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You saved the Lake Geneva deer, can you pardon the children?

Charlotte the deer has been allowed to live, thanks to the big heart of Gov. Scott Walker, who pardoned the animal last week by ordering the Department of Natural Resources not to harm her.

In case you haven't heard, Charlotte is a deer whose mother was hit and killed by a car last year. Charlotte was also injured but saved and nursed to health thanks to the compassion of Marvin Graaf of Lake Geneva who has been keeping the deer with his horses.

However, State regulations prohibit the movement of deer from captive facilities in areas where chronic wasting disease is known to exist. When the DNR found out about Charlotte, they informed Graaf that it would have to be destroyed. County prosecutors threatened him with jail time and a fine if he didn't cooperate.

Thanks to a column in the Chicago Tribune and a YouTube video of an interview with Graaf which showcased Charlotte's cuteness, her plight apparently, was noticed in Madison.

I know nothing about deer management, but like many others I'm still emotionally scarred from having seen the movie "Bambi" as a child. So I'm grateful to Walker for sparing Charlotte.

On the other hand, as a father, grandfather and citizen I can not help but be concerned for 67,000 fellow Wisconsinites who face losing health insurance coverage at the end of December due to cuts in BadgerCare.

For many, BadgerCare was a last resort after losing their job and employer-based health insurance during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

It is possible that they are all lazy, I suppose, and not being able to afford other coverage is their own fault. More than one politician has said it. But over 29,000 of them are children and surely as innocent as Charlotte.

I don't envy the governor's job when it comes to balancing the budget, but instead of asking the wealthy and large corporations to shoulder more of the burden, he chose to balance the budget by giving a thumbs down to those who can no longer afford health insurance.

He has also lowered deductions on both the Earned Income and Homestead Credits, which were designed to help low income families with at least one child and lower-income home owners and renters. In other words, he's increased their taxes to raise revenue to compensate for the taxes he's promised he won't collect from large corporations.

But the Governor does have a heart. Maybe if he saw some pictures of doe-eyed children in need of medical attention, he'd pardon them too. It's worth a shot.

After all, it's Christmas.

Jim Black is a community blogger and is not a part of the Walworth County Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of Walworth County Today staff or management.