But remember, Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the legislature have our state budget on the right track…
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is projecting a $2.2 billion deficit heading into the 2015-17 budget cycle.
That’s a sizable hole for Walker, who is contemplating a 2016 presidential run, to climb out of as he crafts his own budget proposal due out early next year. Achieving a balanced budget will require scaling back program requests, especially if he wants to further cut taxes.
“We will continue to protect Wisconsin taxpayers, provide a good value to those taxpayers, and live within our means,” Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said. “Gov. Walker will introduce a balanced budget early next year focused on growing the economy and moving people from government dependence to true independence.”
WE have big surplus, Forbes ranks us in top ten for growth, but if worse comes to worse we will have a Liberal tax to make up the difference.
Dohnal,
Why don’t you call Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, and the rest and ask why they never talk about the “free trade” bills that Obama’s gonna sign?
“TPP deal not about trade, should be stopped”
“…corporations can’t wait to move our remaining manufacturing jobs to a nation where the government will protect multinational investment. Then, U.S. and other workers will be told to compete with wages half the rate of Mexico, Central America and China.
If any of the 12 and growing number of TPP nations improves worker rights or environmental protection, or legislates anything that threatens the profits of investors, a multinational corporation can sue that nation in a secret arbitration tribunal for any loss of future profits due to legislative action.
This is not science fiction. There are 500 such cases pending from 20 years of similar deals since NAFTA: Philip Morris suing Uruguay and Australia for warnings on cigarette packaging; transportation giant Veolia suing Egypt for raising its minimum wage; and Swedish energy giant Vattenfall suing Germany for limiting nuclear energy in the wake of Fukushima.
If fast track were enacted for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP deal itself would get only an up-or-down House and Senate vote, without amendment. And Congress would consider fast track before knowing the content of he Trans-Pacific Partnership. Our nation and voters, no matter our party identification, want open and transparent government.
We support fair trade for the 21st century, but it must balance our imports and exports, lead to job growth and protect our rights, not just those of the 1 percent.”
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20141117/OPINION02/311170003/TPP-deal-not-about-trade-should-be-stopped
“Election Results Indicate Huge Mandate for New Trade Pacts”
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/27337-election-results-indicate-huge-mandate-for-new-trade-pacts
These are “NAFTA on steroids.” It will be illegal to stamp “MADE IN AMERICA” on something.
Dohnal, so you disagree with the Walker Administrations’s forecast as reported in the Wisconsin State Journal? Why and what are your sources that would counter the Governor’s own deficit forecast? Please share.
Also, Forbes ranks us 32 overall, 18 in growth prospects rank. Not in top 10 in future jobs. But Minnesota is in the top 10 overall while Iowa was I believe about 12, so that’s nice.
Look for lots of program cuts to achieve a balanced budget given the Presidential run.
No Dumb Dohnal. Just…no.
GOPs can’t budget and trickle-down never balances the budget. It’s been true whether it’s Reagan, Dubya or Dubya-2 (Scott Walker). So to dig us (and by us, I mean the parts of the state that aren’t founded in white-flight racism and mediocre people’s bitterness) out of the hole these dopes have caused, can we target all service and spending cuts to Dumb Dohnal’s communities in the 262 that elected these economic illiterates?
TPP is huge worry. http://www.slypodcasts.com/apps/blog/lori-wallach-obama-gop-unite-on-free
UW Superior next in line cutting State hired maintenance workers, they’ve been notified of termination, and the school administration is reviewing privatization with a firm out of Georgia.
Correction, Dubya 2 would be Obombya. Walker is contending for the spot of Dubya 3 as he transitions to national scene.
Ray Cross and UW system need to hear from us.
SARCASM
Sure hope the GOP doesn’t decide to end the job-killing-government-regulations against pot. Would sure be a shame to create a lot of urban agricultural jobs and take all that revenue away from the drug gangs.
/sarcasm
I’m confused. Didn’t Act 10 fix everything yet? Didn’t the governor say we had a budget surplus right before the election? I’m sure Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling will clear up this mistake for us!
“The deficit reflects how much departmental budget requests exceed projected revenues.”
This is like saying I would like to spend a million dollars next year but I only have fifty thousand and therefore I have a personal $950K deficit. Interesting attempt way to spin though.
Dan, the complex processes of government are essentially run by attorneys and accountants. Those are the people who read the latest state laws and then interpret them among the the State Constitution and the other statutory processes. When you cut state and local revenues, you’re leaving the attorneys and accountants, who work for the FEDERAL government in charge. That’s what Gov. Walker is doing.
Interesting comment Dan, the crux of the matter in real services or cuts coming depends on department budget requests reflecting real past needed or actual spending, projected future needs outstripping prior actual spending, etc. Not quite sure who you see as spinning what figures and for what purpose. Maybe both sides spinning to back their own arguments.
Meanwhile already lower paid UW Superior state maintenance workers are being terminated to benefit CEO’s in Tenn. Watch the maintenance problems and complaints that will undoubtedly appear if the work is ultimately outsourced as is being discussed. To your first point on spinning figures, is the potential savings of $500K outsourcing maintenance, going to provide equal or better service and is the purported needed cost savings, not really a savings, but simply to shift that money to top positions at UWS.
