Here are some non-partisan Facts, that explain:
Why Walkers proposed cuts to Public Employee Pay -- will do more harm, than good.
Cutting Public Employee Pay won't "Fix" Wisconsin's Economy.
Wisconsin Citizens should expect just the contrary -- if Walker gets his way.
That sort of happen when "Revenue Problems" are ignored, by Government Administrators.
First about that non-partisan study, by Wisconsinites, for Wisconsinites ...
Institute for Wisconsin's Future -- About IWF
Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) was established in 1994 to research key state economic policies and use this information to help citizens fight for policies that maximize every individual’s opportunity to achieve educational, economic and personal success.
IWF is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide public policy research and community outreach organization dedicated to state policies that benefit middle and low income families. Our mission is rooted in the belief that an educated, engaged citizenry is key to improving individual outcomes.
Gov. Walker promised jobs, but his plan would destroy 10,000 jobs
Institute for Wisconsin's Future
Gov. Scott Walker's plan to slash take-home pay for public workers would destroy about 10,000 jobs in Wisconsin's private sector.
Hmmm? you'd think IWF's findings would deserve a bit more discussion ...
Here is the Institute for Wisconsin's Future's two-page press release:
Cuts to public employees would punish Wisconsin's economy
Institute for Wisconsin's Future -- wisconsinsfuture.org -- Press Release
Gov. Scott Walker's plan to slash take-home pay for public workers would destroy about 10,000 jobs in Wisconsin's private sector.
[...]
This directly affects over 340,000 people working in state, county and municipal government and in public schools. It indirectly affects everyone.
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Cutting purchasing power stalls the economy
The Governor's plan would take a huge bite out of the purchasing power of public workers. This would cause ripple effects throughout the private sector. The total effect would be to destroy in the range of 9,000 to 11,500 good jobs statewide, according to the Institute for Wisconsin's Future (IWF), a nonprofit research organization. IWF used economic simulation to calculate the impact.
When workers have more purchasing power, it means a stronger economy. Keeping pay in the hands of public employees ensures they have money to buy groceries, go to restaurants and purchase cars. This benefits everyone.
[...]
Walker's proposal would take more than $900 million a year out of the state economy, perhaps as much as $1.2 billion.
If all public workers took an 8% cut in take-home pay:
[Table Summary]
WISCONSIN [state totals]
Number Public employees: 356,227
Average annual pay cut: $3,277 [per Public employee]
Total loss: $1,167,186,194 (total loss of purchasing power)
If Walker gets his way -- over a BILLION Dollars will be drained away from Wisconsin's "Bottom up" Economy.
SO, What would Walkers's proposed Public Employee "Pay Cuts mean" to Wisconsin's Overall Economy -- to Wisconsin's Private Sector Economy ?
(besides the loss of around 10,000 Private Sector jobs?)
Here is IWF's detailed Economic Report on that subject:
Unintended Consequences
The economic impact of cutting public sector wages and benefits
Institute for Wisconsin's Future -- wisconsinsfuture.org
In fact, reducing compensation for state and local employees carries a large and hidden cost. Basic economics shows that prosperity is based on consumers having money to spend. Public sector employees are consumers just like their neighbors whose paychecks come from private employers.
When public employees face reductions in their income, they cannot afford to buy as much from the grocery store, the furniture outlet or the car dealer.
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This analysis shows that the proposed cuts in public worker compensation would lead to the loss of $660 million a year in economic production in the private sector. It would eliminate $46 million in property taxes or shift them to other taxpayers. It would noticeably increase the state unemployment rate.
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This leads to a final package:
-- For state employees, a total cut in compensation of 10.9% (furlough days, contributions to insurance and pensions).
-- For employees of county and municipal government, a total cut of 7.0% (furlough days, contributions to insurance and pensions at half the rate of state employees).
-- For school employees, a total cut of 3.9% (contributions to insurance and pensions at half the rate of state employees, but no furlough days).
The total value of the package is $994 million; in effect, one billion dollars.
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Conclusion
The economic ripple-effect analysis is unequivocal. The proposed plan to reduce compensation for public sector workers and their families is a lose-lose proposition.
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Public sector workers are moderate income people who spend the vast majority of their income on consumer goods -- unlike rich households who save the bulk of their wealth. Attempting to right the economy by slashing compensation for public sector workers is like trying to save weight on an overloaded boat by tossing the motor overboard. It just doesn't help in getting you where you want to go.
Of course Wisconsin's Budget-Fixing Bill was never ABOUT Fixing Wisconsin's Economy -- was it?
Governor Scott Walker recent actions and words, have made that clear -- this is an Ideological Battle against Labor Unions.
Walker basically labels Public Workers are "free loaders" -- claiming they are not real Tax Payers, that he needs to listen to.
Walker would rather cater to Corporations, than to Citizens of his State.
Walker looks to Reagan's action of firing Air-traffic Control, for a model of what he plans to do to "his unionized workers".
To Walker and his Koch Industry-backers this is an Ideological Battle, a Corporate Tax Battle, a Privatization Battle to fast-track the sale of Public Assets (like State Power Plants) to No-bid Corporate takers.
Regarding that free-wheeling Wisconsin Corporate Tax situation, here is a more "partisan" take on that topic, from an actual Wisconsin taxpayer:
Stop Walker's sleight of hand
By Ellen Bravo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, Opinion Page -- Feb 25, 2011
As a Wisconsin taxpayer, I'm not buying it.
The governor and his wealthy corporate backers say public employees are the "haves" and demand they share the burdens inflicted upon other Wisconsin workers, naming those at Harley-Davidson and Mercury Marine.
The Institute for Wisconsin's Future has reported that Mercury Marine of Fond du Lac had profits of $1.1 billion from 2000-'07. During that time, it paid nothing in corporate income taxes to our state. The New York Times highlighted Harley [Davidson] last summer as one of the companies finding "surging profits in deeper cuts." As the article pointed out, the benefits of those profits "are mostly going to shareholders instead of the broader economy."
Workers at Harley and Mercury Marine -- who were told how lucky they were to have a job at all -- had to accept huge cuts not because their employers were in danger of going under but because those highly paid execs wanted to keep more money for themselves.
It seems clear the CEOs on Wall Street and at Wisconsin corporations who are sitting on record profits while cutting jobs here, shipping jobs overseas and paying out record bonuses to their executives are the ones who should be the target of the budget-repair bill.
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Teachers, nurses and home health care providers aren't close to being the "haves." They're hardworking people who have organized and bargained to make sure they have a voice in their working conditions. They've struggled to ensure that employment is a way out of poverty, not another form of poverty.
Well said! Wisconsin taxpayer, Ellen Bravo. Thank you for pointing out those glaring conflicts of Interests in the Governor's strategy -- which goes after workers, while giving Wisconsin's Corporate interests a "free pass" -- on their Taxes.
Hmmm? It kind of makes you wonder who the Real Free-Loaders are, in Wisconsin's Economy, doesn't it?
... especially given how Conservative Tea Party voices generally view it:
And in the ultimate irony, Rush Limbaugh, who called union workers “bottom-feeding freeloaders”
Of course given the Tea Party's overall, ultra-Conservative, Koch-funded, Think-tank Agenda ... it's safe to assume that ...
Wisconsin's Budget-Fixing Bill was never ABOUT Fixing Wisconsin's Economy, afterall -- was it?
It's becoming increasingly obvious that Scott Walker and his Corporate backers, have an entirely different kind of "FIX" in mind, for the hard working people of Wisconsin. One that kind of looks like "slash and burn" of what little they still "have".
A winning solution for only the 'selected few'. Those who would Have it all, if given the chance.