The Madison Dance

Lassee's take on the 'conservative' Republican budget for Wisconsin:

MADISON – The budget bill coming up for a vote in the Assembly Tuesday spends too much, borrows too much, and relies on too many accounting gimmicks. Yet, said Rep. Frank Lasee (R-Bellevue), Republican leadership is trying to sell it as a conservative budget because it is “better than Governor Doyle’s.”

“Our Republican leadership is relying completely on the argument that their budget is better than the Doyle budget,” Lasee said. “It borrows less than his does. My thought is: so what? That doesn’t make it a fiscally responsible budget. It still spends and borrows more than we can afford.”

“It’s like saying that smoking three packs a day is unhealthy, but you’re all right because you only smoke two packs a day,” Lasee said. “Comparatively, it’s better, but it’s still bad. This budget is a bad budget. Leadership is just trying to make it look better by comparison to Doyle’s.”

Lasee noted that under the JFC budget, general fund spending will grow by 10%, and general obligation bonding – bonds paid for with tax money – will grow by 55%.

Other dissenters include Nass of Whitewater, and some Fox River Valley stable-boy who is a professional pain in the nose.