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.

Archive for the 'Politics – Wisconsin' Category

April 2, 2009

Two words…Serial Liar!

by @ 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%.

Tax Day Tea Party – multiplier effect

by @ 12:25. Tags:
Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

I previously mentioned the Tax Day Tea Parties scheduled for Madison (Capitol Steps, King St entrance, 11 am-1 pm) and Appleton (Fox Banquets, 111 E Kimball, 5:30 pm-7 pm). There’s a few more items for Wisconsin, courtesy Brad V, the gang at Tax Day Tea Party, and the Google map put together by FreedomWorks (H/T – Michelle Malkin):

(Do click both maps; there’s too many to be contained in one Google Maps page)

The additions to the above:

– Milwaukee – Federal Building, 517 E Wisconsin Ave, noon
– Superior – David Obey’s office, 14th St and Tower Ave, noon-1 pm
– Fort Atkinson – Municipal Building, 101 N Main St, 4 pm-5:30 pm

Also, the fine folks in Racine will be taking care of those that thanks to work and stress from paying Uncles Sam and Craps, cannot make a mid-week tea time. They’re holding a Tea’d Off Party at Racine’s City Hall (where 6th St, 7th St, and Washington Ave all meet) Saturday, April 18, at noon.

Revisions/extensions (9:22 pm 4/2/2009) – There’s a couple more parties sprouting:

– La Crosse – Post office, 425 State St, noon
– Eau Claire (still a bit tentative; thanks Jo) – City Hall, 203 S Farwell St, noon

March 15, 2009

Tax Day Tea Party times two

by @ 22:35. Tags:
Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

I believe I already told you about the Madison Tax Day Tea Party that Vicki McKenna and Americans for Prosperity are throwing on the steps of the Capitol in Madison starting at 11 am. I do have an operational update on that – AFP will be running buses from across the state, including Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha, Minocqua, Wausau, Stevens Point, Eau Claire, LaCrosse, Platteville, Johnson Creek, and Beloit. Do sign up if you’re going to be taking the bus.

For those that can’t get out of work (and especially for those in northeast Wisconsin), I have good news. There is also an afternoon Tea Party in Appleton, over at Fox Banquets, 111 E. Kimball in Appleton. That kicks off at 5:30.

Looks like I’ll be one busy road-tripper.

March 3, 2009

Tea Party – Tax Day Edition

by @ 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.

February 28, 2009

More on the crappy-crap-crap war on toilet paper

by @ 7:06. Filed under Envirowhackos, Politics - Wisconsin.

There is a reason why I call Kevin Binversie one of the great ones. He has a memory that far outstrips my own, and reminds us that it’s not just a war on comfortable toilet paper, but a war on Green Bay.

Bonus item – Kevin sees it as another step in the soon-to-be-very-hot war between envirowhackos and Big Labor. The main goal of the labor unions is mutually exclusive to the main jobs-related effects of the radical environmentalists. Neither is exactly known for accepting compromise.

February 24, 2009

Doyle sabotages the future (and new NRE poll)

by @ 18:01. Filed under NRE Polls, Politics - Wisconsin.

Buried in the FY2010/2011 Budget in Brief is a stinker of a table called the “General Fund Condition Under Governor’s Budget”. This year, it’s Table 9, on page 36 of the printed copy (page 39 of the PDF). It projects what the Department of Administration believes the proposed budget will do to the general fund in the biennium, as well as what it projects continuing that budget will do in the next one.

I would like to draw your attention to the “Balances” section of that chart, specfically what the 2011-2013 (FY2012/2013) projected balances are. The gross balance in FY2013 is projected to be -$559,500,000. For those that missed the minus sign, that’s a deficit of $559.5 million. That does not include the “required statutory” positive balance of $130 million, which would make the net deficit $689,500,000.

