Letter: Against low taxes

Dear Editor

As another reader wrote last week, I too am puzzled and disappointed by your editorial of June 12 touting Wisconsin’s drop to 11th place in taxes paid as something to celebrate.

I’d like to see a follow-up editorial pointing out the downside in cutting our fine state’s investment in education, health care and infrastructure, such as the fact that our great University in Madison, which not long ago consistently ranked in the top five universities in the nation, has fallen dramatically in its ranking.

A major factor in this decline is that gifted and talented professors are leaving because the university isn’t being properly funded so they’re being lured away to universities that can pay them a salary commensurate with their talent and ability.

Perhaps you could also comment on the fact that tuition increases at state colleges and universities continue to outpace inflation, making it more difficult for families of moderate means to send their kids to college. Isn’t affordable education for everybody a key to keeping our state growing and prosperous?

And maybe you could touch on the fact that too many folks in Wisconsin still don’t have any health care, or that our elections, once some of the cleanest in the nation, have become polluted with too much cash from lobbyists and interest groups such as WMC, to the point that people all across the country are wondering what happened to Wisconsin.

Isn’t it time for public financing of elections to clean up this mess?

And speaking of election reform, the most recent report from The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has ranked all state legislators on how they voted regarding various election reform bills which came up for a vote this last legislative session. Rep. Kitty Rhoades’ voting record put her in the “public enemies” group, which worked to defeat reforms and maintain the influence of special interests. What does Kitty have against clean elections?

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, taxes