In his third daily episode, former co-chair of Wisconsin's Joint Committee on Finance, Representative Mark Pocan, talks about Governor Scott Walker's cuts to education.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
How Walker and Republicans treat higher education
Here's a short summary of how Governor Scott Walker and Republicans have treated higher education so far in this budget.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
I see their true colors shining through!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes, a headline is worth a million. As of 10:02 am, today’s online headline of Jason Stein’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story reads “GOP panel votes for corporate tax break” with a subhead that reads “But Joint Finance Committee further cuts credits for working poor.” You can read the story for yourself here.How much more crystal clear could it be? Republicans are beholden to the “haves” and don’t seem to care about the “have nots.”
Now do you understand why they are intent on rushing this budget through and their Senators are afraid to stand for a recall election?
I’d like to dedicate the Cyndi Lauper song about strength and perseverance to all 12 Repubs on the budget committee. Because I certainly “see your true colors shining through.”
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Downhill fast
I recently submitted a column for FightingBob.com recapping the damage the budget will do. In case you missed the column, here it is below in its entirety:
------------------------------------
Downhill fast
By Rep. Mark Pocan
May, 26, 2011
It’s been two months. The snow has melted. We Assembly Democrats have concluded our historic 62-plus hour floor debate. The Senate 14 came home. Fox News and its fake palm trees have gone back to warmer climates. The national spotlight has gone dark. The 100,000-plus people have left and the Capitol grounds have turned from a mud pit to the grassy areas we all remember. It may seem like things are back to normal in Madison, but don’t let Republicans lull you to sleep.
Inside the Capitol, visitors are still greeted by metal detectors, swarms of State Troopers and a faithful band of progressives who still sing from a progressive song book every noon hour. If you think Walker’s 144-page budget “repair” bill was bad, just imagine how bad the 1,345-page biennial budget is. In just one document, Scott Walker and the Fitzgerald brothers, the rulers of FitzWalkerstan, have undermined so much of what we have worked so hard for.
The biennial budget has something for everyone; or rather, it takes something away from everyone.
For the fans of clean government and campaign finance reform, Republicans have killed the Impartial Justice Act Democrats passed last session in an effort to level the playing field for Supreme Court races. Republican ire for clean campaigns isn’t limited to Supreme Court races, however, as the Joint Committee on Finance just passed a motion that also kills the Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund, ending the post-Watergate campaign finance grants that have been in place since the 1970s.
Do you like alternative transportation? Not only does Scott Walker completely eliminate state funding for new bike paths around the state in his budget bill, but Republicans eliminate regional transit authorities as well, both of which were passed last session when I co-chaired the budget committee.
Speaking of the environment, fans of the environment will be appalled to know Walker robbed the state’s recycling fund that helps local governments afford municipal recycling, and instead gave money to corporations through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Not to be outdone, the Fitzgerald brothers’ hand-picked Joint Committee on Finance recently took $280 million from nearly the next decade of funding for the Stewardship Fund.
And there’s something in the biennial budget for corporations too. Walker gave them a nice little handout when he reopened the Las Vegas loophole that Democrats closed last session, allowing corporations to shirk their civic duty to pay taxes. And to add insult to injury, the state’s budget committee recently took aim at the legacy of former Secretary Rod Nilsestuen when they undermined his working lands initiative, allowing farmers a means to protect their land from development, another legacy the Democratic majority cemented in the last budget.
If you are one of the many Wisconsinites who live paycheck to paycheck, there’s something in the budget for you too: more taxes and fees. Even though we were in a tough fiscal spot last budget, Democrats actually increased the Homestead Tax Credit. Republicans reduce that very credit. Also, Republicans have taken away the foreclosure and tenant protections we passed last session. Now, whether you own your home or rent, with a little bit of bad luck you have a better chance of becoming homeless in FitzWalkerstan.
Not to be forgotten, Walker and the Republicans plan to cut approximately $900 million from education. While the Bush recession helped create a deficit twice the size of what Walker is facing, two years ago I personally fought against even deeper proposed cuts in education.
Last but certainly not least, Democrats have made Wisconsin one of the best states in the country on health care, covering all kids and 98 percent of Wisconsinites. Not to be outdone, Walker’s proposed budget will reduce the number of people receiving health care assistance.
Wow, what a difference a couple years can make. With just a slim 52-vote majority in the Assembly, Democrats were able to pass a budget that closed corporate tax loopholes, raised taxes on the wealthiest of Wisconsinites, and held the line on taxes for low and middle-income people while investing in or limiting the cuts to programs that represent our core values as progressives.
