Small Minority of Republicans on Dane County Board willing to hold Budget Hostage! But I thought Elections have Consequences?

Let me get this right; liberal voters elected a huge majority Democrats to the Dane County Board, so they could carry out the will of the people. But the few neglected Republicans on the board are willing to cost the county hundreds of millions by holding the budget hostage if they don’t get what they want.  

Hey, I thought the will of the people ruled until the next election! Didn’t the Fitzgerald brothers and Scott Walker just tell us that? If voters don’t like the policies of the current political majority, they can vote them out in the next election? Majority rules right? What gives?

These hypocrites never die by the double edge sword they use to make their arguments. But they should. The county Republicans are about to do what the state Republican legislators say is a waste of taxpayer money and protester thuggery.

WSJ: A surprise maneuver by Dane County Board conservatives may cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars by holding a financing resolution "hostage," say liberal board members and county budget managers. Members of the conservative minority say postponement — and possible scuttling — of the county's annual borrowing resolution is the only way they can get answers and influence policy. By that time, though, the county may have lost favorable interest rates and a bargain on sheriff's squad cars while risking $10,000-a-day fines if it blows a federal deadline for improving the emergency radio system, said County Executive Joe Parisi. If the money isn't borrowed, the county could end up $5 million in the hole for 2011, face financial penalties and litigation as a consequence of cancelling contracts the board previously approved, and see its its bond rating fall, which would mean higher interest rates, county controller Chuck Hicklin said.

That kind of hit to the taxpayer pocketbook would result in huge cuts in spending for services and …oh, I get it, disaster capitalism. Think about what the Republicans are willing to hold hostage:

Allow the county to borrow $24.2 million to cover costs of road improvements, vehicles, 911 equipment, conservation land and more. Board vice-chair John Hendrick said it reminds him of Washington; "I would refer to it as hostage taking," said Hendrick. "People are willing to bring about a financial disaster in order to get negotiating leverage for something else."

Board member Bill Clausius, who proposed the postponement, said conservatives are concerned that the county is borrowing too much. Clausius … opposes buying land for conservation in tough budget times and he questions the number of vehicles the county plans to buy.

A minority of 10 conservatives were able to delay the finance resolution because it takes support of three-quarters of the 37-member board to authorize borrowing. Cynda Solberg, a board conservative, said "It bothers me that people want to jeopardize some of those things. It's stuff we've already purchased, and it's really important things for the Sheriff's Office and 911 and roads that are in dire need. They are shooting themselves in the foot."

Part of the problem is that board's staunchest conservatives have been dominated by the board liberals for years, she said. "That group has not won anything for so long and they feel like they've been slighted for so long that they feel like this is their only chance for leverage, and they are taking it," Solberg said.

Can't they wait till the next election, and just sit back and let the elected board members carry out the will of the people until then?