The Real Questions We Need to be Asking about Our Budgets

Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill has put a wedge between union and non-union employees, Republicans versus Democrats, private versus public employees, and the rich versus the middle versus the poor.

The chasm has been there for years, but this bill has brought out our emotions in full force -- our desperation, our fears, and our exhaustion.

Still, the Budget Repair Bill is just a beginning quiver to this house of cards that is about to fall called our state budget.

I’ve seen this before. When the budget comes out, local municipal leaders and school board members will pour over the numbers, talk about more unpaved roads and larger classrooms, and layoffs. They will discuss how they’ve been fiscally responsible, and how painful the cuts will be to you and yours.

Mark my words… this is where this train is going.

And we are in – and I mean all of us – for a very bumpy ride. Lowering taxes and spending less means more layoffs and reduced services, unless the state sees a windfall on the revenue side. Now, I fully understand that people are tired of paying taxes. I get it. I really do. But what’s frustrating is when the dialogue we have about these issues fails to recognize the consequences of our actions.

If we want to pay less in taxes and have less services, then more people as a result have to become unemployed. What will happen to these people? What are their alternatives? Will we accept the cost of them being on unemployment and of those people needing to be on entitlement programs? Will the private sector have jobs for those people? Is it better for us to pay for someone to stay employed for the time being and then transition them into a private sector job? What can we do to make sure those private sector jobs are there?

And if we cut services, which ones should we cut -- roads projects, maintenance to school buildings, teachers? If we cut roads projects, which ones shouldn’t they pave? The one to your job or your neighbor’s job, and if your road doesn’t get repaired, will you be ok with paying a repair bill for your car? And if we cut teachers, which ones should we be putting out on the street, the ones that teach drama or band? Or should we cut the football coach?

I know this sounds like I’m being snarky with these questions and I kind of am, but I honestly think these are the kinds of questions we need to be asking. Because until money grows on trees, the banks start lending money and businesses start making money – we are definitely in for a ride. And we need to not rely just on our politicians to make these decisions for us. This is our budget mess and we need to own it.

So, when's the last time you went to a village or school board meeting?