That is the second time a Doyle budget has admitted that it would short the following biennium budget. That is before the initial agency requests for mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money create a multi-billion deficit that supposedly gets filled. Let’s review the history of the Doyle budgets, with the previous budget’s projected surplus/deficit, and the “agency requests” deficit:

– FY2004/2005

  • Previous budget (FY2002/2003) projected net surplus/(deficit) for FY2005 – unavailable (not part of Scott McCallum’s budget)
  • “Agency-request” net surplus/(deficit) for FY2005 (from Table 3) – ($966 million) (note: to match up with succeeding budget formats, this does not include FY2003 deficits and adjustments or a decision to increase shared revenue funding, but does include the structural deficit and adjustments to FY2004/2005 revenue)

– FY2006/2007

  • Previous budget (FY2004/2005) projected net surplus/(deficit) for FY2007 (from Table 6 of that budget) – $146 million (includes withholding a required statutory balance of $251.4 million)
  • “Agency-request” net surplus/(deficit) for FY2007 (from Table 1) – ($1,666 million) (note: this does not include a re-estimate of the FY2005 Medical Assistance shortfall)

– FY2008/2009

  • Previous budget (FY2006/2007) projected net surplus/(deficit) for FY2009 (from Table 5 of that budget) – ($232.7 million) (includes withholding a required statutory balance of $65 million)
  • “Agency-request” net surplus/(deficit) for FY2009 (from Table 1) – ($1,654 million) (note: this does not include FY2007 shortfalls)

– FY2010/2011

  • Previous budget (FY2008/2009) projected net surplus/(deficit) for FY2011 (from Table 8 of that budget) – $212.5 million (includes withholding a required statutory balance of $130 million)
  • “Agency-request” net surplus/(deficit) for FY2011 (from Table 1) – ($5,945 million)

With that history of blowing budgets in mind, I present the latest NRE poll. What will the “agency-request” budget hole be next time around?

What will the Wisconsin "agency-requests" FY2013 (released in or around November 2010) deficit be?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

  • Over $5,945,000,000 (55%, 12 Vote(s))
  • Between $1,666,000,001 and $5,945,000,000 (32%, 7 Vote(s))
  • There won't be a deficit (9%, 2 Vote(s))
  • Between $966,000,001 and $1,666,000,000 (5%, 1 Vote(s))
  • Between $1 and $1,000,000 (0%, 0 Vote(s))
  • Between $1,000,001 and $100,000,000 (0%, 0 Vote(s))
  • Between $100,000,001 and $966,000,000 (0%, 0 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 22

Loading ... Loading ...

More Necro-Budget numbers via Dennis Yor…er, Christian Schneider

by @ 15:02. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

For those of you who came into the Cheddarsphere after February 2007, you missed the best anonymous blogger ever, Dennis York. The man behind the legend, Christian Schneider, really went to town yesterday over at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, apologizing to the future for the Necro-Budget.

I can’t even come close to duplicating the Schneider/York humor, but I can give the humor-challenged the hard, cold numbers gist:

– Included with $2.2 billion in tax hikes, supposedly only on the top 1% of wage-earners, is a $257 million cigarette tax hike. The cigarette tax is the most regressive tax that exists (i.e., it hits the poor harder)
– “Major cuts” equals an 8% spending hike (this number is rather fungible; but the lowest estimate, which is mine, is 5.4% and 6.3% once the budget “repair” bill is added in), funded in large part by the “one-time-only” $2.1 billion Generational Theft Law.
– The biggest, but not only, example was a swap of $498 million in state funds for the school equilization aid for $498 million in federal funds for the school equilization aid. Where do you suppose that $498 million is going to come from in 2 years?
– Despite the $2.2 billion tax hike in the budget, the aforementioned $2.1 billion from the Generational Theft Law, and the unmentioned $1.4 billion tax hike in the recently-signed budget “repair” bill (that itself increased the current-year deficit to something north of $400 million), the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles deficit in the general fund would only drop $138.1 million from FY2009 to FY2011 to $2,278.9 million (or $2.3 billion), and actually would increase $38.6 million from FY2009 to FY2010 to $2,455.6 million (or $2.5 billion).

Revisions/extensions (3:40 pm 2/24/2009) – If you want a truly-frightening experience, take a gander at Table 9 of the Budget in Brief, specifically the balances section for FY2012 and FY2013, found on page 36 (page 39 in the PDF file). For those of you without Adobe Acrobat, I’ll summarize:

  • FY2012 – Gross balance of -$127.6 million, net balance of -$257.6 million (there’s supposed to be a $130 million required statutory balance), and a structural balance of -$396.3 million
  • FY2013 – Gross balance of -$559.5 million (based off the gross balance of FY2012, not the net), net balance of -$689.5 million, and a structural balance of -$431.9 million

That’s right, all of those numbers are negative. For the first time in a Doyle budget, they are admitting that the following 2-year budget will be massively in the red.

