No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

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Archive for the 'Taxes' Category

June 26, 2009

The penultimate budget is in the pipeline

by steveegg @ 0:42. Filed under Choo-choos, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - Oak Creek, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Revisions and extensions part 13 (7:09 pm 6/26/2009) – Since the DemoBudget has passed the Assembly 51-46, and we’re now at the final act of the biennial sign-and-hack from Gov. Jim Doyle, I’ll be updating a fresh post rather than this one.

Revisions and extensions part 4 (12:42 am 6/26/2009) – Moved up to the top (originally posted 6/25/2009 at 10:58 pm) with the 17-15 Senate passage (despite no bill text available). The most-vulnerable Dem Senator, Jim Sullivan, was again allowed to vote “no”. Start packing your bags.

R&E part 5 (12:59 am 6/26/2009) – Finally found the amendment text, which modifies the Senate version (as amended by a pair of amendments). Sorry I don’t have a clean-text version.

I have to thank Kevin Fischer, Sen. Mary Lazich’s (R-New Berlin) aide, for pointing me to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s comparison between the Assembly changes, Senate changes, and Conference Committee’s changes to the Joint Finance Committee Daughter-of-Necrobudget. This will be the version that Jim “Chainsaw” Doyle (WEAC/HoChunk-For Sale) will take his veto pen to because under state law, it cannot be amended by the full Legislature. Of course, as of 10:47 pm, WisPolitics’ budget blog doesn’t have the full text of the final substitute to AB75 (the budget bill), but apparently the 24-hour clock started ticking about 8:15 pm.

I haven’t done a hard analysis yet, but it just keeps on getting worse. From Sen. Lazich:

  • Total spending is up $4,000,000,000, or 6%.
  • The state-level/RTA-level increases in taxes are $2,100,000,000.
  • Total property taxes will go up $1,500,000,000, with the median home property taxes going up $90 at the end of this year and $130 at the end of 2010.
  • Borrowing increases by $2,900,000,000.
  • The structural deficit (how far in the hole the FY2012-2013 budget will start) is $2,300,000,000.

In case you missed the math, the total 2-year tax increase will be $3,600,000,000. There’s also a few kickers (straight to the nuts delivered with steel-toed boots) I want to get out there tonight:

  • The statutory general fund reserve will be halved to $65,000,000 for the duration of the budget. That is necessary because the FY2011 “net balance”, with that change, would be $149,100. No, that is not a misprint – that is less than the salary of the average full-tenured UW professor.
  • Drop the current 60% exemption on long-term capital gains to 30%, except for certain farm property/equipment. That represents a 2-year $242,500,000 tax increase from current law and a $72,300,000 tax increase from the Joint Finance Committee/governor version of the budget.
  • The KRM/SERTA Assembly provisions pretty much are final, except that it wouldn’t be the sole clearinghouse for federal grant money for the transit companies/authorities in southeast Wisconsin. To resummarize:
    • The car-rental tax in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties would go up from the current $2 collected by the soon-to-be-replaced Regional Transit Taxing Authority (the one that used $450,000 of its $500,000 tax take to lobby for higher taxes) to $18, $2 higher than the JFC/Senate version.
    • The Racine bus system and Kenosha bus system would each get $1/car rental from that only if the host city matched the funds. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Racine) told me earlier this evening that the only acceptable method would be a $10/car wheel tax.
    • Any other community in either Racine County or Kenosha County that wants a stop on the KRM would need to dedicate a “sustainable funding mechanism” to their respective county seat’s bus system. I failed to ask Rep. Vos what that definition was, but I suspect that it would also be a $10/car wheel tax.
  • The “prevailing wage” provisions would apply to both SERTA and the Milwaukee Transit Taxing Authority (the former was added by the Senate, the latter by the conference committee).
  • Speaking of the Milwaukee Transit Taxing Authority, the Assembly 0.65% sales tax plan is adopted, with Lee Holloway getting a third person on the board.
  • The Chippewa Valley and Chequamegon Bay (Bayfield/Ashland Counties, which I somehow missed in the Senate version) RTAs live on, but the Fox Valley RTA is dead.
  • Sen. Jeff Plale’s last-ditch attempt to get the state to pay for 75% of a I-94/Drexel Interchange instead of the usual 50% (since Franklin and Northwestern Mutual reneged on verbal agreements to pay for 25% and Oak Creek will not pay the full 50% local cost) is out, which means no I-94/Drexel Interchange.

There’s a lot more, but I’m too tired to keep going.

Revisions/extensions (11:15 pm 6/25/2009) - I decided to add the major points of the KRM tax to this post.

R&E parts 2 and 3 (12:36 am 6/26/2009 and 12:37 am 6/26/2009) - Good news/bad news on the illegal alien front – the illegal-alien drivers’ licenses are out, but the illegal-alien in-state tuition is still in.

Also, despite the continued lack of the actual bill over at WisPolitics, the Senate has taken this up, mostly because Alan Lassee (R-De Pere) is absent attending to his ill wife, and thus two Dems can safely vote “no” lost track of the math.

R&E parts 6 (8:26 am 6/26/2009) and 7 (8:31 am 6/26/2009) - Jo Egelhoff (who gave me entirely too much credit) found that card-check union organizing for UW research assistants is in the budget. AFSCME and SEIU bought this government, and the Dems, specifically Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan and Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, who snuck it in in conference, are bound and determined to give them their moneys’ worth.

Meanwhile, Christian Schneider found that the chiropractors got another leg up on regular doctors. Any bets on the donation splits from them in the 2010 election cycle?

R&E part 8 (9:03 am 6/26/2009) – As noted above, the mandate for a UW-Stevens Point school of nursing and the requirement to spend just over $3 million for advance planning for a new UW-Madison school of nursing building, slated for construction in the FY2012-2013 budget, is in there. Paging East Side Plale.

