Wisconsin Reading

When Socialists Swept Milwaukee
Why GOP Opposes Federal Medicaid Funds
The Incredible Shrinking Foxconn Plant
House passes $5M for Great Lakes Hyperloop that slots Milwaukee for Phase 2
Regrets, He Has A Few: Robin Vos Wanted To Do Even More For Wealthy In Wisconsin
Wisconsin's GOP Speaker Says He Wants To Consider Legalizing Medical Marijuana, Just After Rejecting Governor's Plan
State's Loss on Federal ACA is $1.3 Billion
Supreme Court's Gerrymandering Decision Fails Wisconsin

Weekend Reading

Shopko Creditors: $117 Million In Dividends Paid To Owners 'Fraudulent,' 'Illegal'
401(K)s Versus 403(B)s
Sigh....No, Tax Cuts Won't Boost Growth
Supreme Court Sides With Union Giving Milwaukee County Employees $6.8 Million Pension Benefit
Make Corporations Pay For Green New Deal
The Rapid Decline Of The Natural World Is A Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change
Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution And Who Breathes It
Here's What Republicans And Billionaires Really Mean When They Talk About 'Freedom'
Wisconsin Judge Blocks Republicans' Lame-Duck Power Grab
Study Cited In Wisconsin Debate On Expanding Medicaid And Taking Federal Money Called 'Garbage'
Make America Great Again By Raising The Minimum Wage

Republican Deficits

You'll Get Your Medicine When You Finish Mopping The Floor

Able-bodied Adults Will Have To Work For Medicaid, Under Plan From Gov. Scott Walker, Trump

Yet ...

Work Requirements Don't Work

and

Medicaid Work Requirement Would Harm Unemployed, Not Promote Work

As usual, Republicans are rewarding their rich donors and hurting those who need it most. How Christian of them.

Medicaid's Last Stand

What Would A Dick Do?

If Scott Walker is worried about those receiving public aid being drug-free, then he needs to test everyone receiving public aid.

Walker Gearing up to Unveil Welfare Drug Testing Proposals

We may soon learn whether President Trump will allow Wisconsin to drug-test some people applying for federal benefits – including Food Share and Medicaid. Gov. Walker says he plans to submit a request, after he unveils his full proposal next week. Walker mentioned the move during his budget address in February.

Scott Walker wants Trump to let him drug test tens of thousands more poor people

Most recently, Walker is continuing his quest to drug test as many of the low-income residents of Wisconsin as he can, asking the Trump regime for permission to drug test Medicaid applicants.

So, this begs the question, when will Wisconsin start testing all recipients of aid?

If Walker's unfair and punitive proposal passes, I want to see Bud Selig and the Brewer's organization; Ted Thompson and the Packers; Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and the Bucks organization; the numerous developers throughout the state receiving public aid; Harley-Davidson; Mercury Marine; Johnson Controls; Brunswick; Kohl's; Northwestern Mutual; Quad Graphics; Marcus Corp. and all the other corporate welfare recipients, who've received greater aid than any low-income resident, lined up with their pee-cups in hand, ready to take their drug tests.

[source]

For Further Reading:

Where Are The Conservative Calls For Accountability For Corporate Welfare Recipients?

Welfare &The Well-Off

Wisconsin Reading

Minnesota, Wisconsin Diverge As Twin Cities Outpace Northern Peers
Scott Walker Dramatically Rewrites Election Rules In Wisconsin
Wisconsin Ranks 32nd In Five-Year Job Growth Report
Medicaid Expansion Would Save State $1 Billion
Walker's Assault On Open Records
Walker Signs Bills Dismantling GAB, Overhauling Campaign Finance Law

