 No cue cards, no teleprompter, and a firm grasp of the facts - Scott Walker was very impressive in his speech in West Des Moines last night. I have friends of mine who wonder whether the massive government incursion into the private sector can be rolled back to return our country to freedom. Scott Walker did in 5 weeks more to make Wisconsin favorable to jobs and the economy than most governors know how to do in 5 years. And it worked. When he took office, only 10% of business owners in Wisconsin found the climate favorable to jobs and the economy. Today? 88%. More teachers' jobs have been saved through his efforts. No government employees were laid off, despite a threatening debt burden on the state. This in contrast to Illinois, where earlier this year Gov. Quinn boasted that he wasn't going to take the steps that Gov. Walker did - but it wasn't Gov. Quinn who got the pink slip. It was Illinois teachers. But not in Wisconsin, where the budget is balanced and school districts are starting to enjoy a surplus. The protesters who greeted me as I pulled into the Sheraton's parking lot - maybe 100 of them - don't know these facts. They're oblivious. They get their talking points from a union official, who of course hates what Scott Walker did because he curtailed the power of the union by not forcing Wisconsin's government employees to be represented by a union and by not forcing them to give dues to the union. It's now the employee's choice. You know - freedom. Unions hate freedom. Through freedom, Scott Walker saved worker jobs. On the other hand, the unions in Illinois are killing jobs because Gov. Quinn won't promote freedom. The protesters last night, they don't know these facts. They're ignorant, and it's sad. But here's what's really disturbing... in 20 minutes, Scott Walker outlined the principles and the steps he knew that he had to take, in the face of massive protests in Madison. Other than Steve King, I don't know of a politician in Iowa who would have done what he did - sticking to his guns in the preservation of liberty for the people. He endured a media onslaught, physical threats to his family, and simply did what he knew he had to do and he did the right thing. What a man... We could sure use one of these in Iowa. And in the office of the president. | 