R&E part 9 (2:34 pm 6/26/2009) - Brett Healy over at the MacIver Institute lists the dirty dozen items in this version of the budget. Items I haven’t listed yet:

  • Use $3,333,400 in general revenues to provide “engineering services” in Milwaukee, made out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan.
  • Rob $1,800,000 from five Milwaukee-area school districts, Oconomowoc, Mequon-Thiensville, Fox Point-Bayside and Nicolet, and give that to the Madison school district, again created out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan.
  • Full-speed death of the Qualified Economic Offer, same as Doyle’s, the Senate’s, and WEAC’s wishes (once again, the purchaser of this government gets what it bought).
  • Again out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan, extend in-state tuition benefits in the UW system to all foreign nationals, not just the illegal aliens I noted earlier. Supposedly said foreign nationals will need to swear that they either applied to become permanent residents or that they will once and if they become eligible to do so.
  • Make sure the portions of state government that get shut down as the result of either the hiring freeze or a furlough stays shut down, just as the Senate and AFSCME ordered (again, the purchaser of this government gets what it bought).
  • Again out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan, move up the start date of the new $0.75/line/month 911 fee from the later of 10/1 or 3 months after the budget is signed to 9/1, for an additional $5,000,000.
  • Again out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan, redirect $9,200,000 of a $37,000,000 raid from the Petroleum Inspection Fund (funded by a $0.02/gallon tax on gas and diesel) from the transportation fund to the general fund.

I can only wonder just how much more will be found after the 24-hour circuit breaker the Assembly has gets reset. In fact, I’m surprised that in their rush to remake the entirety of state government into a secretive chamber of lawmakers lawgivers, the Democrats didn’t get rid of that circuit breaker.

R&E part 10 (3:22 pm 6/26/2009) - While mandatory auto insurance, first put in by the Senate, as well as the highest minimums in the country, first put in by Doyle, is part of this, Recess Supervisor found a pair of stinkers added in out of whole cloth by Decker and Sheridan at the insistence of Pedro Colon and the Legislative Black Caucus – new insurees can’t be put into a high-risk category because they never had insurance before, and insurance companies can’t assign risk based on where a vehicle is kept. That’s right, those of you upstate and in the burbs get to subsidize the accident- and theft-prone in the hearts of Milwaukee, Madison, and Racine. Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) has more on this, including the fact that the soon-to-be-law Wisconsin ban on area-based risk will be the the only one of its kind in the nation, and that other states (like Michigan) rejected it. Once again, Michigan beats us.

R&E part 11 (yes, we are that far, and there’s still time before the Assembly rubber-stamps this, 4:58 pm 6/26/2009) - Cathy Stepp found a stinker of an item from the Assembly version that popped back in – the allowance of the Department of Commerce to promulgate the initial rules for the new construction contractor registration program as “emergency rules without the finding of an emergency”, with the rule lasting . Using the emergency rules power under s. 227.24 of the state statues means no prior consideration for small business as provided by s. 227.114, no review regarding its effect on housing as provided by s. 227.115, no economic impact report as provided by s. 227.137, no advance copies provided to the Legislative Council staff as provided by s. 227.15, no prior hearings or notice thereof as provided by s. 227.16, 227.17 and 227.18, no prior legislative review as provided by s. 227.19, and no time to prepare for its implementation between its publication in the official state newspaper (or state website as provided by other provisions in the budget) and the first day of the following month as provided by s. 227.21.

There’s more agencies that get to implement “emergency rules” without the finding of an emergency, including the Department of Revenue’s new requirement to impose a 1% tax withholding on independent contractors (originally in the Assembly version).

R&E part 12 (5:03 pm 6/26/2009) - Greg Bump, who has been the on-the-scene man, reports that, after agreeing to waive the 24-hour rule, the Assembly will begin their rubber-stamping process at 5:30. He also posted the request from the little piggies known as the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities to Doyle to use his veto pen to eliminate the 7/1/2011 sunset of the $0.75/line police/fire protection tax (formerly known as the 911 tax) and eliminate the loosening of fireworks laws. I’m shocked, SHOCKED to see the spenders squealing for the continuation of a brand-new tax.

As an aside, I will be creating a fresh post when the Assembly does rubber-stamp what Kevin Binversie has freshly deemed the DemoBudget. Very apt name, don’t you think?

June 17, 2009

RTA Madness – Senate edition

by steveegg @ 22:04. Filed under Choo-choos, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

The Senate passed their own version of Daughter-of-Necrobudget on a virtual-party-line vote (Jim Sullivan, the target of a recall, was allowed to vote no along with every Republican). Others will cover the rest of the changes, but since I’m a laser on the RTAs, I’ll distill the differences between the Assembly version and the Senate version (thanks again to Greg Bump over at WisPolitics for doing the dirty work):

  • The Chippewa and Fox Valley RTAs are out.
  • The provision to allow Dane County to use its sales tax to fund roads is also out.
  • The Southeast RTA is once again solely focused on the choo-choo, with all funding to the existing Racine and Kenosha buses (i.e. the additional $2 car-rental tax to make the total $18) as well as the requirement of Racine’s and Kenosha’s suburbs to fund the bus systems to get a KRM stop out.
  • The Milwaukee County Transit Authority gets the “Regional” title back, with the sales tax bumped up to 1.0% and the “parks, culture and (county) emergency medical services” joining transit in the 85% (no percentage specified for each category) not allocated to municipal police, fire and EMS (allocated on a per-capita basis).

On to conference, where I expect nothing less than the worst of all worlds.

June 15, 2009

The very few who will not see a tax increase in WisTAXsin

by steveegg @ 9:08. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

If you meet ALL of the following conditions, you might not see a tax increase courtesy the Daughter-of-Necrobudget:

  • You must make less than $300,000 per year in reported income
  • None of your earnings can be from capital gains
  • You must not drive
  • You must not smoke (unless you shop at an Indian reservation tobacco store)
  • You must not drink
  • You must not get sick enough to enter a hospital or urgent care center
  • You must not purchase over-the-counter drugs
  • You must not buy downloaded software, songs or videos
  • You must not shop in Milwaukee County, Calumet County, Winnebago County, Outagamie County, Eau Claire County, Chippewa County, or the urbanized portion of Dane County
  • You must not shop at a business or buy from a business that has operations both within and outside of Wisconsin
  • You must not own a business
  • You must not rent a vehicle in Milwaukee County, Racine County or Kenosha County
  • You must not own any real estate
  • You must not own a phone

If you can claim all of the above, you just might not see a tax increase. There might be some dope dealers and users that meet all this, but the rest of us will be seeing a tax increase.

Revisions/extensions (4:54 pm 6/15/2009) - Fred decided to add to the list some over at the MacIver Institute. In addition to those who rent real estate…

  • You must not operate a power boat.
  • You must not operate any small engines requiring gas for operation.