Scott Walker: Even Worse Than You Thought

Walker Ends State Funding For Bike Program
Bicycling And The Economy
Walker's Budget Reduces Historic Tax Credits
Measuring Economic Impacts Of Historic Preservation
Scott Walker Says He'll Sign Fast-Tracked Right-To-Work Bill
Right-To-Work 101
Scott Walker Embraced By Voodoo Economists
The GOP: Still The Party Of Stupid
The Walker Economic Record
Scott Walker Will Have A Hard Time Explaining His Economic Record If He Runs For President 
What Fox Won't Tell You About Scott Walker's Economic Record
Walker Budget Again Declines Federal Money For Medicaid Expansion And Defers Debt Principal Payment To Balance Books
How Not To Interview Scott Walker About His Weak Economic Record
Walker's Budget Expands School Vouchers, Holds Line On Taxes
Vouchers Don't Work: Evidence From Milwaukee
How Could Walker Refuse Incredible Deal?
Walker's Budget Borrows Big
Walker Takes Milwaukee County To Brink Of Bankruptcy
Walker Proposes $300 Million Cut To UW System
Reckless Proposal To Gut UW From Gov. Scott Walker
State Shortfall Could Be $928 Million Over Next 2 1/2 Years
Wisconsin Officials Call Scott Walker's Budget 'Nonsensical'

Scott Walker Made The WRONG Decision On Medicaid Expansion

Today, again, we have a great example of what's wrong with the Republicans, their distorted reality, and the mix of the two in prescribing ill-conceived and inequitable public policy.

Scott Walker made the right decision on Medicaid expansion, opines Brett Healy of the John MacIver Institute (a right-wing group of hacks similar to the Heritage Foundation or the American Enterprise Institute).

As usual, Healy and his closed-minded ilk are all wrong.

The facts are in: states that went along with the Medicaid expansion have controlled costs better and insured more citizens. States that rejected Medicaid expansion have lost billions. Even the states that rejected Medicaid expansion have seen many of their constituents sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

As the Star Tribune reported:

The state's Medicaid program, known as BadgerCare, covers about 782,000 people, most of them children. Costing state taxpayers about $4.6 billion, it is the second most-expensive item in the current two-year budget, accounting for 15 percent of total spending, behind only aid to schools. 

Walker took a unique approach to the Medicaid issue, breaking from other Republican governors in states like Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan, who accepted the Medicaid money. 

Walker lowered Medicaid eligibility from those earning 200 percent of poverty to just 100 percent. The federal money would have paid for coverage for those earning up to 138 percent of poverty. 

Instead, nearly 63,000 people lost Medicaid because he installed tighter income requirements — those earning less than $11,670 for an individual and $23,850 for a family of four qualified. If he had accepted the federal money, individuals earning up to $15,421 and families of four making up to $31,721 would have qualified.

By refusing Medicaid Expansion, the White House estimates 120,000 Wisconsinites will go without coverage.

A recent Commonwealth Fund study discovered, States Rejecting Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act Are Costing Their Taxpayers Billions.

The 20 states choosing not to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act are forgoing billions of dollars in federal funds, while residents in their states are contributing to the cost of the expansions in other states, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study.

After taking into account federal taxes paid by state residents, states with the highest net losses include Texas, which will see a net loss of $9.2 billion in 2022; Florida, which will lose $5 billion; Georgia, which will lose $2.9 billion, and Virginia, which will lose $2.8 billion.

Wisconsin will lose $1.848 billion, according to the study.

The Census Bureau found, "New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows that among the eleven major metropolitan areas with uninsured rates higher than the national average, seven of them are in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act."

"Harvard and CUNY researchers say death toll from 25-state ‘opt-out’ may be as high as 17,100 annually; hundreds of thousands more will be harmed by depression, untreated diabetes, and skipping mammograms and pap smears," said the Physicians for a National Health Program.

Bill Moyers informed, "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute released a study showing that the 24 states that have refused to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act will miss out on $423 billion in federal health care dollars through 2022."

