MADISON – Yesterday, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance
Committee allocated $3 million in state funds in an unprecedented move to use
taxpayer money to fund a partisan, conservative think tank at UW-Madison called
the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos stated
in media accounts that this Center was designed to counter “left-leaning”
research organizations and “liberal thinking” on campus.
This comes on the heels of a bill Vos is attempting to push
through the legislature that unconstitutionally punishes students for
exercising their First Amendment rights by the threat of expulsion.
The think tank will actually be controlled by a board
dominated by exclusively Republican political appointees without a single
Democratic appointment. According to
press accounts, UW Political Science Professor Ryan Owens, a former staffer to
Governor Thompson who has received funding from the conservative Bradley
Foundation, is vying to lead the Center.
A significant portion, $500,000, must be used to pay speakers for
engagements at other UW campuses.
“After $795 million in cuts to the UW System, including
millions in cuts that UW-Madison had to absorb during the last budget, the
priority of Republican legislators is to fund a partisan propaganda machine to
support their failing agenda that has stifled economic growth, resulted in
crumbling roads and schools and the stagnation of middle income wages,” stated
Taylor. “This is a serious misuse of public money for the purposes of pushing a
partisan, right-wing agenda on UW campuses,” stated Taylor.
UW-Madison currently has its own public policy school, the
world-renowned Lafollette School of Public Affairs which receives $600,000 of
public funds annually. The Tommy G.
Thompson Center will receive $1.5 million annually over the next two years,
with more to come from the private sector.
“How ironic that the Republican leaders who tried to gut the
Wisconsin Idea and abolish Wisconsin’s open records laws are the ones pushing
this Center, which will undoubtedly end up subsidizing the speaking fees of
their conservative buddies who will tour the UW System,” stated Taylor. “Right wing groups like the Bradley
Foundation will most certainly dole out big bucks to this Center to promote
their harmful agenda of privatizing public education and eroding the rights and
wages of working people.”
Earlier this month, the Charles Koch Foundation made a
substantial donation to UW-Stout for the creation of “Center for the Study of
Institutions and Innovation.” In 2012 alone, the Koch brothers donated nearly
$400 million to defeat Democrats at the ballot box.
MADISON – Late last Friday afternoon, Governor Walker’s
Department of Workforce Development released new data showing that Wisconsin
has once again lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. According to the data, Wisconsin added just
11,590 private sector jobs in 2016 with a growth rate of 0.5%.
Those numbers mark the slowest job growth of any year since
Governor Walker took office. The dramatic dip in manufacturing job creation
comes at nearly the same time the so-called Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax
Credit is now fully phased in, at a projected cost of almost $300 million this
year. By the end of the next budget, the credit is projected to have cost the
state a total of $1.4 billion over six years.
Despite its misleading name, the credit does not require that a single
job be created. Three out of four
individuals who claim the giveaway as income tax are millionaires.
“These latest jobs numbers once again confirm that Governor
Walker has been a miserable failure at fulfilling his promises to create jobs,”
said Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), a member of the budget-writing Joint
Finance Committee. “The fact that the Governor waited until late afternoon
before a holiday weekend to release the jobs numbers says it all. Not only is the state growing jobs an anemic
0.5% rate, Wisconsin continues to place 50th among 50 states in startup
activity, with the distance between Wisconsin and the next-lowest states
widening even more from 2016 and 2015. Meanwhile, the Governor continues to
give away hundreds of millions of dollars in a no-strings-attached tax credit
to the wealthiest in our state, at the expense of public schools, tech schools,
and the UW System.”
Since the credit has been fully phased in, Wisconsin has
lost manufacturing jobs over 12 months in every quarter the Bureau of Labor
Statistics has released jobs data. Recent data from the state’s non-partisan
Legislative Fiscal Bureau revealed the top 11 claimants of the credit all make
$30 million or more per year, and as a group are projected to receive a
whopping $22 million in 2017 alone.
Because there is no job creation requirement, claimants can actually
take money from the credit and outsource jobs, or even invest in automation to
replace actual jobs.
The tax measure was included in the 2011 budget during a
last-minute motion on the last day before the Joint Finance Committee passed
the budget. As a result, there was no
public hearing, input, testimony, or consideration of the impact of the
decision when it was passed.
At the time of passage, the credit was estimated to cost
$128 million annually when fully phased in by 2016-17. However, the credit is projected to actually
end up costing $299 million in 2016-17, and is expected to balloon in cost to
$334 million by 2018-19. By the end of
the 2017-19 budget, the credit will have cost $800 million more than was
originally forecasted when it was passed in 2011.
"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society,”
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said ninety years ago.
