Credit where credit isn't due

The Racine Journal Times was profusive with editorial praise this week for State Sen. Cathy Stepp, who, the newspaper said, saved the Racine school district from $9.5-million in cuts -- just by nicely asking the Joint Finance Committee.

As is often the case, it wasn't quite that simple.

Gov. Doyle actually provided the money for Racine Unified School District in his budget. In budget talk, the money is "hold harmless" payments from the state for students who moved to a Racine charter school when it opened three years ago. All Joint Finance did was leave it alone.

Stepp's predecessor,then-State Sen. Kim Plache, is the one who fought hard in 2001, with a divided legislature and a Republican governor, to get it into the budget to begin. Doyle has continued the practice since taking over the governor's office.

Stepp gets the credit -- a clever move to get this in the paper a couple of weeks before she will likely vote for one of the most damaging budgets ever to public education. Her friends on Joint Finance revealed Thursday that they will cut Doyle's public education budget by a devastating $480-million.

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Stepp is not the only one to pat herself on the back for something someone else accomplished, it appears.

Sheboygan Alderman Bill Stephen writes about State Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocus writing a letter to the editor praising State Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, for Leibham's "work" on four veterans issues passed by Joint Finance as part of the state budget.

Leibham's "work" consisted of voting, along with the other 15 members of the committee, when the items passed unanimously. The items in question were submitted by Gov. Jim Doyle as part of his budget.

Stephen's column.