WMC Crisis
Many will argue the rise in the influence of corporate lobbying organizations such as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has shifted the priorities of state and federal government towards serving corporations at the expense of citizens.
The result has been a steady stream of public policies which both take away badly-needed state and federal resources from the treasury to serve the narrow interests of corporations and reduce the ability of individuals to hold corporations accountable.
Worker productivity is at an all-time high, yet wages are not rising in proportion. Tax policies are enriching the wealthiest instead of the middle class and those in need. Health care costs skyrocket, while drug and insurance companies reap record earnings. Oil prices rise relentlessly and oil companies make astronomical profits.
At the same time, those who work hard and play by the rules are being squeezed tighter and tighter. Workers see the promised pension and health care benefits earned through a lifetime of service vanish, while corporate CEOs cash in on golden parachutes. CEOs enjoy double-digit pay hikes as workers are asked to accept less pay for longer hours.
People across Wisconsin are asking: When is enough, enough?
Consider just a few of the following points when deciding whether the rise in influence of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and its partners has been harmful to Wisconsinites:
- WMC Claims of Wisconsin as ‘Corporate Tax Hell’ a Fallacy. WMC and its conservative allies have claimed Wisconsin is a “tax hell” to justify policies that erode public spending in favor of corporate tax breaks. In 1982, corporations in Wisconsin paid 85 percent of profits earned, but less than 20 years later, that had plummeted to just 33 percent. [Source: Associated Press; WaxingAmerica.com, 3/20/06]
- Twelve of WMC Board Member Businesses Paid No Corporate Income Taxes in 2003, 2004. Of the 25 companies in which corporate executives sat on WMC’s Board in 2003 and 2004, 12 paid no corporate income tax to Wisconsin. These include: Ariens, Associated Banc-Corp, Emerson, Greenheck Fan, Hutchinson Technologies, JP Cullen & Sons, Market & Johnson, Serigraph, Snap-On, Manitowoc Company, Wausau Paper, and Webcrafters. This extends to national corporations operating in-state. In 2005, Microsoft, Merck, and Sears earned a combined $18 billion in profits – but paid absolutely nothing in Wisconsin corporate income tax. [Source: Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, 12/07/07]
- Corporate tax breaks have shifted tax burden to homeowners. A series of exemptions for business property over the last 30 years has shifted the property tax burden from business to homeowners, who pay nearly 70 percent of all property taxes today. [Source: Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, 1/05/08]
- Nearly All Corporations Pay Less Than Five Percent Tax Rate. The Government Accountability Office reported in 2004 that 94 percent of major corporations paid less at a less than 5 percent tax rate. This puts corporate taxation at the second-lowest level in 60 years. Rampant under-reporting of profits leaves many corporations paying nothing in taxes. [Source: Government Accountability Office, 2/04/08]
- Wisconsin’s top tax rate is lowest since the Great Depression. Wisconsin’s top income tax rate is the lowest since 1931, and the state spending is 18th highest in the nation. [Source: Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, 1/05/08]
- Wisconsin estate tax ended this year. The heirs and heiresses to Wisconsin’s largest fortunes will receive a tax break of $300 million over the next three years, as a 2001 provision ended the estate tax, effective January 1, 2008. [Source: Wisconsin State Journal, 12/8/07]
- Homestead Tax Credit for Low Income Homeowners, Renters Unchanged for Nearly 20 Years. The maximum Homestead Tax Credit, which is the primary source of property tax relief for low-income homeowners and renters in Wisconsin, has not been changed since 1991. [Source: Wisconsin Council on Children and Families]
- Median income for a family of four is less than it was in 2000. In 2000 the median income was $78,123. By 2006 it had fallen to $72,495. With the dramatic increase in energy prices and health care costs in that same period, families are having to do much more with less resources. [Center on Wisconsin Strategy, 9/07]
- Lobbyists Have Doubled Since 2000. WMC is included among the legions of corporate lobbyists influencing governmental policy. As of 2005 the number of registered lobbyists in Washington, DC has more than doubled since 2000. [Source: Washington Post, 6/05]
- Corporations Oppose Universal Health Care to Protect Obscene Profits. In 2004, the four biggest health insurers reported just around $100 billion in revenues, after pouring $300 million of that into lobbying in 2003. Opponents of universal health care plans like Healthy Wisconsin claim a single-payer system would be too expensive, but the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimated such an endeavor, on a national scale, would cost about $69 billion a year – the cost of repealing the Bush tax cuts for those in the top 5 percent of income earners. An estimated 98,000 Wisconsin children were uninsured for all or part of 2006. [Source: Hostile Takeover, 2006; Citizens for Tax Justice, 7/05; Wisconsin Council on Children and Families; Kaiser Family Foundation]
- Profits from Consumer Gouging Got Big Oil Execs Doubled Compensation Packages. In 2004, oil executives benefited from massive price increases to double their annual compensation packages to an average of $16 million a year – the highest median for any industry in America. Big Oil raked in an additional $80 billion in profits from 2000 to 2004 by sticking consumers with about $250 billion in price increases. WMC opposed Governor Doyle’s oil tax proposal which would have raised $272 million this biennium to pay for public services like transportation. The plan included penalties for executives who attempted to raise gas prices to offset the tax. [Source: Hostile Takeover, 2006]
- Health Care Spending in Wisconsin Over $42 Billion. Over the next 10 years health care spending is projected to rise to $76.9 billion. [Source: Wisconsin State Legislature]
- Employers, Employees Hurt By Skyrocketing Health Care Costs. The cost of employer provided health care went up by 9.3 percent in 2006, while employee premiums are rising faster than wages. Employer-provided benefits have suffered due to rising costs. [Source: Wisconsin State Legislature]
- Health Care Hikes Vary Across Wisconsin. There is a 26 percent cost differential between the highest and lowest cost areas of the state. [Source: Wisconsin Citizen Action, 12/4/07]
- Over Half a Million Wisconsinites Are Uninsured. More than 65 percent of the uninsured are employed in the workforce. [Source: Wisconsin State Legislature]
- Medical Expenses Top Reason for Bankruptcy. At least half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are the result of medical expenses. [Source: Wisconsin State Legislature]
- Wisconsin’s Poverty Rate Rose from 10.2 percent in 2005 to 11 Percent in 2006. The child poverty rate increased from 13.9 percent to 14.9 percent and over 581,000 Wisconsinites lived in poverty in 2006. The percent of families with children under 18 living in poverty has also risen in the past year. [Source: Wisconsin Council on Children and Families]
- African American and Hispanic Families Cope with Higher Poverty Rates. Over 32 percent of Wisconsin’s African American families are living below the poverty level, while 24.3 percent of Wisconsin’s Hispanic families live in poverty. [Source: Wisconsin Council on Children and Families]
