We are so shocked by the skyrocketing spending and taxes at the federal level — and by mammoth expansion of government control of our lives being attempted at the federal level — and by the nonstop huffing hubris of federally fumbling politicians eager to solve problems caused by past policy errors by repeating and multiplying and magnifying those errors.
So flummoxed by the insanity in DC, that, well, I fear we give short shrift to state- and local-level insanity.
Yet there is more than enough lunacy to go around. And not just in the Northeast or California. For example, also in Wisconsin.
Just like the national players, Wisconsin lawmakers doubtless wish that their maleficent missteps could be perpetrated under cover of fog. Too bad for them that the MacIver Institute for Public Policy is on the case, providing detailed and often instant updates on every sordid twist and turn of the state’s budget process.
Bad-faith secret dealing, back-room scheming. Hectic hikes in income, capital gains, property, cigarette and phone taxes — just to make sure bad economic times grow worse. Huge new government debt, despite Wisconsin’s balanced budget requirement. And on and on.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, though, Wisconsin politicians are getting the credit they deserve. Their conduct is just as crummy as that of the big boys in Washington.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.