March 8, 2014--Grover Norquist,
president of Americans for Tax Reform moderated the session "On
Wisconsin! Turning Blue States Red." RNC chair Reince Priebus, F.
Vincent Vernuccio of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Terry
Scanlon, president of the Capitol Research Center, Luke Hilgemann, COO
of Americans for Prosperity, and Norquist discussed "After Wisconsin
and beyond right-to-work laws, what's possible now to free workers and
students from unionism?" Norquist noted that this was really two
panels in one. There are currently 24 right to work states;
Indiana was the 23rd state and Michigan the 24th. Vernuccio
lauded the work of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Americans
for Tax Reform in the recent UAW vote at the VW plant in
Chattanooga. Norquist commented that "the NRLB [is] out there
putting their thumb on the scale." Priebus, who served as chair
of the Republican Party of Wisconsin from 2007 to the end of 2010,
outlined some of the factors that contributed to Republicans' success
in Wisconsin. Pointing to the example of Gov. Scott Walker, who
served as a state legislator and county executive, Priebus said it is
important to build a bench, "to find those rising stars, and it's not
the show ponies we're looking for."
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