How to sink the ship of state By Curt Andersen News-Chronicle The budget crunch, thanks to the Big Spender in Washington, added to a lousy economy in all of the states, has resulted in people falling for all sorts of crackpot schemes to pull their butts out of the economic fire. Back in the 1930s, people lost their homes or their savings or both when jobs dried up, and many lost their fortunes when the stock market crashed. Folks were so desperate they would try anything…they were struggling for relief. Some even fell for Communism. And so we have the current Siren Song of TABOR, the so-called Taxpayer Bill Of Rights, with its seductive promises of low, low, low taxes. It’s a fool’s paradise. In Greek mythology, Odysseus’ ship neared the island of the Sirens, where seductive sea-nymphs had the power to charm men with their song, such that the lonely mariners were irresistibly impelled to run their ships onto the rocks and cast themselves into the sea and to their destruction. Odysseus had the sailors stuff their ears with wax to keep them from hearing. He had himself tied to the mast so he could hear the Sirens’ beautiful singing. As the Sirens sang, their words were even more enticing than their melody. The Sirens said they would give knowledge, ripe wisdom, and a quickening of the spirit to every man who came to them. Odysseus’ longed to jump into the sea, but the ropes held fast and the ship sailed from danger, if only for a while. The Siren Song has been famous since at least the time of Homer, around 700 BC. Some historians think the legend of Odysseus was already ancient when Homer wrote it down. Like the Sirens’ song, TABOR’s promise of lower taxes is seductive but it will surely wreck our ship of state. Who is singing this economic joke? Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and their stable of slipper licks in the Republican Party. This particular band of privateer special interests has never had an idea that would help anyone but themselves. TABOR should be TABOG…the Taxpayer Bill of Goods. It’s bogus. The Tax Cut Siren Song is a major sucker-punch for those who, instead of looking at the long-term, are looking at pie-in-the sky promises that will never deliver. One of the biggest losers in the sudden cuts of funding will be Wisconsin’s excellent public schools and their students. It is no exaggeration to say their reputation will be history. Look at the schools in the Deep South for a comparison. Just a few years ago, a relative of mine got an offer to teach in Louisiana for the princely sum of $13,500 per year. Ask yourself why Louisiana’s schools are not regularly tops in the nation, like those in Wisconsin. You may have heard that the number one issue for the far right wing is to destroy government programs, such as public schools. This is an old idea recycled…privatization. At its heart is the stealth desire by some company to profit. All that will be left of our school system will be the frayed remnants of what was the benchmark for greatness in America. But no more. Public schools will be replaced by publicly funded, private, and probably religious schools, a violation of our constitution. This will leave lots of talented, but not rich, kids out of the loop, rather like it was before World War II, and rather like it was during the Middle Ages. To thrive, any economy must have a well-educated work force. It’s always been that way, and it always will be. Here in Wisconsin, former Governor Tommy Thompson paved us into poverty…we should call it “paverty.” Other states had their own half-baked programs that ran them into the economic toilet, and all of them had to do with padding corporate nests. TABOR would amend the state constitution by mandating a cap on state and local spending and taxation increases, then limit them to inflation plus population growth. A referendum would be required to override the cap. The scene is set for disaster if something unplanned but expensive comes along…massive flooding, for example, means the state, to cover those losses, would have to make cuts in areas that might hurt lots of people, from farmers to the elderly, aside from students. Have you noticed that TABOR is being introduced now, when the economy is in the dumper after years of Tommy Thompson’s excesses, with an additional heaping of economic ruin by the Bush Administration? During the 1990s, there was no big push for TABOR because we were all making money. We were too busy to whine about our taxes. TABOR was introduced by Libertarians, who feel the government should get out of everything but protecting our shores. As with other political stripes, not all Libertarians agree on where government responsibility should end. Some feel that the government should also build our highways, manage our space program, and so forth. No one agrees totally on what the government should do but those who can’t make the connection between taxes and real prosperity are willing to blame taxes for everything. Libertarians want to keep their hard-earned money and spend it where they see fit. Never mind that much of the American economy is humming because of socialist programs that support businesses. We can look back at past Libertarian systems and see that they do not work very well, but for the well-heeled few. One Libertarian idea is that “the rich” should build our highways. Look back to Germany in the 15th century, the heyday of the so-called “robber barons.” These barons controlled the highways and rivers of their fiefdoms, exacting heavy tolls for passage of material goods. The resulting disruption to the economic growth of what later became Germany may have been a contributing factor to the two world wars in the 20th century. Conservatives know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing. If you want to see a place with no taxes today, look closely at Afghanistan. The Afghans can spend their money as they see fit. Should we be envious? Curt Andersen is a Green Bay native. He is a 4-year Navy veteran (Communications Technician, CTO2), (who, unlike President Bush, served his entire hitch), owns a small business, is vice president of Clean Water Action Council, and is an adjunct instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. You may contact Mr. Andersen at [email protected]