I’m sure there’s more restrictions on who doesn’t get their taxes raised.

June 12, 2009

RTA madness expanded, explained – and revised

by steveegg @ 16:55. Filed under Choo-choos, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Revisions/extensions (4:55 pm 6/12/2009) - I’ve moved this post (originally published 4:28 pm 6/11/2009) to the top. The summary from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau is in (pages 38-42), and things get worse. I’ll clear up the original post a bit, and explain below.

WisPolitics’ Budget Blog reports that a rather sweeping amendment to the various Regional “Transit” Authorities contained in the Daughter-of-Necrobudget has been made by Assembly Democrats:

  • The Fox River Valley RTA in the governor’s budget has been restored, including the 0.5% sales tax.
  • The Chippewa River Valley also gets an RTA, with an unknown funding source a 0.5% sales tax.
  • In a reversal of the usual car-taxes-to-transit subsidy, Dane County, and only Dane County, will get to use its 0.5% RTA sales tax to repair roads.
  • At the insistence of the Federal Transit Administration, the KRM taxing authority’s responsibility is expanded to include Racine’s and Kenosha’s bus systems, paid for by a $1 car-rental tax in the cities of Racine and Kenosha (which makes the total KRM RTA car-rental tax initially $17 in Racine and Kenosha; it is unknown whether, like the larger car-rental tax, this will be auto-indexed for inflation) an additional $2 car-rental tax in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha Counties, raising the total tax to $18 per car-rental transaction. Of note, the bus systems only get the tax money if the cities raise funding of their transit systems (i.e. raise local taxes) by that amount.
  • The new sales tax the Milwaukee County Board gets to levy for their Regional Transit Taxing Authority drops from 1.00% to 0.65%, but instead of also funding parks, cultural, and emergency medical services programs, 23% of the new tax (or 0.15% on the bottom line) will go to “offsetting police and fire costs in communities in Milwaukee County”. If you believe that will go anyplace other than the City of Milwaukee, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

So, why all the changes, and why now? Apparently, despite being close to $2,000,000,000,000 in the red for the 2010 budget, the federal government has enough money to reward those who grow government and raise taxes by creating RTAs by September.

Yes, that’s right. Much like the demand by the Assembly Democrats to the cities of Racine and Kenosha to raise local taxes so that they get a pittance of an amount from a state-imposed tax increase, the federal government is demanding local tax increases and increased amounts and levels of government to get a pittance of an amount from the already-overtapped federal Treasury.

Begin expanded explanation. Regarding the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (the rebadged KRM Authority):

  • The car-rental tax is increased from $16 per transaction to $18 per transaction, indexed for inflation.
  • The city of Racine’s bus system would get $1 of that, and the city of Kenosha’s bus system would get $1 of that, only if each city “generates new funds to match the vehicle rental tax revenues”.
  • No other community in either Racine County or Kenosha County gets a stop on the choo-choo unless they provide a “sustainable funding mechanism” of an unspecified amount to contribute to their county seat’s existing bus system.
  • Instead of empowering the Milwaukee County and Racine County executives to make appointments, it depowers the Kenosha County Executive and gives the Kenosha County board chair that seat’s appointment power.
  • The SERTA will become the sole clearinghouse of grants made to the FTA by all three counties.
  • Pedro Colon gets a KRM stop at Lincoln Ave. and Bay St. to go along with his previously-porked-in National Ave. stop.

Regarding the Milwaukee Transit Taxing Authority:

  • Delete the “Regional” from the name.
  • The 0.15% sales tax imposed for “police and fire protection” will be split based on the number of officers and firefighters (i.e. almost all the money’s going to the city).
  • Specify that the MTA would be a tax-exempt entity.
  • No word on whether the 15% requirement to the city of Milwaukee to run the mini-choo-choo is still in.

Regarding the Chippewa Valley Transit Authority:

  • Eau Claire County would be first, pending both county board and voter approval.
  • Any municipality that has any presence in Eau Claire County would automatically be part of this.
  • If it is established, Chippewa County could join the same way (county board and voter approval), with the decision to either join or leave binding on all municipalities in Chippewa County.
  • Membership, with 4-year terms, would be set by each member county, with no more than 17 total and including three members appointed by each county member’s county executive and approved by the county board (one of which would be an initial 2-year term, then 4-year terms after that), a member appointed by the mayor of each member county’s largest city and approved by that city’s common council (an initial 2-year term, then 4-year terms after that) and a member appointed by the governor.
  • The funding source would be a 0.5% sales tax.

Once again, the screwing gets deeper. Maybe I should hire Moron Pundit to put together a way-NSFW graphic.

Revisions/extensions (9:12 am 6/14/2009) - I have to thank Lance Burri for the Rule 2 boost.

May 28, 2009

If it moves, tax it, e-commerce edition

by steveegg @ 7:32. Filed under Business, Politics - National, Taxes.

(H/T – Allahpundit)

Brett Joshpe wrote on The American Spectator site how sales on the internet are about to become a lot more expensive. Let’s go through the Cliff’s Notes timeline:

- In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled in Quill v. North Dakota that a retailer must have a “physical presence” in a state in order for that state to require the retailer to collect and remit that state’s sales tax. Do note that does not prohibit states from demanding their pound (in the case of Wisconsin, 5%-5.85%) of flesh from the purchaser; indeed, most states do demand their cut.

- Because of mass disobedience of that mandate, last year, New York required any online retailer who so much has an affiliate advertiser in that state to collect and remit the New York sales tax. In plain English, if a site like overstock.com advertised on, say the New York Times’ site or A Blog for All, it would be forced to collect New York sales tax on purchases made by New York residents.

- In response to that, overstock.com terminated its affiliate relationships with close to 3,400 entities.

- Meanwhile, the tax-and-spend-and-tax-and-spend-and (you get the idea) folks are trying to shove through Congress, under the guise of “streamlined” sales tax, a requirement to make all online retailers collect all state/local sales taxes.

Back in the dawn of e-commerce, I was involved in a small e-commerce project. Even if somehow a standard list of items subject to a sales tax were created (a pipe dream because the T&S&T&S&T&Sers in places like Madison and Albany will always want to tax more items than those in other state capitals), the myriad of different rates, both at the state and local level, which tend to not remain constant, would be a nightmare to keep up with.

