WI Budget: Ready or Not, Here It Comes

Jim Doyle and the Democrats are dragging Wisconsinites down to a deeper circle of tax hell.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The state budget the Legislature takes up this week would change your life, have the potential to change it or cost you more.

You would have to buy more car insurance coverage, raising your premiums. Police could stop your car if they think you haven't buckled your seat belt. The state tax on a pack of cigarettes would rise 75 cents, to $2.52. There would be a new 75-cent monthly charge on each phone line. And you'd get less of an income tax break on capital gains profits.

It also authorizes a 1% local sales tax in Milwaukee County for a new regional transit authority, which would subsidize the county bus system and cost the average household $228 a year, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

As has become the norm in Madison, there will not be even a whiff of bipartisanship. The Democrats - who control both houses - will force the budget through, the Assembly poised for another contentious overnight session; the Republicans will vote against it, likely every one of them.

But are Wisconsinites prepared for what is coming?

"Ready or not, we are going to get something along these lines," said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor.

"What we see is that targeted, narrow tax increases and user fees are preferred by politicians to broad-scale taxes on everyone." Smokers, he noted, are an easy target.

"The governor and the Legislature are very hesitant to raise taxes across the board, even if a modest increase on many would produce more revenue than targeted taxes on a few," Franklin said. "That is probably good politics. It certainly reflects the continued power of taxes as a campaign issue."

This budget may implement "targeted, narrow tax increases and user fees," but virtually EVERY taxpayer is a target. We're not just talking about smokers here.

That's not narrow.

Why are Wisconsinites accepting this? Why are the people sitting back as if they're powerless? Are the Dems receiving any pressure at all?

This budget is an assault on the people of the state.

EVERYONE WILL BE PAYING HIGHER TAXES. EVERYONE IS A TARGET.