Taxes pay for much of the goods and services we take for
granted, such as roads, fire and police protection, consumer protections,
schools, parks, and our social safety net. Taxes make up the largest part of
the revenue in our state budget.
Taxes are a part of our daily lives, through the money we
pay in sales tax or a deduction in our paycheck for income tax. Once a year,
property owners send in a check to their local government for property taxes on
their homes and farms.
Property tax is probably the most unpopular tax. A subset of
this tax, the personal property tax, came under fire at the recent Senate
committee hearing.
“When the tax bill came, I always viewed this tax as a
penalty.” Quentin Schultz of River Falls told our committee. He joined dozens
of business owners who traveled to Madison with hopes of getting rid of the
personal property tax.
About three percent of the property tax paid is for things
that are not land or buildings. Our committee heard from a diverse group of
businesses who asked for things such as the equipment to bake bread or their
ski lifts at a ski resort to not be taxed.
Over the years, business groups advocated for loopholes or
“exemptions” to the personal property tax. In a January 2017 paper, the
nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) listed 18 pages of “exemptions” to
the personal property tax. The list includes many common items from A to Y:
from animals to youth hockey.
Business owners at the committee hearing gave many examples
of how difficult it was for them to know what was and was not taxed, and how
expensive the tax was for them to keep records. Many complained the tax on them
was unfair, calling it a “bad” tax.
But is there ever a “good” tax?
To answer this question, I turned to the teachings of many
economists I learned from over the years. Recognizing that all taxes have
negative effects, a “good” tax is broad-based - it affects everybody. It has a
low rate and does not have loopholes. When a tax is broad-based and has a low
rate, everyone pays something but no one pays too much.
A “good” tax is easy for taxpayers to comply with and easy
to collect. Finally, a “good” tax causes little change in normal economic activity.
The personal property tax fails this standard on many levels.
Lawmakers following the wisdom of “good” tax policy would
choose a reform that gets us closer to these standards. To be revenue neutral,
any lowering of the state’s revenue should be made up somewhere else.
The “somewhere else” or how the lost revenue would be made
up was never discussed in the committee hearing. The cost of this personal
property tax change would be about $520 million. For comparison, that is about
that same amount the Governor put in his budget as a “per student” increase for
all public schools.
Lawmakers who support eliminating the personal property tax
said they planned to add state money to offset the loss to local community.
They also said, without that additional state money, homeowners would pay
higher property taxes. Some communities would see a much higher increase in
property taxes. For example, the City of Blair in Trempealeau County receives
22% of its property tax revenue from personal property taxes.
The proponents of the bill suggested the money lost to
communities like Blair would be made up in more state aid. However, no one
could answer my question of where this money would come from.
I applaud my colleagues who want to get rid of a “bad” tax.
However, we must have an honest discussion about how we are going to pay for
local services upon which people depend.
History shows us that local government bears a heavy burden
to make up for cuts in state funding. Eliminating the personal property tax
increases that burden. If promises to make up for the loss of revenue are not
met, it will affect local programs and local taxes.
If we are going to eliminate “bad” taxes, we must consider
the consequences and discuss either who pays more or what goods and services we
want to do without.
Now it is my turn. I spent alot of time thinking and debating this topic and after long thought, I have decided that I will fully support Bryan Kennedy for Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair.
I appreciate and respect the hard work that Bryan Kennedy has been putting in. I appreciate that Bryan has had a long career in the Democratic Party, from an elected official, to a union President, to a candidate against the Tampon King of Menominee Falls. It is no small feat to run against a firmly entrenched multi millionaire in today's political culture. I like the fact that while the rest of Wisconsin Democratic insiders, and electeds were falling over themselves to endorse Hillary, Bryan was unapologetically behind Senator Bernie Sanders for President. I respect the fact that once the race was over, he jumped in line and supported Hillary(if only her loyalty had been a two way street). I like the fact that he has put the time and effort into running for the party and has a solid plan and the optimism to retake the state in 2018. The final straw that put me over the edge is the fact that Bryan, not only has been available throughout his run, but he personally stopped by my house and asked for my vote.
Bryan now officially has my vote, and I hope he has yours also.
While telling you why I am voting for Bryan, I have to also have to explain why I feel there is a need for change.
First, I have to say that I like David Bowen and feel he is being under utilized as Vice chair, otnd one big step to taking the State back from the far right extremists, would be to make David Bowen, minority leader and have Peter Barca give up his reign(but I digress).
While I want to acknowledge that the election debacle has plenty of owners, being head of the Democratic Party, you have to shoulder your share of the burden!
Now let's look at where things went off the rails.