May 27, 2009

Wednesday (or is it Thursday?) Hot Read – MKH’s “Are You Ready for a VAT?”

by steveegg @ 23:56. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

Those who know me know that I have a crush on Mary Katharine Ham. That I find her very attractive does not diminish in the least the brilliance of this tour de force on the onrushing VAT to supposedly pay for health care. Let’s take a few paragraphs from the middle:

Remain extremely skeptical, folks. No matter how much lovely alliteration Obama uses to describe this plan, it’s just another pathway into your wallet for the federal government. It’s just another source to tap for revenue when they’re unwilling to make “tough choices.” It will go up and up, and the relief the nation sees on the corporate income tax or the income tax as a trade-off will be precious little in the Congress we’ve got now.

It should also be noted that the VAT costs $3 billion just to collect in Canada, according to the National Post, on top of the added cost to every single item you buy, every day.

Luckily, because the VAT is a highly visible tax and disproportionately affects the poor, constituents and even their tax-happy Democrat representatives are likely to be wary about enacting one. Heck, even the floating of one might be enough to earn Republicans a few points on the generic ballot.

I hate to have to quibble on a point, but I must. As Charlie Sykes said in his post on this, “Don’t count on it. Just ask smokers.” In fact, depending on the labeling requirements, it can be very easy to hide this (no, I will not say any more; even though I realize that anything I can think of the tax-and-spend-and-tax-and-spend-and-tax-and-spenders can, I’m not in the business of making their jobs easier).

With that out of the way, the fact that every level of production sees a sales tax which is based on the difference of the purchase price of the product (or raw material) and the sale price of the product is a massive drain on the producer. Even a “simple” product like Mountain Dew has 16 different components the bottler has to keep track of.

Related to that, it is impossible to claim that a VAT of X% will not cost more than a end-user sales tax of the same X%. That is becasue not every raw material involved in the manufacture of, say, Mountain Dew has the same number of steps between the individual raw materials and final consumption.

While I won’t steal more of Mary’s content, I do have to comment on another aspect she brought up – the Left’s proposed dual-mode tax scheme. The existence of two different stages of taxation (in this case, wealth-acquisition and wealth-expenditure) makes it easier for government to raise first one stage, then the other. The older among us in Wisconsin remember when the sales tax was a “mere” 4%, and then “temporarily” raised to 5%. In a couple weeks, depending on one’s locale and choice of expenditure, that will be as high as 6.85%. Meanwhile, there’s a new, higher top income tax bracket in that same budget that will hike Milwaukee County’s sales tax rate by a percentage point.

So, what are you still doing here (other than wondering why The Weekly Standard doesn’t offer comments)? Go. Read! NOW!

May 26, 2009

BOHICA – cell-phone edition

by steveegg @ 23:53. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Kelly William Cobb over at Americans for Tax Reform put up a post outlining just how bad Doyle and the Spendocrats have it for the money of cell-phone users:

  • First, they raided the $20 million left over in the now-sunsetted E911 fund. That’s right; instead of you getting that $20 million overpayment to upgrade the 911 system to allow the dispatchers to find you if you call them on a cell phone, they’re going to spend it.
  • Then, they created a fresh $0.75/line/month tax on both cell phones and landlines to supposedly fund another upgrade to the 911 system. That would replace an existing $0.16/line/month charge on landlines.
  • For the first time, the Universal Service Fund fee of $0.56/line/month will apply to cell phones, to the tune of about $18.8 million/year.

All told, that’s roughly $100 million per year in new cell-phone taxes according to ATR. But wait, it gets worse. First, Rep. Kevin Petersen (R-Waupaca) reports that the Joint Finance Committee raided $11.2 million of the USF fund for public libraries.

Second, forget about that “next-gen” E911 system – Doyle wants to raid that to directly pay for police and fire.

I could bring up what Doyle said in 2003 (again), but like any ‘Rat, he doesn’t care about lying.

Revisions/extensions (12:15 am 5/27/2009) - The Wisconsin State Journal reports (H/T – The MacIver Institute) that the 911 fund diversion would make Wisconsin ineligible for federal grants to help pay for that “next-gen” 911 system, and that including the cell-phone charge as part of that diversion would violate federal law.

Also, since the 911 fund would replace the current $0.16/line/month charge on landlines, that diversion would cause a $7 million local tax increase.

R&E part 2 (10:50 pm 5/27/2009) - I probably should have done this while temporarily at the keyboard this afternoon, but thanks for the link-love, Americans for Tax Reform. Oh well, better late than never.

Meanwhile, WisPolitics is reporting that the rest of the Necro-budget (© Kevin Binversie) will be passed by the Joint Finance Committee tomorrow. Since Democrats control the entire process, what comes out of the JFC is likely what will plop onto Jim Doyle’s desk.

One note; since the Wisconsin line-item veto is still one of the most-powerful in the country, and because Doyle has no respect for the Wisconsin Constitution, it is vital to not only pay attention to the JFC votes, but to the actual verbiage used. Just one item I’m keeping an eye on – the proposed “compromise” from WEAC (the largest teachers’ union) that would delay the elmination of the QEO (the prohibition of work stoppages by teachers as long as a district offered a 3.86% annual total compensation increase) by a year.

I’m Sorry

by Shoebox @ 5:26. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

First, a little music to set the mood:

This week Drudge ran the headline:

Obama Says We’re Out of Money

Oh yeah, big fat surprise that is!  While the headline is a bit out of context in that Obama was discussing health care, the overall take is correct.  Obama recognizes that he has spent more than he has, by a long shot, and realizes that he must find a way to cut costs or increase revenue or leave office with most Americans longing for another Carter term because in comparison, it was nirvana!  The problem Obama has though is that he has no clue how big the hole is that he has dug for himself and the nation.

Back when Obama released his fairy tale titled “A budget proposal,”  I laid out the many problems with his budget and why he would never come close to closing the gaps on the deficits that he has created.  In this post I pointed out several issues that would cause his budget to fail.  As of today we have enough information to conclude that Obama’s budget assumptions have failed on two key issues.