The Senate Democrats and Assembly Democrats may have gotten a lot of attention for our two-pronged attack, with the Senate Democrats breaking quorum and the Assembly Democrats fighting like mad on the floor for almost three straight days. However, the real heroes were the 100,000-plus people who marched on the Capitol against the budget “repair” bill. In the end, Republicans proved they aren’t listening to you.
A lot of people have asked me, “What’s next?” There is still a great deal left to fight for (or against). Now, more than ever, progressives need to stand in solidarity to recall Republicans in the Senate and keep that momentum going forward to recall Governor Walker and reinstall progressive values in a state with the motto “forward.” Fighting Bob would expect no less.
------------------------------------
Downhill fast
By Rep. Mark Pocan
May, 26, 2011
It’s been two months. The snow has melted. We Assembly Democrats have concluded our historic 62-plus hour floor debate. The Senate 14 came home. Fox News and its fake palm trees have gone back to warmer climates. The national spotlight has gone dark. The 100,000-plus people have left and the Capitol grounds have turned from a mud pit to the grassy areas we all remember. It may seem like things are back to normal in Madison, but don’t let Republicans lull you to sleep.
Inside the Capitol, visitors are still greeted by metal detectors, swarms of State Troopers and a faithful band of progressives who still sing from a progressive song book every noon hour. If you think Walker’s 144-page budget “repair” bill was bad, just imagine how bad the 1,345-page biennial budget is. In just one document, Scott Walker and the Fitzgerald brothers, the rulers of FitzWalkerstan, have undermined so much of what we have worked so hard for.
The biennial budget has something for everyone; or rather, it takes something away from everyone.
For the fans of clean government and campaign finance reform, Republicans have killed the Impartial Justice Act Democrats passed last session in an effort to level the playing field for Supreme Court races. Republican ire for clean campaigns isn’t limited to Supreme Court races, however, as the Joint Committee on Finance just passed a motion that also kills the Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund, ending the post-Watergate campaign finance grants that have been in place since the 1970s.
Do you like alternative transportation? Not only does Scott Walker completely eliminate state funding for new bike paths around the state in his budget bill, but Republicans eliminate regional transit authorities as well, both of which were passed last session when I co-chaired the budget committee.
Speaking of the environment, fans of the environment will be appalled to know Walker robbed the state’s recycling fund that helps local governments afford municipal recycling, and instead gave money to corporations through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Not to be outdone, the Fitzgerald brothers’ hand-picked Joint Committee on Finance recently took $280 million from nearly the next decade of funding for the Stewardship Fund.
And there’s something in the biennial budget for corporations too. Walker gave them a nice little handout when he reopened the Las Vegas loophole that Democrats closed last session, allowing corporations to shirk their civic duty to pay taxes. And to add insult to injury, the state’s budget committee recently took aim at the legacy of former Secretary Rod Nilsestuen when they undermined his working lands initiative, allowing farmers a means to protect their land from development, another legacy the Democratic majority cemented in the last budget.
If you are one of the many Wisconsinites who live paycheck to paycheck, there’s something in the budget for you too: more taxes and fees. Even though we were in a tough fiscal spot last budget, Democrats actually increased the Homestead Tax Credit. Republicans reduce that very credit. Also, Republicans have taken away the foreclosure and tenant protections we passed last session. Now, whether you own your home or rent, with a little bit of bad luck you have a better chance of becoming homeless in FitzWalkerstan.
Not to be forgotten, Walker and the Republicans plan to cut approximately $900 million from education. While the Bush recession helped create a deficit twice the size of what Walker is facing, two years ago I personally fought against even deeper proposed cuts in education.
Last but certainly not least, Democrats have made Wisconsin one of the best states in the country on health care, covering all kids and 98 percent of Wisconsinites. Not to be outdone, Walker’s proposed budget will reduce the number of people receiving health care assistance.
Wow, what a difference a couple years can make. With just a slim 52-vote majority in the Assembly, Democrats were able to pass a budget that closed corporate tax loopholes, raised taxes on the wealthiest of Wisconsinites, and held the line on taxes for low and middle-income people while investing in or limiting the cuts to programs that represent our core values as progressives.
