Scott Walker’s “Brown Bag” farce

If you’ve been paying attention to the 2010 gubernatorial race here in Wisconsin, you’ve not doubt seen Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker’s “Brown Bag” ads touting his fiscal frugality. While the ads are certainly clever and make Walker seem like an “average guy” who packs a brown bag lunch and drives a 1998 Saturn, a look at the real Scott Walker paints a different picture. For instance, while Scott Walker talks about packing a brown bag lunch to take to work, he no doubt makes that lunch on the granite countertops in the spacious kitchen of his 4 bedroom, 2 and a half bath home with an assessed value of $324,400. And while Scott Walker talks about driving a 1998 Saturn with 100,000 miles on it, I’m sure he’s also spent many a hot summer afternoon lounging poolside at the in-ground pool in his backyard (photo to the right).

I know Scott Walker really really wants to convince folks he’s an “average guy” who brown bags it every day, but I don’t know many “average guys” who live in $324,000 houses with in-ground pools and granite kitchen countertops, and I don’t know many average guys who spend thousands of dollars on expensive dinners. I’d like to think of myself as an “average” middle class guy, and I don’t live in a $324,000 house, nor do I have an in-ground pool or granite countertops in my kitchen. I’m not begrudging Scott Walker for the house he lives in or his in-ground pool; I just think he should be honest about who he really is. Scott Walker’s not an “average guy,” he’s a career politician who’s enhanced his quality of life on the public dole.

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14 thoughts on “Scott Walker’s “Brown Bag” farce

  1. Has anybody figured out how much we have to pay as a state to haul the brown bags and the 6 pieces of paper that come inside of them to the landfill? He’s sent me three of the blasted things already and it’s just April 1

  2. $324,000 doesn’t buy much.. He’s right on top of his neighbors. Calling that a pool is generous, I’ve seen ponds that are bigger.

  3. How many pools do you see in Tosa? It is one thing to have one in Hartland or Delafield, but Tosa?

    I didn’t realize how close he lived to me. It didn’t take to much digging to get the address.

  4. You make a very weak case. I don’t think 325K for a house with a pool is extravagant. Looks pretty middle class to me. One of the reasons why he can afford the house is that he didn’t waste his money on fancy cars. Sounds like he is just an average guy who is good at handling money.

  5. What caught my eye is that he had to pay $6500 in property taxes. That’s what I found to be outrageous. I think the point of his ad is about priorities (driving the old car so he can save for kids’ college). Just like as governor you should have fiscal priorities — you know like, maybe repairing certain major highways so they don’t need to be closed down, instead of robbing the fund to plug a budget hole and before even thinking about funding an expensive choo choo train no one will ride.

    P.S. How do you about granite countertops? Were you at the last barbecue and pool party?

    1. forgot…since you made a comment about the highway can you please tell me what actions Walker took to ensure the zoo interchange bridge was safe/repaired before the closure? I read the letter Walker is touting as a smoking gun against Mayor Barrett (which it’s not)…but Walker hasn’t produced any other letters/documents showing he was pushing for the repairs ASAP. Who knows…maybe I just missed it.

      1. That’s a valid point. I haven’t seen any letter Walker produced on Barrett or one of his own. I’m not sure how much say either one of them would have on the matter. My comment was aimed at Governor Doyle.

        1. Yeah…I got your comment was directed at Doyle but I figured I’d take the opening and ask about Walker. 🙂

        2. You haven’t seen a letter from Walker because from what I understand, there isn’t a letter. Walker has been largely mum on reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange until recent events.

  6. He has a large house on a small lot.
    This is what average guys buy when they have more money than the next average guy.
    His house supports his claim IMO. ‘What kind of boat does he have’ and ‘how many machines emit hydrocarbons’ might be a better indicator of his average status.

  7. What does the size of his house have to do with how he will work as a governor? I don’t care what his house looks like.

    1. Good question Carol. The answer is virtually nothing. It’s not like he’s going around scaring and convincing us all to cut back on energy consumption, live in shacks, and ride our bikes, while he’s riding around in limos, private jets, multiple huge mansions that must cost a fortune to heat and cool, and has a net worth of $100-200 million.

    2. It’s about Scott Walker portraying himself as an “average Joe” who’s frugal, while he lives in a $300,000 house with granite countertops and an in-ground pool, not to mention a Harley in the garage.

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