Scott Walker calls for outright ban on public sector unions

In the beginning of the second Republican debate hosted by CNN and Salem Media, the 2016 GOP field was asked if they trusted the current frontrunner, Donald Trump, with nuclear weapons. Instead of overhauling his anti-union message, which poses clear risks to a candidate increasingly deemed inconstant, Walker is re-emphasizing it, highlighting a plan to clobber unions wherever they still draw breath.

Bob Denoto, a 53-year-old electrician and union recruiter, was in Las Vegas from New York for a union conference and chose to stop by Walker’s event.

Expanding on the hatred of unions that he imposed as Wisconsin’s governor, right wing Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker is proposing to abolish the National Labor Relations Board, turn the US into a “right-to-work” nation, and eliminate federal workers’ rights to union representation.

And Walker took time out from that main anti-union cause to blame Seattle’s striking school teachers – who haven’t had a raise in six years – for “organized extortion”. I’m beginning to think that the 2010 statewide elections were the worst thing to happen to Wisconsin since the Peshtigo Fire.

Walker boasts his electability in nearly every speech; “fight” and “win” are some of his most repeated words on the trail.

The Wisconsin governor’s support in Iowa has collapsed.

Then, in responding to a question from NBC’s Chuck Todd on the concept of building a wall on the northern USA border with Canada, Walker said it was a “legitimate” issue worth reviewing.

On Monday, Walker released a paper entitled “My Plan To Give Power To The People, Not The Union Bosses”. In the face of protests that often numbered in the tens of thousands, Walker muscled the changes through the state legislature – even after Democratic lawmakers fled the state in an unsuccessful effort to stave off his plans.

Clinton said on Twitter that unions make families strong. Never mind: Walker clearly hates all unions, but politically it is easier to attack “big government unions”, or especially “big government union bosses”, whose defeat will “empower individuals and protect taxpayers [and]… grow the economy”.

“Mr. Trump, we don’t need an apprentice in the White House”, Walker said.

“You engage when you can and see where the opportunities are”, Wiley said. “This will take the breath away from anyone who’s worked in labor relations for any length of time….”

Walker’s plan also calls for prohibiting automatic withdrawal of union dues to be used for political purposes and forbidding union organizers to access employees’ personal information, such as their phone numbers.

While Walker could enact some of the proposals via presidential executive order, the most far-reaching ones would require an act of Congress, a major barrier by any measure.