Helpful Tips to Pass a Responsible Budget

By Gordon Hintz 

MADISON – As the state budget impasse between the Republican Senate and Republican Assembly continues, Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) offered five budget tips for legislative Republicans to help pass a responsible budget.

1.      Pass a long-term transportation funding solution to address the ongoing shortfall.  As long as transportation funding relies on increased borrowing or delayed projects, budgets will remain difficult. If you continue borrowing, more transportation revenue is spent paying off debt and interest. Plus important building projects in the UW System will be cut in order to manage total state debt.  If you raid the general fund to pay for roads, that funding comes at the expense of other state investments like K-12 public education. If you continue to delay projects, those cost increase, the state spends more on maintenance, and the problem will get worse for the 2019-21 budget. You increased fees to fund our state parks so it is hard to understand what is different here. Just fix it.

2.      Fund your most important priorities first. If funding K-12 education is truly the most important investment, then start there and pay for Wisconsin’s public schools first.  This might mean you don’t have enough money to repeal the state forestry mill tax for $180 million or fund the Governor’s increased school levy credit at the full amount. But if putting dollars in classrooms around the state is really a priority, then there should not be a disagreement.

3.      Don’t create new spending programs when you are unable or unwilling to fund existing ones. If you are struggling to fund K-12 education or the UW System’s existing programs, don’t create new ongoing expenses like expanded taxpayer supported private school vouchers for kids that are already going to private school.  And reconsider the new $3 million already approved for a new redundant public policy school of conservative thought.

4.      Don’t phase in tax cuts you won’t be able to pay for in the future. The manufacturing and agriculture tax credit was passed in the 2011 budget at the last minute, with zero public hearing or input. It was supposed to be gradually phased in starting in 2013 before reaching a total annual cost of $128 million in 2017 when fully implemented. The cost of the credit in the current 2015-17 budget is $517.4 million. Despite modest growth in state revenue, programs were cut in order to pay for the credit, such as the $250 million cut to the UW System.  It is now expected to cost $320.2 million in FY2018 and $334 million in FY2019. Don’t make this mistake again.  Before you consider proposals such as repealing the personal property tax, make sure you can pay for it in the future. Since the Governor’s proposed budget spends $366 million more than the revenue collected, it is unlikely that the state will be able to cover the local revenue loss in future budgets without cutting other state programs.

5.      Don’t use one-time money to pay for ongoing expenses. Spending one-time money from an existing fund balance or transferring money from a segregated account to cover ongoing general fund expenses creates future imbalances.  It is irresponsible to use one-time money during a period of modest economic growth. Raiding the state veterans nursing home fund to pay for ongoing veterans trust fund programs creates future imbalances. When balances run out, the state general fund will have to cover the cost.

A Few Budget Details that Didn't Make the Headlines

By Kathleen Vinehout 

Governors are a bit like salesmen,” I recently told a reporter. “They put good news in the headlines and bury bad news in the small print.”

Governor Walker recently released his two-year state budget. Amid much fanfare, he touted providing much needed money for schools, roads, and the UW. I went digging through budget documents released by the Governor. I knew there was more to the story.

First, I must say Wisconsin has one of the most opaque budgeting processes I have ever seen. For example, there is no clear table comparing actual spending in each fiscal year to budgeted spending.

We are still waiting for some details the Governor has not yet released. For example, his capital budget, which includes total proposed borrowing, is not yet available.

In the next month, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) will compile an independent analysis of the budget proposal. The LFB will provide details on where money comes from and how it is spent.

Until then, we have documents prepared by the Governor’s staff and those who write our bills – the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB). The small print I refer to came from the LRB, the Governor’s office, and state agencies’ requests.

How much will Wisconsin spend over two years? The total budget without borrowing is $76,097,880,600. (The final budget will likely be closer to $77 billion, as road fund borrowing and other building projects are added.)

This budget (without new debt) is $2.8 billion more than the last budget and is the largest in state history. Of course, EVERY new budget is larger than the previous budget.

Governor Walker made a special point of reminding people his school and road spending is the “highest ever.” Maybe someone should remind him, total spending is also the “highest ever.”

The budget includes money from state taxes and fees including gas taxes, as well as tuition and money from the federal government. The Governor’s structures his budget around the budget requests from each agency in state government. Governor Walker proposes spending $68 million more than the agencies themselves requested.

Almost one-third of the budget goes to Health, of which ninety-percent is the Medicaid program. This is the largest and fastest growing part of spending. We often think of Medicaid as care for poorer families (BadgerCare). But, roughly two-thirds of the Medicaid budget is spent on long-term care for the elderly and disabled.

