But Walker stopped short of calling for Burke to withdraw from the race, a proposal that was being pushed by state Sens. Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa and Alberta Darling of River Hills....
During a campaign stop in West Bend, Walker indicated Burke had not gone far enough in dealing with the controversy over the copied passages. Walker alluded to U.S. Sen. John Walsh of Montana, who quit a campaign over disclosures that he plagiarized large sections of the final paper in a master's degree program at the Army War College.
"Even Joe Biden, back in the 1988 presidential election, eventually had to pull out because of charges of plagiarism," Walker said.
Asked if Burke should pull out of the race, Walker said, "She should ultimately fess up to what actually happened with that plan. People expect a leader that's going to take responsibility for their actions.... Most people look at this and question, either you didn't know what was in the plan, or you did and you hoped that people wouldn't find out that it came from somewhere else.... This isn't just a campaign flier," he said. "This was a document that she told all of you in the press and the voters of this state was the centerpiece of her campaign. In fact, she not only mentioned that but she made a big deal to point out that this was because of her Harvard Business School experience that she had the expertise to put a plan like this together.... She said the voters should look at it. She even mocked what we put forward four years ago and in comparison ours wouldn't even be better than an eighth-grade term paper. Well, as people pointed out (Friday) even eighth-graders know you don't copy work from other people's work product."
September 20, 2014
"Gov. Scott Walker and two Republican state senators stepped up attacks Saturday on Democrat Mary Burke in the wake of a report..."
"... that sections of her jobs plan were copied from other Democratic campaigns."
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I support Scott Walker. I'm an ally. I'm in his camp. Etc.
Now that folks know where I stand, I think I can taken for one who sees this situation strictly in the context of merit. I'm glad Walker did not hammer Burke sufficiently hand to demand her withdrawal because it is not warranted. Eric Schnurer copied his own work; he recycled it. It's not wise, nor is good practice as a writer, but it's not plagiarism.
Advice to Walker campaign: Drop this "plagiarism" meme immediately. Mary Burke has done herself a mischief by firing Schnurer and thus looking panicky and frivolous. By piling on Walker will look vicious.
Walker knows she is wounded. "Never interrupt your enemy when he(she) is making a mistake."
Napoleon.
This is a tricky one because a lot of libertarian-leaning Republicans are preparing themselves for months of "plagiarism doesn't matter" arguments when the primaries get going. Walker may hurt his presidential ambitions with this episode due to the implied criticim. What we saw in the last 2012 cycle was that in a multicandidate race, going negative takes out the attacker as well as the attacked. Careful Governor.
Not a wisconsinite, so....
But, I think all Walker needed to point out was this:
" This isn't just a campaign flier," he said. "This was a document that she told all of you in the press and the voters of this state was the centerpiece of her campaign. In fact, she not only mentioned that but she made a big deal to point out that this was because of her Harvard Business School experience that she had the expertise to put a plan like this together"
Then laugh at the fact that it was cobbled together, from 3 other previous plans. I think that would have been enough. The other stuff may turn off anyone on the fence (assuming there is anyone on the fence in Wisconsin at this point).
not sure what the big deal is. Democrats are recycle their same failed ideas every election.
Women and Democrats love to be victims. Walker needs to keep this in mind. Any day know her camp is going to come out and claim victim status. You don't want to attack the victim.
Just laugh at her. Mockery is much more effective.
Just another part of the GOP "war on women".
#banbossy
#LeanIn
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is 100 percent working to get Burke elected.
I agree she should not withdraw from the Governor's race. She should, however, resign from her singular accomplishment of spending $100,000 of her family's money to sit on the Madison School Board, which would consider this plagiarism.
Walker cannot quit being the honest worker touting a Merit system versus the huge Liberal entitlement system run by and for the Barons and Duchesses of Higher Education and Union cronyism.
The election will confirm a revolution or be a counter -revolution.
Plagerism is an arrogant entitlement to the work of others.
It seems likely that it was the consultant who recycled his own stuff, thus no Burke plagiarism. As Walker said, the damning thing for Burke is "she made a big deal to point out that this was because of her Harvard Business School experience that she had the expertise to put a plan like this together" when, in fact, she had nothing to do with drafting the plan. It shows her up as an empty suit.
If you were deleted and you don't know why, please email me. (Never discuss deletions in the post.)
