By Chas. A
Now that the election "season" is over (Thank God) it is time to get down to the serious business of governance. Winning the election is one thing; governing a diverse state of people and resources is no easy task. The formula: "To the victor goes the spoils" may or may not be applicable. We would hope that elected officials would have the best interests of the "people" (and environment) at heart regardless of the mandate that was exhibited in the election.
Some citizens may be heartened by the fact that you have already made your wishes known to the present administration in Madison: curtailing negotiations with the state employees' union (AFSCME) and proposing to reject the Fed. Stimulus money "ear¬marked" for commuter rail transportation. While it makes sense to link Milwaukee with Madison via rail, I'm thinking this route already exists between Chicago, Milwaukee, Wise. Dells and Minneapolis-St. Paul (and points west). I don't understand why Madison was "bypassed" in the first place. Yes, the money may be better spent on our eroding roads and bridges (which have been neglected for the past 20 years) but it is the Fed's money and so they can dictate how it is spent.
If I have the message straight, I'm thinking you were elected as a fiscal Conservative who is interested in red¬ucing the state budget deficit-projected to be $3B over the next budget (but that is for the next two years so in my math—that is just $ 1.56 per year. Yet, that may be a staggering amount considering the amount of services required (by government entities) to make this state operate successfully. I was stunned to learn that the public employees sector in California uses up 80% of the state budget. Upon further review , I guess that means that the State of Wsiconsin must PAY its employees for work every day at the various bureaucratic and blue collar jobs. On the other hand/ not much work gets done anyway on Christmas and New Year's Eve or the Friday after Thanksgiving or Good Friday. None of these people would vote to give up their jobs.
What, indeed, are the priorities of any state government? What are the most important jobs in the public sector that our citizens fill every day? I'm going to list them in the order of importance in my mind. You may have a different order of priority. No. #1: Education; 2) Health & Welfare; 3) Infrastructure; 4) Business & Agriculture; 5) Tourism; 6)Corr-ections; 7) DOJ & State Police.
Each agency portends to spend more money each year--supposedly supported by increased revenue--supposedly supported by an ex¬panding economy--but at present/ it's not happening.
our bureaucratic and blue collar jobs. On the other hand/ not much work gets done anyway on Christmas and New Year's Eve or the Friday after Thanksgiving or Good Friday. None of these people would vote to give up their jobs.
I think Gov. Walker might put my #4 at the top of this list--so as to better fund the other budget needs. We'll see if this might work. If I have the political climate gaged properly/ he will have two years (like Obama) to noticeably turn things around, since he fits our demo¬graphics better in Wisconsin/ maybe he'll get the full four years consideration .
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