As he considers running for president, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is making sure voters don’t forget that he’s not one to shrink from a fight.
More than one hundred demonstrators marched Monday on Walker’s home to protest budget cuts to education, Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel reported. The protest was just the latest in a string of demonstrations on University of Wisconsin campuses throughout the state over the last two weeks.
But Walker’s sons, Alex and Matt, said on Twitter that their grandparents are in fact the ones who live in that home.
After an epic clash with his state’s public-sector unions that rocketed him into the national spotlight, Walker’s new target appears to be public universities.
Walker sparked backlash in the last two weeks after he announced plans to slash $300 million in funding for state universities over the next two years — a 13% cut. Those cuts would also accompany reforms to the state university system that would hand universities greater independence.
In a statement days after Walker announced his proposal for the budget cuts, Walker welcomed a “vigorous debate” on the issue.
“Our proposal gives new cost-saving reforms to the UW through an authority—while freezing tuition. We believe it is a good plan,” Walker said. “Let the debate begin.”
Students, parents and professors weren’t the only ones taking to the streets Monday to take a public stand against Walker.
The Menominee Tribe, a Native-American tribe fighting to get a casino approved, continued their 155-mile march Monday toward the state Capitol. But as the protesters neared the state capital, Walker issued a letter indicating that he wouldn’t change his mind.