Views on News • February 23rd, 2009

The devil’s in the details

by Chris Lato

Yes, the title to this one is a cliche, but reporters statewide are now sifting their way through Gov. Doyle’s next budget, and to say it has a lot of potentially controversial components is the understatement of the month – kinda like saying Sean Penn’s political views lean a tad leftward.

Consider the idea of releasing prison inmates early – Republicans are hopping all over this one as an example of former attorney general Doyle being soft on crime. This is fraught with political dangers, as UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin rightly notes – heaven forbid an inmate on furlough commits a heinous crime while on the streets. Michael Dukakis can tell you all about how a similar furlough program worked out in his state.

How about Big Brother’s presence growing exponentially on Wisconsin roads? Photo radar is among the ideas under consideration. If you needed more evidence that speed traps are little more than revenue generators for the state and municipalities, well, here you go.

Smokers are being chased out of Wisconsin thanks to a proposed statewide smoking ban. I agree with the idea that making the law uniform across the land is a good idea. I disagree with the idea that private business should be forced to ban smoking in the first place. However, the overall sense is that the PR momentum is shifting in favor of a statewide ban.  

(Side note:  much as I loathe the idea of new taxes, I recently heard a suggestion that, on the face of it, sounded pretty good. How about letting businesses that wish to allow smoking pay a state tobacco ‘license fee’ annually? Would there be any takers?)

Regardless of where you stand on these issues, the stage is set for serious debate in the months to come.  Democrats may be calling the shots in the governor’s office and Legislature right now, but some of these issues seem to be sure-bet controversy generators on both sides of the aisle.

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