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11/6/2006
Mrs. Robinson: heaven holds a place for... Jim Doyle?
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon....So who you goin’ to vote for?
Going to the candidate's debate.
Laugh about it, shout about it
Lots of stuff being thrown around. Ethical lapses. Character questions. No-bid contractors on state jobs. Proposals for this, proposals for that. Promises to the education community, promises to the business community. Children with diabetes and Hollywood stars with Parkinson’s disease.
When you've got to choose
When you’ve got to choose, absolutely the most critical problem facing Wisconsin today is our dreadful, dangerous fiscal situation. In 2002 Jim Doyle said he’d restore Wisconsin to fiscal sanity. Jim Doyle absolutely has not addressed, much less fixed the state’s fiscal crisis.
Every way you look at it you lose.
Yes, Mr. Doyle inherited a fiscal mess. No, he has not tamed it. He has refused to limit programs. He has refused to reign in public employee benefits spending. He has refused to acknowledge the need for ongoing state spending limits. And - this is important - though he repeatedly claims to have “indisputably” balanced two budgets, Governor Doyle absolutely has not balanced a single budget.
According to the Legislative Audit Bureau’s “Comprehensive Annual Fiscal Reports” (CAFR), the deficit for year-ending 2005 was $2.12 billion; the deficit for year ending June 2004 was $1.93 billion.
The controversy comes because the “Comprehensive Annual Fiscal Report” (CAFR) uses generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which includes accrual accounting. But the Neanderthal state budget reporting, quoted by Doyle, uses essentially cash basis accounting required by the state Constitution in the 19th century.
The old-fashioned accounting allows the state to budget an expenditure in one fiscal year, but actually put off paying for it until the next fiscal year. And that’s the kind of stuff Doyle is relying on to claim he’s balanced his budget.
Did taxes increase? You bet. Though “frozen,” property taxes statewide rose 2%+ in 2005. And that 2% would be even higher if school districts hadn’t received another big state bailout that some would argue we just couldn’t afford.
Consider also:
- The Governor (not the legislature) used $427M in user fees lifted from the transportation fund to “balance” his last budget.
- Wisconsin’s bond ratings are in the ditch. Only California, Louisiana, South Dakota and Idaho rank lower.
- Wisconsin has a projected ending fund balance of 0.1% of total spending – that compares to 7.9% nationally. Worse than every other reporting state (47)
- Oh, and remember that deficit number. It was $2.1 billion, year-ending 2004-05. That’s the state’s real deficit, using honest, professional, really believable GAAP accounting from the state controller. That is NOT a balanced budget.
Heaven holds a place for those who pray… hey hey hey… hey hey hey…
Wisconsin is in desperate need of a governor who will face the reality of our fiscal situation straight on. The past doesn't show Jim Doyle can do that.
Lyrics from Mrs. Robinson, Simon & Garfunkel, 1967
COMMENTS
This article, as everything else leaves me in a large quandry. Mr. Doyle's challenger, Mark Green, is a person who has taken part in the largest government spending largest expanding situation in recent, if not all history. I can not believe that he is any more fiscally responsible than Mr. Doyle. Agreed, he has been part of a tax lowering scheme, but has caused our grandchildren more debt than they will be able to handle. One other thing to remember, if you know anything about government, we have had a Republican dominated legislature in Madison for quite a while. They hold the purse strings, and ultimately final control, and, approve of virtualy everything the Governor does. Recently they have done better in spending than even Concrete Tommy Thompson.
So? Give me a reason to vote for anything other than Dirty Dragon for Governor of the State of Wisconsin.
Ed Thomas (Mon Nov 06 07:43:46 2006)
great post, Jo. Thanks for informing me on Doyle's and the state's financing tricks.
I heard on my way home today on NPR that Obey will become chair of some budget committee in Washington which is important because that committee decides the spending on "a trillion dollars of discretionary spending". Wow, think about that. Just another off-the-cuff but beyond stunning comment on our lack of fiscal restraint.
I also read a story in USA Today a week or two ago about some guy from the budget accountability office who was touring the country, publicly and loudly warning people about the coming economic crisis... I hope he's successful. But, it already appears his warnings fall on deaf ears.
We're in trouble, Jo.
I just finished Modern Times by Paul Johnston. best book i've ever read. history of the world from the 20s to the 90s. I'm now reading "Congress as Santa Clause", a 1937 report outlining congresses slide from strict construction to nearly (now completely) unrestrained financial appropriations.
Makes me wanna hollar! What else can i do?
Thanks again for your work here with FoxPolitics. I'm proud to know you.
God Bless
Paul
paul trelc (Wed Nov 08 17:53:03 2006)
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