Assembly Speaker John Gard proclaimed in a news release that, with the passage of the Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment early Friday, Assembly Republicans had kept their promise to taxpayers. If he was able to put that news release together with a straight face, he deserves to be commended.
At best, the GOP kept only part of its promise to taxpayers to place a constitutional limit on the ability of state and local governments to spend and raise money. And it did even that in a manner that showed only disdain for voters and for the state constitution.