Yesterday’s Scott Walker prank call was treated as a smoking gun. The Scott Walker prank call gave Democrats and activists an ideal weapon to use against the Governor and his real intentions. His efforts to take away collective bargaining rights, and his budget repair bill in general, is seen as a gift to the Koch brothers. Walker thought he was sharing his ideas with one of the right-wing billionaires on the phone, yet he was actually speaking to a radical journalist from Buffalo. But although the prank call was a PR embarrassment, a deal in the state Assembly could stop the bleeding today,
Buffalo Beast blogger Ian Murphy pulled off the hoax, calling the Governor and pretending to be David Koch. During their conversation, the Governor shared ideas to trick the Democratic senators back to Wisconsin, and his brief plan to plant “troublemakers” in the Madison rallies, among other things.
The premise of the prank call was to make him look like he did the bidding of the Koch brothers, as many liberals claim. The billionaires helped fund the Governor’s campaign, and have been accused of being the real masterminds of the budget repair bill.
Despite everyone linking Gov. Walker and the Koch brothers together, he claimed to Greta Van Susteren that he’s never met the duo before. But that only made it easier for Murphy to dupe him, and make him look worse in many people’s eyes. Yet Walker is still standing his ground, and even plans to start laying off workers if there’s no deal by Friday.
But although the prank call was the big story yesterday, Walker may have found a way to change the headline today. Although Democratic senators are still in Illinois, he has reportedly convinced Democrats in the state Assembly to vote on the bill today.
After a final round of debate, the budget bill is expected to pass the Assembly. As such, it would give momentum back to the Governor and his supporters, just in time to erase the blunder from yesterday. This means that the state senators are now all that stands in the way of getting the new budget passed.
However, the Scott Walker prank call may have emboldened the Senators to stand their ground, after the Governor revealed his idea to trick them back. Murphy’s tricks have still given activists a lot of new material to work with – and after today’s deal, they’ll need it more than ever.
Sources
YouTube- “Koch Whore: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker”
Washington Post- “The blogger behind the Scott Walker prank call”
FOX News- “Wis. Governor Explains Falling for Prank Call, Stands Ground on Budget Repair Bill”
Salon- “Wisconsin Assembly reaches deal to end debate and hold vote”
