On 6/6/2012 1:30 PM, Jim Devine wrote: > [somehow, the normally talkative pen-l has ignored the defeat in > Wisconsin. Any comments on the following?] > > A Brutal Night in Wisconsin > > By Matthew Rothschild, June 6, 2012 [from the PROGRESSIVE]
> But this was never about Tom Barrett, as my colleague Ruth Conniff > noted yesterday. > A rather disgusting evasion. http://socialistworker.org/2012/06/05/democrats-behind-in-wisconsin During a debate with Walker, Barrett made a point to mention that he was not labor's candidate. Rather than put up a defense of unions, the Democrats have treated them as supporters of "special interests" and an embarrassment. Barrett has ceded further ground to Walker on austerity. Walker's rationale for budget cuts has been a familiar one: the state is out of money and needs to control its expenses. Yet despite the fact that Wisconsin's corporations are taxed at a rate below the national average--and that the current tax burden is primarily on Wisconsin's middle class rather than the rich--Barrett made no attempt to challenge Walker's claims. Instead, Barrett emphasized that he won't increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy. He told a Milwaukee radio station, "It is certainly my hope that by the end of my first term, at the end of my second term, and at the end of my third term that Wisconsin will take in less tax revenues from its citizens and businesses each year." While Barrett says he will reverse corporate tax cuts that Walker passed in January 2011, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that "he doesn't want to raise taxes beyond the levels they were at when Walker took office." This means that while Barrett could shift some priorities around, he wouldn't be able to restore most of Walker's cuts, including $1.25 billion taken from education and $500 million from Medicare. During last year's uprising, Barrett proposed an "alternative budget repair bill" that included Walker's cuts to benefits and pensions, but extended them to police and firefighters, whom Walker had spared. (clip) _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