February 21, 2009

By the numbers – Wisconsin budget

by @ 12:26. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Revisions/extensions (11:38 pm 2/22/2009) – I used an initial estimate of $59.5 billion for state spending in FY2008/2009, $62.3 billion in initial requests for the FY2010/2011 budget, and some subtraction for the increases in spending in the Necro-Budget as I hadn’t seen hard numbers when I originally wrote this. A pair of sources, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (H/T – Patrick McIlheran via Dad29), pegs the Necro-Budget spending at $62.7 billion, though both state the FY2008/2009 spending at lower numbers than my estimates. I’ll continue to use the $59.5 billion FY2008/2009 spending estimate.

Since I’m a numbers guy, I’ll reduce the end of the FY2008/2009 Wisconsin budget and the (proposed) FY2010/2011 Wisconsin budget to some easy to ang…er, understand numbers:

– Tax increases in the Wisconsin version of Porkulus (meant to be a budget “repair” bill; more on that in a bit) between 1/1/2009 and 6/30/2011: $1.4 billion
– Tax increases in the Necro-Budget proposal (thanks for the name, Kevin) over that same time frame: $2.1 billion
– Total tax increases between 1/1/2009 and 6/30/2011: $3.5 billion (13.4% increase over the pre-increase FY2007/2008 amount)
– Money anticipated from the federal Generational Theft Law of 2009: just over $2 billion
– Total additional money going to Uncle Craps between 1/1/2009 and 6/30/2011: $5.5 billion
– FY2008/2009 budget shortfall after Wisconsin’s Porkulus: $0.42 billion (up from $0.39 billion in November 2008)
– FY2010/2011 budget “shortfall” before the effects of all the tax increases and the Generational Theft Law of 2009 (hereafter refered to as the “initial FY2010/2011 budget”): $5.7 billion
– Spending increases in the initial FY2010/2011 budget: $2.8 billion (4.7% increase over FY2008/2009)
– Spending increases between Wisconsin’s Porkulus and the Necro-Budget (estimated; assumes no deficit on 6/30/2011 even though I’ve seen projections of a $2.1 billion structural deficit at that point): $2.2 billion (3.7% increase over FY2008/2009)
– Spending increases between Wisconsin’s Porkulus and the Necro-Budget (estimated; assumes a $2.1 billion structural deficit on 6/30/2011): $4.3 billion (7.2% increase over FY2008/2009)
– (Added 2/22/2009) Spending increases from the initial FY2010/2011 budget and the Necro-Budget: $0.4 billion (to $63.7 billion)
– (Added 2/22/2009) Spending increases from the FY2008/2009 budget and the Necro-Budget/Wisconsin’s Porkulus combo (includes $300 million from the Generational Theft Law stuck into Wisconsin’s Porkulus per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): $3.7 billion (6.2% increase over FY2008/2009)

That’s right; even after the “to-the-bone cuts” and the through-the-roof tax increases, Jim Doyle and the Spendocrats (off-topic; I need to create a Josie and the Pussycats Photoshop) are massively increasing spending.

February 19, 2009

Elections have consequences, Wisconsin edition, part 1

by @ 12:57. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

The following just came in from Rep. Rich Zipperer’s office:

It’s official. The first major piece of legislation approved by the new majority in the Assembly included $1.2 billion of job killing tax increases. And, after 50 separate suggestions to improve the bill were offered by Republicans and each were summarily rejected by Democrats, not a single Republican voted for the tax increases.

The 389 page bill, dubbed by Governor Doyle as his ‘stimulus’ plan, was fast-tracked through the entire legislative process this week in less than 36 hours – a process that normally takes months. Unfortunately, the ‘stimulus’ bill is actually a budget bailout bill necessary because of yet another failed budget that has harmed our economy and failed to meet revenue expectations.

It became clear to me during the floor debate last night why the Democrat leadership wanted to fast-track this bill and deny the public an opportunity to see, debate, and comment on the legislation. The bill does what politicians in Washington have thus far refused to do – raise taxes in the midst of a recession. The Governor’s bailout plan, disguised as economic stimulus, is more accurately a laundry list of tax hikes that will only serve to further damage our state’s financial security and drive thousands of jobs from our state.

