Labor Day has arrived and signals the 'end of summer' as nights get chillier and children and grandchildren go back to their respective schools.  Ideally, we will enjoy a luxurious fall season with leaves ablaze and many beautiful days before snowflakes once again arrive.

Labor Day was formally decreed across the United States in 1894 by then President Grover Cleveland.  The new federal holiday was swiftly approved by Congress and has been with us since.

Labor Day has, like so many special holidays, lost a lot of its meaning for many people.  For some, it is simply another three-day week-end.  For others, it is the time when the Muscular Dystrophy fund drive is hosted by Jerry Lewis, and so on. 

I have never been a member of organized labor, unless by accident during my six-week 'career' at the Estwing hammer plant in Rockford, IL in the early 1960s.  I have friends who were and still are members of unions.  I have many acquaintances who were and/or are members of unions.  My feelings about the labor movement tend toward the position that they were very important during the later years of the Industrial Revolution and during the early third of the 20th century.  Since that time, I am convinced that unions, in general, have lost the essence of what made them so dominant during those times.  Child labor laws have curtailed that practice.  Employers have come out of the dark ages in most cases and recognize they must treat their employees as humans who are part of the reason for the success or failure of their business.

Among the strongest unions today is the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) run by Mr. Andy Stern.  He has proved to be a consummate organizer and is one of the brightest people in organized labor today of which I'm aware.  I see entities such as 9 to 5 with the soon to be held referendum that would bind employers in Milwaukee to offering sick leave for all employees.  These organizations tend to signal the changes that have been occurring in our country.  The strongest union is one that organized workers in the 'service' sector.  The old United Auto Workers (UAW) struggles with the malaise felt throughout that industry.  Coal miners no longer have the clout that once was theirs.

I see the Democrats in Congress still carrying the water for labor with such things as the open vote effort that would certainly favor organizers and quiet the opposition.  Political power changes hands periodically and that has a great deal to do with the ebb and flow of organized labor.  Labor organizations still have the ability to mobilize tens of thousands of 'volunteers' to get out the vote.  Republicans can only stand in the shadows and lament that they do not have similar clout.

I wonder where organized labor will be in a decade or two or three.  I don't know but I do recognize that change will continue at the same or a faster pace.  Will organized labor find ways to make inroads in India or China?  Will those governments permit such organizing?  If the government of China permits organizing, I wonder at what cost to the workers?  Will unions in the U.S. come together to maintain a level of strength that many have already lost individually?  If so, where will the new leaders come from?  I doubt that heavy industry will be the source of leadership; it more likely comes from the service sector of our economy given the massive shifts in employment in our country.

At any rate, I trust you will have or have had a very pleasant Labor Day 2008.

You and me are really great people.  Why is that?  Well, we seem to help bail out just about everything that bangs on Washington's door.

A short time ago, the sub-prime mortgage companies received their bail out; likely the first of their bail outs since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still in the throes of that mess.

Now the automobile industry is in the queue for what yesterday was about $25 billion and today has already climbed to $40 billion according to the press.

Is this a proper use for the tax dollars that are extracted from each of us?  Should we be funding these bail outs for industries that essentially have gone bad because of their own doing?  If you or me were responsible for these 'disasters', we'd probably step up to the plate and take what was coming to us.  But we didn't force people to be too gullible and let people sell them homes they couldn't afford.  We didn't cause the oil price jump because we didn't approve new refineries for thirty years or drill for new fields of oil?

If any of us should be paying 'the price', it seems that the finger of blame needs to be pointed at Washington and the people we send there to represent us.  That group has caused these issues to surface through favors to those putting money into their campaign accounts.  That group has caved in to the environmental groups that are fanatical to the extreme in their pursuit of the ultimate goal they espouse.

Oh, that's right.  We are to blame because we continue to return the same people to Washington in spite of what they do and don't do.  We don't require any 'reparations' for their actions.

Maybe we all need to get a little more involved and a little more vocal starting with our upcoming local elections.  Too may of us simply shake our heads and fume; we really need to be more active in our precincts and districts and villages or cities, and in our counties and states.

I saw a quote in the past few days that went along these lines:  "Too many people have died for our freedoms for us to not vote."

Bus Instead of Drive...

The Riteway/WCCE bus to and from the State Fair is a great deal in my estimation.  I have become a convert after this my third year of using this service.  A pleasant ride down and back.  Buses every half-hour.  Clean.  Relatively inexpensive.  And, discounted State Fair tickets courtesy of All American on Mequon Road in G'town.

Future Drop-Out?

Soon after arriving, I had an experience that has haunted me since.  I do not mean to be offensive, but I suspect some will be offended.  I heard a man hollering and saw, some distance ahead, a mother and son (about 5 years old).  All were well-dressed and neat in appearance.  They were working on some problem the son was having and the son had dropped a near-life size Spiderman game prize on the street while this went on.  That father was furious that 'Spidey' was on the street (although the street was clean and dry for a street).  The mother, who had been quiet until the hollering began, also commenced to scream and berate the boy.  The boy looked bewildered and then began to cry, only provoking more hollering and the use of epitaphs that refer to one's mother derogatorily.  Both mother and father used this term in addition to telling the boy that he was "stupid".  Then, the father, apparently having done his duty, turned and left to go back in the direction of the inner fairgrounds eating his 'blooming onion' while the mother and son walked toward the exit on 84th street.  Mom continued to berate the son verbally.  I didn't see any physical involvement.  There was no intervention by fairground security if they were even aware.

This was a 'stomach-turning' display.  There is no other way to describe it.  It was so out of the ordinary for me that I was dumbfounded.  It was over very quickly for me (except for the images in my mind) but the little guy lives in that world 24/7.

Frankly, this immediately brought to mind another drop-out at the age of fourteen or so adding to the woes of the Milwaukee Public School system and society some nine years from now, if it takes that long, and if he survives that long.  What kind of future does that young man have if he continues to be raised and educated in his current environment?  Where did society take the wrong turn that created the environment that produced Mom and Dad?

Economic/Political Indicator?