Over the next few months, we will learn much more about the budget details. In the meantime, here are a few items of small print that didn’t make it in the Governor’s Budget Address.

The Department of Natural Resources lost 43 positions while Circus World gained ten new positions.

The new budget added almost 500 positions to the Department of Administration (DOA). All but one of these jobs listed were “Supervisory and Management.” This staff increase is almost half (47%) of the DOA workforce. Some positions are transfers to DOA from other agencies. Overall, the Governor increases net staff (some lost, some gained) by a little more than 400 full-time equivalents.

Buried in the small print is the elimination of the stray voltage program. This service helps farmers deal with stray electricity that has dire effects on animals and humans. The governor claimed the problems are mostly resolved. However, constituents tell me, in western Wisconsin, many problems remain.

The budget proposes eliminating the Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine. The last issue of this ever-popular magazine is set for winter of next year.

The budget eliminates the Educational Approval Board. This agency oversees for-profit colleges. Eliminating state oversight of for-profit colleges is foolish when some colleges closed, fraud investigations of others are continuing, and students question the value of the education.

Budgets are plans to spend resources based on our priorities. The process must be an opportunity for us to discuss our ideas and concerns for our state and invest money in solutions.

Debate on our priorities for state spending will occur over the next four or five months. Please add your voice to the decision-making process. The state budget is the most important bill lawmakers will take up and it deserves the input of all Wisconsinites!

Taylor Slams Walker for Pitting School Kids Against Educators

By Chris Taylor 

 After his failed Presidential bid just a year and a half ago, it appears as though Governor Scott Walker is using his divide and conquer tactics to once again revive his role in the conservative spotlight.  Yesterday, in his fourth budget address, he proposes expanding certain provisions of Act 10, forcing school districts across Wisconsin to comply or lose their funding.  Current law only requires units of local government to force employees to pay a minimum of 12 percent for their health care premiums – not school districts.  Under Walker’s provision, school districts would now be forced to comply with this mandate. 

“Pitting our children against our educators is disgusting enough, but then blackmailing districts to comply with his new mandate or lose the new funding they desperately need is sickening.  In the face of a severe teaching shortage, which Walker has only contributed to over the years, his obsession with punishing public sector employees is punitive, vindictive and only compounds the problem.  The big losers once again are our children,” Taylor said.

Madison Metropolitan School District is currently compliant with Act 10 and successfully negotiated with both their local HMOs and educational staff to control health care costs.  They are at risk of losing $11 million under Walker’s proposal.  Madison is not the only district affected.  Districts in Beloit, Janesville, Oconomowoc just to name a few, will also be impacted by this mandate. 

After suffering over $1 billion in funding cuts over the first six years of Walker’s tenure, school spending on teacher salaries and other school staff has fallen faster than the national average.  Wisconsin has already experienced the biggest decline of any state in spending on employee benefits.  As a result, Wisconsin is experiencing an acute teacher shortage. 54 percent of districts are experiencing a teacher shortage in math and 50 percent are experiencing a shortage in science (Wisconsin Budget Project: Budget Cuts and Teacher Shortages 1/11/2017).  Teacher quality is one of the most important school-based determinants of student success. 

“To hold our kids ransom to score political points is the lowest of the low.  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for our children and say no to these bullying tactics that are intended to hurt our 870,000 public school kids and make Wisconsin’s teacher shortage worse,” Taylor concluded.

Scott Walker - Financial Dilettante

By Jeff Simpson

Today Scott Walker tweeted this:

If your kids give you a wish list for Christmas & they don't get everything on the list that's not a shortfall, that's living within budget. pic.twitter.com/D29sycGS8M

— Governor Walker (@GovWalker) November 22, 2016

Apparently Scotty has not opened his mail lately, or he would see this: 

 Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin (R) is in some serious debt.National Journal's Shane Goldmacher reported Monday that new federal financial documents showed that Walker had credit-card debts totaling more than $20,000 from two separate cards.
The personal financial disclosure forms filed with the Federal Election Commission also revealed that Walker owed another $100,000 in student-loan debt for his children.
One of the debts is via Barclays and is estimated to be between $10,000 and $15,000. The interest rate on the debt is 27.24%.
The other credit-card debt is via Bank of America from 2011. On that debt, Walker also owes between $10,000 and $15,000, with an interest rate of 11.99%.
Walker's assets, by comparison, are not substantial. In the documents, he listed six investments totaling between $1,000 and $15,000, a life-insurance policy, and a deferred compensation plan.
This isn't the first time Walker has reportedly been in debt. The Daily Beast and The Boston Globe both reported back in April that Walker owed Sears up to $50,000 in credit-card debt.

