Pockets Feel Heavy?

Last night's TV news advised that Wisconsin residents are no longer the 6th-most-screwed taxpayers in the USA.

We're down to 8th-most-screwed.

But the reality is not as encouraging:

...as a percentage of personal income, the Wisconsin tax bite dropped from 12.18% in 2003-2004 (fiscal year 2004) to 12.13% in 2004-2005 (fiscal year 2005), which dropped our national rank from 6th to 8th

That means that you had an additional $80.00 to spend (from your $100K income) in 04/05. About 2 dinners at a decent white-linen restaurant, or 30 gallons of milk from Pick-N-Save.

Of course, if you made less than $100K, money NOT screwed from your hide might have been spent in less-frivolous ways...like, for example, paying for increased Cable TV costs.

And by the way, Wisconsin's ranking-slip was not due to a lack of Greedy Masters in the State and Local Dark-Empire buildings.

It was due to even more Greedy Masters in OTHER State Dark Empire buildings.

The WTA said in that press release, “The drop in rank was due primarily to increased taxes elsewhere, rather than reduced taxes here.”

Worse,

With inflation between July 2004 and July 2005 at 3.17%, and population growth at 0.47%, every major category [of tax take] other than sales taxes went up faster than the combined effects of inflation and population growth.

IOW, the Masters are taking more with less effort.

HT: No Runny Eggs (who did all the work!!)

It is impossible, of course, that tax-rape has anything to do with this, wherein Wisconsin is among the Lowest Quintile of GDP growth 05/06.

Impossible.