There seemed to be less lugging of mops and brooms and other 'fair goodies' this year than last.  The hawkers had smaller audiences, if an audience at all.  I saw two political party booths: Democrat and Libertarian.  I may've missed the other major party's booth but I don't know where it was.  If it is any consolation, neither were over-populated at the time I passed them.  To think the people were all at the other party's booth is, however, to be naive.  I saw one Obama button being worn and that was by a person who had boarded the bus in West Bend.

That was it for this year's fair experience other than to say the weather couldn't have been better.  We again saw Rhonda and her husband performing at Rupena's renewing a friendship of my wife's.  I guess my overall experience of the fair was over-shadowed by that early encounter with the highly dysfunctional family.  That was a 'downer', to borrow a term from a younger generation, that I'll carry for some time.

Is 'perversion' too strong a term?  I don't think so.

The EPA has turned down attempts by the State of Wisconsin to relax the ill-conceived S.E. Wisconsin requirement for 'reformulated' gasoline even as we are virtually in full attainment.  That was probably dwarfed by comparison to the decision it announced that it was denying the State of Texas' request for a cutback on the amount of ethanol required to be blended with gasoline.

There is a radio commercial playing in our market that is sponsored by the ethanol lobby that makes the case, in essence, that we, who question the use of corn to make ethanol, are over-reacting and need to check our facts.  I am angered every time I hear that commercial, including this morning as it played while I was shaving...with a blade.  That could've hurt!

The simple facts are being ignored by the EPA, Congress and the President.  And, these aren't stupid people.  This is intentional ignorance.  Our food prices are going up, and it is caused in part by the insistence that ethanol be blended with gasoline even as us taxpayers pay the price for the ethanol support being paid on every gallon.  The other part of the increase is obviously that caused by the fact that Democrats have so far refused to relax their stance against oil drilling here and now.

Back to ethanol.  It is causing many cattle ranchers to reduce their herd size because they can't afford the feed to grow them for market.  The prices for chicken and beef are rising at a rapid pace.  I looked at flank steak a few days ago since it always used to be a relatively lower priced cut of meat.  That is a thing of the past.  I bought chicken breasts a few days ago and was astounded at the prices I saw on the packages.

I know that my mileage with reformulated gas is less than it was before that edict; about 10% worse.  I know that ethanol is much less efficient in terms of the energy it generates than is gasoline.  So, I am burning more and getting less.  A double-whammy in our part of Wisconsin.

The EPA stated that there was "no compelling evidence" that the mandate for ethanol is causing "severe economic harm".  That had to have been spoken by a federal employee who is reimbursed for his or her mileage...from our tax dollars  These people simply have no contact with reality, or manage to suppress the lessons they really learn in order to be a "dutiful servant of the people".

As if all this isn't enough to put me into a deep funk, I am confronted with the idiocy that is called political campaigning where people talk about wind power, sun power, and bio-fuels while not mentioning oil or coal or nuclear power.  How in the world are we supposed to leap forward a decade or more when technology is not yet even available to soften our landing?

We are in real danger of becoming a third world nation if the current policies are not changed and changed quickly!  Our economy simply cannot withstand the political assault it is under.  And this is not a political assault from another country...it comes from within.

So, I don't think calling the EPA the Environmental Perversion Agency is much of a reach. 

And I, for one, am very, very tired of the elected people we all put into office forgetting who it is they represent, and what it is we want.

Governor Doyle heard from his Wisconsin-based study group on carbon footprints, wind generators, etc., etc. a few days ago after it spent 16 months studying the 'problem'.  He recently defended his participation in the Midwest Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord Advisory Group (the acronym MRGGRAAG just doesn't work for me, by the way) by saying that the various regions across America have to get to work on the issues surrounding us without regard to what others may or may not be doing.

What is missing in all this rhetoric?

Our environment is globally-dynamic.  Remember the Mount St. Helen's ash clouds moving around the earth?  Do we see any continuing issues from that eruption other than (possibly) in the immediate vicinity?  How about forest fires?  Our small local, state or regional efforts to solve the perceived ills of the globe might be likened to the effort to drain Lake Michigan with a thimble.  The dynamic environment is pouring water into the lake all the while we're trying to empty it with our thimble and we think we're having a noticeable impact?

This is yet another vestige of the climate change/global warming/global cooling group.  There still is no scientific proof behind the myriad suppositions.  Nothing has changed since the last time we discussed this other than for the rhetoric to have been dialed up by the Gore groupies. 

Just as the United States threatens its own economy by thinking it needs to establish the magical 'cap and trade' marketplace when China and India and the emerging economies in the rest of the world ignore the issue, it is equally as damaging to Wisconsin and the Midwest to think that it can solve the 'problem' in the face of much greater odds.

Just because John McCain was unwise enough to voice support for a national 'cap and trade' plan for campaign purposes alongside Barack Obama, it still isn't true.  Al Gore notwithstanding, this is bunk...but I repeat myself.  I far and away prefer the 'preaching' of Representative Jim Ott (an accomplished professional meteorologist and student of the sciences).

The Governor's medicine threatens the patient far more than the perception of a 'problem' that has yet to be proved. 

Have I lost my mind?  I hope not.

My concern is this:  With gas prices dropping and now at the mid $3.80s per gallon, will we lose our impetus to keep the pressure on our elected officials to get more drilling going and to relax the myriad rules on new refineries?

We are a strange group, we humans.  We got used to paying $4.20 per gallon for regular for a week or two and now we're "saving" nearly $.40 a gallon.  We forget very quickly that only a year or so ago we were paying a dollar or more less for our gas.

We seem to forget that we were upset over ethanol and its impact on our mileage and on our food prices.

We seem to forget that reformulated gas is costing us more and causing lower miles per gallon.

Are we going to meekly go about our daily business now until prices go back up?  Are we going to give our politicians a 'free pass'? 

Are we going to let the presidential candidates avoid dealing with this issue...even though they'll make promises that'll probably be forgotten in a week or two?

Are we going to demand that our state representatives push hard to get the ethanol lobby off our backs?

The people have spoken; loudly and clearly.  There is now a roughly two-thirds majority across all political lines that want oil drilling and refining capacity increases to commence immediately.  That two-thirds majority has had enough of the 'fluff' that passes for 'bipartisanship' in politics today.  That two-thirds majority fills its tanks every week and is very cognizant of the sacrifices it has been forced to make while its elected representatives in Congress dither.

