This popped up Friday morning:

After the peaceful apprehension of Joseph Jakubowski, Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) released the following statement:
“I want to thank all of the law enforcement officers who have worked tirelessly over the past several days to bring about a peaceful resolution to this situation.
“The threat of gun violence is an all too real struggle for families across Wisconsin. Today, that reality hit home in the small town of Viola. Tomorrow, it will be another community.
“We should use this opportunity to strengthen our communities and promote commonsense public safety reforms. It’s time for leaders in Wisconsin to stand up to the powerful gun industry and take proactive steps to keep deadly firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals.”

I posted this Friday morning, and my Facebook feed temporarily blew up from all the response. This blog is based on some of those comments.

First: Not to defend what Jakubowski did, but how many shots did Jakubowski (as far as we know) fire after he (allegedly) stole guns from the Janesville gun shop? Zero. Despite all the threats, no shots were fired, either by Jakubowski (as far as we know) or law enforcement.

How many of Shilling’s gun-owning constituents shot somebody the day this was released? Zero, as far as we know, and if not in self-defense every shot fired at someone was illegal under long-existing laws.

Jakubowski is a convicted felon. Unless his gun ownership rights were restored post-conviction, his possession of any guns is illegal. The (alleged) break-in and thefts were both illegal. Making terroristic threats is illegal. Why do the gun ownership rights of law-abiding people need to be taken away because of what Jakubowski did?

I live in an area where if you assumed every house includes at least one gun you’d be correct more often than not. There is a gun store down the street. And I feel perfectly safe surrounded by guns and gun owners. (Many of whom may well be concealed-carrying without my even knowing it.)

This may bring to mind an infamous past statement:

As a Facebook Friend of mine puts it:

The way you “stand up to the powerful gun industry” is to not buy their products. Anyone who is afraid of guns should not own one, and nobody has ever suggested that they do. When this nut-case was running loose in Wisconsin, people with guns felt safer than those without – that is how we do safe spaces without tax-payer money.

And as another Facebook Friend puts it:

It should always be the government’s responsibility to prove why something should be prohibited; it should never be the people’s responsibility to prove why something shouldn’t be.

And as another Facebook Friend puts it:

She should have stopped after this portion of her message: I want to thank all of the law enforcement officers who have worked tirelessly over the past several days to bring about a peaceful resolution to this situation.

Americans for Prosperity is hosting this event tonight:

I do not live anywhere near Wauwatosa, and it being Maundy Thursday we have church tonight. But the MacIver Institute has a summary that starts with tax cuts since Gov. Scott Walker took office in 2011:

It should not be simply glossed over how much progress Wisconsin has made reducing taxes in recent years. In 1994, less than 25 years ago, Wisconsin ranked 3rd nationally in overall tax burden and our taxes were 16 percent above the national average.

Today, property taxes are at the smallest percentage of personal income since 1945, 3.6 percent. The average homeowner in Wisconsin, in 2016, paid $116 less in property taxes than he or she paid in 2010. According to the Department of Revenue, the typical family in Wisconsin has seen their income taxes cut by $1,159. Wisconsin’s state and local tax burden, as reported in December 2016 Census Bureau data, fell to 10.8 percent of personal income, the 16th highest among the states. By comparison, the year prior, Wisconsin’s tax burden ranked the 15th highest at 10.9 percent of personal income.

However, according to the Tax Foundation …

… Wisconsin still has some of the highest income tax rates in the U.S. Even worse, according to WalletHub, Wisconsin has the third highest state and local taxes as applied to a median-income U.S. household, described as “an annual income of $54,286 (mean third quintile U.S. income); [that] owns a home valued at $178,600 (median U.S. home value); [and] owns a car valued at $23,070 (the highest-selling car of 2016); and spends annually an amount equal to the spending of a household earning the median U.S. income.”

What about based on median Wisconsin income? Wisconsin ranks much better. Based on a household with “an annual income equal to the mean third quintile income of the state; [that] owns a home at a value equal to the median of the state; [and] owns a car valued at $23,070 (the highest-selling car of 2016); and spends annually an amount equal to the spending of a household earning the median state income,” Wisconsin ranks not third highest, but 10th highest. Doesn’t that make you feel better?

MacIver admits:

While Walker and the Republican Legislature should be lauded for all the taxes they have cut, these tax cuts have done little to improve Wisconsin’s overall tax ranking. Similar to the Census Bureau data mentioned above, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation’s most recent ranking of state and local tax burdens puts Wisconsin at the fourth highest in the nation and highest in the Midwest. In the same study, the Tax Foundation found that state and local taxes take up 11 percent of all personal income in Wisconsin every year. These tax cuts have also done little to stop or even contain the never-ending and seemingly inevitable growth of the state budget. The 2011-2013 state budget spent over $66 billion from all funding sources. The 2015-17 state budget spent nearly $74 billion.