Here again, with regard to public policy, the Republicans are marching around the country misrepresenting reality and harming millions of Americans in the process. The same people they keep claiming their policies are helping. When will American voters learn - Republicans don't have your best interest at heart.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

For Further Reading:

States Rejecting Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion Will Cost Taxpayers Billions

States forgo billions by opting out of Medicaid expansion

Your State Lost Billions by Refusing to Expand Medicaid

GOP States Give Up $423 Billion By Rejecting Medicaid Expansion
Rejection of Medicaid expansion costing Kansas, Missouri hospitals billionsStates Are Turning Down an Insane Amount of Free Money by Refusing to Expand MedicaidThe 23 States That Have Declined Medicaid Expansion Are Spending $152 Billion For Nothing

Whatever It Takes To Save American Lives, Except...

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

Scott Walker Roundup

Scott Walker Does About-Face On Outsourcing As Campaign Issue
Scott Walker Aide Archer Lands New State Job With Big Raise
Companies That Outsourced Jobs Donated Primarily To Walker Campaign
WEDC Award Recipients Outsources Wisconsin Jobs To Foreign Countries
Scott Walker Received Money From Companies That Outsource Jobs
Is Walker Guilty - Or The Law Meaningless?
The Unelectable Whiteness Of Scott Walker
Lessons For Other States From Kansas' Massive Tax Cuts
The Failure Of State Economic Development Agencies
Wisconsin and Wyoming Tally Fiscal Cost of Rejecting Health Reform’s Medicaid Expansion

Wisconsin second only to Alabama in cuts to education
Gov. Scott Walker to blame for poor job growth

Wisconsin Roundup

Corporate Welfare Is Good:

• City May Provide $1.2 Million To Keep Downtown Boston Store Open
• Wisconsin ranks ahead of 33 other states, and the District of Columbia, in corporate welfare payments to business...roughly 10 percent of Wisconsin's budget, or $1.53 billion, is spent on incentives for businesses, or roughly $270 per capita.
• Warren Buffett, Waltons Get Welfare From Wisconsin Taxpayers
• Wisconsin spends at least $1.53 billion per year on incentive programs
• Wisconsin Farm Subsidies
• Corporate welfare in wisconsin
• Wisconsin's Walker and GOP: reward rich friends, punish everyone else

"Living" Wages Are Bad; Punishing The Poor Is Good:

• Wisconsin Bill Banning Local 'Living Wage' Laws Concern Barrett, Abele
• Wal-Mart Relies On Taxpayers To Subsidize Low Wages
• If Republicans Want a 2016 Nominee Who Will Punish The Poor, Scott Walker Is Their Man
• Scott Walker Finds Another Way To Punish The Working Poor
• Scott Walker’s 2016 Pitch: Who Has Punished The Working Poor More Than I Have?
• How opting out of Medicaid expansion punishes the poor
• Food stamp cuts punish people for being poor

And, Scott Walker Is A Crook:

• More Evidence That WI Gov. Scott Walker Is Under Investigation
• Scott Walker Investigated in Secret Wisconsin Probe
• Investigation targets Scott Walker recall campaign, political groups
• Evidence Mounting that Walker Campaign Is at Center of Criminal Probe
• Special Prosecutor Named In Investigation Of Possible Criminal Activity Surrounding Scott Walker Recall Election
• There's a New Secret Investigation Roiling Wisconsin's Turbulent Politics

Government Health Programs Save Everyone Money

Government Health Programs Save Everyone Money: Study

More and more it seems that, when the government subsidizes health insurance, patients' share of health care costs go down. 

The latest evidence: In the years immediately following the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid -- two programs that dramatically expanded government-sponsored health coverage -- patients’ share of out-of-pocket costs dropped by 40 percent, according to a December paper from Jeffrey Clemens, an economist at the University of California at San Diego. Out-of-pocket costs are what patients are responsible for paying on their own. In the case of insured patients, those costs can include copays and deductibles. Uninsured patients typically have to pay for all of their medical services “out-of-pocket.”

