Gov. Scott Walker’s first State of the State address since his recall election victory is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The address will be broadcast live by Wisconsin Eye, channel 363 on Time Warner Cable in Milwaukee and also online at their website.
Madison.com reported that Walker informed legislative leaders last week when he would deliver the annual address, which will provide a glimpse into Walker’s plans for the second half of his four-year term.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that Walker pledged to cut Wisconsin income taxes in the budget he signs this summer. That budget will be presented in February.
Taking over a state facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit, Walker has achieved much of his aggressive agenda to fix it, most notably Act 10. Results are, not surprisingly, based on who you ask and what statistics you employ.
Walker’s office says the state has a $341 million surplus, according to a press release sent last week. The Department of Administration pegged the surplus next June at $283 million, according to an Associated Press article. Democratic leaders said the numbers were “full of holes” but did not specify what they were.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.1 percent in November 2011 to 6.7 percent a year later, according to the state Department of Workforce Development. The state between June 2011 and June 2012, yet that ranked 42nd among the 50 states.
The governor’s administration also has the distraction of the John Doe investigation that has led to charges against six aides and associates of the governor. Walker told the Journal Sentinel he expected the investigation was closing soon, and that it was not taking away from his work.
Please explain to me how the state has saved over $2 Billion Dollars so far thanks to ACT 10? Otherwise I see four nonsensical posts from you. Let's deal in reality shall we.
You made a great point.
@GovWalker would support it if $4999.00 Report on costs of ending same-day registration delayed channel3000.com/news/Report-on… #wipolitics
Citizen Action of WI @CitizenActionWI 5m Gov. Walker calls WEDC "wildly successful" even though his agency has lost track of some $50 million in loans,... fb.me/20KqSen5z
facethefacts - Today at 12:29 PM - Word has it that all of the bars in the college towns are having a contest tonight.Every time Walker lies they all take a shot and a beer Good thing these students walk to the bars and will there ever be the hangovers tomorrow.I wonder if Gunises will be there to document his world record for lying in a political speech?? Somr of the bars will also be playing the same drinking game a shot and a beer every time he blames Obama / Doyle /Obamacare / or the Recall for why his performance sucks
Yes, like any Walker financial product there are "holes." The issue is that the information presented is incomplete/spun. Like the "surplus." I'm still asking, can we have a surplus if we haven't paid back the $500 million borrowed to say the budget was balanced during the recall campaign? By my accounting methods, which others trust, borrowed money is not income. It must be repaid and includes an expense component in the form of interest payments attached. That's why it's always advised to pay loans off as quickly as possible or at least include an added principal payment as this reduces interest charges over time. So again, are we announcing a surplus because we paid down the $500 million borrowed (and staved off the $150 million in anticipated interest charges over 20 years), or are we announcing a surplus because we are categorizing borrowed money as income?
Cow, concerning Clinton, yes I did. That surplus was a line-item surplus. Which is why I had much to say about the "refund checks" sent out early in the GWB administration. In my view, the federal government cannot have a true "surplus" until, for example, the raids on Social Security principal are returned, with interest.
Why does the source matter when it comes to determining income, other than it makes it possible to attack Walker? Yes it needs to be repaid, but as long as the interest charges and payment schedule are within the budget, there's no real issue.
On a superficial level it could be considered revenue because it's in the cash drawer. But as everyone who has borrowed money knows, it's a loan (as quite a few people who took out furlough "bridge" loans [and who never had their salaries reinstated] are finding out. That's where GAAP accounting principles also come into play. Just because loan payments aren't being made yet doesn't mean it isn't an expense, merely an anticipated one. Don't forget, Doyle borrowed (and furloughed state employees) when the recession hit near the end of his final term. Then, as now, we are dealing with extraordinary financial circumstances. It's not the borrowing that I take issue with per se, it's the potentially misleading categorization that I'm concerned about. I'll also point out that Walker made his own bed on this one. By crowing about GAAP on the election trail (and same with the 250,000 new jobs) he set an impossibly high metric for himself and coming clean about it doesn't seem to be in the guy's personality profile. At this point, not much difference between Walker and Doyle except that the latter effectively negotiated wage concessions/furloughs with public employee unions.