Who the hell buys $50,000 worth of crap from Sears?   Seriously?  

We also can not forget the Million dollars he stiffed numerous small businesses and Wisconsin taxpayers with! 

Facing an estimated $1 million in debt from his failed presidential campaign, Gov. Scott Walker is now soliciting donations to pay it off.

The Wisconsin governor dropped out of the 2016 presidential race in September, and campaign finance reports released last month showed his short-lived campaign raised $7.4 million but spent money as quickly as it came. Those reports showed the campaign burned through about $90,000 a day, in part due to exorbitant salaries paid to a massive staff.

We should also remind Mr. Walker that he should maybe feel the same way about his day job:

Wisconsin state revenues are projected to fall $693 million short of what state agencies have requested for the 2017-19 budget, Gov. Scott Walker's administration said Monday.

Maybe, just maybe, Scott Walker is not the person we want to be getting financial advice from.

As a matter of fact, as Capper pointed out before, Mr. Walker is not someone we want to be getting Christmas List advice for the kids from either!

Wisconsin’s Self-Inflicted Budget Problems

Just six months after Wisconsin’s two-year state budget was passed, state revenues are projected to come in below expectations due to slow economic growth. Less revenue makes it more difficult for the current Legislature to pass bills with any cost. Even worse, the slower economic growth projections forecast significant budget challenges for the future 2017-2019 budget.

But don’t take it from me. On February 2, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said “I think this next state budget is going to be just as rough as this past one. The economy is not going to continue to soar, it's going to lag”.  As a reminder, that ‘past one’ Senator Fitzgerald is referring to is the budget that slashed $250 million from the UW System and failed to even attempt to address the $1.05 billion cut from public schools over the last five years.  What is most frustrating is these cuts cannot simply be chalked up to a lack of money, since they were made during a budget that spent over a billion dollars more than the previous one.

So why is Wisconsin state government in such bad financial shape? The answer is short-sighted budgeting and poor state economic growth.

Two budget decisions continue to stand out. The first is the ongoing decision to refuse the Medicaid expansion that would save Wisconsin taxpayers $320 million in our current budget alone, while providing health insurance for 83,000 more people.  Wisconsin is the only upper Midwestern state to reject the federal money. Governor Walker and legislative Republicans have decided that denying health insurance to those earning less than $16,240 a year (to make a political point) is more important than funding K-12 public education and the UW System.

The second budget decision has been blindly supporting an expansive tax credit passed in Governor Walker's first budget in 2011 that eliminates most state income taxes on owners of factories and agriculture producers. Originally estimated to cost $128 million a year by 2016-17, it is now estimated to cost more than twice the amount ($283.9 million). Simply delaying the final phase in of this credit by two years could have saved nearly $78 million in the current budget.

These tax cuts are among the more than $4.7 billion in state tax cuts passed over the last 5 years in an effort to drive economic growth. But the reality is that it hasn’t worked: Wisconsin’s economy has continued to lag behind the nation as well as neighboring states.  Over the last four years, Wisconsin has been 32nd in private sector job growth, last in the Midwest, and over the last year Wisconsin has had a job growth rate that is nearly half of the national rate. Last week, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank announced that Wisconsin is one of only seven states that likely has a shrinking economy in spite of the growing national economy.  This news is made worse by the fact that Wisconsin is one of the only states in that group that cannot attribute its sluggish performance to historically low oil prices. This data mirrors the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimates that show Wisconsin lost 8,800 private sector jobs between October and December of 2015.

So, while Senator Fitzgerald and I don’t agree often, I must agree wholeheartedly with his assessment that our next state budget is likely to be ‘rough’. And I will go even further and make the not-so-bold prediction that rough budgets will continue as long the Governor and Republican majority continue to sacrifice valued Wisconsin institutions, like education, on the altar of badly-crafted tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and aren’t designed to create jobs.

State Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) serves on the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

Scott Walker Reflux

By Jeff Simpson


Because some things are so stupid and extreme they should never be forgotten.   This is one of them 

Walker said UW campuses might be able to tap into their reserves to offset the cuts, but he emphasized “it will make them do things that they have not traditionally done.”
“They might be able to make savings just by asking faculty and staff to consider teaching one more class per semester,” Walker told reporters Wednesday in Madison. “Things like that could have a tremendous impact on making sure that we preserve an affordable education for all of our UW campuses, and at the same time we maintain a high-quality education.”

Vince Sweeney, vice chancellor for university relations at UW-Madison, said the most recent survey data found UW-Madison faculty spend 50 to 70 hours per week teaching and supporting students, participating in research and other activities.
“It should be noted that many also bring in millions of dollars in grant funding that is a direct boost to the Wisconsin economy,” Sweeney said. “Many create their own companies, which go on to create state jobs. We value their work greatly.”