The Senate Democrats and Assembly Democrats may have gotten a lot of attention for our two-pronged attack, with the Senate Democrats breaking quorum and the Assembly Democrats fighting like mad on the floor for almost three straight days. However, the real heroes were the 100,000-plus people who marched on the Capitol against the budget “repair” bill. In the end, Republicans proved they aren’t listening to you.
A lot of people have asked me, “What’s next?” There is still a great deal left to fight for (or against). Now, more than ever, progressives need to stand in solidarity to recall Republicans in the Senate and keep that momentum going forward to recall Governor Walker and reinstall progressive values in a state with the motto “forward.” Fighting Bob would expect no less.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
More on Politi“Fact”
The folks over at PolitiFact apparently don’t like criticism. Interesting, since it is their business to criticize others.
But they were not happy about me outing their “process”. I’ve gotten the angry email from them. Words like “absurd”, “outrageous” and “outrageous” again. I think I hit a nerve.
Well, here’s more to make them unhappy….
I just went through a few recent posts (and one older – all the way back to the February blog I wrote) that I wanted to share just how off they are:
1) On February 25, PolitiFact states: If public employees don’t pay more for benefits starting April 1, 2011, “the equivalent” is 1,500 state employee layoffs by June 30, 2011 and 10,000 to 12,000 state and local government employee layoffs in the next two years. Politifact rating: Mostly True.
Well, it’s April 29th, no “repair” in place and, well, no layoffs. “Mostly true?” Ah, more like false. That is the same thing being said by most credible people about the Governor’s claim at the time. Walker acted as a bully, repeatedly promised layoffs if he didn’t get his way, and PolitiFact turned the other cheek and gave him a pass. Bad PolitiFact. (Can you really explain this one?)
2) On April 13, PolitFact rated “NO FLIP” on Scott Walker’s request for federal stimulus money for expanding rail. He refused it, now he asked for it. They originally rated it a “HALF FLIP” (a flop?), but now under pressure changed to say to “NO FLIP”.
C’mon PolitiFact, really? After Walker aides asked you to revisit…YOU flipped. I think you need to PolitiFact yourselves on this one. And I also suggest you flip your rating again.
3) On April 12, PolitiFact states about Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI): "The benefits that were offered to me as a congressman don’t even compare to the benefits that you get as a state employee. I just experienced that myself. They’re not nearly as good." PolitFact gave him a “Half True”.
The increased pay as a DA to a member of Congress is from $93,662 to $174,000. In addition to his salary spike, that’s almost doubling his pension BENEFIT. Half true? How about BS. Yes, he pays more for health insurance but that’s MORE THAN offset by his additional salary and pension benefit. And they are guessing on which actual health care plan he has, but have no verification (I’ll bet they sent a nasty email to him, right PolitiFact?)
And Duffy is complaining about not living “high on the hog”. Tell that to your constituents, Sean. But don’t worry about PolitiFact; they’ve got your back.
That’s only a few. I’ve got more.
But again, my goal is to make PolitiFact, an idea with merit, work. Right now, it’s a bit too sloppy and loose with the facts to be called PolitiFact.
Well, here’s more to make them unhappy….
I just went through a few recent posts (and one older – all the way back to the February blog I wrote) that I wanted to share just how off they are:
1) On February 25, PolitiFact states: If public employees don’t pay more for benefits starting April 1, 2011, “the equivalent” is 1,500 state employee layoffs by June 30, 2011 and 10,000 to 12,000 state and local government employee layoffs in the next two years. Politifact rating: Mostly True.
Well, it’s April 29th, no “repair” in place and, well, no layoffs. “Mostly true?” Ah, more like false. That is the same thing being said by most credible people about the Governor’s claim at the time. Walker acted as a bully, repeatedly promised layoffs if he didn’t get his way, and PolitiFact turned the other cheek and gave him a pass. Bad PolitiFact. (Can you really explain this one?)
2) On April 13, PolitFact rated “NO FLIP” on Scott Walker’s request for federal stimulus money for expanding rail. He refused it, now he asked for it. They originally rated it a “HALF FLIP” (a flop?), but now under pressure changed to say to “NO FLIP”.
C’mon PolitiFact, really? After Walker aides asked you to revisit…YOU flipped. I think you need to PolitiFact yourselves on this one. And I also suggest you flip your rating again.
3) On April 12, PolitiFact states about Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI): "The benefits that were offered to me as a congressman don’t even compare to the benefits that you get as a state employee. I just experienced that myself. They’re not nearly as good." PolitFact gave him a “Half True”.
