More money and still broke…

During the 1990s when Thompson was governor, state tax revenue grew nearly 7 percent annually. The state spent it all, and then some, on such things as absorbing two-thirds of public education costs. But in 2001, the bottom fell out. Recession hit, revenue growth slowed and a $3.2 billion biennial deficit loomed. State decision-makers trimmed some spending and shifted other bills into the 2005-2007 biennium. Now recovery has taken hold and projections call for state tax revenues to grow about 4.5 percent during that period – yet Wisconsin still expects a $1.6 billion deficit. In dollar terms, Wisconsin will have a billion dollars a year more to spend in those years, but it’s not enough to balance the books.

The only conclusion is that the government spends too much. For Wisconsin ever to find its way out of the top tier of taxing states, government must shrink. Fewer services. Fewer people. Keep in mind, government is not making goods or using materials and resources. Expenses, for the most part, are for salaries and benefits of government employees.

When state government can draw 4.5 percent more money from taxpayers and still wind up with a billion-dollar hole, something is wrong. The sheer size of government, at all levels, has become a money-sucking machine with an insatiable appetite for taxpayers’ incomes.

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