"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
https://filterednews.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/20-lies-and-counting-told-by-gov-walker/
20 lies (and counting) told by Gov. Walker
March 5, 2011 / Russell King
Governor Walker, labor, Scott Walker, union, Walker, Wisconsin
We’re used to politicians stretching the truth, but the level of deception and dishonesty Wisconsin’s governor has exhibited in the battle over his union-busting budget repair bill (even the name is a falsehood) sinks to astounding new lows. What follows are the 20 lies I’ve identified in a quick review of the record. If you find or recall others, please let me know. We’ll keep updating.
Walker: His bill is about fixing a budget crisis.
The truth: Even Fox News’ Shepherd Smith couldn’t swallow that one, declaring that it’s all about politics and union busting, and “to pretend that this is about a fiscal crisis in the state of Wisconsin is malarkey.”
Update:
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R), the Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader, must have forgotten his talking points while appearing on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show. This afternoon he admitted on-air what many liberals have long-suspected: rescinding collective bargaining rights from state workers is Wisconsin is as much about the 2012 presidential election as Wisconsin’s 2011 budget shortage.
As first reported by ThinkProgress, Fitzgerald told Kelly: “If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”
Walker: says he campaigned on his budget repair plan, including curtailing collective bargaining. “We introduced a measure last week, a measure I ran on during the campaign, a measure I talked about in November during the transition, a measure I talked about in December when we fought off the employee contracts, an idea I talked about in the inauguration, an idea I talked about in the state of the state. If anyone doesn’t know what’s coming, they’ve been asleep for the past two years.”
The truth: Walker, who offered many specific proposals during the campaign, did not go public with even the sketchiest outline of his far-reaching plans to kill collective bargaining rights. He could not point to any statements where he did. In fact, he was caught on tape boasting to what he thought was his billionaire backer that he had “dropped the bomb.”
Walker: keeps saying that “almost all” of the protesters at the Capitol are from outside the state
The truth: “The vast majority of people protesting are from here — Wisconsin and even more from Dane County,” said Joel DeSpain, public information officer for the Madison Police Department.
Walker: He wants to negotiate.
The truth: He won’t negotiate, but he’ll pretend to so he can trick the 14 Dem senators into allowing a vote on his bill. Walker recently offered to actually sit down and speak with the minority leader – something he should have done anyway and long ago – but only if the rest of the senators came back with him. Why?
“…legally, we believe, once they’ve gone into session, they don’t physically have to be there. If they’re actually in session for that day and they take a recess, the 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they’d have a quorum because they started out that way…But that would be the only, if you heard that I was going to talk to them, that would be the only reason why. We’d only do it if they came back to the capital with all 14 of them. And my sense is, hell, I’ll talk to them. If they want to yell at me for an hour, you know, I’m used to that, I can deal with that. But I’m not negotiating.”
Walker: says his budget-repair bill would leave collective bargaining “fully intact”
The truth: Walker revealed his own lie in the same radio interview when he said it was necessary to use his bill to strip collective bargaining rights, and in his own Feb. 11, 2011 letter to employees about his plan cited “various changes to limit collective bargaining” to the rate of base pay.
Walker: claims that states without collective bargaining having fared better in the current bad economy.
The truth: According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, three of the 13 non-collective bargaining states are among the 11 states facing budget shortfalls at or above 20% (Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina). Another, South Carolina, comes in at a sizable 17.4%. Nevada, where state employees have no collective bargaining rights (but local employees do) has the largest percentage shortfall in the country, at 45.2%. All in all, eight non-collective-bargaining states face larger budget shortfalls than Wisconsin.
Walker: Public employees are more richly compensated than their public sector counterparts.
The truth: According to the Economic Policy Institute, wages and salaries of state and local employees are lower than those for private sector employees with comparable earnings determinants such as education and work experience. State workers typically are under-compensated by 8.2% in Wisconsin.
Walker: said we needed a “repair” bill to address a payment owed to Minnesota of nearly $60 million and money owed to the Patient’s Compensation Fund in the tune of $200-plus million.
The truth: Walker’s budget repair bill addresses neither issue.
Walker: said that our budget problems are largely due to employee wages.
The truth: Total salaries and compensation in the last budget were 8.5% of the entire state budget.
Walker: “The alternative” to higher state worker pension and health care payments “is to look at 1,500 layoffs of state employees or close to 200,000 children who would be bumped off Medicaid-related programs.”
The truth: Federal law prevents Walker from taking away the health care coverage of 200,000 low-income and disabled children. Later, Walker told a Madison radio station that the layoff was merely a ploy to gain some political leverage: “I needed to get their attention to show how serious we were about having a balanced budget,” Walker said on the “Sly in the Morning” show on WTDY radio.
Walker: “We’ve seen local union after local union rush to their school boards, their city councils, their technical school boards and rush through contracts in the past two weeks that had no contributions to the pension and no contribution to health care. And, in fact, in one case in Janesville, they actually were pushing through a pay increase. Actions do speak louder than words.”
The truth: Of the 11 such contracts provided as examples by Walker’s staff, all 11 include some employee contributions to health insurance. PolitiFact Wisconsin, which too frequently gets the facts wrong and arrives at strained conclusions, did, at least, contact the 11 communities:
Madison: Unions in the state’s second biggest city have been negotiating contracts for more than a year. Their pacts expired at the beginning of 2010. Contracts with two of Madison’s biggest public unions settled before Walker was inaugurated Jan. 3, 2011, said Brad Wirtz, Madison human resources director. He said who said those deals set the template for the remaining unions, who reached agreement on wages and other key financial issues after Walker took office but before Feb. 11, when Walker announced his plan.
Sheboygan County: Adam Payne, the county’s administrator, said the county’s agreement with the unions was reached between negotiators before Feb. 11 and it mirrors pacts reached with other unions late last year. “There was no special treatment,” Payne said noting the County Board approved the contract at a regularly scheduled meeting.
Janesville: The tentative agreement for school custodians was reached Jan. 25, 2011 — before Walker’s proposals were made public. Eric Levitt, city manager, said that in January he had set a mid-February target to settle contracts with city workers, so the talks continued on the previously set timetable. The two sides were close to reaching tentative agreements prior to Walker’s Feb. 11 announcement, Levitt said. He said the city felt that because of its obligation to negotiate in good faith, it was necessary to continue the talks after the governor made his call for increased payments by employees.
