Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

[Riot]

"As a state economist and policy analyst, I was surprised that no one asked me about this proposal. I analyzed it for its economic impact. If public employee salaries are cut (through increased withholdings as proposed) by enough to fill the $137 million budget gap, the resulting drop in consumer spending will lead to:

1) a loss of over 1,200 nongovernment jobs;
2) a loss of about $100 million in business sales statewide;
3) a loss of nearly $35 million in personal incomes of nongovernment employee households;
4) ironically, a loss of nearly $10 million in state tax revenues."

-- Robert Russell, economist and analyst, Madison.
Wisconsin Public Radio interview

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

"As a state economist and policy analyst, I was surprised that no one asked me about this proposal. I analyzed it for its economic impact. If public employee salaries are cut (through increased withholdings as proposed) by enough to fill the $137 million budget gap, the resulting drop in consumer spending will lead to:

1) a loss of over 1,200 nongovernment jobs;
2) a loss of about $100 million in business sales statewide;
3) a loss of nearly $35 million in personal incomes of nongovernment employee households;
4) ironically, a loss of nearly $10 million in state tax revenues."

-- Robert Russell, economist and analyst, Madison.
Wisconsin Public Radio interview

4) ironically, a loss of nearly $10 million in state tax revenues."

Wrong! When you add in the $137 million saved by having public workers contribute to their own health and pension plans you have a net revenue gain of $127 million for the State. Divide 137 mil by 39,000 (number of State workers) you come to just over $3,500 per employee.

Wish private citizens were offered such a deal!

BTW I'd like to see some Madison professor explain how graduation rates for high school have been steadily rising while ACT scores have been steadily going down? New Math or are teachers 'cheating' students?

[Danzig]

http://factcheck.org/2011/03/wiscons...budget-battle/

Analysis
Newly elected Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, introduced a state budget repair bill on Feb. 11 that has attracted national attention because it seeks major changes to the state’s collective bargaining laws. The bill, which is needed to close a $137 million budget gap in the current fiscal year, would allow most state workers to keep their bargaining rights on salaries — but end collective bargaining on all other issues, including health care costs, pensions and workplace conditions. The AFL-CIO and other unions see this as an attack on unions, while the governor sees it as a necessary way to control future labor costs and avoid another budget crisis.The budget repair bill has led to a showdown between the Republican governor and Democratic state lawmakers — some of whom fled the Capitol in an attempt to prevent a vote on the bill. It has also caused some confusion among people trying to follow the budget crisis.




Wisconsin is facing a potential $3.6 billion shortfall for its next biennium, or two-year budget cycle, according to figures released by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau in January. The budget period begins on July 1, 2011, and ends on June 30, 2013. That figure is more than $2 billion less than the $5.9 billion projected deficit that former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle had to tackle at the beginning of the 2009-2011 fiscal cycle. So, that was not quite "double" the deficit that Walker is potentially looking at, as our reader was told.

Doyle was able to erase a large portion of his projected gap through a series of spending cuts and tax increases. But funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — known as the stimulus act — also played a significant part in easing the state’s budget woes. More than $2 billion in stimulus funds were used to narrow the budget gap for the 2009-2011 cycle. That’s money the state will have to do without this time around, since those funds run out at the end of June, according to Robert Lang, the fiscal bureau director

[Danzig]

http://factcheck.org/2011/03/walkers-tax-cuts/

[geeker2]

Originally Posted by Danzig

http://factcheck.org/2011/03/walkers-tax-cuts/

Just to be fair shouldn't there be an outcry by the left of " MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow LIES !!" ?

I want to hear what Rachel Maddow's neck mole has to say before I pass judgment.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by geeker2

Just to be fair shouldn't there be an outcry by the left of " MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow LIES !!" ?

But she apparently didn't. Even PolitiFact said that when discussing what was being talked about when confronted by the Maddow show. LOL - even Scott Walker has been using that number.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

But she apparently didn't. Even PolitiFact said that when discussing what was being talked about when confronted by the Maddow show. LOL - even Scott Walker has been using that number.

Fact check on your fact check. Twitter can sometimes be wrong!

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/...ve-budget-sur/

response from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal back to Maddow after asking for a retraction

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepo...116936958.html