Obama’s budget assumes a dramatic improvement in unemployment rates.  This improvement is key on two fronts.  First, it reduces the outflows of expenses in unemployment compensation.  This is a huge budget item at both the Federal and State level.  Second, when people go back to work, income taxes get paid thus increasing the tax revenue.  Obama’s budget assumptions had the 2009 unemployment rate at 8.1% with 2010 improving to 7.9%.  Of course, the same team that put this budget together was also the team who never saw total unemployment exceeding 8.0% with the enactment of a stimulus package so we know that numbers aren’t really their thing.  The CBOs most recent survey of private sector forecasts of unemployment now shows that the most optimistic assessments have the unemployment rate averaging 8.8% for 2009 and increasing to 9.0% in 2010.

Second, I warned you that Obama’s budget had a wildly optimistic long term interest rate assumptions.  For 2009 the Obama budget assumed the 10 Yr. treasury would be at 2.8%, for 2010 the assumption was 4.0%  Well, get ready, that bubble is about to burst as well. 

This week the Financial Times is reporting that sales of debt for private businesses is again increasing.  While that is good and it shows a data point of improvement in the economy, it’s bad for Obama.  As private enterprise increases its desire for debt, at the same time that the government is having to finance huge amounts of additional debt, the overall demand will cause all interest rates to increase.  Already the 10 yr Treasury which was running  under 3% at the end of April has increased to over 3.4%.  That’s a 20% increase in rates over Obama’s assumptions and we’re barely three months past the date of the assumption issuance.

For the past two years Senator, PEBO and now President Obama has been running from one corner of the globe to another apologizing for what he believes, have been heinous actions by the US. You know, actions like freeing oppressed people, calling evil evil and using our economic tools to encourage dictators (hello Fidel!) to broaden involvement in governments and economies that have created the greatest gulfs between “haves” and “have nots” through the use of government intervention. I watch Obama’s groveling around the world and wonder: “When will he apologize to the American people?”  I doubt his teleprompter will ever allow that to happen!

May 20, 2009

The line must be held here

by steveegg @ 21:37. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

(H/T – JammieWearingFool, who hasn’t had a Full Metal Jacket Reach-Around in a while)

The News Organization That Cannot Be Quoted™ reports that the Senate, not content with slapping a 3-cent-per-12-ounce tax on sugary drinks to pay for nationalized universal health care, is planning on massive increases in alcohol excise taxes to do the same:

- 17% on hard liquor, from $2.14 per fifth to $2.54 per fifth
- 233% on wine, from $0.21 per bottle to $0.70 per bottle
- 145% on beer, from $0.33 per six-pack to $0.71 per six-pack

Lest one thinks that they’re going to stop there, let’s run the numbers:

- It is estimated that nationalized universal health care will cost $1,500 billion over the first 10 years. We all know that’s a low-ball figure, but let’s run with it.
- The sugar tax would supposedly bring in $50 billion over that 10 years.
- The new alcohol tax would supposedly bring in $60 billion over 10 years.

That leaves, assuming the nationalized universal health care costs aren’t understated and the revenues aren’t overstated, a $1,390 billion hole. Need I remind the bipartisan Party-In-Government that California rejected tax increases yesterday? I seem to recall excessive taxation being the reason why we don’t bow to Queen Elizabeth II.

May 12, 2009

I hear $6.6 billion – do I hear $7 billion?

by steveegg @ 16:44. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

(H/T – WisPolitics via Charlie Sykes)

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released some new tax projection numbers yesterday, and despite (or is it because of?) $1.4 billion in new taxes in Wisconsin’s budget repair Porkulus out to the end of June 2011 (the end of the FY2011 year), the projected tax take of Wisconsin is expected to be $1.603 billion less than it was estimated to be in January. In a state where the 3-year tax take was originally estimated to be $37.691 billion, that’s a rather big haircut, to the tune of 4.25%.

So, what are the politicians and AFSCME doing in the face of losing all that revenue? I’m glad you asked. WLUK-TV in Green Bay is reporting (H/T – Fred over at the MacIver Institute) the unions are balking at a proposal asking them to forego a 2% pay hike. To compare, the entity that the Legislative Fiscal Bureau used in their estimate, IHS Global Insight, estimated that personal income would drop by 0.8% this year, and climb by only 1.8% next year.

I guess they’re counting on the Obama administration doing to Wisconsin what it is doing to California. It has threatened $6.8 billion of stimulus Porkulus money slated for California unless it reverses $74 million of scheduled reductions of subsidized pay for unionized health care workers.

Meanwhile, the first order of business for the Dems on the Joint Finance Committee was to increase the number of revenuers. I guess they haven’t heard of that it’s impossible to get blood out of a dehydrated turnip.

May 1, 2009

Here come the trains and taxes

by steveegg @ 10:11. Filed under Choo-choos, Politics - Milwaukee, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

(H/T – Charlie Sykes, who properly invokes the BOHICA acronym)

Greg Bump at WisPolitics stayed up late so I wouldn’t have to, and he documented the extent of the screwing of the taxpayers regarding transit by the Democrats of the Joint Finance Committe last night and early this morning:

  • The requirement to get Milwaukee County Board and residential approval to build a light rail system in Milwaukee got stripped out on a party-line 12-4 vote. A related resolution to require a countywide referendum for any entity wanting a light rail system fell on a party-line 4-12 vote.
  • An unelected Milwaukee County Regional Transit Tax Authority, with 2 members selected by the county board chair, 2 by the Milwaukee mayor, and a member selected by the governor (and notably, no members appointed by the Milwaukee County Executive, a theme that selectively repeats itself), will get the authority to create a brand-new 1% sales tax, with 15% going to the city of Milwaukee, and the money going to transit, parks, cultural, and emergecy medical service programs. That went through on an 11-5 vote, with Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) joining the Republicans.

    Do note the 15% that goes to the city. The current Milwaukee County Transit System has expressed its desire to not operate any light-rail system, and specifically the “Downtown Collector” that got rammed into the federal budget. The city is likely to use that 15% to fund the starter light-rail system.

    Also note the entites that get to appoint the unelected taxing authority. Not only is there no guarantee that a suburban resident will get a seat as no suburban municpality has appointment power, but the executive of Milwaukee County, unlike the executives of the city of Milwaukee and the state, gets no voice.

