Experts: Wisconsin only ‘Republican broke’By David Ferguson - RawStory
Sunday, April 10th, 2011 -- 11:52 am
<snip>
According to The Wisconsin State Journal
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_00271ffc-6377-11e0-a3ec-001cc4c002e0.html some economists allege that Governor Scott Walker's budget crisis is a fabrication invented out of whole cloth and predicated on a series of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Walker has repeatedly asserted that the state is "broke", but using the word "broke" they say, is a political tool.
"Wisconsin is Republican broke, but it's not broke," said Mordecai Lee, a UW-Milwaukee political science professor and former Democratic state lawmaker. "Broke suggests near bankruptcy."
Using the word "broke" helps Walker frame the debate around his controversial budget plans on his terms, Lee said, suggesting spending cuts are the only option and any tax increases are out of the question.
One measure of a state's economic health is its public employee pension system. U-W Madison professor of public policy and applied economics Andrew Reshcovsky says Wisconsin's is robust. "Wisconsin gets a gold star. We have a strong pension system." Wisconsin's neighbor to the south, Illinois, by contrast, has one of the nation's most beleaguered public pension systems and currently faces a massive shortfall.
Wisconsin's pension system has more than $80 billon in assets and is expected to cover its obligations made to current workers and retirees, making it one of the "largest and most solvent" pension systems in the country. The percentage of its budget which is already spoken for in prior budges (the "structural deficit") is currently at 13%, which places Wisconsin well within the national average.
<snip>
Link:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/10/experts-wisconsin-only-republican-broke/:kick:
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