LaCrosse County Administrator Steve O’Malley said the county didn’t rush things since negotiations started last year and the first tentative agreement with a local was reached in December.
Racine City Administrator Thomas Friedel that Racine had been negotiating with bargaining units representing Department of Public Works and clerical workers since summer of 2010 and reached tentative agreements well before Walker made his move.
Milwaukee Area Technical College: Like all of the other governments, the technical college and the union representing teachers and other workers had been talking for months, well before Walker was elected. The board and the American Federation of Teachers Local 212 reached tentative agreement on Feb. 10 — the day before Walker’s announcement. The agreement froze wages for two years.
Walker: “I don’t have anything to negotiate. We are broke in this state. We have been broke for years.” and “We’re broke. We don’t have any more money.”
The truth: The NY Times says “It’s all obfuscating nonsense, of course, a scare tactic employed for political ends.” Even the hyper-conservative Wall Street Journal calls out Walker on this lie. The notion that the state needs to refinance the debt because it’s broke and can’t make its debt payments is “completely wrong,” said Frank Hoadley, the state finance director. Joshua Zeitz, municipal finance analyst for MF Global, said, the shortfall — about 0.5% of the state’s overall budget — is a fairly inconsequential amount. “It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is a question more of politics than it is of a budget crisis,” Zeitz added. ”There’s a good amount of political theater in what you’re seeing,” said Tom Kozlik, municipal credit analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott.
If Walker were truly serious about balancing the budget, he would not be proposing a $36 million cut in the state’s capital gains tax or a $46 million corporate tax cut, on top of the millions of dollars in tax cuts he and the Republican legislature have already approved. Walker could balance his current budget by ending a variety of special interest tax dodging that is occurring in his state.
Walker: state employees pay next to nothing for their pensions and that it is all a big taxpayer give-away
The truth: Forbes — yes, the conservative Forbes! — says Walker is lying:
If the Wisconsin governor and state legislature were to be honest, they would correctly frame this issue. They are not, in fact, asking state employees to make a larger contribution to their pension and benefits programs as that would not be possible — the employees are already paying 100% of the contributions.
What they are actually asking is that the employees take a pay cut.
Pulitzer Prize winning tax reporter, David Cay Johnston, said so, too, at tax.com
Walker: said his budget repair bill, which guts the right of most public employees across the state to engage in collective bargaining, will deliver “the tools” local governments and school districts need to balance their budgets. “We cannot put this burden on local governments.”
The truth: Walker is going to both slash state aids and block local governments and school boards from raising taxes. And, of course, Walker’s numbers don’t match anything like reality.
Walker: claims he’s supported by silent majority.
The truth: Majority of Wisconsin residents (nearly 6 in 10) — and a majority of Americans — oppose his attack on collective bargaining and support the Dem 14 blocking it. Gallup found it. The CBS/NY Times poll found it. NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found it, too. The polls are so strong, even the reliably Republican Rasmussen couldn’t spin away from it. The public also overwhelmingly rejects the whole “public employees vs taxpayers” canard.
Walker: He wants to avoid layoffs.
The truth: Layoffs are implicit in his budget. Walker’s budget eliminates 21,325 state jobs
Walker: “To protect our schools, to protect our local governments, we need to give them the tools they’ve been asking for, not just for years but for decades.”
The truth: All four major state associations representing schools and local governments (not their employees) say this isn’t true.
Walker: The Dem 14 who are in Illinois to deny a Senate quorum needed to pass Walker’s budget repair bill are to blame for the layoffs he says he’s about to make to state workers.
The truth: Walker spoke of using layoff threats as political leverage: “We might ratchet that up a little bit, you know.” in his phony phone call with the faux Koch brother. Also, as noted above, Walker’s budget eliminates 21,325 state jobs.
Walker: “I have great respect for those who have chosen a career in government. I really do.”
The truth: Comedian Jon Stewart noted: ”‘I really do’ is a dead giveaway for ‘I really don’t,’ That’s what’s known in the business as the convincing clause. ‘I love you. I really do. That’s why breaking up with you right now is so difficult.’” The contempt he has displayed — in his bill, in his refusal to negotiate with the unions, in his refusal to negotiate with the Democrats and in his phony phone call — reveals why he felt the need for a convincing clause.
Walker admin: The protesters did $7.5 million of damage to the Capitol building by putting signs on marble walls with tape.
The truth: No professional estimate for clean-up has been performed. The Walker-appointed state facilities administrator would not support that estimate and said he’s not seen any damage by the protesters.
Update: Walker had said that if the debt was not restructured by March 16, he’d be “forced” to being layoffs.
Walker said he believes the impasse will end if the state sends notices of possible layoffs to about 1,500 state workers next week. If his budget plan isn’t passed this week, he said, a $165 million debt restructuring will force the move.
The truth: It’s actually April 15.
Readers: As of tonight, March 11, this post has had just shy of 170,000 views. Thank you. I am honored.
Dear Friends:
Please see our draft email below regarding our Statewide Day of Action to Save the Train, coming up this Saturday, November 20 at noon. If you are a confirmed speaker, please RSVP using the link below so that we can contact you if needed, and send you a reminder with confirmed location details. If you are an invited speaker, please let me know if you can speak ASAP, or if you have ideas for speakers. If you are interested in cosponsoring, please let us know in writing so we can add you to the list. Finally, please let me know if any changes are needed to the information below. We are working with our national headquarters to send this out to 15,264 members and supporters later this afternoon.
Thanks for your help!
Shahla M. Werner, Director
Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter
(608) 332-6079 (Cell)
Dear AdmShahla,
On Saturday, November 20, 2010 speak out to urge Scott Walker reconsider his decision to stop construction of the intercity, high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. Wisconsin is at a crossroads. Will we modernize our transit system, and create a safe, convenient, fast way to travel throughout the Midwest? Will we create thousands of jobs, increase our property values, and spur our economy? Will we take 500,000 cars off of the road and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 190,000 metric tons by 2020? Or will we return over $800 million in federal grant funding, say no to 9,570 permanent jobs for Wisconsin and continue our dependence on oil.