In the charts above, the dotted lines represent the share of various health-care costs paid out-of-pocket by patients, and the solid red lines represent the percent change in the share of out-of-pocket health care costs since 1960. 

The explanation for the precipitous drop in patient costs is somewhat obvious, said Clemens. 

"The period right around 1965 had such a large drop because a pretty substantial fraction of seniors basically didn’t have insurance against hospital episodes and office visits at that time," he said. "Covering that population just kind of mechanically meant that people were paying way less out of pocket when they had the need to go to hospital." 

As Medicaid became more comprehensive, patients' out-of-pocket costs continued to drop, Clements said, ultimately falling 90 percent from their 1960 levels by 1980. 

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that these government entitlement programs helped cut health-care cost burdens for struggling consumers. Just 16 percent of funding for personal health care came from out-of-pocket payments in 2003, down from 55 percent in 1960, according to a 2005 study from the Department of Health and Human Services. 

And Medicaid alone kept at least 2.6 million people out of poverty in 2010, according to a recent paper in the Journal of Health Economics. 

If the pattern holds, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, could lead to even more cost savings. Out-of-pocket health-care costs will drop from $1,463 to just $34 per year in 2016 for the 11.6 million low-income Americans who are expected get health coverage as a result of the law’s expansion of Medicaid, according to an October RAND study.

The Latest Scott Walker Shenanigans

Walker Proposals Would Add Millions To Wisconsin Budget Shortfall

The figures released by Wisconsin's Legislative Fiscal Bureau show that Walker's proposals to cut property taxes and install worker training bills stand to add $180 million in costs. Implementation would swing a current surplus to a $725 million deficit for the 2015-2017 calendar period, according to the report.

What Washington Needs To Learn About Scott Walker 

As governor, Walker has cut 92,000 working Wisconsinites off their health care, slashed funding for public education at all levels by record amounts, while larding the wealthy and special interests with massive tax breaks and signed into law programs to reward politically connected but unqualified cronies with state tax dollars. 

The result has been that Wisconsin has significantly lagged the national and regional pace of job creation and economic recovery.

Mining Bill On Access Would Save Landowners Nearly $900,000

The owners of land that could become the site of a massive iron ore mine could avoid paying the state nearly $900,000 if legislators pass a bill that would allow the mine's developers to restrict public access to the property.

Scott Walker's Totalitarian Tendencies 

As Milwaukee County executive, he reduced bus service and fought defined bike and bus routes, opposed using available federal funds for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s streetcar concepts, and blocked the KRM, a 35-mile train route with Metra links into Chicago. As governor, he and his minions even repealed the KRM funding mechanisms ,despite six years of deep planning by business and community leaders to elevate passenger and freight service in southeastern Wisconsin. 

Worse, after years of state planning and millions of dollars in preparation, Walker turned down President Barack Obama’s offer of $810 million in federal funding for higher-speed train service between Milwaukee and Madison. That project was intended as the opening round in a Minneapolis-St. Paul route through Wisconsin, and the building of a national train network with Wisconsin as a key player in spurring commerce and job growth thanks to its alternatives to highways. Wisconsin taxpayers have always provided the federal government more taxes than what’s spent within the state, so all Walker did was cheat them of federal largess, which was quickly grabbed by other states.

Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin Keeps Increasing Its Long-Term Borrowing

Under Walker’s 2013-15 budget, debt service will climb even higher, claiming 5.26% of general fund dollars in 2014 and 4.88% in 2015, according to WISTAX. The state’s historical debt level target has been 4%...

Walker has only added to the problem, some have argued, by rejecting $4.4 billion in federal Medicaid assistance, linked to Obamacare, over the next decade. 

Due to the increases, Medicaid expenditures now account for 15.1 percent of total state general fund spending. That’s a record high and up from an average of about 10 percent during 1985-2003. 

Conversely, K-12 school aids will comprise just one-third of general fund spending, the lowest percentage since 1996, a year before then Gov. Tommy Thompson committed to funding two-thirds of school costs in an effort to control local property taxes. 