The increased pay as a DA to a member of Congress is from $93,662 to $174,000. In addition to his salary spike, that’s almost doubling his pension BENEFIT. Half true? How about BS. Yes, he pays more for health insurance but that’s MORE THAN offset by his additional salary and pension benefit. And they are guessing on which actual health care plan he has, but have no verification (I’ll bet they sent a nasty email to him, right PolitiFact?)
And Duffy is complaining about not living “high on the hog”. Tell that to your constituents, Sean. But don’t worry about PolitiFact; they’ve got your back.
That’s only a few. I’ve got more.
But again, my goal is to make PolitiFact, an idea with merit, work. Right now, it’s a bit too sloppy and loose with the facts to be called PolitiFact.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Politi-facting PolitiFact
After a rather pointed conversation with a PolitiFact reporter on April 14th, I wrote this blog in advance of an expected “false” rating from PolitiFact, but didn’t publish this in advance of their opinion piece. Here’s what I originally wrote with some new information added at the end.
Two months ago (fact check that) I wrote a blog called “Scott Walker’s Top Ten Lies”. I laid out a number of the lies and misinformation that Governor Walker had put out during the introduction and debate about the budget repair bill.
In point number 9, I explained that Walker is blaming state workers for the fiscal crisis, when in reality the amount of money raised in the repair bill from increased contributions to healthcare and pensions was less than 1/10th of one percent of the state budget. That amount, therefore, did not drive any alleged problem.
However, in leading up to that, I made mention that total salary and compensation amounted to about 8.5 % of the total budget. While the total salary and compensation figure is closer to 17.7% of the total budget, I was referring to a memo from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau that excluded two agencies – Corrections and the UW System – due to their unique nature. The balance of state agencies totals 8.5%.
Here’s why. The Department of Corrections has been hands off in every budget as you don’t really have that much flexibility in reducing staff numbers. But the real thrust of excluding them is that during the furlough process, we didn’t have great savings here because we still had to staff Corrections 24/7 causing a situation where when a furloughed shift was off, often immediately following an OVERTIME shift was created to keep staffing. And, the UW System has a large number of partially and fully FEDERALLY funded positions, thus furlough and other savings would be largely non-existent due to the funding sources of those positions (they aren’t STATE dollars). Thus, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the remaining totaled 8.5 percent. I didn’t make up the number, it came from them.
But that figure is interchangeable to the point I made – that the salary and benefit total “saved” is less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the budget repair bill. That is a fact, from the budget repair document itself (current budget is $65,775,284,400 according to Table 1 of Appropriations and Authorizations page of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget summary of Act 28 – the budget. The “savings” from having employees pay in for their health insurance and pensions in the budget repair bill for the current budget is $29,800.00. Do the math, its actually less than 1/20th of one percent).
Should have I been more clear with the 17.7%? In retrospect yes, as I should have written one more paragraph as I did above explaining why I used the remaining 8.5%. But that doesn’t change the point I was making at all.
Regardless which number you use, the just-under $30 million savings is under 1/10th of one percent of the budget EXACTLY as stated in my blog. That would be called a FACT, everywhere but PolitiFact.
However, with all the lies from the Republicans, the staff at Polifact apparently needed to address Walker staff concerns and rate a Democrat with a False rating despite that it was not the point of my blog.
I told the reporter just this via phone and email. Here is what sent to the reporter:
Dear Tom,
Thanks for our conversation today. I appreciate being able to explain my point in the two-month old blog you are referencing.
As I stated, I expect that you will focus on All Ten of the Top Ten Lies of Scott Walker. At minimum, I hope you will reference the point of item number nine – that Walker’s blaming the budgetary problems on the benefits paid to state workers is completely false. The total saved in the budget repair bill discussed is less than $30 million according to the bill itself, well under the 1/10th of one percent of the total budget referenced in my blog. I have provided that documentation to you, though it is public record as well.
Let me also note that there has been no PolitiFact evaluation yet on Governor Walker’s lie about the cut spending in the proposed budget; since then it has been shown the budget has an increase of $609.5 million.
I’m sure there are plenty of others. I know your hands are full. If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Mark Pocan
As a journalism major, I appreciate the profession and also the responsibilities of that profession. I didn’t post this ahead of time because I think it would be wrong to scoop a journalist who called me about a story.
Here’s the problem with PolitiFact. The point I was making was clear – you can’t blame state employees for budgetary problems as the amount being asked for in healthcare and pension contributions was much, much smaller than the scope of the alleged problem. It was less than 1/10th of one percent to be exact.
