Governor Scott Walker said today that if he loses a recall election next year, politicians throughout the country would be “afraid to make tough decisions” for fear of losing their jobs. And the Republican Walker said it would set back political courage, quote, “not just for a decade, but for a generation.” Walker made the remark on Rush Limbaugh’s national radio show, in which Mark Belling of W-I-S-N in Milwaukee was a substitute host. Democrats and the group United Wisconsin said earlier this month they have more than a half-million signatures demanding a recall election. Just over 540-thousand valid signatures will be needed – and they must be filed by January 17th. Walker again pointed to what he called “the big national unions” for getting behind the recall effort, as they remain upset about the state law which virtually eliminated collective bargaining for most public employee groups. But Walker predicted he would win a recall vote. He said it would be a victory for Wisconsin taxpayers -- and it would inspire courage to leaders in other states as well as Congress. Walker agreed that the vast majority of people know how they would vote. But to the undecided, Walker said quote, “Look at what we chose.” He said the state could have done five things to tackle its three-point-six billion-dollar budget deficit this year, including tax increase and accounting tricks. But Walker said he chose quote, “long-term, true structural reforms” that would leave the current state budget with a slight surplus. And in the governor’s words, “That’s about caring for the next generation.”