Wisconsin vs. the Great 'Conservative' Swindle
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Peace & Bread
John Kaufman
02/20/2011
Is Wisconsin broke or are we being swindled?
Two of our more enlightened journalists provide an answer by looking closely at just what our state and national spending priorities are.
Mark Engler, writing on the Dissent Magazine blog, sums it up this way:
Step one: Create your own budget crisis by giving out tax cuts to the privileged.
Step two: "Solve" your crisis by attacking teachers and other public servants.
Robert Greenwald, writing for AlterNet, points out the cost of war for Wisconsin's taxpayers. Ending the war, says Greenwald, would save the state $1.7 billion this year:
Keep in mind that state budgets are tangled with federal spending. That's especially true over the past couple of years, as state budgets have relied on federal Recovery Act funds to balance their books during the recession. Spending decisions at the federal level are therefore doubly important, as they not only affect the national budget, but also what funds are available to help preserve state-level public structures.
Since 2001, Wisconsin has lost, according to the National Priorities Project, about $20.1 billion in money to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that could have been used here for the public good.
The battle of Wisconsin is not about public employees versus taxpayers. The real battle is between the people and the corporate, military take-over of our nation's resources.