  • A separate unelected KRM board to run the bigger choo-choo, funded by an indexed-for-inflation $16-per-transaction car rental fee (an 800% increase in the current $2 fee going to the existing Regional Transit Authority) applied to Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha Counties, with 2 members selected by the Milwaukee County board chair (and 0 by the Milwaukee County Executive), 1 member selected by the Racine County board chair (and 0 by the Racine County Executive), 1 member selected by the Kenosha County Executive (and 0 by the Kenosha County board chair), 2 members selected by Milwaukee’s mayor, and 1 member each selected by Racine’s mayor, Kenosha’s mayor and the governor. That passed on a party-line 12-4 vote.

    An attempt to exempt the portion of Racine County west of I-94 (a minimum of 7 miles west of the KRM line, with no transit service between the area west of I-94 and any of the KRM stations) fell on a party-line 4-12 vote. (Revisions/extensions, 11:45 am 5/1/2009) This area, along with the part of Kenosha County west of I-94, was exempted from governor Jim Doyle’s RTA reorganization proposal.

    I wonder why Kenosha County’s executive gets appointment authority, while Racine County’s executive and Milwaukee County’s executive doesn’t. Indeed, that was reinforced on a party-line 4-12 rejection of an amendment to make the Racine and Milwaukee County executives equal to Kenosha County’s. I wonder if there’s a court case to be made here.

    Again, note that there is no guarantee that there will be anybody from a municipality other than Milwaukee, Racine or Kenosha on this unelected taxing authority.

  • Dane County also gets its own unelected Regional Transit Authority. While that also passed on a party-line vote, there are a couple of key differences between it and the Milwaukee County version that really makes my blood boil over the fisting I’m taking in the ‘burbs:
    • The funding sales tax, which would be 0.5%, would require a non-binding referendum.
    • The appointment authorities are vastly different:
      • Two Madison metro residents appointed by the county executive and approved by the county board
      • Two members appointed by Madison’s mayor and approved by Madison’s Common Council
      • One member each from Fitchburg, Middleton and Sun Prairie, appointed by the respective mayors and approved by the respective Common Councils
      • One member appointed by the governor
      • One village member appointed by the Dane County Cities and Villages Association

    You notice anything different between the makeup of the Dane County RTA and the Milwaukee County RTA and the KRM board, like the guaranteed presence of suburban members, or the requirement of approval of the legislative branches, or a role for the county executive?

I’m not exactly hopeful my state Senator, Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) will either remember that he once wanted to get rid of sales taxes entirely or kill the RTAs. He is far more afraid of the East Side/UWM liberals than he is of outraged taxpayers. After all, someone who had to drop out because he committed vote fraud got 26% of the vote in the 2006 Democrat primary.

Obama tax plan – get a little now, pay more in April

by steveegg @ 8:00. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

(H/T – Hot Air Headlines)

The News Organization That Cannot Be Quoted™ found that millions of taxpayers, from married couples where both spouses work, to those with multiple jobs, to many retirees, will be getting a nasty surprise when they do their 2009 taxes. The IRS massively screwed up the tax withholding tables in their attempt to implement the $13/week “Making Work Pay” tax credit, which will cause many taxpayers to owe taxes come April. The really-bad news didn’t quite make the story – the IRS charges penalties for underwithholding, so those who try to manage their withholding situation so the Treasury doesn’t get to use a lot of their money interest-free will want to consult their tax professional ASAP.

April 23, 2009

They Still Don’t Get It

by Shoebox @ 5:32. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

I participated in a Tele-Townhall provided by Minnesota 6th CD Representative, Michelle Bachmann.  Yes, THAT Michelle Bachmann.  Can you turn on any Fox program and not see Michelle on it?

Representative Bachmann took questions from call participants during the townhall.  One of the questioners asked what the mood in D.C. was regarding the tea parties.  Representative Bachmann noted that there were over 2,000 tea parties across the U.S.  She said that folk in Washington had clearly noticed but she wasn’t sure whether the events were going to change the spending behavior of Congress.  As proof of her concern, she offered the following two bills.
This bill provides $25 million over 5 years to foreign countries:

H.R. 388: Crane Conservation Act of 2009

To assist in the conservation of cranes by supporting and providing, through projects of persons and organizations with expertise in crane conservation, financial resources for the conservation programs of countries the activities of which directly or indirectly affect cranes and the ecosystems of cranes.

The other bill is:

 H.R. 411: Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2009

This bill spends $25 million over 5 years in foreign countries:

To assist in the conservation of rare felids and rare canids by supporting and providing financial resources for the conservation programs of nations within the range of rare felid and rare canid populations and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of rare felid and rare canid populations.

No, you didn’t misread this.  The House has voted to spend $10 million each year to take care of other country’s cranes, cats and dogs.  How nice!

Earlier this week, President Obama made a big to do out of calling for his cabinet to find $100 million of budget cuts.  When challenged about the laughable size of the cuts, the ever funny White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said:

“He knows and the American people know that continuing to run up deficits … and to continue to have those expand year after year after year is unsustainable. Despite much derision, that’s why the president is seeking cuts both large and small. That’s why the president has undertaken greater transparency as it relates to spending and the stimulus and I think the president overall wants to give the American people assurance that the government can use the money from them wisely.” (emphasis mine)

Wisely!  To be fair, these bills have not been passed by the Senate nor signed by the President.  I’ll be following them to see what does happen to them.  Regardless, if paying for other country’s dogs and cats is using the American people’s money wisely, at least according to the House supported by over 50 Republicans, than it’s apparent that the message of the tea parties has not yet crossed inside of the Washington beltway!

April 21, 2009

No Crying Over Spilt Tea

by Shoebox @ 5:17. Filed under Economy, Taxes.

Depending upon the counts you believe, last weeks tea parties were somewhere between a series of interesting local events and the beginning of a significant grass roots movement.  Of course, the MSM has been trying to tell us that the tea parties don’t even measure to warrant local, let alone national coverage.  However, they haven’t been able to block blog posts and pictures that show them to again be performing selective journalism.

It is now blase to discuss the MSM’s inability to cover news events.  It’s also blase to talk about Democrat reactions to the tea parties even though there were many Democrats participating in these events.  What is not blase, and in fact borders on alarming, is this poll by Rasmussen Reports:

51% View Tea Parties Favorably, Political Class Strongly Disagrees

According to Rasmussen, while 51% of the American populace vies the tea parties favorably and only 33% unfavorable, if you look only within the political class, those who believe political leaders know more than the general public, dramatically disagree:

While half the nation has a favorable opinion of last Wednesday’s events, the nation’s Political Class has a much dimmer view—just 13% of the political elite offered even a somewhat favorable assessment while 81% said the opposite.