So this happened today:

UW-Madison scientists have grown human vocal cord tissue in a dish, which made sound when transplanted into voice boxes from cadaver dogs — a development that could lead to better treatments for people with voice disorders.
Such implants likely won't be ready for human testing for years. But recreating the tissue, known as a vocal fold, and showing it was functional in dog larynges and not rejected by a mouse model of the human immune system are significant steps, the researchers said.
“We never imagined that we would see the impressive level of function that we did — and that this engineered tissue, created with actual human vocal fold cells, would have such strong potential as a therapy," said Nathan Welham, a UW-Madison speech-language pathologist and leader of the research team.
The researchers reported their findings Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine

I hope anyone who has, or has a family member, with a disease that has benefited the last twenty years thanks to major advances in research, remembers this when they go to the polls next November.

 

Devastating Budget Passes Assembly

By Chris Taylor 

Madison – Last night in the State Assembly, Republicans passed a budget that doesn’t reflect the priorities of the people of our state. The 2015-17 budget makes devastating cuts to Wisconsin’s public education system. From a $250 million cut to one of the state’s leading economic engines, the UW System, to the draconian expansion of the private school voucher program at the expense of our public school children; the GOP’s choices in this budget will negatively affect the people of Wisconsin for generations.

 

“As a member of the Joint Finance Committee, I was honored to have the opportunity to dig into the financial issues that affect our state. I was even willing to work across party lines to do what was best for the people of Wisconsin. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, the Republican majority voted lock step on nearly every major issue, ignoring the values of the people. And when it came to one of the biggest issues affecting the future of Wisconsin, our public education system, Republicans turned their backs on the people to support their wealthy campaign donors and special interests by giving special interests voucher groups the gift of a lifetime with a private school voucher expansion that will permanently drain more money from our public schools. 

 

“Unfortunately the people of Wisconsin learned that the Republicans cannot be trusted to do the right thing. We’ve received thousands of contacts from people across the state over the last few months begging and pleading for us to listen. Democrats listened, stood up and offered thoughtful alternatives to the Governor’s harmful budget.

 

“Sadly, Republicans could not stand up to our absentee Governor and now they must take responsibility for this terrible budget. At the end of the day, by supporting this budget, Republicans have declared that the people of this state are not worthy of the best public school system, the best teachers, the best parks, the best jobs or the best health care.”

The UW System Cuts Disaster

By Jeff Simpson

 Even though we have had five years of complete Republican rule, and the Governor and his co-horts campaigned on us having a surplus, the sad reality is that we have a bigger budget deficit than when Scot Walker took office.  That led to a ridiculous austerity budget and one of the places where they proposed the biggest cuts was to the University of Wisconsin system.

While it is too late to do anything about the Republican dishonesty, it is not to late to stop these devastating cuts to the UW System.

Thanks to WisconsinBudgetProject, we know how bad they can be.




Scott Walker is definitely "focused like a laser beam" on jobs.....unfortunately his focus seems to be on eliminating jobs.   

The Reality Sets In Wisconsin

By Jeff Simpson

You would think that three budgets in, with absolute complete control over all three branches of government, that the Wisconsin economy would be thriving. 

You would be very wrong! 

There will be no additional tax revenue over the next two years to help reduce Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed cuts to K-12 schools and the University of Wisconsin System, state lawmakers learned Wednesday.
The eagerly awaited update to projected tax collections, which policymakers had hoped would include at least enough money to plug a $127 million cut that Walker has proposed for public schools next year, contained no such windfall.
“We believe that the current estimates for the three-year period are still reasonable and should not be adjusted,” wrote Bob Lang, director of the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
As recently as Tuesday, Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee said they were hoping for improved projections so money could be spent on K-12 schools and to reduce Walker’s $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System. Republicans have also said they want to reduce Walker’s $1.3 billion in borrowing to pay for roads.

Not sure how many more times, that the Republicans from Wisconsin, have to prove that they have no business governing but we are definitely paying the price!  

 

The Shorter Walker Budget

By Jeff Simpson

This says all you need to know about Scott Walker.

Inherent in this broad mission are methods of instruction, research, extended training and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth.

Page 546 of his budget, check it out yourself.  

Jim Villa InAction

By Jeff Simpson 

 

Remember a few months back, when despite the strong opposition of the hiring committee, the University of Wisconsin hired Scott Walkers good friend, Jim Villa to be a political "strategist". Being so tight with Scott Walker, they even had to make Villa a Vice President and pay him over $200,000 taxpayer dollars a year.   