To ignore my point – much less the other nine points in my blog – is not good or fair journalism. (I guess the fact that they didn’t challenge any of the actual ten points means they agree Walker really lied. Too bad they had to dig that deep to find something to criticize.)
I’m disappointed, but more importantly, I wanted to share just how the Polifacts process works – or better said – doesn’t work at times.
I would expect better, and I hope that’s what we all get in the future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added as of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publishing: Wow, I guess I am even more amazed/offended at two additional points.
1) The reporter, Tom Kertscher, lied. There is no sugar coating it. If you read the blog above, I clearly responded via email the same day (3:47 pm in fact) with the documents making my point. I will try calling him today to see if he merely lied or “didn’t get” it, but luckily I saved it in my sent file and cc’d a fellow journalist of his. Why he needed to lie to make his point makes me wonder if all the others that supposedly don’t respond to PolitiFact – both Democrats and Republicans – actually replied, but he didn’t share the truth with us.
2) Here is what he wrote in Sunday’s paper:
The Madison Democrat, a 13-year lawmaker, had this to say about what he labeled lie No. 9:
"Walker has said that our budget problems are largely due to employee wages. Not even close, Governor. Total salaries and compensation in the last budget were 8.5 percent of the entire state budget."
Here is what I wrote in the blog post (go ahead and check it):
9) Walker has said that our budget problems are largely due to employee wages. Not even close, Governor. Total salaries and compensation in the last budget were 8.5%* of the entire state budget. Even with the changes being made to paying more for health insurance and pensions, the total is less than 1/10th of one percent. Our real problem is the same as every state – revenues in sales tax and income tax are down due to unemployment. Luckily, unless Walker really blows it, he inherited a lower unemployment rate and a better tax collection rebound than most states in the nation. (underlining added) (Also, another paragraph explained the 8.5%* number, which included the 17.7% number)
The point of item #9 was that the approx. $30 million “saved” was a very insignificant amount in the totality of the budget, thus not driving the need for a budget repair. He intentionally left that part out, despite our telephone conversation where I emphatically explained this over and over. That was the first sign that this was a rigged process. His intentional non-inclusion can only be seen as deceitful at best.
Look, I don’t know how big this is in the grand scheme of the world. I just know that I have seen numerous times PolitiFact misrepresent or miscall items on both Republicans and Democrats in their quest to win the Pulitzer. If you don’t have enough real stuff to print daily, go every other day. Don’t just make things up. My guess is if they keep this up, they may instead be nominated for the Burlington Liar’s Club Award.
I’ll say it again. I would expect better, and I hope that’s what we all get in the future.
Two months ago (fact check that) I wrote a blog called “Scott Walker’s Top Ten Lies”. I laid out a number of the lies and misinformation that Governor Walker had put out during the introduction and debate about the budget repair bill.In point number 9, I explained that Walker is blaming state workers for the fiscal crisis, when in reality the amount of money raised in the repair bill from increased contributions to healthcare and pensions was less than 1/10th of one percent of the state budget. That amount, therefore, did not drive any alleged problem.
However, in leading up to that, I made mention that total salary and compensation amounted to about 8.5 % of the total budget. While the total salary and compensation figure is closer to 17.7% of the total budget, I was referring to a memo from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau that excluded two agencies – Corrections and the UW System – due to their unique nature. The balance of state agencies totals 8.5%.
Here’s why. The Department of Corrections has been hands off in every budget as you don’t really have that much flexibility in reducing staff numbers. But the real thrust of excluding them is that during the furlough process, we didn’t have great savings here because we still had to staff Corrections 24/7 causing a situation where when a furloughed shift was off, often immediately following an OVERTIME shift was created to keep staffing. And, the UW System has a large number of partially and fully FEDERALLY funded positions, thus furlough and other savings would be largely non-existent due to the funding sources of those positions (they aren’t STATE dollars). Thus, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the remaining totaled 8.5 percent. I didn’t make up the number, it came from them.
But that figure is interchangeable to the point I made – that the salary and benefit total “saved” is less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the budget repair bill. That is a fact, from the budget repair document itself (current budget is $65,775,284,400 according to Table 1 of Appropriations and Authorizations page of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget summary of Act 28 – the budget. The “savings” from having employees pay in for their health insurance and pensions in the budget repair bill for the current budget is $29,800.00. Do the math, its actually less than 1/20th of one percent).
