Republican Governor Deliberately Spent Wisconsin Surplus To Pick Fight With Unions

[kpete]

Republican Governor Deliberately Spent Wisconsin Surplus To Pick Fight With Unions

...............

Wisconsin's new Republican governor has framed his assault on public worker's collective bargaining rights as a needed measure of fiscal austerity during tough times.

The reality is radically different. Unlike true austerity measures -- service rollbacks, furloughs, and other temporary measures that cause pain but save money -- rolling back worker's bargaining rights by itself saves almost nothing on its own. But Walker's doing it anyhow, to knock down a barrier and allow him to cut state employee benefits immediately.

Furthermore, this broadside comes less than a month after the state's fiscal bureau -- the Wisconsin equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office -- concluded that Wisconsin isn't even in need of austerity measures, and could conclude the fiscal year with a surplus. In fact, they say that the current budget shortfall is a direct result of tax cut policies Walker enacted in his first days in office.

"Walker was not forced into a budget repair bill by circumstances beyond he control," says Jack Norman, research director at the Institute for Wisconsin Future -- a public interest think tank. "He wanted a budget repair bill and forced it by pushing through tax cuts... so he could rush through these other changes."

VIDEO & MORE:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/republican-governor-deliberately-spen#comments

[LiberalEsto]

1. W and Cheney did that too

There seems to be a pattern here

[Lifelong Protester]

2. That is so true. It was a ginned up crisis. Check out the article

at the Cap Times (from Madison) on Feb. 16. "Walker gins up 'crisis' to reward cronies" (sorry, just got up here, don't have time to find link and will do so later).

[kpete]

6. links:

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_61064e9a-27b0-5f28-b6d1-a57c8b2aaaf6.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=440930&mesg_id=440930

[Lifelong Protester]

8. Thanks, kpete, I'm finally awake enough to work the keys here

[impik]

3. How many of those unions voter for this jerk?

[ananda]

7. A lot of unioners voted Reep. God knows why...

They regret it now.

[Hello_Kitty]

11. Jeebus, fetuses, and gunz

They've been bamboozled into voting GOP on social issues.

[dkf]

4. These are the things he spent it on...sounds like job creating measures to me.

More than half of the lower estimate ($117.2 million) is due to the impact of Special Session Senate Bill 2 (health savings accounts), Assembly Bill 3 (tax deductions/credits for relocated businesses), and Assembly Bill 7 (tax exclusion for new employees).

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html

[Historic NY]

5. Must have tax cuts, must have tax cuts..........spend rainy day money

WTF is wrong with Republicans 2 Town Superiviors did it here where I live to keep the tax rate down for 12yrs...chipping at the surplus on frivilous sport/park complex that the present one ran against the former one on the whole park issue. He continued to spend hundreds of thousands on it. Well the taxes went up 17% this year, the cops have had new cars in three years, all part-time employees were let go, they don't even have grass cutters for the parks.......ain't things grand Republicans can't lead but they sure can spend.

[kestrel91316]

9. K and EFFIN' R

[santamargarita]

10. Plus this Tea-Bastard, Walker, thought he could divide the unions

...he told the fire and police unions they were exempt - didn't work!