General Discussion

ErikJ

(6,335 posts) Sun May 27, 2012, 04:23 PM May 2012

Republican Gov. Walker's War on Wisconsin Veterans.

Last edited Sun May 27, 2012, 05:49 PM - Edit history (1)

WALKERS WAR ON WISCONSIN VETERANS
Created on Sunday, 27 May 2012 08:11

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Scott Walker doesn’t agree

On Friday, Military Veteran, Michael Gourlie was one of those speaking out against Scott Walker’s legislation that has harmed veterans and their families. Mr. Gourlie is a member of the Wisconsin Association of Concerned Veterans Organizations (WAVCO), who wrote a letter to Gov. Scott Walker on March 2, 2012 urging him not to sign SB202 into law, as it would strip veterans of their employment discrimination redress via the circuit court.

In essence, the legislation removes protections of military service members who are sent overseas or called up to serve their country from being fired for doing so. The legislation was designed by Republican legislators and signed into law by Scott Walker, to the benefit of businesses that care more about their bottom line than ensuring equality for those who are willing or have given life and limb, so those businesses can enjoy a free market.

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Other veterans in attendance talked about how Scott Walker has taken money from a fully federally funded program that assists veterans in gaining employment, to the tune of $3,400 per veteran, in order to fill a budget hole. Scott Walker could have easily required the top 1% in Wisconsin to pay their fair share, instead of attacking those honorable men and women in uniform. The Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs has been little to no help for Wisconsin Veterans. Secretary John Scocos has been merely a puppet for Scott Walker, rather than an advocate for our heroes.

-had no idea that the unemployment rate among military veterans in Wisconsin was 16-17%.

Scott Walker’s History of Attacking Veterans

It was during his time as Milwaukee County Executive that Scott Walker put Tim Russell in charge of the event “Operation Freedom”, which was to raise funds for veterans and their families to help them with their injuries and needs. Russell has now been charged with embezzling those funds and after the news broke, Scott Walker held an eight minute conference call to say he was merely disappointed.

Walker couldn’t bring himself to say he was outraged, disgusted nor did he wish to apologize for an employee stealing from the veterans and their families under his watch. The call was an attempt to distance himself from the investigation, rather than conveying a real sense of remorse for the victims. Walker attempts to take credit for the discovery of the theft, but that wasn’t until after the John Doe investigation began knocking on his door.

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http://www.politiscoop.com/us-politics/wisconsin-politics/1416-walkers-war-on-wisconsin-veterans.html