Friday 5-09

We haven't had a winner of the coveted "Jonathan Krause Big Ol' Sack of Onions Award" lately--but Governor Jim Doyle has come through with another scheme to claim the prize this week. The Governor is threatening to delay road projects scheduled to start this summer--if the Legislature doesn't let him raid the transportation fund to fix the state budget deficit. That's right, the Guv is telling us if you won't let me use your gas tax dollars for schools and social services, then I won't let anyone use it for its intended purposes either. That takes some real ohn-yohnz.

Personally, I think Doyle should be put in prison for Grand Theft for the number of times he has raided the transportation fund to fix holes in the budget. He'll tell you he is replacing the money with state issued bonds--or loans--that guarantee the gas taxes will be replaced. Do we need to bring up the Social Security mess to see how well replacing actual cash with IOU's works? The Legislators who have gone along with the Governor's plan should be joining him behind bars as accomplices to theft.

As you might expect, Doyle's threat is not sitting well with officials counting on getting some road projects done the next few years. One of those would be Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna--who thought work on replacing the College Avenue bridge would start this year. Now it might not--imagine planning for that kind of disruption--shutting down the busiest street in town--then being told "Uh, that might not happen after all...sorry."

What angers me the most is that we pay one of the highest gas taxes in the country specifically to fund road projects. It's right there in the state constitution--gas taxes fund transportation. And the state has the money to actually pay cash for projects as they are done--a very sound financial principal. But by diverting the cash to other state programs--and borrowing to fund the roads--we are adding interest to the project costs and making everything more expensive. The sound you hear is Dave Ramsey beating his head against the wall.

One blogger who has posted on the My Two Cents website several times likes to point out I usually bring up plenty of problems during my rants--but never any solutions. So, here is my solution to the state budget crisis. Take the cash from the unnecessary social programs that Governor DOyle loves so much--but are driving the state farther into the hole:

1--Eliminate the Seniorcare program. When first proposed, Seniorcare was to be a temporary program to provide prescription drug coverage to seniors until Medicare came up with a drug plan. Well, Medicare part D has been around for several years now--why do we still have Seniorcare?

2--Eliminate funding for 4-year old kindergarten and the SAGE program. While these are nice programs that help a limited number of kids, they are not things the state can afford right now. This is actually a move that will save local districts money as well, as there will be a need for fewer classrooms and teachers.

3--Incerease the state sales tax by one-percent. Level with the taxpayers: "we here in Madison can't control our spending and we have made some promises that there is no way we can pay for with just a five percent sales tax so please bail us out here and we will control ourselves in the future."

By the way, if you want the Governor to actually use gas taxes for their intended purposes, why not give him a call at 608-266-1212 or send him an e-mail at governor@wisconsin.gov