Scott Walker is now attempting to kill the $810 Million high speed rail project which is FUNDED by the Federal Government
High Speed Rail WOULD BRING YOUR TAX DOLLARS BACK to the state and save the state $3.5 to $4.6 BILLION dollars in lost time due to congestion, and air pollution from fossil fuel vehicles clogging up our highways, not to mention reducing the need to repeatedly repair highways which are constantly deteriorating because of excess traffic, which the highways were never originally designed to handle.
Walker's Tea Party supporters claim that he is looking out for their interests by refusing to spend money that taxpayers can't afford to spend. What they don't understand is that the Federal Government ALREADY HAS YOUR INCOME TAX DOLLARS. That's where the funding is coming from.
And contrary to their belief that he isn't planning to spend the money, he's already publicly stated that he only wanted to REDIRECT WHERE that money was GOING. He still plans to SPEND the money. He just wants it to go to building/repairing highways (which the state has already received federal funding for), so all of that ADDITIONAL FUNDING would be going towards providing PAYBACK to Republican Contractors who donated to his campaign.
In other words, YOUR TAX DOLLARS would be "LAUNDERED" so that YOU are actually paying for Walker's political campaign, because it is paying his political contributors BACK for their political contributions. He did the SAME THING as Milwaukee County Executive, when he awarded no-bid contracts to Bear-Stearns to "look after" Milwaukee County Taxpayer Funds, for $90,000 MORE than other companies would have done the same job for. In return, Walker received two fundraisers worth $25,000 for his campaign for Milwaukee County Executive, FROM Bear-Stearns. Bear-Stearns did such a good job of looking after other people's money, that they collapsed on March 17, 2008. Once one of the largest investment banking firms, the Federal Reserve provided up to $30 Billion in non-recourse financing to J.P. Morgan (Now Chase), to cover losses. J.P. Morgan ended up buying Bear-Stearns for $236 Million ($2.00 a share, which used to sell for $60.00 a share), which left shareholders "holding the bag".
http://www.newsinferno.com/legal-news/stunning-bear-stearns-collapse-leaves-shareholders-in-the-lurch/
Walker always planned on TAKING the money. He was just going to use it to continue to finance his political ambitions. He's NOT saving you from taxation when he continues to spend that same money. And he certainly isn't benefitting YOU the Taxpayer, if he continues to put money into bad investments or antiquated technology which continues to waste dwindling natural resources rather than putting it into something that builds needed infrastructure for our future and conserving our natural resources.
The Federal Government has already publicly stated that the money can ONLY be used for the high speed rail project. So, if Walker doesn't complete the high speed rail project with the money provided, then the money would GO TO ANOTHER STATE which DOES WANT HIGH SPEED RAIL.
Over the last 30 YEARS, primarily under Republican control of Wisconsin's government, and Congressional Representation, the state has only averaged a return BACK to the STATE of ONLY 81 cents out of every dollar which its citizens send to the Federal Government in Income Taxes. 19% of everything sent to the Federal Government by Wisconsin Citizens has gone to help OTHER STATES, because YOUR Congressional Representatives (primarily Republicans) aren't doing their job to bring those dollars BACK to pay for infrastructure, health care and education, among other things. Congressman Sensenbrenner has one of the WORST records in Congress, bringing only 75 - 76 cents of every dollar paid by his constituents, back to this district for almost FOUR DECADES.
Let's be very clear about how taxes work. You pay your Federal Income Taxes, and based on how well your YOUR Congressional Representative WORKS FOR YOU to bring those dollars back, you get that same money back to pay for expenses for your communities. If they don't bring that money BACK, then whatever shortfall there is between what could have been received back, and the cost of those projects and other expenses, has to be PAID FOR BY YOU THE TAXPAYER, in the form of State or Local Taxes. In other words, you pay for those projects and expenses TWICE! Sensenbrenner claims he's cutting your taxes, by not getting the money to spend on local projects, when in reality HE'S RAISING YOUR TAXES.
Congressman Dave Obey (D) held his seat for 41 years, starting in 1969, in an area which has been fairly evenly divided amongst Democrats and Republicans, because he's always worked hard to bring tax dollars BACK to his district. He's retiring at the end of his term in 2011. State Senator Julie Lassa (D) lost in her bid to win election to his seat to Sean Duffy ( R ), whose claim to fame was as a cast member of MTV's "Real World"; and his stance as a Tea Partier which garnered the support of Sarah Palin.
Within the next thirty years, we are looking at a doubling of our population, and along with that, a doubling of our traffic congestion. If you want our highways to look like Chicago's highways during "rush" hour ("Rush" is a mis-nomer since their highways look more like giant parking lots.), and you want our cities to become ghost towns, because they aren't connected to other cities which WILL BOOM because they ARE connected; then by all means oppose high speed rail, and watch any highly educated and trained potential employees leave the state in DROVES. What would motivate companies to locate here, if they can't get employees to LIVE here?
Killing high speed rail will also cause us to lose 13,000 jobs related to the construction and operation of the train. Talgo, the Spanish high speed train manufacturer, is already threatening to move to a different state, which DOES support high speed rail, and take their jobs with them.
Wisconsin would lose $100 million which has already been invested in the high speed rail project.
If you think that killing the high speed rail project is a BAD IDEA and would KILL much needed job creation, and a much needed cash influx to the state, then CALL Scott Walker's Transition Office and TELL HIM SO.
Call: 608-261-9200
You might also want to tell him what you think of his unprecedented POWER GRAB, in "asking"/telling Governor Doyle to stand down on critical projects and legislation for the remainder of his term. And no, contrary to Republicans claiming that it has been done before; over the last seven transitions, IT HAS NOT. (He isn't sworn into office, and isn't LEGALLY Governor until January 3rd!)
