This year, Republicans have to first choose between Scott Walker and Mark Neumann, neither one a friend of transit. Democrats might wish for someone a little more inspiring than Tom Barrett, but are not likely to be pulled away by either Neumann or Walker. Everyone else has to make a choice among these three, or possibly a green or libertarian candidate. For commuters, whether in cars or on public transit, independents, Republicans or Democrats, a vote for Scott Walker is shaping up as a vote for gridlock.

Scott Walker speaks highly of buses, whenever any kind of rail system is being proposed. Otherwise, he has done all he can to shut down the bus system in Milwaukee County. He is quite honest about his principles: he doesn't believe in public transit. He wants everyone to have a nice car. What he doesn't talk about is how many billions of dollars it will cost to build all the additional freeways, and additional lanes on existing freeways, for all those care to drive on. Then there is the acquisition by eminent domain of all the property needed to build those lanes on. At peak hours, Milwaukee County freeways are already gridlocked in one or both directions. Every bus taken out of operation is another fifty cars added to that gridlock.

Of course, if the Milwaukee County Transit System has to shut down, the cars those displaced bus passengers will be driving to work will not be nice new cars. They will be the cheapest old jalopies available. They will be breaking down much more often, creating additional traffic jams. But Walker views the world through rose-colored lenses. He imagines everyone who now rides the bus buying a car like he has, and like all his neighbors have. Walker may even believe that entry-level jobs in Milwaukee County pay $50,000 a year... no, probably not. But he doesn't think about what kind of transportation a commuter can buy on $7.25 an hour.

Walker talks a good line about austerity. It isn't so much a lie, as a delusion. There is a difference between the way Walker has done his job as Milwaukee County executive, and former president George W. Bush. They hide their deficits in different ways. Bush cut taxes and paid for it by running up huge deficits, selling trillions of dollars in T-Bills to the National Bank of China. Taxpayers are going to be paying back those “tax cuts” for many years, with interest. Walker held down local property taxes, by deferring millions of dollars of maintenance for other executives to deal with, while taxpayers face a huge bill several years down the road. As long as payment doesn't come due on Walker's watch, that's fine with him. He hopes to be repeating his act with the entire state of Wisconsin as his stage – no doubt lecturing his successor that the state has no money to help cover the huge financial woes Walker left for Milwaukee County taxpayers.

Meantime, families who use the county's park system, commuters who rely on the bus system to get to work, to medical appointments, or to get out at all, are paying the price. Every homeowner knows that to maintain a home, a certain amount must be spent, and/or a certain amount of elbow grease expended, doing the necessary work. Every so often, the roof needs to be replaced, the exterior needs to be painted, the leaking pipes need to be replaced... It can be put off for a few years, but that shows, and there is a bigger bill to pay later on. Scott Walker has “saved taxpayers' money” by deferring essential maintenance, and the bill is coming due. For instance, MCTS has put off buying new buses, and closed down its facility for rebuilding existing ones. That doesn't matter, if the system is going to be shut down within twelve to fifteen years, but otherwise, sooner or later, the bill must be paid. (Walker was saved by the Economic Recovery Act, which funded purchase of badly overdue replacement buses.)

Scott Walker vigorously opposed reducing average Milwaukee County property tax bills by $135 a year. He urged a “NO” vote on the November 2008 referendum asking the state legislature for permission to transfer support for the county bus system, the county park system, and EMT, from the property tax levy to dedicated funding from a one percent sales tax. What's better about a sales tax? First, it doesn't burden home ownership – many people couldn't afford to buy their home today, at today's assessed value, on the income they have now. Second, we all pay, in small pieces, and we pay when we are spending money. Third, people who make use of Milwaukee County, who come here to spend money, will help pay for the transit system. It spreads the burden out more equitably, and it actually generates more money for a better transit system, restoring routes, reducing fares, drawing more people back to using improved bus system, bringing in more revenue from fares.

Fifty-two percent of Milwaukee County voters ignored Walker's advice and voted yes. About seven percent out of that fifty-two percent are people who voted for Walker for county executive. They might want to think twice about letting him become governor, an office from which he could really trash our transit systems in a big way. Walker has been trying to get a second bite at the apple ever since the referendum. He didn't like the vote, he wants to run it again – after the legislature spends hundreds of hours working on the request a majority of county voters approved.

One of the few things Walker has in common with outgoing Governor James Doyle is that Doyle vetoed the half cent sales tax for transit, which the legislature approved, in response to the referendum. Pressed by Milwaukee County union members, business executives, county board members, and citizen advocacy groups, Doyle belatedly corrected his error. Walker is still determined on gridlock.