Another Scott Walker Political Stunt Backfires

On Tuesday, Trump came to Wisconsin to showboat signing the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order. Of course, it's a bit ironic since Trump himself doesn't believe in it.

Scott Walker thought he'd be cute and pull a political stunt, simultaneously kissing up to Trump and touting the Milwaukee Bucks, who were playing the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night in the NBA playoffs. So he got Trump a specially made cap:

Since the @Bucks are in the #NBAPlayoffs tonight, we made a special hat to give to the @POTUS. #MAGA pic.twitter.com/qMNvFXsb4G

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) April 18, 2017

As one might have guessed, it did not go over as well as he might have hoped. Twitter went wild tearing him up for the stunt

@ScottWalker @Bucks @POTUS give one of these to any Bucks player I dare you

— Torque Penderloin (@AndrewCieslak) April 18, 2017

@Ben_Searle @JJ_Mulea @WirthlessStuff @AndrewCieslak @ScottWalker @Bucks @POTUS Thon Maker is Sudanese. There was a question if he could get back from a game in Toronto earlier this year.

— Joe Signorelli (@minnesotajoe) April 18, 2017

@ScottWalker @Bucks @POTUS Are you trying to get us to root for the Canadian team? Cause will do it....

— cx (@cxcope) April 18, 2017

@ScottWalker @Bucks @POTUS And just like Trump, the Bucks will be repeatedly outplayed by an international foe.

— Zach Herman (@The_Punctuation) April 18, 2017

This stunt also shows just how tone deaf and out of touch Walker is. One of the Bucks top players is Sudanese and the team was already worried if he would be allowed back into the country after Trump's immigration ban, since Sudan is on the list of banned countries.

It is doubtful that the Bucks would have approved of this either, since they had come out months ago saying that the team would not be staying at any Trump hotels.

By the way, the Bucks lost Tuesday night, 106-100.

Scott Walker Double Dribbles On Milwaukee Bucks Arena Issue

On Sunday, Scott Walker was on Meet the Press with Chuckles the Toad and the subject of Walker giving a quarter of a billion dollars in corporate welfare to the billionaires that own the Milwaukee Bucks.

Walker tried to defend this indefensible scam with two main talking points:

1. The deal had nothing to deal with pay for play even though one of the owners gave Walker's PAC $150,000. and is Walker's campaign finance co-chair. Walker went so far as to say that Hammes wasn't even really a part owner of the team.
2. That the deal is fiscally conservative and good for the taxpayers.

As for the first point, it's pretty obvious that Walker is lying through his weasel teeth:

And it's noteworthy that one big beneficiary of the new arena will be Jon Hammes, a developer and a Bucks minority owner who sources tell CNN also serves as a national finance co-chairman for Walker's presidential campaign.

Hammes' business focuses on developing "strategic real estate assets, specifically in the healthcare and sports industries," according to the Bucks announcement when he took a stake in the team. And the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has reported his firm has been buying land near the planned arena site to develop office buildings.

Walker's second point, that the income tax from the players would pay for the taxpayers' money he's throwing at the arena, isn't really true either. Mike Ozanian raises several questions, such as will there be enough money to maintain the arena? He points out that if there isn't, taxpayers will be responsible to make up the short fall. He also points out that there are a lot of tax exemptions that Walker somehow fails to mention.

Then there's this:

Finally, the cost of the bonds is double the $220 million being advertised. The administration’s policy decision to structure the proposed bond issue so that the amount of debt service due each year on the bonds would be notionally tied to, or mirror, the additional income taxes results in an amortization schedule that cannot meet the interest due on the bonds in the early years of the transaction and back-end loads the repayment of principal to the later years of the transaction. This results in the bonding transaction having higher overall costs than if the amortization schedule had more uniform annual debt service payments.

Due to the negative amortization associated with the deferred interest, and the total interest costs associated with financing the $220 million would be $268.4 million, including $53.1 million in deferred interest. As a result, under this scenario, the total fiscal effect to the state associated with financing a $220 million grant would be an estimated $488.4 million.

So the cost is more than double what Walker is saying it is and there is no guarantee that they can raise enough tax revenue to make up for what Walker is spending.

But there's more. There's always more.

One thing that neither Toad or Walker mention is that there is no guarantee that the Bucks will be even around long enough to justify the cost.

Oh sure, the Bucks owners said that they will keep the Bucks in Milwaukee for at least 30 years. But that promise is only in place as long as they are the owners.

