No 'Vanna White' veto

Rep. Scooter Jensen (still not convicted) gave the Journal Sentinel a big front page scoop for Thursday's paper:

Gov. Jim Doyle was going to use a "Vanna White veto" to reduce an appropriation for the Zoo Interchange freeway project from $38-million to $3-million.

The newspaper even ran a graphic to show how Doyle would cross out the "8" and make the number 3 instead of 38.

Only problem is, Jensen and the JS (which apparently took him at his word) got it almost all wrong.

Doyle will reduce the amount from $38-million to $3-million.

But the "Vanna White veto" is a fig newton of Jensen's imagination.

There is no $38-million number in the budget for Doyle to turn into a 3. In fact, the Zoo interchange is not even mentioned or listed in the state budget document as a separate item. Doyle will reduce that appropriation, but not the way Jensen and the JS described it.

Even if Doyle were going to do that, it would not be a "Vanna White veto." That term was coined in a State Supreme Court case disputing how much power a governor had to veto parts of words and use the letters to form new words. It has nothing to do with crossing out numbers. If you've ever watched "Wheel of Fortune," you'd know that Vanna never, ever plays with numbers.

So, except for that, the paper had it right. In the future, when budget expert Jensen offers a scoop, they might want to consult a second source.