By: Michael Tuosto

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has introduced a bill to his state’s legislature that has gained nationwide attention as well as sparked a nationwide debate. The focus of the mainstream media with regards to the “budget repair bill” has been on the reforms to public sector unions stipulated by the legislation. These reforms include an increased contribution from state employees towards their pension plans, estimated at about 6% of their salaries, as well as increased contributions from state employees towards their health insurance, estimated at about 13% of the average cost of annual premiums. The limitations on collective bargaining rights the bill calls for, restricting collective bargaining to only wages for the affected public unions, has garnered the most attention by far. Thousands of protestors have organized around the capitol building and the state Senate Democrats have left Wisconsin, all in an attempt to put a stop to any restrictions on the state employees rights to collective bargaining.

Those actively following this issue in Wisconsin will hear a number of topics debated ranging from the value of Unions to the drastic actions taken by the state Senate Democrats. I’ve recently heard a more interesting debate surface – one that has been inspired by the bleak fiscal situations the federal and state governments of the United State are finding themselves in, to one degree or another. The question is being asked,  “Does the State of Wisconsin have a spending problem, or a revenue problem?”  This sort of question is one of the more important ones because it gets past the tedious, endless, often pointless politics debate over actions taken by Republicans and actions taken by Democrats. This question brings up the most important topic of all, the role of government.

Trying to convince a liberal reader that Wisconsin should cut spending to fix their fiscal mess or convince a conservative reader that Wisconsin should raise taxes to do so would be a pointless endeavor. I might have a better chance convincing an atheist there is a God or a Christian that Christ was just a man. Instead, I wish to pose yet another question that this philosophical debate raises that no one in the mainstream media wishes to ask. “Is it possible that the driving force behind this Wisconsin debate, and even the national debate over fiscal issues (personified largely by the Tea Party Movement), is a feeling among the masses that they pay enough for the government functions they desire?”  A professor of political science might roll their eyes at this point, “People can always point to waste, fraud, and abuse.” Well maybe it’s time to stop rolling our eyes and trivializing issues that could very well be at the core of the problem. The masses are making clear that something isn’t adding up – state and federal income taxes, combined with sales tax, property tax, hidden consumer taxes, and business taxes just to name a few. I mean we even tax the incomes of those state workers who are paid directly by the state! The politicians are hoping that the electorate remain divided, but I think they are united and just don’t know it. This growing unrest in America is driven by the only dominant, salient political issue: money. It is not being handled appropriately and those elected to handle it need to start doing a better more efficient job.