NoFingerPrints Walker >> MisDirects, Misleads, MisRepresents UW Budget

From:

JAKE'S ECONOMIC TA FUNHOUSE

"Starving the Beast" rears its ugly head at the UW

... After having its budget cut by $250 million for the 2015-17 biennium by Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin GOP-controlled Legislature, the UW Board of Regents planned to have an item during its meeting this month that allowed for UW chancellors to describe the impact of the cuts and what adjustments might need to be made for the rapidly-arriving 2016-17 fiscal year. And the chancellors gave the Regents the truth.

UW-Eau Claire, for example, has cut 179 full-time positions, about half of those through a voluntary separation program. Twenty-five faculty have resigned, up 150 percent from last year, and class sizes are 14 percent larger on average.

It’s a similar tale at other UW campuses, with some such as UW-Green Bay and UW-La Crosse cutting some databases and other resources that students can access for research.
UW-Madison, which has spent almost $9 million on keeping faculty, expects to cut 418 positions over the biennium. 

The flagship campus said it’s been unable to expand programs with high student demand, such as business, engineering and nursing. It also said it’s cut back significantly on advising services and maintenance, as did other campuses.

UW-Platteville is also delaying major renovation projects at buildings that it says are significantly outdated.

... 

WI Legislature Viewer - A few clicks to telephone, email or address your representative


#NoFingerPrints  #Walker >> MisDirects, Misleads, MisRepresents #UW Budget

#NoFingerPrints  #Trump Supporter #Walker >> MisDirects, Misleads, MisRepresents #UW

NoFingerPrints Walker >> emails show sought changes to Wisconsin Idea

5/27/2016

WSJ: UW SYSTEM | JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF RECORDS> Scott Walker sought changes to Wisconsin Idea, emails show after judge orders release of records

Records released Friday by Gov. Scott Walker’s office in response to a judge’s order make clear he sought controversial changes in 2015 to the University of Wisconsin System’s mission statement, known as the Wisconsin Idea.

The office made public 82 pages of records late Friday after Dane County Judge Amy Smith said Walker’s office erroneously withheld 12 email exchanges and six of nine attachments from the public.

...The Wisconsin Idea is the long-held belief that the mission of the state’s public higher education system extends beyond the classroom and into the communities of the state. The Walker administration later backed down from proposed changes to the mission statement, calling them a “drafting error,” and they were not included in the 2015-17 budget. ...

In other words, the act of withholding information was a coverup. 

WI 1848 Forward: #HiddenAgendaWalker #NoFingerPrints #Walker > emails show sought changes to UW #WisconsinIdea

Trump == P.T.Barnum == W.C. Fields

There can be humor present even in self-promotion ...

P. T. Barnum 

Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum (July 4, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus.^[1] Although Barnum was also an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for some time a politician, he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me",^[2] and his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers".^[3]

W.C. Fields

Never give a sucker an even break. 

What does #Trump really message? == #PTBarnum == #WCFields> "Never give a sucker an even break" #Putin views us ... Trump thinks we are the suckers  WI 1848 Forward 

WI: What does #Trump really message? == P.T. Barnum == W.C. Fields> "Never give a sucker an even break" #GreenBay 

Walker's War on the Elderly, Rural, Middle Income and Poor of Wisconsin

Scott Walker, Assembly Republicans agree to sales tax holiday and tax rebate

If you have a lot of money that sales tax holiday will allow you to buy that fancy new luxury car.  What do the little people get ... 5 cents off the price of a pencil!

Wisconsin’s Tax System Exacerbates Growing Gap between Rich and Everyone Else WI Budget Project

Friday, April 14, 2017 at 8:02 AM by Tamarine Cornelius

...Wisconsin’s middle class, once one of the strongest in the country, has shrunk more quickly than in any other state. That trend should set off alarm bells for state policymakers, who should be using the tax system and other tools to help people work their way up the economic ladder. Instead, state lawmakers have focused on passing tax cuts that give big benefits to powerful special interests and do little or nothing to improve the lives of Wisconsin residents with modest incomes.  ...

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If you can't pay for it you can't have it -- Market Economy versus Market Society: Inequality and Civic Decisions - TED - Michael Sandel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2016.08.08

I can't prove it but I can suspect it (with enough time and effort I think I could prove it) ... rural communities vote for politicians, such as Walker, who promise tax cuts and in truth they probably deliver.  However, the tax cuts do not fall proportionately on the population but instead go to "wealthy" via property tax reductions and the "high income" since the "rural" or "low income" are seldom targeted to benefit.

The politicians count on most voting citizens to know nothing about the benefit or the cost distribution or the local government (schools, etc.) or personal or corporate incidence of tax policy.

This is the real shell game ... supposedly giving you what you want but putting the prize under the cup that only the wealthy have asked for or know about.

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Median pay for state's prison staff dropped nearly 13 percent since 2009

Guess where they mostly live?  Guess who sees schools shrink?

Report: 1 In 5 Children Struggle To Get Enough To Eat In WI: Summer Months Without School Meals Are Especially Acute - June 7, 2016, By Danielle Kaeding

Too bad Kids do not know how to play:  Pay To Play > Governor Walker

One in 5 children in Wisconsin struggles with access to enough food, according to the most recent report from the Economic Research Service with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Northern Wisconsin counties are seeing even higher rates of children looking for a meal than the rest of the state, especially during the summer months. In counties like Ashland, Bayfield and Burnett, roughly 1 in 4 children struggle to get enough food. ...