Democrats should be working overtime to get as many pieces of legisalation passed, contracts signed and projects started before Repblicans take office. And if you don't that's fair, then why aren't you asking Milwaukee County County Exec. Scott Walker to turn over the reins of Milwaukee County to his successor, instead of forcing him and the residents of Milwaukee County to have to comply with the terms of NEXT YEAR'S Budget which Walker has used Line Item Veto Power to eliminate funding for many items in the budget? (Remember when Republicans complained about Governor Doyle using Line Item Veto Power on State Legislation, and claimed that that power should be eliminated - even as President Bush was using the SAME POWER to veto Congressional Legislation written by Democrats? I doubt they 'll be eliminating Line Item Veto Power now that both houses of the State Legislature are controlled by Republicans, not that Walker will "need" to Veto anything now that Republicans control both houses of the State Legislature, the Governor's office and the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
Scott Walker has single handedly destroyed the pro-business environment in Milwaukee County, which used to be the industrial hub of America, by eliminating his office's department for job creation; slashing 20% of the County jobs and outsourcing many of those jobs to businesses outside of the state; destroying what used to be one of the best transit systems in the country, cutting routes, increasing fees by 50%, and cutting off over 40,507 workers from their jobs and 1,713 businesses from their employees as of 2007 alone, yet blames Mayor Barrett for the job and business losses, which Walker HIMSELF caused. Yet, he claims to be a job creator? And he has decimated the Parks and Recreation Department worker ranks, so that what used to be one of the best County Park Systems in the County is only a shell of its former self. Those facilities and services are key to attracting good workers and keeping them in our community. Without them, workers move elsewhere, where they are able to access those facilities and enjoy them for a better standard of living. Once again, Walker drives away jobs and businesses because his policies don't value them, and don't provide services which would keep them in our community.
But here are the facts that refute Republican arguments about deficit reduction and balancing the budget being the ONLY priority.
The big banks that got bailed out have not only balanced their budgets, because of taxpayer bailouts started under BUSH, but they have $1.8 Trillion in uncommitted funds. In other words, NOT BEING LOANED. And they are profitable once again.
Their books were balanced with Taxpayer funds, and NOW THEY REFUSE TO LOAN to INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL BUSINESSES!
Their books are BALANCED, THEY DON’T HAVE ANY DEFICIT. THEIR CASH PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED!
So, what about the individuals and small businesses, who depend on these banks to provide loans to them, but the banks won’t provide any funds to anyone, JUST so they can keep their books balanced (and of course, give huge salary and bonus increases to their executives while laying off thousands of their employees)?
Tell me if you think that balancing the budget for BANKS is the ONLY priority? Republicans who run, and own these banks think it is. That’s why they won’t loan you any money. Insurance companies are the same way, with $1.6 Trillion in uncommitted funds (i.e. not going to clients for legitimate claims).
So, is a balanced budget and elimination of deficits for Banks and Insurance companies the best way to deal with a poor economy? Of course not! If THEY don’t loan the money, the economy CAN’T GET BETTER. So, if they refuse to do the job that they are in business to do, who will? When the public is afraid, they cut down on consumer spending. (That is why companies are being forced to sell their products at deep discounts. They don't necessarily make enough to stay profitable, they just manage to get rid of overstock so they don't have to pay taxes on stock sitting in the warehouse.)
The only entity big enough to fix the problem is the U.S. Government. Like it or not, unless enough of a stimulus is put out there for long enough to turn the economy around, things aren’t going to change.
So, if you don’t like it, start writing to your banks and insurance companies to get them to cough up the dough. And when that fails to work, then hope that the Government can put enough money into the economy to turn it around, and hope that it isn’t too late.
By the way, Scott Walker took $132 MILLION in Federal Stimulus money, WHICH HE TOOK CREDIT FOR, EVEN AS HE CRITICIZED IT, which helped to keep the Milwaukee County Transit System from going completely under, something he has been tearing apart little by little, ever since he got into office.
He would have done it quicker, but it probably would have looked too obvious that he was trying to destroy the economy of the largest Democratic stronghold in the State of Wisconsin, by destroying the bus transit system, which is absolutely necessary to provide low cost transportation to poor workers, and provide low cost workers to businesses.
Let’s be very clear. THAT is what caused the loss of jobs and businesses in Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. Anyone with any understanding of logistics would understand that.
It isn’t that Scott Walker doesn’t understand that fact. The fact is that he just doesn’t CARE, and he did it INTENTIONALLY.
For more information on Scott Walker’s history of frauds and failures go to : www.ScottWalkerFailureFiles.com
And Walker is responsible for the destruction of the Milwaukee County Transit System, which was once considered one of the finest in the country. Instead of replacing old buses which are falling apart and and building a new bus terminal, which Milwaukee County received $350 MILLION in Federal funds to do, he spent $300 Million on repeated "studies" which led no where, and continued maintenance on buses that aren't worth maintaining. Anyone knows that once a vehicle goes beyond a certain point and is falling apart, it costs too much to maintain and needs to be replaced! And because there was no proper maintenance of the bus terminal and it wasn't rebuilt when the money had been acquired to do so, it was found that it too, was suffering significant structural issues. But only after the tragic collapse of the garage facade which caused the death of a teenager at O'Donnell Park.
He's raised bus fees every year since getting into office (and the transfers are only good for one hour rather than a full day). It's up 50% from when he took over, even though routes and services were cut so much that a recent study showed that over 40,000 employees no longer have access to their employers (1,713 businesses were affected), as of 2007 alone. The number of jobs affected is expected to hit 101,066 by the end of 2010. Greg Borowski refuses to print that information or even look at the study, claiming them to be "rumours". Anyone in business who has any understanding of logistics knows that cheap access to convenient transportation is absolutely necessary for any low paid workers to get to work. That is why so many "company towns" have been built around businesses for decades. And any business knows that access to workers is necessary to keep their business functioning and profitable. So, the lost jobs, and businesses which the Republicans have been claiming occurred, "under Barrett's watch", were actually CAUSED BY SCOTT WALKER'S POLICIES! Why? Because he is destroying the economy of the largest population of DEMOCRATIC VOTERS in the State of Wisconsin!
http://grassrootsnorthshore.org/?p=1149&utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=8e18cb7507-Action_Alert7_21_2008&utm_medium=email The number is actually 40,507 jobs and 1,713 businesses inaccessible due to transit cuts, AS OF 2007. That number will rise to at least 101,066 by the end of 2010, with another 18% of businesses currently using the bus system affected. With so many jobs INACCESSIBLE, due to Scott Walker's transit cuts, route cuts and a 50% increase in fees, don't you think that would lead to JOB LOSSES, and BUSINESSES LEAVING because their workers can't get to work? The Republican Governor's Association would like you to believe that it was Mayro Barrett's fault for the job losses and businesses leaving. The facts show that these losses are ALL because of Scott Walker's policies!