See not everyone struggles in Walker's Wisconsin.  

Even though Jim Villa was vastly unqualified for this job, and by hiring him it took some of the shine off our great University System, it was accepted because he could deliver results with his good friends at the Capitol.  

Now the University of Wisconsin has found out what so many others have, its not about competence its about cronyism.  

In Villa's first chance to lobby for the UW System, he delivered,  

An out of nowhere, massive $300 MILLION cut that will devastate Wisconsin's key economic driver and force layoffs, and campus closings.  

Good job Jimmy, as if the Bigotry wasn't enough!  

See the important thing is that people that actually "like" Scott Walker get paid for their efforts.   It is unfortunate that we have to pay so dearly for that reward.   

Competence in work is so last administration.   

At least UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank has recognized incompetence and moved on.   When looking for help in stopping these disastrous cuts, she no longer looks to the person being paid so handsomely to do so, she is going over his head!

UW-Madison will tap influential alumni and the parents of students in a campaign to convince state legislators that Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cut to the University of Wisconsin System is too much to bear.

Since he is bad at his job, let's hope at the very least, that he is as big a hit at office parties as he is at ALEC conventions and that he used his taxpayer funded healthcare to get his personal problems cleaned up! 

Budget Numbers: Is It Really All Smoke And Mirrors

Budget Numbers: Is It Really All Smoke and Mirrors by Senator Kathleen Vinehout “Are we in the red or in the black? What’s the truth? What’s the reality?” The rural Trempealeau County woman was clearly frustrated. “What do the figures really mean?” she asked me. “Is there a big hole? Or not? Is it all smoke and mirrors?” Fresh off the rhetoric of the campaign trail, people are rightly confused about where the state is headed and what numbers are real. It’s hard to find someone who is not just outright frustrated at what they see as intentional distortions. But when spring comes, lawmakers will be working hard trying to balance what is sure to be a $70 billion-plus spending plan. Somehow, they will have to balance the books. How can we tell what’s real? Let us begin with hard cash: money coming into state coffers. In a two-year budget, what’s real – money actually coming in – can be found in the tax returns of the first year. The state’s budget year runs July 1 through June 30. It takes a while to tally things and pay year-end bills. So numbers change a bit while accounts are tallied and then audited. Preliminary tax returns show that individual income tax collection is down by about 2½% and corporate income tax is down by over 9%. Individual income tax makes up over half of the general fund. This puts the actual total down about 2% over the budget estimate. A sharp drop in corporate income tax collection is important. There are different theories why. Perhaps companies are not making money; or too many dollars were given away in corporate tax breaks. Just one tax break – the manufacturing and ag tax credit – cost taxpayers almost half the amount by which corporate income tax collection dropped. (Tax breaks passed in the last four years total over 50 separate items and will cost taxpayers an estimated $1.1 billion next fiscal year.) So we know things did not go well in the last fiscal year. Will they get better? This depends on with whom you talk – but let’s take the least politically minded entity in the state budget process – the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB). When allowed to do the math without any partisan driven assumptions – and this is important – the LFB estimates Wisconsin will begin the next budget process in the red by about $1.766 billion. You may have heard this number rounded up to $1.8 billion. This is how much money is needed to fund the commitments in the coming budget. The number is an estimate – as all budget numbers are estimates. But it is based on the best nonpartisan assumptions going forward and follows the conventions used in estimating past budget ‘starting points.’ In the final weeks of the campaign there were several other numbers tossed around. One used by the Governor was that Wisconsin was $535 million in the black. The Governor used a memo prepared by LFB to buttress his claim. In this memo the nonpartisan LFB was directed by Finance Co-Chair John Nygren to make several assumptions. Namely, “let us assume Wisconsin brings in more money and spends less.” Not surprisingly, the numbers were better. Politifact in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed the ‘$535 million in the black’ and rated it False. Other factors loom large in balancing the next state budget. Not included in this analysis is the mismatch between money coming in for roads and bridges and money going out. The Governor and lawmakers voting for the last budget put nearly a billion in new spending on the state’s credit card. The transportation fund cannot support this level of borrowing. Balancing the next budget will be a challenge. Needs are great. Tax money given away in the form of tax breaks cannot be spent on vital services. To begin an honest budget discussion, let’s start with the best information and agree on the facts. To paraphrase Ambassador and former US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: You can have your own opinion but not your own set of facts.

