Update On Pledge Signers

The MJS has done some excellent reporting by calling the 27 Assemblymen who signed various tax pledges - including the one right here at B&S - to see if they would stand by their pledges.  They are updating the report with results as they come in, but only two have said that they lied to people when they signed the pledge and are perfectly willing to vote for tax increases - and neither of them were B&S signers.  The folks who signed the B&S pledge are standing true. 

My favorite comment is this one:

Rep. Sheldon Wasserman (D-Milwaukee): Yes. Wasserman, a doctor, said higher cigarette taxes drive people to quit smoking, thus saving lives. “ I might have signed a pledge, but I also took a Hippocratic oath,” he said.

You know, Sheldon, when you sign a pledge, it’s pretty likely that they kept a record of it, so you can drop the “might.” But it’s nice to see that he’s willing to pander to whomever happens to stick a piece of paper under his nose.

In other news…

Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, said today his group would help any local organizations that want to recall state lawmakers who reverse pledges to vote against tax hikes.

Twenty-seven members of the state Assembly have signed such pledges, but so far three of them have said they could vote for a hike in the cigarette tax.

Norquist said his group would work “hand in glove” with recall organizations by providing them training and the like.

1. Sheldon showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago while out “doing doors.” I wrote about it on my blog last month.  This guy is a piece of work.  He told me that he does not support the Healthy Wisconsin and that even some in his party are criticizing him for it. 
   He told me that he signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge but he couldn’t tell me why he voted against the Republican Assembly version of the budget.
   He did tell me that he saves tax payers money by riding the Badger Bus to Madison.
   He told me that he was in favor of the cigarette tax because if people are going to hurt their own health, they should have to pay for the healthcare they will need later.
   It was at this point that he figured he wasn’t going to get my vote so I never got to ask him about his votes on conceal and carry, voter ID among others.
   This guy is running around the 8th senate (he is running for the seat currently held by Alberta Darling) district claiming to be a fiscal conservative that will disagree with his own party on Healthy Wisconsin. 
   He is no fiscal conservative and voters in the 8th district need to know about his record.

   Posted by KT on October 01, 2007 at 2211 hrs




2. I would expect this blog to lead the way in taking care of veterans—not leaving it to us UW parents paying extra tuition for veterans, too.  And now with a possible surcharge of another $800 this spring!  What is being done in the Republican budget about this?

   http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/other/index.php? ntid=248570&ntpid;=3

   And what happened to the federal GI Bill that this is coming down to the states—and now may be carried by only some of us, already trying to help our students avoid carrying even more in student loans for years to come?

   Posted by on October 02, 2007 at 1024 hrs




3. Here is a really crazy idea.  Since the University System still has a valid budget (the last one remains in effect per state law until the new one gets passed) instead of raising tuition because the new budget hasn’t passed yet maybe they could cut some spending and try to fund the program. I am not a fan of unfunded mandates of any kind but the UW System’s approach (raise tuition instead of making cuts) certainly looks designed to evoke a reaction out college kids and their folks.  It is like pandering but in reverse; they stick it to the students and then say we had no choice because the evil Republicans won’t pass a budget (never mind that the Democrats are also not passing a budget).

   Posted by on October 02, 2007 at 1510 hrs




4. Joe, contracts are issued and signed before the fall semester begins, and it’s almost halfway through the first semester now—only a few weeks until time to register for the second semester. 

   And there are many more students now at many UW campuses than there were three years ago, when the last budget (the one still being followed) was based on projections that underestimated the numbers, in part because of so many returning veterans going back to school. 

   So read the reports; based on the tuition that the Regents had to guess at, without a budget, there isn’t enough money for all the spring semester classes planned.  So there will be cuts—but in classes, unless there is that $800 surcharge on students.  And the cuts of teachers will have to come on those with semester-by-semester contracts, and there aren’t as many of them—and those might not be the classes that you would cut.
   You really can’t turn around such a huge system that serves hundreds of thousands of students in a couple of weeks.

   How about all those legislators who pledged to pay for the veterans’ tuition live up to that pledge, since they’re so proud of living up to their pledges lately?  Then they can pledge changes in the UW for next time around. 

   But they missed their chance to do so in time this year, although they had all the budget requests and projections and more from state agencies almost a year ago.  So this year, school had to start without the legislature—as they forfeited their chance to set tuition levels and much more that is done in the budget.  All the attention to K-12 kinda missed that, huh? 

   And all the attention to the agreement to take care of veterans.

   Posted by on October 02, 2007 at 2151 hrs




5. While I agree with you about the flip-flop by some on the cigarette tax, I have no respect for Grover Norquist, who has often taken money from tribes to lobby against things that are contrary to interests of the tribes in the name of mainstream issues, like Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed.

   I’d be guessing he would not be against higher cigarette taxes if the legislation is written in a way that doesn’t affect cigarettes sold at the casinos and other reservations.

   Posted by on October 03, 2007 at 1028 hrs