Pat Small, writing at the blog Urban Milwaukee, points out that the three main owners - Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Denan - are all hedge fund billionaires. And how did these billionaires make all their money? By buying low, improving the value, selling off their property and moving on. There is nothing to keep them from following this paradigm with the Bucks:

From a business perspective, the optimal time for current Bucks owners to cash out would be within five to ten years. Let’s assume the team’s performance continues improving, the fan base expands and income keeps rising. There will be no fiscal reason to sit on this asset indefinitely. A new arena will rapidly depreciate in value (as they all do) and require higher maintenance costs and the team’s play could certainly fluctuate. And future TV deals may level off, because cable customers are unlikely to absorb endless fee hikes.

Conservatively, let’s say a new owner pays $1.1 billion for the franchise in 2025 — the present average price. However, current Bucks owners would not have to require the team to stay here. That promise was only between Kohl and Edens/Lasry because of Kohl’s insistence.

What about the clawback clause in the public-funding deal? It offers some relief for taxpayers, but it basically defines known costs for breaking the arena lease/construction contract. Present and future owners would simply factor into a sale the remaining debt.

Here’s a ballpark tally of what Bucks owners would have to pay taxpayers if the team is sold and moves in 2025: Roughly half of the total principal borrowed by county and state–or $55 million—would be due. With prepayments and other costs, that could reach $60 million. Wisconsin Center District bonding of $93 million would still be outstanding, although ticket surcharges would have covered some accrued interest. Payback for city borrowing could be about $20 million. That’s around $173 million.

Perhaps I’m underestimating. Say they have to pay $200 million. That still gives them a $450 million gain from a $1.1 billion sale that involves the team leaving Milwaukee. That’s a nice return on investment.

Thanks to Walker and the others behind this deal, it's a very real possibility that Wisconsin, especially Milwaukee, could be stuck with this monolithic monstrosity. But on the bright side, I bet it could hold many of the bankrupted taxpayers.

O Yeah, That Guy!

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker denied that politics played any part in his decision to hand the Bucks owners almost $500 million Wisconsin taxpayer dollars!

Walker noted in the interview that one of two major new owners of the Bucks, Marc Lasry, is a “major bundler” of contributions for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Lasry is “putting in $100 million,” Walker said.

“The previous owner, who is putting in $100 million, is a 25-year Senate Democrat (Herb Kohl),” Walker also noted.

“So, it has nothing to do with politics. That’s just ridiculous,” Walker said. “If it was about politics, there is no way I would do this deal. I don’t know the owners. I don’t care about the primary owners. I care about the taxpayers.”

The problem with that statement?  Like many of Scotty's statements is flat out "pants on fire":

A minority owner of the team is Wisconsin business executive Jon Hammes, a longtime Walker supporter and a current co-chair of Walker’s presidential fundraising committee. According to the New York Times, a company registered to one of Hammes’ family members donated $150,000 in May to a super PAC supporting Walker.

I guess we are forced to believe that Scott Walker does not even know his finance co-chair.  

Maybe Scott Walker is trolling all of us!!

Wisconsin Taxpayer Got Fleeced, But Lena Got A Pen

By Jeff Simpson

Today, as we all know, Scot Walker made a guest appearance in Wisconsin, to hand $500 million of our taxpayer dollars to the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Tomorrow, Scott Walker will stand on a stage at State Fair Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and betray virtually every conservative economic principle there is by handing out up to $450 million in taxpayer money to wealthy sports owners to pay for private infrastructure at a time when public infrastructure is crumbling.
The massive sum will go toward the building of a new sports arena for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball franchise, pleasing the team’s billionaire hedge-fund-manager owners, who threatened to move the team if they weren’t given taxpayer tribute. Conservatives in recent years have feigned concern about corporate welfare, and this deal is really the ultimate expression of it: hundreds of millions of dollars from teachers, waitresses, factory workers and shop owners funneled to pay for an aristocrat’s show palace rather than needed public service.
Of all the things desperately wrong with this, perhaps the most salient is the fact that the “old” arena, the BMO Harris Bradley Center, is only 27 years old, inaugurated in 1988. Incredibly, this makes it the 3rd-oldest arena housing a professional basketball franchise, behind only Madison Square Garden in New York and the Oracle Arena in Oakland, both of which have been substantially renovated over the years.

 While many of us are wondering how both parties could sell us out to the tune of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars when we know thatr it brings nothing back in return:

However, despite all of the evidence, and the massive cuts to education Scott Walker and the Republicans have brought us the last five years,  Senator Lena Taylor tells us that is all about to change:

Lena C. Taylor

11 hrs ·

Today, Governor Walker signed the Milwaukee Bucks arena funding bill into law. Milwaukee is one step closer to cranes in the sky, jobs on the ground and more money in the state coffers to fund things like public schools.

 See it only took taxpayers, handing billionaire walker donors, $500 million dollars to be able to eventually fully fund education. 

Who knew? 

While Scott walker was able to cash in our millions by getting campaign donations of a few hundred thousand, Ms. Taylor works considerably cheaper.   All it took for her was Scott Walker giving her a pen. 

