to be embarrassed while discussing the most important issue in our state without easy talking points I can follow.” Sean is good at memorizing talking points, but doesn’t even understand what he’s saying about the gas line. I want a Governor that understands it inside and out and is going to be able to sit intelligently at the negotiating table without big oil in his pockets.
Bill Walker is a real Alaskan that is going to clean up Parnell’s mess and get us back on track.
Walker drove to Wasilla to court Palin for her endorsement. He got it. Pandered it to the conservative community and then tried to hide it from the Dems. Really? This is who the Ds handed their ballot to?
There is something seriously wrong with a political ticket that has the support of Vince Beltrami, Sara Palin and Les Gara. The top of the ticket, Bill Walker, is a right to life person. Gara isn’t. Beltrami just cares about unions getting more power. Doesn’t add up. What does Walker stand for? He’s supported an income tax in the past. His running mate Byron Mallott advocates for special subsistence rights for Natives. I’m concerned about our future. Not a huge fan of Gov. Parnel’s but think he’s a known quantity. Like him or not, he seems to be honest. Walker appears to be a shifty lawyer. Probably better off to stick with someone we know. I’m ggoing to vote Parnel for Governor.
Walker is a fraud. Just 4 years ago he pandered to Jim Minnery like a right-wing fanatic. He was a pro-life zealot. Apparently, those deep values and convictions have disappeared since they aren’t convenient. This guy is too much. Does he have any values except his personal self-enrichment?
Lynn, please understand that nobody knows what commodity prices are going to do. Given this, nobody should think that prices are set in stone. My point about the $60 billion or so is that unlike a lot of states – NJ, Illinois, California – we have options and the ability to pay for state services. Moreover, given that costs on the slope are rising, those defenders of ACES should be praising Parnell for getting us out of a tax structure that took in considerable less revenue as costs went up. One final point, if prices rebound and production continues to climb, we will not be in a dire situation. That said, if prices continue to plummet, then the state is going to have to make some difficiult choice – but at least we have the resources to address the shortfall.
There is also this from Moody’s in response to SB 21 referndum – this story ran in the ADN:
September 2, 2014
Moody’s Investors Service has given a thumbs-up [2] to the August decision by Alaska voters to keep the oil-tax system known as the More Alaska Production Act in place.
One of three ratings agencies covering the state of Alaska, the New York firm said the decision to reject Ballot Measure 1 in the Aug. 19 election, which would have repealed MAPA if passed, was a “credit positive” for Alaska.
The update issued by Moody’s on Thursday is not a credit-rating action. But it shows the state’s credit rating is being maintained, said David Jacobson, a spokesperson at Moody’s.
That rating is AAA stable, the highest possible rating, a level that helps keep interest rates low when the state issues debt to raise money, said Angela Rodell, commissioner with the Department of Revenue. Municipalities needing to raise money also benefit from that rating while investors feel more comfortable about doing business in the state.
Anonymous,
Thank you. And it only gets better…..Consider our future potential obligations as an equity partner in AKLNG. Perhaps hundreds of millions to TransCanada if we don’t proceed toward Final Investment Decision (FID) or the significant forecasted obligations against General Fund Unrestricted Revenues (GFUR) if AKLNG proceeds to FID. I’m no expert, I just watched the testimony on SB138.
Anonymous,
Fitch affirmed the AAA credit rating in August 2014. See the story below. ADN also ran a story on it:
Fitch Rates Alaska’s $31MM COPS ‘AA+’; Affirms Outstanding GOs at ‘AAA’
August 11, 2014 10:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fitch Ratings has assigned an ‘AA+’ rating to $30.95 million state of Alaska certificates of participation (COPs), series 2014 (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Housing Facility Project).
The COPs are expected to sell via negotiation on or about Aug. 25, 2014.
In addition, Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:
— approximately $690.6 million of outstanding state of Alaska general obligation (GO) bonds at ‘AAA’;
— approximately $268.8 million of outstanding state of Alaska appropriation bonds and COPs including the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Goose Creek Correctional Center Project lease revenue bonds, series 2008 and the Anchorage, Alaska correctional facilities lease revenue refunding bonds series 2005 at ‘AA+’.
The Rating Outlook is Stable.
Says the woman who appoints a Planned Parenthood board member to the State’s Supreme Court!
Mrs. Palin, your actions are so loud, I can’t hear what you are saying!
Repent.