This email was sent to jeff_simpson7@yahoo.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. You can also keep up with Kathleen at KathleenVinehout.org on Twitter and on Facebook Please do not reply to this email address. It is not monitored. To contact us directly please use info@kathleenvinehout.org

Authorized and Paid for by Voters for Vinehout, Terri Stanley, Treasurer

NO To Scott Suder

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker vows 'we'll act' on public assistance fraud:

:

"There's a number of things from the stories we've seen and from other things that have come up since then we'll act on," Walker said when questioned at an unrelated event in Milwaukee last week....

Walker declined to disclose details about how he plans to tackle the issue other than to say changes would be rolled out.

I have the perfect way for Governor Walker to prove he is serious about cracking down on public assistance fraud and being a watchdog for Wisconsin taxpayer money!

Don't hire Scott Suder!

In an interview, Fitzgerald confirmed what other lawmakers such as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) are openly acknowledging — that the grant was pushed heavily by former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford), who is any day expected to take a political appointment in Gov. Scott Walker's administration with a still undecided salary that could be $107,000 annually — more than twice his pay of $49,943 a year as a lawmaker.

As the May 13 letter shows, Fitzgerald said he understood that the grant was aimed at United Sportsmen, contradicting a past statement by Suder that the grant was meant to be competitive and wasn't being steered to one group.

"This was one item among a slew of items that we were dealing with at the end" of the budget, Fitzgerald said. "When we started horsetrading items back and forth, the Assembly had a list of things and Scott Suder — this was his thing and I think he'd be proud to say it was."

 Not appointing Scott Suder to cushy state job(after he orchestrated such a dirty deal) at double his old income would truly send a message to the people of Wisconsin that you do care about the budget and their tax dollars.  

Going forward with the appointment would send the EXACT opposite message.  It would show that the Governor has no interest in saving Wisconsin taxpayer's money.  That anyone who would be in such a hurry to reward his friends with that much taxpayer money, and in the process almost cost the state $30 million dollars, does not deserve a promotion.

To go forward with this appointment, would send the message that the Governor  is a placeholder to make sure the GOP establishment get taken care of and services and budget be dammed. 

So Governor Walker, which one will it be?

Call/email the Governor and tell him NO to any appointment for Scott Suder! 

govgeneral@wisconsin.gov

Office of Governor Scott Walker
115 East Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
(608) 266-1212

@scottkwalker  and/or @govwalker 





   


More on Scott Suder's forgettable career here! 

Same Ole Song

By Jeff Simpson

The Madison School District passed its $433.6 Million annual budget with a 4.47% hike in the levy. 

In two separate votes, the board passed the budget and tax levy 6-1, with member Mary Burke casting the no votes.

The $433.6 million budget includes a $260.4 million tax levy. The levy means homeowners will pay $12.03 per $1,000 of assessed value, up 51 cents from last year. That translates to a $119 increase over last year on the average $231,000 Madison home.

The 4.47 percent increase over last year’s $249.3 million levy is smaller than what district officials originally expected to seek from the school board. After losing $8.8 million in general state aid, the levy was expected to increase 7.38 percent according to Mike Barry, assistant superintendent for business services.

The Madison School District had to pass a tax hike levy to replace SOME of the money that Scott Walker and the republicans stole from the public education funds and Mary Burke said NO.  

It is not like it is an extravagant budget as the  teaches are only budgets a 1% pay raise.  After being frozen and forced pay cuts the last few years, along with the rising costs of living, it is hardly something that is out of the ordinary.   In Monona Grove, we gave our teachers the maximum amount allowed by Scott Walker's law (This year 2.07%).    

Then after mary Burke was the lone dissenting voice, she went into witness protection and issued NO statements whatsoever on her vote or feelings about the budget.  

That is a sure fire winner in a statewide election, vote to cut teacher pay then go into hiding as far away from the people of Wisconsin as you can. 

Can we please put an end to the Mary Burke for Governor talk? We saw what happened in the recall election when we had an anti labor candidate running against anti labor Scott Walker.    

Scott Walker's Morals

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker signed the horrific budget on Sunday in a nice little private ceremony(where apparently its ok to use kids as props) where he had this to say:

"It is not just a moral imperative, it is also an economic imperative if we want to continue to be one of the leading states in the country" Scott Walker 

 This is the same Scott Walker who in the last budget cut education more than $1.5 BILLION in Wisconsin and in this budget over half of the school districts in Wisconsin are having major cuts to their state aid. 

Under Scott Walker, the only thing we lead the nation in is lack of jobs and depressed wages!

I always say we should believe people when they tell us who they are. 

Here Scott Walker tells us where his morals are and how he truly lacks economic understanding!  

Wisconsin you should listen!   

Smalley's Tell

By Jeff Simpson

A tell in poker is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may fake a tell, hoping to induce their opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell. More often, people try to avoid giving out a tell, by maintaining a poker face regardless of how strong or weak their hand is.

