Dear Scott

You have motivated me to think about politics more in the last 3 weeks than I have in my entire life.  Thanks.  You have made me realize the importance of bipartisanship.  I mean, -real- bipartisanship, not the fake stuff I see in Washington, and certainly not the non existent "I don't negotiate on anything" kind of BS you have brought to Our House.  Dale Schultz said it best on March 2, we are all in this together.  Unless you have a spaceship?

I get it.  There is a big hole in the budget.  It isn't a simple problem at all.  Maybe jacking up the perceived tax on public workers over 200% isn't equitable?  Can we maybe talk about it?  Is there some grand reason why the Democrats, who represent 43% to 46% of the state, shouldn't have a say?  Are you really that angry of a person, or did you not read your job description very well before applying?

When you waltz in and create a $150M tax cut for business then claim you must strip $150M from state workers and remove collective bargaining because "We're broke", you sound like an idiot, or you make us to be complete idiots.  I think you have figured out in the last week, we're not idiots.  Perhaps you should have waited for your $150M tax cut.

I agree with you; you have to spend money to make money.  This is a central argument for the UW-Madison quasi-privatization.  But the difference here is that UW-Madison isn't going anywhere and is going to bring money into Wisconsin.  Seems like corporations nowadays are all about seeing how fast they can send money out of the state or country.  Regarding your budget cuts capitol gains taxes for profits reinvested in Wisconsin.  Allow me to congratulate you, that's actually not a terrible idea, assuming you didn't ridden it with loopholes.  Call me an eternal optimist. 

Perhaps you missed the note about the huge amount of manufacturing jobs that have left the state.  For better or worse, we are now in a knowledge economy.  Maybe instead of praying for manufacturing to stick, we should get into R&D?  Nope, let's cut funding to higher ed instead.

Since we're talking about the UW, you probably notice how the Chancellor uses this opportunity to discuss all of the good things that can come out of change?  You just seem to sit around and repeat all you know how to say.  "We're broke, state workers are overpaid, unions are greedy, I'm not negotiating, I'm doing this for the children, we are ready to take on the liberals in Madison.".  You are not inspiring Wisconsin.

I have a suggestion.  How about shooting a little sunshine out the ass once in a while?  I'm honestly curious.  Are you trying to promote a better Wisconsin, or are you just putting us on a demon war hell ride?  Because it sounds much like the latter.

I have a feeling that Ronald Reagan would not friend you on Facebook, nor would like he 'like' your comments.  I'm not too sure that he would consider you to be "one of him", as you like to speak of yourself and "your" supporters.  Except, of course, Dale Schultz, who shows signs of independent thought.  I suppose this is why he is not one of "you".

Even Reagan recognized when taxes had to be raised.  PS, tax rates on the rich are not 70% right now.  Maybe you could have asked them to chip in 10% on the $3.6B deficit?  Honestly, I don't think the Cayman Islands would have missed it.  I don't think the Koch brothers need a tax break to create jobs in Wisconsin if they wanted to.  They have quite a bit of coin already.

Scott, there is no end game to this current standoff that ends up with us all winning, and the way I see it, it's all your fault.  You were elected to be the leader of Wisconsin and so far you have been a divider, a Debbie Downer who could have used the opportunity to get our great state back in order in a bipartisan fashion, a triumphant return of Conservatism after Doyle's lackluster job.

A 'no' man is no better than a 'yes' man.  You have instead turned the Capitol into a political cagematch circus because of the way you and yours have acted on Senate Bill 11.  PS, thanks for having the Capitol closed for 3+ days now despite a court order.  Keep going and your actions will likely lead to a civil protest outside Madison that will dwarf the Vietnam War protests.  Even Dale Schultz thinks so.  I suppose you'll think this means you're doing a great job at representing the people.

Please stop it with the sweeping legislation with no debate.  You are needlessly polarizing and destroying Wisconsin while doing so.  Again, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you for kicking people out of the Capitol and Gallery who disagree with you, especially during your budget speech.  It's clear that in addition to ignoring discourse from your fellow Democratic politicians, you also don't intend to engage the public in discourse. That's OK, we will bring it to you, with civility.  I hate to tell you, there is no such thing as a media blackout in 2011.  Thank Jeebus for the internet. 

What a legacy!  You could have avoided all of this by simply doing your job and representing us all, and by showing even an iota of bipartisanship.

If I woke up tomorrow and the news said that you had a come to Jesus moment and were actually willing to participate in a Bipartisan Government [hint, the state is at -most- 57% Republican], I think I'd still fight to make sure you spend as little time in office as possible because you simply cannot be trusted.

While I find the specifics of your budget to be troublesome, how you carry yourself and represent Wisconsin is the real problem here.  Your refusal to compromise or negotiate is an embarrassment to democracy and all of the Democratic and Republican Governors that have come before you in the the great State of Wisconsin.

Notice I didn't even bring up the Koch call?

Sorry Scott, just had to get this all off my chest.  I just don't understand you at all.

- An outside agitator from Madison, Wisconsin.

If you made it this far, you might enjoy;
http://www.progressive.org/rc030211.html
http://wisconsininsider.typepad.com/news-from-inside-the-wisc/

[edit 3/2/2011 9:22am to fix a grammar issue]