Politics & Government

Gov. Walker: Higher Taxes on Wealthy Could 'Slow Things Down'

Wisconsin's Republican governor says political leaders in Washington should look to states like Wisconsin to fix the federal government's fiscal problems.

As partisan politics have taken center stage in the “fiscal cliff” discussions, Gov. Scott Walker on Friday said the federal government could find solutions to some national problems if they looked to state leaders for examples of sound policy.

“Washington would be a lot better off — regardless of party — if they just acted more like states like Wisconsin,” Walker said.

President Barack Obama has called for increased tax rates on the rich to allow for a tax freeze on the nation’s middle class, according to The Washington Post. Republican leaders are in strong disagreement, leading to House Speaker John Boehner to declare that negotiations are at a “stalemate” between the GOP and the Democrats, according to the newspaper.

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Not all Republicans are against the proposed tax increases on the wealthy though — if they can negotiate other ways into fixing the nation’s deficit, according to a Reuters report.

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy is among those showing willingness to consider a compromise, the Reuters article states.

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"I'm not at rates, I'm at revenue, I'm at loopholes," Duffy told Reuters. "But listen, revenue should be revenue, whether you are doing it by rates or loopholes."

But Walker, while speaking with Patch during a military care package packing event at Hunzinger Construction in Brookfield, said he doesn’t want to see Republicans or Democrats do anything in Washington that would harm the economy.

“We already have a slow recovery right now,” Walker said. “The last thing we want to do is retreat and go further back when it comes to the economy. We certainly don’t want to be in a position where it makes things worse. My fear is that, if you take more money out of the hands of the economy and put it in the hands of the government, that is potentially a way to slow things down.”


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