Legislators, Walker Getting Independent Fiscal Advice

Institute for Wisconsin's Future and former Doyle and Norquist aide David Riemer weigh in.

Intriguing and long-overdue ideas about loophole closing and restraining road spending are useful, certainly, but I suspect the Republican special-interest fund-raising base will put the kibosh on anything remotely progressive.

Separately, The New York Times says Walker engaged in unproductive political theater when he urged Illinois businesses to move across the border to escape higher taxes, and found a lack of real will nationally to face up to budget realities:

"With federal stimulus aid ending," said the Times in a Monday editorial, "states are in for their worst year in generations, and they cannot get out of it by either cutting or taxing alone. Illinois is figuring that out, finally. Too many other states are still in denial."