PolitiFact Wisconsin looks at 5 key pieces of Scott Walker’s record

With the nation’s governors meeting in Washington this week, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin took time out to represent the GOP’s viewpoint on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. Walker is among the Republican Party’s highest-profile governors, and he’s widely considered a possible candidate for president in 2016.

Wallace tried to get Walker to answer questions about a secret email system that linked Walker’s county and campaign staffs when Walker was a county executive. Those questions followed the release last week of 27,000 pages of emails; Walker downplayed the release as “old news.”

Meanwhile, our partners at PolitiFact Wisconsin have been fact-checking Walker’s record on jobs, taxes and the state budget. They’ve come up with five key things to know about Walker’s fiscal record. You can also browse Walker’s entire scorecard on the Truth-O-Meter. We’ve rated more than 80 statements from Walker.

And if you missed it, be sure to check out PolitiFact Wisconsin’s special report, which looked closely at the “mystery” of Walker’s college years and entry into politics:

The story of Scott Walker’s rise to power from College Republican to head of Democrat-heavy Milwaukee County to a governorship that survived a massive recall drive is well known.

Yet as he gears up for re-election and raises his national profile, the story of Walker’s formative political years — the student activism, his early exit from Marquette University and campaign debut at 22 — remains surprisingly disputed.

Some Walker critics have engaged in a long campaign of unproven attacks, taking advantage of his reluctance — until now — to shed more light on this period. Walker has sometimes fueled the fire by shifting how he presents elements of his biography.

State Democrats cry the governor was “kicked out” of student elections at the Jesuit university in Milwaukee — and maybe booted from Marquette altogether.

Walker, meanwhile, insists he left on his own just one semester shy of a degree as part of a career decision unrelated to any political future.

In this item we’ll examine what is known and unknown and what is perhaps unknowable regarding the statements made by both sides. Read more …