'Underworked' Wisconsin professor mocks Scott Walker's 'taxing' schedule running for president

A University of Wisconsin professor took some shots at Governor Scott Walker, who recently claimed university employees weren't working hard enough, saying the state-hopping governor should refund some of his salary for the time he spends out of state running for president in 2016, accord to WPR.

The Republican governor, who is expected to compete for the 2016 GOP presidential nod, recently issued a proposed budget calling for $300 million in cuts over two years to the UW System, saying faculty and staff need to work harder.

“Maybe it’s time for faculty and staff to start thinking about teaching more classes and doing more work,” Walker told a radio host on Wednesday. “This authority frees up the UW administration to make those sorts of requests, which, I think are needed not only here, but across the country.”

John Sharpless, a former Republican candidate for Congress and history teacher at University of Wisconsin-Madison, shot back by comparing his daily workload to the governors.

According to Sharpless, he works a full 9 to 5 day, during which time he is either teaching, preparing lectures, doing research, attending required meetings, advising students, or managing teaching assistants.

Sharpless added that he often spends his evenings reading and grading papers.

Addressing Walker's busy schedule, the professor mocked the toll hobnobbing out of state must take on the governor.

“None of this seems like work to a guy like Walker because he lives a different life,” Sharpless said. “And I’m not going to make fun of what he does. I’m sure being a governor is a lot of work. He has to spend a lot of time in Iowa and South Carolina and North Carolina and courting other Republican big-wigs. That taxes the man horribly.”

Sharpless also said the governor could help out with the budget by refunding a portion of his salary for time spent on the road.

“I think Scott should take a leave of absence and do this on his dime or the dime of the big corporate guys who pay his jet fare,” Sharpless suggested.

Sharpless went on to point out that he will retire with less of a pension than a local bus driver or the governor.

“I will retire with a salary that’s less than a Madison bus driver,” he said.  “I’ll retire with a lot less than Scott Walker has at his retirement, so the notion that we’re a bunch of fat cats who are getting rich off the taxpayer is a crock of cow poop.”

Scott Walker did not attend University of Wisconsin-Madison, attending Marquette University instead before dropping out before graduating.