Demagoguery has run rampant...even more so than has come to be the usual level of demagoguery in Washington, D.C.  We witness the daily back and forth of polite name-calling that passes for bipartisanship.  I have yet to be able to understand why it is that conservatives almost always end up on the wrong end of the 'bipartisanship stick'.  Why is it that a conservative-driven effort is demagogued by the liberals but a liberal-driven effort is almost always labeled a 'bipartisanship' effort?

Now we see an almost amazing display of partisan chutzpah with Nancy Pelosi's pronouncement yesterday that the Republican efforts to increase drilling are "a hoax" designed to take the peoples' minds off other Republican problems.  Even the poorly-equipped Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, has softened his rhetoric in the face of public sentiment.  But not the erstwhile Nancy Pelosi who is re-elected by her ultra-liberal San Francisco district by super majorities in the 70%+ range.

Nancy Pelosi will continue to be a member of Congress for so long as she wishes, and needn't give a whit about the will of the people...other than for the ultra-liberals in her home district.  How are these 'reigns of terror' to be dealt with under our constitution?  By the sacking of Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House by the Democrats who elected her to that position.  Even Steny Hoyer would seem good by comparison!

The House Dems are frightened to death by the power of Nancy Pelosi.  So much so, in fact, that they willfully ignore their own constituents who are part of that two-thirds majority.  Unless and until the other Democrat members of the House of Representatives feel the real passion of their constituents on the subject of oil drilling and refining capacity, nothing will happen to improve prices at the pump on a long-term basis.  We have five of those people in Wisconsin.  We also have two Democrat Senators who might just seek a meeting with Nancy Pelosi to express their concern...if they have any real concern about what you and I pay for our gasoline.

The all too short and simple explanation is this:  they don't care about you and me except when we cast our votes.  And, they have come to understand that they'd have to commit some horrific act in order to be defeated after serving two terms in office.  They couldn't care less about you and me because they are beholden to Nancy Pelosi for their committee appointments and they know that she can influence their campaign funding situation come election time.

That is another thing that is problematic.  Our Members of the House of Representatives are in constant campaign mode.  They are campaigning for re-election even before being sworn in for the next term to which they've just been elected or re-elected.  The reverse problem exists with our Senators; they know that we have short memories so they can easily vote against our will for four years and then 'straighten up and fly right' for two years to get re-elected.  It has happened so regularly that we could nearly do away with re-election and simply wait for retirement to open a seat.

Now, we are looking at the very real possibility that the President and both houses of Congress will be under Democrat control.  We are looking at the very real possibility that both houses of Congress will also be 'veto proof' if the Democrats sweep as they suspect they will.

This seems to me to be too great a price to pay for the reminder that we shouldn't ever be so silly as to permit this to occur.  But...it seems we never learn.  It seems we love to be taught the same lesson over and over again.  It must be akin to our need to push on a sore spot or bite down on the tooth that aches.

In keeping with the protocol we have established, we'll lead with the response of Senator Darling to each question in this chapter.

 * * * * * * * * * *

What is your position on Ethanol mandates in Wisconsin?

Darling:  I oppose ethanol mandates!  I have asked our federal lawmakers to repeal the federal renewable fuel mandate and eliminate tax credits for ethanol production.  I have also asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lift the reformulated gas (RFG) blend mandate.

Wasserman:  I am against Ethanol mandates.

* * * * * * * * * *

Wisconsin is now listed as only the 11th highest taxed state in the union.  Is this appropriate given the services we receive?  Are there ways that taxes can be reduced further and, if so, where do you think that can be accomplished?

Darling:  For way too long, Wisconsin was among the top ten of most highly-taxed states.  Wisconsin is now out of the top ten because legislative Republicans have successfully defeated billions in Democrat-backed tax hikes over the years.  While I am pleased that our tax rank is dropping, the state must start to spend less too.

Wasserman:  Based on the services we receive, I think we could be more in the middle of the pack.  We can do that by restructuring government and eliminating unnecessary layers of bureaucracy.  We also need to stop giving tax breaks to every individual who comes to Madison with a paid lobbyist.  Instead of increasing the complexity of our tax code and favoring the few instead of helping the many, taxes should be cut across the board.  We can all share in tax breaks.

* * * * * * * * * *

Is the UW system working as it should or are there problems that need resolution?  If problems, what do you see those as being?

Darling:  As a proud alumna of UW-Madison, I think it is important that our UW-System remain a top notch higher educational system that is a major driver of our state's economy.  That said, there have been far too many examples where the UW-System has wasted taxpayer dollars.  Everyone remembers examples like the $26 million spent on a new computer payroll system that didn't work and the $700 per month automobile allowances for chancellors.  While the UW-System is very important to our state, it needs to eliminate wasteful spending.

Wasserman:  The overall UW system is the third largest in the country, and I'm proud of it.  I graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and I'm very proud of my education and what it's done for me.  One area of concern is the administrative system for the UW itself, which needs to be cut.

* * * * * * * * * *

As always, our thanks go to both contributors for taking the time to respond to our questions.  And, we again encourage readers to pose their questions for future chapters in this 'debate'.

The question for today in our 'debate' between candidates LaSage and Melchert is this:

What specific existing state programs can be cut to stop the ongoing issues of budget shortfalls?

LaSage:  The reason that I am running for State Assembly is to return the Republican Party back to being the party that stands for smaller government.  My philosophy of good government is one in which bureaucracy is reduced and local control is increased, which leads not only to a need for less tax revenue, but it returns control and ownership back to the local level, where the people that have first-hand experience with local needs reside.  So while I understand that this office carries a great deal of responsibility, it is not power that I seek, but rather empowerment for our citizenry.

Further, my core belief is that budgetary shortfalls occur because the state fails to operate like a business.  When examining a budget, a business looks at all programs that yield little value.  For example, ethanol has been proven to be an ineffective product and thus state subsidies to encourage its production should be abolished.  Gas blended with ethanol causes even more financial pain at the pump and reduces fuel economy.  Furthermore, taxpayer funded incentives to produce ethanol leads to a government sponsored heightened demand for corn, which in turn contributes to higher prices at the grocery store.  All of this for dubious positive environmental impact, as ethanol needs to be transported on trucks, which of course use gas.

