To be sure, moving out of the city limits of Madison was the best thing I ever did--as far as housing away from the "pressure" of politics. Madisonians like to debate things to death. It once took them over 25 years to build a much needed parking ramp in the centeral part of the city. Most of the locals refer to this problem as "not being able to put two bricks together without endless debates."

The good-news/bad-news of the issue is that I still live in Dane County. Let me explain.

If you look at a map of Wisconsin, we appear to be a 'mitten.' The bottom 20% of the area--the 'cuff' of that mitten--is where the people actually live. The good news is that I can get away from population densities within ten minutes. The bad news is that in the top of the state the best doctors are veterinarians for dairy cattle and pizza must be delivered by air-drop if Airborne Rangers are nearby.

The cities near Lake Michigan are becoming "Chicago lite" and the aging hippies live in Dane County. You get over-taxed inside crumbling ghettos in the east, and over-taxed by moonbean weirdos in our area. So I choose to live here, and the fringes of lunacy where pizza is cheap, the gang bangers are abject rookies and most legislators don't know I exist.

However, now that my wife is retiring, I can live anywhere--other than she was born and raised a liberal suburban girl.

What I always find interesting about things of this nature is that no one ever mentions that contacts are negotiated. If the state or company cannot afford what they are being asked for, why do they give it and then blame the union or employees who are in a union. Don't come crying later about how bad it is. Every state out there needs to cut everything. This includes the money they give to everyone for nothing. Don't give money to the illegals, welfare lazies even the politicans including the governor and the lot. They're are just as bad.

There are alot of places that can be cut by everyone. You have to negotiate in good faith. Passing laws to take everything away is not the answer.

It's all about power!

I agree, the problem is that half of our representatives are hiding in Illinois.

We have been hamstrung in Wisconsin by a spending mad Governor, who we threw out of office. The unions have been so used to dictating policy that the very idea of "cutting back" leads to a riot. Jesse Jackson showed up. Yikes.

I'll be very happy to pack up my wife, our two college diplomas, all of our property tax money, our road tax fees and further Harley purchases and move to a better clime. I can come back for Ryan's tune-ups as a snow-bird, lots of my friends do this already.

If they think 'less money' is a burden, then perhaps 'no money' might be a good lesson.