Dimwitted Duey and WisGOP spins foolishness on income taxes

Saw this comment from a certain GOP loudmouth on Joint Finance, and figured I'd send it ahead to you, even after Governor Evers sent back these plans with a veto last week.

Did you know the largest percent reduction in our tax cut package is nearly 36% for filers earning $10,000 to $15,000 according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau? These tax cuts are a win for Wisconsin and @GovEvers should sign the bill. pic.twitter.com/0IcYsB3P9z

— Duey Stroebel (@SenStroebel) February 26, 2020

Stroebel is using the information from the LFB analysis of the GOP's latest tax scheme. And when you look at those numbers, you see that this 36% tax cut doesn't mean much.

$37 dollars in a YEAR? And 57% of people in that tax bracket would have gotten ZERO. I pointed out this lameness on my lunch hour this week.

Not mentioned is that the "36% tax cut" is LESS THAN 75 CENTS A WEEK.

Hey Duey, you know what would allow those people to take home a lot more? Raising the minimum wage to something above the poverty level we have today!#FightFor15 #wiunion #wipolitics #wiright https://t.co/NHDfJl0PTc

— JakeEdwards (@JakeMadtown) February 26, 2020

Know what else would do more to help these lower-income Wisconsinites? Passing Badgercare expansion to increase job options for people in that income range (so they don't fall off once they get above poverty). In addition, maybe Stroebel and his fellow Republicans shouldn't have turned down Governor Evers' budget proposal to expand the state's Earned Income Tax Credit, which the Wisconsin Budget Project noted would have given a much larger benefit to these lower-income individuals.

Unlike the Republican plan, the Evers plan cuts taxes for working parents who have low incomes by expanding the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit. The expansion proposed by Evers would put $27 million a year back into the pockets of working parents who are struggling to make ends meet. Working parents with incomes of about $12,000 who received the increased credit would get about $200 more in their tax refund that they could use to cover expenses like getting their car repaired or buying groceries. Helping low-wage workers by increasing the EITC would be a positive step in reducing racial inequity in our state because people of color comprise a disproportionate portion of the working poor.

Soon afterwards, Stroebel chose a different group of people to sell the tax cut for.

The average married couple earning between $70,000 and $80,000 a year would have received a $197 tax cut under the GOP tax plan. Now that @GovEvers has vetoed the tax cut instead of returning that money to taxpayers who could spend or invest it the money will sit in Madison.

— Duey Stroebel (@SenStroebel) February 28, 2020

At least the targeting is correct here, a bit more money for a relatively middle-class income in Wisconsin. But what Duey's not telling you is that this extra money wouldn't been in anyone's pocket until this time next year. Because it wouldn't have done anything for paychecks, and instead would only have manifested itself in the form of higher tax refunds of 2020 taxes in early 2021.

Know what would get the money into those pockets at a faster rate?

1. Changing the withholding tables, which apparently the Evers Administration is planning to do later this year. I think Evers should have waited till after the New Year to make this move, and put a new Legislature on the spot, but as a result, the tax cuts signed in 2019 will result in larger refunds in the coming months as well as higher paychecks in July.

2. Do a one-time tax rebate check that goes to all taxpayers. You could give away an average of $150 to all 3.17 million tax filers in the state, and it would cost as much as the GOP's proposed tax cut would have over the next 2 years. It also doesn't depress revenues for future years, when we might well need the cushion if/when the economy declines.

Know what else could have helped? Giving property tax cuts to homeowners and not businesses. Which Evers' proposal would have done, and which the gerrymandered Republican Legislature could sign on to if they choose to end their 10 1/2 month paid vacation.

But let's face it, today's Republicans have no coherent idea on how to handle specific economic circumstances. They just throw up the same answer to any issue, even when it has nothing to do with tax policy.

I never thought I would have to say this, but you can’t stop a global pandemic with tax cuts. https://t.co/KrqUsSQfMt

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 28, 2020