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Subscribe to RSSWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), embroiled in a battle over public workers’ collective bargaining rights, was pranked by someone posing as conservative money man David Koch. The person, as identified by Mother Jones is Ian Murphy, works for the Web site Buffalo.Beast.com (which was down at last check, but Mother Jones also posted the audio.)
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargeant reports that he confirmed with the governor’s office that the call is, in fact, real, that Walker is the person on the call.
Walker reveals his strategy for dealing with Democrats in the state, including a plan to try and lure the 14 Democratic-state legislators back to the state, to talk at the state Capitol in an effort to move the legislation forward.
“But I’m not negotiating,” Walker says. The fake Koch and Walker joke about bringing a baseball bat to the meeting. "I have one in my office,” Walker says, “you'd be happy with that. I've got a slugger with my name on it."
Walker’s not the only politician to be pranked. Remember, Sarah Palin took a call from someone she thought was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The caller was really from a Canadian morning show. (Audio here.)
*** UPDATE *** NBC News has also confirmed with Gov. Walker's office that the prank call is authentic. It is Walker. Here's a statement from his office:
The Governor takes many calls everyday. Throughout this call the Governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget. The phone call shows that the Governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having.
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But as always you all just keep seeing only trees." The fact that Walker would get on the phone with billionaire conservative activist Koch that fast for 20 minutes discuss strategy with him sop candidly, never discussed publicly, discuss details with Koch is the real smoking gun here for Walker. Walker admits to thinking of hiring enemy provocateurs to plant in the crowd of peaceful protesters of school teachers. Nixon was this devious, could Walker go out the way he did?
IF the whole conversation is being made public instead of bits and pieces strung together like Breitbart, then the gov is who we thought he was. A Koch employee. Why don't you posters address that instead of threadjacking?
It would appear that most of you fox folks need to read the actual wisconsin bill. one aspect of it, buried deep inside, will allow the state to sell off all power plants, cooling plants etc without oversight by the PUC and at whatever cost they deem acceptable. Koch brothers will snap this up fotr pennies on the dollar then rape the public.
This is huge. Bills will go up, salaries and quality will go down. This guy Walker is a grade A dirt-bag. Just another politician selling off his constituents for a shot at wealth and power.
If there was any doubt... the Wisconsin governor isn't exactly the brightest bulb-he doesn't even know who he's really talking to on the phone? Can't wait to hear how the FOX news hypocrites spin this!
they have already spun it. he says its nothing he hasn't said before. that will be the spin...it's already started on MSNBC and elsewhere
Neocons glorify a ginned up attack on ACORN but vilify this less hyped call to Gov. Walker. Again show themselves to be hypocrites.
Neocons glorify a ginned up attack on ACORN but vilify this less hyped call to Gov. Walker. Again show themselves to be hypocrites.
Punked LOL,LOL, ROFLOL okay calm down, LOL,LOL get a grip, LOL,LOL can't stop LOL, LOL... my stomach hurt's,lol...
Quit whining! Walker is doing what he was elected to do, (remember, elections have consequences).
The new questions should be Mubarak Obama appointing himself to the Supreme Court and declaring the Defense of Marriage law unconstitutional. I thought he took an oath to defend ALL US laws. Here is a real case for impeachment. And-by-the-way, if JFK was alive today he would be a Republican Enjoy
Quit Whining are you joking, Mubarak Obama, this is why its impossible to have a conversation with the right wing neo cons. Shoving their Christian extremism down every ones throat enough already!!
P.S The Constitution is for all citizens.
Actually I'm an Independent who votes Democratic 50% of the time, when you are right your're right, when you are wrong YOU ARE wrong.
With the 'Mubarak Obama' comment, you lost whatever remains of your credibility.
Did Waulker take any other phone calls that day? Maybe he took some calls from the concerned tax payers of the state of Wisconsin. Maybe those calls could be made public so we could compare the two!
If I were Gov. Walker, I'd be proud of everything I said on this phone call. Believe it or not, we fired Doyle for this guy ON PURPOSE! He's doing what us Wisconsinites sent him there to do – restore some fiscal sanity to our state.
Hey obama – if you're ever gonna get a clue on leadership or budget basics, take notes from Gov. Walker! or just stay clueless and see what happens in 2012:)
ya right.. yawn
That's right, go back to bed little one, this conversation is for the grown ups.
What was that big "BANG" I just heard? Oh, that must've been Scott Brown shooting himself in the foot.
See ya, Senator. You're finished now.
Scott walker is the Gov of Wisconsin, Scott Brown is a Senator from Mass. After reading today's posts I think the Mayan's may have been right about 2012
Just goes to show that Walker is a Fascist puppet for Plutocrats !!!
All of this talk about the Wisconsin governor is making us in South Carolina SO happy! We just got rid of the laughing stock of the nation, and even though we installed a potentially unusual governor to replace him, at least now the nation's attention is no longer pointed towards us! Could we introduce Gov. Walker to a lady in Argentina? That would only make it better!!
