Tuesday, March 14, 2006

A Billion Here, A Billion There...

Yeah, that's Real Money:

An analysis by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released Monday says taxpayers could have saved up to $1.9 billion in state taxes over 20 years if revenue limits had been in place.

The Party of Government response:

"Clearly, the impact would be devastating on schools and on the affordability of University of Wisconsin students," said Schmiedicke, Gov. Jim Doyle's top budget official.

More of the same Party of Government:

Rich Eggleston, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, said the cuts to cities laid out in the bureau study "would have stopped economic development in its tracks," had they been forced by a constitutional amendment.

The embarrasing reality:

State Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) [said] "The people that were pushing this are the people who have been in control (in the Legislature) for the last 10 years," Richards said, referring to Republicans. They had the power to force through spending cuts but failed to do so, he said.

Yup, Jon. Tommy Thompson and his boys in the band were good at handing out State candy. That's one of the reasons Conservatives spit on the floor when Thompson mentions his name as a candidate, which he does every 6 months or so.

3 comments:

M.Z. said...

It does grow wearisome doesn't it? I'm getting awfully tired of politicians claiming that by giving public treasure to private business they are investing. We have played these socialist games for how long now?

It doesn't matter which party we talk about, both want to cut "waste", but can never seem to find it.

Seth Zlotocha said...

Just a quick comment on the "Conservatives spit on the floor when Thompson mentions his name as a candidate" line.

Which conservatives are you talking about? Thompson is still the most popular Republican in the state, hands down. A recent poll shows at least that much.

And it's arguable he's the most popular politican on either side of the aisle in Wisconsin.

I doubt there's a single politician who would want to go up against him, including all of the '06 gubernatorial candidates and both of our US Senators.

And Thompson, as you note, has never been one to run on fiscal restraint. How do you explain his popularity if the conservative base supposedly can't stand the mention of him?

Dad29 said...

Well, Seth, I am one, and there are others who are paying the Tommy/Selig tax (which was a deal iced LONG before it went through the legislature) who join me in unhappiness.

Thompson's "popularity" with other pols has to do with the old saying, "don't spit into the wind."

And finally, if Tommy the Spend/Tax Thompson actually does get into the Gubernatorial ring, I would not bet on his success against Green or Walker.

Think about this: he ran against Ed Garvey, Chvala (D-Slammer,)and other similar fecal matter.

How the hell could he LOSE?