Uppity Wisconsin

Highway officials say roads will be snow-covered longer than typical this winter and layoffs in the summer are imminent if a provision in the state Senate's version of the budget is adopted,” reported the Wausau Daily Herald.

The article continued, “The provision requires that local governments allow outside contractors to do all road projects that cost more than $25,000, rather than having municipal public works crews do the work.”

I spent most of the morning phoning highway commissioners and workers. How does this provision affect what you do? I asked. Their answers gave me important insight.

I don’t know if you’ve been thinking about it, but the costs of long-term care have been on the mind of some friends of mine lately.

For reasons that we won’t go into here, they are in the process of pricing long-term care at care facilities…and yesterday afternoon, we had a chance to have a look at the “menu” of services (the facility's term) that can be purchased at this particular location.

If you are facing this issue in your own family, if you are a taxpayer thinking about how we plan to fund long-term care in the future…or if, one day, you expect to be old yourself…this conversation will surely matter.

Putting together the state budget is always a difficult process. But it is made more so by the deep budget deficit. A few weeks ago, legislative leaders and the Governor hammered out a deal. Later the deal was pushed through the legislature’s budget committee.

 

This week members of the Assembly are scheduled to vote on the budget. Behind the scenes members are told, “This budget is bad. We need to pass it as quick as possible and get out of town.”

 

In the Capitol, the culture is one of a few making the decisions and the many having their arms twisted to go along with the deal.

 

The culture of the Capitol has to change. Our job as elected officials is to take what’s happening in our districts to Madison. Once in Madison, we all have to be involved in making decisions. If we agree to deals we are not party to making, we not only give up our own power, we give up the power of the voters in our district.

 

One side of the room was upset about cuts to programs. The other side was unhappy about tax increases. I thought to myself, “Maybe you could get together, decide what you want to do and then let me know.”

Decisions about the state budget dominate nearly every conversation these days. People are unhappy about taxes at the same time they ask me for assistance. Every new person who receives assistance is a new ‘ask’ to spend state money.

The down turn in the economy means less money for states. Forty-two states face serious budget deficits; Wisconsin at nearly $6 billion deficit. People losing their jobs don’t have income. People facing tough times don’t buy things. This adds up to a lot less money for the state - at a time when more people need help.

When last we met, Gentle Reader, we were talking about more or less $150,000 in clothing and beauty services that had been purchased mostly for Sarah Palin’s use by the Republican National Committee. Since then, we have learned that John McCain himself once tried to outlaw the very type of contribution that led to this situation, we’ve heard McCain’s campaign offer a very non-maverick-y denial...and we’ve learned that the highest paid member of the McCain campaign staff—the person who presumably has the magic touch needed to turn this thing around—will be working her magic with a makeup brush. As we discussed yesterday, I think I could have dressed Palin for 1/3 of what the RNC paid. Yesterday we “purchased” five of the outfits I think she needs...and with half the shopping done, we’re $670 over budget. Can she be dressed for a mere $43,000? Let’s see if we can pull it off...

It's not just the title of one of my favorite Richard Thompson songs - it's also the theme of my thoughts today.

Since coming into office, Il Duce Bush has continually insisted that we have the best health care system in the world. All this time, I thought he was saying this because he was bragging about it, and arguing for leaving it alone, rather than moving to one of those nasty government-run socialistic pinko health care systems that all Republicans loathe (you know, the kind of pinko health care system that they actually benefit from themselves).

I read through the new budget numbers, and I now realize that I completely misunderstood.  He wasn't bragging, he was complaining.  And by God, the decider is gonna do something about it, by making sure that we can't possibly have the best health care system in the world.

   Wisconsin's landmark land stewardship fund is up for reauthorization in 2007-'09 budget deliberations, with a key vote likely quite soon at the state legislature's Joint Committee on Finance.

The long-standing, bi-partisan program ensures that some of the best undeveloped areas in Wisconsin remain in the public domain.

Contacts to legislators in support of the program are vital: Gathering Waters, a statewide conservation organization, has posted information about whom to contact, and how.

No better time than now.