Parnell tried playing the victim tonight in the debate on the Guard sexual assault disaster. Didn’t work. When Bill Walker called him out on it Parnell looked like Dan Quayle in the VP debate years ago. The “You’re no Jack Kennedy” sort of moment.
“Sean YOU are NOT the victim.”
The current AAA credit rating was assigned by Fitch on January 7, 2013.
This is per the most recent Alaska Public Debt report.
That’s BEFORE SB21 was passed.
Unless state officials had information about legislative outcomes that they shared with Fitch prior to the passage of SB21.
If that’s the case, someone should call the SEC.
I tried to provide a link but my comment didn’t post.
I’m sure you can find it, being the super smart oil and gas attorney that you say you are.
Current deductible lease expenses and transportation costs are up to $56 per barrel.
Subtract that from price for taxable value.
$82 – 56 = $26 (this is the amount that’s taxed)
It’s my understanding oil prices will rest somewhere around $60 per barrel, then make the slow ascent upwards over time.
Re looking at the 2013 forecast.
That’s not how it’s done. You compare actuals to actuals, not forecasts to actuals.
Today is October 26, 2014.
Look at the year to date production.
We are down by the fully expected -4% for the calendar year.
You can copy and paste the tables from the state Department of Revenue website directly into Excel to get the production numbers for both years.
Side by side 2014 vs 2013 we are down -3.9%.
Look at the Alaska Debt Book for the date of the Fitch AAA rating. It predates the passage of SB21.
January 7, 2013
Page 54
http://treasury.dor.alaska.gov/Portals/0/docs/Debt%20book%202013-2014%20FINAL_web.pdf
I’m not sure where you’re getting your info about the credit rating, but all this info is pretty easily found and analyzed by people who know how to crunch numbers.
Welcome to Walker World. It’ll be a place where incompetent government will run rampant. A ace where unemployable liberals will make decisions to stop resource development. A state divided where Natives will be given special priviledges and other Alaskans will be discriminated against. It’l be a land where the residents of the state will be constantly lied to (assuming the election is a precurser).a ace where the progress to date on a ga line will evaporate. It’ll be a place where union bosses will rule and increase the tax payers burden. Remember, Walker has promoted an income tax in the past. Will he again? I hope he never gets the chance.
We experienced Palin. No Thank you.
Palin was a quitter. No wonder she likes Walker and Parnell. They both quit public office too.
Now, Walker complains about state spending; but, he fails to tell you that if SB 21 wasn’t in place we’d have $200 million less in the state treasury.
Palin’s Alaska plan to go back to the future means more delays in getting a pipeline, more brawls, and having a pawn on the third floor that will promote her stupidity.
Jon,
Please….According to the reports I heard at the Forum on Alaska’s Fiscal Future held on October 4th, every penny of that 60 billion permanent fund balance will be required to generate revenues that must soon be used to directly support state spending. Or, if you don’t want to start spending it, are you simply proposing to use that 60 billion balance as collateral for even more bonded indebtedness? At that same forum a presentation (by I believe Gunnar Knapp of ISER) demonstrated that Permanent Fund Earnings will soon exceed oil revenue if the stock market doesn’t crash again.
You might have also been interested in the “North Slope Average Annual Deductible Costs per Barrel as Reported by the Alaska Department of Revenue Based on Producer’s Tax Filings”. It was just over $40/bbl in 2013 and the trend was upward. Couple that trend with declining oil prices and budgets that cannot be supported with current revenues and you have set the switch for a train wreck. If that doesn’t have you reaching the bottle, you should see the “State Unrestricted General Fund Spending and Revenues” where in FY 15 (this year) all capital spending was above revenues and the worst case scenario showed revenues to support about half of total spending at $90/bbl. This week oil was selling in the low $80/bbl range.
Spin it all you want Jon, and promise me the moon, but you cannot deny Parnell has taken us to a fiscal cliff for no good reason that I can see. He had the line item veto power granted to him in the State Constitution so the buck literally didn’t stop at his desk as it should have. I understand that some claim Parnell is a nice guy but as they say in the oil business “nice guys finish last”. He needs to go……
I heard Walker today on a 30 second radio spot. Pretty awful, couldn’t even read the copy. Not impressive at all.
Amanda,
Minnery would certainly be a suspect. Palin is an absolute master of extracting self publicity from any situtation or in any context.
I hope the candidates have now learned what bear traps those surveys can be. Simplicity is often the enemy of fairness and addressing complex issues in such a simple limited format serves no good purpose.