If this situation were reversed. Had Walker, not Burke, been touting plagiarized policy plans, imagine how the Left would be screaming bloody murder by now.
With the Wisconsin gubernatorial election being so close, Burke's plagiarism will lose it for her.
"Burke's plagiarism will lose it for her."
The election is too far off. It will be forgotten by then.
If this situation were reversed. Had Walker, not Burke, been touting plagiarized policy plans, imagine how the Left would be screaming bloody murder by now
Like ALEC? There has been over 30 ALEC bill introduced in Wisconsin. All copy-cat legislation introduced into other states. I was hoping Burke would kick Walker in the nuts over that, but Democrats aren't interested in playing any sort offense it appears.
This whole thing cheapens the name of plagiarism. As an instructor, I'm always trying to prevent students from plagiarizing -- yet here the Headlines blare about plagiarizing when in reality it's just a person recycling his work.
Maybe the brouhaha is because Burke presented these ideas as her own -- but who with half a mind is really going to believe that? (A point I've made before).
And yes, the election is 6 weeks away. Something else *outrageous* (eyeroll) will be spun up by the internet between now and then.
"There has been over 30 ALEC bill introduced in Wisconsin. All copy-cat legislation introduced into other states."
This is a silly comment.. If State A has a law against fill-in-the-blank, State B is precluded from having the same law?
The consultant's name was Eric Schnurer. That is very funny to me. In Yiddish, a schnorrer is a mooch, a beggar, a freeloader.
Since when did reiteration of one's own text become plagiarism?
Much to do about nothing in a contested political season.
Meh.
I'd love to read an interaction between these complaining parasites, er, Republican Politicians, wherein the "Journalist" asks them to quote, specifically, ideas that have been enacted that have been original to their own microscopic little brains.
State Senators in WI -- Democrats and Republicans -- are where they are because they've failed at every other thing they've attempted. There is probably not a more worthless bunch of public teat-suckers in the the Country.
"Maybe the brouhaha is because Burke presented these ideas as her own -- but who with half a mind is really going to believe that? (A point I've made before)."
I guess I have less then half a mind. Sure, they were drafted by somebody else, but since the wording was unchanged, we know Burke didn't even sit down and edit it. That's disappointing.
This incident tarnishes the Burke campaign narrative that Mary is a highly educated, hard working and responsible former business executive in the family enterprise. This brings the "two year snowboarding" excursion into perspective and highlights the holes in her resume.
She now looks like a privileged adult child where the "Peter Principle" now applies. Buying a position on the Madison School Board was at the upper limit of her abilities (or incompetence).
It certainly looks like Burke had little input on the document. HBS grads aren't intellectual heavyweights. They're networkers and coalition builders, not original thinkers.
This is a silly comment.. If State A has a law against fill-in-the-blank, State B is precluded from having the same law?
But in many cases the legislation is unchanged from state to state. Word for word. That's not copying someone else's work? If they were proud of the legislation it wouldn't be drafted in secret behind closed doors and they would disclose their ties to ALEC to the public, who will be living under those laws.
garage mahal said...
"I was hoping Burke would kick Walker in the nuts over that, but Democrats aren't interested in playing any sort offense it appears."
As in the old adage, "the best defense is a good offense"?
If I were a Democrat, what I'd find most offensive about candidate Burke and her supporters is their knee-jerk defensiveness: "firing" Schnurer, grasping at the false-equivalent ALEC argument, and over-explaining and appealing to semantics and technicalities — "It's completely mischaracterized to call it plagiarism, because the source of it is the source from the other plans as well," Burke said. "It is the original work of Eric Schnurer." Now you tell us.
Whatever you call it, the "plagiarism" dishonesty was committed by Burke herself.
She continues to be dishonest and defensive over the issue as she continues to refer to the 38-page color booklet as "my jobs plan," while text — not written by her and published without proper citation — remains in "her" plan.
Reading Meade's comment, it appears garage's ALEC harangue is not his own.
This incident tarnishes the Burke campaign narrative that Mary is a highly educated, hard working and responsible former business executive in the family enterprise.
This is an issue the Walker and his allies (at least the ones not being suppressed under gag orders) need to hammer home. She was selected by Mike Tate as the quintessential empty (pant)suit candidate with a media-friendly resume and not much else to recommend her to office.
That this incident lays bare the underlying emptiness of the Democrat's campaign is why the libs and their media allies have reacted so viscerally. They cannot let the curtain remain pulled back. Expect a well-timed John Doe leak to Dan Bice some time this week.