Lena C. Taylor added 37 new photos.

9 hrs ·

Signing for the arena deal! The pen - handed to me by Gov Walker.

It is not all bad news, Ms. Taylor can use the pen, to write an oped next year about all of the millions flowing back into education because she helped approve the Bucks Arena.  

Scott Walker, Chris Abele And The Bucks Arena Scandal

A couple of months ago, I reported that part-time Wisconsin Governor and full-time presidential wannabe Scott Walker and his mini-me, plutocrat and Milwaukee County Emperor Executive Chris Abele were hammering out a deal that would take hundreds of millions of dollars and give it to the new owners of the Milwaukee Bucks so they could build a palatial playground and buy all the land around it for their greater profit. Most of the money that Walker and Abele would give away would come from the poorest of the poor.

As I repeatedly tell the gentle reader, when it comes to all things Walker and/or Abele, there's more. There's always more.

Per the International Business Times, it appears that one man stands to really gain from the bailout of the sports franchise - Jon Hammes. Hammes just happens to be a part owner of the Bucks, a real estate mogul and, oh yeah, the finance co-chair of Walker's presidential campaign:

In the year leading up to the announcement of his presidential campaign, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker championed a high-profile proposal to spend a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money to help finance a new Milwaukee Bucks arena -- all while pushing to slash roughly the same amount from state funding for higher education. One of those who stands to benefit from the controversial initiative is a longtime Walker donor and Republican financier who has just been appointed by the governor to head his presidential fundraising operation.

Real estate mogul Jon Hammes, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and causes, is a prominent member of the investor group that owns Milwaukee’s NBA team. Last week CNN reported that he also will serve as the Walker campaign’s national finance co-chairman. Days after that appointment, Walker’s Republican allies in the Wisconsin state Senate backed the governor’s proposal to spend public funds on a new arena for the Bucks.

In his speech announcing his presidential candidacy, Walker presented himself as a free-market conservative and derided what he called a “top-down, government-knows-best approach” to economic policymaking. Hammes serves on the board of a conservative think tank called the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute that says “competitive free markets, limited government, private initiative and personal responsibility are essential to our democratic way of life.”

But under Walker’s proposal, the government would redistribute taxpayer money to a project benefiting Hammes and other Bucks investors.

A representative for Walker defended the proposal, saying in a statement: “Governor Walker's focus is on protecting Wisconsin’s taxpayers from the negative financial impact of losing the Bucks, while balancing state and local support.”

A Walker campaign aide additionally asserted that it was “a dangerous leap” for International Business Times to ask about the propriety of subsidizing a deal in which Hammes could benefit. “The stadium deal has been in the works much longer than he has been involved with the campaign,” the aide said.

However, before Walker proposed the arena deal, Hammes had donated more than $15,000 to his gubernatorial campaigns, according to state campaign finance data. Federal records also show that over the last decade, Hammes has donated almost $280,000 to Republican candidates and third-party groups -- including more than $14,000 to the Wisconsin Republican Party. Hammes Company in 2010 donated $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which that year spent heavily in support of Walker's first run for governor. Jon Hammes also contributed $500 to Walker while he was a Milwaukee county executive.

One thing that the reporters missed is that Hammes is also on the long list of people who donated to Walker and benefited from Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, whose sole purpose for existence appears to be to reward Walker's supporters with taxpayers' money.

While Abele doesn't have the direct pay for play ties with Hammes that Walker does, there is no doubt a special relationship between the two men. They are on many of the same organization boards, including the Greater Milwaukee Committee, which is nothing more than a country club for plutocrats.

Abele and Hammes also share the same love for plantation economics, which Hammes proved by stating, "No one gives a blank about low-wage workers." When the news came out that Hammes had made this vulgar comment, Abele was the first to rush to his defense.

Ah yes, crony capitalism at its finest - or worst - depending on what side of the 1% you're on.

Abele Really, Really Hates The Poor

As I discussed this morning, state senators hammered out a deal on how they would rake over the taxpayers to provide corporate welfare for the billionaire Bucks owners.  One of the most significant changes from the old plan is how Milwaukee County taxpayers are going to have to foot their share of the bill.

Under the old plan, Milwaukee County Emperor would hand over the county's debt collection to the state, sending debt collectors to shake down the poorest of the poor in the county.  When this plan failed, the state would cut state aids to the county by $4 million per year.

Under the new plan, Abele would no longer be persecuting people for being poor and the state would go directly to cutting state aids to the county.

Emperor Abele was just besides himself at not having an excuse to attack the poorest of the poor for his amusement:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele blasted the change that would drop a plan to pay for the county's portion of the arena through improved collection of debts to the county.

"I think this is disastrous," Abele said, but he added later that the package is still a "net positive."

