‘Corporate’ Taxpayers Alliance....

Back in 1999, I noticed that the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance was not exactly as nonpartisan as they claimed. “Nonpartisan and fiercely independent” they claim on their website: “an unrivaled reputation for accurate, objective research” they profess. Rarely, however, do they speak out against new corporate tax giveaways or other breaks, but they often rail against government spending in general, even for things like public education. After a little research, I found some rather startling results.

In 1999, seven of their fifteen Board of Directors members were either current or former members of the very partisan Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, for a total of 47 percent of their Board membership. Even more interesting, of their Board Members who made campaign donations from 1993-98 which totaled almost $137,000, 98 percent of their donation dollars went to Republican candidates, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s database of state campaign donations.

Non-partisan? Heck, that’s the Republican leadership circle.

As I read this December 28, 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about Governor Doyle’s property tax freeze, this quote stood out to me:

"It's not a freeze," said alliance president Todd Berry. "What it is, is a lot of maneuvering. The counties and municipalities were limited to levy increases tied to new construction. The schools' levy dropped, but only because the state paid for more. And the tech colleges were exempted."

The upshot: "a tax cut for some and increases for others," Berry said.

Given the statewide accounts of real property tax relief offered in people’s bills last December, it seems the Republicans still have firm control of the “non-partisan” Wisconsin Taxpayer’s Alliance.

Here’s the proof. Of their current Board of Directors, ten of sixteen are either current or former WMC Board members – a whopping 63 percent! And what were their campaign donations since 1993? Well, of the $292,000 donated, 90.2 percent went to Republicans and 9.8 percent went to Democrats.

That sounds like the Corporate Taxpayers Alliance to me.