Marathon Co. GOP: Praise for Gov. Walker’s Budget Address

Contact: Evan Nehring, Republican Party of Marathon County PR Chair, rpmc.wi.pr@gmail.com
March 2, 2011 (Wausau, WI) –

We have been anticipating the new budget. When our local party gathered for our membership meeting last week, the energy, enthusiasm and resolve in support of Governor Walker’s budget repair bill were striking. Leaders and members shared both planned and spontaneous speeches as the significance of this moment in Wisconsin politics was evident to all. The resounding message was one of hope that Republican leadership in Madison would hold the line in this current struggle for fiscal restraint.

We receive Governor Walker’s budget address today with approval. We watch protestors in the Capitol dome while we go faithfully to our jobs day by day. We watch union supporters bus in from neighboring states while Wisconsin voters clearly and recently elected Governor Walker to make the tough choices reflected in the new budget.

One theme of today’s address was the commitment of the state to give lawmakers at the local level the tools they need to make flexible, economically prudent decisions. In an era where the top-down approach to government tends to pass along unfunded mandates instead of helpful tools, this theme is welcome for its wisdom and ingenuity. We encourage the same sort of top-down thoughtfulness on the national level.

Midway through the speech, Governor Walker stated: “Gone are the segregated fund raids, illegal transfers, and accounting gimmicks. Gone are the tax or fee increases. Our state cannot grow if our people are weighed down paying for a larger and larger government. A government that pays its workers unsustainable benefits that are out of line with the private sector. We need a leaner and cleaner state government.”

The governor’s mode of operation has been direct and truthful. When he makes these drain-the-swamp type claims, they carry the credibility of his track record. We understand the heated nature of this budget debate. However, we respectfully submit that other debates at the state and national level in recent years have been as important as this debate and more important. Yet, Republicans in the minority have remained and engaged the legislative process.

Republicans in Wisconsin and from Wisconsin continue to show the leadership needed to embrace the entire complexity of state and federal problems. We also applaud the Democrat representatives in the state assembly who came to work and engaged the legislative budget process. To the state senators who have stepped outside of the legislative process by fleeing to Illinois, please know that our party recruiting has never been easier. Our email boxes continue to fill with citizens asking how they can support the governor.

One statistic on which we want to see more emphasis is the underfunding of public union pensions. Nationwide analysis gives a range of estimates from $1-3 trillion. The Manhattan Institute states that Wisconsin state and local government pensions could be underfunded by $10.9 billion. We want to see more pinpointed numbers and more attention drawn to this problem.

The overarching message of the budget address was creative, intentional spending instead of reckless, unaccountable spending. Governor Walker’s tone was consistently business-like and appropriate for the gravity of the situation. We embrace the spirit of this message and pledge to responsibly engage the process as the details are considered.