Walker's Intentional Deception

Most of us have the ability to sense dishonesty. We have the intuition to catch the drift of someone who is being untruthful. We perceive from their mannerisms, realize from their word choices, pick up from their unsubstantiated claims, and suspect from the illogicalness of their argument that the narrative they’re telling us is an attempt to be deceptive. Additionally, our own knowledge of the topic tells us outright in our minds “these things are lies!”


These were the thoughts that occurred to me as I watched and listened to one of Governor Scott Walker’s latest commercials. (He has several versions).

First, his graphs were filled with misleading and inaccurate data – particularly the straight descending line that represented Wisconsin’s unemployment from a high of 9.1 at the start of his administration to a current low of 7.0. (An earlier version of this commercial showed a high of 10.0 at the start of his administration to a current low of 7.0; I suspect that viewers of his commercial forced his staff to make the change to the lower rate of 9.1.) However, the 9.1 rate at the start of his administration is still incorrect. Walker inherited an unemployment rate below 8.0. I recall the rate being in the neighborhood of 7.6. It was far below the national average when Scott Walker took office.

And second, Walker’s argument in the commercial is riddled with deception, lies, and false claims. He stated the following: “Hi, I am Scott Walker. In the three years before I was elected, Wisconsin lost 150,000 jobs. We promise to change Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since I promised to balance the budget without raising taxes, without massive layoffs, protecting jobs, and eliminating a 3.6 billion dollar deficit. We promise to hold the line on property taxes, and after years of tax increases, school property taxes have actually gone down. Because public employees now contribute to their health and pensions benefits, we’ve increased funding for health care funding for senior, and kept thousand of firefighters, police officers, and teachers on the job. Help me oppose this recall and let’s use the foundation we’ve built to keep moving Wisconsin forward."

Although this political pitch, with its run-on sentences, appears grammatically weak on paper, Governor Walker does an excellent job of adding a strong persuasive voice that makes the overall presentation very convincing. However, when you stop and analyze its content, it becomes clear that everything he states is either untrue or unsupported. For example, there is no evidence supporting Walker’s claim that his plan was responsible for keeping firefighters, police officers, and teachers on the job. As a matter of fact, most experts strongly believe that Walker’s plan, which did not include revenues – (like luxury taxes), created unnecessary layoffs of public employees, and subjected the middle class to an undue burden that is going to get worse, if Walker stays in office. Secondly, contrary to Walker’s claim concerning lower property taxes, the fact of the matter is property taxes increased in most districts. Moreover, due to Walker cuts to education, the only thing that prevented higher property taxes was the law Walker’s republicans passed that prevented local communities from raising property taxes. And finally, the tough times under Scott Walker’s policies are ahead of us. This is going to become clear in the upcoming months when big government spending in Wisconsin (defense spending, transportation/highway funds, and stimulus funds) are going to be cut or not available.

The fact of the matter is we are being deceived, and most of us are aware of it. So the important question is “What are we going to do about it!”


by

James A. Porter