Bride of TABOR and the Madison Press

While the Wisconsin Blogosphere has been inundated with reports, analysis and discussion about TABOR, Bride of TABOR, and the Taxpayer Protection Amendment, the local mainstream press is finally now focusing on the story.

There were two interesting Madison-based stories this week.  At WISC-TV, Colin Benedict and his editors deserve credit for going beneath the surface to look at the misleading data fed to a normally, passive press: Reality Check: Political Tax Talk Can Be 'Misleading'.

...However, WISC-TV finds this claim "needs clarification."

Wisconsinites are still paying $258 more per capita than 4 years ago. Also, the state residents pay $237 more than the national average, but that figure is down from $309 in 2002.

The census bureau tax rankings are missing a big component. It only takes state taxes into account and leaves out local taxes like property tax and county sales taxes...

..."When Jim Doyle took office our Tax Freedom Day was April 19. This year, it's April 28. We're going in the wrong direction and it's hurting our economy," said Green, at a campaign rally Monday in Green Bay.

WISC-TV's Reality Check report finds that claim "misleading."

Over the past four years, in that survey, Wisconsin's state and local tax burden has improved from 4th highest to 7th. And, while it's still high, it's the state's best ranking since 1980.

But, the reason Wisconsin's Tax Freedom Day is nine days later than when Doyle first started in office is because the federal government has been asking for more money. The Tax Foundation report shows federal spending drove the change -- not state or local governments.

And Green voted for three of the last four federal budgets.

At the state level, if elected, Green said Monday he would freeze property taxes and state tax collections in his first year in office.

WISC-TV gets credit for going beyond one source for its data.  However, I would take exception to one portion of their story which is included in the link above.  The Tax Foundation does improve the analysis by taking into account all tax payments, state, local, and federal, but the Tax Foundation seriously errors by omitting fees.  Wisconsin is high on taxes and low on fees, which is a good thing, since taxes are more progressive than fees.

The Wisconsin State Journal, Jason Stein did an excellent story about the impact of tax freezes, giving many perspectives from small town government to the school district, Republicans look for a way to cap government spending . The State Journal story had a good deal of depth, including a perspective from respected University of Wisconsin Professor Andrew Reschovsky,  but it failed to look at the faulty math and logic, and the misleading tax data emanating from the Tax Foundation and the WMC.