tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post4447568872661385373..comments2024-02-20T19:58:27.733-06:00Comments on Jake's Wisconsin Funhouse: Costly Walker pre-election giveaways would handcuff state next yearUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-91465830649533735562018-01-27T12:08:47.564-06:002018-01-27T12:08:47.564-06:00LFB has been shockingly good at its estimates afte...LFB has been shockingly good at its estimates after it gets a year of data back, and they were pretty on the money whe it came to 2017's economic performance (something I wrongly underestimated). <br /><br /> But I agree that we are counting on a lot of growth in the next year, and maybe that we should wait to see if it actually pans out before we spend the money for this budget and the next one. <br /><br /> Also, there are a lot of other ways to spend this money that work a lot better than Walker's pandering.Jake formerly of the LPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15660401299391001751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-1570337803749024222018-01-27T12:06:36.390-06:002018-01-27T12:06:36.390-06:00You are correct, particularly when we talk about D...You are correct, particularly when we talk about DOT. Why not pay for more roads in "cash" that we have on a one-time basis?<br /><br /> Also worth noting, debt service costs go up in the next budget as a result of the Walker Admin aggressively refinancing debt into future years. Yes, this saves money short-term, and in overall expenses, but it'll definitely be a handcuff in 2019-21 and 2021-23.Jake formerly of the LPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15660401299391001751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-58501385673917343702018-01-27T11:22:59.847-06:002018-01-27T11:22:59.847-06:00Shouldn't the surplus be used to pay off our d...Shouldn't the surplus be used to pay off our debt? At least in part. Isn't debt service the thing that is taking a lot of the revenue? Should we be pretending to "give back" to taxpayers when in fact aren't we just borrowing to give them a reason to vote for Walker?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-69363613065400408272018-01-26T13:04:46.202-06:002018-01-26T13:04:46.202-06:00As a rule, I'm not a fan of spending money we ...As a rule, I'm not a fan of spending money we don't actually have. LFB does a pretty good job on the large stroke estimates, but I'm very dubious of their ability to predict down into the tens of millions range 18 months out.<br /><br />Too many unforseen forces can come to bear on the state's economy in that time.<br /><br />I'm not 100% against returning a surplus to the people, but it should be an actual surplus as opposed to a fuzzy prediction - something we'd have a better handle on in Jan of 2019 than we do today.<br /><br />What the heck, I suppose if we end up short again, they could always rescind the 2% raises for UW people.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02427829158996224733noreply@blogger.com