Sunday, April 3, 2011

In The "Broke" Walker Administration, The Road-Builders Will Never Starve

In this, the 1,001st posting at this blog mentioning Scott Walker, we note his intention to spend $275-$350 million of taxpayers' money to repair and upgrade the Hoan Bridge.

When he pushes or forces Milwaukee County to lease or sell Mitchell Airport, the gussied-up bridge and extended Lake Park Freeway south will make the new private operators or owners feel better about their asset.

His budget also includes the beginning of $1.7 billion in spending for the now fast-tracked/Waukesha-shall-be-served promptly Zoo Interchange while the $1.9 billion I-94 N/S reconstruction and expansion slows somewhat, but will get its full build-out (35 new lane miles in both directions from Milwaukee to the Illinois line) despite any pressing need.

About another billion or so committed for a new I-39/90 lane between Rockford and Madison, probably to be extended all the way to the Wisconsin Dells so Illinois tourists can get there three minutes faster.

Walker is eager to spend billions in the very area of the budget where massive overruns have occurred?

Broke? Not on his terms.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, his budget is a horror, and it's great you've kept on his 1001 of his horrors. Thank you. In the past few motnhs you've become one of my fave blogs.
But then WHY are key Democrats now saying they now support the Walker budget? The atrocities therein go far beyond the "diva issue" of collective bargaining. In a way there's a bad side to the level of attention the collective bargaining issue gets, because there are so many other things Walker plans to do that also deserve attention and are also very very horrible.

WHAT specifically are those Democrats saying, and WHY!!!!????

When/if the recalls put Democrats back up on top, WILL THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO? Do they have a plan? Will they now show more backbone, having realized constant capitulation has a high price for everyone? or will they kowtow to Obama, and his General Electric pandering, conflict-avoiding ways?

They have to decide. There's only so many times the ball can be dropped before we are locked in to years and years of the Republican view of America. If the Democrats don't learn the lesson of The Fab 14 (that having a backbone is good and essential, and there is no other option unless you want to waste everyone's time and money) then there goes the last line of defense. And once younger generations grow up thinking the Republican ways are normal, that dying vision of America won't even have any weight anymore. Once people accept "this is how things are" it's a whole 'nother ballgame.
Democrats )sadly) are the only entity that can stop that from happening. Do they realize that?

Yes, that budget sucks. Don't anyone (on the foie-gras-suckin'-leftist side) say otherwise. Or their lips should just fall off. Along with a few other things too... x_x

Anonymous said...

Here is a simple answer to this - look at Kochind.com to see that the Koch Brothers manufacture asphalt, etc.
Koch companies have been in the petroleum business since 1940, growing our refining capacity more than 80-fold. Today these companies engage in petroleum refining, chemicals and base oil production, crude oil supply, and wholesale marketing of fuels, base oils, petrochemicals, asphalt and other products.

Anonymous said...

If Wisconsin's lakes get trashed by road runoff and farm waste, there will be no need to cater to us Illinoisans coming to visit the Dells. We'll just start taking better care of what we have and start vacationing around our lakes. A pity, really.

Paul Trotter said...

When gas prices hit $4.50 per gallon, revenue from the gas tax will drop sharply and create a huge deficit in his transportation budget. This is another example of his extremely short sighted vision for Wisconsin. . We all know that as soon as the zoo interchange and Bluemound / 100 intersection are completed they will fill to capacity. Expansion is a temporary fix. Alternative means of transportation must be developed but alas not under Walker.