Another item that needs to be addressed is wasteful pet pork project spending.  One example of such spending in the state budget would be $250,000 for a Hmong cultural center in La Crosse.  While I fully support and have worked for preserving cultural heritage in our community, this is simply absurd.  With the state's budget over 1600 pages long, examples such as these abound.

If a deficit still exists after such review, a business would also tell each of its departments to put together proposals that cut spending across-the-board.  Upon making this directive, bureaucratic administrators will say that taxpayers' most valued programs will need to be cut.  When this demagoguery occurs, your assemblyman should call them out on it, telling them to go back to the drawing board and work harder.

In the midst of cash flow problems, a business would also look at the revenue side of the equation.  Presidents ranging from Democrat John F. Kennedy to Republican Ronald Reagan understood that tax cuts for individuals and businesses spurs growth, creating jobs that in turn yield more tax revenue.  What has worked at the federal level (when employed) should be implemented in Wisconsin.  Thus, I support a lower gas tax, as well as individual and corporate income tax rate reductions.

Finally, rather than monolithically telling citizens every program I feel should be cut, I look forward to engaging in an ongoing dialogue with district residents who can share their experiences and frustrations with state government bureaucracy and excess spending.  You can reach me on either my cell phone: (262) 573-6360, or via emailing jason.lasage@gmail.com .  By working together to put Wisconsin on the right track, our collective 24th district voice will be heard.

* * * * * * * * * *

Melchert:  We need to seriously consider a spending freeze for the next biennium.  A spending freeze would keep existing government offices and services in place, but would prohibit new spending.  Rep. Pridemore states that "This budget could almost be balanced with an across the board spending freeze that would allow the level of expected revenue to catch up with spending without any of the tax increases that democrats are proposing."  (http://donpridemore.com/BudgetTaxes/IsNoBudgettheBestBudget/tabid/70/Default.aspx)  A spending freeze may be unpopular, but a $2.3 billion deficit is immoral.

In addition, the budget has grown so much that we need to re-examine every dollar of government spending.  While Wisconsin is already under a form of "base budget review reporting", we need to introduce a more aggressive culture of spending restraint.  Instead of simply justifying expenses, let's require agencies to rank their spending priorities.  What expenses would each department cut if they only had 90% of their existing budget?  Would we lose essential services or would the reduction even be noticed?  Let's have a televised hearing on Wisconsin Eye as we justify to the state why we are going to spend each dollar of the $20 billion of your money.  While Jack Welch was criticized for his cost-cutting, he took GE from a $14 billion market value in 1980 to $410 billion in 2004.

By re-evaluating every dollar of government spending and implementing a spending freeze, we can restore fiscal accountability.

Are we being a bit presumptuous by having a Wisconsin global warming task force?  There is no solid scientific evidence of anything other than what our earth has always gone through.  Our emotions are being played "like a fiddle" with pictures of polar bears drowning when, in fact, the pictures were of nothing of the sort, and the fact that there are twice the number of polar bears today as were on this earth 40 years ago.  The Great Lakes were drying up at an alarming rate and today we don't know what to do with all the water that fell on us.

We are reduced to blaming both hot weather and cold weather on global warming.  We are reduced to blaming both drought and flooding on global warming.  We either have more hurricanes or fewer hurricanes, but both those phenomenons are caused by global warming.  We just had one of the greatest snow falls in any winter on record, but it is caused by global warming.

It seems as though the powers that be have succumbed to this burst of 'junk science' that we've been treated to in the past handful of years since Al Gore adopted global warming as his latest crusade.  His Power Point slide show has spawned a great deal for him...at our collective expense.  We can't drill for oil, we can't build power plants using nuclear technology, and we are burning our food as fuel while people starve around the world.  Every one of those decisions was based on politics, not on reason and certainly not on any rational approach to the issues confronting us today.  This whole movement is destroying our economy and we seem blind to that reality.

The reality is that none of us knows anything for certain.  We don't have a clue as to whether we are in a true global warming crisis or not.  It is not sound science to assume that we are in crisis because we cannot prove otherwise.  Where is the rationality to that?  Yet, that is precisely what is happening today.  We could as easily be creating a new problem where none exists today by following the "siren's song" of global warming.

This task force convenes and decides what you and I need to be doing, but it is doing so without any basis in fact.

Why is it that this task force thinks that wind turbine energy must produce 25% of our electricity before they, the task force members, will even think of permitting us to build another atomic power plant?  Have they, the task force members, stopped to consider how many wind turbines at what cost planted where will be required to produce 25% of the electricity we consume today let alone will consume in a quarter-century?  Have they performed a cost benefit analysis for nuclear versus wind-powered electricity generation?  Of course not, since that would destroy any credibility they claim to have.

How gracious of this task force to at least say they will think of atomic power before the Yucca Mountain storage facility has been placed into use provided, of course, that we build the wind turbine farms across our landscape.  I wonder what ever happened to the fears of birds flying into these huge blades?  Is concern for wildlife now being replaced on the left by the overriding concern about global warming even though it is unproved?

The task force leaders say that their intent is to compromise.  If I had the position of manufacturing something from nothing, I, too, would believe in compromise.  The other side would have to give up 50% of its position and, in return, I'd get 50% further toward my goal of this fantastic future-land where everything is balanced, where none of us uses any more than any of the rest of us on the globe...where we are in the same desperate condition as everyone else on the face of the earth.  That makes a lot of sense to me.

Why do we insist on doing these things to ourselves?

Two candidates have declared, so far, for the Assembly 24th district seat being vacated by Sue Jeskewitz.  They are Republicans Randy Melchert and Jason LaSage.  I continue to hear that there will be other candidates declaring between now and the deadline on July 8th, however we want to begin the Assembly 'Debate' so as to help voters learn as much as possible about the candidates.  I have posed much the same questions to both candidates as were discussed in the Senate "Debate' series.

The initial question was this:  If you were to introduce yourself to a roomful of voters, what would you tell them of yourself?

Melchert:  I am Randy Melchert, and I am a 5th generation Menomonee Falls resident.  My great grandmother ran a small café near the corner of Main Street and Appleton Avenue.  My grandfather started his law practice near that same corner as well.  My mother practiced law there as well.  I have lived my entire life in this community and I enjoy it.  Except for one thing.