* Martha rode a wave of change to the chair of the Democratic Party, unfortunately, she did not acknowledge that change. She kept everyone on board for months, despite the fact that she inherited a staff that was known for losing elections.
* There was a special election as soon as she took over, and it was all but ignored.
* Bloggers and grass roots seem all but ignored. When Kory Kozlowski, executive director of the party was leaving and Martha was hiring Jason Sidener, Daniel Bice was the person who was breaking all of the stories.
* She oversaw the party during the primary of 2016, where there was an incumbent protection plan, which caused primary challenges to big of a burden to overcome.
* She oversaw the party during the 2016 debacle of a statewide election.
* She promised to vote for the winner of the Wisconsin Primary and as soon as Senator Sanders won, she immediately broke her promise.
* She was one of the few state chairs, who signed up for the Hillary Victory Fund, which turned into the Hillary Fund and they forgot all about the Victory part. Really this, in my mind, is the one thats inexcusable.
* Speaking from personal experience, Martha has not been approachable or accessible. A mailer and a phone call from a supporter is the way to win elections in the 1980s.
I plan on critiquing Bryan every step of the way, and criticizing and complimenting the party as needed,
The 2018 elections are the most important of our lifetime and we can not afford another debacle.
It is time we put the party in Union hands and started to win elections again.
You know, there comes a time when you almost miss Crazy Mary
(Panzer).(I only mean that in the
far-out, conservative way, not the clinical way, because I am not a clinician
and Mary’s just brainwashed, possibly not mentally ill. But still a menace.) I’m
not sure if that time is now, but it may be upon us soon. Glenn Grothmann
(R-Mom’s Basement) serves Wisconsin’s 6h Congressional District.The guy’s views on everything from early
childhood education to municipal water chlorination are—how to put this
politically correctly—wrong on every level and completely devoid of any basis
in reality. A few of Glenn’s recent greatest hits have included:
11)Early childhood education: Glenn is just
POSITIVE that any early benefits that might be enjoyed by investment in
four-year-old kindergarten disappear by the fourth grade. He thinks this is
some elaborate Ponzi scheme to line the pockets of these school districts,
currently so cash-rich that they are closing and consolidating. THE NERVE. EC
22)Glenny’s position on concealed care (he is
super, duper for it!) are equally disturbing, considering his level of
cross-eyedness. Now, we don’t want to pick on him for that. At the same time,
we don’t want him to be armed. Because common sense. Strabismus
33)Glenny is so confused that he thinks Kwanzaa is
a white left-wing conspiracy. Spoiler alert: it’s not!Glenn still wants you to treat Kwanzaa "treat
Kwanzaa with the contempt it deserves before it becomes a permanent part of our
culture." Kwanzaa
44)Glenny is SUPER proud of his record on the
American Health Care Act, notable mainly for its lack of an imaginary name and
its ability to kill tens of thousands of Americans due to its avarice,
cowardice, and cruelty. ACHA
55)Glenny is so far out of touch with reality that
he thinks he remembers “global cooling in the 1970s."Glenny’s already failed on one of the key climate promises he made to his constituents who packed Neenah Council Chambers on
April 30, 2017. He pledged to “do what he can” to prevent the elimination of
Great Lakes Restoration Funding in Trump’s budget. Trump plans to take the funding level from $300 million to
zero. Angry
6) The strangest thing about Glenn, though, is what proves that no woman or man has wanted to come within sexual distance of him. He actually, really, truly thinks that you can just close Planned Parenthood and get your birth control at the grocery store. Really. Grocery
Bottom line is this: Progressives are making huge inroads, and sometimes winning, in former Republican strongholds. Once people get sick enough of being unemployed, without health care, what else will people like Grothmann have to run on? What do broke people dressed in burlap sacks, with no money in their burlap pockets, do? They might-- finally-- begin to vote in their own self-interests. And that means not voting for Glenny-Glenn. But if you happen to see him shopping for birth control at the grocery story, cheer him on. He might finally be getting lucky.
“It’s not just a picture,” student Matthew Malespina told ABC News. “It’s being associated with a person who puts his party before his country.” When he learned of his school’s impending photo op with Ryan, Malespina texted his mother he’s “just not going to do it.” “The point was, ‘I don’t want to be associated with him, and his policies and what he stands for,’” Matthew’s mother Elissa Malespina said.
Paul Ryan, not being the brightest bulb on the tree, did not know that he was being stood up by many of the kids and posted this photo on his social media.
The thing is it turned into the perfect metaphor for Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House:
Here is Paul Ryan, trying to be cool by fist bumping the white girl while ignoring the Person of Color and person with noticeable preexisting conditions. Its so much easier to cut his health care and opportunities in America if you pretend he does not exist!