In an attempt to turn this package into a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity, I, along with a number of my Assembly Republican colleagues, offered 50 amendments that put taxpayers first and would have actually put stimulus ideas into the bill. Our taxpayer-friendly amendments would have:

  • Halted the $925 million Sick Tax
  • Eliminated $70.7 million in new sales tax collections
  • Exempted over-the-counter drugs from state sales tax
  • Ensured oversight over the federal stimulus money that is coming to Wisconsin
  • Eliminated the iPod tax, a $10.9 million tax proposed by Governor Doyle on digital downloads
  • Turned $1.6 million of earmarks given by Governor Doyle to labor unions into competitive public grants
  • Created an August sales tax holiday for back-to-school clothing shopping
  • Protected segregated funds, such as the Transportation Fund and the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, from future raids and abuse
  • Stopped a new $215 million job killing tax on businesses
  • Made certain that tax dollars aren’t used to perform abortions
  • Provided immediate incentives for job creators to spend capital on research and innovation
  • Provided immediate tax relief to start-up small businesses

The people and businesses of Wisconsin can and will compete with anyone in the world if just given the opportunity. We have the can-do spirit. Unfortunately, Assembly Democrats stood lock-step with the Governor tonight and refused to accept a single amendment from our side of the aisle.

In this time of job loss and economic uncertainty, we need to make efforts to create jobs and make government accountable to taxpayers our top priorities. We must end the tax and spend culture that has taken hold in Madison. The actions this week by the majority party, however, will only help to shrink our state’s economy, drive jobs from our state, and still leave us with a current budget deficit of $416.9 million – allowing the potential for yet another budget bailout before the fiscal year ends on June 30th.

And this is all before we even begin to debate the over $1.4 billion in additional tax increases sought by Governor Doyle as part of his 2009-2011 proposed state budget.

Slight correction – it’s $2.1 billion of additional tax increases in the Necro-Budget, not $1.4 billion.

February 18, 2009

$1,941 – CORRECTION – $194

by @ 19:06. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

That is the net per-capita annual tax increase in Jim Doyle’s Spendulus budget. Christian Schneider and the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute broke down all the tax changes, though I believe they grossly understated the oil tax.

Bonus item – give or take a few million, the $2,185,639,000 represents essentially the entire “structural” deficit portion of the $5,700,000,000 hole Doyle created for himself at the beginning of the year, with the remainder being previously-planned increases in spending.

Revisions/extensions (7:20 pm 2/18/2009) – Somewhere in the bloated reader, I read that the Doyle Spendulus budget still has an over-$2 billion structural deficit pushed over to the middle of 2011. So much for limiting spending.

R&E part 2 (8:47 pm 2/18/2009) – I should have known better than to trust the Craps numbers. They screwed up.

R&E part 3 (6:52 am 2/19/2009 – Speaking of screw-ups, I stuck an additional zero somewhere. Sorry about that.

Gassed by taxes

by @ 15:54. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Yesterday, Gov. Jim Doyle (D) unveiled his “Back To The ’70s” budget, which features a whole host of tax increases. The largest is a $540 million tax on oil companies. Despite a claim that they will be prohibited from passing it along, it will be passed along, with interest paid to the oil companies from the state once that provision is adjudicated as unconstitutional.

I hope you didn’t spend your $13/week from Obama. More than half of that will be going right to Uncle Craps so he can build roads continue to raid the transportation fund.

Revisions/extensions (8:50 pm 2/18/2009) – The Doyle administration halved the effects. Still, considering all the other taxes that are in the budget, I hope you haven’t spent that $13/week from Obama (assuming, of course, you qualify for it).

Hypocrisy, DNR-style

by @ 15:24. Filed under Envirowhackos, Politics - Wisconsin.

Dr. Emil Shuffhausen found some serious hypocrisy from the Wisconsin DNR (or as Dad29 calls them, Damn Near Russia). Even as they demand that those that own rental properties rip out their current lighting and install high-efficiency lighting, they continue to light up the unoccupied interior of their building like a Christmas tree.

February 10, 2009

Rep. Paul Ryan conference call

by @ 15:06. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Ed Morrissey is simulcasting the call right now on The Ed Morrissey Show. I’m over there.

