Editor's note: The editorial board met with both candidates for the 51st Assembly district. The following is the majority view of the editorial board, whcih consists of General Manager Carl Hearing, Editor Mary Jane Grenzow and News Editor Gary Mays.
The race for 51st Assembly is something to be proud of at a time when the acts of politicians, monied interests and government have all conspired to dent our faith in the democratic process. The race pits a Democrat - who spent 40 years as a professor of economics at University of Wisconsin-Platteville - against a forensic accountant and certified fraud examiner.
We really need these two, and it's too bad there aren't two seats up for grabs.
The professor, John Simonson, established the center for Applied Public Policy at UW-Platteville, worked as a policy analyst for the World Bank, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and the National Association of Realtors.
The GOP accountant, Spring Green native Howard Marklein, has spent a good part of his career focused on investigating white-collar crime; and now serves as a partner at Virchow Krause (now Baker Tilly). Plus, he was raised on a dairy farm so we know he's got the work ethic and values to go with his white-collar skills.
Both men are refreshingly honest and serious about the challenges faced by a state and nation mired in debt, joblessness and lack of faith in both the private and public sectors (read bank bailouts).
We admire Simonson for his candor in saying "everything's on the table" for balancing the budget without cutting services - including a hike in the sales tax. Across a tax-leery nation this election season, them's fightin' words. In his embrace of social spending to boost economic fortunes of working people, his campaign mirrors the progressive "Wisconsin Idea." Simonson describes his priorities as "workforce development, infrastructure and taxes, in that order."
It's hard to take issue with that list.
Still, Simonson's broad-brush ideas just might not fly in Madison at a time when practical solutions are needed to get us out of this mess, a mess that includes a state budget deficit projected to be north of $3.1 billion. It's time to make decisions about the programs and services we have rather than create more. At least for now.
Marklein has the experience and leadership skills to support policies that attract and retain job-providing businesses across the 51st District.
And Marklein has The Monroe Times endorsement.
Marklein's a Republican, but he's no ideological purist. He has proven himself a leader dedicated to rooting out deception at a time when we are still feeling the pain of the mortgage and banking crises that have decimated the economy and jobs.
Marklein says his campaign is motivated by "anger and fear" about the direction the state and country have taken economically. He wants to "get the pork" out of state government, and has the skills and background to do it. We couldn't agree more with his sense of urgency, especially when it comes to managing the state budget along "generally accepted accounting practices." While that might be wishful thinking - for government isn't a business in any real sense - it's a good starting point. So is his desire to find government inefficiencies that have become institutionalized wastes of money that we pay for year after year.
We'd like to hear more specifics from each candidate on school funding - for his part, Marklein is leery of a sales tax increase to fund schools, but offers little more than job and the associated revenue growth to bail education out.
"We didn't get in this situation overnight, and we're not going to get out of it overnight," said Marklein.
We agree - it's time for he and the rest of the legislature to get to work.
The race for 51st Assembly is something to be proud of at a time when the acts of politicians, monied interests and government have all conspired to dent our faith in the democratic process. The race pits a Democrat - who spent 40 years as a professor of economics at University of Wisconsin-Platteville - against a forensic accountant and certified fraud examiner.
We really need these two, and it's too bad there aren't two seats up for grabs.
The professor, John Simonson, established the center for Applied Public Policy at UW-Platteville, worked as a policy analyst for the World Bank, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and the National Association of Realtors.
The GOP accountant, Spring Green native Howard Marklein, has spent a good part of his career focused on investigating white-collar crime; and now serves as a partner at Virchow Krause (now Baker Tilly). Plus, he was raised on a dairy farm so we know he's got the work ethic and values to go with his white-collar skills.
Both men are refreshingly honest and serious about the challenges faced by a state and nation mired in debt, joblessness and lack of faith in both the private and public sectors (read bank bailouts).
We admire Simonson for his candor in saying "everything's on the table" for balancing the budget without cutting services - including a hike in the sales tax. Across a tax-leery nation this election season, them's fightin' words. In his embrace of social spending to boost economic fortunes of working people, his campaign mirrors the progressive "Wisconsin Idea." Simonson describes his priorities as "workforce development, infrastructure and taxes, in that order."
It's hard to take issue with that list.
Still, Simonson's broad-brush ideas just might not fly in Madison at a time when practical solutions are needed to get us out of this mess, a mess that includes a state budget deficit projected to be north of $3.1 billion. It's time to make decisions about the programs and services we have rather than create more. At least for now.
Marklein has the experience and leadership skills to support policies that attract and retain job-providing businesses across the 51st District.
And Marklein has The Monroe Times endorsement.
Marklein's a Republican, but he's no ideological purist. He has proven himself a leader dedicated to rooting out deception at a time when we are still feeling the pain of the mortgage and banking crises that have decimated the economy and jobs.
Marklein says his campaign is motivated by "anger and fear" about the direction the state and country have taken economically. He wants to "get the pork" out of state government, and has the skills and background to do it. We couldn't agree more with his sense of urgency, especially when it comes to managing the state budget along "generally accepted accounting practices." While that might be wishful thinking - for government isn't a business in any real sense - it's a good starting point. So is his desire to find government inefficiencies that have become institutionalized wastes of money that we pay for year after year.
We'd like to hear more specifics from each candidate on school funding - for his part, Marklein is leery of a sales tax increase to fund schools, but offers little more than job and the associated revenue growth to bail education out.
"We didn't get in this situation overnight, and we're not going to get out of it overnight," said Marklein.
We agree - it's time for he and the rest of the legislature to get to work.
