Tom Barrett For Mayor

Tom Barrett stands up for women and children against a pipe-wielding lunatic.

Lena Taylor berates a bank teller over cashing a check.

Weekend Reading

Choice Schools Must Share Data
Tom Barrett Signs Milwaukee Lead Pipe Removal Ordinance
5 Ways of Redrawing The U.S. Electoral Map That Actually Makes Sense
All This Talk of Voter Fraud? Across The U.S., Officials Found Next To None
Did Voter ID Laws Hurt Election Turnout? Look At Milwaukee
Tom Brady's Personal Guru Is A Glorified Snake-Oil Salesman
The Electoral College Is Great For Whiter States, Lousy For Cities
The Irrationality Within Us
Keynesian Economics: Is It Time For The Theory To Rise From The Dead?
Under Trump, Red States Are Finally Going To Be Able To Turn Themselves Into Poor, Unhealthy Paradises
Obama's Economy
Trump Inherits Obama Boom
Seattle Offers Lesson For Milwaukee
Minimum Wage Foes Tripped Up By Facts
Memo To Corporate America: Pay More. Treat People Better.
The Really Rich Got Richer, According To IRS's Top 400
The U.S. Is A Low-Tax Nation

Local Yokels

Republicans have long pretended to be the protectors of local rule. No matter what the topic was, it was best left up to the most local body of government to decide their own rules. If a State had a certain view, the Feds should just butt out. If a locality had an idea, the State should just buzz off.

The more local the rule, the better is was, according to Republicans. Except when Republicans are being their usual full-of-shit, crony-laden selves. Yes, Republicans are all for local control, except when they're not.

After a long back-and-forth court process, the police and firefighters of Milwaukee workers and freedom have prevailed. Freedom won the day. Down with residency requirements. God bless America. This is a great day for all freedom-loving people. Because, now, public workers employed by the City of Milwaukee don't have to live there. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Yes, I know the police and firefighters have a tough job. (A lot of people have tough jobs.) But they also knew what they were getting when they accepted the job. Most of which is great pay, great benefits, and a great pension. Their average salaries: $65,649 for sworn police employees. $67,554 for sworn fire employees. Police can retire after 25 years of service, regardless of their age. Firefighters can retire at 49 with 22 years of service. Oh, the humanity! (Other city employees must wait until age 60, or 55 if they have 30 years of service.)

In 2013, 59% of the City of Milwaukee budget went to just the police and fire departments.

Nonetheless, it's probably not a big surprise that a conservative Wisconsin court ruled in favor of their conservative friends.

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Milwaukee can't require workers to live in city

In the 5-2 ruling, the court found a 2013 law prevented the city from enforcing a long-standing rule requiring workers to live within its boundaries. The city had argued it could continue to enforce the 75-year-old residency requirement because the state constitution grants local governments broad powers...

The dissenters wrote that the decision would make it easier for lawmakers to meddle with the policies of a targeted city by writing laws that, at least cosmetically, appeared to apply to all local governments. 

"Instead of freeing municipalities from interference by the Legislature when dealing with local affairs, the majority limits the power and restrains the ability of municipalities to self-govern," Ann Walsh Bradley wrote. 

The majority stated lawmakers could set policies affecting local governments if they were for matters of statewide concern or if they affected all cities and villages uniformly, at least on their face. 

On this point, Rebecca Bradley wrote separately to say she believed the Legislature could get involved in local matters only if they were both of statewide concern and affected all cities and villages uniformly. That put her in line with the liberals on that point. 

Republicans who control the Legislature included a provision in the 2013 state budget prohibiting local governments from maintaining residency rules other than those requiring police and firefighters to live within 15 miles of their borders. That conflicted with Milwaukee's policy, enacted in 1938, requiring employees to live within the city.

Yes, for some odd reason, even though the residency requirement is known by anyone applying for a job at the City of Milwaukee, somehow the freedom of the job applicant was being trampled. How this influences anyone other than the City of Milwaukee is beyond me. How does this infringe on anyone's right to apply for a job or live anywhere they would like to? Only if you want a job at the City of Milwaukee are you impacted.

