Scott Walker pretends to be Obamacare supporter to try to save his job

Wisconsin governor and longtime Obamacare opponent Scott Walker now claims, just days before the election, that he is in favor of one of the legislation’s key provisions protecting pre-existing conditions.

Walker’s election year conversion comes as polling shows him slipping behind his Democratic opponent, Tony Evers.

At a campaign stop, Walker claimed for the very first time that he wants state legislation that uses the “exact same language” as the Affordable Care Act.

Walker said, “No matter what happens in the courts or in the Congress, in Wisconsin we’ll codify that, the exact same language that’s in the Affordable Care Act. We’ll make sure everyone living with a pre-existing condition is covered here in the state.”

After Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, Walker led the charge among Republicans to stop the law from ensuring that millions of Americans got health insurance.

Just this year, Walker authorized a lawsuit that aims to repeal the law, including the key provisions that protect people with pre-existing conditions.

The rhetorical flip-flop comes just as a poll from Emerson College shows Evers ahead of Walker among likely voters, 51 percent to 46 percent. The race has been ranked as a “toss up,” with most recent polling showing Evers with a slight edge over the incumbent.

Walker has been trying to separate himself from the anti-Obamacare movement over the last year as the law has increased in popularity, but his record is clear. He supported Republican plans in Congress to repeal the law, and also refused to expand Medicaid. Walker has even pushed work requirements and drug tests to limit the number of people who can accept Medicaid help.

He is desperate. Even his former aides, who worked side-by-side with him, are backing Evers. His former Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten said Walker is “just another politician looking out for himself,” and “it seemed every decision Walker made was about pleasing his donors.”

At the same time, Walker has made fumbles on business as well. Local employer Harley-Davidson is being hurt by Trump’s tariffs and was attacked by Trump for moving manufacturing overseas. Instead of pushing for the leader of his party to end the destructive trade policy, Walker sided with Trump and against a company that employs many in Wisconsin.

Walker also helped ram through billions in tax breaks for Foxconn to get a factory in Wisconsin, promising thousands of jobs. But since getting the sweetheart deal, Foxconn has pulled back on their promises and Walker has gone quiet on the deal.

Now, just days before the election, with his political future is on the line and things are looking bad for him, Walker thinks he can confuse voters into believing he is an overnight true believer in Obamacare.

They would just have to ignore everything he’s done and said for nearly a decade to believe this tall tale.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.