Even from conservative perspective, Walker no good for Wisconsin

On conservative issues, Wisconsin governor still fails

A lot has been said regarding the rationale for recalling Gov. Scott Walker, justifying his ouster over a plethora of issues that do Wisconsin great harm. Those issues tend to derive from a centrist-progressive viewpoint. Yet there are other reasons that Walker's re-admittance to the governor's mansion deserves to be examined closer, even from a conservative point of view.

The average conservative in the state believes in smaller government, lower taxes, balanced budgets, and in Wisconsin a pro-hunter mentality. Yet Walker's time as governor has run counter to all of these tenets.

Walker's budget grew by a one percent increase, more than half a billion dollars, from his Democratic predecessor's. Walker's budget also increased taxes on the poor by $70 million. And on the issue of balancing the budget, Walker has failed there as well, creating a $3 billion deficit according to his own administration's calculations.

Even on an issue as simple as deer-hunting, Walker get's it wrong. His "deer-czar" James Kroll envisions a state where there wouldn't be any public lands for deer-hunting, where private landowners could take over the lands in an effort to earn more money at your expense.

The public lands Kroll despises include the state parks, state and national forests, and other publicly held property that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites—particularly in the northern part of the state—rely on for deer hunting...

If Kroll gets his way, public land hunters will get the shaft. The deer herd no longer would be managed as a public resource, but as the private property of wealthy landowners. Wisconsin will become like Europe, where hunting is the privilege of the wealthy.

In other words, in Walker's Wisconsin you'd pay to hunt the lands you once used for no charge at all. Open for business -- but closed for deer-season.

Given Walker's track record on doling out public lands for private gain, there's little doubt that Kroll's vision for a pay-to-hunt structure of private land use is shared by the governor. This runs against the respected tradition of viewing the deer-hunt as a public activity, one that allows rich and poor to take part in.

To review: Walker has raised taxes, increased spending, created a deficit, and now may go after hunters' public lands. Even from a conservative perspective, this guy is leading Wisconsin down a disastrous path.