Unless the gentle reader has been living in a cave for the past couple of years, they would know that Paul "Lyin'" Ryan has been running amok. The Republicans have control of the House, the Senate, the White House and the Supreme Court and Ryan feels that gives him free reign to implement every wet dream of his dark money overlords. Ryan wants to cut 24 million people from Obamacare to pay for huge tax breaks for his masters. He wants to ravage the nation's natural resources for fun and profit. He wants to take away rights from women, minorities and, well, basically anyone that isn't a wealthy white man. And to really show his arrogance and his indifference to the people of his district and all of America, Ryan refuses to hold town halls, take phone messages or even accept petitions from the people, in violation of their constitutional rights.
The only way that Ryan can be stopped in the next few years is to beat him at the polls. But even that is a Herculean undertaking. Ryan is safely ensconced in a very gerrymandered district and has all the money his dark overlords can shovel to him.
However, that doesn't mean Ryan can't be beaten. People are really and truly upset about Ryancare. After giving him their votes, their money and their time, Ryan is about to throw them all under the armored money truck. People are also disgusted with his relationship with Trump. Whether they think that Ryan is arm-in-arm with Trump's repulsive actions or think that he is too spineless to stand up to Trump, Ryan is losing popularity and support.
Still, to beat him, any opposing candidate has to be much more than someone that repeatedly says, "I'm not Paul Ryan." We've learned that in the last three gubernatorial elections. It has to be something that any union worker knows, you can't get people to be with you by just opposing someone or something, you have to offer a better alternative. Instead of just opposing Ryancare, one has to have something better, hopefully one-payer health care, but even Obamacare would be better.
One cannot be just opposed to privatizing schools, but strengthening public schools. Supporting strengthening voters' rights and women's rights and more access to good health care providers instead of oppressing people more and more.
It would also have to be a person that could appeal to a wide range of people, from moderates to the very progressive. It would have to be someone willing to take baby steps while keeping their eye on the big prize. It would have to be someone able to raise money and relate to the grassroots at the same time, just like someone who can walk on a iron girder high in the sky without fear or without losing their balance.
That person, I believe, has to be Randy Bryce.
This is what I wrote about Randy a few years ago when we successfully drafted him into running for the state senate:
The candidate would have to be someone with some name recognition to help make up for the gerrymandering. Because of the areas blue collar, hard-working population who is starving for jobs, the candidate would have to be someone who would support the workers and help them get good family jobs. The candidate should also have a passion to make sure our children are able to receive the best educations they can; that citizens in need should be able to get assistance when they need it and that we only get one world and its natural resources should not be squandered for a short term profit gain.
Most importantly, the candidate should be someone who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty and do the hard work that will be needed to first win the race and then get to work on fixing the damage that has been done in the past three years.
There is only one person that I know of that could meet those requirements: Randy Bryce.
Randy is fairly well known due to a previous run for the State Assembly as well as his activism and his involvement in the community. Being a member of Ironworkers Local 8, he has a strong work ethic and recognizes it in others, whether they are unionized or not. While I am sure he would love to see everyone in a union, his primary focus has always been to work on getting everyone a decent, family supporting job.
If you talk to Randy for five minutes, you would know how much he loves son, Ben, and how proud he is of his son. Randy would go to Madison with that fierce love and fight not only for Ben, but all children.
He would bring that same fire and same work ethic with him to Madison to stand up for the people. He would not sell out his constituents for any special interests and he would not do anything, personally or professionally, to embarrass them.
Not only would Randy continue with his strong advocacy for workers, families children, and social justice, Randy is also an army veteran and a proud and fierce advocate for his fellow veterans, a group that is often maltreated and forgotten.
I know that Randy is fully aware of the challenges getting into this race would mean and would not flinch at taking them on. He would be able to garner the support and backing of unions and individuals. He appeals to both moderates and liberals, such as myself. Randy would not be lured by the special interests, unless you count the people of the district as special interests. (I think Randy would be even willing to draw the line with the powerful tartar sauce cartel.)
If you agree with me that Randy should take on defeat Lyin' Ryan, please join the Draft Randy Bryce Facebook page or express your support to him on Twitter at @IronStache.
We need Randy now to help get this state and this country back on the right path. Please join me in letting Randy know he needs to serve his country again.
Yesterday there was a special election for Congress in MT and it drew the attention of the country.
In a solidly red state, the GOP was panicking that they would lose this seat. They even spent almost $6 Million dollars to keep this seat red, despite the fact that the term of this seat is only a little over a year now and they have a solid advantage in Congress anyway.
