A friend who has the misfortune to live in Wisconsin recently told me of some gubernatorial shenanigans going on in the land of cows and corn. It is astounding what governors there have been allowed to get away with.

Wisconsin law doesn’t allow a line-item veto: it goes beyond that. Apparently the governor can strike out certain parts of legislation ... and what gets left behind becomes law. Yes, that includes getting hinky with numbers. A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article shows how it was done recently; but the text from an Appleton Post-Crescent article spells it out more clearly:

Wisconsin lawmakers are trying to rein in the nation's strongest veto power, which allows governors to stitch together unrelated words and numbers to create laws and spending levels never intended by the Legislature. The power has been dubbed the "Frankenstein veto."

A proposal that is nearing approval would set up a referendum next year on whether to amend the constitution to prohibit the practice. It comes 17 years after voters took away the "Vanna White veto" in which governors crossed out letters within words to form new words.

Wisconsin governors have used vetoes to pursue their goals since voters in 1930 gave them the authority to approve spending bills "in whole or in part." That power is broader than the line-item veto exercised by most governors in which they can cancel specific provisions when signing a bill. ....

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has drawn criticism in recent years for creatively using it to increase spending and taxes.

In the new two-year budget approved last month, Doyle thought lawmakers did not provide enough money for police and fire services because they allowed municipalities to raise property tax levies by only 2 percent.

So he crossed out the 2. And he created a new increase of 3.86 percent by stitching together digits from three separate sets of numbers and crossing out what was in between.

Wisconsin residents have been letting this kind of shit go on since 1930?!? Frankly, it’s amazing things aren’t much worse there. Think of what could’ve happened if that wacko king from somewhere in the Middle East had become governor there ...