Abele criticized Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) for working to insert the change, which Larson said was necessary to secure his vote for the arena. But Abele said it opens a hole in the county budget that could result in cuts to social services and bus routes.

Abele said Larson's change effectively protects people who aren't paying their property taxes at the expense of people who are.

Larson and some other Democrats have responded that an arena for billionaire owners shouldn't be funded by people who haven't been able to pay their debts. He said Abele and other county officials will have to find a different way to contribute to the arena but said it's still possible that the state might take over Milwaukee County debts if county officials agree.

Abele said he would likely turn the debt he controls over to the state, but he added that most county debt is the responsibility of County Treasurer David Cullen and Clerk of Courts John Barrett.

So Abele admits that the deal is a "net positive" but he's still having a tantrum because now he has no cover for attacking poor people.

And to think that Abele and his apologists still think of themselves as progressives and Democrats.

The great irony of it all is that while Abele wants to attack people who don't pay their taxes or their tickets, he is one of the greatest offenders:

Chris Abele, the millionaire philanthropist running for county exec, doesn't pay any state or federal income taxes.

That's been well-documented.

But the guy apparently doesn't mind dipping into his wallet to help the city's meter readers meet their monthly quotas.

Records show Abele has racked up 92 parking tickets since Jan. 1, 2007. Of those tickets - which run $22 each - he paid a $5 late fee on 26 and a $15 late fee once.

Total cost: $2,169.

To most people, that's real money, but it's just a drop in the bucket for the scion of wealthy Boston businessman John Abele.

"Chris is on the go a lot," explained Brandon Lorenz, Abele's campaign spokesman.

Like nobody else is.

Ah! So social responsibility is only for the poor. Blue-blooded emperors can't be bothered with behaving like commoners.

And if you're waiting for Abele to kick in some of his own millions to pay for the arena, don't hold your breath.  Why should he use his money when he can pay for his playground with our money?

Why I Won't Be Stepping Foot In The Bucks Arena

Back in 1995, I started working for Milwaukee County as a foster care worker.  Little did I know that I was also stepping into a maelstrom.

The State of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County were being sued by a children's rights advocacy group because the system was letting foster kids linger without any sense of permanence.  This lawsuit led to an independent study of the system being done.

The study found that the county was providing the best services it could, but that it was being underfunded by the state.  It turned out that Governor Tommy Thompson and his Republican allies like Alberta Darling, Margaret Farrow and Scott Walker were skimming money they got from the federal government and using it to fill their own budget holes and giveaways for campaign donors. (Sound familiar?)

The state refused to accept these findings and blamed it on poor management by the county.  The state ended up slipping a clause in the state budget stating that the state would take over the county's welfare system.  They did this in 1998 and by 2001, they had privatized almost all of it.  Not only did they fail to improve the system but were now spending tens of millions of dollars more each year on their failing venture.

At the same time, Bud Selig and the Milwaukee Brewers were committing an act of sports extortion.  They threatened to move the Brewers to another city unless the public coughed up hundreds of millions of dollars to build them a new stadium.

With a cry of "Stick it to 'em!", Thompson led the charge to raise a sales tax on the region to pay for the stadium.

I was outraged. They could raise taxes to pay for a playground for millionaire players and millionaire owners but couldn't afford to pay to care for abused and/or neglected children?! WTF?!

I vowed at that time that I would never set foot in Miller Park and would never spend a dime for Brewers gear.

That's a promise that I've kept to this day and there is no sign of my wavering from it.

I feel the same way today about the news that there was a bipartisan agreement* in the state senate regarding the Bucks arena.  It's about the same as the plan devised by Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele with two real differences.

One, it adds a surcharge to tickets to events at the arena, with 75% of that going to the Bucks' billionaires.

Secondly, it cuts out Abele's plan to gouge the poor before having state aids to the county cut by $4 million per year.  The end result is the same with taxes going up and/or services being slashed, but at least Abele won't be able to kick people while they are down.

But with those minimal changes, the deal still stinks to high heaven.

There is no justification - especially given the perilous fiscal situation the state and the county is in - for taxpayers to have to pay for the corporate welfare to billionaires.  Heck, if Bucks owner Wes Edens can buy up his third company in a week, he can afford to pay for his own playground.

Supporters of this corporate welfare use basically three talking points to try to defend their indefensible position:

1. It creates lots of jobs.
2. It will create a lot of development, especially with the addition of the Plutocrats' Plaza.
3. It will keep tax revenue coming in.

These are easy to discredit as reasons why we should hand the store to the billionaires.

1. Those jobs would still be created if the billionaires paid their own way.
2. Let the people who would profit from the development pay for it - the owners, the land developers, MMAC, WMC, etc.
3. The area will be a big money-sucking black hole that will take revenue and tax dollars from other places in the city that need it a helluva lot more.  The only exception to this would be the other money-sucking black hole that Abele and Tom Barrett are creating at the lakefront with the streetcar and Couture.

