Editorial: Republican pair offers specifics, not generalities (Tomah Journal)

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The Tomah Journal has chided Republicans and conservatives for demanding lower taxes and less government without offering specific budget cuts.

There are two notable exceptions: Scott Walker and Dale Schultz. Walker, a Republican candidate for governor, and Schultz, a Republican running for re-election in the 17th state Senate District, have actually offered specifics and a vision of how a more austere state government would actually affect people.

Walker recently proposed that state employees pay the full employee portion of their pension benefits. The state, like most local governments, pays both the employer and employee share of the employee pension costs. Making state employees pay half would save the state $185 million a year, and extending the policy to local governments would produce even more savings.

Is that fair to public employees? That's a judgment call, but Walker's proposal is real, and it's more than just pocket change.

Schultz, in an interview with the Tomah Journal, questioned whether the state should have expanded BadgerCare as the federal government was considering sweeping health care reform. He also said the state shouldn't be spending $60 million a year in land purchases through the Stewardship Fund.

Would the medically indigent suffer while waiting for full implementation of health care reform? Probably. Would swaths of northern forest and pristine lakeshore be buried under residential development without the Stewardship Fund? Almost certainly. But these are the tough choices that conservatives are obligated to offer voters before the election, not after.

Contrast Walker and Schultz to Mark Neumann, Walker's opponent in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Neumann has proposed an across-the-board cuts and said his approach "doesn't cherry-pick budget line items," but cherry-picking is what leaders are supposed to do. Walker, in an interview with the Tomah Journal, bragged that his pruning of the public payroll as Milwaukee County executive created revenue that eliminated a 3,000-person waiting list for elderly long-term care. Schultz wants budget cuts to protect state aid for K-12 education. Perhaps Walker and Schultz have the wrong priorities, but their approach is preferable to across-the-board budget cuts that assume all government spending is equally necessary.

At least two politicians have given voters a vision of what smaller government looks like. Their budget cuts may not deserve your support. Their campaigns may not deserve your vote. But they are worthy of your respect.

http://www.tomahjournal.com/articles/2010/06/24/opinion/01edpriorities.txt