Clearly, it is time to think about the next big and bold reform that will transform our state and make Wisconsin an economic powerhouse for generations to come. It is time for a flat tax in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s reputation as a high-tax state has a significant impact on the state’s ability not only to attract newcomers, but also to retain those who are already residents. Annually, Wisconsin loses an estimated $136 million in adjusted gross income to tax migration. The high tax burden drives individuals to leave for those states with lower tax burdens or no income tax at all, such as Florida and Texas. One study, which examined Internal Revenue Service data from 1992 through 2015, showed that Wisconsin lost $3.40 billion in wealth to Florida, $1.08 billion to Arizona, and $769 million to Texas during the 23-year period. In that time, almost 93,000 people migrated from Wisconsin – that’s more than the entire population of Racine, the state’s 5th largest city. The loss of so many individuals, their businesses, and their economic activity does not bode well for the economic future of the state. Lower, flatter income taxes are one way to help stem the tide of emigration from Wisconsin.

Low, flat state income tax rates are actually common throughout the country. Seven states levy no individual income tax at all. New Hampshire and Tennessee currently tax dividend and interest income, though recent reforms in Tennessee have set a glide path to total elimination of the income tax in 2022. Eight states have flat individual income tax structures, and 33 states, including Wisconsin, levy progressive tax rates based on income level.

In today’s mobile economy, every state must compete for new residents and new businesses or risk losing them to other states. While climate and the local job market are big factors in a person’s decision to move, a state’s tax burden plays an important role in keeping recent graduates, people looking for a better life, and retirees from moving to a state with a lower tax burden.

The personal income tax, not just the corporate tax, is also becoming a bigger factor in the financial health and growth of businesses. The number of pass-through entities has nearly tripled since 1980, making pass-through businesses the most common business form in the country. Pass-through entities are not subject to typical corporate taxation, but are instead taxed under the individual income tax. Profits are passed through to the shareholders or partners of these companies and become part of their income. More than half of Wisconsin’s workforce is now employed by pass-through businesses, giving the individual income tax even greater importance to the livelihoods of Wisconsinites and the success of their businesses. In Wisconsin, pass-through businesses pay a top marginal income tax rate of over 48 percent – the 8th highest rate in the country.

Taking nearly half of a company’s income is detrimental to success and economic growth. Many states are wising up to the fact that high income taxes hurt competitiveness by punishing success and hard work. Despite the rhetoric that progressive taxation results in a fairer outcome, evidence shows that progressive income taxes are actually associated with higher income inequality.

This report sets out to explain why Wisconsin should continue to ratchet down its relatively high individual income tax system and many different rates to one flat rate. Evidence from a variety of sources – economic, social, and fiscal health metrics, as well as academic studies – demonstrates the benefit of a lower and flatter income tax structure. After examining Wisconsin’s position within the Midwest and considering recent reforms around the country, this report will recommend that Wisconsin transform its progressive income tax to a flat 3 percent tax rate for all taxpayers over an eight year period. In subsequent papers, we will continue to build our case through a comparison with Indiana, a state similar in size and demographics to Wisconsin, and will recommend specific steps that Wisconsin can take to make a flat tax a reality.

A systematic glide path to a 3 percent income tax rate would give Wisconsin the most competitive income tax among Midwestern states while greatly improving the state’s attractiveness on a national level. Such a move would have a significant impact on the incomes of all Wisconsinites and most importantly, would allow working class people to keep more of their income. A 3 percent flat tax would be a tax cut for everyone in Wisconsin. Under the current “progressive” tax code, our lowest tax rate of 4 percent for those who make just $11,120 per year is the 4th highest tax rate among the 33 states with a progressive income tax system.

Spacing out the rate reductions over a number of years protects the state budget from sudden and steep revenue drops, giving sufficient time to make gradual adjustments so the transition to the new tax system is smooth.

At the risk of hijacking my own blog, this is necessary but not sufficient. It should not take one party’s policies to enforce fiscal discipline. (Which is imperfect as it is since the state’s books are not balanced according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, even though the state mandates GAAP-balancing for every other unit of government.) Voters could vote for Democrats in the next election, and the spending and taxation spree of the late 2000s would resume. Politicians regardless of party (or lack thereof) must be prevented from overspending and overtaxation, and the only way to do that is to enact constitutional limits on spending and taxation (for instance, limiting spending growth to population growth plus inflation) and required referendum approval for all tax increases at all levels of government.

Watch this space for more on the AFP proposal.