Revisions/extensions (3:50 pm 2/10/2008) – The conference call is over. For those of you looking for just the conference call, it starts at about the 1h04m mark of the archived show (though I recommend you also listen to the first part; Ed did a Melt The Phones show). Besides Ed, Jo Egelhoff, Kevin Binversie and Todd Lohenry asked questions. My voice is still a bit on the gone side, so I simply enjoyed the call; besides, they had better questions than I could come up with.

January 22, 2009

Sanity on bailouts – Texas edition

by @ 18:24. Tags:
Filed under Politics, Politics - Wisconsin.

My friends at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility recently sat down with Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to discuss the potential federal bailout of state and local governments. Of note, Texas is one of the few states that do not face a massive deficit, mainly because Perry and company told the various state agencies to cut discretionary spending when the first inklings of the economic downturn became apparent.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5EnV4beuo4[/youtube]

I doubt the majority in Madison and the localities here in Wisconsin are paying attention, but they should.

How low can Abrahamson and UW go?

by @ 11:24. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

This press release from Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), ranking member on the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, shows just how little respect Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and the UW-Madison Law School have for Wisconsin law (note; all emphasis is in the original):

January 22, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rep. Steve Nass (608) 266-5715

Chief Justice’s Campaign Using Public Website to Obtain Campaign Staff Nass: UW-Law School Website Pushing "Internships" for Abrahamson Campaign.

State Representative Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), Ranking Republican on the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, is challenging Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s use of the UW-Madison Law School to obtain campaign workers by calling it an "internship." The Abrahamson campaign positions are being treated as "career opportunities" in the eyes of officials at the UW-Madison Law School. Use of public resources for campaign purposes is prohibited under Wisconsin law.

"It appears that the Chief Justice’s campaign is using her influence and office to solicit campaign workers through the UW-Madison Law School. The description of these internships is clearly unseemly, unethical and possibly illegal," Nass said.

The "internship" description makes clear that the individuals will be involved in fundraising, phone banking, canvassing and get out the vote operations. The internship notice was submitted by Jane Heymann, Assistant Dean for Career Services at the UW Law School. Nass noted that he will be communicating with Chancellor Biddy Martin and requesting that the use of public resources to promote these campaign positions be ceased immediately.

"This was clearly not a simple mistake on the part of the Abrahamson Campaign or the UW-Madison Law School. This is just another example of the liberals in Madison wanting laws and rules enforced on other people, but openly defying the same standards," Nass said….

Rep. Nass went on to include the wording of the posting. Since I have multimedia capabilities, I’ll do one better and include a screencap of the web page (which was still up as of 11:19 am):


Click for the full-sized picture.

I somehow doubt UW would have done the same for either Abrahamson’s opponent, Judge Randy Koschnick, or any of the sitting conservative members of the Supreme Court.

January 14, 2009

Carol Andrews comes to town, tone of press relations to plummet

by @ 14:42. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

WisPolitics has a press release from Jim Doyle’s office that says he hired Carol Andrews as Communications Director. In the interest of being the cloud in the sky, I present a couple of Andrews’ greatest hits:

– RedState illustrates just how negative the campaigns she is a part of are, specifically her last one (the Tom Allen-Susan Collins race last year).

– This short video from her 2006 work on Harold Ford’s Senatorial campaign shows what happens when the press doesn’t play ball like Maine’s media did last year…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlqe6EbSnuY[/youtube]

– How bad is Andrews’ reputation? Liz Garrigan of the Nashville Scene stated, ‘Among Tennessee media (and now Maine’s), she is perhaps the most reviled political communications operative in recent memory.”

The gubernatorial race next year is shaping up to be even slimier than either the 2006 one or the 1998 Senate race.

January 8, 2009

Scott Walker – Man of Principle Part 2

by @ 18:47. Tags:
Filed under Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - Wisconsin.

Yesterday, I had a brief piece on Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s refusal to belly up to the bailout teat. Predictably, ALL the teat-suckers, from the usual suspects with Ds behind their name (or those that would have Ds there if the County Board were a partisan office) to the opportunistic “business leaders” who have become dependent on the teat, attempted to throw Walker under the bus. Let me put it this way; they don’t know Scott. He launched a two-front counterattack this morning with WTMJ-AM’s Charlie Sykes. While you listen to a poor-quality rip of the interview (the better-quality version starts at the 37:39 mark of Part 1 of the official podcast), you may as well read the e-mail (“borrowed” from Charlie):

How many people would take a gift of $1,000 and go out and buy a $60,000 sports car? While the gift is nice, it will not make the monthly car payments that are too large for the average budget. The same is true with the (so-called) stimulus package.