Besides being an inexcusable example of corporate welfare, this is also a major political blunder by the Democrats who have voted for it.

For the first time in years, they have some leverage against the Republicans, but let them off easy.  On top of that, they also gave the Republicans a foil by giving them a way to avoid accountable under the guise of  "bipartisanship."  (Really, shouldn't we be calling it "buy-partisanship" since it's nothing but corporate controlled legislation?)

For these reasons, I am going to make the same promise that I made regarding the Brewers.  I will never set foot in the new arena or the Plutocrats' Plaza.  They are not going to get any more money from me than what they are already stealing with the corporate politicians' help.

*I don't know how they can call an agreement between Republicans and Corporate Democrats bipartisan when they are two sides to the same coin.

Bucks Abele Goes MIA. Again.

The Shepherd Express did a comparison between the way that Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Emperor Bucks Abele is dealing with the Bucks arena debacle, and it's very telling:

While Barrett tried his best to get everything out in the open as soon as possible, Abele has gone into hiding. He’s sent out two aides—Department of Administrative Services Director Teig Whaley-Smith and Economic Development Director James Tarantino, who’s only been on the job since May—to sell the plan to the public and county supervisors. And he turned down a request to be interviewed by the Shepherd on his plans.

If the Legislature approves the deal as is, the county is on the hook for a lot more than the city’s parking garage and TIF. The county has committed $4 million a year in bad debt for the next 20 years—a funding mechanism Barrett rejected—as well as offering to sell nine acres of Park East land to the Bucks owners for $1. Abele’s plan, crafted in secret, could have a big impact on an already strained county budget because the debt that’s collected currently goes into the county coffers. Plus, if the state can’t collect the $4 million yearly for the Bucks, it will reduce the county’s state aid and likely cause property taxes to rise.

There are so many questions to be answered about the county’s contributions, but Abele won’t explain to his constituents or county supervisors why he thinks this is the best deal he could negotiate, especially since it appears to be so much worse for county taxpayers than Gov. Scott Walker’s original bonding plan. Adding insult to injury, rumors are rampant that if Abele doesn’t get his way, his Republican legislator buddies will strip the county board’s ability to approve land deals in the pending state budget, further diminishing transparency and accountability in county government.

Mayor Barrett has shown that he’s willing to stand behind his proposal to make the arena deal work. If County Executive Abele is so confident about committing county resources to keep the Bucks in town, why won’t he defend his plan in public?

Abele's approach to the arena fiasco is indicative of the way Abele's idea of leadership in general. Like a medieval feudal lord, Abele feels that the poor and working class are there to be exploited and that he doesn't need to answer to such riffraff. After all, he's filthy rich, which makes him feel that he's better than us commoners.

Time To Wake Up

By Jeff Simpson

 I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.

Charlie Chaplin

There has been a distrubing trend lately in Wisconsin and national politics.  We have been holding every other position in society to a higher standard than politicians.   

Case in point, The highest ranking Republican in the Assembly,Robin Vos, recently pointed out that the Milwaukee Bucks will have a hard time getting any help legislatively because their owner, Marc Lasry, was seen greeting President Obama when he visited Milwaukee. Boss Vos has decided that the well being of Wisconsin, and especially 600,000 plus Milwaukeans, takes a back seat to filling his campaign coffers.    

The statement by Vos was borderline illegal, highly unethical, petty, childish and plain ignorant there will be no repercussions.   Except for some random columnists scolding Mr. Vos, there will be no suspensions, penalties, disorderly conduct, inquiries, investigations or even reprimands. For those scoring at home, this means that Mr. Lasry had better ante up.   

Former Republican Majority leader and current Representative of the 97th DIstrict(Waukesha) of Wisconsin, Bill Kramer was recently sentenced to five months in jail. Mr. Kramer was originally charged with two counts of sexual assault, was given a sweet plea deal by his good friend and our Republican Attorney General elect Brad Schimel's office, to be able to plead no contest to one charge of fourth degree sexual assault.  

Mr. Kramer was also apparently allowed to use his campaign funds to pay for his lawyers in this case despite that being against the law.  While the charges were ugly, the sentence was light. Mr. Kramer now will be paid handsomely by the taxpayers of Wisconsin, while he sits in jail and also will receive his Cadillac Benefits along with a full pension.  Look for Mr. Kramer to emerge from jail and join the ranks of "school choice" lobbyists in Madison.  

