Unaffordable Agenda
Governor Doyle is changing his stripes. Now he wants “affordability.”
That’s what he said in his State of the State Address last week: his “affordability agenda” will help the ever-squeezed middle class afford life in Wisconsin.
The state’s going to make sure you’ve got health care, that your kids go to college, that your home is heated and that you’ve always got a good-paying job.
And we’re going to pay for all that by…squeezing the middle class, I suppose. Or more accurately, their kids.
Someone is going to have to pay for it, after all.
Remember when then-Attorney General Doyle was a candidate for Governor? He was adamant that Wisconsin’s budget process had to be cleaned up. No more accounting gimmicks. No more kicking spending down to future budgets. No more relying on excessive borrowing to pay for today’s spending. No raising taxes. He specifically ruled out raising the fees for drivers’ licenses. He was furious that the state had raided the tobacco settlement to pay for current spending, because that money was supposed to be used for something else.
He wanted an honest government we could all afford.
Then he got elected, and in the grand tradition of politicians who say one thing and do another, he broke all those promises.
He has made frequent use of accounting gimmicks, which has left us with a $2.1 billion deficit. He shifted money from revenue-funded accounts (transportation, conservation, recycling) to pay for current spending, and increased borrowing to make up the difference. His administration has worked overtime to find new ways to tax our citizens. He raised fees.
All the things he said he wouldn’t do, he’s done.
This reduces our hope of reversing a troubling trend: the trend of people with money, assets, and/or earning potential leaving the state.
You may have seen this story a few weeks ago. The non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance did a study, which shows how Wisconsin lost $4.7 billion in net worth during the years 1995-2000.
Why? High taxes, fewer economic opportunities, less incentive to invest in our state. Retired people are picking up and moving, and they’re taking their property and their money with them. College grads are leaving, because there are more and better job opportunities elsewhere. Investors are looking to states which offer higher and faster growth.
Granted, Governor Doyle wasn’t governor during those years, so that’s not his fault. But he was elected in large part because he promised an agenda to reverse that trend.
Instead, he gives us an “affordability agenda” which promises more taxes and fees to pay for it, more bureaucracy to administer it, and more regulations to enforce it.
Great idea.
The reason Governor Doyle’s “affordability agenda” isn’t affordable is: it expands the power and scope of government. Far from being affordable, this is certain to be unaffordable in the long run.
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Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
That’s what he said in his State of the State Address last week: his “affordability agenda” will help the ever-squeezed middle class afford life in Wisconsin.
The state’s going to make sure you’ve got health care, that your kids go to college, that your home is heated and that you’ve always got a good-paying job.
And we’re going to pay for all that by…squeezing the middle class, I suppose. Or more accurately, their kids.
Someone is going to have to pay for it, after all.
Remember when then-Attorney General Doyle was a candidate for Governor? He was adamant that Wisconsin’s budget process had to be cleaned up. No more accounting gimmicks. No more kicking spending down to future budgets. No more relying on excessive borrowing to pay for today’s spending. No raising taxes. He specifically ruled out raising the fees for drivers’ licenses. He was furious that the state had raided the tobacco settlement to pay for current spending, because that money was supposed to be used for something else.
He wanted an honest government we could all afford.
Then he got elected, and in the grand tradition of politicians who say one thing and do another, he broke all those promises.
He has made frequent use of accounting gimmicks, which has left us with a $2.1 billion deficit. He shifted money from revenue-funded accounts (transportation, conservation, recycling) to pay for current spending, and increased borrowing to make up the difference. His administration has worked overtime to find new ways to tax our citizens. He raised fees.
All the things he said he wouldn’t do, he’s done.
This reduces our hope of reversing a troubling trend: the trend of people with money, assets, and/or earning potential leaving the state.
You may have seen this story a few weeks ago. The non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance did a study, which shows how Wisconsin lost $4.7 billion in net worth during the years 1995-2000.
Why? High taxes, fewer economic opportunities, less incentive to invest in our state. Retired people are picking up and moving, and they’re taking their property and their money with them. College grads are leaving, because there are more and better job opportunities elsewhere. Investors are looking to states which offer higher and faster growth.
Granted, Governor Doyle wasn’t governor during those years, so that’s not his fault. But he was elected in large part because he promised an agenda to reverse that trend.
Instead, he gives us an “affordability agenda” which promises more taxes and fees to pay for it, more bureaucracy to administer it, and more regulations to enforce it.
Great idea.
The reason Governor Doyle’s “affordability agenda” isn’t affordable is: it expands the power and scope of government. Far from being affordable, this is certain to be unaffordable in the long run.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
posted by John Q Cheesehead | 10:13 AM
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