FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday June 21, 2011 Contact: Pat Devney, 920-319-5774
Lying Luther’s Budget Spin to Supporters Fails Independent Truth Test Olsen emails “Budget Talking Points” claiming his budget is free of tax increases; numerous non-partisan sources say that’s simply not true RIPON – Sunday, as residents of SD14 were reeling from the passage of an extreme budget that raises taxes on seniors and working families, slashes healthcare for women and makes historic cuts to public education for our children, a “Budget Talking Points” memo was circulated by Luther Olsen to spin his support for this radical legislation. Olsen’s email audaciously boasts of a budget with “No Tax Hikes” and criticizes previous “hikes” on “businesses and individuals.” Olsen’s claim is simply a lie. The budget Olsen helped author and pass raises taxes by nearly $70 million on seniors and working families, while offering massive tax giveaways to corporations and wealthy investors like himself. By slashing the Earned Income Tax Credit – a policy Ronald Reagan once called the “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress” – and the Homestead Credit on which many Wisconsin seniors rely, Olsen’s budget unquestionably “hikes” taxes on these individuals and families. Olsen’s tax hikes are confirmed unequivocally by both the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau and independent fact-checking body PolitiFact, who, despite Olsen’s false assertions to the contrary, state unambiguously that his budget contains multi-million dollar tax increases on seniors and working families. “Luther Olsen’s extreme budget shamefully raises taxes by nearly $70 million on seniors and working families, while squandering over $200 million in tax giveaways to out-of-state corporations and wealthy investors like himself,” said Patricia Kelly, teacher from Baraboo. “The only thing more despicable than Luther Olsen’s support for an immoral budget that guts our public education system while raising taxes on seniors and working families is his willingness to brazenly lie about what he did down in Madison.”
### Paid for by We Are Wisconsin PAC, Phil Neuenfeldt, Treasurer. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s agent or committee.