I am not a mathematician...but, I can do long division.
Wisconsin has a surplus of between $300 and $350 million, or so the GOP says. Now, math has never been their strong suit—who can forget the
$7.5 million damage estimate they came up with shortly after the Wisconsin Uprising protests that turned out to be around
$270,000—so I am taking this news with just a grain of salt.
What Scott Walker and his "fiscally responsible" drones want to do as a result is give Wisconsinites that money back (keep in mind—math is not a strong point for this bunch). In order to give that money back they want to reduce tax rates (I am going to assume this impacts withholding amounts as there is no specific plan yet) so that on average Wisconsin taxpayers save about $200 a year.
Now, I am not great at math either (there is a reason I am a writer); however, I did manage to take and pass college algebra so I think I can do some simple math. The average person in Wisconsin gets paid biweekly. So we take $200 and divide by 26 pay periods. Which puts us at a tax cut of a whopping $7.69 a pay period.
$7.69 a pay period ... you have got to be kidding me. Scott Walker and his GOP allies in the Assembly and Senate tore this state apart to fix a fictitious budget problem by passing the most divisive state legislation I have ever seen in my lifetime so that they could hand out a tax cut the size of my biweekly Diet Pepsi budget? You have got to be kidding me! Hundreds, possibly thousands of teachers have left the profession due to pay cuts. Valued public servants have retired early, gone back to school, or on to other careers so that Scott Walker could give us a $7.69 tax cut? Families were torn apart, friendships destroyed, and there is a general sense of hostility towards people in my once friendly Wisconsin ... this was worth the cost of one lunch per pay period at Panera Bread?
The Wisconsin GOP can take this tax cut and shove it where the sun don't shine. Here are some better ideas for the $300-350 million "surplus." Pass legislation repealing Act 10 (that will actually save the state some money because they won't have to fight it in court). Invest in education and I am not just talking teacher pay here, fix our school infrastructure. Pay raises for all public servants to replace the money the GOP took from them when Act 10 passed. Build a train from Milwaukee to Madison and then on to the Twin Cities. These items will all put money back into the states economy ... and maybe will move us up from 42nd in the nation for job creation.
While we are at it, I would be happy to have the state pick up the tab for a one way trip to Libertarian paradise (Somalia) for these jokers.