Scott Walker claims that he must bust unions because “Wisconsin is broke.” Actually, the only reason we have a $137 million deficit is because he gave away $140 million to corporations in the form of tax breaks. So in order to pay for gifts to the rich, he wants to steal from programs that help the poor.

That makes Walker into a modern-day Dooh Nibor… Robin Hood in reverse. Newly elected Republican lawmakers nationwide are acting like an army of Dooh Nibors, giving away the treasuries to rich people, and then crying that there’s no money to help poor people.

After the jump, there’s a great chart showing how we can pay for important parts of the social safety net by rolling back specific giveaways to rich people.

In the 1950s, we had a 91% tax rate for those making over $3.2 million (in today’s dollars). It was a prosperous time in American history, because the high top tax rate incentivized business owners to pay higher wages and invest more in their businesses.

Today’s tax rates have proven to be an incentive for the rich to hoard wealth. For the past 30 years, virtually all economic growth has gone to the richest of the rich. This is wrong.