Gov. Walker Doubles Down on Desperation With Latest Tax Scheme to Try to Boost Sagging Prospects

MADISON, Wis. — It may be thirteen months before he stands for re-election as Wisconsin Governor, but Scott Walker and his special interest allies are already in full panic mode. According to legislative records obtained by One Wisconsin Now, Gov. Walker’s administration scrambled to have a property tax scheme drafted as a bill the same day as he announced it at a hastily called press conference and mere days after a Democratic opponent for the November 2014 election announced her candidacy.

One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross commented, “On the heels of a one million dollar panic television ad campaign by the state’s big business lobby, Gov. Walker has gotten in on the act, hoping an average of $1.08 a month will lead the people of Wisconsin to forget about his abysmal job performance.”

Ross noted that while Walker pursues an aggressive out-of-state travel schedule in pursuit of the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination, back home in Wisconsin the state economy has severely lagged the national average on jobs and new business creation. The dismal performance comes even after the lapdog GOP controlled state legislature adopted Walker’s divisive agenda of record cuts to public education, tax giveaways to the wealthy and corporations, rewards for cronies and attacks on the rights of women, workers and voters.

According to figures from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Walker’s plan would result in a total savings of $1.08 a month in 2013 for the owner of a median value Wisconsin home. Over the next two years under Walker’s scheme, property taxes on that same median value home will still increase, as will the deficit for the next budget, already projected to hit $545 million before Walker’s latest desperation bid.

He concluded, “Once again, with this hastily concocted ploy to try to distract from his record of failure, Gov. Walker puts political expediency and pandering before effective policy. What should we expect next, Gov. Walker offers to have the state buy everyone a bike?”