Walker is schooling Parnell in the KTUU debate. Parnell looked like a deer in the headlights when Bill Walker asked Parnell why Parnell immediately fired the SARB chair when the SARB board held the pipeline valuation at what the law requires, but not what Exxon wants, BUT Parnell waited four years to act on the sexual assault issues that were devastating members of the Guard.
Parnell then played the role of the victim. Walker had to remind Parnell that the victims were those women who were raped.
Powerful.
Walker won.
Bill Walker talks out of both sides of his mouth. He lies. Yes, lies. When you tell one group one thing and the next something totally different is one thing. It is a BIG FAT LIE.
Walker should not be allowed to lie his way to the Governor’s office. We can’t elect a stooge of Sara Palin’s.
SB 21 is producing more oil – look at the fall 2013 revenue forecast and now we are exceeding it. But more importantly look at all of the drilling that is now happening. Projects are getting sanctioned. More companies flush with capital are exploring and developing on the north slope. I would not be surprised if we average 600k bpd by 2016-2017, which would far exceed what folks were predicting in 2013.
The AAA rating was based on SB 21 and how it improved our fiscal situation.
Adults have plans. Walker as far as I can tell has talking points and not much more.
I’m listening to the KTUU gubernatorial debate while reading this blog. How anyone can vote for Walker is beyond me. He sounds like a double-speak lawyer who’s not very smart. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of Parnell’s, however, listening thru to the second break in the debate, Parnell has proven to be open, honest and speaks intelligently on the issues. Walker doesn’t have a record except for his BS on the trail and he flips around like a fiish out of water. Surprise myself, but I’ll be voting for Parnell.
Minnery is a joke and a crybaby. He has a perpetual loon of abject terror in his eyes.
At times I feel sorry for him for living such a fearful and ignorant life, but not this time.
That credit rating is based on ACES-era revenue.
SB21 is not producing more oil and the bottom line tax rate is half of the lowest rate charged during ACES.
The financing of the gasline is contingent upon billions of dollars in state bond debt.
The game is over. You guys had your fun. Time to let the adults take over.
Forecast –
This is certainly one perspective. Another is that we over $60 billion in the bank, AAA credit rating, and a booming economy on the north slope and cook inlet. Without Parnell’s policies we would not be seeing the huge uptick of activity in both basins. With 15 companies pursuing exploration and development programs on the north slope AND with the capital markets flooding the state the independents finally have the money to drill. For this reason, the future looks bright on the north slope. Good news in Cook Inlet too – drilling has resulted in oil production doubling over the past five years and an abundance of natural gas to heat our homes and provide energy, which is a remarkable turn around given that many of the wise men were running around Juneau screaming that we were running out of gas. On top of this progress, we have made huge progress on the LNG project thanks to the Parnell Administration.
Regarding the deficits, I agree not enough has been done. But we also must understand why the budgets have grown – the answer is largely because of health care costs, pensions, and inflation. I haven’t heard any ideas from any politician about how we need to address the true causes of the deficit. Got any specifics?
I wouldn’t count on Dermot Cole for much of anything on Walker’s real record. The more I hear, the worse it gets. The lack of transparency is awful for someone who has earned millions off the public. The media has never looked at Walker’s record. This is unfortunate. Walker is running on his record, but no one is examining it. Alaskans should have the facts. Why isn’t the media demanding AGPA’s financial statements? It would be interesting to see just how much Bill Walker has made off his work with AGPA, and with nothing to show for it.
Debbie –
Can you plead provide specifics or point me to where Walker has responded to the points I made below? If I am mistaken I would like to know so I don’t spread misinformation. Much appreciated.
I don’t care so much about the particular windmill as I do that values and positions change so readily, per the politically convenient need of the moment. I can respect different points of view, I have friends on both sides of these issues and respect their opinions. What I have no respect for are people who use their positions for political gain. That is wrong. And that is what Walker has done.
@Lynn. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard that Jim Minnery is upset because Walker declined to fill out the same survey he filled out in 2010.
Parnell is about to lose by a landslide. Why? Well, he’s the worst governor in our history. One can see this documented at triple w parnellbreakdown dot com.
The focus must be on the fact that Alaska is about to have a major economic melt down because of Parnell’s disastrous policies. We only have one source of revenue. Under Parnell we’ve had massive spending growth over the last six years, and Parnell has now given all windfall profits away to Big Oil.
We are deficit spending at $7 million dollars per day. Our savings will be gone in less than four years.
