State GOP complains about $800 per person (except that's a lie)

The Wisconsin State GOP is complaining pretty hard about Gov. Jim Doyle's budget, stating that it taxes and spends money at a time Wisconsinites need it the most.

From WisGOP.org: "While unemployment in Wisconsin reaches new heights, Governor Jim Doyle is increasing government spending and paying for it by increasing taxes and fees by nearly $2 billion, according to a memo released by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) Wednesday."

The article by the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) goes on to state that under this budget, taxes will be raised by $800 for every citizen in the state.

That is highly misleading, however; while the average tax bill will go up by that amount, it is mostly aimed at income earners making more than the average Wisconsin family. In fact, the memo that the RPW references from the LFB also makes mention of the fact that Doyle's budget will increase "the federal credit for families with three or more children...[as well as] the income threshold at which the credit begins to phase out for married couples."

In other words, more families will be able to receive these tax breaks in Wisconsin.

The RPW is also alleging that unemployment has gone up under Jim Doyle. They forget that unemployment has gone up across the country -- in states both Democratic and Republican controlled -- and that Wisconsin has the 17th lowest unemployment rate in the country.