During the early morning hours on Saturday (just as most people had begun brewing their coffee), the Wisconsin State Assembly had just finished a long night of debate and passed its version of the 2009-2011 biennial budget.
This budget, that was crafted beyond the prying eyes of the press and public by just a handful of key, Madison-area legislators, was simply an irresponsible document that pitted taxpayers against state government. You lost.
Despite the rhetoric of shared sacrifice coming from the budget's authors, the fact is that this budget -- despite the current recession -- will increase state government spending by 6.3% and increase taxes by $2.25 billion. In just five short months, the liberal majority in the State Assembly has proposed raising taxes by nearly $5 billion. Sacrifice is voluntary -- this budget was downright extortion.
The budget that passed the Assembly will increase property taxes on average by over $300 and still cuts aid to our local schools and repeals a key mechanism for controlling local school costs, the Qualified Economic Offer, or QEO.
Moreover, despite claims from supporters of this budget, the state is still left with a $2.3 billion structural deficit because of accounting gimmicks and the irresponsible use of one-time money.
Dick Butkus, the famed Chicago Bear, once said, "If I was smart enough to be a doctor, I'd be a doctor. I ain't, so I'm a football player."
Similarly situated, that seems to explain the downright hostility the Democrat majority has exhibited towards Wisconsin taxpayers and job creators. Their intellectual vacuity and failure to understand economic relationships has undermined job creators, working families, budget stability and the overall competitiveness of the state.
If you own a home, use a phone, buy gas, have a child at the UW, download music, have car insurance, or even take your garbage to the curb, you will end up paying more in taxes and fees and just the cost of eveyday living for your family will increase. And this certainly says nothing of the increase in taxes on job creators which will reduce Wisconsin's global competitiveness and hurt our working families with the prospect of yet even more job losses.
The process now moves to the State Senate where they are expected to act as soon as today, more likely tomorrow, on their version of the biennial budget.