We desperately need new leadership. Bill Walker is the only candidate that can fix this mess.
You 2 commenters are grossly uninformed. Bill Walker has never waivered on social issues, clearly states his beliefs on his website and has continued to be a top contributor to issues involving the unborn. His platform in 2010 and today remains the same. However if he’d been elected in 2010, Alaska would not be facing today’s statistics of being in the worst deficit in state history, paying among the highest energy costs and having the some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Bill has responded to the points Jon K. mentions, but guess Mr. K., you haven’t bothered to do your research. Bill has never given up on his quest to see Alaska experience the gas line that is in the best interest of Alaskans while still providing handsome profits for producers. He will work to see that through, but the stalling that has come from this current administration and the gross waste of funds doing studies studying the studies have wasted precious years where Alaska had the chance to be a major player in the global market. Mr. Parnell is in over his head on this issue and we need an expert as our governor to advocate for Alaska! VOTE WALKER/MALLOTT!!
I forgot to mention Walker’s shifting views on AK LNG – first he said it was “fatally flawed,” then he said he wants to change the legislation so Alaska is in control with 51 percent equity stake, then in an interview with Tim bradner he said he would stay the course and not make any changes, then in an oped that ran in the same issue of the JOC as his interview did, Walker said he would change the legislation so Alaska was in control. More recently at AFN, Walker said he couldn’t evaluate AK LNG because information is confidential – apparently he hasn’t had time to review the enabling legislation, the hundreds of hours of legislative testimony related to the project, the public hearings, the contracts that have been executed and made public, and the wealth of information available on the project’s website or Larry Persily’s website. Nor did he find the time, apparently, to listen to the legislative hearing from several weeks ago where DNR and the AK LNG sponsors provided a ton of information about the project.
Maybe Dermot Cole will right an informative article trying to get to the bottom of this? (Sarcasm.)
Do we get to know what “pro-family” group this is? Isn’t a riff between any “pro-family” group and Sarah Palin a major news story in itself? Participation in a drunken brawl by the queen of “family values”; followed by a rejection of any statement from a group calling itself “pro-family”? Big troubles in River City………
Perhaps the reason for deciding that it’s no longer worth his time and energy is that unlike the average dolt, He quit trying to tilt that particular windmill?
Walker has changed his views, or to be more charitable, placed emphasis on some things at some times, on a host of issues – not just abortion. His shifting views on education funding, budget cuts, Medicaid expansion, are well documented.
What is less well know is that Walker said in 2005-2011 that Point Thomson is a gas field and Exxon must sell its gas so we can get a gas line. Then in 2012 Walker testified before the legislature that Point Thomson is an oil field and the gas needs to stay in the ground until all of the oil and gas condensate are produced – which would take about 30 years. It is unclear what his position is today on Point Thomson – but keeping all the gas at Point Thomson until the oil and condensate are produced will condemn the gas line since a project cannot go forward without having Point thomson’s gas available.
Walker also wrote opeds in 2010 and 2011 condemning commissioner Irwin’s decision to allow Exxon to drill wells at Point Thomson because he wanted DNR to terminate the leases. Then in a 2014 oped, Walker praised the decision.
Walker also says he is a big believer in transparency – it is one of his big campaign themes. But he has never disclosed information related to AGPA’s assets, debts, and how much money he has had made off of the public. Nor would he even disclose to the Journal of commerce the pipeline companies that AGPA was working with when it filed its AGIA application!
And his views on AGIA have also shifted with the winds. Walker supported AGIA until he failed to deliver and provide the state with a credible application on the AGIA license. Once AGPA failed, Walker became a opponent of AGIA and blamed DNR for his own incompetence. Walker wrote a ton of opeds for years telling everyone that AGIA was a mistake. But during a recent debate he expressed his support for AGIA.
If anyone can honestly say they know what Walker will do once he is in office, I’d like to know why.
What I don’t understand is how Walker can think that social issues are worth his political time and energy in 2010, and then say now that they aren’t. I realize it’s inconvenient for him now, having banded with Mallott and the Democrats, but I can’t accept the shift in personal values: that those beliefs are worth political time and energy four years ago, and not today.
He campaigned out of his campaign office in 2010 for the parental notification initiative – it was politically convenient for him to use that, then. He hosted a huge fundraiser for the initiative then – while he was trying to get Republican votes for his run at governor. He might still have the same personal values, but what good is that when he is flip-flopping on whether those values play a role in his politics?