The Daily Cardinal: At the economic summit Oct. 14 to 16 there was a proposal that would cut nearly $500 million from the UW System. Would you support a cut like that, and if so, how would you keep the UW as attractive as it is today?
Ed Thompson: No, I think you could not possibly keep UW as attractive as it is today if you cut the budget. I think there are other places that we can cut the budget'I think the Department of Transportation, the Department of Natural Resources'I think we can advance school choice, I think we can cut the Department of Corrections right in half. I do not think we have to balance our budget on the backs of the students going to college, the University of Wisconsin, and I think it is wrong that they try to do it.
DC: They also talked about the importance of plugging the \brain drain"" to get more graduates to stay in the state after they get their degrees. Right now the UW has a deplorable rate of retention for minority students. It has been said that half of them transfer to other schools before they graduate. If this trend were broken it seems like we would be a step closer to plugging that brain drain. So, as governor, how would you stress not only recruitment at UW but also retention of minority students?
ET: I think the biggest thing we can do to stop the brain drain is to get Wisconsin off the top 10 in taxes'there is no industry, no business that is going to be coming into Wisconsin when their profit is less than all but two other states'. We are the third highest in taxes in the nation. So I think the minority question and the brain drain question is all related to how we have let spending get out of control and I think that we have to get Wisconsin off the top 10 in taxes if we are going to stop the brain drain.
DC: What do you think is wrong with the K-12 education system in the state right now and what would you try to do about that?
ET: I think that the QEO and the revenue caps are not working.
DC: I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with what a QEO is.
ET: The QEO is the Qualified Economic Offer that the teachers have to work under a flat rate, you know a 3.8 rate'they are the only union, the only group of people that are forced to work under a price control. Wage and price controls, you know, have never worked and I do not think they are working now. It is not fair to our teachers and it is certainly not fair to students and teachers in the classroom. I think we have to cut these horrible administration costs, I think we need more local control, I think the school voucher system that has worked so well in Milwaukee should be expanded statewide. We saved $53.5 million on the voucher system in Milwaukee, and I think there is the potential to save another $380 million if we expand it statewide.
DC: What would you do about the deficit and the economy in the state?
ET: Well, first right off the bat, I'm talking about accountability budgeting. I'd take a 10 percent cut in the governor's budget [salary], right off the top. Any cabinet member that comes to work in my administration is going to have to do the same. That is just to show that we mean business. And I think we have to, like I just mentioned, advance the school voucher system statewide. We have saved $53.5 million in Milwaukee. We have the potential to save another $380 million.
I think we have to cut our bloated prison budget right in half, [and] it would still be twice as big as it was in 1989. And I think that we have to get the nonviolent people out of prison. Just from those cuts alone, we would have $880 million. I think we can knock $100 million out of Department of Transportation, I think the Department of Electronic Government we can cut like 20 percent. I think we have to look at this from a business standpoint, and strictly go with what you can afford.
DC: What are the challenges of being a third party candidate in this race?
ET: Well, they stack the deck against you, you know. I am running against career politicians, even the media, they are telling everybody, ""A vote for Ed is a wasted vote."" Those things are hard. Not getting invited to the all the debates, being treated like an also-run, you know. After the debate our numbers jumped in Eau Claire. Looks like they are jumping again after the debate last night. So, you know, all I'm asking for is a fair shot, and it is very difficult for a third party to get it, because all the rules are made by the Republicrats.
DC: The Republicrats?
ET: The Republicrats, you know, that is one party. People think it's two parties but it's one party. Yeah, I think the deck is stacked, you know. Like the primary, you have to get 6 percent in an uncontested primary. We won our primary by 100 percent of the vote. [State] Attorney General [Jim] Doyle won by 38 percent of the vote, [Gov.] Scott McCallum won his by 86 percent of the vote. We won ours by 100 percent of the vote, the primary. I think that should be the criteria if you are running a valid campaign. And then that would have given us $200,000. We could have advertised on television with it a little bit.
DC: And finally, what are three policy initiatives you want to focus on? Can you just list them?
ET: I'd like to see the drinking age be changed to 19. I'd like to see .10 stay at .10. I think medicinal marijuana's time has come. I think concealed carry's time has come. Those are just some issues that nobody else is talking about.
DC: OK, are those things that you would focus on right away though, or'?
ET: Well no, the main focus that I am focusing on'those are things that we will work in as we go. The main thing I'm working on is to get Wisconsin off the top 10 in taxes and to, you know'we are the third highest in the nation now, we've got the worst budget in the nation now.
I'm focusing on straightening out this budget, saving shared revenue. I think that we should change primary laws so you can vote for the person of your choice, not the party of your choice. I think we have to get [rid of] this incredible corruption, this pay for play that is going on, this selling legislation'in the Ed Thompson administration, there will be no legislation for sale.
