Our story so far in America’s laboratories of democracy: Over the past few years, Republican governors have been eagerly implementing big tax cuts, insisting that they will supercharge their states’ economies and increase revenue instead of reducing it. Kansas was the poster child for this experiment, and it failed miserably. Louisiana has been a disaster too. Now comes Wisconsin, where fellow Republicans are getting a little tired of Governor Scott Walker’s denial of reality:
Leaders of Mr. Walker’s party, which controls the Legislature, are balking at his demands for the state’s budget. Critics say the governor’s spending blueprint is aimed more at appealing to conservatives in early-voting states like Iowa than doing what is best for Wisconsin.
Lawmakers are stymied over how to pay for road and bridge repairs without raising taxes or fees, which Mr. Walker has ruled out. The governor’s fellow Republicans rejected his proposal to borrow $1.3 billion for the roadwork, arguing that adding to the state’s debt is irresponsible.
Oh man. Been there, done that. This was also Arnold Schwarzenegger’s solution to a budget hole created by his own tax cuts, and it didn’t work out so well. It turns out that spending is spending, whether you pay for it now or later.
As in so many other states, even Republican legislators are starting to glom onto the fact that if you cut taxes, you’re pretty likely to create a big budget hole. Unfortunately for them, they’re learning that there’s only so far you can go in crapping on the poor to close the hole.1 At some point, you have to start cutting back on stuff you approve of too, like roads and bridges. But Walker doesn’t care. He’s got a presidential run coming up, and he wants to be able to say he didn’t raise taxes. If that means playing “let’s pretend” and borrowing the money instead, he’s OK with that.
On the bright side, at least it’s better than the childishness that Bobby Jindal came up with. And borrowing costs are low right now. So I guess things could be worse.
1Though in Wisconsin’s case, Walker’s signature move for crapping on the poor has been to refuse Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. This will cost Wisconsin $345 million over the next two years, making their budget hole even worse. That’s how much Walker wants to crap on the poor.