With every special election there's DCCC talk, but no talk of PAC money. Dems getting decimated by outside money - just not able to compete.
I wonder of the $6+ million could have been better spent in MT, instead of on 1/435 Congressional seats? Pretty sure they do!
This seat took an extra turn the day before the polls opened because a reporter for the Guardian, Ben Jacobs, had the nerve to ask Republican multimillionaire candidate Greg Gianforte, his feelings on the ACHA.
GOP candidate wins Montana House election after being charged with assault
Montana should be proud.
However, in the overall picture, it is not that big of a deal because as stated earlier it is only for a year and there are some very serious lessons to be learned here.
Now let's make sure that we learn them.
1. This had a strong early voting contingent for this race/ Which means if you voted early for the guy who body slams reporters, you had no recourse to change your mind. I personally have always felt that early voting if for the blind partisans....i know who I am voting for and nothing in the world could change my vote. The blind partisans are what is wrong with this country. I would have been flat out disgusted had I early voted for the assaulter!
I think early voting is great if you for some reason are not available to vote on election day, but if you are use election day for what it is meant for. I have taken my children to vote with me on election day every single election since they were born in a car carrier!
2. The GOP know what a mess and potential electoral disaster the AHCA vote and plan is. That is what upset Gianforte. He did not want to answer if he supported ending health insurance for 23 million Americans(he was never actually forced too before the election). He knew that even in maroon red Montana, people like having health insurance.
3. Make sure ANY candidate goes on record supporting or not the AHCA. Republicans, thanks to Paul Ryan, are now in a quandry. Do they stand behind their party and the Speaker and the President and take tens of thousands of their constituents off health care or do they do what is right? Ask them, ask them and ask them again until they take a stand one way or the other. If they support it, then an instant and forever Scarlet Letter should be branded on their career. Period.
4. While the people of Montana voted in a guy who beat up a reporter for doing his job, the rest of the country, especially the 70% who do not support The Donald were horrified by it. Even the "great" Frank Luntz had this to say about it:
If you check the party affiliation of someone who commits assaults before deciding how you feel about it, you're what's wrong with America.
Make sure and ask your Congressional rep how they feel about what Greg The Body Slam" Gianforte did and if that should be punished or if they feel its ok as long as you disagree with the person. Again make them answer! (FYI: Some version of I think he should/he has apologized, is not an answer.) Would it be ok if someone assaulted them or one of their staffers as long as they apologized after?
5. Not one Democrat, not a pundit, not a consultant and most definitely not an elected should ever ever refer to Greg Gianforte without bringing this incident up/. Ever. If he comes in and singlehandedly balances the budget, the first thing anyone should say about him is that he physically assaulted a reporter.
6. Now we see the consequences of running from Obamacare all of these years. We allowed the GOP to demonize it and instead of defending it, and running on its strength(which we see from the GOP townhalls) we let the GOP dictate our response. Stop doing that.
The GOP biggest and most successful campaign strategy, is to run against the Democrats strengths and turn them into weaknesses. This is made easier by the Democrats allowing this to happen over and over and over. If the GOP are campaigning against you on an issue. that means they know its a strength in your district so double down and call their bluff!
7. The Donald factor! Gianforte's opponent Rob Quist, hardly ever mentioned The Donald. That is a mistake. I don't care where in this country The Donald performed, overperformed or under performed make sure that the GOP person in that district is seen as being a brother/sister/twin/bestfriend/ to the Donald.
The Donald won because he ran anti establishment and pretty much everything he has said he would do, he has done the exact opposite. People notice that, especially if we keep pointing it out. I know that there was some racism, sexisim, bigotry involved and I agree with that/. However some people who voted for that, are starting to realize that maybe in practice it is not as cool as it first sounded!
He can not and will not win another election like 2016. We need to take advantage of that.
In a bizarro world of America now where reality "stars" run our Government, The Donald's good friend, and face of Fox News, Sean Hannity is losing it bigly!
Even before David Clarke claimed to have taken a job with Trump's Department of Homeland Security - which still has not been confirmed by Trump or the agency - I always thought that Clarke would be a good fit for Trump's team.
Like Trump and most of his appointees, Clarke has all of the same qualities. Clarke doesn't know his job - Clarke, the sheriff, tried to help a drunk driver instead of arresting him. Then like a true Trumpkin, Clarke tried to cover up his failure.
Clarke has many other qualities that make him a good fit. Clarke also hates minorities, including his fellow African Americans. He likes to go on wild Twitter rants, just like Trump.