A A recent news report says that this is the only year since becoming County Executive, in 2002, that Scott Walker ISN'T raising bus fees and asked if it had anything to do with the fact that he was running for Governor. Gee, ya think?
The Federal Stimulus provided $132 MILLION to help keep the County Transit System afloat, which Walker took credit for, even though he publicly opposed Congress's providing the funds in the first place.
Ever since Walker took over as County Executive, he's put the County deeper and deeper into debt, with sweetheart no-bid deals with Bear-Stearns, for $90,000 more than other firms could have done for the same services, (who threw him two fundraisers in return, worth $25,000 - meaning that the Milwaukee County Taxpayers paid for them), and "investing" almost $400,000 worth of Milwaukee County Taxpayer funds with Bear-Stearns which went belly up in 2008. He plays around with the budget numbers, fraudulently claiming that the County is in good shape, and fraudulently claiming a solid income stream from a source which was only theoretically possible at best. Now, reviews of actual budget numbers indicate that Milwaukee County is $32 Million in the hole. News reports say Milwaukee County is considering bankruptcy.
And this is who Republicans want to be our next Governor. Now you know what it looks like to have "government shrunk down to the size that it can be drown in a bathtub", as Grover Norquist puts it. This is what the Bush-Rovian Neo-Con-Artist vision of America looks like.
County Executive Scott Walker, Fraudulently used Projected numbers as REAL to boost Revenues in his 2011 Budget (That's how Republicans "balance the budget", they FAKE THE NUMBERS!)
http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=213569
Milwaukee Co. Supervisor Thomas: Fact checking the county executive on transit video revenue
10/6/2010
Contact: Harold Mester, Public Information Manager
414/278-4051 or harold.mester@milwcnty.com
Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee County Supervisor Johnny L. Thomas released the following statement to provide further information opposing County Executive Scott Walker’s decision to include $2 million in transit video advertising revenue in the 2011 Recommended Budget:
“As this audio clip from the July Transportation Committee meeting details, I was simply asking that we give this idea a test drive, outside of the budget process, during 2011 to see if the projected revenues would be realized. I did not encourage anyone, including the County Executive, to bank on these revenues as part of the 2011 Budget. It’s unfortunate that the County Executive didn’t bother to contact me or potential partners to follow-up on these estimates. Instead, he just jammed the $2 million figure into his budget without doing any real research.”
“The press release Walker’s office issued yesterday proves that the only due diligence performed by Walker’s administration came from the newspaper. How shameful. Our constituents deserve better than that. I have a private sector accounting background and understand how to create jobs and support small businesses to deliver economic development. That’s the whole premise of my transit video idea was to create dedicated funds for transit. We need to reverse transit’s downward trend from the last eight years. According to UWM, approximately 40,000 jobs are now inaccessible due to these transit cuts.”
Supervisor Michael Mayo, Sr., Chairman of the Transportation, Public Works & Transit Committee, verified the position Supervisor Thomas took at the Committee meeting.
Daniel Bice Milwaukee County finances on brink, report says
Rick Wood
This year, the Milwaukee County Transit System is celebrating 150 years of public transit service to area residents. The greater Milwaukee committee report forsees spinning off the bus system, zoo and parks and cultural facilities in order to keep Milwaukee County solvent.
Parks, zoo, bus routes at risk, warns Greater Milwaukee Committee
Oct. 9, 2010 |
Milwaukee County government is in such dire financial shape that state lawmakers should push through legislation that would allow it and other local governments to file for bankruptcy.
That's one of several recommendations included in a super-secret report drafted by the Greater Milwaukee Committee last month. This group of movers and shakers has decided to hold off releasing the details until after next month's election.
But a copy of the report's draft executive summary obtained by No Quarter shows the powerful committee is looking to recommend doing away with the elected county executive's post, slicing county worker benefits and spinning off the zoo, the bus system, the parks and much else under separate commissions.
If these dramatic steps - or something like them - aren't taken county government will collapse, the draft report suggests. In fact, in just six years, the report estimates, the county's pension and health care obligations will eat up every dollar raised through the county tax levy.
"The short-term 'solutions' and one-time 'fixes' have been exhausted," it says. "Without real reform, the County will be forced to eliminate whole areas of service to our community."
The report also puts it this way:
"If we don't make changes today, the future looks grim. Parks will close, bus routes will end and families in distress will not get the help they need. Our Milwaukee will grow smaller and smaller as people and companies leave."
H. Carl Mueller, a Milwaukee PR executive who sits on the committee, said the group has been working on the plan for many months. He declined to release the full report on which the summary is based.
Members of the 32-member committee - composed of business leaders with ties to Republicans and Democrats - decided jointly at their September meeting to sit on the recommendations for a couple of months.
For one, Mueller said, the group wasn't done working on the recommendations, though he acknowledged that most of the recent changes amount to fine-tuning the details.
The panel hopes to present its ideas to civic and business groups before officially releasing the report.
But there were other factors taken into consideration as well.
"We don't want this to become some sort of political football during the fall election campaigns," said Mueller, who generally is supportive of Democrats.
"Given that we've been at this for a year, it doesn't make a big difference to us whether it is (released) this month or next month as far as what we're trying to accomplish," he continued. "But we are mindful of the fact that we're in the thick of a very hard-fought political campaign."
Michael Grebe, the head of the conservative Bradley Foundation, is chairman of both the Greater Milwaukee Committee and the campaign for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, the Republican gubernatorial nominee. Walker is taking on Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic nominee.
Did Grebe have a hand in making sure the report - which could be used against Walker - didn't come out before the Nov. 2 election?
"It's a fair question," Grebe said Friday.
But it was Julia Taylor, president of the committee, who recommended delaying release of the report, Grebe said. He then presented it to the full board, which agreed.
