The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a segment of one of my recent blogs which takes the Republican Assembly to task for blocking the budget process.

I found the reaction to it especially interesting.

Some of you may recognize the name Mary Jo Baas who was a regular on the Sunday television show that Republican talk show host Mark Belling hosted. Baas takes issue with me in an email where she says:

Obviously Jim McGuigan doesn’t understand the budget process going on now in Madison. He says that the budget process has reached stalemate because the Republicans are refusing to compromise with Senate Democrats who want to raise taxes. The Republicans want to cut taxes. Democrats want to increase taxes.

First of all, Baas’ premise is wrong and it crumbles her entire argument. Democrats don’t want to raise taxes, despite Baas’ claim. Democrats want to see everyone get a fair shake. Items such as health care for all are important to Democrats but Baas chooses to focus simply on the means — not the end result. Are taxes part of the deal? Of course. Even before the Roman empire, taxes have played a role in making government work.

But despite Baas’ failed logic, she takes it a step further. She says:

Going to the table and asking for a no tax increase budget is a dramatic compromise in itself. To settle for anything less is to sell out the voters across the state who have to budget within their means every day. mjkb

Baas, a stalwart Republican whose spouse works as (or used to work as) a GOP staffer in the state legislature, wants the “do as I say, not as I do” approach to governing. Nary a peep came from the lips of Republicans during the tenure of former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson. Thompson raised fees and taxes despite the fact that we were experiencing record growth in the State of Wisconsin. That growth led to surpluses which, in both the State and the Federal government, Tommy was more than happy to spend on his pet projects.

So now Baas has convinced herself that “to settle for anything less is to sell out”. If this is “selling out”, then what were the Republicans doing when they were spending with reckless abandon for nearly 20 years of power? For many of those years here in Wisconsin, they held the Governor’s mansion, the State Senate and the State Assembly. Essentially they got to do what they wanted. They got the budget they wanted. They increased the taxes they wanted on the people they wanted and now when there is a Democrat in the Governor’s mansion and the State Assembly, they’re “selling out” if they vote to raise taxes?

If their true goal was to decrease taxes, they had their chance. They failed. Now all they have is rhetoric and unfortunately it’s all too obvious that they’re playing a game of “do as I say, not as I do”.

When my son was younger I used to read him stories from time to time. Bass’ comments and the GOP establishments claims remind me of one line uttered from a child in one of those books.

“The Emperor has no clothes”.