Too cool, the VetoMatic

This is from our fine friend from Green Bay Wisconsin, Rep. Frank Lasee. He explains how the state governor has virtual unlimited powers via the veto pen to create any he desires.

I went to the VetoMatic web site and typed in the phrase: "Spending shall exceed state revenues by 175%." Volia! the VetoMatic, using the current spending bill and replicating the awsome veto power of the governor, created just such a law.

Give it a try!

The excerpt is from Rep. Frank Lasee:

The Governor of Wisconsin has, by far, the most powerful partial-veto pen in the nation. Through a series of court decisions, the Governor has gained the power to cut out any word or number from any bill that appropriates money.

The Governor just submitted the biennial budget, which appropriates a whole lot of money ($57.7 billion). The budget bill contains 379,805 words. Through the power of a partial veto, the Governor could theoretically create a law to do just about anything. The Legislature would not be able to override these partial vetoes because of the narrow majorities in each house.

You might be thinking, “Frank, you are talking about a budget bill, how could substantive law be contained in there? Isn’t it just a bunch of numbers?” Instead of just setting the state budget for two years, there is a whole lot of policy packed into the budget on top of the spending. Right or wrong (well, wrong), that is the way it is.

How do we know that the budget bill can be manipulated into nearly any law imaginable? Well, with a hat tip to Dan Akroyd’s Bass-o-matic on Saturday Night Live, we have the VetoMatic.

The VetoMatic was created to “demonstrate just how dangerous the Governor's power is. It will take the text you give it and show you how the Governor could create your new law with absolutely no legislative oversight.” You can try the VetoMatic yourself at http://www.vetomatic.com/.

To prove the point, there was a VetoMatic contest in which people were encouraged to see what “laws” the Governor could pass using the Budget Bill. Here were some of the contest winners: “The Legislature authorizes the department of Revenue to create and implement any tax it deems necessary to fund any expenditure approved by the Secretary of the Department of Administration.” “The City of Milwaukee shall be given to Illinois.”

Try the VetoMatic yourself at http://www.vetomatic.com/.

Keep on rattlin'
Big Rattler