"The group - and it truly was a group decision - felt this report would get lost in the commotion of the election year, and it would be more effective for us to release after the
election," Grebe said.
Mueller added that Grebe has been very careful about not mixing his roles. Besides, Mueller noted, the committee has several members close to Barrett, including lawyer
Marc Marotta, a former top aide to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, and Jill Morin of Kahler Slater Architects. Mueller said no one used their political affiliations to influence the direction of the draft report.
"They don't bring politics into that meeting," Mueller said. "They're really focused on, 'How do we get this to happen in the best way possible?' "
Not surprisingly, Barrett's campaign jumped at the chance to use the draft recommendations as "a stunning indictment" of Walker's eight years at the county's helm.
Barrett spokesman Phil Walzak called on the committee to release the full report before the election, saying it could give a glimpse of what awaits the state if Walker becomes governor.
Walker said the draft recommendations are consistent with what he has been saying since he was first elected county CEO in 2002.
Under Scott Walker's "direction" as Milwaukee County Executive, he had already increased bus fares from $1.50 to $2.25 a 50% increase. And by cutting bus routes, eliminated access to jobs by tens of thousands of jobs. When those employees were no longer available to employers (who need low cost labor, but whose employees no longer have access to low cost transportation), those employers either CLOSE THEIR BUSINESSES or MOVE THEIR BUSINESSES to communities which DO provide affordable transportation to low income groups.
Scott Walker also squandered a $350 MILLION federal grant, which was supposed to be used to upgrade or replace the old bus terminal, and replace the aging buses. Instead, he used $300 Milion on repeated "studies" to "provide options" on what to do with the money, and on "band-aide repairs" to the terminal and the buses which should have been REPLACED. Anyone with an old vehicle recognizes that the repair costs end up exceeding the value of the vehicle, and that the vehicle has to either be replaced with a new or newer vehicle. Instead of maintaining a transport system which was once one of the best in the country, HE DESTROYED IT.
While he and his supporters have blamed the loss of jobs and businesses on Mayor Barrett, Scott Walker's incompetent handling of a service so vital to the viability of a community has single handedly been responsible for the losses of jobs and businesses which they have fraudulently blamed on Mayor Barrett.
How can Scott Walker claim that he is for small business when he is eliminating their access to employees? Doesn't he recognize that that access is is vitally imporant to the success or failure of a business? If he doesn't, he has no business in legitimate government, due to his incompetence.
On the other hand, by claiming that Mayor Barrett was responsible for the results caused by Walker's own policies, he's demonstrated an arrogance in his failure to take responsibility for his decisions, and refusal to correct those "mistakes", if they were indeed mistakes. Due to his insistance on politicizing every issue rather than actually doing his job, one might get the impression that Scott Walker destroyed Milwaukee's bus transportation system to INTENTIONALLY blame those those results on someone else for his own political aspirations. Frankly, that wouldn't surprise me. The state of Wisconsin deserves better.
Specifically, the GOP nominee said he has repeatedly said the county's wages and benefits are out of control and need to be reined in. He even suggested the business committee didn't go far enough in its recommendations for improving the county's condition.
"We made it better," Walker said Friday. "But I've suggested for the last couple of years that when you have the only county in the state that is fully incorporated, a better long-term solution is to eliminate that extra layer and find a replacement for that."
Asked about the idea of passing a law to allow local governments, including Milwaukee County, to file for bankruptcy, Walker said: "They should apply that for all local governments because Milwaukee Public School system is in much worse condition than any other local government that's here. To me, the better example is to eliminate the government entirely."
Neither campaign had seen a copy of the draft summary until shown one Friday.
Greater Milwaukee set up a county task force and commissioned the nonprofit Public Policy Forum to evaluate the problems in county government. Its report, which found a growing gap between costs and revenue, came out in January.
The committee has been working since then to come up with a list of recommendations.
"Milwaukee is facing unprecedented fiscal and structural challenges, including a growing cost of healthcare and pension benefits that is projected to take EVERY DOLLAR of the County's property tax levy by 2016," the draft report says.
Called the My Milwaukee County initiative, the draft recommendations call for:
• Changing county government's bottom line by scaling back its health care program for current and retired employees; requiring county workers to retire later and give more to the pension fund; reducing the number of supervisors and the amount they are paid; and selling off or leasing county properties.
The draft plan also says county officials should consider dropping the elected county executive position in favor of creating a county administrator post that would be filled by a County Board appointee.
• Spinning off the parks, zoo, bus system and all recreational and cultural programs so they are run by separate authorities or commissions. The county could also deliver non-mandatory services via public-private arrangements or in conjunction with other local governments.
• Creating a statewide "fiscal stability toolkit" for monitoring local governments.
Under this idea, the state would set up a fiscal stress test to make sure county and city governments and school districts are balancing their budgets and paying their bills.
Then state lawmakers would create a process for troubled local governments to file for bankruptcy and would require that a municipality's financial troubles be considered during binding arbitration.
"It really is a work in progress," Mueller said, emphasizing that Greater Milwaukee officials are meeting with many community groups to try to build support for its ideas.
Timothy Nixon, an expert in bankruptcy law based in Green Bay, said federal code allows local governments to seek protection from creditors. In the past 80 years, he said, about 200 municipalities - most of them very small - have gone bankrupt.
But local governments need state authorization before they can file for federal bankruptcy, Nixon said. Wisconsin does not permit its local governments to go bankrupt.
"Is this a shortcoming? It hasn't been historically," said Nixon, who gave $100 to Barrett's campaign. "Would it be prudent to fill that gap, given what we know about the underfunding of pension liabilities? Probably."
Some states have set up their own distress programs to help cities facing financial problems, while others simply grant local governments the authority to file for federal bankruptcy.
If Wisconsin did either of these, Nixon said, it's still not clear if Milwaukee County would be able to escape or alleviate its mounting pension payments.
"I am not aware of it actually being done - though it is threatened," he said. "I don't know why it wouldn't be legally possible, but if it was successfully done in a municipal case, it would set a new precedent."
In short, Nixon said, "If a municipality got serious about it, I think it would be a holy war, so to speak."
