Though they never took a formal vote to do it, Scott Walker and his road-builder legislator complex have made the pothole the new Wisconsin state symbol, the front-end alignment shop the new official state business and tire repair store waiting rooms with TV's tuned to Judge Judy - - not the local park picnic table - - the typical Saturday afternoon state family gathering spot.
Walker's transportation secretary and lead apologist for the nearly-worst-in-the nation-state-roads says he will submit a budget request that provides no significant new revenue funding, so everyday road repairs will be further neglected.
This idiotic transportation-cum-delay 'plan' is useless for Wisconsin residents a) because the state has killed inter-city rail and keeps on starving transit, and b) continues to pour more money into the road-builders' pockets as they overbuild the Zoo Interchange and I-94 south of Milwaukee to the Illinois line - - but on a slower schedule, only guaranteeing more years of inflationary- cost overruns and wasteful construction-congestion while the potholes expand and the entire road system deteriorates.
And it's been this way throughout the Walker years.
I have no doubt that a bill to raise the gas tax a few pennies per gallon to pay only for road repairs statewide- - distributed to municipalities on a per-capita basis - - would sail through the Legislature - - but this one-dimensional group of careerist, special-interest legislators and an ideologically-commited rightwing Governor would never embrace such a logical approach because they'd rather you face a front-end repair bill of $1,000 than they face a tax rebel primary opponent or righty talk radio condemnation.
Walker's transportation secretary and lead apologist for the nearly-worst-in-the nation-state-roads says he will submit a budget request that provides no significant new revenue funding, so everyday road repairs will be further neglected.
This idiotic transportation-cum-delay 'plan' is useless for Wisconsin residents a) because the state has killed inter-city rail and keeps on starving transit, and b) continues to pour more money into the road-builders' pockets as they overbuild the Zoo Interchange and I-94 south of Milwaukee to the Illinois line - - but on a slower schedule, only guaranteeing more years of inflationary- cost overruns and wasteful construction-congestion while the potholes expand and the entire road system deteriorates.
And it's been this way throughout the Walker years.
I have no doubt that a bill to raise the gas tax a few pennies per gallon to pay only for road repairs statewide- - distributed to municipalities on a per-capita basis - - would sail through the Legislature - - but this one-dimensional group of careerist, special-interest legislators and an ideologically-commited rightwing Governor would never embrace such a logical approach because they'd rather you face a front-end repair bill of $1,000 than they face a tax rebel primary opponent or righty talk radio condemnation.
Undoubtedly Walker told Gottlieb that he was not to request any new funds for roads! One must assume revenues are looking so bleak that Walker doesn't want to be embarrassed by having to cut proposed funding increases for transportation from the budget and to have to do this publicly. Walker has already kicked over $100 million in debt payment from this budget down the road so that the budget would not show red ink!!!! Walker is out of money and roads and the people of Wisconsin are out of luck. He broke it but he doesn't know how to fix it.
ReplyDeleteGottlieb may be following the playbook by not requesting any new funds, but he gets his revenge by laying consequences straight out for everyone to see instead of pretending the less-favored highways and maintanence projects will somehow magically take care of themselves. Bridge closed? Road crumbling? Hit a pothole? Miss an overgrown stop sign at an archaic intersection? Thanks to Gottlieb you now know who to thank. It's like he set up the Democrats' fall election campaign for them.
ReplyDeleteExactly, people will see what needs aren't going to be taken care of. And the budget requests are due back in September (although they hid a lot of the detail on DOT till after the election in 2014.
DeleteCrappy roads kill people, but then so did turning down medicaid funding for expansion. Your car get damaged -- big deal -- dangerous road conditions cause accidents that maim cripple, and kill.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why anyone wants to make this about damaging their vehicle instead of calling out the public menace that Walker's irresponsible policies are.
Jake, if we had an informed electorate, you would be right. But we don't have an uninformed electorate, we have a misinformed electorate.
ReplyDeleteDifference is huge and plays right into Walker's hand. And where did the public get such stoooopid ideas about what is going on?
Right-wing hate radio helps, but even more powerful is the lie of objective journalism that republished Scott Walker/republican talking points as if they are the only legitimate take on what republicans and Scott Walker are doing. Misinformed people get their information from propaganda.
So it would be nice to think there would be an "accountability moment" at the ballot box -- this is not going to happen anytime soon in Wisconsin for a number of reasons.
Critical, however, is the dishonest misinformation regularly published across the state of Wisconsin.
Well that our job to go around the media? Stop whining and tell the truth, and call out the papers who dont.
DeleteIts not coincidence the State Journal has gotten tougher on Walker in the last year- their readers weren't letting them get away with stenography anymore