Worse, if that’s possible is this:

Among the Political Class, not a single survey respondent said they had a Very Favorable opinion of the events while 60% shared a Very Unfavorable assessment.

Could it be that the Political Class is a bit too closely aligned with this perspective:

David Axelrod, a top adviser to President Obama, on Sunday characterized the protests in dozens of cities on the day federal income taxes are due as potentially “unhealthy.”

Hmmmm, sounds like they’ve read Napolitano’s report on the characteristics of home grown terrorists!

Finally, there is this little tidbit:

One-in-four adults (25%) say they personally know someone who attended a tea party protest. That figure includes just one percent (1%) of those in the Political Class.

So while 1/4 of us know someone who attended and over 51% believe the tea parties were positive, only 1% of those living off the government dole in some fashion or another, are able to look outside of their fishbowls.

I guess this all makes sense.  After all, if you’re living off the government, the last thing you’d want to have happen is have someone threaten its life blood!

April 8, 2009

The one certainty in Wisconsin – higher taxes, property edition

by steveegg @ 20:53. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

(H/T – Owen, mostly because I haven’t hat-tipped him lately)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that, despite the $1.7 billion in tax and fee hikes and despite the infusion of federal “stimulus” money, the property taxes on a median-valued home will go up 3.2% this year and 4.5% next year. Given the virtual sweep of liberals in yesterday’s election, it’s safe to say they low-balled it.

April 2, 2009

Two words…Serial Liar!

by steveegg @ 15:52. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

I can add a second word to Shoebox’s one-word description of President Obama and apply it to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. There are so many taxes that have gone up under Doyle’s tenure, but I will focus on just one: the cigarette tax. Doyle wants to jack that up another $0.75 per pack just over a year after he raised it $1.00 per pack, and in the same year that the federal government increased their taxes by $0.616 per pack (or a 58% increase).

First, let’s review what Doyle said as part of his 2003 State of the State address: “Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution — except one. We should not — we must not — and I will not — raise taxes.” (emphasis in the original). Oh really?

The cigarette tax in Wisconsin was $0.77 per pack when Doyle assumed control in 2003. In 2007, he signed into law an increase to $1.77 per pack, which took effect on January 1, 2008, which represents a 130% increase. By comparison, inflation was only 17.01% between 2003 and 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Back in February, before Doyle released his Necrobudget (© Kevin Binversie), he pushed for the other quarter per pack increase that he sought two years ago. Quoting the Wisconsin State Journal story’s paraphrase of Doyle’s rationale at that time, “Since December, Doyle has been pointing out that two years ago he sought a $1.25 increase in the cigarette tax and had to compromise with Republican lawmakers for the $1 increase that became law — in effect leaving a quarter on the table.”

Allow me to translate for those of you who don’t quite get Doyle’s mindset – “The money’s mine, ALL MINE!”

Of course, it’s not going to go up a quarter; it’s going to go up three quarters. The explanation that it is to get people to quit doesn’t hold water; the Feburary Wisconsin State Journal story also noted that advocates say that a 10% increase in the total price is enough to create a significant cut in smoking. If memory serves (and it must; I don’t smoke), the price of cigarettes was somewhere around $4.50 per pack last month. At last check, $1.37 per pack in new taxes between Uncle Sam Hussein and Uncle Craps was well north of 10%.

One Word…..Liar!

by Shoebox @ 5:41. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

During the campaign:

“Not any of your taxes!”

Today:

The cigarette excise tax that tobacco companies must pay the federal government rose Wednesday by 61.6 cents per pack, or $6.16 per carton. The tax now comes to about $10.10 per carton, or $1.01 per pack.

According to Gallup:

gallup

Looks like a pretty substantial tax increase, especially for those with the lowest incomes.

I’m beginning to wonder if when the Keynesians talk about the “multiplier effect,” they are referring to the number of times that people will need to spend the $12 per week that they got just to pay for the “No tax increases” that Obama promised.

March 26, 2009

Buyers’ remorse – Congressional edition

by steveegg @ 15:16. Tags:
Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

(H/T – Allahpundit’s Twitter stream)

Politico reports Paul Ryan now considers that TARP bonus tax unconstitutional. The bad news – he voted for it.

Had he applied the “duck” test, he would’ve saved himself some embarrassment.

March 25, 2009

The Enemy of My Enemy…

by Shoebox @ 10:49. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

Looks like not all is quiet on the Leftist front.

With President Obama umming and ahhhing his way through multiple justifications for tripling the country’s debt, his campaign homies are mobilizing to go after those who don’t support his vision of The Banana Republic of America.  The odd part is that the non believers in question do not have a R behind their name, they have a D.

From Jonathon Martin at the Politico:

Americans United for Change (AUC), the labor-backed organization that has produced a steady stream of pro-White House ads, is going up on the air Wednesday in 11 states and Washington, D.C. The goal is to push Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and members of a new group of centrist Democrats to get behind a spending blueprint that many of them have already criticized.

“This ad is designed to engage the American people in the process of bringing about the transformational change they voted for in November by contacting their elected representatives and asking for their help in putting our country on the road to prosperity,” said AUC’s acting executive director Tom McMahon.

Um no, Tom.  It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the American people did not vote for the “transformational change” that Obama is attempting to implement!

Also, MoveON.org is planning radio ads against fiscally conservative Democrats.

There’s not a lot of hope for the House to put even a bump in Obama’s budget.  Nancy Pelosi has shown a desire to out Obama, Obama when it comes to irresponsible spending.  The Senate is where we have a chance to reinstate some common sense.

If you live in Indiana, New Hampshire or Viriginia, make sure and call your Senators and give them positive reinforcement on their conservative fiscal stances.  If you live elsewhere, start providing your feedback now to your elected officials.  The budget battle will be a challenge but it is a battle we can, and must win!

We may not agree with these Democrats on every issue.  Heck, we don’t agree with Republicans on every issue.  That said, when it comes to saving the economic future of our country the old adage is best remembered:  The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

Tea Party Anthem

by Shoebox @ 9:57. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

I give it an 86. It’s got a good beat and it’s easy to protest to!

