Plain Talk: Guess why Walker wants to freeze self-supporting State Life Fund [View All]

[highplainsdem]

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_5b9c269c-45cd-11e0-bcf3-001cc4c002e0.html

If you need a prima facie example of how this extremist Republican governor is taking the side of the big guys against the little guys, I've got one for you.

Hidden in the 1,300 or so pages of his 2011-13 budget is the dismantling of Wisconsin's little-known State Life Fund, a small state-operated life insurance plan that was enacted 100 years ago this year by progressive Republican legislators in the wake of insurance scandals that rocked the state back then.

The fund costs Wisconsin government nothing, but operates off investing the premiums paid by the 30,000-plus state residents who hold policies with face values ranging from a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000. The fund, which isn't well-known because it is forbidden from doing any advertising, nevertheless earns dividends that substantially reduce the insureds' premium costs plus build cash values that policyholders can cash in if events in their lives make it prudent to do so.

-snip-

But now comes Walker, who received substantial campaign contributions from insurance interests in his race last fall. And because of the acquiescence to his machinations by the Republican majority in the Legislature, the threat to the fund is much more serious. Walker will get his wish unless the proposal is removed from the budget bill before it passes.

-snip-

Please read the entire piece. This is one more example of how carefully crafted and dangerous Walker's budget is. They spent a lot of time designing it to roll back as many progressive advances as possible, and favor corporations and the rich as much as possible, in just one bill.