In 1996, shared revenues to municipalities and counties accounted for 12.4 percent of spending but will be less than 6 percent by 2015, WISTAX found. 

While Medicaid accounts for the largest increase in spending, WISTAX notes that general fund dollars are also funding transportation, a relatively new phenomenon. 

The Walker budget shifts $213.7 million from the general fund and $44.5 million from the petroleum inspection fund to pay for transportation needs. It also pays for the debt service on another $200 million in transportation borrowing with general fund dollars.

Fantasy & False Equivalence

The Journal Sentinel editorialized:

But even though Ryan and his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), have agreed that a big deal involving tax revenues and structural changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is impossible for now, those are exactly the kind of reforms that lawmakers must eventually embrace. 

Entitlement spending, fueled by an aging America, is the primary reason that long-term projections of federal debt are so dismal. 

And both parties need to confront their own cherished beliefs. 

I'll go slow so the Journal Sentinel editorial board can understand.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are not one program. The deceptive, yet often used, phrase "entitlement spending" is overly simplified and highly misleading.

Medicare and Medicaid are health care programs. Our health care cost nearly twice as much as the next highest-spending country (more often than not, with worse results). Our overly costly health care is the primary reason for distress over long-term budget projections. If our health care spending were in-line with other developed nations, the U.S. wouldn't have a long-term budget concern.

As Dean Baker details, "If the US had the health care costs of Australia, we’d see public debt in 2022 fall from a projected 90 percent of GDP to a much more manageable 60 percent. Having the same costs as Canada and Germany would make that number only slightly higher, at around 64 percent of GDP."

[source]

[source]

Social Security presently has a surplus. If our economy performs abysmally in the coming decades, then, thirty years from now, forecasters predict Social Security will only be able to pay seventy to eighty percent of current payouts. This program is neither in crisis nor should it be associated with anything "dismal." Social Security keeps a majority of America's seniors from living in poverty. Plus, Social Security Does Not Contribute To The Deficit.

The Journal bemoans, "Democrats also need to let go of their sacred mysteries. Many Democrats cling to the notion that entitlement programs cannot be fundamentally changed. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are liberal icons, after all, untouchable."

Actually, Democrats (along with Republicans) have made changes to these programs in the past few decades. Democrats merely don't want to gut what are important and highly-supported programs. This false equivalence - the Democrats also do it - is a fiction. Republicans no longer negotiate; they, instead, hold the country hostage.

The editorial closes with of flourish of falsities and debunked right-wing talking points.

All three need an overhaul, starting with means testing for Medicare and probably Social Security and some means to ensure, in the case of Medicare, that recipients have a little more skin in the game. 

Democrats also resist the idea of tax reform, which to them sounds like more tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Yes, the wealthy can afford to pay a little more. But Democrats need to reconsider their reluctance to work with companies that employ millions of Americans on tax reform. The U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. What sense does it make to chase off business when business does not recognize national borders? Tax reform that aims for fewer loopholes and lower rates could encourage growth — and raise more money.

As Lynn Stuart Parramore wrote, "Means-testing is a back-door strategy for taking away benefits earned by hard-working Americans. In Washington-speak, “means-testing” is a scheme to deny or reduce Medicare and Social Security benefits for people who are “too wealthy” in the name of saving money."

U.S. corporations pay an effective tax rate of 12.6%. As James O'Toole reported, "U.S. companies face the highest official corporate tax rate in the world. But there's a big difference between the rates set out by law and the cash that's actually collected." Again, it seems, the Journal is purposefully trying to mislead readers and confuse issues.

From The Big Picture, “Twenty-six big US companies paid their CEOs more last year than they paid the federal government in tax...The study, by the Institute for Policy Studies, said the companies, including AT&T, Boeing and Citigroup, paid their CEOs an average of $20.4 million last year while paying little or no federal tax on ample profits, according to regulatory filings. Astonishingly, nearly all of the the companies received a net tax refunds of up to $1billion. Others had a tax bill of $0. On average, the 26 companies generated net income of more than $1 billion in the US, the study said.”

