The Scottenfreuden continues! And now Scott Walkers election year "big budget surplus" has now become a deficit. I'm enjoying the image of him being chased around by a bunch of red ink that he's created.
It's been a terrible week for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R-It's Not My Fault) after new John Doe documents were unsealed last Friday by the 7th Circuit Court showing Scott Walker and his campaign up to their eyeballs encouraging donations (they called them "investments") to and illegally coordinating with a dark money group, the Wisconsin Club for Growth. That group also funneled money to other groups for ads to support Walker and pummel his opponent to make it appear that Walker had wide support.
Then there was what looks like a $700,000 pay to play donation by a mining corporation that was richly rewarded by TWO frantic legislative ram-throughs to strip away environmental regulations and open up state forests for mining.
Then there was the revelation that Walker had been an opponent of open pit mining. Wow, it seems that $700,000 can sure tilt the scales.
Then there was yesterdays poll by Marquette University that showed the Governors re-election remains a toss up with Mary Burke slightly ahead among likely voters.
Today, it got even worse!
Walker, you see, began to run for re-election by pronouncing that he was such an excellent Governor that Wisconsin had an enormous surplus! Yup! So much money that tax cuts were in order (naturally working folks got enough to buy a Happy Meal for the kids with their annual "tax savings" and the rich - well, let's say they got a whole lot more).
Of course, nobody except the uber rich would even know they even had a tax cut so Walker made it look bigger by changing the amount of state income taxes were withheld from pay checks. The state withholds less and the dumb schmucks believe that Walker is brilliantly reducing state spending and giving them their money back.
Well, they would think that until the election was over and they went to file their State Tax Returns. They would then discover that most of their "tax cut" was really money they expected to be refunded in a lump sum when they filed their taxes. Many will end up owing the state money when they file. Surprise! But then the election will be over.
That's why I called it Scott Walkers Magical Election Year Tax Cut Scheme. It IS a scheme for re-election built of smoke and mirrors.
State tax collections fell short of expectations by $281 million last year, providing potential difficulties for the state budget down the road and immediate fodder for this fall's tight governor's race.
If the state doesn't make up this missing money by June 30 of 2015 — either through higher-than-expected tax revenue or lower-than-expected spending going forward — the state budget would be $115 million in the red by next summer.
(bolding is mine)
Walkers magical election year surplus seems to have vanished when the real numbers are revealed. In fact, only a deficit appears. A deficit that isn't helped by job losses and layoffs, downward spiraling personal income in Wisconsin, squeezing public employees, along with an election year tax cut along with the state withholding less to give Wisconsinites the illusion that their tax cut is even bigger than the average $12/year "savings" for the typical working person.
And it doesn't take into effect the withholding of gaming revenue tax payments ($25 million) by the states largest tribal casino. Payments withheld because Scott Walker is delaying his approval or disapproval of building a new tribal casino in Kenosha and the Potowatomi have had enough of his stalling.
Walker, who promised a decision last year, decided to wait until February, 2015. Everyone else has approved of the casino, but Walker has withheld his consent providing excuse after excuse for failing to make a decision.
Many believe it's because he's been busy harvesting a lot of donations from all sides in the controversy. Why not wait and squeeze some more? And, possibly, check out the way the reservations vote in November and reward the ones who vote the right way? Again, speculation, but why else postpone the decision for another whole year until long after the election? And if Walker is defeated, another governor will be in office and left with the mess Walker created and allowed to fester.
Speculation aside, it's a mess and the Potowatomi, fearing the loss of revenue by a competing casino, has just raised the ante. Walkers enormous delay is rising up to bite him in the fanny.
Walkers repeated claims of a huge budget surplus have fallen to dust (or, been exposed as another election year lie).
The state Department of Revenue and the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office Thursday each released tax collections for the fiscal year ended on June 30, showing that the state collected $13.95 billion, down 2% from the tax projections of $14.23 billion that were built into the current 2013-'15 budget. The state's tax revenues also came in below the actual amount of $14.09 billion that the state took in last year.
Lagging revenues in this first year of the two-year budget could bring even more pain in the coming years because state leaders had been counting on revenues continuing to grow at a modest rate. For instance, before the release of these numbers, the state was already projected to spend $559 million more out of its main account next year than it has budgeted to take in.
(bolding is mine)
Surplus? What surplus?
Of course it doesn't help when Walker refused to accept Medicaid expansion because, as a Republican who wants to be President, he must oppose ObamaCare loudly. The state now pays much more than it should for health care covering less people. But for Walker, shoving in millions of tax dollars to silence hospitals when they pointed out how much they stood to lose in unreimbursed care, it's politics uber alles.
It also helps that Walker, in his first official act, refused to accept Federal funds to build a high speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison that would not only have created construction jobs, but led to a new high speed rail car manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. Yeah, no jobs and no tax revenue, but Walker got to thumb his nose at President Obama to the approval of the wingnuts and Tea Baggers.
Bob Jauch probably put it best:
Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) said Vos and Walker were living in a "fantasy land" where tax cuts led to economic growth that always increased tax revenues.
"Scott Walker has no one to blame but himself," Jauch said.
Life in FitzWalkerKochStan....
Stay tuned.
Update:
Statement from Mary Burke (Walkers opponent for Governor):
"It's not working. Governor Walker's approach has us lagging on jobs, and in increasingly poor fiscal shape. With the state already projected to face (a 2015 shortfall), today's news from the Department of Revenue exposes once again how fiscally irresponsible Governor Walker has been," Burke said in a statement.
Nope. It's never been working despite all of Walkers ads and "It's Working" talking points.
And just for giggles, here's the non-response response from a Walker spokesperson:
"As we have done in the last several years, we will continue to manage the Wisconsin taxpayers' money well and keep the state's fiscal house in order," Laurel Patrick said in an email.
.
Yeah, riiiiight.
.