Just from the people I speak to the public sentiment is with the governor and that includes people who vote democrat and are registered dems (me, for instance) . This is not the 1940's dockworkers or factory workers being exposed to chemicals. They are not going to be treated like slaves - total rubbish and the rubes who are spouting this know it too. Quite a bit of union workers will be left high and dry down the road because their is no sustainable way to keep paying these pensions. You want your job? Whatever you paid into the pension system - you get that vested amount in a pension but from here on in everything converts to a 401K. More than likely the union worker who paid in all these years will be SOL. The present system cannot sustain itself and until you plant money trees you won't even receive the pension the union worker paid into. Why would the leaders of these unions play with peoples lives like this? They are not going anywhere - they will get theres but the low man/woman on the totem pole is going to lose their job How is this a victory? It happened in a city in Massachusetts a few years ago. The police union wouldn't give any concessions and guys lost their jobs. I know two of the cops who lost their jobs and they both said the same thing - the union does not represent everyone only the ones who have their time in........
This tape proves Walker was lying all along about this being "about the budget" and he will forever be known as a liar. A liar and an enemy of the people. I think there will be little doubt in anyone's mind that Koch and his lobbyist friends own Walker and that's why he was kissing so much Koch ass!
Good God, and Governor Walker's office has confirmed that he had this conversation with bogus David Koch.
Next thing you know French President Sarkozy will be calling Walker and suggesting that while Walker is on his Koch-provided junket to Calais, to which Walker responded, “All right!” Sarkozy is going to send some of France’s finest Champaign and the King of Cheese, Brie de Meaux, and fly in Sara Palin to boot. All right! And if Walker can crush the working people of Wisconsin, he will soon be over their singin’ Oh Là Là!
Who needs any Wisconsin beer and cheese when you got a patron of politics like David Koch?
Feister Red Head - Thank you, you got it all right - I just heard the tapes on Tom Hartman's show. This really identifies who is calling the shots . . . the Koch Brothers who stand to gain a great deal. With the paragraph buried in the bill to "bust the unions" that gives this governor the right to "sell off" Wisconsin infrastructure without competitive bids, and only he controls the selling price, I would think that there is almost enough evidence that he and his Republican co-horts are conspiring to commit a crime against the people of Wisconsin. The infra-structures referred to include two power plants that if sold to the Koch brothers would give them a monopoly over energy in Wisconsin. We saw what that senario did to California. Perhaps the Federal Attorney General should get involved and start an investigation.
At least I have some credibility to start with. Obama is just a cruel joke being played on those who can't see beyond their own petty lives and politics and actually believe all those inane campaign slogans. As for the Mubarak part, it fits, what would you call a dictator who swears to uphold all laws and than picks and chooses which ones apply to him. If you don't like Mubarak how about Idi Amin?
Bush, on 9/11 was the cruel joke played on America, and you fell for it, david-1740477
silly lanche t-bangers dont use toilet paper........
If you're not taking calls, then you shouldn't of taken the call from your so called major contributor. He screwed himself so he gets what he got coming! whats done in the dark will always come to the light. It was only a matter of time before his planned would of crumbled in his face anyway!! When you do wrong, wrong comes back on you.....its called Karma!!!
I can't believe there is anyone out who doesn't believe that Gov. Walker isn't out to bust the unions and give away energy plants to the Koch brothers after this episode. If you make below $250k a year and vote Republican, you really need you're head examined. Republicans are for the rich class and the Democrats (at least most of them) are for us serfs.
Is Andrew Cuomo out to bust the union, Mayor Bloomberg ,How about the Gov of Rhode Island. Like it or not America we are in a crisis and it doesn't matter who's fault it is. It's here and it's now.
It does indeed matter who's fault it is. The solution to the problem is based upon the answer to that very question. The problem for you is that you will reject the answer.
Hello? Oh hi Moammar. Ummmm no I can't put you up tonight there's some...ah...stuff going on. Yes I know we have a lot in common but there's some........uh.....can you hold a minute? David Koch is on the other line again. Wonder what it could be this time?
The legal implications of this prank phone call against the governor of Wisconsin are very real. Look for possible inquiries and charges from both state and federal agencies in the near future. If they won't bring them, the unions and decent Wisconsin citizens, there are a lot of them, will demand it.
where did this prositute of a govenor in wisconsin come from. this man is about as corrupt , lying and crooked a govenor as this nation has ever seen. what an embarrassment to the great state of wisconsin. and to think he was considering sending trouble makers into a protest crowd with children present, and was not worried about safety for anyones safety is the most discusting thing i have heard of. don't stop at running this crook out of office run him out of the state.!!! ( preferably to some where in north africa). he'll fit in great there.
This guy acts like he wants to be one the "five families" who run things. Trying to trick the Wisconsin fourteen back "into session", yikes, what a lying, corrupt, bastard. What's next, is he going to send Luca Brasi out after them? What a disaster for Wisconsonites!