Walker released some excerpts from his State Of The State address. We looked at the usual well-rehearsed declarations of success that Walker has continued to say when on Fox News and other right-wing media channels and he is continuing to assume that nobody is paying attention to his usual claptrap.
His excerpts are highlighted and a response is included.
When I addressed you in this chamber last January, Wisconsin had suffered through three years of 150,000 of our fellow citizens losing their jobs. The unemployment rate was 7.5%. And after years of tax increases and budget tricks, Wisconsin faced one of the largest budget deficits in the country.
Politifact calls this claim “False”.
Now, our unemployment rate is down from a year ago. In fact, it’s the lowest it’s been since 2008. We are turning things around. We are heading in the right direction.
Actually, the unemployment rate was 7.2% in 2009. The unemployment rate in 2008 never got higher than 6.5%. In January 2011, the unemployment rate was 7.4%. It’s now 7.3% as of November. (Source) Additionally, Wisconsin leads the nation in jobs lost as well as after Walker signed the so-called Budget Repair Bill, the state has lost nearly 14,000 private sector jobs combined from losses six months in a row. (Source)
During the past year, we added thousands of new jobs. And we balanced the state budget. We balanced it without raising taxes; without massive layoffs; and without budget tricks; all of which allowed us to put more than $1.2 billion of new state money into Medicaid programs like Badgercare and FamilyCare.
Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch has stated that the Wisconsin budget deficit will still be $3 billion, based on the 257-page Wisconsin Comprehensive Annual Financial Report released Dec. 21. (Source)
Walker tries to claim he helped save FamilyCare, but doesn’t remind us that the Federal Government told him not to cut the program. (Source)
Taxes were raised if you consider Walker reducing the earned income credit and the homestead credit for low-income families. They will pay more in taxes. The Walker budget raises revenue to $69.8 million over two years, but his tax cuts for his political contributors and the extremely wealthy do his version of “Walker Math” when combining his “raising revenue” combined with the tax cuts for his friends. (Source)
For the five years prior to last year, the average school tax levy increased $220 million per year. Our reforms led to the first decrease in the school property tax levy in six years. The total school tax levy actually went down by more than $47 million. That means real money in the hands of real people. People like Pam Petry of Rice Lake. Mrs. Petry saw her property tax go down by more than $100 this year. Or people like Gail Griswold of West Salem who was surprised to see her bill go down, too.
Politifact has already taken Walker to task on this complete lie. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has stated that taxes will increase.
Last year, I appointed the bipartisan Commission on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. The members turned in their final report earlier this month. In it, they identified over $400 million in savings for the taxpayers. We’ve already implemented some of the recommendations from this report. And to date, these reforms have saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. That’s a great start.
There has been plenty of evidence that the Commission on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Report is full of holes, errors and distortions.
But identifying waste isn’t enough; we need to eliminate it. To that end, I’m announcing the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Elimination Taskforce charged with the responsibility to follow through on the report. Because I respect the hard working people of Wisconsin, I will continue to be a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollar. Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is a top priority of my administration.
For someone under investigation by the FBI with staffers pleading the Fifth to say he is for eliminating waste fraud and abuse is an abject joke. The sooner this charlatan is recalled, the better for Wisconsin and America.
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