Walker’s office: Wis. will have budget surplus

Comments

• Karen Jeffries says:

  This is misleading, because when the state cut funding on programs … education, as just one example … that still had to be paid for, those burdens have now fallen even more on Wisconsin’s struggling property-taxpayers as cities, counties and school districts raise their taxes to cover expenses that the state once covered with revenue from sales and income taxes that everybody paid, not just the overburdened homeowners.

  Scott Walker’s claim that he balanced the state budget is like a tenant claiming he balanced his household budget by not paying his rent while his landlord carries the costs of heat, power and water.

  Posted on 05/11/12 at 6:06 pm
• fondued cheesehead says:

  Karen–you obviously have Jim Doyle and Scott Walker confused. By the way my property taxes went down.

  How would you balance the budget ?

  Posted on 05/14/12 at 4:41 pm
• Karen Jeffries says:

  Let’s talk Walkernomics. Home values are down by 2.2% for a tax saving of $11 for a $3,500 drop in value, while simultaneously Wisconsin property tax levies rose by 2.2% while the Scott Walker budget cut low-income-family tax credits by $56.2 million, thereby raising taxes on the lowest-income families est residents in 2012. (Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities).

  There actually was a little dip in taxes according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau … along with a huge raise in fees. In Walkernomics, the claim is that cutting collective bargaining rights saved over $1 billion including $1.3 in Sheboygan … but Sheboygan reports otherwise, that the actual savings were more like $420,000 because Walker was “***/u/ming” that city workers weren’t paying into health insurance. Yeah, right … they were paying between eight and ten percent, and the city manager said Walker was exaggerating.

  In Onalaska, the mayor says that Walker’s treatment of public workers will cost as the best and brightest leave to where they’ll be appreciated and treated like the professionals they are, that they’ll save pennies and lose dollars.

  The schools are losing teachers. Sixty percent have left already. There are 1,446 fewer teachers this year than there were last year. We’re losing library workers, career counselors, technical education teachers, special education, and reading teachers. The elementary schools have lost over 400 teachers in public schools.

  This is not a sign of a prosperous state.

  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says Wisconsin lost the most jobs over the last year, mostly from the public sector. During this time, 27 states had significant job gains. Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs, the country’s largest percentage decrease and the third-worst employment loss for March compared to the previous month, with 4,500 fewer jobs than it had in February. Only tea-party-led Ohio and Chris Christie’s New Jersey were worse, with 9,500 and 8,600 fewer jobs.

  Wisconsin prisons are so understaffed that they’re asking the legislature for $1.2 million dollars just for overtime.

  Sure, there will always be True Believers who support Scott Walker no matter what, even those who dismiss his infamous “divide and conquer” comment, which was just uncovered. To them, I’ll quote Dr. Josef Goebbels: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

  Posted on 05/14/12 at 7:33 pm
• wiswiresteel@wi.rr.com says:

  Scott Walker did not raid the Doctor’s Patients Compensation or Tobacco Settlement fund to balance the budget. Karen thinks that it is ok for the tennant to dip into the landlord’s bank account to borrow the money to pay the rent, and make his car payments.

  Teachers, come to the realization that when you teach about birth control, you are teaching yourself out of a job. The Baby Boomers and their children are having fewer children, therefore, less money is needed for education, because you have less students to educate.

  Look at the US Postal Service, the Letter Carriers do a great job, but the internet and e-mail have changed how many letters we send. We have to come to the realization that eventually, the Post Office will go away. Things change, People have to understand that nothing lasts forever.

  Posted on 05/14/12 at 7:41 pm
• fondued cheesehead says:

  Karen–so what should we do differently ?

  Posted on 05/15/12 at 5:23 pm
• Karen Jeffries says:

  Another thing about Scott Walker’s newest embarrassment, the video (thank you, reporters) in which Scott Walker tells Diane Hendricks that his goal of diminishing public-employee rights is only the “first step” to “divide and conquer” them:

  Turns out that Diane Hendricks recently gave Scott Walker $500,000, which makes Hendricks Scott Walker’s number-one campaign donor, and Hendricks’ company, ABC Supply …. with annual sales of close to $5 billion but with income-tax returns that claim that not a dime in profits are realized …. paid *zero* corporate state income taxes in the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, says the Wis. Department of Revenue. (The WDR still hasn’t released information from 2009 to the present.)

  To see who else doesn’t pay any taxes in Scott Walker’s world, check http://www.wisconsinsfuture.org/ .

  Posted on 05/15/12 at 6:16 pm
• fondued cheesehead says:

  Karen—Wasn’t Jim Doyle the gov in 2005, 2006, 2007,2008 ? You are good at criticizing but have completely ignored my 2 requests of what you think the State should do differently. If Tom Barrett wins what do you want him to do ?

  Posted on 05/17/12 at 4:22 pm
• fondued cheesehead says:

  If you want to play the tax card, how about the following Wisconsin individuals who signed the recall Walker petitions and collectively owe over $16 Million in back taxes. Gee— that would about cover the cost of the recalls.

  Posted on 05/17/12 at 4:32 pm
• fondued cheesehead says:

  Here’s the link I forgot on above post. http://www.putwisconsinfirst.com/taxdelinquents/

  Posted on 05/17/12 at 4:35 pm
• Hoodlum75 says:

  Karen, please site the source where 60% of teachers have left? That number seems oddly high given the number of classrooms that I see have teachers in them.

  The districts in the most trouble, that are asking for higher property taxes, tend to be the same districts where contracts were signed without utilizing the tools the govenor gave them to help balance their budgets; like obtaining multiple proposals for insurance instead of just renewing their policies with WEA Trust (a union owned and run company).

  Onalaska is going to lose their public workers to where? If they do go, there is a line forming to take their positions from people hurting in the private sector. And these people can plow, pickup trash, mow grass, and cover the maintenance of buildings as well as the public employees can. In fact, if the public employees think they are getting such a bad deal, by all means, exercise the same right the private sector has, leave and look for other work.

  Posted on 05/23/12 at 4:46 pm
• Irwin Fletcher says:

  Ms Jefferies, what you fail to realize is that while Act 10 reduced funding to municipalities, it also gave municipalities the means to cut expenses. Lower income + lower expenses = little, if any fiscal impact at the local level. The only municipalities hurt were the ones that failed to take advantage of Act 10′s expense cutting measures. Too bad for them, but it was their choice.

  What the good people of Wisconsin have learned over the last 16 months is that Act 10 is working. Wisconsin is in far better fiscal shape without people being overly burdened.

  To see the Jim Doyle/Tom Barrett “Same Ole, Same Ole” look no further than Illinois.

  Posted on 05/31/12 at 8:23 am
• Irwin Fletcher says:

  Fondued,

  Ms. Jefferies cannot answer what Tom Barrett would do differently, as even Tom Barrett cannot answer that. For his proported #1 issue, jobs, he has no plan.

  Posted on 05/31/12 at 8:33 am
• fondued cheesehead says:

  Irwin, Good point.

  Posted on 06/01/12 at 10:19 am
• Brad Jakubiak says:

  I suspect that Ms. Jeffries wasn’t about to expend any effort defending her position to someone who considers him/herself to be a ‘hoodlum’ and a ‘fondued cheesehead’.

  Posted on 06/11/12 at 5:32 pm