Balanced Budget in Wisconsin Comes At Too High A Price

After the fiasco that took place in Madison last February over Governor Scott Walker's divisive budget balancing solution, Wisconsin's budget is finally balanced. Conservatives in Wisconsin's legislature are celebrating their "victory," while the people of Wisconsin live with the consequences of the Budget Repair Bill Walker pushed through Congress. With the elimination of collective bargaining rights for public employees and over $800 million in cuts to education among other massive cuts, I have been asking myself, just as others in Wisconsin have, "How could this possibly be good for our state in the long run?"

There were dozens of appalling cuts made to government backed programs and departments in the Budget Repair Bill that shook up our state, but none were more egregious than the more than $800 million cut from education in Wisconsin. These cuts affect every facet of public education—from our Kindergartens to the UW system—hurting the development of our youth and their chance to be competitive in a tough economy.

Besides depriving our children's education, the gutting of public education has more far-reaching, long term effects. With a less effective education system, our kids won't be able to get well-paying jobs, thus lowering potential taxable income for our state, giving us even less revenue down the road.

In addition, businesses will go elsewhere to find employees with a better education. As State Representative Penny Bernard Schaber told Postcrescent.com, "Where are we going to get our skilled workers that companies need? If companies can't find the skilled workforce they need, they won't relocate here, they won't expand here."

Although I vehemently disagree with the massive spending cuts to education, at least you can make the argument that it directly reduces spending. There is no possible justification, however, for the elimination of collective bargaining rights for public employees. Stripping public workers of collective bargaining rights, after they had already made the financial concessions asked of them, did not save the state a single penny.

After over 50 years of progress on the front of labor rights, Wisconsin's labor achievements came toppling down as the public watched Governor Walker's "Budget Repair Bill" attack rights that don't have anything to do with the budget. This politically motivated move struck a fatal blow to one of the most basic rights an American can have: the right to organize.

Without a teachers union, who will stand up for small class sizes and up-to-date technology in our classrooms? Who will stand up for our student's needs? Without labor unions, who will fight unfair working conditions or wages? When Wisconsinites were told by Republican members of Congress that a balanced budget would cost them collective bargaining, the cost of a balanced budget became too great.

So were all of those politically polarizing, divisive, and drastic measures necessary or worth it in the long run? No matter how I look at the issue, the answer is always "No." Yes, we have a balanced budget, but it didn't need to cost us what it did. We are not a more successful state because we have $800 million less to educate our youth. We are not a better state because our laborers cannot collectively stand up for what they feel is fair. And we are certainly not a closer state after Governor Walker's divisive "Budget Repair Bill" polarized the state and sent Madison in an uproar.

We did however gain one thing, and that is our collective voice. Wisconsinites showed throughout this whole unbearable process, that we will not stand by and watch as a political agenda dismantles the principles we pride ourselves on. That is why, as of Nov. 15, Wisconsin is using its voice one more time to recall Governor Walker, to end this fiasco of a governorship once and for all.