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January 06, 2010

The Wednesday Update

January 6, 2010  Volume 4, Number 1   IN THIS ISSUE:  A Guide for Governors;  Butler Replay

Jan. 6, 2010 Vol. 4, Number 1	Wednesday Update
In This Issue: 1. A Guide for     Governors 2. Butler Replay 3. Medicaid Explosion	A Guide for Governors Like the pusher offering free dope to ensure himself a steady supply of addicts, the federal government has ensnared state governments with billions in stimulus cash to patch up their budgets --- and that now commits them to permanent spending obligations they can’t afford. This hits particularly close to home for Wisconsin, rated last fall as one of the states most like California on the basis of unsustainable spending commitments. Last weekend the Wall Street Journal editorialized that one state after another took short-term stimulus money with federal strings attached, only to find themselves locked in by mandates to continue funding programs long after the federal money has run out. Singled out for praise were Indiana and Texas Governors, who had the sense to turn down federal money for enhanced unemployment compensation, realizing the obligations could not be met when the federal money was gone. To that brief honor roll we’d add Wisconsin’s prospective governor, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker who, unlike many incumbent governors from coast to coast, was grown-up enough to establish some criteria for accepting “stimulus” dollars.  Walker’s “Deal or No Deal” standards: • No local match is required by the federal government; • No long-term commitments are mandated by the federal    government; • The project requires no future maintenance or operating expenses Walker’s criteria sound like a sensible way to avoid getting hooked. If more people who already occupy governor’s offices were as careful, fewer taxpayers would be on the hook for unfunded billions. Butler Replay One positive consequence of congressional Democrats’ health care obsession is that they failed to confirm President Obama's nomination of "Loophole" Louis Butler, to a federal judgeship for the Western District of Wisconsin. Butler, twice rejected for the state Supreme Court by Wisconsin voters, stood out as a natural in the eyes of Obama talent scouts. In fact, Louis Butler’s recent career has been a thumb in the eye of Wisconsin voters. Sensing wacky liberalism, they rejected him overwhelmingly for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2002, only to see him appointed to the court two years later by Governor Doyle. Butler lost no time proving the voters’ instincts correct, and they dismissed him a second time when he ran for the seat in 2008. With a stellar record of ruling against the will of the electorate, his inevitable nomination to the federal bench came last fall. The Senate failed to confirm Butler before they adjourned at the end of 2009, so if Obama still wants Butler on the federal bench he will need to re-nominate him. Republicans may be prepared to dig in and fight Butler's nomination due to the ill will generated by the health-care fight over the past several weeks. While we will all be paying the price for ObamaCare, we may now be seeing one of the ways in which Senate Democrats will pay. Medicaid Explosion The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WTA) last month produced a report that illustrates what we can expect from government’s expanding role in health care. Over the past decade Medicaid—the state-federal health care program for low-income people—saw its costs rise at more than three times the rate for other big-ticket items in the state budget, such as aid to local school districts and the University of Wisconsin system. The growth of the share of Wisconsin’s populace now counted among Medicaid clients is staggering. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fewer than one in 13 residents were enrolled in a Medicaid program in 1998. Today, nearly one in five get those services. That's an increase of nearly 175% - from 395,900 people in 1998 to nearly 1.1 million people now. "There is little question that financial pressures on the Medicaid program have been aggravated by the recession and joblessness," WTA President Todd Berry said in a statement. "But it is also important to understand that, recession or not, Medicaid has been in the state-budget driver’s seat for a very long time, growing on average three or more times faster than the rest of state general-fund spending."