by Kerry Thomas
February 22, 2007
This is a public thank you to the 1,139,115
people of Wisconsin who voted last November to keep Jim Doyle as Wisconsin’s
Governor. Thank you for voting to raise
our taxes and expand Wisconsin’s bureaucratic government. Thank you for electing a governor who thinks
the answer to every problem can be found in the corridors of the Capitol.
Governor Jim Doyle’s latest budget proposes to
expand state spending by 9% over two years, even as Wisconsin faces another
budget shortfall. Doyle’s proposed budget would increase
our taxes by some $1.8 billion.
One of Jim Doyle’s proposals is to expand
taxpayer-funded medical services in Wisconsin.
We get to pay for these new services via a 162% increase in the State’s
cigarette taxes. Governor
Doyle also wants to impose a 1% tax on hospital patients’ bills.
Governor Doyle and the Democrats in the
Legislature refuse to cap punitive damage awards in medical malpractice
cases. They also refuse to allow
medical insurance policies in Wisconsin that do not cover all 30 state-mandated
services, even if a policy holder doesn’t want all 30 services covered in his
policy. Both of these steps would do
more to curb medical costs for Wisconsin taxpayers than any new state program.
In addition, Governor Doyle wants to raise taxes
on oil by 2.5% to fund his pet transportation projects. Governor Doyle also
wants to impose a tax on intangible
products sold over the internet, such as music and software downloads. And Governor Doyle wants
to double the State’s real estate transfer tax, making home ownership even more
expensive.
Even without Governor Doyle's tax hikes,
Wisconsin already has the 7th highest tax burden in the nation. Wisconsin consumers already pay the highest
gasoline tax in the nation. And if the
cigarette tax were to go through, we would be paying the 4th highest
rate in the country.
Wisconsin taxpayers pay more than $150 million
each year to fund more than 100 economic development programs at the state level,
and numerous other local economic development efforts, all trying to promote
and develop Wisconsin’s businesses. Yet
when longtime Wisconsin company Menard’s wanted to expand its facilities in
Wisconsin, our omniscient DNR refused to grant them a permit to build. Those jobs went to another state.
What Wisconsin’s businesses (and the rest of us)
need more than any new programs and the bureaucracy that comes with them is a
reduction in state regulations and taxes.
Without such reductions, Wisconsin will continue to see an exodus of
jobs, capital and brainpower.
When you take a dollar from your own pocket and
use it to help someone, that’s compassion.
When you use that dollar to help a business grow, it’s an
investment. When you reach into someone
else’s pocket and take a dollar and give it to someone, that’s neither
compassionate nor an investment. It’s
stealing. Politicians refer to it as
taxation. Career politicians call it (government)
revenue.