Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Crisis Is A Lie!

From the CapTimes:
In fact, like just about every other state in the country, Wisconsin is managing in a weak economy. The difference is that Wisconsin is managing better -- or at least it had been managing better until Walker took over. Despite shortfalls in revenue following the economic downturn that hit its peak with the Bush-era stock market collapse, the state has balanced budgets, maintained basic services and high-quality schools, and kept employment and business development steadier than the rest of the country. It has managed so well, in fact, that the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau recently released a memo detailing how the state will end the 2009-2011 budget biennium with a budget surplus.
In its Jan. 31 memo to legislators on the condition of the state’s budget, the Fiscal Bureau determined that the state will end the year with a balance of $121.4 million.
To the extent that there is an imbalance -- Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit -- it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes -- or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues -- the “crisis” would not exist.
Can't say that I'm that surprised.  He did the same nonsense at county executive.

4 comments:

  1. Whoever believes in what the Cap Times says is either a Kool Aide drinker, brain dead liberal or an uneducated fool. Which one are you?

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  2. Dan-

    He did the same shit in Milwaukee County. Only a Koch Brother KoolAid sucking idiot wouldn't have recognized that a mile away.

    But thanks for making me feel a whole lot smarter.

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  3. Danny- stop yapping and read the actual memo quoted in the article. And this doesn't even account for the $103 million in concessions the state unions agreed to and Walker had his boys turn down, nor does it account for the large number of retirements in sate service the last 3 months, or the better-than-expected January revenue numbers.

    The more facts that come out on this situation, the more Walker and WisGOP are shown to be the anti-worker Koch-head frauds they are.

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  4. Doh!!

    "[The budget shortfall] would be closer to the $340 million figure if the figure included the $200 million owed to the state’s patient compensation fund, a debt courts have declared resulted from an illegal raid on the fund under former Gov. Jim Doyle."

    http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/18/rachel-maddow/rachel-maddow-says-wisconsin-track-have-budget-sur/

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