Federal money nearly always comes with strings attached. In fact, most federal transportation grants require a 20% (or greater) local match. "Free money" sounds nice but what happens when state and local governments cannot afford the match? If Milwaukee County receives $50 million for infrastructure projects under this formula, taxpayers in the county would have to come up with an extra $10 million. Does anyone think we have an extra $10 million in this budget climate?

A real economic stimulus will put money in the hands of consumers – and not the government. Tax cuts work. They did for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and they are exactly what John F. Kennedy called for in the 1960s. Each time, our nation got out of a recession by putting more money back into the hands of the taxpayers. The choice is simple: do we bail out failed governments with budget deficits or do we stimulate the economy and put more people back to work with real tax cuts at the federal, state and local levels? I choose the program that truly puts people back to work!

For the “benefit” of the outstate critics (I’m looking directly at you, Recess Supervisor), I’ll twist the knife just a bit – if adding “infrastructure” for the sake of adding “infrastructure” or creating make-work jobs were the solution, northern Wisconsin would be the economic magnet of the world.

I do need to give a shout-out to my county supervisor, Paul Cesarz. At the end of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story linked to above, he shows that he also gets the fact that resurrecting the Works Progress Administration will do no better the second time around.

January 7, 2009

Scott Walker – Man of Principle

by @ 9:14. Tags:
Filed under Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that, unlike Gov. Jim Doyle (looking for $3.7 billion) and Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett (bellying up to the teat with a $599 million “wish list”, quoting the story), Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker isn’t asking for any federal money despite some serious funding “dilemas”, including the unmentioned multi-hundred-million-dollar pension fuckup from prior years. Quoting Walker:

All we are asking for is “do no harm”. I’m not asking for any nrew projects or things to be done here.

The last thing you want to do is put money in the hands of government (in a recession).

That was in response to Doyle’s and the Wisconsin Counties Association’s request for all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties to belly up with their own wish lists. Of course, the County Board (the ones who gave us that pension fuckup) will likely send their own “wish list”, and thanks to the stupidity of the voters, the spend-and-tax-and-spend-some-more faction does have nearly a veto-proof majority.

December 29, 2008

$1 million government web FAIL

by @ 16:25. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

JSOnline’s DayWatch reports that the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System website, run by the Government “Accountability” Board, features Minneapolis’ skyline. Of note are some of the reactions:

– Tommy Winkler, an ethics specialist for the board, claims that the Connecticut-based designer was using Minneapolis’ skyline as a “placeholder” while it tries to find a copyright-free image of Madison’s skyline. What; the state doesn’t have any images of Madison or Milwaukee (or Eau Claire, or Green Bay, or Superior, or Wausau, or…you get the picture) available?
– Jonathan Becker, director of the board’s Ethics Division, wishes that was Madison’s skyline. Somehow I doubt the folks on the local Politburo of the People’s Republic of Madistan would allow a private building to rival the state Capitol in height.

While the Journal Sentinel chose to just grab the header image, I decided that the full-page screen cap is more appropriate (click for the full-size pic):

minneapolis-wi-cfis-homepage

December 24, 2008

All aboard the FAIL train…

by @ 14:48. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Michael King’s Facebook page)

Here’s a problem that KRM won’t have…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKOEQVgONh0[/youtube]

December 11, 2008

Paul Ryan on the Big Thr…er, UAW bailout

by @ 9:06. Tags:
Filed under Business, Economy, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Because I bashed Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI, my Congresscritter) for his vote on the UAW bailout, it is only fair that I present his side of the argument. From a press release that came into my mailbox a half-hour ago (only stripping off the announcement that it was a statement):

It is clear that the mounting hardships throughout Southern Wisconsin have been downright gut-wrenching. In addition to the imminent closure of the GM plant in my hometown of Janesville and mass layoffs elsewhere, hard-working Wisconsinites are finding it increasingly difficult during this recession to cope with strained credit markets, rising health care costs, and making their monthly mortgage payments.