As Paul Buchheit stated, "In the past twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent has dropped by half. The payroll tax, paid by workers, has doubled."

To recap: 1) the Medicare and Medicaid programs are not the problem...it's the cost of our health care, 2) Social Security is fine, and 3) corporate taxes are not high nor are they hindering hiring.

There are not two sides to every story. We need the Journal Sentinel, and like-minded misinformants, to stop peddling these fantasies. Reality just doesn't jibe with their false equivalence and doomsday scenarios.

For Further Reading:

The Potential Savings To Social Security From Means Testing
Big Companies Paid A Fraction Of U.S. Tax Rate
Effective U.S Tax Rate Lower Than Other Developed Nations
The United States’ Long-Term Debt Problem Isn’t as Bad as You Thought

21 graphs that show America’s health-care prices are ludicrous

U.S. Spends Far More for Health Care Than 12 Industrialized Nations, but Quality Varies

Corporate Tax Dodgers
Billionaires Against Social Security

7 Biggest Economic Lies

[source]

Wisconsin Republicans Have A Problem With Reality

Wisconsin is "not walking away from a dime" in federal funds by rejecting the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. [source]

"With fourteen states opting out, we estimate that 3.6 million fewer people would be insured, federal transfer payments to those states could fall by $8.4 billion, and state spending on uncompensated care could increase by $1 billion in 2016." [source]

"In rejecting the federal money, Joint Finance followed through with Gov. Scott Walker's decision in February to forgo some $4 billion in federal funds through 2020 by expanding Medicaid coverage in the state." [source]

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) is pushing a report from his administration’s Department of Workforce Development that puts the state’s net private-sector job gains at 32,000 for 2012. [source]

"As neighboring states add jobs, Wisconsin leads nation in losses over past 12 months." [source]

"As has been widely reported, job creation in Wisconsin in 2011 was the worst in the nation -- literally, 50th out of 50 states." [source]

"Scott Walker’s Wisconsin Falls To 49th In Economic Outlook." [source]

Wisconsin Reading

Tax Plans For Wisconsin Go From Bad To Worse
Herb Kohl Says New Arena Will Benefit More Than Team
Ron Kind Hits Scott Walker On Job Creation
Rail Plan Advances For Milwaukee-Twin Cities Route
Scott Walker Cutting Medicaid To Fund Tax Cuts For The Rich
Special-Interest Items In Budget Plan
Wisconsin Lags Behind Neighbors In Clean Energy
Wealthy Earners Would Save Most In $444 Million Tax Cut
Tax Cut Success Hinges On A Revived State Economy

Thursday Reading

Taxing The Rich

See Yourself Where The Tax Breaks Go

Labor Union Decline Main Cause Of Rising Corporate Profits

One Walmart's Low Wages Could Cost Taxpayers $900,000 Per Year

CBO Study Shows Tax Breaks Favor The Rich

Only A Third Of Charitable Contributions Go To The Poor

Welfare For The Wealthy

U.S. 10-Year Bonds Yields In Perspective

Medicaid Expansion Denial Will Cost States Billions

The Fed, Inequality And Accounting Identities

Scott Walker: Wisconsin's (Continually) Losing Bet

Taxpayers will pay more under Scott Walker health plan, study says

Gov. Scott Walker's proposed rejection of a federally funded expansion of state health programs would add some $50 million in costs to state taxpayers over the next two years, according to the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office.

Lost jobs ... unused investment ... how much is Wisconsin willing to endure?

But really, what did you (Walker voters) expect? These (disastrous) results are typical of Republican governance.

For Further Reading:
The numbers show that Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans.

Want a Better Economy? History Says Vote Democrat!

GOP Leaders Remind Voters the Economy Does Better Under Democrats