Wisconsin Update

Wisconsin CSE continues to move right along. Russ Feingold, our junior Democratic Senator, maybe you’ve heard of him, is starting to gear up for his re-election bid, (“I’m likely to run for reelection in November 2004”), and the money is flowing in. His largest supporters happen to be trial lawyers. Additionally, the three declared Republican candidates are out stumping, each angling on Feingold. All four of them have received their Social Security pledges, and in some cases have taken the time to meet with CSE.

Wisconsin CSE has been approached to help with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights movement in Wisconsin. TABOR is an amendment to the State Constitution that mandates state and school district budgets must be equal to the previous year’s budget plus the rate of inflation, plus the rate of population growth (which shouldn’t be hard, as Wisconsin has lost a significant portion of its population and businesses because of the burdensome tax rate, over-regulation, and the cold weather – from 9 Congressmen to 8). Which leads to the question, will legislators do the right thing and scale back state spending if the following criteria are met:

a.) inflation is zero or negative, and

b.) there is a population loss?

No one here is holding their breath. To exceed that amount, a statewide referendum is required. There also exist provisions to curb local spending which is starting to soar in some areas with the loss of state shared revenue.

This evening, I will be sharing “the stage” with the author of TABOR, State Rep. Frank Lasee (pron. la-say) at a meeting for a local taxpayer’s association. In addition to tonight’s speaking engagement, I’ve been busy trying to get the message out, visiting with citizens’ groups X, Y, and Z and generating a buzz at the grassroots level, and a proportionate interest from the media.

Things are shaping up nicely, and in the few short weeks I’ve been on the ground people are showing genuine interest, praising and welcoming CSE, and are excited to make candidates and legislators talk and act on the Freedom Agenda.