The American automotive industry is under considerable distress, and various proposals have been put forth to provide aid to those in need. I’ve maintained that any assistance to the domestic auto industry should be drawn from previously approved funds from a U.S. Department of Energy loan package, rather than divert resources from the financial rescue package or rely on additional taxpayer dollars. H.R. 7321 cuts through the bureaucratic red tape and expedites these previously appropriated funds. Because no additional taxpayer dollars were appropriated, I was able to support this legislation.

At the forefront of my mind are jobs in Southern Wisconsin and the retiree commitments to workers that could be placed in jeopardy under certain bankruptcy scenarios. To be clear, this bill is not intended to save the American auto industry and makes no guarantees that layoffs in this industry will end. Congress must stop overselling what it can do. At the very least, I am hopeful that by extending these loans to the American auto manufacturers, bankruptcy will be avoided in the near term and protections for retirees will remain intact.

As Jules Winnfield once said, well, allow me to retort. The UAW workers, who are dwindling in number in Wisconsin with or without the bailout by the way, aren’t the only ones who are hurting. Sending $14 billion of everybody’s money down the rat hole known as GM, Ford and Chrysler just so they can survive the next 3 1/2 months without any permanent reforms, without any assurance that they would ever return to profitability, is the height of stupidity. The market forces are saying that the Big Three are sending too much money out the door in compensation, and the bailout only seriously addresses the white-collar portion (not even half) of that.

I suppose I could give a half-cheer that the bailout is using $25 billion that was already committed to the Big Three, and a quarter-cheer that it leaves $9 billion for the original purpose of plant modernization.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not the end of the world. Indeed, many of Ryan’s Republican colleagues suggested that a pre-negotiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow the union portion of that compensation to be adjusted with less UAW interference, is the way to go. I agree.

December 10, 2008

Paul Ryan votes to bail out the UAW

by @ 20:48. Tags:
Filed under Business, Economy, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

This YouTube video is my insta-reaction to Paul Ryan joining the Democratic caucus in bailing out the Big Thr…er, UAW to the tune of $14 billion (warning, gratutious use of fuck-bombs involved). I especially like the stretch between 1:25 and 1:33 when Butch Coolidge goes ballistic.

Revisions/extensions (9:00 pm 12/10/2008) – I should’ve checked to see if was embeddible before trying to embed it. Sorry about that.

November 21, 2008

I’ve got $5.4 billion. Do I hear a $6 billion shortfall?

by @ 10:22. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Kevin Fischer)

Just a few days after Gov. Jim Doyle estimated the structural deficit for the next biennial budget at $5 billion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Doyle was 8% low on that estimate, and it is now $5.4 billion that needs to be shoveled into the next budget. There’s a few new numbers in the Journal Sentinel story that should bug one’s eyes out:

– Aid for public schools is now $5.1 billion per year, and given the unrestrained increases in school spending, the state would need to pump in an additional $480 million on top of the $10.2 billion it would spend to keep the 66% state funded promise. Personally, I believe it would need to be much higher given the average 5%-6% increase in spending (and 9%-15% increase in tax levy) for the coming school year.

– Compensation for state employees totaled $2.1 billion last year. Madison, we have an overage of employees, even if Doyle refuses to acknowledge it. Say, whatever happened to the 10,000-job cut that Doyle promised back in 2002?

– Despite the collapsed economy, the state wants to spend $62.3 billion over the next 2 years, $2.8 billion more than was budgeted over the past 2 years. For those paying attention to the percentages, that’s a 4.7% increase in spending. For those paying attention to the shortfall, that increase is over half the “shortfall”. Did any of you non-union/non-government workers get a 4.7% increase in pay over the last 2 years?

– There is a $346 million hole in this budget, caused entirely by an over-estimation of tax revenues. The state will be collecting $509 million less in taxes than it did last year.

– For those considering tax increases (like Doyle and the Dems), they won’t begin to cover this hole. That hospital tax Doyle and the hospitals are keen on sticking to us would bring in only $400 million over 2 years. The oil tax Doyle wants would bring in maybe $393 million in that same time. Even a 10% increase in the individual income tax would bring in only $1.4 billion over 2 years.

I personally like the last part of Rep. Pedro Colon’s (D-Milwaukee) comments – “I think, at some point, whether it’s this Legislature or the next one, we’re going to have to start talking about how we increase revenue"‚."‚."‚."‚or the state is going to have to get used to really severe cuts.”

