Governor Scott Walker may be a new marvel to cable news, but he is certainly no stranger to Wisconsin politics. Scott K. Walker, son of a Baptist preacher, began his political career in the early 1990s when he ran for an Assembly seat in the State Legislature. Even as a young legislator in his twenties, Walker took a hard-line, penny-wise approach to labor unions.  During a debate in 1993, Walker advocated reforming union laws that oversaw local government labor disputes.  Little did he know that his career in Milwaukee politics would be tested and weighed by his exchange with those very laws.

After nine years in the State Legislature, Scott Walker campaigned for Milwaukee County Executive – a seat that no Republican in Wisconsin has ever occupied. But Milwaukee County was recently rocked by a massive pension scandal - one that had given away six-figure backdrops to hundreds of public employees.  The area was ripe for a new breed of leadership, and Walker’s message of frugality and fiscal reform seemed to reverberate with the voters. In 2002, Milwaukee County elected Scott Walker, the first ever Republican County Executive.

As Executive, Walker’s skirmishes with unions began shortly after he promised he would balance county budgets without raising property taxes. Without counting on these revenue-raising mechanisms, Walker had to lean on the county workforce for program cuts.

In 2003, Detractors accused Walker of ginning up a false fiscal crisis in order to justify slashing budget items. Drumming up false budgetary crises became a perennial charge against Walker, so he didn’t waste opportunities to remind them that unfunded pension liabilities threatened the solvency of their county government.

In 2006, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) – Walker’s nemesis in all budgetary matters - criticized Walker for what they called a “Sky is Falling Tour.” A few months later (ironically), the Greater Milwaukee Committee – a private sector civic organization – released a damaging report recommending a state takeover of Milwaukee County's finances due to their daunting health care and pension costs.

In late 2006, Walker made headlines when he decided to veto the entire counter-budget proposed by the Milwaukee County Board. Walker vetoed it because the County Board had restored 125 jobs that his budget had planned to cut. A verbal battle ensued starting with Walker blaming the County Board for caving in to union pressure.  The County Board explained they partially restored those jobs to entice unions to come to the negotiating table.  That didn’t work. Rich Abelson, President of AFSCME’s Council 48, was so angered that he promised to start recall campaigns on every County Supervisor that failed to fully fund those positions. Abelson said, “We know who they are, and we won’t forget.”

In 2009, Walker’s battle with Milwaukee’s biggest union resulted in successfully privatizing the County Courthouse’s housekeeping. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel characterized his victory as “half a loaf” since the County Board thwarted Walker’s attempt to privatize the County Courthouse security as well. A few months later, Walker stunned the Board by invoking emergency budget powers in order to privatize those security jobs anyway. His authority was later challenged by AFSCME and reversed by arbitrator Amedeo Greco, who ordered Milwaukee County to rehire the guards they had fired with months of back pay.

To Read The Rest Of This Article Go to the Hispanic Conservative