Somuch for responsible budgeting.
Theproblem goes back to last fall when Walkerpresented his proposed 2010 budget, which included $32 million in wage andbenefit cuts that had never been presented to union representatives. While thecounty board watered down those cuts, the budget Walker signed contained roughly a $10 millionhole in it.
That’stechnically illegal, since the county is mandated to craft a balanced budgeteach year.
Butinstead of resolving the issue right away, Walker allowed it to drag on while he promotedhimself around the state. Now, it’s September, and Walker still has to fill that hole (and comeup with an extra $700,000 to pay consultants who are inspecting countyfacilities following the fatal accident at the O’Donnell parking structure).
Sowhat does Walkerdo? He didn’t go back to the bargaining table to work out a compromise.Instead, he unilaterally ordered more furlough days for workers and thenskipped town to campaign for governor. But not all workers get the extrafurlough days. Walkerexempted the higher-paid workers, such as attorneys and engineers, who tend tovote in the Republican primary, and stuck it to the lower-paid workers whoprovide the front-line services that keep the county operating every day andwho will probably vote in the Democratic primary.
We’resure Walkertried to delay the furloughs until after the Sept. 14 primary so that he couldseem like a responsible budget-cutter. But the truth is that Walker’s 2010 county budget is illegal,unethical and irresponsible.
Heroes of the Week
‘2nd Sundays’ Volunteers
Corporate sponsorshipoften amounts to just lending out a logo for special events, but volunteersfrom Lena’s Food Market and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic DevelopmentAuthority (WHEDA) will be donating their time to collect food donations atMilwaukee’s newest concert series, “2nd Sundays at the Lake” (at the Old CoastGuard Pavilion next to McKinley Marina). Organized by Serve 60, which matchesvolunteers with local opportunities, the concerts will feature gospel musicfrom 2-5:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 12.
Volunteers from Lena’s and WHEDA will be collecting nonperishable itemsfor the food banks of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. Readers who wish tohelp are urged to bring food items to the benefit, or visit www.serve60.com orwww.feedingamericawi.org.
Jerk of the Week
WTMJ-AM’s Charlie Sykes
Right-wingtalker Charlie Sykes is used to reprinting on his blog, verbatim, e-mails fromconservatives like Scott Walker and David Clarke when they need a sympathetic mediaoutlet. So Sykes probably thought nothing about reprinting, verbatim, an e-mailfrom an anonymous listener about an alleged Tom Barrett fund-raiser hosted byHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Cue the right-wing noise machine. Immediately, thestate Republican Party sent out a snarky press release about the super-secretfund-raiser that Barrett allegedly didn’t want anyone to know about. Theproblem, though, is that Sykes and the Republicans got punk’d. The RepublicanParty had to retract their comments on their website, and so did Sykes. Thefund-raiser only existed in their paranoid fantasies. Perhaps Sykes shouldstick with talking points provided by Walker’scampaign chair, Michael Grebe, who just happens to employ Sykes’ wife.
