GOP candidate Jonathan Steitz wants to dump state income tax, hike sales tax...thinks we're still spending too much?

Another Milton Friedman wannabe. Here's how Upfront with Mike Gousha promoted their interview with Jonathan Steitz: 

Republican Senate candidate Jonathan Steitz of Pleasant Prairie said he will be a more reliable conservative for the 21st Senate District. Steitz will face former Sen. Van Wanggaard in the August primary.

Who brags they'll follow leadership with a "reliable" vote if elected? Jonathan Steitz would. Steitz would also get rid of the income tax by cutting government spending (Boehner cliche) and raising the sales tax to 8 or 9 percent. Why?

Confident Bullshitter: Steitz falsely claimed the 9 states that don't have income taxes are doing much better than states that do. Wrong, unless Steitz thinks Wisconsin can become another oil producing state. But performance is everything, and Steitz is a fast talking huckster with a confident air. The truth...WSJ:

Do cuts create jobs? Mike Leachman, director of state research at the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said past studies showing states that enacted large income tax cuts in the 1990s and 2000s had a mixed record on economic growth. Several tax-cutting states performed worse than those with higher taxes, and those that performed better were oil producers … cutting income taxes doesn’t spur major economic growth because they’re usually accompanied by reductions in government services. 

Steitz is running against Van H. Wanggaard, a recall election loser given a second chance after redistricting. Just wait till you hear Steitz's plan to deregulate a statewide school vouchers plan (another post). Audio only:

Check out Jake's TA Funhouse for a detailed look at this conservative kooks plan.

Wisconsin Income taxes High? Only if you're Well Off.

You've probably heard how high our income taxes, right? Republicans can look like heroes when they cut them. But in reality, the wealthy are the ones getting the meaningful cuts. 

Thanks to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance, we can prove that point:

Wisconsin’s income tax claims a greater share of income than all but 10 of the 41 states with a general income tax, according to federal figures. 

But, a new study from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX), “State Tax Rankings: Digging a Little Deeper,” finds that rank can actually range from as high as seventh to as low as 33rd, depending on filer income. WISTAX is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to public policy research and citizen education he Badger State is one of 33 with a graduated income tax; i.e., the tax rate increases with income. Wisconsin was one of 10 with the most progressive income taxes in 2010.

Increasing tax rates, a sliding standard deduction, and relatively generous credits for low-income households help explain the varied ranks by income. For example, a married couple with two children earning $20,000 per year would have the 33rd highest income tax burden in the nation. However, that rank rises to 25th at $35,000 and 15th at $50,000.

Taxpayers with incomes of $75,000 or $100,000 paid income taxes that were higher than those in most states (7th and 8th respectively). At higher incomes, the Badger State ranked between 12th and 16^th.

Ouch, Tax Cuts for the Rich behind Walker’s repeal of state income tax.

It’s highly unlikely the sales tax would ever be 13.5%, but that's what it would take to make up for the elimination of the income tax.

To show you how just about any increase in the sales tax would negatively affect low and middle income families, here’s a chart from the Wisconsin Budget Project. Nothing subtle about Walker's support for the upper 10%,  his true constituents:

The following table shows the average tax change by income group if the individual and corporate income taxes were repealed, and the sales tax rate raised to 13.5% to make up for the revenue loss. The analysis assumes that refundable tax credits aimed at helping low-income individuals would not be eliminated; if those credits were eliminated, then the tax increases for those with lower incomes would be even larger than shown in the table below. The analysis was conducted by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy.

Jon Peacock, director of the Wisconsin Budget Project (said), “We won’t create prosperity and jobs for Wisconsin by raising taxes on most families just to pay for tax cuts for the rich.”

Uppity Wisconsin estimated the loss of about 10,000 jobs along our states borders due to a sales tax hike.

Keep this in mind:

Like most states with no income tax, Tennessee does have a relatively high sales tax rate of 7% on general merchandise and 5.5% on food. In addition, individual counties levy their own sales tax above and beyond the state sales tax. In Shelby County, sales tax is 9.25% on general merchandise and 7.75% on food.

Walker attacks Lower and Middle Class with repeal of state income tax, a bad idea in 9 other States.

Remember the Republican plan to save the economy under Governor Doyle was the “sales tax holiday?”

Ideas like that don’t work under Republican administrations though, because now, in a complete flip flop:

Gov. Scott Walker has embarked on a major review of the state’s tax code, including the possibility of eliminating income taxes and raising the sales tax … cutting taxes could be a strong foundation from which to run for president, and Walker reportedly has his eye on a 2016 bid. 

Another “bold” and courageous “promise(?)” made by Scott Walker, as he moves as far away from “the old way of doing things” under the Democrats, to a more irresponsible gimmicky tea party way to look presidential.

Let’s see how realistic this new diversion  tactic is:

Wisconsin relied on personal income taxes for almost 42 percent of its total tax revenue in 2012, according to the Census Bureau, or almost $6.8 billion of the nearly $16 billion it collected.

The state took in an additional $4.3 billion in general sales taxes, the only other revenue stream that produced anywhere near what the income tax does.

This shifts how the state will eventually get your taxes anyway. Items that didn't include a sales tax will soak in the same amount of cash from lower and middle income families as before, on all their income, while the wealthy will see more of their money go tax free for saving and investing. 

I thought this comment said it best when it unwittingly made the point that if you spend less, you pay less...how's that good for the economy?

"Sales tax seems the most equitable to me....those who buy more pay more. Buy less, pay less."

Incredibly clueless. As far as Walker's own comments, he chose to start with a lie:

“There are many states that do very well, better than most states in the country, that have no income taxes,” Walker said, according to WisPolitics.

Not true at all, but he did make it sound wonderful. Here’s a graph from one of the more recent studies I’m sure will be ignored like everything else not written by ALEC or other billionaire think tanks. Voters in Wisconsin will only have themselves to blame for buying into this new batch of voodoo economics: