Scott Walker: Not the Poetry Man

Poet's $2,000 Reimbursement a Casualty in Walker's Wisconsin. (Bloomberg News, 3/7/2011.  Thanks to Mark Arend for sharing.)

Excerpt: The $2,000 annual budget for the post, which Dethlefsen assumed Jan. 1, is a casualty of Governor Scott Walker’s drive for austerity. The first-term Republican, whose proposal to curb collective bargaining for public employees has incited protests across the U.S., faces a $3.6 billion deficit over the next biennium. His proposed budget seeks $3.4 billion in savings and spending cuts.

For Wisconsin’s poets and artists, “it’s just a smack in the face,” Dethlefsen, a 62-year-old retired librarian, said in an interview at Leystra’s Venture Restaurant in Sauk City, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Madison, the capital.

“In good times arts are magical, and in tough times they are essential,” he said. “That’s when you need them the most. Art makes you human. If it’s just about the money, then it’s petty and vindictive.”

Tommy Thompson, a Republican governor, created the office in 2000. It was “important that Wisconsin maintain its strong tradition of excellence in the arts,” his executive order said. “Poetry serves as a tool for the enrichment of all people and serves as a herald for the deep emotions and pride felt by the citizens of this great state.”

Meet Jeremy Thiesfeldt, a Wisconsin freshman legislator who is no doubt applauding Walker's move.