Wisconsin has never had a female governor. Isn't it about time?
-----Democrats and Republicans -- are where they are because they've failed at every other thing they've attempted. There is probably not a more worthless bunch of public teat-suckers in the the Country.
While I generally agree with bipartisan contempt of our political class, I think in Wisconsin under Walker we can look at positive accomplishments in legislation that look stellar compared to Illinois for example.
'This is a tricky one because a lot of libertarian-leaning Republicans are preparing themselves for months of "plagiarism doesn't matter" arguments when the primaries get going.'
Dems, OTOH, have long since gotten over that problem. 25 years or so ago it mattered. 6 years ago, it didn't. Not sure exactly when the transition occurred, or how sudden it was. But happen it most surely did. Burke reaps the benefits. No longer saddled with the "plagiarism matters" issue, they can continue to support her in good conscience.
And the idea that one can't plagiarize one's own work is not universally held by people who study it.
garage mahal said...
"Oh please. You don't care who wrote Walker or Burke's jobs plan."
You're right — I don't care who writes anything. What I care about is not being deceived. If Mary Burke had presented the document as "our plan" instead of "my plan", there would be no problem. And now her problem is not the "plagiarism" but her defensiveness. And her defensiveness indicates weak character in leadership competency.
The big news here is the fact that one media outlet finally decided to vet Burke on something. Most of us knew a year ago that she was a dimbulb but the media and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have decided to let that issue pass in order to try and defeat Walker.
What is Mary Burke's real economic plan? It isn't that plagiarized garbage about helping family farms transition to successors that her campaign tossed out in this "plan". Her real plan is:
Raise taxes, favor certain politically correct foreign companies like Talgo Trains, raise electricity prices on our State's manufacturing base in the form of energy regulations in the name of green energy and let the trial lawyers loose again to sue every Wisconsin manufacturer. Oh, and put more $$ and power back to the unions.
But we can't say any of that until after the campaign, because the few undecided swing voters in the State won't vote for that. Burke and the media just hope they can keep that secret in the bag until after the election.
Who the hell in their right mind thinks a Mary Burke governorship is going to improve the State's business climate?
You're right — I don't care who writes anything.
Thank you.
garage: "But in many cases the legislation is unchanged from state to state. Word for word. That's not copying someone else's work?"
Laws proposed and enacted at the state level might have to adhere to Federal legal parameters thus necessitating similar language regardless of the state wherein the law is enacted.
In terms of jobs plans, the difference I think I've discerned from some commenters here is that states themselves often have quite unique circumstances requiring a more precisely tailored/targeted plan for things such as job growth which would make the "copying and pasting" actions of the Burke campaign seem rather lazy, aloof, off the mark, etc.
----You're right — I don't care who writes anything.
Thank you. ----
Yes, we care who claims ownership and how that claim is grounded in real thought about solutions.
"Laws proposed and enacted at the state level might have to adhere to Federal legal parameters thus necessitating similar language regardless of the state wherein the law is enacted."
On a related note, there are only so many ways to say certain things. I had a graduate student who was accused of plagiarism because he wrote "[insert name of enzyme] is an an enzyme involved in nearly every aspect of [insert metabolic system]." Asked why I didn't catch it, since it was "plagiarized" from one of my own papers, I pointed out that I (and others) have repeatedly used that exact sentence (I was perfectly aware he had used it). Because it is about as concise and accurate a statement about the enzyme as you can make. The journals in my field don't like flowery prose. Just the facts.
For me it's not the "plagiarism." It's that her principal scrivener on her central policy issue was so lazy and venal that he would just cut and paste. They were in a hurry and they slapped something together that was pedestrian, stale and derivative. Pedestrian, stale and derivative is exactly what we can expect if Burke is elected.
As to withdrawal, it's ridiculous. You don't have to withdraw just because your adviser is a vacuous fool. But it does say something about who you are.
Most of us knew a year ago that she was a dimbulb but the media and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have decided to let that issue pass in order to try and defeat Walker.
This is not an original thought.
Plagiarism!!
Sincerely, the Pot calling the kettle plagiarist.
"What is Mary Burke's real economic plan?"
Here it still is. And she is still referring to it as "her plan".
Do a word search on "cluster".
There's a cluster alright. The "cluster" is in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and it probably begins with Mike Tate.
