LETTER: Walker budget benefits 1%

To the Telegram:

Gov. Scott Walker claims he eliminated Wisconsin’s budget deficit without raising taxes, but he did not fix our budget problems. He only transferred the deficit to us, the citizens.

Most of us, the 99 percent — the middle class, working class, teachers, public employees, small business owners — will be paying more. We will bear the burden with cuts to education, health care and local services. We will pay higher tuition, fees, property tax, sales taxes and have more pay and job losses.

But his friends in the 1 percent have fared well.

Yet, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau is already reporting a fiscal deficit of $208 million at the end of 2013.

Why?

Wisconsin loses an estimated $1.2 billion every year in taxes owed but not collected.

Tax loopholes allow 60 percent of corporations operating in Wisconsin to pay no income taxes. Corporate tax breaks are estimated to cost Wisconsin $2.3 billion over the next decade.

We need real, comprehensive, sustainable budget solutions, not one-year Band-Aids. We can’t budget cut our way to prosperity. Government is an essential part of our society. It is the necessary rule maker and referee. It is a major consumer, employer and provider of services. Government must have sufficient revenue to do its job. This means fair taxes collected from everyone.

The deficit didn’t disappear. It was hidden in the suffering of working people who don’t have the power of bankers and corporate big shots with a governor on their side.

Philip Anderson,

Maple

Tags: opinion, letters