And now Clarke has one more qualification to add to his resume - plagiarism:
Controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who this week announced he will be joining Donald Trump's administration as assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, plagiarized sections of his 2013 master's thesis on US security, a CNN KFile review has found.
Clarke, a visible surrogate for Trump during the campaign known for his incendiary rhetoric, earned a master's degree in security studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In his thesis, "Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible," Clarke failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times.
In all instances reviewed by CNN's KFile, Clarke lifts language from sources and credits them with a footnote, but does not indicate with quotation marks that he is taking the words verbatim.
According to guidelines on plagiarism posted on the Naval Postgraduate School's website, "If a passage is quoted verbatim, it must be set off with quotation marks (or, if it is a longer passage, presented as indented text), and followed by a properly formulated citation. The length of the phrase does not matter. If someone else's words are sufficiently significant to be worth quoting, then accurate quotation followed by a correct citation is essential, even if only a few words are involved."
The school's honor code defines plagiarism as "submitting material that in part or whole is not one's own work without proper attribution. Plagiarism is further defined as the use, without giving reasonable and appropriate credit to or acknowledging the author or source, of another person's original work, whether such work is made up of code, formulas, ideas, language, research, strategies, writing or other form(s)."
Clarke lifted stuff from George W. Bush, Brennan Center and, of all places, the ACLU.
I will admit that at first glance, it seemed kinda petty, but Clarke's overreaction makes me now think otherwise. Instead of responding to reporters, Clarke took to his - and Trump's - favorite line of defense...Twitter:
This @CNN hack @KFILE oppo research MO is to accuse plagiarism. I'm next. Did it to Rand Paul, Monica Crowley et al. https://t.co/KgoHKermpe
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) May 20, 2017
Ample evidence of my previous tweet on @CNN political hack @KFILE. Guy is a sleaze bag. I'm on to him folks. https://t.co/D1kV8kg80G
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) May 20, 2017
Like I said, Clarke would be a perfect fit for Team Trump. The only thing that might make Trump reverse his decision, if he did indeed make one, is that he is concerned that Clarke would out-crazy and out-grandstand Trump himself.
Live in Appleton? Free next Thursday? Like Pizza? Hungry? Know someone who is Hungry? Come one, come all to Pizza Ranch for free pizza for all!
You know the Wisconsin Family Council wants nothing more than to feed the homeless and hungry of Appleton! Show them the way.
Thursday May 25 from 6-8 pm, at Pizza Ranch.
Come hear Julaine Appling, President of Wisconsin Family Council, as she looks forward with optimism to the makeup of our newly elected state legislature and:
Discusses its agenda for the 2017-2018 session; Delves into some very important gambling issues—especially internet gambling—that could put a virtual casino in every home—and on every smart phone—in Wisconsin; Discusses our legislative agenda related to marriage, family, life and religious freedom; and, Supper is included! There is no charge for the event or the food—however, we will be taking a freewill offering at the end of the evening.
That’s “What Now?” an event about you and your involvement in your Wisconsin government and culture on Thursday, May 25, from 6-8 p.m. at Pizza Ranch, N139 Eisenhower Dr Appleton WI 54915.
Special guest: Lorri Pickens, Exec. Director Wisconsin Citizens Against Expanded Gambling Tell Them CogDis Sent you!
Now, thanks to Urban Milwaukee's Michael Horne, we find out that Ms. Hendricks not only supports racist, sexist, bigoted, treasonous candidates for political office, but that she is a scam artist herself.
According to a 2016 Forbes listing, Wisconsin’s Diane Hendricks is the nation’s wealthiest self-made woman, with a net worth of nearly $5 billion. Yet she paid no Wisconsin income tax in the years 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014, according to a report byCary Spivak and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
It appears the Republican supporter and Trump economic adviser also gets a break on the taxes on the 228-acre property consisting of 14 parcels where she lives in the unincorporated community of Afton in the Town of Rock, a mostly rural area between Beloit and Janesville in Rock County, Wisconsin.
Today, the 120-acre main parcel — identified by officials as the residence of Diane Hendricks has an assessed land valuation of only $75,600, or $630 per acre, while four adjacent lots of less than an acre apiece also owned by Hendricks are each assessed at $22,500. This disparity alone raises red flags.
As for improvements on the property, billionaires have been known to spend extravagantly on their properties, and this one is a dandy, with woods, ponds, plazas, pathways and party areas. However, the property assessment compiled by Accurate Appraisal, LLC., with whom the Town of Rock contracts, shows only a modest 1,663-square-foot frame residence on the property, constructed in 1993 and valued at $390,000.
Very nice, a multi billionaire likes to live modestly, in the area where her husband was able to make his billions...... But wait there is more!!!