Taxes.  While we have "The Best Care in the Air" nearby, the Packers up the road, and a beautiful wonderland every winter, the tax situation in this state is hurting the families of the state.  The average Menomonee Falls family over the next ten years will send around $77,000 to Madison in state income and sales taxes.  In Germantown a little less, in Richfield a lot more.  We have the 7th highest state and local tax burden, the 8th highest gas tax, and the 11th worst business tax climate.  Unfortunately the tax bill may rise.  On top of our already large spending habit, we could have a $2.3 billion deficit.  That's $1,655 of debt for every family of four in the state.  We need change now.  We need legislators who are responsible, dependable, and accountable.

* * * * * * * * * *

LaSage:  I am a life-long resident, taxpayer and worker in the 24th district, truly grateful for the support I have received from this community throughout my entire life.  When I was a 5th grader at County Line School, residents, led by my Cub Scout Leader, Jim McNally, generously donated money to provide me with a scooter so that I would have a way to keep up with my friends.  At Kennedy Middle School, one of the many special teachers in my life, now principal, Steve Bold helped spark my interest in social studies by demonstrating how serving others is a rewarding enterprise.  While I was a high school student, area parents came to my aid, as I helped lead the way with a group of friends to promote drug and alcohol-free activities in the community through initiating Youth Future's 1st annual lock-in for middle school students-an event that recently celebrated its 14th year.

In 1998, residents embraced my eagerness for public service, by electing me to the Germantown School Board-an office I was re-elected to.  That same year, current outgoing state Representative Sue Jeskewitz was kind enough to take me to Madison for a day to see first-hand how state government works.  As a board member, the MacArthur Elementary School community welcomed me, as I tutored youngsters and volunteered at MacFest events.  I also worked with Keith Musolff's gifted and talented middle school students for two years.  Additionally, as I was focusing on my bachelor's degree in communication and political science from UW-Milwaukee, state Senator Alberta Darling gave me the opportunity to intern for her.

Menomonee Falls also accommodated me for four years at Guaranty Bank and six years at Strong Investments.  I have kept involved with area youth for the past six years (and counting) by part-time substitute teaching in the Menomonee Falls School District.  I am also thankful to have had the ability to learn even more about the area and enhance my leadership skills through participation in Leadership Germantown this past year.

Now, as a 24th district taxpayer and homeowner, I want to be your representative in the state Assembly, taking my rich experience from the area and championing our shared values-creating jobs through lower taxes, spending and regulation; working to achieve more local control of education and municipal government; addressing healthcare with free market, consumer solutions; protecting individual liberties-while being accessible and willing to listen to all constituents.  I realize that some politicians have the tendency to disappoint, letting the lure of outside money get in the way of doing the people's work.  Though, if given the opportunity to serve as your representative in Madison, I assure you that my values and character, my ties to the community, and my aspiration to deliver sound, conservative leadership are not for sale.

* * * * * * * * * *

As always, we thank both gentlemen for taking time to participate in this 'Debate' and welcome readers' questions for future 'Debates'.  Either email those or frame them as comments to this blog.

Wisconsin's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by about 1% in 2007, half the rate of growth of the nation as a whole.  But one sector continues its dominant position as the leading growth segment in our state: government seems to be our biggest growth segment.

State government and related institutions continue to grow at significantly greater rates than the GDP.  Might our GDP have risen more than 1% if the state's business climate were better than it is?  I believe the answer to that rhetorical question is a resounding YES!

Seriously, there needs to be some level of sanity restored to our state government and to those institutions funded with tax money and other fees.  This simply is an unsustainable situation and that seems to have, as yet, escaped too many of our elected officials.  We cannot continue to increase the tax and fee loads at greater rates than the economy can sustain.  We cannot continue to extract more and more money from our citizenry even as they all pay far more for energy and foodstuff and virtually everything else that is consumed.

Our state educational institutions' budgets grow at rates of several times the rate of growth of our GDP.  Our government continues to give money away to the 'favored few' in the forms of ethanol subsidies, and 'ear marks' that send dollars here and there again to the 'favored few'.  Social engineering continues to be practiced as an 'art form' at the state level.

Seemingly every time we open our eyes, we're looking at someone's proposal for spending more money.  Or, we're looking at someone's proposal to curtail this or that segment of our economy.  Or, we're confronted with the latest effort to protect us from ourselves.  Or, we see the latest state labor settlement that raises the compensation of this group or that group.

The U.S. average for all states was GDP growth of 2.0%, so we came in on the bottom side of that mark.  In fact, we ranked 39th of the 50 states in terms of our GDP growth.  Coincidentally, that is also our ranking in terms of tax collections.  Do you suppose there might be a tie-in there if we probed a bit?

There is a point beyond which our GDP growth will simply become a negative number; a point at which the economic engine will simply not sustain the government demands placed upon it.  Michigan had a GDP growth rate of -1.2% in 2007.  There is a reason for that.  The reason for Michigan's problem is the auto industry decline and the rate of spending by the state government.  Wisconsin faces its own declining industry base and it certainly is spending too much.  What does that suggest?

We lose two people for every one person that moves into the state.  We watch as more and more businesses either leave the state entirely or relocate their headquarters or become acquired by an out-of-state entity.  We become defensive about negative news rather than stepping up to the proverbial plate with aggressive alternative approaches to solve our declining growth.

We do not seem to understand that states cannot use tax increases to get out of these situations.  States that use tax decreases find their economies booming in contrast to those states that use the reverse approach.

The old bromide, "will the last one out, turn out the lights?", has been employed regularly with regard to Michigan.  When will we begin to hear it used in conjunction with our own state?  What must we do to get the attention of our leaders?

Maybe the answer is: we have to fire them to get their attention...and the attention of those who follow that group!

A brief article appeared in the Journal Sentinel this morning discussing the money received by the Miller Park stadium district from its share of the five-county sales tax collections.  We've always heard about that expressed as 1/10th of 1%, and that makes the tax seem smaller, at least to me as I briefly process the sentence that I read.

After all, that is only a penny for every $10 spent in the five county area set aside to pay for Miller Park.  I was, by the way, not opposed to that cost sharing just to set the record straight.