Should have I been more clear with the 17.7%? In retrospect yes, as I should have written one more paragraph as I did above explaining why I used the remaining 8.5%. But that doesn’t change the point I was making at all.
Regardless which number you use, the just-under $30 million savings is under 1/10th of one percent of the budget EXACTLY as stated in my blog. That would be called a FACT, everywhere but PolitiFact.
However, with all the lies from the Republicans, the staff at Polifact apparently needed to address Walker staff concerns and rate a Democrat with a False rating despite that it was not the point of my blog.
I told the reporter just this via phone and email. Here is what sent to the reporter:
Dear Tom,
Thanks for our conversation today. I appreciate being able to explain my point in the two-month old blog you are referencing.
As I stated, I expect that you will focus on All Ten of the Top Ten Lies of Scott Walker. At minimum, I hope you will reference the point of item number nine – that Walker’s blaming the budgetary problems on the benefits paid to state workers is completely false. The total saved in the budget repair bill discussed is less than $30 million according to the bill itself, well under the 1/10th of one percent of the total budget referenced in my blog. I have provided that documentation to you, though it is public record as well.
Let me also note that there has been no PolitiFact evaluation yet on Governor Walker’s lie about the cut spending in the proposed budget; since then it has been shown the budget has an increase of $609.5 million.
I’m sure there are plenty of others. I know your hands are full. If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Mark Pocan
As a journalism major, I appreciate the profession and also the responsibilities of that profession. I didn’t post this ahead of time because I think it would be wrong to scoop a journalist who called me about a story.
Here’s the problem with PolitiFact. The point I was making was clear – you can’t blame state employees for budgetary problems as the amount being asked for in healthcare and pension contributions was much, much smaller than the scope of the alleged problem. It was less than 1/10th of one percent to be exact.
To ignore my point – much less the other nine points in my blog – is not good or fair journalism. (I guess the fact that they didn’t challenge any of the actual ten points means they agree Walker really lied. Too bad they had to dig that deep to find something to criticize.)
I’m disappointed, but more importantly, I wanted to share just how the Polifacts process works – or better said – doesn’t work at times.
I would expect better, and I hope that’s what we all get in the future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added as of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publishing: Wow, I guess I am even more amazed/offended at two additional points.
1) The reporter, Tom Kertscher, lied. There is no sugar coating it. If you read the blog above, I clearly responded via email the same day (3:47 pm in fact) with the documents making my point. I will try calling him today to see if he merely lied or “didn’t get” it, but luckily I saved it in my sent file and cc’d a fellow journalist of his. Why he needed to lie to make his point makes me wonder if all the others that supposedly don’t respond to PolitiFact – both Democrats and Republicans – actually replied, but he didn’t share the truth with us.
2) Here is what he wrote in Sunday’s paper:
The Madison Democrat, a 13-year lawmaker, had this to say about what he labeled lie No. 9:
"Walker has said that our budget problems are largely due to employee wages. Not even close, Governor. Total salaries and compensation in the last budget were 8.5 percent of the entire state budget."
Here is what I wrote in the blog post (go ahead and check it):
9) Walker has said that our budget problems are largely due to employee wages. Not even close, Governor. Total salaries and compensation in the last budget were 8.5%* of the entire state budget. Even with the changes being made to paying more for health insurance and pensions, the total is less than 1/10th of one percent. Our real problem is the same as every state – revenues in sales tax and income tax are down due to unemployment. Luckily, unless Walker really blows it, he inherited a lower unemployment rate and a better tax collection rebound than most states in the nation. (underlining added) (Also, another paragraph explained the 8.5%* number, which included the 17.7% number)
The point of item #9 was that the approx. $30 million “saved” was a very insignificant amount in the totality of the budget, thus not driving the need for a budget repair. He intentionally left that part out, despite our telephone conversation where I emphatically explained this over and over. That was the first sign that this was a rigged process. His intentional non-inclusion can only be seen as deceitful at best.
Look, I don’t know how big this is in the grand scheme of the world. I just know that I have seen numerous times PolitiFact misrepresent or miscall items on both Republicans and Democrats in their quest to win the Pulitzer. If you don’t have enough real stuff to print daily, go every other day. Don’t just make things up. My guess is if they keep this up, they may instead be nominated for the Burlington Liar’s Club Award.
I’ll say it again. I would expect better, and I hope that’s what we all get in the future.
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