When speaking to her friends or tooting her own horn, she is not living quite so modestly at all, as this from Forbes magazine in :
Diane Hendricks (is)… transforming a modest rustic home in Afton, Wis. into a 10,000-square-foot dream house–one she’d planned to share with Ken.
Now we have her own words, and our own eyes to see Ms. Hendricks is cheating the local taxpayers by severely undervaluing her property to avoid paying taxes.
That should spring the local community into action right? Not so fast! Michael Horne again did some digging:
In researching this property for a House Confidential, column, it became clear the descriptions of the home did not match the assessment records. So I checked the neighboring addresses on the Town of Rock website to see if the home might be located at one of them. A 120-acre property might just be the beginning of the Hendricks holdings, and maybe the home itself was on an out-lot. However, this search was unsuccessful, with no property remotely matching the description of the Hendricks home. On Tuesday, April 18th, I sent an e-mail to Deborah Bennett, the Clerk/Treasurer of the Town of Rock asking her for the parcel number for the Hendricks property. The town hall is located in Afton, about 1,000 feet due south of the Hendricks estate, so I relied on local knowledge to help me out. “I am having a difficult time sifting through the assessment files of the Town of Rock to find a property that matches the numerous written descriptions of the home of Diane Hendricks. Could you please direct me to the parcel file for the Hendricks home, which is said to be approximately 10,000 s.f.?” On a Saturday, April 22nd, Bennett replied: “The parcel number for Dian (sic) Hendricks home is 6-17-255.” This was the same number I had already reviewed, but I entered it into the website and re-checked it: the sub-parcels for that parcel number were all under one acre, including a .76 acre site valued at $100 and registered to the Hendricks Family Cemetery Association, which is presumed to be the burial site of Ken Hendricks. But still no 10,000 square foot home. I related my findings to Bennett and repeated my request, this time with a photograph of the home, just in case she was not familiar with the most famous property in her community. I also contacted Accurate Appraisal, LLC.
OK Deborah Bennett drops the ball, maybe because she is scared of the widow or worries that someone close to her will be punished. That's understandable in today's environment where the right wing in charge makes sure anyone who questions them pays.
So Mr. Horne contacted the appraisal company because a company wont throw their reputation out the door to accommodate one person would they?
Accurate does the assessments for over 100 Wisconsin communities, including the Milwaukee suburbs of Brown Deer, Cudahy, Glendale and Shorewood. I contacted the company via e-mail on April 27th, and copying it to the Town of Rock Clerk/Treasurer. I called the firm the next day, and was told that my request had been sent to “the appropriate party.” On May 1st, the appropriate party had still not replied to my request, and I e-mailed the firm again. I then received a return all-caps e-mail from the firm’s receptionist: Given how close the Hendricks property is to the town hall, it’s hard to imagine the assessor would not know about Hendricks’ huge home. And in any event, under Wisconsin law, municipal assessors are obliged to discover all real and personal property that is subject to tax. Physical inspection of properties, especially those with changes of ownership or construction permits, is the preferred method to keep properties assessed as close to 100 percent of market value in properties. That does not appear to have been done.
I guess the billionaire widow is so popular and so many local people are busy chasing her money that they are willing to ruin the reputation of their own company.
However, despite the fact that she is cheating the State and local taxpayers by pulling a scam on them to get out of paying her property taxes(even though I would bet that she has no problem calling the police and fire, etc..when needed), I still feel the need to cut her some slack.
It turns out during the election, The House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and The Speaker Paul Ryan had this conversation.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that McCarthy made the stunning remarks in a private conversation on Capitol Hill.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: [California Republican Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, according to the report.
While our very own Paul Ryan might not understand economics very well, he does understand politics and moved immediately to shut down the conversation:
The Post reports that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) stopped the conversation immediately and made the members present swear to secrecy.
“No leaks,” Ryan said. “This is how we know we’re a real family here.”
Know we are family? I thought he was a duly elected public official, who values transparency and openness for his constituents. I cant find "swearing to secrecy" anywhere in the Constitution.
Leak National security secrets and Meh! Leak something that would make the GOP look bad, that must be stopped and stopped immediately!
But wait there is even more!!!
Spending enough time with The Donald has shown Paul Ryan how to throw his staff under the bus. Ryan managed to turn his "counselor" into Baghdad Bob:
On Wednesday, Milwaukee County Sheriff and Uncle Ruckus wannabe David Clarke went on the radio with radio squawker Vicki Mickenna to say that he is resigning from office to take a job as assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. Hilariously, it is to be in the Office of Public Partnership and Engagement:
Clarke told WISN 1130/AM host Vicki McKenna that he would be an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, where he'll act as a liaison to local and state law enforcement, tribes, and the private sector. The position will be in the Office of Public Partnership and Engagement.