The month of March generated a $2,197,487 payment to the stadium district based on that penny per ten dollar sharing level.  That is a lot of money sucked out of the economy especially when we are in the midst of the cost increases we're seeing for most everything due to the price of fuel that ripples through almost every segment of our economy in the form of increased prices.

This really hit home when I recalled that there has been talk about extending the stadium tax beyond the 'sunset' date in 2014.  Then I learned that the 2014 date was never formally established as the final year in which we would all pay toward the costs of Miller Park through our general sales tax contributions.

There is way too much truth involved in the saying that when a tax is established, it never goes away.  We recently saw Mayor Barrett seeking to continue and even increase the cell telephone tax paying for development of cell 911 coverage.  He wants to use that for something else totally unrelated to cell phones. 

Now financial consultants to the stadium district say that the tax may need to be continued beyond 2014.  Does this ever end?  Not unless we demand that it end.  And, we can apparently only be heard through our use of the vote.  Yet another reason to protect the sanctity of our votes through the implementation of voter photo ID.

And, yet another reason to end the creation of taxing districts that are run by boards appointed and not elected.  The stadium district board is comprised, as I recall, of elected representatives so the voter ultimately can have some influence, but too many taxing districts are impervious to the desires of the voters (such as MATC).

If we could look into the future and learn the outcome of our decisions before we implemented those decisions, would we do so?  If we did see the outcome, would we persist even if the outcome was not desirable?

We have just that opportunity, as a state, before us today.  We can see the outcome of following the path we've been following and we can see it in time to avert the same consequences...if we are willing to do so.  The Wall Street Journal offered us the opportunity this morning.

Michigan is the example.  Tax increases are the path that was followed.  Dire consequences are the result.

Governor Granholm, a second-term Democrat, shut her state down last year until she got her wish of increased taxes.  Her tax increases were supposed to raise another $1.3 Billion in new revenue that Michigan could 'invest' in social programs, and to lure new businesses to the state.

The outcome isn't what she envisioned.  Michigan's revenue is down by one-third from what had been expected.  Tax collections are falling further and further behind as people lose jobs and as property values fall.  Michigan is actually in a recession unlike what the mainstream media would have you believe about the country as a whole.  Of course, Michigan's Governor blames everything but her tax hikes for this dilemma.

Michigan's unemployment rate is now at 6.9% far ahead of the country and its neighboring states.  Michigan ranks 4th in the country in terms of declining property values for homes.  Two families leave the state for every one family that moves in (which is virtually what is now happening in Wisconsin).

The only thing enjoying growth in Michigan today is government according to the WSJ editorial.

If even more convincing is necessary, just take a look at Texas.  Texas has been following the opposite course and has arguably the most vibrant economy in our country today.  New businesses are streaming into Texas and unemployment rates are less than 4%.  Tax rates have been reduced and good things follow.

So, we do have the opportunity to look into the future and see the outcome for Wisconsin...if we're willing to do so and if we're smart enough to believe what we see.

Our state's elected officials need to pay attention, and they need to pay attention from this day forward if we are to avoid the same future.  We must cut spending.  We cannot mortgage our future by borrowing money like there's no tomorrow...if that continues, there may not be a tomorrow, at least not a fiscally-sound and affordable tomorrow. 

Wisconsin is in the midst of its own budget woes; we watched the 'special session' that was called to deal with those issues.  There was actually nothing 'special' about those sessions.  When Governor Doyle seems a better tax cutter than the Republicans, then there was nothing 'special' about the session.

This started with the headline, "If We Could Look Into The Future, Would We?"  I fear that the answer is no, unless us citizens begin to demand different outcomes.

We are, by all signs, involved in an oil cost run-up driven by demand being greater than supply.  It is exacerbated for us Americans because our monetary policy has seen an intentional softening of the dollar (our money is worth less than other peoples' money, so it takes more of it to buy a barrel of crude oil).  I paid $4.20 per gallon yesterday with the price of crude oil standing at about $130 +/- per barrel.  Predictions of crude oil prices of $150 per barrel or more are seen or heard regularly now.  And, the cost of oil could well be higher than that by year-end.

How did we get to this point?  We got there by congressional law making, by presidents rolling over and signing those bills, and by our country's increasing needs/demand for gasoline and diesel fuel.  Why would we permit ourselves to become part of such a quagmire?

Politics!  Politics played by those on both sides of the aisle.  Conservatives seem to have lost their voices.  Liberals never seem to lose their voices.

Laws were re-written more than thirty years ago to make it nearly impossible for a new refinery to be built.  Those were the result of congress being rolled by the environmentalists and presidents either believing the rhetoric of the day or fearing the backlash should they stand up to the rhetoric.  This has continued to this very day.  We are forbidden from drilling within 200 miles of the California and Florida coastlines but the Chinese are already doing so as we sit on our thumbs.  We are unable to pursue the shale oil deposits that span our northern plains and southwestern states.  We have ample untapped resources that are readily available but our laws don't permit us to make use of those resources.

We see the 'global warming' group and the 'environmentalist group' driving our economy into the ground...and we have not found the moral outrage/courage to stand up to them and say "no more"!  We could easily build new refineries in any number of locations around our country but we're not permitted to do so.  We know how to drill and refine today without ruining our world.  It takes from 6 to 10 years to bring a new refinery on-line so the time to have declared a moratorium on the rules that made it impossible to build new refining capacity has come and gone.  But, the typical congressional response of "that will take ten years" should remind us that if we don't roll back those silly laws today, it'll take ten years from whenever we do roll back those silly laws.  The time to begin is now, not next week or next month.

We witnessed the ridiculous 'hearings' held by congress in the past few weeks.  We watched as Sen. Herb Kohl embarrassed himself by chiding the 'big bad oil companies' for making a profit.  He is a former businessman who certainly understands that profit must be derived in order for businesses to exist and grow.  He knew how that worked when he ran Kohl's Food Stores.  He certainly must have some comprehension as the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.  His statement to the oil company executives that their profits didn't seem fair gives one a lot of insight.  He knows better but he will play/pander to the crowd he favors.  He 'feels' as do most liberals.  He doesn't necessarily reason.  He has his millions, so he can set out to control everyone else who aspires to similar success.

