|
 |
5/20/2009
Rahmlow: DOA Secretary obligated to defend Doyle
Jim Doyle will be a candidate for governor next year. Many conservatives have been hopeful that mounting budget pressures combined with a recall effort and low approval ratings will drive the incumbent away from seeking a new term.
While the governor is likely concerned about polls showing his job approval at record lows, those same polls show him with significant leads over Scott Walker and Mark Neumann, the Republican challengers. But Doyle understands he has a problem. That’s probably why DOA Secretary Michael Morgan used this week to deflect criticism of the administration’s budget forecasting.
“No one really understood how bad this economy really was and how deep it would fall,” the Secretary told attendees of a WisPolitics luncheon. In a matter of weeks, Doyle’s $5.7 billion budget hole increased by $1 billion. It also fell woefully short of the governor’s February prediction that “we will finish the biennium with a positive balance of about $270 million.” After seven years of chronic budget problems though, it’s time for Doyle to accept responsibility.
In 2003, Doyle blamed his Republican predecessors for the inherited budget mess. Fast-forward to present and Doyle now says the national recession is behind the latest budget shortfall. In 2003, the state budget stood at $48 billion. Today, state government is proposing to spend $62 billion in the next biennium. In seven years, the governor has grown government by $14 billion while jobs have left, and yes, tax revenues have fallen.
Secretary Morgan stated that a late economic recovery next year would hopefully turn things around. This administration clearly sees economic growth as an excuse to spend more money on government services.
If the Secretary believes his own statements, the governor should fire him tomorrow. The budget deficit has been caused by recklessly shifting debt into future budgets, creating programs without stable funding sources and failing to maintain a rainy day fund. The rainy day fund is a nonstarter, according to Morgan, because of the severity of the recession. So state government is just crossing its fingers hoping for growth.
Wishful thinking is not a strategy. And State Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer (D-Manitowoc) seems to be the only loyal opposition in the Assembly chamber these days. He’s been a far more effective voice for fiscal responsibility than the Republican minority. “Unfortunately those in charge of it all seem focused more on tax increases instead of broad spending cuts. This is a serious mistake, one that will hold us back for years to come,” Ziegelbauer told constituents in his weekly report.
Ziegelbauer introduced legislation last session to enact Generally Accepted Accounting Principals as part of the state budget. State Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) has introduced a similar bill this session saying, “The proposal would … restrict spending money that exceeds incoming revenue and require that any existing budget deficit be lowered by at least 10% each year of the budget”.
The Manitowoc Democrat and West Bend Republican understand the budget needs to shrink in real dollars for the good of the state. However, Ziegelbauer watched as a Republican Speaker allowed his proposal to collect dust indefinitely. The current Democratic Speaker will probably follow his predecessor’s lead and ignore the Strachota bill. Yet it is the only proposal that will actually put a stop to the reckless spending habits of this governor.
Yes, Doyle will seek a third term. He may be the only governor nationwide to win in a landslide while maintaining low approval numbers because Republicans cannot seem to unify behind a message of fiscal responsibility.
Mark Rahmlow is a former field director for Tim Michels US Senate race in 2004 and briefly served as Terri McCormick’s campaign manager for Congress in 2005.
COMMENTS
He won't be a candidate if we recall him! No need to worry about it then. Join the recall, don't wait for things to get worse. He has to go NOW! We will make history; see us at www.recalldoyle.com!
emily matthews (Wed May 20 08:39:33 2009)
Now the Strachota Bill is something both Democrats and Republicans should be able to support. All it is saying is that we should all agree on the "scoreboard" before we try to play the game. The scoreboard is GAAP(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). All of the private sector has to abide by those rules and only in government can you do the revenue shifting and creative accounting of the budget deficit that Doyle and the Legislature seem so fond of.
In the private sector you would go to jail for what they are doing.
Soo! All of you who want to do something specific to change the course of our state government and how finances should be handled should call your local assembly person and say you want them to support this bill.
This is not the first time this has come up and in fact a bill like this has tried to get to the light of day for the past several sessions. In the past the Republicans have blocked even a discussion on the floor. Now the Democrats are looking to block it. Neither group in my estimation wants to be held accountable so it is up to us to force the issue.
At the least it should get to the floor for discussion and not languish in some committee. So call your legislator and write in to the local community columns to voice your opinion. That's the only way that this even has a chance and it would be a great beginning to change.
Mike
Mike Thomas (Wed May 20 14:36:33 2009)
|
|
Blog Archives
| 2010 |
  December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Solberg: Healing After an Abortion
• Basketball fans eyeing extension of Miller Park sales tax
• Nanny sex-ed bill goes to Doyle
• A first. Village limits pension contribution for employees
• Nanny State update: Toothbrushing mandated
• Obama pushes education inflation
• WI Investment Board votes to borrow to juice up returns
• So Republicans have brought nothing to the table?
• You have got to be kidding me
• Nygren: Governor Continues Terms of Failure in State of the State
• Sen. Fitzgerald: Governor down the wrong track at high speed
• Phosphorus is the new CO2. $Billions in Wisconsin
• More Obama giveaways
• A reprimand? Would you keep him on the job?
• Burri: Sarah Palin for Prez troubles me
• Quote of the Day – Obama after the pie-eating contest
• Populism, abused and trampled
• Fitzgerald: Senate Republicans Propose Real Job Creation Agenda
• Stripped down health insurance – it’s about time
• Ok GOP, scrap the Party of NO; time to lead
• No way Feingold is a Coakley. Is Wall a Brown?
• Burri: Conservatives off the chart for a RINO?
• Paltry quid pro quo?
• Doyle says ARRA has ‘created or retained’ 44,000 WI jobs
• Does most of the public fall for this stuff?