Daniel Bice can be contacted by phone at (414) 224-2135 or by e-mail at dbice@journalsentinel.com.
The guy who has been responsible for financial decisions for Milwaukee County as Milwaukee County Executive since being elected in a special election (read that low turnout), in 2002, is Scott Walker, the Republican candidate for Governor. He dropped out of college with a 2.5 GPA (B- to C+) to take a Marketing and Development job with the Red Cross in 1990 (at a time that the Red Cross was being used to manipulate political action and funding for Republicans. It was also used to take public donations for services not supplied by government to employ Republican operatives who needed a job - a form of welfare for Republicans, who couldn't get a job in the private sector.
Senator Robert Dole's wife Elizabeth Dole became President of the Red Cross in 1991, and reshaped its Board of Governors, composing it of Presidents and CEOs of companies who benefitted by the weakening of FDA restrictions against their companies during the first Bush Administration, and who also contributed heavily to Senator Dole's failed Presidential run.) Walker was elected in a special election to the 14th District of the State Assembly in 1993, winning two successive two year terms in a district which historically votes Republican, before winning the special election for County Executive.
HE'S BANKRUPTED MILWAUKEE COUNTY, and REPUBLICANS WANT HIM TO BANKRUPT WISCONSIN AS GOVERNOR.
DON'T YOU WANT PEOPLE SMARTER THAN YOU IN POSITIONS TO MAKE IMPORTANT DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOUR LIFE?
Larry Miller's Blog July 8, 2010
Fact-Checking Scott Walker
The perpetual candidate’s campaign claims don’t match reality
By Lisa Kaiser Shepherd Express
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has been continuously campaigning for governor for the past six years. So how do his campaign claims live up to the reality of his time in office? Here’s a look at some of his biggest claims:
Claim: Walker “introduced eight consecutive budgets without an increase to the property tax levy from the previous year.”
Reality: It’s a carefully worded statement, but “sneaky and misleading,” said Anna Landmark, research director of One Wisconsin Now (OWN).
On the face of it, Walker’s statement makes it sound like he hasn’t raised property taxes since proposing his first budget.
But that’s not the whole story, of course.
Here’s how it works: Walker will introduce an unrealistically stringent budget each autumn. The county board then has no choice but to add spending and tax increases to keep up with inflation and other increased costs of doing business. Walker will veto the changes, and the board will override the veto.
Then Walker will use that budget as the base line for his next year’s budget.
And, voila! Walker can say that he hasn’t increased taxes and spending because the board has made the tough decisions.
So how much have property taxes increased during Walker’s reign? OWN crunched the numbers and found that Walker’s proposed budgets from 2003 to 2010 raised property taxes about 17%, while he’s increased spending 35%, more than Gov. Jim Doyle did during the same period. What’s more, fees on licenses, permits, fines and forfeitures have increased a whopping 129% during Walker’s tenure.“There is the world that exists, in which he has made these increases, and then there’s this fantasy world of the campaign he’s running,” said OWN’s executive director, Scot Ross.
Another problem, of course, is the lengths to which Walker must go to not increase taxes while trying to come up with a budget. Walker failed utterly when he introduced his 2010 budget with a $32 million hole in it that was to be magically filled through $32 million of wage and benefit concessions during union contract negotiations. But Walker’s labor negotiator had never proposed these concessions to the unions. That budget still hasn’t been resolved and probably won’t be by the time voters cast their ballots this fall. In the meantime, Walker has forced many union workers to take 22 unpaid furlough days in 2010, furloughs that are wreaking havoc in places like the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex and the Milwaukee County Zoo. It’s likely that the cost of the furloughs in these critical 24/7 operations will outstrip what has been saved.
Claim: Walker says that as governor he wants to decrease taxes on employers, property owners, wealthy investors and retirees.
Reality: This makes for a great sound bite on the Republican campaign trail, but Walker’s tax proposals would blow a $5 billion hole in the state budget, according to research conducted by OWN.
First off, Walker would inherit a $2.3 billion deficit. Then he wants to slash the income tax for the top 1% of earners, which would cost the state $287 million over the biennium. He also wants to reopen the “Las Vegas loophole” to reward Wisconsin companies that set up phony offices in states without a corporate income tax to avoid paying Wisconsin state taxes. That move would set the state back about $375 million. Then he wants to roll back the capital gains tax paid by the state’s wealthiest people. Cost to the state over two years: $243 million. Walker also wants to phase out taxes on retirement income—regardless of the retiree’s wealth—which would cost the state a whopping $920 million over the course of two years. And Walker’s latest gimmick is to put the sales tax from new cars into the transportation fund, which would take more than $1 billion out of the state’s general fund.
( Note: Governor Doyle inherited a $3.2 BILLION deficit from Republicans Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum, which they created during ten years of the strongest economy ever seen in this country's history. The efforts of Democratic Governor Doyle and the Democratic Wisconsin Legislature, during the WORST economy since the Great Depression, not only have resulted in a deficit which is $700 MILLION LESS than what Republicans accomplished during the BEST economy in our history, but have also resulted in the LOWEST TAXES, during the past six years, out of the last 50 years. - A time when Republicans had majority control of the State Legislature and the Governor's office for the majority of the time. So, who is better at keeping your taxes down again? It sure isn't Republicans)
Total cost to the state: $5.125 billion during Walker’s first two years in office.
Although Walker is constantly campaigning, he’s been pretty silent about how he’d make up for these cuts. His only proposal thus far is to require state employees to contribute to their pensions. But that would generate a mere $185 million—$4.94 billion short of what he’s slashing from the state budget and handing to the state’s wealthiest residents.
Claim: Walker plans to add 250,000 jobs during his first term as governor.
Reality: Interesting, because the county’s unemployment rate has increased while Walker’s been in office. This promise means reducing the state’s unemployment rate to virtually zero. Walker offers no details on how he’d create jobs beyond cutting taxes and improving education, and it’s hard to improve education with less revenues.
As county executive, Walker has cut 20% of the county’s workforce. Many of those jobs have vanished, while others were outsourced to private companies based out of state, such as the multinational corporation Wackenhut/G4S, which took over some of the county’s security services.