It is unfortunate that union leadership was too pigheaded to negotiate with Walker... Yes, they were tax rebate checks, but they were issued as part of the GW Bush tax cuts, and they weren't really a 'rebate', they were an 'advance payment' on the money they/we would be getting back on our 2001 taxes. Do you really want to keep bringing up GW Bush's 'vacation' time in light of Obama's habits? The Bush ranch was basically set up as a 'mini' White House and GW Bush was accompanied by his advisors, cabinet members, etc. He wasn't on vacation--he was just working from home. The same cannot be said for Obama's frequent travels (not to mention all the rounds of golf)...
Walker is on video record (I've posted the link previously, do check my past comments) as stating that he would negotiate with public employee unions. It's too recent not to remember that his drop of the (ALEC union stripping) "budget repair bill" legislation coincided with the AFP-funded anti-public union media blitz that occurred early in February 2011. After the launch, the public employee unions immediately offered financial concessions (which were not discussed prior to the union stripping bill) if the union stripping was taken out of the "budget repair" bill and this was refused. Walker has since admitted that he could have handled this situation better. No, public employee unions are not to blame. They took a furlough late in Doyle's administration (have to look up the %) and an approximate 9% pay cut under Walker (plus higher payments toward the "0" liability pension fund and higher contributions toward healthcare, a real hit on teachers who had voted to pay more for better benefits not too long ago). What a mess.
Union leadership stated their refusal to negotiate with Walker before he even took office, Bren. I don't think that your 'video record' preceeds that, since the refusal was made in response to Walker's request to negotiate. And no, it wasn't 'immediate' with respect to the budget repair proposal that the Unions claimed to reverse their stance and ask to negotiate with Walker--it was only after public opinion started to favor Walker over the Unions that they made that [hollow] offer.
It really depends what interest rate you are borrowing at and the opportunity costs of the alternative use of that money. We could also get into the time value of money, inflation, leverage etc.. but I have a feeling that may be over your head, especially if you can't figure out the real simple stuff. I hope there aren't too many "others" trusting your accounting advice.
Then the partisan and incompetent courts in Madison took over. Walker started out bright, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Oh well, New Jersey just terminated their Camden P.D. and created a wholly new Metro Unit, Michigan became right to work and established a new and improved emergency manager law. Other States will now do the heavy lifting for Wisconsin and establish new beach heads. This will take time... and Wisconsin's working folks and seniors will suffer terribly because of the public employee's refusal to engage in shared sacrifice and 21st. C reality. The war for 21st. C reforms has just begun. BOOMERS - hang on! Because your "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" ways is gonna get cut!
Sorry if that wasn't clear.
The courts in Madison aren't incompetent. Walker has demonstrated more than once a lack of understand or perhaps regard for contracts, which cost Milwaukee County millions of dollars, and now our states. I'd "say" the "thuggery" was on the part of the special interest groups ganging up on the middle income public employees in the media in perfect coordination with the special interest-penned union stripping legislation. Michigan's Public Act 4, if fully enacted, could disenfranchise nearly all African American voters in the state by taking away their right to vote. That's not a victory. Concerning Baby Boomers, they have had their savings evicerated a number of times since the 80s especially. The Savings & Loan scandal, various recession ebbs and tides, and now the current economic climate. Many are also assuming college loan debt for children/grandchildren. People in their 50s are also targeted for layoffs and it's hardest for them, especially males, to find new jobs. Debt is not a "Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous." I suggest the previous generation (1930s, 40s vintage) and the earliest of Baby Boomers (1946-49) are the ones living well. They had steady work, good pay, solid, affordable benefits, affordable college tuition, and pensions.
Not all of us, Bren. My family has seen layoffs,underemployment, unemployment, diminishing expectations, and private retirement savings/investments hit by three recessions. The only reason we're still hanging in there is because we didn't succumb to the conventional wisdom of the 1980s and go into debt up to our eyeballs. And then we have to deal with the likes of Richard Head. Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous my Aunt Fanny.
@Progress2day @GovWalker Uses Capitol Police to Go After First Amendment Rights bit.ly/RTHkQw #wiunion #wipolitics #p2 @Lindygeek
@Progress2day Wake up @GovWalker! Brewer On Support Of Medicaid Expansion: 'It's A Moral Thing' livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/brewer-o… #wipolitics
The sound of crickets, indeed. Rather the silence of a poster who is too lazy to conduct their own research! ; )