Experts: Wisconsin only ‘Republican broke’

[deminks]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/10/experts-wisconsin-only-republican-broke/

According to The Wisconsin State Journal some economists allege that Governor Scott Walker's budget crisis is a fabrication invented out of whole cloth and predicated on a series of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Walker has repeatedly asserted that the state is "broke", but using the word "broke" they say, is a political tool.

"Wisconsin is Republican broke, but it's not broke," said Mordecai Lee, a UW-Milwaukee political science professor and former Democratic state lawmaker. "Broke suggests near bankruptcy."

Using the word "broke" helps Walker frame the debate around his controversial budget plans on his terms, Lee said, suggesting spending cuts are the only option and any tax increases are out of the question.

One measure of a state's economic health is its public employee pension system. U-W Madison professor of public policy and applied economics Andrew Reshcovsky says Wisconsin's is robust. "Wisconsin gets a gold star. We have a strong pension system." Wisconsin's neighbor to the south, Illinois, by contrast, has one of the nation's most beleaguered public pension systems and currently faces a massive shortfall.

(end snip)

[opihimoimoi]

1. To Fool is to RULE

[calimary]

6. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "What luck for the leaders that men do not think."

Know who said that?

Adolf Hitler. And he certainly would have known.

[movonne]

7. and the repugs are taking a page out of Hitler's book...

[calimary]

8. And it's also a lot easier when you have media help in dumbing the people down.

A lot of your work is done for you.

[drm604]

2. K&R for truth.

:kick:

[TygrBright]

3. "Republican broke" ... I love it. Says it all, doesn't it? Financial AND functional broke. n/t

[charmay]

4. There is no substance to anything Walker says

it's just a bunch of talking points. Mostly taken from ALEC.

[drokhole]

5. Wow, yet another treasure trove for the rich to raid...

"Wisconsin’s pension system has more than $80 billon in assets and is expected to cover its obligations made to current workers and retirees, making it one of the “largest and most solvent” pension systems in the country."


Just like Social Security. Let the working class/poor build up equity with their own sweat and apportioned wages, and, when the time is right, rob them blind with "austerity measures." Sure, it's there now, but don't think for a second that the rich aren't hard at work to get their hands on pension accounts across the country.

[tk2kewl]

9. Republican Broke == Morally Bankrupt

nt