With your hand on your wallet.
In February of 2011, it was newly-elected Gov. Scott Walker who said the changes he sought in his anti-collective bargaining bill, Act 40, were but "modest."
So modest that no negotiations, compromise or discussions with those impacted would be necessary.
In fact, Walker liked his "modest" proposal so much he told reporter Bill Luedders it was a "modest, modest proposal."
(And duly noted a number of times on this blog to reveal Walker's methods.)
After Walker's talking point camouflage, you'd think no one in Wisconsin would tout any plan that struck at other people's lifestyles and incomes as 'modest" without at least an asterisk or air-quotes - - but you'd be wrong, even when "modest" is shown to mean "maximum," too.
The head of the UW System again channels Walker and, again, Jonathan Swift at the Board of Regents meeting Thursday to justify a big hike in higher education costs for Wisconsin students and their families:
Kevin Reilly, his words:
UW System President Kevin Reilly proposed the maximum tuition increase allowed by the Legislature in the 2011-'13 state budget, calling it a "modest, predictable" increase that would help offset cuts in state aid.
The 5.5% increase, on top of another 5.5% increase approved last year, will generate a total of $110 million in new tuition revenue over the 2011-'13 biennium - about a third of what's needed to make up for a total $250 million in state budget cuts and $66 million in losses expected from state budget shortfalls.
JS ONLINE:
ReplyDeleteUW-Milwaukee Chancellor Michael Lovell told regents that students already are struggling to graduate on time.
In UWM's popular College of Health Sciences, there's one adviser for every 800 students, Lovell said. Campuswide, 2,600 students aren't getting courses they need to graduate on time, he said.
Drew said he couldn't vote for a tuition increase when the state isn't increasing need-based financial aid for students.
"I don't accept the 'new normal' is ever-declining state aid, ever-increasing tuition, ever-increasing debt and ever-declining access," Drew said.
Now I need to figure out a way to pay the extra $978 for tuition. Or is there more coming?
In an abusive, co-dependent relationship, such as two spouses, where one spouse physically abuses the other spouse, it is a common "tactic" to minimize the damage. "I only hit her (him) twice. I could have hit her (him) ten times. So what's the big deal?" "I didn't come anywhere close to shooting him (her). That bullet must have missed by at least six inches." "I only beat her (him) up once a week. I could do it everyday."
ReplyDeleteAt some level, the abuser knows that he or she is wrong, but the minimization is a way to put distance between the person and the actions.
Walker saying his "reforms" are "modest" proposals is just a way of minimizing what he has done.
The co-dependant person in the relationship also will minimize -- because that person has difficulty assessing the danger of the situation and difficulty believing he or she really is in danger. At some level, they may also think they "deserve" the abuse -- or at the very least, have lived with the abuse so long that they do not believe there is another way to live or that they can live without the abuse.
Make no mistake. The people who vote Republican are co-dependants. They cannot understand the danger to themselves. Or they somehow think they "deserve" the abuse of political leaders who are trying to take away income or health care or the right to vote. Or they have lived with the abuse for so long, they don't recognize it or don't think there is any other way to live.
I have actually, with my own ears, heard Republicans on public radio say that voting is not a right, it is a privilege. This, too, is a way of minimizing what they are doing. It's one thing to take away a right. It's quite another to take away privilege. Privileges taken away are a "punishment" and are "deserved" by the person from whom the privilege has been removed.
And of course, people who vote Republican have problems with higher order thinking skills. I live in a rural area where perhaps 10 percent of the population is made up of public employees -- teachers, county workers, municipal employees. People just CANNOT understand why restaurants, bars, gift shops and other businesses that depend on discretionary income are doing so poorly.
As a friend of mine says, "you can fix a lot of things, but you can't fix stupid."
And that's what we have -- a whole lot of stupid going on.
A question: Have I missed a change in approval of UW tuitions? I was stunned by the banner headline and top story in the JS today that the tuition increase is a done deal.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this still just Regents' recommendation to the legislators? Isn't the process still that the UW asks for a higher increase than it knows that it will get in the end? It is not usual for Regents to not whittle that down a bit, but even what Regents recommend still usually gets more than whittled down when it gets to those who face elections.
The story also was missing so much explanation and exposition that used to be in JS stories on this topic. For example, I saw no mention of increasing costs for UW campuses that account for the increased request -- or, conversely, nothing that usually is in past good reporting on these stories about what is not in the increase.
I.e., the increase includes nothing, nada, for raises -- after no raises for six years for faculty, five years for staff, etc., which only defers costs down the road to replace them (but that is the Walker Way in the general budget now). Of course, high-level UW admins (and Walker) got raises, but that's a different process and previously reported.
So, what is covered in the increase? There always are increased basic operating costs for utilities, etc., but those are not up 5.5%. These days, there are the constant increases in costs of maintaining and expanding the new technologies in education, i.e., computers, support, etc. But what else is in the increase?
After a while, students will just start not going to the overpriced UW.
ReplyDeleteWonder how long it will take.