Yes, we care who claims ownership and how that claim is grounded in real thought about solutions.
So, who wrote Walkers jobs plan? Of course Walker was never asked. So it goes with the gutless cowards in the media and Democrats in this state.
Perfect timing though. Another audit of Walker's jobs agency came out Friday showing incompetence on every level and a jobs report showing Wisconsin lost 4300 jobs last month. It's been nearly 4 years since Act 10 was passed. Where are the results? "LQQK! Over there! A hired consultant used boilerplate campaign text from another campaign!"
"LQQK! Over there! A hired consultant used boilerplate campaign text from another campaign!"
You think we should do what instead of looking — cover out eyes?
That is the message, in her defensiveness, that I'm getting from Burke.
Meade, who wrote Walker's job plan? Do you think he sat down on a computer and typed it up himself? Do you care?
"Like ALEC? There has been over 30 ALEC bill introduced in Wisconsin. All copy-cat legislation introduced into other states. I was hoping Burke would kick Walker in the nuts over that, but Democrats aren't interested in playing any sort offense it appears."
What's the problem with using model legislation? Are you opposed to the Model Penal Code, the UCC, etc. That's a normal approach to policymaking.
What Burke did was different, first because she (through her agents) took blocks of text verbatim without attribution and presented it as if she had generated it internally, and second, and more importantly, because she is presenting herself as having special, Wisconsin-based expertise and a Harvard education, and this area, jobs, is the centerpiece of her campaign and her reason why we should choose her. This is raw material that the Walker campaign can use to undermine the substance of his opponent. And she's been attacking him for lacking substance here, saying his written materials were too short and too elementary. This is incredibly useful material for the Walker campaign.
I care, garage. Just like you, I probably care too much.
Maybe we should both just let it go, huh?
"This whole thing cheapens the name of plagiarism. As an instructor, I'm always trying to prevent students from plagiarizing -- yet here the Headlines blare about plagiarizing when in reality it's just a person recycling his work."
1. I don't think Walker put the label "plagiarism" on it.
2. Recycling one's own work is sometimes called "self-plagiarism," and education codes do address this. (And Mary Burke is on the school board.)
3. The person recycling his work is invisible. The work is presented as hers, so it should be generated by her campaign internally. She's responsible for her agents, and in fact she did "fire" this person. If what was done wasn't wrong, why did she fire him? All of this goes to the issue of executive competence, and we are trying to pick an executive.
This is incredibly useful material for the Walker campaign.
Indeed. Especially when his own jobs record has been an abysmal failure.
Do you think Walker typed up his jobs plan? Of course he didn't. Do you care he didn't credit the people that did? Of course you don't.
Plagiarism absolutely includes copying your own work without attribution. For example, would Madison Man be bothered if a student turned in a paper written for another class.
This is a good example of why recycling is plagiarism: hired to draft a new document, the consultant here just copied an old document and passed it off as new (assuming that Burke didn't know).
As for laws being the same from state to state, that's a feature, not a bug. There are a number of legal issues that are not federal concerns but where it is useful to have the same laws throughout the states. The best known example of these uniform laws (Google uniform laws for more information) is the Uniform Commercial Code, which governs business transactions, has been adopted by all 50 states, and makes life much easier in a national economy. Other uniform laws include laws governing which jurisdiction gets to rule on child custody, which limits parental kidnappings to try to get to a state that will be more favorable.
"As for laws being the same from state to state, that's a feature, not a bug."
It was a silly argument whose only positive attribute (for garage) was he got to invoke ALEC, one of the left's boogie men.
"Do you think Walker typed up his jobs plan? Of course he didn't."
I'm betting you have no knowledge of how much input Walker put into his plan.
"Walker indicated Burke had not gone far enough in dealing with the controversy over the copied passages."
And that makes any of this important, how?
Oh yeah, because whites said so.
Walker's said nothing more about his racist staff or changing the lives of blacks - specifically - huh?
White Americans have the priorities of monsters.
I'm talking "Pacific Rim",...
'm betting you have no knowledge of how much input Walker put into his plan.
That's the thing. Burke has to defend her plan and Walker isn't even asked about his. Walker is incredibly fortunate that the Wisconsin press corps are a group of lazy, compliant cowards.
David said...
"Plagiarism absolutely includes copying your own work without attribution. For example, would Madison Man be bothered if a student turned in a paper written for another class?"
