Wisconsin governor says his public union philosophy like FDR

MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker says Detroit would not be bankrupt and Chicago public schools would be flourishing if those cities were in Wisconsin and operating under the state’s public union laws.

Days before he hosts the National Governors Association conference in Wisconsin, Walker previewed his speech to state leaders in an address to a government research conference in Milwaukee Monday.

The Journal Sentinel says Walker likened his public union philosophy to that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, saying the former president felt “that there wasn’t a need for collective bargaining in the public sector “because the government is the people.”

Walker says if Detroit were in Wisconsin, Detroit wouldn’t be declaring bankruptcy. And if Chicago were in Wisconsin, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel would be successful with his school reforms.

Contentious legislation passed in Wisconsin in 2011 repealed collective bargaining for most public employees.