It should also be noted that Walker's budget did raise taxes on the poorest of the poor: Last summer, the state Legislature reduced the amount of money low- income families can receive in tax credits by $56.2 million.

That places Wisconsin among only a handful of states that will effectively raise taxes on their poorest residents in 2012, according to a recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank.

"At a time when low-wage workers are already struggling, this makes it that much more difficult (for them) to feed their families and pay their utility bills," said Jon Peacock with the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, an advocacy group that opposed the changes.

When the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau crunched the numbers for Walker's budget, they found that there was a small dip in taxes. But they also found there was a huge spike in fees...