Wisconsin has a drinking problem. This is not exactly news to state residents. Last year the CDC reported that nearly 23 percent of adults here are binge drinkers, putting Wisconsin among the top in the nation.
A study by a division of the Department of Health and Human Services noted that Wisconsin is also number one in drunk driving, with 23.7 percent of all people 16 years or older driving under the influence of alcohol over a one-year period.
The lack of teeth in our drunken driving laws has also been widely reported. They are among the weakest in the nation. Wisconsin is the only state where first offense drunken driving is a traffic offense and is only a crime when a child younger than 16 is in the vehicle.
So Sen. Alberta Darling’s (R-River Hills) plan to propose tougher drunken driving laws is a good one. The legislation would make a person’s third OWI a felony. At the moment, it is a felony after a fourth conviction within a period of five years.
Darling and Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon) are also pondering a sobriety checkpoint pilot program and treatment programs for repeat offenders.
Some have balked at the costs, but that is a misguided complaint. The Department of Transportation estimated that alcohol-related crashes cost the state more than $500 million in 2000. Not to mention the hundreds of people killed every year in a car accident involving drunk driving.
While it is great that Darling and Ott are trying to do something about the problem, we need more lawmakers to get serious about it. We also need to focus on more than just drunken driving laws. The drinking problem here is cultural, as evidenced by a series of deaths across the state this year alone.
There is the well-known case of Michael Philbin, 21 when he died after falling through the ice in Oshkosh back in January. In April, UW Stevens-Point student Eric Duffey, also 21, died in March. He accidentally drowned in the Wisconsin River.
Two other recent deaths in Milwaukee highlight the severity of binge drinking statewide. In May, 32-year-old Robert Pierzchalski fell from a downtown Milwaukee parking lot after a night of drinking. He was found at 3 a.m. The Medical Examiner’s report notes that he was tailgating prior to a Brewers-Cubs game that began at 1 p.m. He then went bar-hopping on Water Street until 1 or 2 a.m. That means Pierzchalski might have been drinking for more than 12 straight hours prior to his death.
The other recent accidental death is that of , which received widespread media attention. He was missing for nearly two weeks before his body was found in March in the Milwaukee River. Like Pierzchalski, he had spent many hours drinking prior to disappearing. Hecht and his friends had participated in a St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl.
The fact that Philbin and Duffy and Pierzchalski and Hecht were not driving did not save them. All are dead way too young because they made foolish decisions after consuming too much alcohol. As long as we keep acting as if binge drinking is normal, acceptable behavior, these senseless and preventable deaths will continue. Why does anyone need to drink all day and night? Why are so many residents of this state unable to go out for a beer or two? Instead it's six, eight or 10 beers, not to mention hard alcohol.
Whether it’s a Packer/Brewer/Badger game day, St. Patrick’s Day, or a random Saturday night, it should not be considered normal to consume that much alcohol in a single day.
So while it’s commendable that Darling and Ott are developing legislation to stiffen up our drunken driving laws, there are other serious alcohol-related problems in Wisconsin that need immediate attention.
You're right - the drunks should be the ones that pay. But why does the alcoholic beverage industry and tavern league in this state, through their respective lobbies, constantly push for legislation that protects drunks? Like I said, up the OWI fines to $25k minimum for first offense, survivable in bankruptcy, and force the state to aggressively pursue collection of such fines until the death of the convicted. The righteous shouldn't have to pay for the idiots - I'm getting fed up with that crap!
You're not going to be able to tax away alcoholism. When you're talking about people who have 3 or mored DWIs, for the most part that's the subset you're dealing with. Alcoholics, in general, bottom out before they give in. That's more likely to happen via harsher penalties and making it impossible to plead to some other offense. You're not going to be able to nickel and dime them into submission.
We wouldn't need a tax for that. For instance, MA just allowed their EBT cards to be used for nail salons and jewelry stores. My guess is that we here in Wisconsin have enough people swapping food stamps for alcohol. We have enough waste and fraud within our current system of taxation and redistribution that additional taxation will only increase the fraud and greed within government. Yes, I do like my Miller Lite. However, I hate cigs after trying one; yet, I am against their taxation. Hence, my own personal desires are irrelevant. When the government decides what products are good and bad via taxation, there is no end and the choice of products falls to the whims of the electorate. An easy example is the banning of the big gulp in NY. Are they preventing anything? NO. Are they removing freedoms? YES. Admit it, you want to punish the alcohol industry. It isn't the fault of the drinker, it is the fault industry showing attractive women in commercials. We must punish the industry in equals parts for making a product that could be used for harm.
I agree with the luxury taxes. In Canada, taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, etc., fund the national health plan. Here it could fund rehab programs and education as Mr. Ruble suggests.
Simply throwing more money at it by taxing and giving more to the government isn't a solution. Locking people up, taking away their driving privileges and their cars and fining the crap out of them will discourage the casual drinker who gets caught some night driving at or slightly over .08% and extending all those conditions to the point where it essentially wreaks havoc with the lives of those who are into their multiples (thus producing for most, an inescapable "bottom") will produce the most viable and effective solution - until society places the kind of stigma on such behavior as they have on cigarette smoking.
Do poverty pimps where crushed velvet suits, big gold chains and the fuzzy 70's cowboy hats with a feather in it? If so, I really need to see a picture of Lyle in his poverty pimp attire. http://www.costumesinc.com/p8133/Pimp-Costume-Adult.html
Red Meat causes heart disease and cancer if that's all you eat. How about a luxury tax on fast food, alcohol, cigarettes?
Or is it more of a propaganda/brainwash operation where you pound an anti-alcohol (or anti-whatever) message into people's heads all day every day to co-opt their own thoughts? I used to see enough of that constant PSA garbage when I still had a TV to make me physically ill. Couple it with our non-stop political ads and you can't go for a minute without someone else telling you what to think. It does waste (or rather divert) a lot of money, but I certainly wouldn't call it education. I never drink at all myself, never have, though I've been told making your own at home has never been more popular than it is today. How would that trend intersect with the high luxury tax idea? Just a typical loophole, I guess.
Congratulations - you finally made a post that actually makes sense! Hoffa is so proud of you!
Lighten up and lose the edge already - it's making you look like a grumpy old man! I realized that most of your post was pure sarcasm. I'll rhetorically ask you again, do you think that Hoffa is stupid? However, I thought that you were being serious wherein you stated "PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO DIE FROM STUPIDITY! You cannot fix stupid through legislation." And I wholly agree with such a sentiment. So drop the bs already! Even when I agree with the man, he attacks me - incredible!
Are you stupid? Never met you or know your life's history (except for info you tendered so far) so no comment. But stupid causes lots of problems and kills people every day. Politicians, drunk drivers and idiots in general, etc. abound. Again,,,,sigh...$$and NonSense. Just don't care for Ben Franklin do you? Again...sigh...using the name of a union thug and passing yourself off as against unions. No shame with you Genny Xer's.
The great Hoffa doesn't associate with any particular generation, as he was never conceived in the traditional sense - instead, Hoffa is like the universe and just exists to exude greatness. Call it immaculate if you must, although Hoffa won't because he's a truly humble guy at heart! When did Hoffa ever say that he was against private sector unions?
Why stop there? Obesity causes major health problems. Paying for those health problems is a financial burden on the non-obese. How about we tax people by the pound? We can create a government office where people must report to be weighed twice a year. The government minders will determine if you are overweight or not. If they determine you're overweight, they tax you by the pound. If you have no income, they take away your food stamps until you drop to a normal weight. I challenge you to come up with a plan that is more fair.