"Wisconsin’s two-year shortfall hits about $2 billion when state agency requests — which will certainly not be filled in full by Walker or the Legislature — are taken into account."
All the agencies submit a budget request to the state. They ask for the sun, the moon, and the stars. These requests are, as always, significantly larger than they get year after year. Hey, you can't blame them for asking. But you also can't add up all of these requests and claim that it is a budget shortfall. At least if you are a rational person.
So no, Walker does not preside over a 2 billion dollar budget deficit. In fact, this isn't even referring to the current budget - it is referring to the budget being working on for the next two years.
At some point an obsession distorts ones thinking.
Even if the legislature does not allocate all the budget requests, it will still amount to over a one million dollar deficit.
Does Walker plan on being Governor for the next two years? Then it is his deficit. He’ll have to own it.