Republican Gubenatorial Hopefull Scott Walker Wants Stimulus Money Poured into Sales Tax Holiday Hole, Screws Job Creation.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott (wacky) Walker (R) showed us today just how bad he is at economics. He wants to take the federal stimulus money and convert it into rebates and a sales tax holiday. Lets break it down quickly. How successful are rebates? According to the San Jose Mercury News:

The Recovery Rebate Credit, part of the economic stimulus package that was passed by Congress in 2008 … (was to) put more money into the hands of consumers, they would start spending again and help spur more economic activity. But the effect was short-lived. Consumers started pulling back even further, hit by rising prices, falling home values, deepening unemployment and tight credit. And that spelled doom for the economy, since consumer spending is its lifeblood.

What about sales tax holidays? Maintoday.com explains:

Sales-tax holidays are just gimmicks that will merely shift taxes onto property owners and workers. Christopher St. John, executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a liberal think tank in Augusta that focuses on state economic policies, said people generally favor raising the sales tax over other forms of taxation, because they have some control over it. "The way people feel about sales taxes is that they have choice. It only applies if they buy the item, whereas income and property taxes, you have no choice," he said. St. John said Mainers would rather get a break on their property taxes or income taxes than on the sales tax.

Now that you have a little background information, let’s take a look at Scott (wacky) Walker’s plans to take this one time stimulus money and dump it into a one time sales tax holiday hole. Remember, this guy wants to be governor.

Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Executive Scott (wacky) Walker wants the state to use most of its share of federal stimulus money for: a state sales tax holiday … property tax rebates and new business tax breaks … (Wacky) Walker said $3.2 billion of the stimulus aid should be used to offset the state's 5% sales tax starting March 1 through the end of the year. That would translate into some $3,000 in saving for the average family … The sales tax hiatus could prove to be a bonanza for Wisconsin merchants if residents from neighboring states flocked to Wisconsin for purchases of cars, appliances and other big-ticket items, he said … Walker … announced his Republican bid for the 2010 governor's race.

Walker's latest move … and dovetails with his controversial stance to refrain from asking for federal stimulus funding for county projects. Critics, including some business community allies, said Walker's refusal to ask for federal aid for local projects was a mistake … Walker’s "blueprint for economic prosperity" (would redirect) $512 million in federal stimulus aid for various county projects to be used instead for suspending the county 0.5% sales tax the rest of the year, rebating the $250 million in county property taxes paid this year. The property tax rebate would come to $652 for the owner of a $150,000 home in Milwaukee.

In the real world, where jobs need to be created, green energy implemented to lower rising government costs and infrastructure rebuilding, Gov. Doyle is taking a more practical and responsible path-minus gimics:

Doyle has said that nearly $2 billion would be used to help offset the state's budget deficit … $550 million would go for road and bridge projects, $150 million for weatherization programs and other funds for sewer and water projects.

So who would you trust to put people back to work, and plan for the future; Scott Walker or Gov. Doyle? But wait, an even better response is delivered by Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke:

“It is pathetic that Scott Walker decided to use his state of the county address as a platform to launch his campaign for governor. It is even more pathetic that he had to use fuzzy math and impossible gimmicks like state sales tax holidays to distract from his countless failures as county executive. “

As Walker has already acknowledged, redirecting federal stimulus money towards a sales tax holiday would be impossible under the law. Furthermore, Walker’s crazy claim that the sales tax holiday would translate into $3,000 in savings for the average family assumes that each household will go out and spend $60,000 on taxable goods. What ‘average’ family has that kind of disposable income? “Walker’s county tax holidays are based on the assumption that Milwaukee County might get as much as $500 million or more in federal stimulus aid, which is ridiculous considering that Walker has already said ‘no thanks’ to the federal stimulus funding.

Walker has a history that should scare any voting citizen, and should be a real test to see how many are swayed by the gimmicks and short sighted planning that brought our economy to a state of crisis.