To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
In this world, where everything and everyone is for sale, we must sustain independent media we can trust. If you believe independent journalism is critical to protecting democracy and the common good, please support Common Dreams this Giving Tuesday! We wouldn't exist without you.
It should be the sound of the other shoe dropping, but you'll have to listen hard to Governor Scott Walker's budget address because most media will miss most of it.
It's a funny thing about covering budgets. Cutting spending garners a whole lot more attention than cutting taxes. How many Americans know, for example, that Governor Walker gave $140 million in tax breaks to corporations -- right before he announced this fiscal year's deficit of $137 million?
It should be the sound of the other shoe dropping, but you'll have to listen hard to Governor Scott Walker's budget address because most media will miss most of it.
It's a funny thing about covering budgets. Cutting spending garners a whole lot more attention than cutting taxes. How many Americans know, for example, that Governor Walker gave $140 million in tax breaks to corporations -- right before he announced this fiscal year's deficit of $137 million?
The good people I met last week at the Wisconsin Budget Project call that a structural deficit. I'd go further. It's not only structural; it's structured - to bring about exactly this phony budget crisis.
As Scott Walker refuses to budge on his so-called budget repair bill, Wisconsin is bracing now for his actual budget. It's anticipated to cut almost a billion from education, literally scuttling public schools in heavily African-American cities like Milwaukee. And we already know Walker's plans include shrinking Medicaid while privatizing public utilities, cutting off yet more routes for public revenue.
Tea Partiers convening in Phoenix this week reportedly sprang to their feet at the mention of Walker, but they're only one side of this argument. According to the latest New York Times& poll, Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions - as Walker would -- by a margin of nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes; only 3 percent opt for cutting education.
What's really playing out here isn't a battle over numbers. It's a debate over what government is for. Is it, as Walker and his backers' believe, for stripping profit of all responsibility to people, or as the American people seem to believe, for protecting the public welfare? Walker's staked out his position clearly. The good news out of his state is that the conflict, as "Fighting Bob" LaFollette said, has been joined by the people. It is wealth vs. the common weal. Capital or community. We have a choice.
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
It should be the sound of the other shoe dropping, but you'll have to listen hard to Governor Scott Walker's budget address because most media will miss most of it.
It's a funny thing about covering budgets. Cutting spending garners a whole lot more attention than cutting taxes. How many Americans know, for example, that Governor Walker gave $140 million in tax breaks to corporations -- right before he announced this fiscal year's deficit of $137 million?
The good people I met last week at the Wisconsin Budget Project call that a structural deficit. I'd go further. It's not only structural; it's structured - to bring about exactly this phony budget crisis.
As Scott Walker refuses to budge on his so-called budget repair bill, Wisconsin is bracing now for his actual budget. It's anticipated to cut almost a billion from education, literally scuttling public schools in heavily African-American cities like Milwaukee. And we already know Walker's plans include shrinking Medicaid while privatizing public utilities, cutting off yet more routes for public revenue.
Tea Partiers convening in Phoenix this week reportedly sprang to their feet at the mention of Walker, but they're only one side of this argument. According to the latest New York Times& poll, Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions - as Walker would -- by a margin of nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes; only 3 percent opt for cutting education.
What's really playing out here isn't a battle over numbers. It's a debate over what government is for. Is it, as Walker and his backers' believe, for stripping profit of all responsibility to people, or as the American people seem to believe, for protecting the public welfare? Walker's staked out his position clearly. The good news out of his state is that the conflict, as "Fighting Bob" LaFollette said, has been joined by the people. It is wealth vs. the common weal. Capital or community. We have a choice.
It should be the sound of the other shoe dropping, but you'll have to listen hard to Governor Scott Walker's budget address because most media will miss most of it.
It's a funny thing about covering budgets. Cutting spending garners a whole lot more attention than cutting taxes. How many Americans know, for example, that Governor Walker gave $140 million in tax breaks to corporations -- right before he announced this fiscal year's deficit of $137 million?
The good people I met last week at the Wisconsin Budget Project call that a structural deficit. I'd go further. It's not only structural; it's structured - to bring about exactly this phony budget crisis.
As Scott Walker refuses to budge on his so-called budget repair bill, Wisconsin is bracing now for his actual budget. It's anticipated to cut almost a billion from education, literally scuttling public schools in heavily African-American cities like Milwaukee. And we already know Walker's plans include shrinking Medicaid while privatizing public utilities, cutting off yet more routes for public revenue.
Tea Partiers convening in Phoenix this week reportedly sprang to their feet at the mention of Walker, but they're only one side of this argument. According to the latest New York Times& poll, Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions - as Walker would -- by a margin of nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes; only 3 percent opt for cutting education.
What's really playing out here isn't a battle over numbers. It's a debate over what government is for. Is it, as Walker and his backers' believe, for stripping profit of all responsibility to people, or as the American people seem to believe, for protecting the public welfare? Walker's staked out his position clearly. The good news out of his state is that the conflict, as "Fighting Bob" LaFollette said, has been joined by the people. It is wealth vs. the common weal. Capital or community. We have a choice.