I get that people should be able to choose where they live. Live wherever the fuck you want. But you don't get to choose where you work. The employer hires the employee, not the other way around. So after 75 years of having residency requirement in place, and every single person applying for that job knowing the prerequisites of employment, to now claim freedom or whatever other bumper-sticker bullshit slogan they've come up with, this is total partisan, cronyism, garbage.

My boss says I have to be at work by 9, but that's intruding on my freedom to come and go as I please. So is the 9-5 typical work day an affront to freedom? My boss also isn't paying me enough which is infringing on my freedom to buy more shit. This can't stand! In fact, I shouldn't even have to work. Freedom!!!

But, as is or should be well-known by now, bullshit and hypocrisy are Republicans' bread and butter. The Republicans have no principles left. They will do anything and say anything. They will flip and flop. The means justify the ends. If you can help elect Republicans and keep them in power, they'll do anything for you.

Since taking over the state Legislature, Republicans have moved to restrict local control

"I remember back in the day when Democrats had control of the Legislature, the clarion call for the Republican Party was 'Local control, local control,'" Dane County executive and former Democratic state Rep. Joe Parisi said. "It used to be virtually part of their platform. But as soon as they got into power, they began moving very quickly on a number of fronts to take local control away."

GOP lawmakers passed 128 measures limiting local control since 2011

Republican lawmakers have passed more than 125 measures since 2011 restricting the authority of local government, according to the state’s nonpartisan budget agency. 

Over the past three legislative sessions, since the GOP gained control of the Legislature, lawmakers have enacted 128 provisions that represent unfunded mandates or restrict the decision-making power of local governments, according to a May 16 memo released by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau at the request of Assistant Assembly Minority Leader Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point. 

Shankland said in a statement that of the 128 provisions, 80 were passed without Democratic lawmakers’ support. 

“From restricting county shoreland zoning ordinances passed by county boards, to banning municipal governments from passing container ordinances that make sense for the well-being of their community, legislative Republicans repeatedly used their majority in a blatant government overreach,” said Shankland.

On the GOP's own website they laud the power of local control regarding education:

Today’s education reform movement calls for accountability at every stage of schooling. It affirms higher expectations for all students and rejects the crippling bigotry of low expectations. It recognizes the wisdom of State and local control of our schools, and it wisely sees consumer rights in education – choice – as the most important driving force for renewing our schools.

Wis. Republicans hand over local control to corporate America

A memo issued earlier this year by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau detailed more than 100 ways in which the Republican Legislature and the governor have eliminated local control while also increasing the number of unfunded mandates — i.e., costs — passed on to local communities. The Republicans’ actions have made it impossible for many local elected officials to balance their budgets while providing services for their constituents. That’s one of the reasons your potholes don’t get filled.

At this point, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the blatantly partisan and hypocritical policies of Republicans. I'm just wondering, at some point, doesn't the public notice this barefaced cronyism? How much can we allow them to just shit all over the rule of law, common decency, accountability and democracy? This is yet another travesty of the Walker administration and another farce in the long line of Republican absurdities.

For Further Reading:
Unfunded mandates and items that would restrict local control 
State Supreme Court guts local control

Residency Requirements: Reading & Facts

Scott Walker Calls For Ending Residency Requirements

In Milwaukee, city officials are expected to vigorously contest the governor's effort to end the city's 75-year-old residency law. 

Barrett said the effort to end the residency law and the freeze on state aid come at the same time as the city continues to struggle with the ongoing foreclosure crisis. The city is now the largest residential property owner in Milwaukee because of tax foreclosures and has hundreds of homes it says it must raze because they've become magnets for crime.

"There are many homeowners in parts of the city who are currently underwater in their mortgages," Barrett said. "And what this will do is put more downward pressure on property values in the city of Milwaukee." 

The city will argue that the ability of Wisconsin cities, towns and villages to determine their own affairs via home rule is outlined in the state Constitution and in state law. 