You can hear more from the artist here:

March 20, 2009

I’ve got 91.45%. Do I hear 103.5%?

by steveegg @ 16:08. Tags:
Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

James Taranto ran the numbers on the 90% tax on bonuses at companies that took TARP money, and found that it isn’t exactly 90%. While that 90% rate replaces the federal income and federal alternate income tax rates, it does not replace the Medicare FICA tax of 1.45% on employee pay, which thanks to the Clinton administration applies to all income and is not capped. It also does not replace any state or local income taxes. James used New York City as an example – New York State taxes income at 6.85% and New York City taxes income at 3.648 percent. Let’s do some math:

  90.000% – Bill of Attainder/Ex Post Facto federal punishment tax
+  1.450% – Medicare FICA tax (paid by the employee)
+  6.850% – New York State income tax
+  3.648% – New York City income tax
————————————————————————–
101.948% – total tax paid by the employee
+  1.450% – Medicare FICA tax (paid by the employer)
————————————————————————–
103.498% – Grand total tax paid by both the employee and employer

Thanks a lot, Paul Ryan. Thanks a lot, Nancy Pelosi. Thanks a lot, Charlie Rangel (BTW, has Rangel paid all of his back taxes yet?).

Before I go, there’s another tidbit in that piece. While companies would be able to avoid this if they got out of TARP, the regulators are trying to keep them in. Gee, I wonder why.

March 16, 2009

Hidden Costs? What Hidden Costs?

by Shoebox @ 5:51. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama touted his tax plan that would “cut taxes for 95% of all taxpayers.” As he announced his stimulus package, Obama reiterated his promise for the tax reductions as he pointed to the “Making work pay” initiative that will provide the average worker $13 per week.

Good thing we’ve got that break but don’t go spending it all yet.

Between FY 2009 and 2010, Obama plans to increase debt by $2.9 Trillion. With around 115 Million US households, the debt alone amounts to over $25,000 per US household. If you add interest to it and amortize it over 30 years, the amount of debt that each household is now responsible for easily offsets the $13 per week in tax reductions. The problem is that the tax story doesn’t stop here.

Obama has several initiatives in his budget that are geared to not only offset any pittance of reductions that he has provided but, when taken together, will increase government imposed burdens in a dramatic fashion.

First on the increase your increased burden parade is the cap and trade program. Cap and trade will impose significant new taxes on the utilities that use carbon based fuels to provide energy, particularly electric. Depending upon whose estimate you use, Cap and trade will increase your energy costs by about $80 billion annually. That $80 billion translates to nearly $700 per year per US household.

Next in your increased burden parade are mortgage costs.  The Obama administration is supporting the ability for judges to be able to unilaterally reduce the balances owned on mortgages.  If the procedure, known as a cram down, is approved by the Senate, this will be the first time that mortgage holders will be told that they must take a reduced principle amount and not have the option of foreclosing on the property.  The net result, if this is passed, is that it will put additional risk into mortgage loans.  The reason that mortgage loans rates have traditionally been low relative to other types of loans, has been that the mortgagor always had the value of the home to go after if the mortgagee defaulted.  With this new twist, the risk of not only not being able to foreclose but to be forced to take a write down on your loan amount, lenders will respond by increasing their rates to offset the additional risk of getting hammered in a cram down.  This will be especially true for anyone who has credit that is not a+.  What’s the cost of this?  I have no idea.  However, you can bet Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and others will be crying to high heaven about the evil mortgage lenders as they see rates that had been traditionally 1% to 1.5% above 30 year Treasuries move to 3% or better, beyond the treasuries.

Our final example today is this article from the NY Times.  According to the Times, President Obama now believes that the way to solve the high cost of our medical insurance is to make us pay more for that medical insurance.  President Obama has floated the idea of removing the non taxable status of the medical premiums that many Americans receive from their employer.  Don’t think it’s a big deal?  Think again!  The NY Times article says that as much as $246 Billion, over $2,000 per year per family!

President Obama’s claim of providing tax cuts for 95% of Americans is about as genuine as some of those low cost airfares you see advertised.  You know the ones that show you a price but add taxes, a fee for this, a fee for that…oh just watch the video and imagine Obama answering a low tax line:


Those sneaky low cost airlines @ Yahoo! Video

March 7, 2009

The Green Bay Tea Party – FAR more successful than the unions

by steveegg @ 16:55. Tags:
Filed under Taxes.

Not only did Americans for Prosperity have a successful Defending the American Dream-Wisconsin summit, but somewhere around 500 (if you believe the Green Bay Press-Gazette-1,200 (if you believe the Green Bay Police Department; thanks Brad) people showed up in Green Bay for a little Chicago Tea Party. By my math, that’s somewhere north of 13 times as successful as the AFL-CIO/SEIU protest.

Revisions/extensions (7:48 am 3/8/2009) - David Troup wanted the link to go to the main Pork Revolution site.

R&E part 2 (6:57 pm 3/8/2009) - FReeper Monitor was also there, and fired off some photos.

R&E part 3 (10:27 am 3/9/2009) - I should have known better than to trust presstitutes to count. Thanks for the update on the crowd size from the Green Bay Police Department, Brad.

Busy Saturday

by steveegg @ 7:55. Tags:
Filed under Defending the American Dream, Taxes.

Whether you’re in southeast or northeast Wisconsin, there is something going on today:

- Green Bay Tea Party (which got a mention on the Green Bay Press-Gazette website – H/T Berry Laker) – 11 am-noon, Titletown Brewing Company, 200 Dousman St., Green Bay

- Defending the American Dream-Wisconsin Summit – 8:30 am-6:30 pm, Midwest Airlines Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee (just noticed they “borrowed” my summary of the mid-week announcements)

I wish I could be in both places at once, but there isn’t time travel or cloning yet. I’ll be in Milwaukee because it’s closer, but I’m sure that the gang around Titletown will have plenty of coverage.

March 3, 2009

Tea Party – Tax Day Edition

by steveegg @ 7:28. Tags:
Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Because the Tax-And-Spendocrats didn’t get the message the first time, we’re going to deliver it a second time. This time, we’ll deliver it along with our taxes on April 15.

Wisconsin won’t be left out this time. Vicki McKenna and Americans For Prosperity-Wisconsin decided to put together a little shinding at the State Capitol starting at 11 am. They already have the permits, and they’re working on getting buses like they did for the October 2007 rally. Details will be at the AFP-WI site and here as they become available.

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