May 03, 2016 ... Group Health marches toward "Wisconsin being self-insured" !

The insuring "parties" will still be the same or another/different middleman making a profit -- same Doctors, same Hospitals, etc.  Will Wisconsin save money?  Doubt it.  More likely to translate into "coverage dematerialization" and reduce rural service incentives and higher costs for everyone.  Governor Walker has found a new way to "create death panels" by his usual "stealth techniques".  "Savings" will be hidden in higher co-pays and deductibles, or denials of life saving treatments/medicines.  Those in rural Wisconsin, insured presently or not, will find there costs rising.

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Who Wins From Walker Tax Cuts?

Your Neighbors In Rural Wisconsin ... Right !

*Those with taxable incomes of less than $50,000 will get an average tax cut of $82. Why that’s important: Half of all taxpayers who owe taxes have taxable incomes of $50,000 or less." ...

The top 20% ....

*Those with taxable incomes of between $100,000 and $150,000 will get an average tax cut of $335. About 12 percent of taxpayers who owe taxes have incomes in this range.
*Those with taxable incomes of between $150,000 and $200,000 will get an average tax cut of $453. They make up about 4 percent of taxpayers who owe taxes.
*Those with taxable incomes of more than $200,000 will get an average tax cut of $892. They also make up about 4 percent of taxpayers who owe taxes.

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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Walker's War on the Elderly, Rural, Middle Income and Poor of Wisconsin - Raise Sales Tax

12/26/2015 ... Be aware -  anytime Walker takes something away from one group, say your School Board, County Board, Teachers or state employees he is lowering the common denominator.  Others not in those groups have less control of their lives.  Your benefits or privileges are affected too.

1/1/2015 - MJS:  The myth of Scott Walker as a budget guru

... The process is ingenious in an underhanded kind of way. You see, if government is working smoothly and efficiently, it’s difficult to make the case that cuts need to be made. As the old adage goes, if it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it. Republicans now realize that first you need to swing a bat at the government’s knees and cripple it before you’re allowed to put it down. If it isn’t broken, well then, break it yourself. But how do you break government without the public blaming you for being the problem? Well, that’s easy: you starve it with tax cuts. ...

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5/27/2016  The top 20% of persons, households benefiting from Walker's tax cuts/plans probably mostly live in three Wisconsin Counties: Ozaukee, Waukesha and Washington they have median family incomes of $90K, $89K and $77K (1/2 make more and 1/2 make less).  Those three counties have roughly 10% of the households in the state


1/22/2014 Walker's "State of the State" essentially meaningless.  Who paid the $1 billion in taxes collected that now may be distributed.  By that I mean incidence - wealthy or poor, elderly and/or rural residents?

1/24/2014 - The top 20% of Wisconsin wage earners — those making more than $88,000 a year and paying the most in taxes now — would receive 44% of the benefit of Gov. Scott Walker's latest proposed tax cuts, a new analysis shows.
The bottom 20% of state residents by income — those making below $21,000 a year and paying the least in taxes now — would receive 5% of the $504.6 million Walker wants to cut in property and income taxes, according to the review by the liberal Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy and the Wisconsin Budget Project.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/headlines/top-wage-earners-taxpayers-get-biggest-benefit-from-walker-tax-cuts-b99191408z1-241905661.html#ixzz2rXvWTJZE

Scott Walker: Eliminating income tax, raising sales tax on the table


In the printed version of WSJ under the label "Tax Reform" the Wisconsin State Journal headlines "Gov. Walker eyes more cuts".  The subtitle "His administration is exploring the idea of eliminating income tax while raising sales taxes in Wisconsin".

I don't know whether this is just another trial ballon or just an illustration of Governor Walker continuing to pander to the elites and 1%.

Who would such a change harm or have the greatest impact on.

• Middle and low-income families.
• Those living on fixed incomes, i.e., pensions, Social Security, et al, (double whammy).
• Those generally living in rural counties and communities

I suspect a lot of people do not realize that those on Social Security in this state pay practically no income tax - this "perk/subsidy" was passed by Democrats and signed by Governor Doyle.

All social security benefits that are taxable for federal purposes. Up to 85% of social security benefits are subject to federal tax, but Wisconsin does not tax social security benefits. For taxable years beginning in 2008 or after, all federally taxable social security benefits are allowed as a subtraction.  page 5 of report in the link
Income tax in this state is mildly "progressive" which means the more you earn you pay at a higher tax rate by brackets.  Everybody pays on earned income at the low end.

I will probably add to my comments and observations as this "topic" continues to evolve.
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12/21/13 some data

Governor Walker’s Tax Shift Plan Would Raise Taxes for Most 

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#WIVote  #WI 1848 Forward: #HiddenAgendaWalker >War on the #Elderly, Rural, Middle Income and Poor - Raise #SalesTax

#Immoral #Elites #1%  -Raise #SalesTax #Walker 's War #WI 1848 Forward: on the #Elderly, Rural, Middle Income and Poor of #Wis - #WiVote or Kids GO Hungry

#Immoral Ex-Gov #Walker 's War WI 1848 Forward: on the #Elderly, #Rural, Middle Income and #Poor of #Wis