H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°Single-issue campaigning is rendering politics absurd. On second thought, I'm a young guy. Maybe politics has always been an endless, senseless parade of contradictions, pandering, posturing and, above all, the sacred art of tax-bashing.
No. I'm not talking about President Bush, CIA leak probes or congressional investigations. Instead it is our very own state Legislature. Whether it's pushing back the vote on an amendment to ban gay marriage until Gov. Doyle's reelection bid in a year or haphazardly cutting the funding for the state's already ailing public schools, the Republican-dominated Legislature consistently disregards the state's best interests.
In the face of an unparalleled series of budget squeezes, it is refreshing to see that at least one state representative has risen above the petty patronage politics plaguing the Capitol building. State Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, has proposed a 30-day gas-tax holiday. This temporary tax relief will have two essential benefits for the state of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin drivers will spend 29.9 cents less per tank of gas.
Stephen Nass' name is in newspapers.
However noble these goals are, it seems ironic that it is the state's Department of Transportation that will be short-changed about $175 million. After all, the DOT's responsibilities include maintaining the public-transit system. Essentially, Rep. Nass' plan is to take away public money and give it back to us in 30-cent increments over the course of a month. This represents the worst form of political pandering possible at this juncture in the legislative session. Sure, no one likes high gas prices, but denying the DOT a vital source of funds for 30 days will do nothing but make the problem worse in the long term.
Rep. Nass' gas-tax-relief plan is nothing more than a parody of the ancient Roman "bread-and-circus" economy. To satisfy an increasingly disaffected populous, the Roman government sponsored a series of public gatherings with all the usual Roman fixin's: lion feedings, prisoner scalpings and even the occasional financial ruin. It is easier to provide a temporary fix than investigate possible long-term solutions to high gas prices. Apparently, Rep. Nass already knows this.
Rep. Nass' proposal makes it impossible to ignore the hypocrisy of the Legislature's majority agenda. Former governors Tommy Thompson and Scott "Musta Been Someone Else's Fault" McCallum handed Doyle a $2.8 billion deficit. During the 2002 gubernatorial race, McCallum and state Republican leaders claimed Doyle's fiscal policies would double the budget. Now, as Doyle struggles to come to terms with the budget, Republican leaders are demanding greater property-tax controls, a freeze on gas taxes as well as increased fiscal responsibility.
As for the great Doylini's next magical illusion, legislative Republicans are still demanding that he return their nose. From the gas-tax holiday to the voter-ID proposal, the Legislature has been more focused on scoring political points that no one is tallying than improving the state.
Every political party is susceptible to one-issue politics. Republicans' are highlighted above because of their dominance in both branches of the state Legislature. In a pragmatic sense, it is hard to blame them. With media coverage (TV media, mind you. Why open a newspaper when you can get the exact same breadth of information in a 45-second on-site report?) of local politics scanty at best and non-existent in reality, local politicians are forced to make their talking points as succinct and easy to consume as possible.
Our state government should extract a lesson from last Saturday's "God Bloggers" convention in southern California. Evangelicaloutpost.com author Joe Carter put it best when he said, "There's a bigger world out there than gay marriage and abortion." Wouldn't it be nice to expect the same kind of civility from our local elected officials?
Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and journalism.
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I agree with you, but have to point out a pretty glaring mistake. The gas tax is 29.9 cents per gallon. That means Wisconsin drivers would save 3 or 4 dollars a tank, not 30 cents a tank. That adds up quick for commuters who, right or wrong, need to fill up every couple of days. And, thanks to the governor’s creative vetoing of budget language, the secretary of state can redistribute funds to any agency or program, and the DOT is a primary target for this redistribution. So, DOT money is likely going to a variety of things completely unrelated to roads and potential improvements to fuel economy. These details are important. On the whole, however, I think your positions and writing are far superior to most of the jokers that write for this paper.
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Gasoline taxes should be increased at the bothe the state and federal level. This is the ONLY reasonable way to encourage conservation by drivers and the manufacture of more efficient vehicles.
It might also encourage alternatives like electric and hydrogen fueled cars. The energy could be provided by nuclear power plants, which are the only short term fix to the carbon problem.
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Wow, don’t you have editors or something that fact check this before you publish? Or were you just so bent on ripping the republican legislature that facts were not really important?
“Wisconsin drivers will spend 29.9 cents less per tank of gas.”
Only if they have a 1 gallon tank! It is 29.9 cents per gallon! Read the bill: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=46919
Second, its pretty hypicritcal to say this tax holiday is robbing from the transportation fund, since thats exactly what Doyle is doing to maintain a tax “freeze” before the election. http://www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/pr20050209.html http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/feb05/300122.asp
That’s the reason Doyle wont support the bill. He’s already spent the money.
Maybe you haven’t figured it out yet, but Doyle has. The election is going to be all about tax freezing.
Lastly, for all the bitching from the left about tax cuts for the rich, this tax cut would directly benefit the poor much more than the rich. The poor are the ones getting nailed by high gas prices, and this would directly help them. But you dont care about that, you just care about Doyle’s re-election.
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Yeah, why don’t we just tax anyone who makes over 25,000 at a new 100% rate to pay for trolleys.
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So, how often does the monitor stop by to see if any comments meet their approval?
The long delay seem to make responding to other comment impossible - but maybe that’s the objective.
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The delayed posting of comments is worthless if they dont get posted for 8 hours after theyre submitted. No one will ever get to read them.
Perhaps you should consider some kind of community moderation. Like granting 100 readers moderation abilities, say if 15 moderaters deem a post to offensive then its removed. Anything is better than what you’re doing now. In fact I prefered the instant posting, offensive or not, it provokes a lot more interesting discussion.
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I think Emily is the mod now cause every comment I make about her gets deleted.