The Budget

Governor Scott Walker unveiled his budget today, with sweeping cuts to education, environmental protection, Medicaid, and aid to local governments. He told us again and again that while he was cutting aid to local governments and schools, he was equipping us with the "tools" for dealing with the cuts. His tools? A prohibition of municipal governments from working with unions. By mandating that local governments may not engage in collective bargaining with their workers, Walker argues that local governments now have the ability to make cuts that will offset their budget imbalances.

There. He fixed it.

His budget includes:
Elimination of municipal recycling programs. $900 billion in cuts to education, along with rules PROHIBITING school districts from raising property taxes to compensate for the revenue loss. Limits to water quality regulation. Cuts to farmland preservation programs. Prohibitions on municipal governments working with unions.

Thanks, Walker. Because I was just thinking that I had had enough of good education systems, clean drinking water, environmental protections, medical access for low income folks and a high quality of life. But hey. I-94 will look really snazzy, and our prisons are about to be upgraded, to make more room for criminals. That’s where Walker has put his money: highways and prisons.

Nice. Welcome to Wisconsin, we’re open for business. Just not at the Capitol building (if you are a protestor. Or a Democrat. Or someone who just disagrees with Walker.)