What Scott Walker's 2013-'15 budget tells us is that there is one vindictive former Milwaukee County Executive sitting in the Governor's Mansion now.
Walker continues to rob Milwaukee Public Schools - - the state's largest school district, and the one with the most minority and poor students - - while showering public dollars on choice, private, charter and home schools that can be far more selective in student body composition than the public schools.
And in further 'stick-it-to-Milwaukee' premeditation, Walker proposes a ban on local governments' creation of residency requirements for municipal employees.
In one fell swoop, Walker - - once a big opponent of mandates from Madison - - would preempt local decision-makers and any hope of negotiating the content in or end of such agreements - - with the impact falling most heavily and negatively on the state's largest city and public school system.
In other words - - push the consequences on localities, from Madison, where Father Knows Best.
This is pure payback for the city of Milwaukee, its Mayor Tom Barrett and his voters (read: Democrats) for twice standing tall in elections against Walker and right-wing governance.
Walker won, but he needs more.
He is wants to use the state budget process to tell Milwaukee and other local governments how to operate, sandbagging the people whom Paul Ryan dissed as 'urban voters' while boosting the tax base, housing values and populations in already-upper-scale Wauwatosa, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Franklin and other near-Milwaukee suburbs.
At Milwaukee's expense.
And what about public works, police and fire department employees called in for emergency duties from farther away addresses?
What about local control and grassroots' decision-making?
Not Walker's problem. He's got scores to settle.
But..but..but what about the $100 million to "Transform Milwaukee" that Walker promised during the Recall election? http://news.wpr.org/post/barrett-milwaukee-still-waiting-transform-money
ReplyDeletewalker is the proverbial turd in the punchbowl and journal communications, lee enterprises, gannet, clear channel, and the locally-owned teabaggin' press in ripon, j-ville, fort, eau claire, and a few other municipalities are the merry glasses that make sure we all get a taste of the crap.
ReplyDeleteRemoving the residency rule would be a Godsend for Milwaukee. It would force the City to evaluate why the middle class continues to leave, and discover policies they can implement to attack the conditions which are pushing them away.
ReplyDeleteMilwaukee needs more than a residency rule to maintain a middle class tax base. James you are intelligent, make thoughtful connections, you should know a bad public policy when you see it. If Barrett used half the effort of thinking about excuses justifying residency into thinking about how to make Milwaukee neighborhoods appealing, the city would benefit.
This rule is an excuse for Barrett and his common council to not have to come up with a comprehensive plan to improve neighborhoods. It is admitting the City is a bad place to live. It is admitting they can't stop the decline or reverse it.
Today's journalists are so lazy and incompetent that they will never, ever analyze what this budget means -- just transcribe and dutifully report what the man claims. This even though anyone with half a brain can see through what is happening. This is the Tea Party agenda wrapped in the veneer of compassion for the middle class. Walker saying it doesn't make it so, unless you happen to be a member of the news media. "Gee, if we criticize him we might be (dear God!) denied access." We have to get rid of this clown in 2014.
ReplyDeleteWalker is an ideologue, and like all ideologues, he is dangerous. He is someone who not only believes but said out loud that Democrats want to make people dependent on the government.
ReplyDeleteYou could say he is Wisconsin's version of George W. (Walker) Bush -- ignorance plus power -- only our governor is the worse ideologue and he will probably prove to be the worse governing disaster.
The recall effort was certainly well-justified. Gotta hope the opposition fields a winning candidate next election.
". It would force the City to evaluate why the middle class continues to leave,"
ReplyDeleteIf the governor of my state hated my city so much he strove his hardest to inflict mroe traffic pollution and noise on it, I might leave too.