Tracking Walker's Tax Cut Promises; Truckloads For The Wealthy, But From Where?
One Wisconsin Now has been tracking and documenting Scott Walker's growing list of tax cut promises.
Where, oh where is the money going to come from and why is so much of it aimed at the wealthy?
You decide...consult another of OWN's analyses, here, and track the damage Walker's so-called budget-repair bill do, here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robert Doeckel September 15, 2010 Cell: (608) 217-0194
Walker’s Promises More Than Double State Deficit $2.7 Billion Deficit Makes Nearly All Tax Talk Impossible Without Drastic Cuts to Education, Health Care, Police and Fire Protection
Madison – Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has promised an impossible $3.8 billion in tax breaks, loopholes and shifts he has no way to pay for, a new analysis by One Wisconsin Now shows.
Coupled with the state’s conservative predictions of a $2.7 billion projected deficit, Walker would need to slash almost $6.5 billion from education, health care, police and fire protection to give tax breaks and loopholes to the wealthy and big business.
“Scott Walker has promised nearly $4 billion in tax breaks and loopholes with nearly a $3 billion deficit,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now.
“Scott Walker’s giveaways to the rich and big business are impossible without massive cuts to education, health care, police and fire fighters. Walker already says he would cut 400,000 children and working families from BadgerCare and apparently, he’s just getting started.”
One Wisconsin Now analyzed statements made throughout Walker’s campaign and compared those to existing reports at the state’s non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The total for the eight quantifiable tax plans Walker has offered total $3.76 billion over the biennium.
The One Wisconsin Now total does not include a number of additional tax breaks and loopholes Walker has added, for which no available data on their size exists.
The total biennial tab for Walker’s promises, made throughout the campaign, include:
• $287 million – Cut income taxes for the top one percent – people earning more than $225,000 [“UpFront”, WISN-TV, 11/8/09; La Crosse Tribune, 11/24/09; “Here and Now,” Wisconsin Public Television, 9/17/10; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 07/08/09]
• $187 million – Reopen the “Las Vegas Loophole” which allows multi-state businesses to shelter their tax obligations from Wisconsin by opening phantom “offices” in state without [“UpFront”, WISN-TV, 11/8/09; La Crosse Tribune, 11/24/09; “Here and Now,” Wisconsin Public Television, 9/17/10; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 02/23/09]
• $920 million – Shelter the assets of the wealthiest Wisconsinites even more by a radical end to tax on retirement income, regardless of income. [La Crosse Tribune, 11/24/09; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 01/25/10]
• $243 million – Repeal changes made to the capital gains tax deduction, despite that 70 percent of capital gains filings are from those making more than $200,000 a year [La Crosse Tribune, 11/24/09; “Here and Now,” Wisconsin Public Television, 9/17/10; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 07/08/09]
• $1.032 billion – Transfer $1.032 billion from the general fund to the transportation fund, creating a $1.032 deficit in the general fund [Wisconsin State Journal, 6/20/10; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 09/12/10]
• $892 million - Phase out hospital assessment [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 09/12/10; Walker Press Release, 6/23/08, 5/21/09; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 2/23/09, 7/8/09]
• $159 million – End the estate tax, which only affects heirs and heiresses of the state’s largest fortunes. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/02/09; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 1/09]
• $35 million - Eliminate tax on private Health Savings Accounts, which are used primarily by those wealthy enough to save money in advance for future health problems. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 09/20/2010; Legislative Fiscal Bureau, AB74]
TOTAL COST: $3.8 billion.
In addition to the costs One Wisconsin Now was able to calculate, Walker has offered additional tax plans, which would increase the deficit by untold hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars. Walker has failed to provide either a dollar figure of the cost of these plans, or a means of paying for them. They include:
• Cut Manufacturing taxes [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/2/09]
• Eliminate corporate tax for first two years of operations [“Here and Now,” Wisconsin
Public Television, 9/17/10]
• Reduce small business taxes by 20 percent [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/20/10]
“Scott Walker is willing to say anything and promise anything,” said Ross. “I dare Scott Walker to show us how he’s going to cut $7 billion from the budget.”
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One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values.
[Disclaimer: I am on the One Wisconsin C-3 board and have no role in the work above, a product of the work of the C-4 arm of the organization.]
3 comments:
Good work, One Wisconsin! Thanks to you we have this analysis of Walker's claims, and his record of making those claims.
This is a job our media should be doing for all voters, but there are few real journalists left, and hardly any media outlets performing the service of the 4th estate.
Walker’s behind-the-scenes work…
Budget bill has a poison pill that unions have ignored
By Jack E. Lohman
Like, how about giving the governor the authority to sell off state assets (power plants), without bids, at any price they choose, even for pennies on the dollar, to private interests, even to those that fund Walker’s campaign???
As in Senate Bill 11:
16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state−owned heating, cooling, and power plants. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b). (see page 24)
So a no-bid contract to sell off the state power plants to the (4th highest Walker contributor) oil-tycoon Koch Brothers (see also here) will very likely occur, and consumer energy rates and corporate product prices will increase.
There is no other reasonable scenario. The taxpayers have no say in it, and the unions don’t yet realize that this isn’t an issue about worker rights.
Remember when Walker also wanted to sell off the Milwaukee airport when he was county executive. Note that private contractors can give campaign contributions and public entities can’t, so there is great political incentive to sell government assets to private investors. And unfortunately, feed them thereafter, even while they overcharge the taxpayers.
*IF* we had public funding of campaigns, and these things occurred without political bribes changing hands, I’d feel more secure with their decisions.
See walkers-behind-the-scenes-work
You do realize that those of us in non union states and I'll wager the majority of Americans in general see the protesters in WI as spoiled fat crybabies who will do anything to keep their tax payer funded benefits that far outstrip those of the average Joe. We have very little sympathy. Just ask someone outside your little microcosm. - just sayin
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