Sen. Kohl is but one of the 535 members of congress.  Too many of those men and women are too intent on keeping their offices to actually vote the way they probably know they should.  You have probably heard the old phrase that states you must "go along to get along".  That should be inscribed over the doorways leading to the House and the Senate chambers since it is the rule that is followed by the vast majority of people who walk through those portals.  That is true on the national stage, the state stage and the local stage.

The people who go to Washington and who do not give in and play by the Washingtonian rules are few and very far between.

Whose fault is this dilemma in the final analysis?  Yours and mine. 

We're the men and women who have permitted this to happen.  We don't vote in the House or the Senate, but we do elect those who do...and we do not seem to unelect people very often once they've gotten into office.  Rep. Steve Kagen (D) from the Appleton area stands for re-election this November.  He is at his most defeatable point historically.  If he survives the first re-election campaign and keeps his seat, he is likely to be in that seat for so long as he desires without regard to how he votes or doesn't vote.

We're so unconcerned about our vote, it seems, that we don't even think voting is sacrosanct enough to require valid photo identification before we're permitted to cast a ballot. 

So, all this angst has been brought to us by us.  Remember that the next time you buy gasoline or diesel fuel.  Remember that the next time you go to the grocery store and try to make your food budget stretch.  Remember that when you ponder whether or not you'll be able to take a vacation this year, or buy new school clothing for your children, or go out for a fish fry.  Remember that when you try to stretch your retirement income to cover your basic needs.

And, when you've gotten yourself all 'cranked up', if that happens, make a resolution to get involved and stay involved and to talk with your elected representatives at every level of government and let them know what you think and what you want them to do on your behalf.  And, if they fail you, fire them with your vote at the polling place.

Had you and I done that two decades ago instead of simply going with the flow, maybe we'd not be in the situation we find ourselves in today.

Randall Melchert has announced that he is seeking election to the Assembly seat (24th District) being vacated by Sue Jeskewitz at the end of her current term.

He is the son of a prominent Menomonee Falls couple and the family has deep roots in the Falls.  Randy, as he calls himself, declares himself to be conservative and his stated positions suggest that he may be quite conservative.  His campaign site (www.randymelchert.com) contains position statements on a variety of subjects.  He is a member of the Waukesha Republican Party.

Among his areas of expertise is apparently that of debate skills.  That should serve him well in both his campaign and in the Assembly if he is victorious.

I have extended an invitation to him to engage readers by responding to questions that will be published on Curmudgeon's Corner much as we've begun doing in the Senate race.  I hope he will accept that invitation.

There is, so far, no indication of any opponents but that may develop over the coming weeks.

A front page story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel got my 'juices' flowing this morning.  The headline says, "Region stays on polluted list".

One air monitoring device less than one mile from the Illinois border in Kenosha County was detected to have been slightly beyond the ozone limits that EPA had laid on us.  Never mind that the prevailing winds blow that here from the Chicago land area, we are compelled to burn reformulated fuel, we're supposed to observe 'ozone alert' days and not even mow our grass.  I am surprised that we are not forbidden from firing up the charcoal grill too.  Oops!  We certainly don't want to give the EPA any more great ideas.

Why have I heard nothing about the Chicago land area and its massive efforts to limit the pollution that was detected ever so slightly on the very southern edge of Kenosha County.  Maybe there are no 'massive efforts' about which to write.  Why is it that we are forced to pay the price for the pollution from our neighbors to the south of us?  What penalties are they paying for having caused this in the first place.  Are they making any progress or are we the perpetual scapegoats?  Are we to burn reformulated gasoline for the next 100 or so years?  And, of course, we get to burn food as part of the reformulated gasoline movement since state and federal governments have mandated its use even though it is terribly inefficient, even though a gallon of ethanol requires something on the order of 1,800 gallons of fresh water to manufacture.

Reformulated gasoline was never as efficient as regularly formulated gasoline.  My mileage was at least 10% worse even before ethanol was required in our gasoline.  Whatever the federal government has managed to overlook is being found by our state government.  Legislators with very obvious special interests, coupled with the ethanol industry lobby, have pushed the state mandate for ethanol use on us and they didn't even have to breathe heavy to make it happen.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has also added to this fiasco by recognizing that since we are at the point of virtually having attained that which they told we'd have to attain, it has raised the bar.  We were originally instructed to attain the level of 84 parts per billion.  Even with the aberration of 2005 when wind movements blew Chicago land 'crap' into Kenosha County, we were over the benchmark by 1 part per billion.  Washington County has been shown to be at 72 parts per billion, for example, but we're captured by the drag line net of the federal government.

Not to let simple-minded folks like we taxpayers think we were going to win one from the 'Feds', the national benchmark of 84 parts per billion will be dropped to 75 parts per billion in 2013.  So you see, the goal posts continue to be moved.

I wonder what might happen if we had a whole group of legislators in Washington like Jim Sensenbrenner and Paul Ryan?  Maybe the federal government would learn that not all badgers roll over and play dead!

This should serve us as a beacon in the night when we think about the environmental movement in general.  We'll never reach the levels of anything that will be deemed enough.  We'll always have to reach some newly discovered (or created) benchmark.  There are twice the number of polar bears today that existed twenty-five ago and yet our federal government has just declared them to be on the endangered species list.  Al Gore has spun his myth on global warming and, even though 32,000 scientists have just stated that they do not believe in the global warming myth, we continue to be forced to follow the 'great one' and his preaching.  Yes, it is preaching; his movement is a religion and he is its leader.  He rules his domain from his 14,000 square foot dwelling except for when he is jetting around the world spewing carbon emissions about the globe.  Oh, I forgot, we can purchase carbon credits so that a tree can be planted...a tree that will not reach maturity and begin delivering on its promise of cleansing carbon dioxide from the air for a decade or better.

One of my favorites is, of course, the compact fluorescent light (CFL) that is essentially a container of mercury waiting to pollute our homes should one break, or pollute ground fill sites for another million years or so since the majority of people are not going to properly dispose of them.  The science behind these kinds of scare tactics is suspect, at best.

The next two questions in our 'debate' are posed below.  We'll reverse the order and feature Sen. Darling's responses to each question followed by Rep. Wasserman's responses.

What specific existing state programs can be cut to stop the ongoing issue of budget shortfalls?