John Smalley is the editor of the Wisconsin State Journal and he likes to appear objective.  Yesterday he wrote an article where he equatedthe ridiculousness of the whole budget process as equal to both parties.  While on its face it is a claim that is laughable enough, then he gives his right wing tell(see if you can spot it):

Well, in reality, it was four actual cooks (Republican leaders who control the budget process) and two cooks-in-waiting (the Democrats who were shut out of the process).

All four of the Republicans who visited — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Rep. John Nygren and Sen. Alberta Darling — and both of the Democrats — Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca and Rep. Sandy Pasch — are smart, compassionate, dedicated public servants.

Which, given the decent, well-meaning people running both parties, makes it all the more maddening that the creation of the state budget is an ugly mess of partisanship at its worst.
As an editorial board, we like a lot of what’s in the budget. And we scratch our heads and wonder about plenty of other parts of the budget.

In essentially back-to-back visits with the top minds and leadership of both parties, our editorial board was left with one lingering question: What the heck is going on up there?
The Republicans tout tax relief for everyone and increased spending in K-12 education. Those both seem like good ideas.

The Democrats counter that the tax relief is rigged to help only the wealthy (not exactly true) and the school funding increases are paltry crumbs compared to the big cuts two years ago (mostly true).

 While some would think it is this: 

Which, given the decent, well-meaning people running both parties, makes it all the more maddening that the creation of the state budget is an ugly mess of partisanship at its worst.

While it is immensely inaccurate because everyone in the state knows that the dems did not have a say, beyond the kringle, in the whole budget.  This "partisanship at its worse" can be layed at the feet of one and only one party!   However this is not it - it is right here where he shows his immense bias:

In essentially back-to-back visits with the top minds and leadership of both parties, our editorial board was left with one lingering question: What the heck is going on up there?
The Republicans tout tax relief for everyone and increased spending in K-12 education. Those both seem like good ideas.

The Democrats counter that the tax relief is rigged to help only the wealthy (not exactly true) and the school funding increases are paltry crumbs compared to the big cuts two years ago (mostly true).

Yes the supposed fact checking, only seems to follow democrat claims.  I wonder why that is?

Let me help Mr. Smalley balance his article out, because maybe, as a member of the media, he realizes that any claim a member of the republican party in Wisconsin makes is blatantly false!  

 Republicans tout tax relief for everyone - (mostly false) and increased spending in K-12 education(false - really false - pants on fire false)!  

Mike Lowe - Sinks To A Career Low!

By Jeff Simpson

Quick free career advice: 

fol·low-up or fol·low·up (fl-p)

n.

1. The act or an instance of following up, as to further an end or review new developments: The follow-up is often as important as the initial contact in gaining new clients. The social worker's emphasis on followup reassured her clients.

2. One that follows so as to further an end or increase effectiveness: The software was a successful follow-up to the original product.

3. An article or a report giving further information on a previously reported item of news.

adj.

Intended to follow up, as to reinforce or evaluate previous action: a followup examination after the surgery.

When THIS is all over the internet:

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the “no amendment” decision was made after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, made it clear that none of the Democrats’ proposed changes would fly. (Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, offered a series of amendments on his own, but all were shot down.)
“When the speaker came to our closed caucus (Tuesday), he made a very strong statement there would be no amendments accepted,” Barca said. “That sealed the deal for us.”

Why would you allow Robin Vos the ability to drone on and on without asking him about this?  A simple, why would they offer an amendment Mr. Speaker when you went to a closed door meeting and told them they had no chance to get any amendments passed?  Isn't it a tad bit hypocritical to complain about no amendments offered when  you let them know it would be a wasted effort?  

See for yourself:






Michael Hastings is rolling over in his grave!

Compare/Contrast - Scott Walker

By Jeff Simpson

Candidate Scott Walker:

 Some campaign promises build in a bit of wiggle room. The one made by candidate for governor Scott Walker to “strip policy and pork projects from the state budget” did not.

Governor Scott Walker's current budget that was too extreme for some membes of the Assembly!

One of the three Republican no votes, Kestell said the policy provisions stuck in the budget were the main factor in him voting against the budget. Kestell, the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, expressed concerns about a previous form of expanded taxpayer-funded private voucher schools.

"There are 90 some policy items in the budget. In my view, it would be hard to justify any of those being necessarily in the budget," said Kestell

Did Scott Walker have any interest in fulfilling his campaign promises?  Does he even remember what they were?  Or is WI his stepping stone for bigger ambitions?  

