MAYBE THE GOP GOVERNORS ARE NOT THE MOST QUALIFIED TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT

…Chris Christie 

 …Scott Walker

 

Thanks to the internet’s “Fact-Checking” sites, we can see how dishonest the 2016 candidates have been.

It’s looking like there will be a couple of dozens of Republican candidates lined-up for the 2016 presidential primaries.  The latest scuttlebutt says that the most qualified to run would probably be those that are current or former state governors.

Historically, state governors have been the most credible candidates for president from either party. Eight sitting governors have been elected to the White House, compared to just three sitting senators, and four vice presidents.  As the chief executive of a state, governors can claim an experience most similar to that of a president (minus the foreign policy part), and the potential diversity of that experience purportedly allows for proven, practical, state-level solutions for the national stage.

Now, if that is the key qualifier, that GOP list today would include the following: Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, and Mike Huckabee.  That’s not including some Republicans that have previously made some noise for considering a run.  That list includes: Sam Brownback, John Kasich and Mike Spence.

But, if being a governor is supposed to be something that puts one candidate above another, wouldn’t how well they ran their states also be a valid way of determining their qualifications?

So, if that is the case, let’s take a look at some of those governors and how well they have run their states.

First, let’s look at Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, and these three candidate’s state job creation efforts.

From 1999 to 2007, Jeb Bush’s job creation results were the lowest rate of any governor going back to 1970. 

Since the following governors took their offices, Wisconsin under Walker ranked 35th, with 4.85% growth. New Jersey under Christie ranked 40th, with 4.15% growth.

This all compares with today’s national job creation average of 8.21%.

The House Speaker John Boehner is always whining at President Obama saying, “Where are the jobs?”  Sounds like Speaker Boehner should be directing that comment at the governors in his own party.

But let’s just focus on the honesty of two of the current GOP governors, Scott Walker and Chis Christie:

Scott Walker:

Walker has said Wisconsin ranks second “in the country” on education policies.  Actually, Wisconsin is 2^nd in education only among 30 states. Also, by that measure, little has changed under Walker’s governorship, as Wisconsin has ranked first, second or third every year since 1994.

Walker’s state job approval fell to 41% in the latest Marquette Law poll, with 56% disapproval.  The poll also has plenty of additional bad news for him as well.

Inputs from the fact-checker Politifact says that 40% of Scott Walker’s statements are either Mostly False or Totally False, and 7% are “Pants on Fire” lies.

Here are some of Walker’s totally and mostly false statements:

·       Governor Scott Walker is crowing about a gain of 8,400 jobs last month, when the actual gain in total jobs was only 300.

 

·       “I unsealed my records at Marquette University.” False, no documents have been seen to date.

 

·       “University of Wisconsin will be more affordable with my changes.” Totally false.

·       “My opponent supported policies that increase college tuition by 18%.”   Totally false.

·       “Next state budget will have a surplus.”  Pants-on-Fire Lie, today it’s a budget deficit.

·       “Wisconsin is 3^rd in Midwest job growth.”  Totally false.

·       “My opponent wasted $12.5 Million on a vacant lot.”  Totally false

·       “The investigations of my past campaigns are resolved.”  False, as final rulings are still forthcoming.

·       “Poll taken months ago give me a 70% approval rating.”  False, as this poll was 2 years ago and was not on point.

·       “The jobs with minimum wage are all mostly for kids.”  False, mixed ages, & only 20% are juveniles.

·       “Worst recession recovery ever.”  Totally false.  Slow recovery, but hardly the worst.

·       “Wisconsin had best 2 year job growth.”  False, as the turn-around started well before Walker became governor.

·       “Study says Obamacare will devastate Wisconsin and make 122,000  citizens ineligible for Medicaid.”  Totally false, study actually says the opposite.

·       “I said all public employees could choose to join a union.” Totally false.

·        “Wisconsin Public Radio Poll has been totally wrong.”  False, poll against Walker has been consistent.

Chris Christie:

Christie’s New Jersey has recently experienced its ninth bond downgrade under the Christie leadership. 

His recent trip to London to burnish his foreign policy credentials was a total disaster.  A New Jersey judge has recently landed a blow to the heart of Christie’s political brand: his tough stance against government spending and public employee unions.  The New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled in favor of the unions that sued Christie, saying that his failure to make full payments to their pension system violated the state’s constitutional obligation to its workers. She also ordered Christie to work with the legislature to satisfy the state’s obligation.  “We’re happy about this decision, and I have hope now that hundreds of thousands of people in New Jersey will not lose their pensions,” said Hetty Rosenstein of the Communications Workers Union.

Christie’s approval rating in New Jersey is 38% approve, 56% disapprove.

Here are some of Christie’s totally or mostly false statements:

·       “New Jersey gets all of its $38 Billion from businesses on the New jersey shore.”  False, the $38 Billion comes from New Jersey’s overall tourism.

·       Christie say he was “The 1^st governor to support Mitt Romney.”  False, 2 other governors were before Christie.

·       “Obamacare put a bureaucrat between the citizen and the doctors.”  Totally false, and it’s a major overstatement.

·       “90,000 workers in New Jersey are back to work since I became governor.”  False assumption, and the number is also in question.

·       “My line-item veto stopped $360 Million from going to special interests.”  False: Number is 75% too high.

·       “New Jersey’s job growth is 25% of the total jobs created in US.”  This is a false comparison

·       “As a US Attorney, I put 70% of the state legislature in jail.”  Major exaggeration statement.

·       “Democrats cut $35 million from the budget for state's IT improvements.”  False: Actual cut was $5 Mil.

·       “New Jersey is the state that spends the most on Medicaid.”  False, 8 states exceeds New Jersey spending.

·       “Democrats don’t want to cut taxes.”  Pure nonsense.

·       “New Jersey kids in 9^th grade only have a 29% chance of graduating.”  False, for all three times he’s made this statement.

·       “Obamacare is a government take-over of your health care.”  A lie that won’t die.

Now this article is only  for highlighting two of the many GOP wannabee candidates for president in 2016.

Perhaps I should do these type of articles, 2 Republican governor candidates at a time, just to see how they stack up as being capable and truthful governors.  After the governors, I can then go after the senators or all the others going after the GOP’s brass ring.  This could become a very interesting exercise.

Copyright  G.Ater  2015