More On Walker's Proposed Budget

by capper

I was going to stop writing about Walker and his proposed budget for a while. Even I am getting tired of it, and I do have other interests in life. But then three things came to my attention this evening, and I had to give up my short hiatus.

One was that there are at least two entities, besides his usual cheerleaders, that are all for Walker's proposed budget. One is the Wisconsin Lutheran College. In 2003, Walker sold 25 acres of county land to WLC, with an option to buy almost another 9 acres, if the county vacated the greenhouses which stand on the land. If purchased within five years of the original deal, WLC would pay $100, 000 per acre. If between five and ten years, it would be sold at the appraised value at the time of the sale. As you can guess, Walker has it in his budget this year.

Not a bad deal right? But part of the agreement is that the county is responsible for the cost of demolishing the 30,000 square feet of greenhouses and abatement of any hazard materials. He also has a plan to build a 7,500 square foot greenhouse on the grounds of the Domes, at the price tag of $1,470,246. This plan would also force the county to purchase the flowers and plants it can no longer grow due to the loss of all that square footage. Perhaps he knows a landscaper that might be willing to work with him on this? That person would probably enjoy this budget as well.

Then I saw this. He brags about funding the deputies to patrol the lakefront and the buses, pointing out how it adds to the county's safety, which is true. But it takes audacity to take credit for restoring what shouldn't have been cut in the first place, but that politics for you. He also brags of the affordability of his plan, pointing out how much in taxes the county taxpayer was "saved" in the past five years, but does not mention the huge bills that are waiting in the forms of shorted payments to the pension fund, the lawsuits, and the cost of finally cleaning up the mess he made.

The funniest was when he spoke about the pride that he is bringing to Milwaukee County. Yeah, right. These people look real happy and proud of his transit plans. And we've already seen the beauty of the parks.

But all is not doom and gloom. Hope is just around the corner!

Now, maybe, I can move on to something else.