UW Superior Chancellor Renee Wachter just got her own pay bumped up to $250/yr plus bennies. Georgette Koenig, the vice chancellor of administration and finance at UW-Superior, said there will be more reductions, but not out of her pocket as her salary just jumped by $40K/yr.
My issue is with calling it a budget deficit when there is no actual budget. The aggregate proposed spending is just that, proposed. If, when the actual spending levels are decided, there isn’t enough revenue to cover the expenditures, the phrase budget deficit would be appropriate.
Stop the spin, Dan. This is no different than Walker’s claim of a “massive budget deficit that Jim Doyle left me.” Walker hadn’t submitted a budget then, either.
On an apples-to-apples comparison, using the same DOA document, we are in worse fiscal shape now than we were when Walker took office. And by the way, that’s with Walker’s DOA giving rosy revenue estimates for this year that we are on pace to fall way short of.
Don’t even try it.
I had noticed Dan’s minced word pie, just not clear on why or for what purpose or possible partisan objective it was being served for. Thanks for your input.
You are assuming that I am somehow on Walker’s side. You are incorrect. If Walker did the same thing, then he is just as guilty.
I am on the side of getting reliable information. How much money do we have (Lets call that A)? How much more (B) are we going to get? How much (C) are we going to spend? If A+B-C is a negative number we have a deficit. It is really that simple.
Department spending requests are not how much we are going to spend. How much we are going to spend is how much we are going to spend.
I’m really not trying to defend Walker here. I am trying to defend math.
Dan, if you’re not fully “on Walker’s side,” why aren’t you bashing him for failing to end the job-killing-government-regulations against marijuana?
That would LOWER state costs all along the law enforcement supply chain. It would create new jobs in urban agriculture, while bringing in NEW revenue that’s currently going to the drug cartels. Wisconsin’s losing tourism dollars to Colorado and other more forward looking states.
Walker and the GOP, like the Dems are taking money from Big Pharma, “The Smoke and Mirrors of the Legalization Debate” http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2012/04/27/the-smoke-and-mirrors-of-the-legalization-debate/
So your position is that not being on his side means sitting around finding things for which to bash him? That sounds exhausting.
That article was very anti-Obama, which makes sense because marijuana is subject to federal drug laws. I am not opposed to legalization, but why do you want me to bash Walker for not trying to usurp federal law? Take it up with the president.
Dan,
You wrote: “So your position is that not being on his side means sitting around finding things for which to bash him?”
Nope, that’s not my position. My position fwiw is that if funded trolls were commenting at Dem sites, in order to “blend in,” they’d conscientiously avoid the usual wingnut/Charlie Sykes/Mark Belling hot buttons, abortion, race, immigration, the nanny state
You wrote: “That sounds exhausting.”
Take a nap.
You wrote: “That article was very anti-Obama,”
Read it again, it was primarily anti-Big Pharma. They donate to both parties, because they stand to lose a ton of revenue if pot’s legalized.
You wrote: “which makes sense because marijuana is subject to federal drug laws.”
Wrong again.
What makes pot unusual is that under the Controlled Substances Act, Congress “explicitly gives the executive branch the responsibility to change the schedule of any drug without needing to go through Congress.”
http://justsaynow.firedoglake.com/2014/01/31/obama-lies-to-jake-tapper-about-his-ability-to-reschedule-marijuana/
You’re right, Obama could just reschedule it, which would save everyone a lot of time. Since he wants more money from Big Pharma for his Presidential Library, however, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
You wrote: “I am not opposed to legalization,”
Be still my beating heart.
You wrote: “but why do you want me to bash Walker for not trying to usurp federal law? Take it up with the president.”
We have a little thing in this country called “states rights.” Sometimes folks disagree, like on slavery. Some states thought it was fine, some didn’t. Some of us don’t have a lot of faith in the federal government or Washington, D.C. I’m sorry you haven’t heard, but both Colorado and Washington have already legalized pot. I’m sorry you haven’t had a chance to hear Gov. Walker speak. “Getting government out of the way,” is one of his favorite lines. All I’m doing is asking Gov. Walker, Robin Vos, and Scott Fitzgerald to “walk the walk.”
Dan,
My apologies for omitting from my 6:50 pm that Gov. Walker rejected FEDERAL money for high speed rail and Medicaid.
When he wants to, the Governor has no problem bucking federal authority. http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/walker-defends-rejecting-fed-funds-for-passenger-rail/article_d3fb1326-1e2d-11e1-a602-001871e3ce6c.html
http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/30/scott-walker-actually-rejected-obamacares-medicaid-expansion-unlike-some-fellow-2016-hopefuls-at-vegas-event/
Dan,
Since you’re claiming to care about math, give us your opinion of Jake’s analysis. “Wisconsin deficit already spiraling higher”
“The deficit that resulted from Thursday’s Wisconsin Department of Administration’s summary of budget requests and revenue projections were bad enough. To review, $197 million must be made up in the next 7 months, and over $2.2 billion more in the 2 years after that. But those numbers may be soft-selling how badly the situation really is, and Friday’s release of October’s numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue indicate that the deficit may grow larger….” http://jakehasablog.blogspot.com/2014/11/wisconsin-deficit-already-spiraling.html
Dan,
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau puts Walker’s deficit at around $1.8 billion. That’s about double what it was when he took over as Governor.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-state-budget-shortfall-projected-at-nearly-18-billion-b99345660z1-274364501.html