NASA

By Jeff Simpson

I recently had one of my "conservative" friends tell me it is time to get serious about cutting the Federal Budget.    He then listed off a bunch of programs( the usual) that we need to get rid of completely.   One of those was NASA.  

We need to get rid of such short term, austerity, paul ryan type thinking if we are ever going to make America the Superpower and leader of the world we once were! 

Let's let Neil deGrasse Tyson explain it:

Special Education Vouchers - The Segregation Agenda is Alive and Well in WI

Why would Governor Walker feel compelled to place things like vouchers and charter school oversight boards in the budget when they failed to pass his republican majority legislature?

Luring special needs students out of the public schools to attend for-profit schools without accountability to actually provide services or educate these children, children who end up back in the public schools after the for-profit schools receive the taxpayer funds, is an outrageous ideology and unconstitutional. 

Taxpayers will be paying double to educate these targeted children, once for them to transfer to a for-profit school and twice when they return to public schools.

Unsuspecting parents will seek out an alternative for their children and fall victim to an elaborate scheme that funnels more tax funds into the hands of the for-profit schools without certified teachers, background checks or accountability are a means to segregate the children by wealth.

Public schools and our children’s educators have been demonized for the love of money. I know a lot of wonderful parochial schools who have the integrity to let these disillusioned parents know they cannot serve their children, but taxpayer funds deferring their dwindling donations covering tuition costs is too good to pass up. We shouldn't forget that our constitution also states no taxpayer funds can go to sectarian education.

The Wisconsin Constitution Article X, § 3 states: 

"The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein; but the legislature by law may, for the purpose of religious instruction outside the district schools, authorize the release of students during regular school hours."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in Vincent v. Voight, further elaborated on the constitution’s education article by detailing what is meant by a "sound basic education":

"An equal opportunity for a sound basic education is one that will equip students for their roles as citizens and enable them to succeed economically and personally. The legislature has articulated a standard for equal opportunity for a sound basic education in Wis. Stat. §§ 118.30(1g)(a) and 121.02(L) (1997-98) as the opportunity for students to be proficient in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history, and for them to receive instruction in the arts and music, vocational training, social sciences, health, physical education and foreign language, in accordance with their age and aptitude. 

An equal opportunity for a sound basic education acknowledges that students and districts are not fungible and takes into account districts with disproportionate numbers of disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills. So long as the legislature is providing sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution, the state school finance system will pass constitutional muster." 614 N.W.2d 388, 396 (2000). (Emphasis mine)

Scott Walker, and the extreme right republicans like Robin Vos et al, have underfunded the schools, like Milwaukee and Racine, moving to make this a reality for all public schools “with disproportionate numbers of disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills” and fail to “provide sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution”.

Robin Vos admits he is not an attorney and makes it clear what the plan is for the disabled students, the economically disadvantaged students and students with limited English language skills as he tries to sell the agenda to local school boards.

Politiscoop reported  last year on a conversation between Senator Ellis and Robin Vos: 

Ellis counters "Let me say this, I am a fan of the Milwaukee Parent Choice program, I am a fan of individuals who can't stand poverty to get the hell out of the public school system". 

It was this point that Vos says something about the Green Bay School District to which Ellis replies "I know, I mean we've got great school districts in the Fox Cities, the only one getting close to the margins is the Green Bay area. That's not even the Green Bay school district, its target schools because of the geographic disbursement you've got Preble out there that's got all the poor people. So when we are done with this bill, we modify it so that a segment of the school district may move into this program. Green Bay east is fine, west is fine, Preble is a sewer they've got the poverty possum. We need to not make it the entire school system, we need to make that Preble, that geographic quadrant and make it eligible like Milwaukee is for a voucher program." Vos replies "I'm okay with that". Ellis replies "So am I".

They convince the parents that vouchers are for the disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills when in reality they have no intentions to serve those children.

It is an elaborate scheme I will give them that much. So now we understand the reason for the removal of the income cap on vouchers and the refusal to have any accountability to actually educate the children. The wealthy children will be going to the private schools with the tax funds intended to provide an equal education to ALL children and those “poverty possums” won’t be turned away, until the 3^rd Friday counts are in and they get their taxpayer dollars.

It also states in our constitution: Transportation of school children. SECTION 23. [Ascreated April 1967] “Nothing in this constitution shall prohibit the legislature from providing for the safety and welfare of children by providing for the transportation of children to and from any parochial or private school or institution of learning.” [1965J.R. 46, 1967 J.R. 13, vote April 1967]

There goes the transportation budget again.

Again, I have no problem with charter schools, private schools, parochial schools or parental choice that are transparent and integral. The problem comes in when there is no accountability to the taxpayers let alone the parents or the children.

Why would we want to do this?