Half of the cuts will be achieved through property tax reductions, and the other half will consist of lower payroll taxes, as well as lower income tax rates for the lowest state bracket.
"What do you do with a surplus? Give it back to the people who earned it. It's your money," Walker will tell the state legislature in his annual "State of the State Address," according to an excerpt released to the press. The tax cuts will be a core part of Walker's new budget for the state, entitled the "Blueprint for Prosperity."Walker has presided over a remarkable turnaround in Wisconsin's finances. When he took office in 2011, the state was running a $3.6 billion deficit. One of his first acts was to pass a corporate tax cut, which Democrats derided as a giveaway to the rich, but which helped grow the local economy and attract businesses and jobs.The collective bargaining reforms that Walker subsequently enacted, over vehement Democrat and union opposition, also helped state and local governments save money while preserving public sector jobs. To that achievement, Walker can now add a tax cut--something few other governors, even Republicans, have achieved.
Textbook conservatism in action. Go Scott.
Sounds like "My Man Mitch".
ReplyDeleteI love you freedom lovers. If you think government's going to free your personal financial bottom-line by lowering your taxes, well la di frigging da. But when it comes to implementing the will of the people, guvs like Walker and Rick Scott in Florida still cling to their paternalistic(?) power, denying they know what's best for them.
ReplyDeleteMedical marijuana: Polls show it's favored by about 80% of Americans and perhaps more Wisconsinites (there's been no state poll on this for many years). Walker opposes it and Burke favors it, but offered a mushy sound bite on the issue.
You shout yippee on the tax issue, but all is not golden there either:
Taxes: Yes, this is a strong issue for Walker, but he has some vulnerability here. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau found his tax cut delivered 60% of the dollars to those making more than $100,000 a year. He also reduced the Homestead Tax Credit, which helps lower-income people. A recent Marquette University Law School poll found that 65% think Walker's tax reductions do more for the wealthy.
State debt: Yes, Walker has reduced the state's long-term "structural" deficit (by about 12%), but it's still one of the biggest ones in the country, and he's meanwhile pushed the state's bonded indebtedness to the highest level in state history.
Restore the earned income tax credit: Surveys on this are rare, but one in Michigan found 76% of respondents opposed eliminating the EITC. Walker slashed the amount of the credit, which was created by Republicans in Wisconsin in 1989 as a way to support work, not welfare. When combined with the governor's opposition to raising the minimum wage, it leaves the working poor with no immediate help of any kind.
Of course Guv Walker digs it and you dig it: But what is the will of the people of his state?
Health care funding: Walker turned down federal funds to expand Medicaid for those slightly over the poverty line, funding that supplements Obamacare. This means less health care for people and a loss of funding that would have saved the state $459 million through 2021, according to the Fiscal Bureau. The Marquette Poll found 56% opposed this Walker policy and just 36% supported it.
Read more at http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=41890
We've been over the minimum wage issue many times: It's wrong and needs to be abolished for the following reasons:
ReplyDelete1.) It's government telling a private organization how to conduct its affairs.
2.) It distorts the true market value of an hour of a particular type of labor.
3.) It elbows unskilled young minorities out of the labor market.
Re: Most of the tax cuts going to the richer strata of the population: So what? The goal is not "reducing inequality," it's letting people of whatever wealth level keep their own money.
Re: Turning down Medicaid expansion: This makes him a hero, a courageous and principled leader. Medicaid is one of the most failed government programs ever, and its unfunded liabilities are astronomical.
Medical marijuana: Who gives a shit?
In Florida with 710,508 validated signatures statewide — 27, 359 more than the required 683,149 — and reaching signature requirements in the bare minimum of 14 congressional districts, People United for Medical Marijuana beat a Feb. 1 deadline for submitting petitions to the state.
ReplyDelete“We are absolutely thrilled about reaching the required number of signatures. This is a historic day for Florida. Hopefully, Floridians will not only get a chance to vote on medical marijuana this fall but will pass it and bring relief to the thousands of Floridians that are desperately asking for it,” said Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, the group working for People United for Medical Marijuana.
As for their freedom loving Tea Party darling Rick Scott, well, true to his hypocritical form (he tried to piss test all state workers, his wife owns part interest in a drug testing co.):
Republicans as well as law enforcement and parts of the business community have lined up against the proposal. Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders oppose letting doctors prescribe pot, and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s lawyer argued against the proposal before the high court last month.
From CBS Miami, January 24, 2014 8:27 PM
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/01/24/medical-marijuana-initiative-gets-needed-signatures/
Rick Scott is trying to come up with an answer to so many voters giving a shit. I presume you would also rule against this move to expand the personal freedoms of citizens of the state of Florida and to end this foolish and damnably destructive war on our own people. In the name of what, your quite mistaken personal opinion of what is important regarding freedom?
ReplyDeleteSerious people just can't get very worked up about a peripheral issue like what marijuana policy ought to be. Way too many actual threats to our freedom and way of life ahead of it in the queue.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Seems you simply want to make me look like a fool on this serious issue of personal freedom. Would it be serious if this was 1920 and we were debating the freedom to drink?
ReplyDeleteHad to guffaw over Ann Coulter's recent comments on this one serious issue out of many we continually face regarding our personal freedoms in this land where some of claim more gravitas than their brethren and can thus rationalize their paternalism. She has no clue wtf she is talking about on that issue. It's as if she is still rocking on grampa Ronnie's knee. You'd. Probably enjoy your ride with her and a sip from her chaste cup of vino though, lol, lmao, rofl and all that other unserious stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou carped about being politically involved on this issue and now that you see millions doing just that and succeeding you seem to want to try to place it way on the back burner. Do you realize how many citizens have been hasselled, harassed, arrested & jailed over this issue over the past 50 years? Small matter to you I know. Jail a jew somewhere and you come out howling.
ReplyDeleteTP darling Rick Scott does not care. He is attempting to block this unserious issue from being on the ballot. One thing for sure is he & the Tan Man (financed by Big Plaintiff's Bar) are going to wage the most costly gubernatorial campaign in history anywhere ever. Ironically, this may become a major issue in the campaign.
ReplyDeleteIn a November Quinnipiac poll, 82 percent of Floridians supported the use of marijuana for medical reasons.
Pollara said that number shows that Floridians are ready for compassionate marijuana laws that help the people who need it most.
“Floridians are broadly supportive of this and the numbers haven’t moved,” he said. “It’s not a controversial issue for voters.”
Read more at http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20140125/NEWS01/301250013/Voters-may-get-say-medical-marijuana
That article was where? Uh, on the front page of today's Tallahassee Democrat.
ReplyDeleteNot an important issue, especially regarding personal freedom in America, eh?
ReplyDeleteDemocratic and Republican insiders are saying that marijuana law reform may decide the Florida governor’s race, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Read more at http://nolesports.tallahassee.com/article/20140128/OPINION05/301280008/Jag-Davies-Marijuana-issue-could-decide-race-governor