In yet another case of truth being stranger than fiction, the person that the Republicans chose to replace Mr. Kramer was Jim Steineke(R-Kaukana) to be the new Majority leader. While Mr. Steineke does not have sexual assault on his resume, it is about the only crime missing.   Steineke has a past filled with criminal trespass, obstructing police and too many driving citations to list.   To be fair, this former real estate agent and proponent of limited government, has not had multiple citations for breaking the law since 2010. However this resume has allowed him to be promoted to a position of leadership in the Republican party, and by his own words,  "he mentors new representatives and their staff". 

I guess if it works for Frank Abagnale, it can work for Jim Steineke.  

Even our very own Governor, who has not had a very good relationship with the truth, who leads all politicians in "false" politifact ratings,  telling us he was incredibly disappointed that Ryan Braun lied to his fans.  D'oh! 

Now contrast these stories to a Kindergarten teacher from Germantown.  At a county fair this summer, completely off the clock, destroyed a couple Scott Walker campaign signs.  This teacher was rightly charged with disorderly conduct and given a $169.00 ticket(which she has paid).   

This teacher, for the act of destroying a few cardboard signs, has been the subject ofnumerous stories a political witchhunt(For those scoring at home, number of stories said website did on this sign destroying incident - 7, number of stories about all incidences involving Vos, Kramer, Steineke listed above - 0)on Michael Grebe funded "investigative" websites since the incident happened.   By the way, the teacher involved is STILL SUSPENDED.   

Do we really think that Sexual asault or pay to play shakedowns by politicians are less important to the general populace than someone destroying political signs?  

As the late great Molly Ivins once wrote:

Oh, just that your life is at stake.

What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols. "I'm just not interested in politics." "They're all crooks." "Nothing I can do about it, I'm just one person. I can't buy influence."

Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom you can decide you don't much care for. Is the person who prescribes your eyeglasses qualified to do so? How deep will you be buried when you die? What textbooks are your children learning from at school? What will happen if you become seriously ill? Is the meat you're eating tainted? Will you be able to afford to go to college or to send your kids? Would you like a vacation? Expect to retire before you die? Can you find a job? Drive a car? Afford insurance? Is your credit card company or your banker or your broker ripping you off? It's all politics, Bubba.

You don't get to opt out for lack of interest.

Maybe if we could see who these people truly are during non-election season, we would be in a hurry to make bacon out of the politicians and not be swayed by the millions of dollars of ads that the outside groups spend putting lipstick on their pigs!  

Nothing would scare the politicians and lobbyists in Madison more, than all of us paying attention.    

Cross posted @ Purple Wisconsin. 

Sales Tax Priorities

In 2008, members of the Milwaukee County Board led a charge to have a referendum put on the ballot regarding a 1% sales tax which would have created a dedicated funding source for the county's transit, parks and EMS systems.   The referendum, which was put to the entire county and not just select parts of it, passed.

Sadly, Governor Jim Doyle and the legislature dinked around and never did anything with it.  Because of that, the parks system is failing, the transit system is on the verge of collapse and the EMS system had their budget slashed.

Fast forward five years and there is talk again of a sales tax, but not for the transit, parks or EMS systems.

It's to build the Milwaukee Bucks a new arena.

And where the former county executive, Scott Walker, was actively working against the first sales tax proposal, the current county executive, Chris Abele is all for it:

On Monday, Abele was interviewed by John Mercure, afternoon propagandist at WTMJ-AM. Mercure asked Abele about the proposed 1% sales tax for a new arena.

Abele, an admitted owner of season tickets for the Bucks, gushed over the idea. Throwing all his anti-tax statements out the window, he couldn't emphasize enough how much he liked this idea. He did not say whether he supported it because it would make his friends even richer or if it was that he wanted to have a new arena to sit in for his season tickets.

The really sickening part about this is that even while Abele was on the air to promote the sales tax for the new millionaire's playground, people were gathering to discuss the impending collapse of the Milwaukee County Transit System. If a dedicated funding source is not found and implemented in the next year, the transit system could face up to a 30% cut in service and/or a huge fare increase.

As proof, Abele posted this picture on his official county executive page*, showing how "he stands up for Milwaukee":

It looks like he has court side seats, doesn't it?

Yet I could not find a picture of him on a bus.

It should make one pause to wonder, who does Abele think he represents?  It sure isn't the work-a-day people.

By the way, Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic made a point of taking the bus to each of her "Chat with the Chair" events.  Let that one soak in while the gentle reader considers who is on whose side.

*Is a picture of Abele at a Bucks game really appropriate for an official county site?

Abele Versus Abele: The Sales Tax Issue In His Own Words

Yesterday, I wrote about how Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele tapped in his inner Tommy Thompson by advocating for a sales tax to build a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks. I also pointed out he was being rather hypocritical regarding the sales tax, depending on who would benefit from it.

That caused enough of a rise that one of his people got WTMJ, where he made is pro-"sales tax to help the millionaires" comments, to give them a link to his comments, which they promptly posted in the comment thread.