Darling: 

During the 2003-05 budget process, I was the Senate Chair of the budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance.  In that budget, we cut spending on state government operations by 27.5%, without cutting core services such as programs upon which low-income citizens rely.

In addition to the types of spending cuts such as those made in that budget, it's worth discussing programs that were created or expanded in the state budget passed last fall.  In that budget, which I voted against, the Governor proposed increased spending of nearly $100 million of "general fund" revenue just for new or expanded programs.  Certainly each of those programs will will have supporters and the merit of this spending can be debated, but there ought to at least be a discussion on whether these spending increases can be set aside or delayed until we resolve the state's fiscal problems.

Earlier this May, the  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an article about how some prison guards appear to be abusing the sick leave and overtime rules to inflate their salaries into the six figures.  Tightening up the sick leave and overtime policy at the Department of Corrections is just one specific example of where the state can still provide necessary services but at a lower cost to taxpayers.

Wasserman:

Instead of program closures we should have county closures.  There's no reason for Wisconsin to have 72 counties.  Counties are often just an extension of state government, and one of the primary reasons why taxes are so high in Wisconsin is because we have the third highest amount of government per capita in the nation.  For example, Appleton is in three counties; Wisconsin Dells is in four.  Bayside, in my district, is in two counties.  That means keeping multiple sets of tax records and voting lists and keeping track of different court systems, highway departments, sheriff's and veterans' offices.  I proposed legislation to downsize and streamline government by reducing the number of counties to 18 or less, a 75% reduction that would save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.  Creating new county lines that do not divide communities artificially will consolidate services by ensuring that only one county serves each city, village or town.  It's time we changed our government structure from an 1848 model to one that meets the needs of the 21st century.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Do you support the repeal of state minimum mark-up laws?  If so, why and if not, why not?

Darling:

Yes.  The mandatory minimum markup on gasoline was enacted in Wisconsin in the 1930s to prevent large conglomerates from entering the gasoline market and driving "ma and pa shops" out of business.  The minimum markup law requires gas retailers to mark up the price of gas by 9.18%.  The Federal Trade Commission and economists have suggested the law restricts competition, hurts consumers and drives up the cost of gas.  This antiquated law makes it illegal for Wisconsin gas retailers to offer discounts on gasoline.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Callahan ruled in October 2007 that Wisconsin's minimum markup law violates federal anti-trust laws.  However, he did not issue an injunction against the state's law, so the law is still in place until the Legislature acts to repeal it.  I am coauthor of a bill that would repeal the minimum markup law, but the session ended in March without a vote on the bill.

Wasserman:

I have voted for every single repeal of the minimum mark-up law since I've been in the legislature.  I have been very frustrated by legislators in both the Republican and Democratic party who would rather talk about the free market than support it and have refused to take up this issue.

In addition to supporting a full repeal, I introduced legislation that would repeal the minimum mark-up on prescription drugs.  Recently Wal-Mart and Target expanded their $4 a month discount drug programs, but the minimum mark-up law prevents such programs from taking full effect in Wisconsin.  You might think we'd have to go to Canada to buy cheap drugs but no, all we have to do is go to Illinois, where blood pressure medication that costs $28 here sells for $4 there.  It's bad enough that we're paying more for gas because of the minimum mark-up law, but paying more for medication becomes a life and death issue when people are facing such tough times with their budgets.  The minimum mark-up law in all forms has to go, but let's begin with my proposal, which will drastically reduce the cost of healthcare in Wisconsin.

* * * * * * * * * *

My thanks to both Sen. Darling and Rep. Wasserman for making this forum possible.  We have more questions already answered and will produce another of these 'debates' in the next week or so.

In the meantime, please help us by sending you questions or subjects you'd like to see addressed, and I'll gather the information from both the incumbent and the challenger so that all can share in the answers.  You can do so in the form of comments tied to this Blog or simply by clicking the email link at the top of this Blog to reach me that way.

It appears that the Assembly and Senate have reached sufficient agreement to bring a budget repair bill to a vote later this week.

Word available indicates that there may have been a few actual budget reductions while the bulk of the heavy lifting is being done on the back of money being pulled from the transportation fund and money being pulled from the 'rainy day' fund.

Additional tactics reportedly include pushing some school funding into the next budget period and adding some additional taxes that were overlooked before this.

The long and short is that we'll be borrowing more money to replace the tax collection shortfall that will be used for transportation expenses.  Some cookies have been included that don't seem to have anything to do with the budget dilemma so those must've been payment for votes promised by some of the politicians.

We will be looking at the same set of issues next budget at this rate since we're not fixing the problems by reducing expenditures.  Except those issues will very likely have bigger teeth.  Our elected officials are being asked to vote in favor of a deal that pins its hopes on an improved economy by the next time the 'problem' pops up on radar screens.

What will it take to get actual budget reductions approved?  Apparently more people in office with the fortitude to stand up against the tax and spend crowd that sits in far too many chairs today.

I was very surprised to learn that Rep. Sue Jeskewitz had announced that she would not be a candidate for the 24th District seat in the Assembly this fall.  She will have served for 12 years, is 66 (although she doesn't look more than 55) and apparently has just decided it is time to stay home.  She is part of a 'political' family, so I know this decision could not have been taken lightly.

Some of her positions caused me angst as readers know.  I have heard others refer to her as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and there have been those times when I felt that way as various issues came up and decisions were made.  I am obviously more conservative than she has been.  I understood that and still made visits to her offices in Madison whenever I was part of a lobbying group.  She and her staff were always very considerate although it is difficult to tell what the true position of virtually any politician is by simply visiting their office and chatting on talking points for 5 to 10 minutes.

There are probably several people out today with nomination papers seeking signatures that will enable them to run.  There may be some behind the scenes activity that has already led to a 'chosen one' on the Republican side.  I am not privy to any of that information.  There are certainly those in the Democrat party that are working feverishly to secure the best possible candidate since this seat had been quite safe for Rep. Jeskewitz.

I do hope that we will be given a candidate for whom we can vote that is decidedly conservative.  The Assembly must stay Republican if we conservatives are to have any hope of keeping the state on something even remotely resembling the straight and narrow we would prefer.  Can you imagine the damage that would've been done in the past couple of sessions if both the Senate and the Assembly had been under Democrat control with Governor "taxalot" in office?