Posted: October 28, 2011 at 5:47 pm

New Analysis: GOP Ginned Up Fake Budget Crisis to Undercut Jobs, Schools

Republican legislators conspired to gin up a fake budget crisis to undercut jobs, public school classrooms, and seniors. A new analysis by Tax Analyst [pdf], out this week, spells out the whole debacle in detail. Here’s what went down.

Exactly one month before the 2010 election, the GOP legislature’s economic forecaster predicted a $400 million dollar budget deficit.

Even though Governor Schweitzer and his budget director explained why the prediction was inaccurate, the GOP refrain “$400 million dollar budget deficit” was parroted by the media. Recall that the Billings Gazette sent out a questionnaire to every candidate asking what cuts they will propose to the budget to make up for the supposed $400 dollar deficit?

Legislative fiscal analysts predict that by June 30, 2013, there will be a $366 million state budget deficit with no money in reserve. How specifically would you balance the budget? What specific government services are you prepared to cut, by millions of dollars if necessary, and which government services would you preserve?

Then, by repeatedly feeding the “we’re bankrupt” lie to the electorate, TEA Party republicans rode the wave of fear and paranoia into state legislative office, claiming they were needed to help combat the supposed budget crisis.

The Governor again called it a fantasy, but the fraud continued. The legislature claimed that the drastic cuts they made to those hardest hit by the recession (seniors, veterans, school children and the disabled) were made necessary by a $400 million dollar deficit that wasn’t real.

As soon as the legislative session was over, the legislative staff admitted that their numbers were (badly) off. They claimed to be “surprised” by how wrong they had been, the Tax Analyst analysis explains. State Senator Ron Erickson (D) gave a scathing response, saying he and other Dems weren’t surprised, as the Governor had been saying that the deficit prediction was wrong from the beginning.

Montana has $300-400 million dollars left in the bank that could have been used to create jobs, to help the needy and to make sure school kids have a bright future. Now, GOP gubernatorial candidates are trying to continue the deception to bring about their own elections. They, too, will claim a spending crisis and the need for immediate budget cuts. This time, however, the GOP’s record of deceiving the public for political gain will stand in their way.

Posted: June 24, 2011 at 12:09 pm

Fuzzy Math

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish–Dr. Seuss 1965

The Montana Legislature, we now learn, was using strange counting methods and fuzzy math, from day one.

The chief forecaster for how much money the state should expect to have in its coffers on a quarterly basis is Terry Johnson, who reports to legislative leadership. He and Schweitzer butted heads throughout the last four sessions session, because Schweitzer was evidently crunching the numbers and thought that there was more money available than was being estimated by Johnson, who takes marching orders from his bosses Jim Peterson (R-Buffalo) and Mike Milburn (R-Cascade). As a result, as in states like Wisconsin, Florida and other places where the Tea Party as created a false premise panic about a lack of funds, the Republicans in the 2011 session were able to justify across the board cuts. Cuts in education, cuts in assistance to poor, and the denying hard working state employees a 1% pay raise they were slated to receive after years of going without.

In fact, the board of regents has announced that tuition at the University system must now be raised because of the Republican legislature’s cutting of funding for higher Ed.

Yesterday, I saw a mailing from the Policy Institute, a group run by Pat Williams, Ken Toole and other progressives, discussing the importance of standing up for what you value. The mailing attributed democratic losses in 2010 to a tendency to try to reach persuadable voters at the expense of the base. I agree with much of this.

But it also needs to be understood that many Democratic legislators seem not to have the stomach for butting heads with GOP front-man Terry Johnson and his crew, and instead enjoy singing kumbaya with him. Those who were guilty of this, and consider themselves progressives, now need to take a good, long look in the mirror.

UPDATE: Hamm on Wry has a good discussion of the Republican’s pathetic response.