Here's the link to his comments, (at least until Abele gets WTMJ to take it down again). And yes, I say it was one of his people. Do you think WTMJ would respond to a similar request from you or I, especially that quickly?

Again, Abele was gushing about a proposed sales tax to build a new arena for a basketball team for which he owns season tickets. The team is owned my a millionaire. The land developers would all be millionaires.

And what would the people who pay the sales tax for it get? A chance to drop a day's wage to see some more millionaires play basketball?

But Abele has a much different tone when it comes to a sales tax to save the transit system:

While Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele agrees transit is in jeopardy, he says he’s not prepared to back a sales tax option.

“The sales tax is about the most regressive tax you can have, it hits most disproportionately, the people who least can afford to be hit on it,” Abele says.
Abele says another drawback to a sales tax for transit, is that it would essentially let the state off the hook -- for money it’s supposed to be providing to the county for transit.

“Any time we raise local revenue for a service that used to be provided by shared revenue at the state, we’re giving the state another reason to sort of back out funding and push that funding locally, and we’re already paying taxes in to the state out of which we are supposed to be getting the transit funding,” Abele says.

Well, that's not entirely true.

If the sales tax had been allowed to be passed as it was approved of in a referendum four years ago, it would have cut people's property taxes. And a healthy transit system would allow tens of thousands of people to regain access to jobs, people could stimulate the economy by getting out and about to stores and places of entertainment. And our regional economy would grow instead of losing ground as it is doing now.

As I wrote last night, it would be a nice change to have a county executive that sticks up for the people instead of sticking it to them.

Abele's "Stick It To Them" Moment

When the powers that be decided that the old County Stadium had to be replaced, there was a lot of argument about who would pay for it.  Eventually, it was decided that they would impose a sales tax on Milwaukee County and the surrounding counties to pay for the thing. The sales tax still has not ended and it appears that it never will.

At the time, then Governor Tommy Thompson, who was rooting for the sales tax, coined his infamous line, "Stick it to 'em!"

Now we have Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele saying basically the same thing.

The local would-be overlords at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce  (MMAC) (WMC's little brother), who are allies of Chris Abele and his Greater Milwaukee Committee,  have decided that the Milwaukee Bucks need a new arena to play in.  Not that there's really a need.  They just want to rake the taxpayers over some more so they can increase their own wealth.

At the time, I thought that MMAC had screwed themselves over by backing Scott Walker in the general election and again during the recall.  Surely, Walker wouldn't back this idea.

But now that we see Walker and his right wing minions embracing of creating taxways tollways in Fitzwalkerstan, I'm not so sure anymore.

MMAC is getting serious about this idea as well, getting ready to make the big push for it.  They even glommed onto the way that they recently built a new arena in Oklahoma City, although that might not be the best example for them to use.

On Monday, Abele was interviewed by John Mercure, afternoon propagandist at WTMJ-AM.  Mercure asked Abele about the proposed 1% sales tax for a new arena.

Abele, an admitted owner of season tickets for the Bucks, gushed over the idea.  Throwing all his anti-tax statements out the window, he couldn't emphasize enough how much he liked this idea.  He did not say whether he supported it because it would make his friends even richer or if it was that he wanted to have a new arena to sit in for his season tickets.

The really sickening part about this is that even while Abele was on the air to promote the sales tax for the new millionaire's playground, people were gathering to discuss the impending collapse of the Milwaukee County Transit System.  If a dedicated funding source is not found and implemented in the next year, the transit system could face up to a 30% cut in service and/or a huge fare increase.

This could separate tens of thousands of transit-reliant workers from jobs.  And that does not go to mention the elderly and disabled riders who would have their independence severely curtailed.

Needless to say, such a severe cut to the transit system would have a devastating affect on our regional economy as people are no longer able to get to work or get to the stores.

Oh, rest assured that Abele has a plan to save transit.  His plan is to ask Walker - the guy who had already cut the transit system by 20% and raised fares through the roof, and who is doing even more damage as governor - to give Milwaukee County a few more dollars to keep the thing afloat.

Talk about clueless.

If Abele is so keen on having a new arena, he should but some of his personal tens of millions of dollars into the kitty.  He then can have his multimillionaire friends at GMC and MMAC also pony up some of their lucre.

And then let the sales tax go to something that is both useful and sorely needed, like transit and improving our local economy.

It would be really nice if we ever had a county executive that wanted to stick up for the people instead of the usual sticking it to them.

Did MMAC Just Kill The Milwaukee Bucks?

I was talking to a good friend tonight. He wanted to compliment me on my observations about the recall and then we were venting about the recall results and trying to figure out why people consistently insist upon voting against their best interests.

