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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, March 28, 2024
scott walker

Walker aimed to increase his recently dropped polls at Wednesday's debate. 

Walker, GOP candidates take on Trump in second presidential debate

Gov. Scott Walker focused on reasserting himself as a contender in the Republican field at the second presidential debate Wednesday, after his poll numbers have plummeted in Iowa.

Leading up to the CNN debate at the Reagan Library in California, Walker repositioned himself as the field’s premier union-buster, with proposals to apply right-to-work nationally and eliminate the federal agency that investigates unfair labor practices.

Before being able to expound on his new policy proposals, Walker drew the ire of Donald Trump by criticizing the businessman’s inexperience in government.

“We don’t need an apprentice in the White House,” Walker said. “We have one right now.”

Trump promptly cut Walker off by challenging his record of growth and deficit reduction in Wisconsin, an attack Walker brushed off as a “Democratic point.”

“When the folks of Iowa found out the true facts of the job that you’ve done in Wisconsin, all of a sudden you went down the tubes,” Trump said. “You have right now, a huge budget deficit. That's not a Democratic point. That's a fact.”

Other candidates pointed to their own records of balancing state budgets, like Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

“It was legitimate, it was real and we negotiated it,” Kasich said, subtly jabbing the lack of dialogue between Walker and public sector unions in the lead up to 2011’s Act 10.

The field grappled with Trump throughout the night as he showed no restraint criticizing Rand Paul’s looks, evading questions about his comments on Carly Fiorina’s face and defending his assertion that vaccines contribute to increased rates of autism.

Candidates looked to attack Trump on his conservative credentials, due to his proposal to raise taxes on hedge fund managers.

Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has recently surged in national polls, suggested scrapping the current progressive taxation system in favor of a 10 percent flat tax.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee went a step further, calling for the end of taxation on earnings and transitioning toward a consumption tax, asking, “why should we penalize productivity?”

Trump defended his taxation proposal, calling it a “major reduction for the middle class,” while acknowledging that he won’t win any fans among hedge fund managers.

“I know people that are making a tremendous amount of money and paying virtually no tax, and I think it’s unfair,” said Trump.

 
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