Mark Green: Don't Trust This Man to Run Your Business or Your State

The political landscape is crawling with politicians and pathetic business clubs peddling panaceas for fixing our state budget problems.  When it comes to Republican governor wannabee Mark Green, as usual, the logic is badly flawed, the reasoning suspect, and the conclusions not only faulty but downright dangerous.

The great irony is that any business that applied his logic would quickly go under.

Excerpts of Green's bullshit on spending and taxes in Wisconsin:

"In recent weeks, a number of startling statistics have come out that all say the same thing – Wisconsin’s tax burden has us at a competitive disadvantage as we try to attract good-paying jobs and grow our economy."

These reports are  bunk. First, the tax analysis is badly flawed in that it does not include fees and special charges. Secondly, there is a conclusion, that Wisconsin taxes are the reason businesses do not locate here. which is not supported by any evidence. None. Zippo. Nada.

"As thousands of Wisconsinites bring their tax returns to post offices around our state today, they continue to see more and more of their paycheck going to the government. Our state and local tax burden is one of the worst in the country – nearly ten percent above the national average."

First, Mark, you fail to disclose in your comparison that taxpayers in other states are paying out significantly more in fees and special charges for government services, thus rendering your "nearly ten percent above the nation average" meaningless. Secondly, you fail to disclose that the single greatest reason for rising homeowner taxes in Wisconsin was the Republican twenty year shift of moving taxes onto homeowners and away from businesses.

"While today is tax day, our tax freedom day – the day we stop working to pay taxes and start working for ourselves – is still eleven days off.  When Jim Doyle took office in 2003 our tax freedom day was April 19…this year it is April 28."

Shame on you; you continue to repeat the same error.  It takes the individual homeowner a longer time to pay their taxes because when you were in the Assembly from 1993-98 you gave away so many tax breaks to corporations and the rich that the average person had to pay more. 

Look Mark, if you and I are the only two taxpayers and we each pay $50 a year, what happens if John Gard gives you a $25 reduction? Without any increase in government spending, I now have to pay $75. Got it?

"We’re going in the wrong direction….and it is affecting our economy.  Only three metropolitan areas lost more jobs last year than the Milwaukee area – and two of those were hit by Hurricane Katrina."

Yes, Mark, and would you care to identify the cities most heavily dependent upon manufacturing jobs, that were most adversely hit by your votes in Congress to support NAFTA and so called 'free trade' which resulted in moving those jobs overseas? It was 90-cent labor, not taxes that cost us the jobs.

"Our workers make less than the national average and our state lost $4.7 billion in net worth in just five years because some of our best and brightest decided to go elsewhere where they can earn more and pay less in taxes."

Please document that $4.7 billion figure. Would you care to discuss cost of living in Wisconsin?  Mark, would you rather make $50,000 and in live in Waukesha, or $55,000 and live in Manhattan.

"If we are going to compete for good jobs here, we simply cannot have taxes that are ten percent above the national average."

Get real. Your 10% is as bogus now as it was at the beginning of the day, and obviously you have no experience in locating corporations.  Taxes are way down the list after environmental, health, and education as factors determining the location decisions.   

"To make matters worse, Governor Doyle’s decision to increase spending by ten percent in his latest budget has left us with a $2.1 billion deficit – one of the worst in the nation."

First, the 10% is a distortion; how did you cook the books on that one? The deficit was a direct result of a Republican Governor and a Republican legislature that spent, spent, spent in the 1990's. Where were you in that period, Mark?  You, Mark Green, were in the leadership of that very legislature, cutting taxes for the rich and redistributing them onto the rest of Wisconsin. Let me quote my own recent post:

Our state bond ranking is a disgraceful AA-, much worse than our neighbors (p. 29). This is a result of no savings in the years preceding 2002 when the state was flush with tax revenues but had less than $2,000 in its "rainy day account.' 

Next November, Wisconsin will not choose a governor who was part of the groups that created this mess, raised taxes on families, and cut back on the infrastructure spending that is necessary to attract private investment. Mark Green, Wisconsin is not going to buy a destructive plan from you, when you were one of the architects of the problem.

Even some more moderate Republicans ain't buying it, as Seth at In Effect makes clear.

Tuesday April 18th's post: Mark Green: Don't Trust This Man to Run Your Business or Your State

Comments

[Brad Young]

Hi Paul,

When I am wrong I confess. Todays blog about WMAC and Hospitals is way off base. I worked for WHA for 5 years and another five years at Edgerton Hospital and Health Services. Wisconsin hospitals are in the top of the nation for running a clean operation. I believe only two small hospitals are technically for profit in Wisconsin. Fifty percenty have Catholic affiliations which have even a higher standard of ethics. I can assure you that there are no intentions of converting hospitals to a for profit status. That would be against our ethics.

Though I generally appreciate your view points you are way off base to associate Wisconsin Hospitals supporting TABOR. In fact, WHA is very against this proposal and has been lobbying against it. I felt your blog to be insulting and without lack of meirt, just speculation.

Please get your facts straight and retract todays blog. It was very wrong. Just because five or six board members of WMCA are hosptial executives they have only a very small percentage of votes in a large board at WMCA.

Brad Young
Edgerton Hospital and Health Services
You

[Paul]

Brad, I don't disagree with anything in the first two paragraphs of your comments. And nothing there changes my mind. The nature of the operations of Wisconsin hospitals, their for or non-profit status, and WHA's postion on TABOR are not in dispute.
The facts are all correct. Wisconsin hospitals and health insurers make up a significant portion of the WMC Board of Directors (If my math is correct, the companies listed make up 12.5%). WMC is the single most signicant lobbyist for TABOR. These hospitals that are represented on the Board have allowed thier names to be used to support TABOR, regardless of the postition of the WHA.

If these companies want to particpate in WMC, that is their right. With that also comes the responsibility to live with that organization's positions. And that means accepting responsibilty for WMC's position on TABOR, its uses of distorted data from The Tax Foundation, and the consequences of its tax policies, which are to shift the tax burden onto the backs of middle income families in our state.