Wineke Column

Bill Wineke, on the Gov's partial veto power:

In 1991, for example, he used his veto 457 times. One example: Thompson took a $186,000 appropriation for a family planning service and vetoed the digit "1," leaving only $86,000.

At the time, Democrats squawked. The state's Democratic attorney general at the time - who just so happened to go on to become governor - supported a constitutional amendment to limit the governor's veto authority. Doyle's probably glad today he didn't succeed.

The Capital Times editorialized on Nov. 3, 1991, that "Something is basically wrong with a democratic system when a single individual can create legislation, even far- reaching policy, unilaterally and out of whole cloth." This week, the newspaper called Doyle's vetoes "wise."