It's Got To Start Some Where

National headlines today show that we as a nation are at our highest percent in debt since World War II. So how bad is Wisconsin off? Being ranked the 6th most in debt state in the US, I would say we are in big trouble. Lets break it down by the numbers. We have a bill for over $50 million owed to Minnesota for our tax reciprocity agreement that we need to still pay, we have over $3 BILLION in budget shortfall. If McDonalds was in the red by $3 billion, can you honestly say that they would be paying their employees? No way, they would file bankruptcy and go under. How did the state employees not see this coming? How did they not know that we cannot continue to pay them with money we simply do not have? How do all the services that the government of Wisconsin supply’s to their citizens continue to do so when there is not enough money to pay for it? I would like to challenge anyone to bring me any successful business model for a non-for-profit organization that is still around that operates $3 billion in the red. I can help you out and give you the answer, there are NONE. Times are financially tough, and we have enjoyed a lot of services that cost us little to nothing out of pocket. BUT what it has done is put all of us in such a bad place financially it is going to take drastic measures to avoid a local, state, and national financial meltdown.

I have said this before; the solution starts right here in our community. We can no longer expect our state to give us more money because we are further in debt, that’s the same thinking as: "I know I’ll get pregnant again to get more aid”. That is irresponsible, immature, selfish, and lazy. Funding for programs like 4K work just like that. The “profit” the supporters talk of for programs like that comes from the state giving us more money than we need to support it. That money does not exists, it hasn't for a long time, the state just borrowed from other states to cover the costs. Time for a decade of responsibility, if we want all these great programs the state currently provides, we need to pay cash for them, not IOU’s. There are obvious lines drawn in the sand and you know which side I’m on, who else will join us?