More importantly, would WE be bothered if Professor MadisonMan WERE NOT bothered by a student deceiving the professor? I think that is at the nub of this issue.
"That's the thing. Burke has to defend her plan and Walker isn't even asked about his."
Burke is on defense because evidence has come to light that she did not contribute to her own plan. There is no evidence that Walker has done the same. Though I suppose we could open a secret John Doe investigation.
Burke is on defense because evidence has come to light that she did not contribute to her own plan
Really? 10 graphs that used boilerplate text out of a 48 page plan? You're fooling yourself if you think Walker wrote his plan. He can barely pull off a tweet.
Hey Garage-
As per usual, you got it backwards. WI gained 4200 jobs last month-it didn't lose 4300. Per the BLS:
August 2014 Employment: 2.904 million
July 2014 employment:2.898 million
Difference: 4200 more in August
August 2013 Employment:2.856 million
Jobs gain in one year:48,000
Link: http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.wi.htm
garage mahal said...
"You're fooling yourself if you think Walker wrote his plan."
But no one does think that. And, as far as we know, there is no evidence that Walker has tried to deceive anyone into thinking that his plan WAS written by Walker. You don't see the difference?
As per usual, you got it backwards. WI gained 4200 jobs last month-it didn't lose 4300. Per the BLS:
Using what Walker refers to as the "gold standard" of job stats Wisconsin lost 4300 jobs
Meade,
"I think that is at the nub of this issue."
There is no "this issue". This is contrived nonsense. It's whites deliberately AVOIDING "this issue" (they have a choice) for something totally without merit.
Can you picture Wisconsin blacks giving a damn over where Mary Burke got her jobs plan?
"Does it work?" might come up but, I'm pretty sure, how to get rid of Walker's racist staff is probably still the top topic in the barbershops.
But, for some odd reason, supposedly non-racist whites have other priorities - like keeping Walker in place.
Damn the blacks,...
Garage-
Here is your quote: "...a jobs report showing Wisconsin lost 4300 jobs last month." This is wrong. WI gained 4200 jobs. Now if you dig into the data, you can see that the state did lose 4300 private sector jobs-but that is not what you originally said.
Good heavens! Of course Walker isn't going to call for Burke to drop out! The Dumbocrats might actually replace her with someone who is not a fool.
I can hear the cry from Wisconsin ghettos right now:
"HEAVEN HELP US - Mary Burke's jobs plan came from Eric Schnurer - OH MY GOD!!!!"
They've gathered around a copy, that's been laying in the street for four hours, it's details running down the block unattended.
I expect riots any minute now,...
"Do you think Walker typed up his jobs plan? Of course he didn't. Do you care he didn't credit the people that did? Of course you don't."
As I've said in this thread or one of the other ones, of course, politicians have their ghostwriters, their text-producing agents, but they need to be able to present themselves to us as authentic and deserving our trust as they operate in an executive position and seek executive office.
If Burke becomes governor, there will be many subordinates chosen by her or chosen in her name by who knows who. These people will have a lot of power. She is asking for our trust. What assurances do we have? That's the core problem here.
-----Another audit of Walker's jobs agency came out Friday showing incompetence on every level and a jobs report showing Wisconsin lost 4300 jobs last month. -----
Yeah, but Wisconsin is still doing better than our neighboring blue swamps.
"For the second day in a row, the federal government published state-by-state data showing good news for Wisconsin's private-sector job gains relative to neighboring Midwest states," Secretary Newson said. "Today's release shows Wisconsin's private-sector job growth rate outperformed neighboring Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, as well as Ohio, during the 12-month period ending in August. Looking forward, we will remain committed to advancing strategies that help the private sector create even more opportunities for Wisconsin's working families."
Yesterday, the BLS published the latest available Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), an actual count of job growth, showing Wisconsin outpaced the neighboring Midwest states of Illinois and Minnesota in the rate of private sector jobs gained from March 2013 to March 2014.
http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/09/20/bls-august-2014-employment-report-wisconsin-outperforms-four-midwest-states-in--a-558014.html#.VB8ymcai1g0
Burke: "It is the original work of Eric Schnurer."
That's never been established. Serial plagiarists are like alcoholics in a bar.
The Wisconsin press will not likely challenge her claim. Already talk is shifting to Walker.
Ann Althouse,
"Blacks are asking for our trust. What assurances do they have? That's the core problem here."
FIFY
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