Break out the chainsaws.

November 5, 2008

Very painful night

by @ 7:48. Filed under Politics - Milwaukee, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - National, Politics - Oak Creek, Politics - Wisconsin.

Welcome to the Wisconsin Socialist Collective of the United Socialist States of America. Yes, the people have spoken, and by a margin that, at least in Wisconsin, is beyond the margin of fraud, we’re about to head down the path of Eastern Europe circa 1985.

The Democrats have handily taken over the Assembly. Even without the still-close races in the 43rd (the Dem is leading by 304 votes with a precinct still to report), 47th (the 28-vote margin the Republican has will in all likelyhood be challenged), and the 67th (where ex-“Republican” Jeff Wood, whose future caucusing preferences are unknown, won by 175 votes), they have a 6-seat margin. Here comes the tripling of the sales tax the voters of Milwaukee County demanded. Here comes the socialization of health care the voters of Oak Creek and South Milwaukee demanded. The school referenda that are a mixed bag will be no more; those spending and tax increases, forced in large part to the suddenly-disappearing QEO, will simply fly through without the voters’ say.

The voters have also proven that Wisconsin is as reliably ‘Rat Red (I refuse to call the Dems’ color “blue”; just be thankful I don’t call it the Communist Red that it should be) as Illinois in a statewide election. I can’t argue with the numbers and history. Outside of Tommy Thompson, who had the incumbent factor working for him since 1990, and the fluke of J.B. Van Hollen in 2006, the Republicans have not won a meaningful statewide election since 1986 (no, state treasurer is not meaningful and besides, we now have a part-time Boston Store clerk Dem as state treasurer). Moreover, Barack Obama’s 376,000-vote margin was well beyond the 55,000 fraudulent vote estimate from John Fund.

On to the national scene – the Dems proved that popularity is extremely overrated. They were rewarded for being at the helm of the “least-popular” Congress ever with an absolute, no-Joe-Lieberman-needed majority in the Senate, and an increased majority in the House. When combined with two of the most-liberal of their number in the executive branch, that means every liberal pipe dream will be enacted, from the overturning of every previously-allowed limitation on abortion (which Obama promised will be the first thing he signs), to a forced increase in union rolls, to the elimination of the private retirement system. While the damage to the Supreme Court, at least in Obama’s first term, will likely be limited to granting the liberal seats a 30-year extension (barring something happening to either Justice Kennedy or the 4 conservatives), the lower courts will become far more liberal as the Dem-caused vacancy crisis is suddenly filled with Lawgivers-In-Black.

Still, the night’s biggest losers weren’t conservatives, Republicans, or even the people of this country. They were Jeff Wood and Joe Lieberman. First, I’ll take the case of Wood. He burned his bridges with the Republican Assembly caucus when he decided to bolt. Because the Democrats won’t need his vote to get anything they want done in the Assembly done, he’s a man without a caucus.

Similarily, Joe Lieberman is no longer necessary to keep the Dems in power in the US Senate. While, at the moment, the filibuster survives because the Dems didn’t get to 60 in their caucus, and won’t regardless of where Lieberman caucuses, I don’t expect the filibuster to survive the next Congress. The Democrats will be under enormous pressure to get their one-party socialism agenda done before 2011, partly because that is what the nutroots demand, and partly because without a quick-cementing of power, the pendulum will swing back and smack them upside the head.

I can’t be all negative, however. Paul Ryan handily won re-election, Michelle Bachmann in Minnesota hung on, Mark Honadel made a miraculous comeback to hang onto his seat (I thought it lost when he was down 10 points with 16 of 24 precincts reporting), Bill Kramer and Leah Vukmir will be back in the Assembly, and there is one last day of sunny Indian summer left in the land of cheese and beer. If we are going to truly repeat American history, which has twice rejected permanent one-Democratic Party rule, we have to build on those few successes.

November 4, 2008

Election Night Drunkblog

by @ 17:47. Filed under Politics - Milwaukee, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - National, Politics - Oak Creek, Politics - Wisconsin.

I’ll be starting at the Sam Adams forward observation post, and moving to Papa’s for Drinking Right somewhere around 7. Since the first polls close at 6, that’s when the fun starts.

I’ll be taking requests for races to follow (or at least try to follow between drinks).

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