The people who run our state have little or no concern for those of us who pay to have them running the state. That is so apparent as to be a truism.
The tech colleges had already been given the ability to increase their take by 4%. That is considerably greater than the inflation that had occurred, but it still wasn't enough! The governor just had to take the cap away. He said, "If technical colleges do not have the ability to respond to the rapidly changing needs of businesses in Wisconsin, economic growth will suffer".
Does anyone believe that excessive taxation spurs economic growth?
Michael Rosen, head of the MATC teachers union and a member of the state technical college board had this to say: "Governor Doyle again demonstrated his commitment to growing Wisconsin's economy through training and investing in the labor force today. The veto he took today continues his commitment to that vision."
I suspect that Rosen is sincere with his statements. The lockstep between the state technical college board and the Governor is very, very apparent. Appointed boards tend to be that way, don't they?
By the way, the 4% cap would've pared an estimated $7.9 Million from the budgets already passed by the sixteen tech colleges. Of that amount, MATC would've "lost" $3.9 Million. Interesting that MATC is one of sixteen colleges (6.25%), while its share of the 'lost" tax money would've amounted to over 49% of the total. Only two of the sixteen colleges had already come in under the 4% property tax cap. That means that 13 colleges split the remaining 50%
Does this sound like a well-run and properly guided system to you? It doesn't to me.
Does this send a solid and positive signal to employers? I don't think so, no matter how much the governor and his team preach the same sermon. We are an over-taxed state and we will stay that way. We continue to elect those who can only think 'spending increase' and who do not have the phrase 'expense reduction' in their vocabularies. Then, we step back and wonder why we get the same thing over and over again.
The author of the Lil' Abner comic strip may have had it right when he said (paraphrased), "We have met the enemy, and he is us".
