Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) wants to take union-busting to 19th-century levels. Last week, he announced a sweeping plan to cut benefits for public employees and eliminate labor negotiations by stripping public-sector unions of their collective bargaining rights. In response, state unions have gone on a PR offensive against Walker, and workers have poured into the state capital for protests and demonstrations. Workers' rights aren't responsible for the state's budget shortfall, but Walker has framed his proposal as necessary to fixing the state's finances. As Brian Beutler reports, this is a little far from the truth:
[T]his broadside comes less than a month after the state's fiscal bureau -- the Wisconsin equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office -- concluded that Wisconsin isn't even in need of austerity measures, and could conclude the fiscal year with a surplus. In fact, they say that the current budget shortfall is a direct result of tax cut policies Walker enacted in his first days in office.
"Walker was not forced into a budget repair bill by circumstances beyond he control," says Jack Norman, research director at the Institute for Wisconsin Future -- a public interest think tank. "He wanted a budget repair bill and forced it by pushing through tax cuts... so he could rush through these other changes."
"The state of Wisconsin has not reached the point at which austerity measures are needed," Norman adds.
As Beutler notes, state employee benefits are ancillary -- if irrelevant -- to the state's deficit. More than half of Wisconsin's $137 million shortfall comes from budget items passed by Walker at the beginning of his term: health savings accounts, tax breaks for employers, and funds for an economic development fund. In other words, this is a manufactured problem: state Republicans are using their deficit-friendly agenda as a pretext for union-busting and public-sector cuts.
This is basically a small-scale version of the GOP strategy for budget cuts on the national level. Republicans enter office (Ronald Reagan/George W. Bush), and use their newfound power to slash taxes for the rich, pursue quixotic programs ("Star Wars"/Iraq War), and lavish funds on favored interest groups. Later, Democrats enter office, clean up the place, and begin to pursue their agenda. Immediately, Republicans discover their zeal for fiscal responsibility and push Democrats to cut domestic spending and balance the budget. Eventually, Republicans retake power, and the cycle begins anew.
It's a nifty trick, to say the least.
