THE WISTAX AGENDA
What does the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance want? What does its Wisconsin look like? How does WISTAX create an environment favorable to the conservative agenda?
Motive is central in recognizing WISTAX role in servicing to the conservative, pro-corporate agenda. Corporate America has spent more than a century trying to reduce government’s ability to regulate its activity. WISTAX has served this corporate agenda in a number of ways. By isolating tax debate to a matter of cost with no discussion of the benefits received from the collection of revenue, the relentless WISTAX message is an easy cudgel for conservative politicians to call for reduced corporate taxes and other revenue sources.
The outcome is three-fold in favor of business interests: corporate taxes are gutted and loopholes widened; regulatory resources are starved; and government services are depleted allowing opportunistic calls for the need to privatize former public services.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance agenda mirrors, unsurprisingly, the collective missions of its historically corporate, pro-banking and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce-laden board of directors. The most glaring example in recent history of the effect WISTAX corporate board has on the product it produces comes from discussions about the state’s impending $6.6 billion budget deficit in 2009. WISTAX endless agruments about the “impending fiscal crisis” of the state’s structural deficit evaporated as WISTAX served as the lone voice saying dire predictions about the deficit were akin to crying wolf.
The rationale in WISTAX sudden $5+ billion underestimation of the budget deficit: After decades of winning the war against progressive taxes and making those at the top of the income ladder and corporations pay their fair share, WISTAX saw a public and legislative atmosphere caustic to further coddling of WISTAX most favored special interest groups. Less of a deficit, less need to raise taxes on the wealthy and close the immoral Las Vegas Corporate Loophole.
WISTAX lost that argument, but in doing so, truly showed the side on which its bread is luxuriously buttered.
Thoroughly examining of WISTAX documents and public statements over the years, One Wisconsin Now’s WISTAX Watch has seen three consistent agenda themes characterize WISTAX work. They are as follows:
Public Investment in Education
On public education, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance serves the conservative agenda by creating reports designed to erode confidence in the value and quality of our public education system. When it comes to education dollars, conservatives see a zero sum game. The higher the commitment to public education in a community, the less willing the community is to invest shared resources into tax loopholes and giveaways to hand-out minded corporations. Given the conservative, pro-corporate historic and continuing board membership of WISTAX, this is hardly surprising and requires even more careful scrutiny of the methods its uses when it “analyzes” Wisconsin’s education system.
Corporate Taxes
WISTAX continually makes the inferred case that corporate taxes are disproportionately high in Wisconsin and burdensome to economic opportunity. Despite other taxes fluctuating in the amount collected year to year, WISTAX regularly refers to the corporate income tax as volatile, a non-subtle attempt to convince legislators, the media and the public that relying on the corporate income tax is an unwise long-term strategy.
Individual Taxes and Fees
WISTAX constantly talks about taxes, but never talks about the benefits received for the revenue raised and how it is invested to promote the general welfare, improve public safety and make Wisconsin among the nation’s most desired places to live, work and raise a family. WISTAX strategy is to isolate a tax without context – making it easier to view the tax as unnecessary. In addition, WISTAX uses conservative and Republican language when talking about taxes, such as “death taxes” to discuss the inheritance tax. WISTAX rankings conveniently rank Wisconsin as a high-tax state. But its formula deliberately ignores fees levied. Where other states have high fees for items like automobiles and toll roads, Wisconsin does not. These fees, which involve government collections are ignored by WISTAX allowing it continue its fallacious argument about its self-created Wisconsin’s high-tax ranking. Others who have examined this issue have all concluded the state ranks near the middle – a remarkable feat given the high quality of life and public services in Wisconsin.
EXPOSING WISTAX TACTICS
Click the thumbnail to see the original WISTAX report with a fact-check by WISTAX Watch
WISTAX TACTICS: Inconsistent comparisons, fluctuating definitions and broad statements.
WISTAX selectively chooses which taxes they will look at in order to create the best statistics possible for their predetermined conclusion. In the context of “family tax burders,” The Wisconsin Taxpayer, WISTAX main publication, has a long narrative of all of the taxes that are being taken, but no context to what those taxes are paying for. Especially since this publication is supposed to be about families, one would think they would mention the money is going to pay for children’s education and public safety, among others. (Dec. 1995, Vol. 63, No. 12, Pg. 1)
Wisconsin ranks 35 out of 45 in state with sales tax (so we are 10th lowest) but they say we are slightly below average. However, later they say we are 6th or 7th in property tax, which they call "very high". (Dec. 1995, Vol. 63, No. 12, Pg. 1)
WISTAX uses a 5.5 percent sales tax figure as a concrete number, but not every county has an additional .5 percent sales tax, as the .5 percent is discretionary. (Dec. 1995, Vol. 63, No. 12, Pg. 1)
WISTAX cites an increase of 6.8 percent in tax collections, but no offers no context of the then-booming economy. It wasn’t that the government raised taxes, but rather that due to an expanding economy, tax revenues (such as corporate taxes) increased. (Jan. 1996, Vol. 64, No. 1, Pg. 1)
After a lengthy discussion on the different ways “low income” is commonly defined, WISTAX throws these definitions away and uses its own, all the while couching its subjective choices in objective language. WISTAX also forgoes comparing the study’s figures to other states. Nor does it compare typical household tax burden to corporate tax burden. (May 2007, Vol. 75, No. 2, Pg. 2)
WISTAX TACTICS: Suspect choices, suspect omissions
Throughout this report and many others, WISTAX uses the “share of income” measurement for taxes. This is misleading because different people have different tax burdens, based on more complexity than is available in the WISTAX simplification. (July 2001, Vol. 69, No. 7, Pg. 1)
WISTAX also includes a two-page spread on tax rankings by state. Conveniently, WISTAX sets aside fees for this measurement, which would push Wisconsin into the middle of the pack, instead of what WISTAX rigged data set “proved,” which is that Wisconsin’s rank appear much higher than compared to the other states. (July 2001, Vol. 69, No. 7, Pgs. 6-7)
WISTAX admits that its larger measure of revenue is not the most commonly used. That does not stop WISTAX from using the larger figure throughout the report. (July 2001, Vol. 69, No. 7, Pg. 3)
WISTAX admits that fees are lower in Wisconsin, which is why our taxes make up a larger mix. This does not stop WISTAX, however, from going on to almost exclusively talk about taxes in this report and many others. (July 2001, Vol. 69, No. 7, Pg. 4)