Then there’s last week’s Bucyrus International dust-up, which has now been resolved. Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan, a political conservative, commended the Obama administration, Sen. Herb Kohl, Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for engaging in an “all-nighter” to resolve the dispute between the South Milwaukee manufacturer and the Export-Import Bank.
And how did Walker handle the threat to a major corporation within Milwaukee County? By taking out a full-page ad in a Racine paper to whine about the situation on the day Obama visited that city.
Claim: Walker is the one candidate who can help Harley-Davidson.
Reality: Walker has tried at every turn to seem “cool” by being a big Harley supporter. His latest gimmick is to promise to help Harley by reviving the Las Vegas loophole (otherwise known as repealing the combined reporting law), which Walker (not Harley) claims is costing the motorcycle manufacturer $22 million in taxes.
The problem, though, is that it just isn’t true. Combined reporting hasn’t caused Harley’s troubles and, what’s more, the state’s new tax policies are helping its bottom line. The new corporate tax policies benefit Wisconsin-based manufacturers. “If the change [to corporate tax policies for Wisconsin-based manufacturers] had not been made and Harley had continued to pay taxes at its 2005 rate, then in 2008 its income tax bill would have been $16 million instead of $1 million,” concluded a study by the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future.
Claim: Walker “invested over $199 million in renovations and improvements to General Mitchell International Airport without increasing the property tax levy.”
Reality: Of course the airport didn’t use the property tax for its improvements. “The airport doesn’t rely on the property tax,” explained Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson, because it uses fees paid by airlines and passengers.
Claim: Walker “implemented a pension obligation plan to save Milwaukee County taxpayers $237 million.”
Reality: Voters in Milwaukee County rejected issuing bonds to cover pension payments in a 2005 referendum. But Walker succeeded in getting almost $400 million in these bonds approved by the county board and state last year. While “bonds” may sound safe in theory, in reality they’re actually kind of risky. The idea is to invest the $400 million from the bond sales in hopes of receiving an interest rate that is higher than what the county pays on the bonds. This is like refinancing your house and investing the money in volatile tech stocks, and hoping that you’ll turn a consistent profit.
Back in 2008, the Public Policy Forum looked at Walker’s plan and was worried: “In light of the existing turmoil in the nation’s financial markets, it is highly questionable whether [pension obligation bonds] could and should be issued in this calendar year [2009], and whether the existing plan would have the desired impact in light of an almost certain dramatic increase in the unfunded liability due to investment losses.” Guess what? Walker did in fact implement them in 2009, a year full of financial turmoil.
And the $237 million saved? Walker campaign spokeswoman Jill Bader explained that the savings are spread out over 35 years.
What’s more, Walker failed to clean up the pension system he’d inherited. In fact, the Journal Sentinel won a Pulitzer in 2008 for its reporting on how a $50 million loophole still existed in the plan five years after Walker was voted into office.
Claim: “From 2002 through 2010, Scott and Tonette Walker have given back over $370,000 of his salary to the county.”
Reality: Walker likes to brag that he returns a portion of his salary to the county to show that he’s frugal. But in 2004, a campaign rival noted that despite Walker’s claims of returning some salary, he was still drawing his pension and benefits on his full salary.
And Remember When They Were Saying Milwaukee's Business Taxes Were Also Too High? (They Still Are.) A New Study By Accountants Shows That Milwaukee Has Among The Nation's Lowest Business Taxes. Apparently Scott Walker and the Republican Governors who put out their mud-slinging ads haven’t bothered to read the ACTUAL DATA. Their accusations aren't even close to being accurate, but they depend on your believing their lies as long as they keep repeating them. Why? Because it has worked for them for the last 60 years.
Accountants say Milwaukee has among the nation’s lowest business taxes
Yet another major accounting firm has put its quantitative stamp of approval on the fact that business taxes in Wisconsin are low.
KPMG International’s study of business tax structures found Milwaukee with the 4th lowest taxes among 24 midsize U.S. cities and 15th lowest among 59 cities of all sizes. (A more recent study shows Milwaukee 8th LOWEST among the 95 cities studied.)
Among the cities with higher business taxes than Milwaukee are Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Tampa. Who says that taxes destroy a business climate?
The KPMG study is at: http://www.competitivealternatives.com/download/default.asp.
ftp://ftp.competitivealternatives.com/2010_compalt_report_tax_en.pdf
Detailed results by country. The LOWER YOUR RANKINGS, and the LOWER THE TAXES, THE HIGHER YOU ARE ON THE TABLE.
Detailed tables of rates. CIT – Corporate Income Tax, OCT = Other Corporate Taxes, SLC = Statutory Labor Costs, TETR = Total Effective Tax Rate, TTI = Total Tax Index
Economic Impact of Walker’s Transit Cuts
Scott Walker’s cuts to the bus system — once one of the best in the country — have had a negative effect going beyond the affected riders. If he wants to claim to be a job creator, this has already put him in the hole.
Walker has already cut the transit system by 20%. This means that 1,713 fewer employers were within reach of a bus route and a minimum of 40,507 jobs became inaccessible to bus riders.Those are hard numbers as of 2007.
Estimates were that the percentage of employers by 2010 would drop from 63% to 45% and more than 101,066 jobs would be inaccessible.
For the 2011, the recommended budget included:
• Elimination of all Freeway Flyer routes
• Elimination of all Summerfest Flyers (those are the buses that go to and from all activities at the Summerfest Grounds)
• Elimination of regular routes #28, #64, #68 and #219
• Elimination of some route segments, including the one going to MATC South
• Weekday service hours would be cut down to 4:30 am to 12 midnight from the current 3:45 am to 3 am
• Weekend service hours would be cut down to 6 am to 12 midnight from the current 4:30 am to 2:30 am on Saturdays or 2 am on Sundays
• Thirteen routes will have their weekend service cut even further (routes #10, 11, 12, 14, 31, 33, 35, 51, 53, 4, 57, 67 and 80)
• Fares would go up 25 cents
• Weekly passes would go up one dollar
• Paratransit fares would go up from $3.25 to $4
If Title 19 fails to come through with extra funding, paratransit routes will be cut to federal standards. This would isolate a lot of disabled and elderly people, especially in the far southern suburbs
Add comment September 27th, 2010