Little Boy has been dropped, get ready for Fat Man.
As Walker described in his call with the fake David Koch, he met with his Republican legislative leadership before they "dropped the bomb". I'd say the Budget Repair Bill, which would strip collective bargaining rights from public employees, could accurately be descriped as a bomb. But he failed to mention that he had a second one onboard, and that one is about to be dropped in a few hours:
Experts Predict Steep Cuts in Walker Budget
Wisconsin school districts large and small are braced for bad news when Gov. Scott Walker announces his 2011-2013 budget Tuesday afternoon. In fact, several thousand teachers across the state have already received layoff and non-renewal notices ahead of the anticipated budget cuts. In some districts, 100 percent of the staff has received notices that they will not be renewed and will have to reapply for their jobs, if they exist, when the dust surrounding the governor's budget finally settles.
Just check out the enormity of the numbers:
In addition to the predicted $900 million reduction in the direct school aid the state will send to school districts for the biennium, Walker's budget is expected to also reduce the amount districts are authorized to raise the sum of state aid and local taxes by $500 per student.
Or to sum up:
State Superintendent Tony Evers had this to say about Reschovsky's predictions: "Professor Reschovsky's study exposes that public school children will suffer the greatest state cut to education since the Great Depression under Governor Walker's reported budget."
This is I believe referred to as eating one's seed corn. Wisconsin is a farming state, they know the meaning of that expression quite well.
And if they're anything like the rest of the country, this is going to be almost unfathomably unpopular.
From the CBS Poll that came out yesterday:
CBS News/NYT Poll 2/28/11
Which one are You Willing to do in Order to Reduce Your State's Deficit?
Increase Taxes - 40%
Decrease benefits of public employees - 22%
Decrease funding for roads - 20%
Decrease funding for education - 3%
That's correct. 3% chose the option that Walker is choosing.
I fear for Wisconsin and can only hope the state senate Republicans come to their senses and distance themselves from this madman that was elected Governor.
Updated by Colinb at Tue Mar 1, 2011, 01:37 PM
I failed to point out a very important piece included in the aformentioned article about Walker's budget proposal that will be unveiled in just a couple hours:
The $500 per student reduction in the spending cap is intended to prevent districts from raising local property taxes to make up for the shortfall in state aid. In some cases, it may even require districts to cut property taxes.
So, even if the taxpayers in a local school district choose to increase their own property taxes to make up for the cuts in state funding to their local schools, they can't do it if this bill passes. This is just like the "Budget Repair Bill". It is not about the budget, it is ideological. Except this time instead of going after public unions, he is going after public schools. And instead of hurting teachers, he would be hurting children.
This is a sick man.