1/24/2008
Everyone's responsibility but mine
In last night’s state-of-the-state, I heard not one word of responsibility for an irresponsible budget, about the irresponsible, absolutely indefensible fiscal position Wisconsin finds itself in.
You know. Like when your kids point fingers at each other with a cacophony of “It’s not my fault.” Why can’t people accept responsibility? Why is it so hard for some of us to utter “It’s my fault. I screwed up. Got to get this back on track.”
So Governor Doyle starts right from the top blaming the federal government. I couldn’t believe it. Tonight, our nation finds itself at a time of great uncertainty. America’s economy is in deep turmoil. In just the last few days, markets around the world have plummeted and talk in Washington has turned from recovery to recession. Make no mistake: challenging days are ahead.
And then all kinds of rose-colored glasses stuff. We’re hardworking, passionate people. We enjoy life and love to laugh about cheeseheads. We face difficulties and overcome them. And of course the obligatory mention of the Green and Gold. And add Jamie Thomson and Steve Stricker to the mix. Geez.
Yes, Wisconsin is a great place. Great people too. Great biotech, great higher ed., great R&D. Yes, in spades.
But not great accountability by our politicians.
Here’s another whopper that misses the point. And it’s shameful. In Wisconsin we used conservative estimates from the Fiscal Bureau to develop our budget, but because of the national economic slowdown, we too will face a very difficult fiscal situation. We will have to delay some of the things we all agreed on. We will have to make deep cuts and hard sacrifices. [Emphasis is mine.]
It couldn’t be our fault for demanding more and more of our government. It’s certainly not the governor’s fault or the Senate’s or the Assembly’s for not being able to make the tough decisions to cut spending in the current (or past 6) budget. And of course, it must be the country’s fault that Wisconsin continues to be saddled with a multi-billion dollar deficit.
And it wouldn’t be a Jim Doyle speech if it didn’t take a swipe at the oil companies. A barrel of oil has topped $100… and just look at the price of gasoline at the pump – nearly double what it was just five years ago. The oil companies don’t care. They’re making the biggest profits in history.
And the cost of education – and the stress it’s placing on many communities throughout our state. It couldn’t be the responsibility of the great teachers in the state of Wisconsin. Great, yes. But the governor actually complained about teacher salaries being too low. Make numbers say anything you want Governor, Wisconsin teacher salaries are slightly below the nationwide average – but add benefits, and our teachers rank 16th in the nation.
So now we get into the really maddening stuff. Health care. Nobody’s fault.
Yes, Doyle starts with the right idea. “Skyrocketing health care costs are paralyzing our economy.” Good. But whose fault is it? Not yours. Not mine. Not any of us (well, most of us) for not having a clue how much doctors, procedures, tests, prescriptions, cost. No, it’s not our responsibility to control utilization, to make prudent life-style decisions, to compare quality and costs religiously. Whose fault is it? Of course, the insurers and the drug companies.
The governor, bless his soul, does have the lingo down. He says we’re going to get into “consumer-driven health care.” No… that doesn’t mean you and I will be responsible for health care choices – but rather we’ll have a multiplicity of health insurance choices and decisions. And we can control costs with purchasing pools, co-ops and “insuring we all share the risk.” No, no, no and no. Not the primary way to control health care costs. Certainly not the way to take responsibility for “paralyzing” health care costs. Dang it.
Here’s the closest it got to the governor taking any responsibility. And it was a bunch of malarkey. In Wisconsin, we’ve taken steps to prepare for a national economic downturn. We’ve cut spending, cut taxes, and deposited $50 million in a rainy day fund.
Definitely rose-colored glasses – and more than stretching the truth. Ok, $50 million in a rainy day fund. That won’t go far to cover the current (and sure to grow) $2.44 billion deficit. Geez. And cut spending and cut taxes in this last budget? No way. This budget was and is a disaster. Wisconsin’s fiscal condition continues to be a disaster. And we have a governor standing up there name-dropping. Dang it.
So once again, the bottom line – The government is living with an irresponsible budget and in an irresponsible, absolutely indefensible fiscal position. The governor blamed everyone and everything but himself. Not one mention of taking responsibility for this mess. Not one.
COMMENTS
Jo:
I know you have beat the drum and so have I on the issue of the budget deficit and the fact that Wisconsin does not use GAAP(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). We at least need to make sure the "scoreboard" is correct before we try to figure if we are winning the game or not.
There have been several bills in the legislature that have tried to address this but have not been passed. It seems our legislators whine about the system but are not willing to change it. This really should not be a Republican or Democrat isssue but should be passed because it makes common sense. In the private sector you would go to jail for what they are doing.
The only way to change this really is to hold your legislator accountable for how he or she would vote on this issue and make your decision on how you vote dependent on their answer. If we make it a criterion for representing us then we may get some action. Otherwise it will be lip service and business as usual after the election. It is our responsibility as voters to engage. So far we generally have not.
Mike Thomas (Thu Jan 24 08:38:28 2008)
You go Jo!!!!! Excellent comments on the State of the State. I sincerely hope our legislators (in other parts of the state) are listening.
Ric Van Sistine (Thu Jan 24 09:17:31 2008)
I love reading your editorial commentary. You're right on the mark. The Governor is a liar.
That's all I have to say about that.
Duke (Thu Jan 24 10:27:54 2008)
I was floored by the "its the federal government's fault" comment too. He's not wrong, but Wisconsin seriously needs to own up to its own problems. (I swear...if someone complains about unfunded *federal* mandates I'm going to slap them.)
That being said, I love the idea of focusing on Wisconsin's strengths and encouraging research and development, but not when we are on the cusp of a recession. Wisconsin has held up well compared to the rest of the United States recently--a fact we should be proud of. However, I fear long-term, high-cost R&D programs may doom us to spiraling deficits and slow recovery form this downturn.
(A la Jerry Seinfeld) And seriously...whats up with the "Wisconsin Institute for Discovery?"
Adam Delikowski (Thu Jan 24 13:16:34 2008)
Definitely rose-colored glasses – and more than stretching the truth. Ok, $50 million in a rainy day fund. That won’t go far to cover the current (and sure to grow) $2.44 billion deficit. Geez. And cut spending and cut taxes in this last budget? No way.
Are you suggesting the Assembly "zero tax increase" budget would have the state in a better fiscal position? If so, I should remind you that the Assembly budget had a final balance of $9 million (versus a final balance of $180 million in the Senate budget and $130 million in the governor's budget). In addition, the structural deficit from the Assembly budget was $150 million higher than the Senate budget and over $200 million higher than the governor's budget.
There are certainly justifications for tax cuts, but those cuts aren't always synonymous with fiscal responsibility.
And certainly there are justifications to spending cuts. I'm suggesting that any of the budgets with negligible rainy day funds AND not working toward a declining - and eventualn $0 GAAP deficit - is irresponsible. Great to hear from you Seth. Hope school, work and family are all going well. JE
Seth Zlotocha (Fri Jan 25 11:51:21 2008)
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