MacIver News Service | March 8, 2019
By M.D. Kittle
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers’ massive $83.5 billion budget is like the Oprah Winfrey Show of spending plans, says state Sen. Dale Kooyenga.
The Brookfield Republican said it’s just so much “political pandering” to Evers’ liberal base.
“It politically nice to go around the state doing the whole Oprah thing, saying, ‘You get a billion dollars, and you get a billion dollars, and you get a billion dollars,’” Kooyenga said, referring to the multimedia diva famous for giving away cars to her entire studio audience.
“He’s going around the state saying, ‘I got you this! I got you this! I got you this!’ But he knows we can’t afford this. I think it’s a political statement, not a truly refined budget that truly balances.”
By Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Evers’ budget is a long way from balanced.
On Thursday, the Democratic governor announced $2.5 billion more in borrowing over the next two years for a host of building projects, on top of what Evers calls his “People’s Budget.”
“We’re talking about a lot of money spent,” Kooyenga said. “Even the governor knows this is a lot of money to spend.”
Kooyenga talks big budgets, big bonding, and the one song that he just can’t get out of his head, on this edition of MacIver Newsmakers.