While we talking, my friend came up with a most interesting example of a group shooting themselves in the collective foot and possibly wounding the entire city of Milwaukee in the process. But I warn the gentle reader, this might get a little wonkish.

The Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee Admirals and the Marquette Golden Eagles. But the Center, which was built 24 years ago with a $94 million contribution from Jane Pettit, is supposedly now too old and they need to build a new center to keep the Bucks in town.

Obviously, the project of building a new center would require a lot of money, most of which would benefit commercial realtors, construction companies and other such businesses. Naturally, this brings in the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) like sharks attracted by the smell of blood. They offer their full-throated support for a new center, since many of their members would benefit greatly if a new center is built.

But how to raise that much money?* The owner of the Bucks, Senator Herb Kohl, has said he would chip in a few of his millions. They also plan on hitting up some bigger companies for sponsorship. But the bulk of the money would come from the taxpayers in the form of tax breaks. grants from the state and a proposed sales tax, not just in Milwaukee, but in surrounding counties as well:

Public sector support for the Bradley Center would include continued funding from the state, which in fiscal 2011 provided a $5 million grant. Marotta also wants the city of Milwaukee to participate, possibly through revenue from a city parking structure northeast of the Bradley Center.

The longer-term issue, of course, would be how to fund a new downtown arena.
Downtown leaders tout conducting a long-term strategic plan on Milwaukee’s needs for sports and cultural venues and then determining the amount of money that would be required to meet those needs.

Sheehy and others continue to believe a sales tax must be considered in Milwaukee County and possibly in surrounding counties.

“We need a recognition on a regional basis that there are certain assets in the city that need to be supported by the region,” said Milwaukee real estate developer Barry Mandel. “That may be the Bradley Center, our parks, the performing arts.”
Marotta acknowledges the political and economic climate makes initiating a sales tax difficult.

Other institutions, like the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Milwaukee County Zoo also want a piece of the sales tax pie, in order to make it more palatable. Or so they claim.

In order to bolster their argument for the need of a new arena and the need for a regional sales tax for it, they went ahead and did an economic impact of the Bradley Center, and said that it brings in some $204.5 million annually, with $73.1 million of that going to support the payroll for 2,350 jobs directly related to the Bradley Center.

The Brewtown Gumshoe runs through the reasons why their economic impact study claiming that the Bradley Center is an economic generator is utter rubbish with a very good point at the end:

If private organizations want public money - which is the reason the "economic impact" studies are trotted out - maybe they should at the least have to assure that the jobs being subsidized will be living-wage jobs. Sadly, most of these jobs are seasonal, low-wage jobs. Public dollars should not be used to subsidize low-wage, seasonal employment. Yet another reason more "investment" in arenas like the Bradley Center are usually economic losers. And, if these projects were such no-brainers and sure-fire success stories, why would the private sector need a public partner?

There is a large body of studies (see my previous writings on the subject for examples, linked above) showing stadiums are not economic catalysts. This research, for most cities, has found the same results for decades. Regardless of the conclusions of the 6-page MMAC "study," stadiums do not have a serious economic impact for the majority of cities. To claim the Bradley Center is any different is bogus.

In fact, MMAC is so far away from the corporate ideology that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has to call them out on claiming it makes so much money even though for years they've been complaining how hard it is "to generate new and meaningful revenue for it's tenants."

And therein lies the rub.

MMAC were strong supporters of Scott Walker's election and re-election.  Walker, as we are all too aware is a teahadist's dream come true and would never allow a sales tax to happen, especially if said sales tax would affect his base support in Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee Counties.

Heck, when he was Milwaukee County Executive, he actively opposed a sales tax which had been approved by the voters in a referendum, which would have provided a dedicated funding source for the county's transit, parks and EMS.  He was so opposed to the sales tax that he illegally used campaign funds to run robocalls to tell voters to reject the referendum.  (The use of funds were illegal because he did not include that information in the robocall. He was heavily fined for this.)

Not only that, in the recall campaign, his disdain for all things Milwaukee was made explicitly clear.

As my  friend pointed out, the Miller Park sales tax is lucky it's made it this long under Walker's regime.

So, on one hand, MMAC wants a government hand out to make themselves even wealthier than they already are.  Then they turn around and help buy the election of the person least likely to let that happen.

So in their avarice, the not only hurt themselves, they might have sabotaged any chances of the Bucks remaining in Milwaukee.  And these are supposed to be the barons of business.  No wonder the state's economy is going down the toilet.

* The funny thing that I noticed is that in February 2012, they were reporting that the naming rights for the Bradley Center could not be sold, due to the complaints of the family. However, in May 2012, the naming rights were sold to BMO Harris, the bank that bought out M & I.  If Walker would somehow let the sales tax go, or give a bigger grant and/or tax break for the new arena, you know that this was also pay for play.