"I’m both honored and humbled to be apt to this position," Clarke said. "It’s going to be a steep learning curve for me, serving in the Department of Homeland Security, and I look forward to joining that team."
But is he really going?
DHS is refusing to say whether it's true or not:
Sr. positions are announced when made official by the Sec. No such announcement w/ regard to the Office of Public Engagement has been made.
Likewise, Scott Walker, who would find Clarke's replacement (may I suggest a rancid potato?), said that he hasn't received a resignation letter from Clarke yet. Likewise, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said that he hasn't been told anything yet either.
Could it be true? Maybe. Clarke's incompetence would be a perfect fit in Trump's administration and Clarke is desperate to get out of Milwaukee, before he gets held accountable for the four deaths at his jail.
Then again, it could be Clarke simply trying to stir things up to get attention and maybe to take attention off of Trump's ongoing series of implosions.
Stay tuned, same clown channel, same clown time....
"Can anything be done to force the largest corporations
in the state to pay something for the roads, ports, airports, fire and police
services, educated workforce, etc. that they are using in our state?” Linea
recently wrote to me. “This implies the smaller businesses are paying far more
than their fair share.”
About the time Linea’s question came to me, so did a new
memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) examining the drop in money
coming to the state from corporations.
I wondered, just how have business tax credits changed and
how might they change in the new budget?
Some of the items Linea mentioned are part of the
transportation budget. For this column, I will set aside a discussion of
road-related taxes.
Much of state government is paid through our state taxes:
including corporate and individual income tax, and sales tax.
The LFB recently addressed tax money coming into the state –
“revenue estimates” – for the coming budget. The nonpartisan bureau stated,
“Corporate collections for the entire year are estimated to decline by 6.5%,
compared to 2015-16, while the year-to-date decrease is 8.9%.”
Over the past year, monthly corporate tax collections, when
compared to the same month in the prior year, were down by as much as 22%.
What is causing this rapid decline in corporate tax
collections? The answer from analysists included the fact corporations were
cashing in tax credits faster than expected.
Tax credits can reduce taxes owed. Business tax credits have
grown both in the different types of credits and the total amount of state
taxes reduced.
Wisconsin has a lot of new business tax credits.
In 2006, the state had 17 different types of business tax
credits. Ten years later, the type of tax credits increased two and one-half
times. The cost to the state for these credits nearly tripled. These numbers
are from a report produced by the state Department of Revenue called Tax
Exemption Devices.
Just one tax credit set the manufacturing and agriculture
tax rate to less than half a percent, which cost $650 million in the next
budget. (For comparison, this dollar amount is about the cost of State
Superintendent Evers’ plan to fix the school funding formula.)
Some credits are more powerful than simply making income tax
owed disappear. Some business tax credits are refundable. Claiming a refundable
tax credit means you get money back from the state even if you owe nothing in
taxes.
One refundable tax credit, known as Enterprise Zone,
accumulated awards of over $470 million that can be claimed by companies over
several years. A few of the companies benefiting and their awards include:
Mercury Marine ($65 million), Kohler ($62.5 million), Quad Graphics ($61.7
million), Uline ($18.6 million), Amazon.com ($10.3 million) Dollar General and
Trane (both at $5.5 million).
The stated purpose of all this money given to corporations
is to spur economic growth. Of course, the expected robust economic growth has
not happened. Wisconsin lost 66,000 manufacturing jobs in 2007 and 2008. In 8
years, we only gained back 44,000 of those jobs. Wisconsin wages are 18th
lowest; and we are 23rd in real GDP growth, behind every Midwest neighbor
except Illinois. The new revenue in this budget is about the same increase as
the past few budgets.
Rather than repeal, or at least demand more accountability
for these expensive tax credits, many in the legislature talk about shifting
more of the tax burden away from corporations.
A bill introduced last month would eliminate the business
personal property taxes and shift the cost of this tax to the general fund,
which puts funding for schools, universities, and local governments at risk.
Further, rumors in the Capitol suggest this tax plan will be part of a
last-minute budget amendment that could cost the state a whopping $530 million.
That’s a little more than the price tag of the new money the Governor set aside
for K-12 education in “categorical” or “outside” the funding formula.
Lawmakers should take up Linea’s question about big
businesses paying their fair share. It’s simply not fair for small businesses
and the rest of us to shoulder the cost of shared services like police
protection, the UW and public schools when corporations also shared the
benefits.
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