TRIM THE TREE, TRIM THE BUDGET

As budget deficits continue to grow, 26 incoming Governors face tough choices of how to fill these voids.  How are the new governors going to decide on where and what to cut?

Many of these elected leaders campaigned on not raising taxes.  Raising taxes would be very unpopular in this economy. Nationally, we have just seen how our elected officials were unwilling to raise taxes in this economic recession. States would be wise to follow suit to avoid raising taxes especially if the officials ran for office on a platform of lower taxes. Wisconsin and other states need jobs and raising taxes makes it harder for businesses to hire more workers. Raising taxes should not be an option.

Wisconsin already has a deficit of $150 million in the current fiscal year and $3.3 billion in the next two-year state budget.  In order to address these staggering budget shortfalls, spending cuts will need to be made in many areas. Included in these cuts will be some that are less popular than others. Unpopular cuts will  have to be made across the nation.  However, polling suggests the public is not interested in cutting areas such as education and healthcare, which consume the largest portions of the state budgets.

The State Legislatures will need to work along-side the new Governors in trimming budgets and finding innovative ideas to pay the bills.  As electors, we need to hold our elected officials accountable to the principles on which they campaigned: limited government and fiscal responsibility.  Let the trimming begin!