Statement From Chief of Staff Patrick Curley

“Attempting to toss aside 100 years of good government and progressive policies is absurd. As Alderman Borkowski said, the file to gut the citizen member Fire and Police Commission powers was for show. I understand why Alds. Zielinski and Borkowski want to put on a show at a time the City needs to address an $83 million pension payment and escalating salaries and budgets for public safety. As members of the County Board they both voted for the infamous county pension backdrops that have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The last thing these two backdrop boys want to do is take on another pension issue, do their jobs and protect the taxpayers. Putting on a show is so much easier.” [source]

Choice Helps Few Public School Students

Choice Helps Few Public School Students. 68% of voucher students already attended private schools.

The Lt. Governor Nobody Wanted

The Lt. Governor Nobody Wanted [excerpt]

When the results of the 2010 Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor came in, most GOP insiders were shocked at the results. Few expected Rebecca Kleefisch to win. The smart money was on Brett Davis, who was backed by much of the Republican establishment, including members of Scott Walker’s inner circle. But Kleefisch not only won, she crushed Davis, with 46 percent of the vote to his 26 percent; three other candidates split the rest of the vote. 

That left Walker with a problem he didn’t want. His top aide Keith Gilkes had declared that “we are not touching anything to do with Kleefisch,” calling her “radioactive,” in emails to then-Milwaukee County Executive Walker’s staff members (included in documents released from the John Doe investigation of Walker). Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch dismissed Kleefisch as “fluff” and after she skipped one political forum, wrote “I hope she keeps missing them. And topples over on her high heels.” Said another Walker staffer, “I cannot see how anyone can take this woman seriously.” 

One Republican who worked on the Kleefisch campaign described her as a very weak candidate who was “not very smart… she would try to memorize facts.” 

Yet this is the person just a heartbeat away from the governor. Walker, who wants to run for president, has refused to promise he’d finish a four-term for governor, should he win reelection, so it’s possible Kleefisch could one day be called on to succeed him.

For Further Reading:
Fisching For Answers
Give Reality Back To Taxpayers

Walker’s Debt Level Worst Since 1970

The Debtor Governor

As a result, the percentage of general tax dollars going to pay for debt has gone up significantly. Vinehout requested an analysis of this from the Fiscal Bureau, which issued a memo noting that, “Historically, the state’s debt management policy” has kept the debt service on its general obligation bonds “at no more than 4.0%” of annual general tax revenues. “This policy is intended to ensure that debt service does not consume an increasing share of the state budget.” 

But under Walker the level of indebtedness has jumped to “5.26% in 2013-14 and 4.88% in 2014-15 based (on) estimated revenues and debt service expenditures,” the memo noted. 

No governor, Republican or Democrat, has ever driven borrowing up this high. Going back to 1970, the Fiscal Bureau told Kertscher, the level of indebtedness was always below four percent. Typically the level was below three percent.

Also:
Walker’s Massive Borrowing Scheme

Racing To The Bottom In Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republicans' Tax Plan Follows The Race To The Bottom

From the article:

"Vos proposes to reduce taxes on what he calls the “middle class,” but his definition leaves out nearly two-fifths of tax filers in the state — the 39 percent of households that earn less than $20,000 annually...

Figures from the national Institute for Tax and Economic Policy analyzed the total tax burden by state and found the bottom 20 percent of Wisconsinites pay 9.4 percent of their income in taxes. By contrast, the top one percent of Wisconsinites pay just 6.7 percent of their incomes in taxes...

Consider what the Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker did to taxes in their first legislative term. They passed $36 million in capital gain taxes and 46 percent of those breaks will go to the top 2 percent of earners in Wisconsin, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. They also passed $49 million in tax breaks for those with Health Savings Accounts, again benefiting the well-to-do: the average income of someone with such an account is more than $100,000, according to the Government Accountability Office...

As for poor people, Walker and Republicans slashed the earned income tax credit. This provision was created under Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson and won bipartisan support as a way to reward work and help those whose wages were inadequate to support a family."

Wisconsin Corporate Blackmail

From Bruce Murphy, "Wisconsin, it turns out, is also a paradise for companies seeking handouts, as a ground-breaking story in the New York Times documents. The story’s online tracker allows you to check any state, which shows Wisconsin spends $1.53 billion in taxes per year on incentives for business. That equals 10 percent of the state’s annual budget and costs $268 per per person. Wisconsin, land of the supposedly bad business climate, ranks ahead of 33 other states and the District of Columbia in per-capita payments to business."

Go read Murphy's entire Land of Corporate Blackmail article.

Monopoly Utilities

Bruce Murphy, in Monopoly Greed, uncovers:

• A new study by the state Public Service Commission (PSC) shows electric rates are now 21 percent higher than other Midwestern states and 10 percent higher than the national average. 
• Wisconsin utilities have been allowed to jack up electric rates by 55 percent from 2002-2010, during a period when inflation rose by just 20 percent. 
• A study by the UW-Milwaukee Employment & Training Institute found that the average cost of heat and electricity for city of Milwaukee renters, all customers of We Energies, nearly doubled in just six years, rising from $1,318 in 2000 to $2,227 in 2006.
• These ever-higher rates have helped drive profits for We Energies: year after year the company has reaped profits of 10 to 12 percent.
• Wisconsin utilities had the second-highest profit margin among 26 states studied.
• Those generous profits, in turn, help pay for huge bonuses for We Energies executives, which amounted to $77 million over the last three years, according to annual reports it files with the PSC.
• Those profits have also been good for the company’s stock price, which has risen by 17 percent year-to-date (33% over the past calendar year). 
• We Energies would like to see more increases in the years to come. Company officials are requesting an annual increase of 3.6 percent for both 2013 and 2014, though the estimated rate of inflation for those years is 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

Open For Business?

Bruce Murphy wonders, Did The State Screw Talgo?

[Talgo CEO Antonio] Perez cannot believe the State of Wisconsin has chosen to terminate two contracts it signed with Talgo nearly three years ago. “What message does this send to other businesses?” Perez asks. “They should be careful of doing business here because Gov Walker does not keep his word. It’s like we’re talking about a Third World country, where people don’t have respect for their contracts.”