• When you get signatures, always get a couple extra
• Blame it on the outmoded computers
• Scott Brown victory does not scuttle health bill
• 8th Congressional Candidate Forum, Jan. 25
• Scott Walker Meet-and-greet, Monday, Jan. 18
• Aren’t consumers taxpayers too?
• MORE taxes on investment income - dreadful and wrong
• Join the blaze orange army and say ‘Enough is Enough’
• The future of government-run health care
• Tax on banks is a really bad idea
• Roth, Savard on the stump, grassroots style
• Savard speaking in Appleton, 8 PM, Wed., Jan. 13.
• Rahmlow: Savard, Bies frontrunners for State Senate
• Burri: Failing Political Correctness 101
• School contracts and Race to the Top
• Senator Feingold worrisome and big red flags
• Psephological?
• This is really important. Contact Rep. Kagen. Now. Please.
• This is exactly what we need from Governor Doyle
• This guy is my hero
• Why am I not surprised?
• Talk health reform with Feingold (Th), Petri (today)
• Give the Mayor power over MPS - if he can break contracts
• Burri: Yup, Dems really are going to bypass a conference
• The $2.7 billion Wisconsin deficit no one told you about
• Walker launches county accountability website
• Rahmlow: Why is Van Hollen dodging the Nebraska deal?
|
| 2009 |
December
|
November
|
October
• The Lawton-Bader files
• Yup, it’s the TAX LEVY, not the tax RATE
• Ellis: costly automobile insurance laws must be rolled back
• If not Barrett, who?
• The subsidy game
• Burri: Bailouts, Banks, Health Care, and the Mob
• Attend Appleton Schools budget meeting tonight
• A public option WON’T increase costs? That’s delusional!
• Appleton Schools budget meeting Monday
• Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
• Burri: If anything, we need more obstructionism around here
• WI on the leading edge - in the wrong direction
• Rep. Montgomery: Utility Customers Join State’s Crime-Fighting Efforts
• Public Conservation and Recreation Lands Total 16.5% of State
• In the crow's nest of the Titanic, shouting 'Iceberg!'
• Is Rep. Nelson a political hack?
• Health care: The road ahead will be brutal
• Kagen's pandering again
• Birthers - good stuff for you
• How much do we bend over backward for seniors?
• The trouble with health care is paying for it
• Two-parent families: The Gold Standard
• Burri: Kids... the joys and blessings
• Very, very worried about health care
• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
• School district contracts push up tax levy
• What? Obama, the Peace Prize?
• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
• Appleton School District tax levy up way too much
• CBO report is out - and the bill isn't even written yet?
• So, how much do YOU budget for health care?
• Burri: Copenhagen trip was amateurish
• “Sotomayor, you have blood on your hands...”
• Cap and Trade. Always follow the money
• Rep. Kagen gets (almost) free health services
• I actually agree with Rep. Kagen
• Future Wisconsin Conference for Conservatives, October 10, Wauwatosa
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
|
| 2008 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
• Democrats are becoming supply siders??
• Further debunking Hillary myths
• WEAC has created an unsustainable monopoly
• From Mark Gundrum: One of the greatest honors an American can experience
• 'Operation Chaos' working?
• Joe Martin the best candidate in Appleton's 8th
• State programs to cut? - Volume II
• Oh the naivete of youth
• Not just disingenuous - flat wrong
• Steve - you will be missed
• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
• Getting serious: What programs can we cut?
• Rep. Steve Kagen joining me on Jerry Bader Show today
• Rep. Van Roy: Dental Care Pilot Program
• Has Dave Obey turned the corner on earmarks?
• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
• As taxpayers, how do we know if it's a Chevy or a Lexus?
• This is trash talk - about a veteran
• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
• 'The Gableman Ad' - is it racist?
• Roth thankful, Kagen shaking money tree
• Gov. Doyle's office not enamored with Freedom of Information
• Governor Doyle will never do it
• Leadership on smoking ban? Not Hanna
• Rep. Van Roy speaks out about smear ads
• You're threatening me about potholes?
• Losing the Hastert seat is NOT a trend and NOT curtians for the GOP
• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
• Big money-saver for municipalities
• More one time fixes. Nuts.
• Any chances???
• I'm doing the Jerry Bader Show, today, the 11th
• Representative Frank Lasee: Final Waltz of the Season
• Guest Blog: It's not the county's business to be in the nursing home business
• Yup, Hillary won Texas and Ohio
• Gableman/Butler race featured - and it isn't pretty
• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
• He who sacrifices liberty.....
• Duh.
• The Troha sentencing, Doyle and that $200K
• Guns, passion and "originality"
• How hard is it anyway, to shut down a government program?
• Voting is a PRIVILEGE. And so are property taxes....
• Guest Blog: Governor Doyle, cancel your Ireland trip
|
February
|
January
|
| 2007 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Lots of ideas. No money.
• The Cigarette Tax - "Poor Policy Instrument?"
• School budget Lite?
• Frankenstein - not in the library, but in the legislature
• A librarian, a legislator, a president
• $1.25/pack - NO, NO, NO, and NO
• Kagen and Reagan in the same breath?
• Menasha: behind the 8-ball, but not biting the dust
• Any way you slice it, Wisconsin government wants (further) in on health care
• The World is Flat...what about health care?
• The PAC - too precious to fail. Day 3
• News follow-ups: Appleton West, Kagen at the White House
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail - Day 2
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail
• New Transit Tax coming your way
• Rep. Petri has his finger in the dike - I guess
• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
• Health care, health care, health care, health care
• Water rate increase was no slam dunk
• Education for all is just a bad dream
• New Year's resolutions from a parade snob
|
| 2006 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
| 2000 |
May
|
|
