The Milwaukee Post

Should the name of the police officer who shot Dontre Hamilton have been released? "Yes, the name of the officer who shot Dontre Hamilton should have been released. Police are governmental officials who are given great powers and should not be above public review. In states like California, police who are disciplined but escape formal crim- inal charges don't have their names released, even in the case of the Los Angeles cops who shot up a truck with two women last year, delivering newspapers during the hunt for the killer Charles Dorner. Bad or incompetent cops are protected, and the only way they are really accountable is if the public knows who they might be. Finally, police should have body cameras and should stop arresting people for filming them and eras- ing video." — Jerome McCollom Milwaukee Is it too close to the November election to implement the state's voter ID law? Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be published. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dbutler@conleynet.com. 8 • Milwaukee County Post • September 19, 2014 By JESSICA MCBRIDE Excuse me for saying this, but it's not OK that we have a project- ed budget shortfall of $1.8 billion. Oh, and Barack Obama did some- thing right last week. I say excuse me because of the strange political climate we live in. Governor Walker has true believers and true haters, and very little in between. As for Obama? It's hard to find anyone who's really thrilled with him these days. That doesn't mean everything Obama does is wrong, and it does- n't mean everything Walker does is right. Personally, I find our political climate strange and dishonest. It's more about picking a team than using intellectual thought or sticking to principles. Talk radio plays a role in this. Liberal blog- gers play a role in this. Bizarrely, with more media and i n f o r m a t i o n than ever before, we've been forced to the poles and "a side." So, if you dare to say it's not OK that we have a project- ed budget shortfall of more than a billion dollars, you are faced with com- ments such as, "Whose side are you on?" I'm on the side of simply try- ing to apply my intellect and prin- ciples to the facts that present themselves. I am not on the side of twisting myself into a pretzel to defend something for one person when I would easily criticize another for the same things. Republicans were very hard on Gov. Doyle for his projected budg- et shortfalls. They staked almost their entire case on this. We elected Gov. Scott Walker to create jobs (which he's done, but not enough as promised). And we elected him to fix the Doyle-era shortfalls. Which he did, the first time around, and he did it the very hard way — the way Walker fixed the shortfall he inherited from Doyle was Act 10. But no conser- vative argued, "You're being unfair to Doyle! The shortfall is just projected and Walker might fix it!" They bashed him. It's possible that Walker will, again, find a way to balance this one. However, I don't think things should be this out of whack. When conservatives say, "Oh don't worry, Walker will fix it," they forget that a budget this out of whack won't be fixed without more painful choices. What are those? I am not hearing the gover- nor outline them. I recognize the shortfall is just a projection and projections can change (spending might be reduced, revenue might increase), but it's hardly a huge selling point to elect someone because there is a shortfall that might change. Although this year ended with a surplus, by June there is also expected to be a shortfall in this two-year budget (the $1.8 billion estimate is for the next one). His tax cuts (which were good politics) and sluggish revenue are apparently to blame. The good thing for Walker is the cult-like team around him won't care. The budget shortfall could be $10 bil- lion and some people would still argue that in his favor. I won't. That doesn't mean I think Mary Burke would be better because I see zero evidence she would be. She was commerce sec- retary for a short time (why did she leave the Doyle administra- tion so abruptly again? Will the media ask?) under Doyle, who presided over shortfalls worse than this one. She still won't give us data to back up anything she supposedly accomplished work- ing for her brother at the compa- ny her father started. She's on a local school board, a seat she basi- cally bought. That's supposed to qualify her to be governor? The anti-Walker criticism is even more reflexive. Those who trash Walker for the budget short- fall tend to overlook the Doyle-era record. I won't do either. The pro- jected budget shortfall is not a good thing. But there's zero evi- dence that Burke would be better — there's evidence she might be worse, since Doyle's shortfalls were bigger. People need to stop letting Walker off the hook, though, for things they'd attack everyone else for. It's also supremely dangerous for any leader to exist in a bubble of yes- no-matter-what people. We need to stop seeing our politicians as so black-and-white. No one gets everything right all the time, and no one is all bad. Well, almost no one. As for the president, I was happy to hear him take a strong stance against ISIS last week, and I was glad to see some Republicans (like Karl Rove and John Boehner) voicing support for it. Yes, it's coming too late, after the threat has already metas- tasized (ISIS has already taken over half of Iraq and Syria! We should have done this months ago!). Yes, his past rhetoric has been absolutely absurd, announc- ing to the world we had no strate- gy. But I am glad we finally seem to be having a strategy (although we will see how it plays out), and I thought Obama's rhetoric hit the right note on ISIS last week at last. This is a common enemy. And that means more than the typical political divides. If the president follows through with strength against this menace, he will have my support, not my nit- picking. (Jessica McBride is a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her column runs occa- sionally in The Post. Readers may email her at jessicamcbride05@live.com.) OPINION Giving credit and blame where due Question of the week McBride Walker deserves blame for deficit just as Obama deserves support on ISIS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Numbers tell bright budget story To the editor: There is no deficit for the current Wisconsin budget which ends on June 30, 2015. There is a $443 million surplus. The rainy day fund has $280 million available, the most ever. The structural deficit is an unrealistic projection that assumes revenue will remain flat through 2017. Democrats left Wisconsin with a $3.6 billion deficit, and instituted the largest tax increase in Wisconsin's history. Doyle's final budget raised taxes by $2 billion and property taxes by $1.5 billion. Republicans continually analyze Wisconsin's fiscal con- dition and make adjustments according to Wisconsin's expenses and revenues. The surpluses under Walker have led to $2 billion in tax cuts, including $746 million in income tax relief and over $500 million in property tax relief. Burke signaled she would work to raise property tax caps if elected. Republicans passed two con- secutive balanced budgets while providing tax cuts. Democrats want to keep taxes high, raid funds like they did under Doyle-Burke, and keep more money in Madison. Republicans cut spending and trim expenditures when neces- sary. Republicans' middle-class tax cuts will help grow the economy and increase rev- enues. Recent claims about a struc- tural deficit refer to the project- ed budget situation in 2017. These projections assume no spending changes and no rev- enue growth. Republicans have attacked structural deficits, cut taxes and achieved budget surpluses. By continu- ing to grow the economy, find- ing further efficiencies in gov- ernment, eliminating waste, Republicans will solve future structural issues. Just like they solved the mess left by Doyle- Burke. Larry Holterman Milton Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dwayne Butler, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by e-mail to: dbutler@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit let- ters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words. Letters policy

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