They also will be expected to cite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 1976 in which the high court upheld Philadelphia's residency rule. In that case, the court said the law did not violate the due process clause, the equal protection clause or the right to travel interstate.
The issue, at least for the mayor and other top officials, is an issue of local control and say that should appeal to Republicans. 

Moreover, the city has argued that the residency law has never impeded the city's ability to retain employees. According to city records, the voluntary separation rate in the city was 1.2% or 83 resignations in 2010. That's out of a city payroll of 6,846 part- and full-time workers. 

The city also is a magnet for candidates for the police and fire departments. Even with a residency law in place, the city received 5,743 applications for firefighter jobs in the most recent recruiting period and 3,691 applications for police officer.

How To Crush Milwaukee

As for those cities who ended the requirement, the survey found, Minneapolis repealed the requirement in 1999 and 70 percent of its employees now live outside the city. Detroit did so in 1999 and 45 percent now live outside the city. Baltimore repealed in 1995 and 65 percent now live outside the city. Huge numbers of government employees also left St. Louis and Washington D.C. after residency rules were relaxed. 

Based on these figures and the fact that in Milwaukee, 50 percent of its retired employees now now live outside the city, Milwaukee officials estimate that it would lose about half of its employees — some 8,700 middle class residents — to the suburbs. Compared to other residents, city employees are more likely to own their homes, homes that on average are worth 20 percent more in assessed value than those of other residents. 

The city, in short, would lose a big chunk of its middle class. Housing values and the property tax base could tumble as a result, and spending in the city could decline, hurting businesses and the city’s overall economy. The exodus could transform neighborhoods like Jackson Park, where many police live, or the areas near the airport or far Northwest Side, where many city employees live. 

Supporters of ending the residency requirement have argued this will enable the city to hire better employees. But city statistics show there are 42 applications for the average job. In its most recent recruitments, the city received 5,711 applications for the position of fire fighter and 3,569 for the position of police officer.

Walker in particular has argued that ending the residency requirement will help Milwaukee Public Schools to hire better teachers. But a 2006 study by the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute found residency did not have a major impact: just five percent of the 4,699 teachers who had left MPS since 1992 did so because of the requirements. Even so, the Milwaukee School Board has passed a recent measure to address the issue, giving teachers hired for hard-to-fill positions up to two years to move into the city. 

The ability of Wisconsin municipalities to tinker with such rules and determine their local affairs is spelled out in the state constitution. Milwaukee’s employees have been subject to a residency requirement since 1938. Is Walker suggesting Milwaukee hasn’t been a great city for the last 75 years? And why would Republicans who support local control change their stance in this instance? 

Sykes and others have argue this is a matter of personal freedom. But these employees are free to seek other jobs at any time. And their unions have long had the option of taking less wage and benefits increases in return for ending residency, and declined. Twice in recent years the police and fire unions made a wage concession to end residency and the arbitrator (whom Republicans have often complained tend to favor unions) ruled that the offer was inadequate. 

Police and fire workers often grumble about property taxes in Milwaukee, which are higher than many surrounding suburbs. But the major reason for that is the wages and benefits they are paid, which accounts for 60 percent of the entire city operating budget.

Since unions are no longer recognized and collective bargaining a thing of the past, thanks to Walker's Act 10, and since other long-standing rules, it appears, are free to be thrown out the window, what's to keep the City from completely reworking police and firefighter pay? As the number of applicants for those positions illustrates, there are plenty of people willing to live in the City to obtain police and fire fighter jobs.

So, turnabout being fair play and all that, what better way to save money in the City budget than by cutting the largest cost, police and fire fighters pay packages. If a police officer, a fire fighter or any other public worker doesn't like the residency requirement, he or she is free to live in another location of his/her liking and to apply for a job somewhere else.

 [source]

Scott Walker Defends His Plan To End Residency Rules

In his first expansive comments on his plan, Walker rejected Barrett's charge that the governor was rewarding the Milwaukee Police Association and the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association Local 215 in return for their political support, saying he had favored ending residency rules when he served in the Assembly. However, as a candidate for county executive in 2002, Walker said he supported the county's residency requirement, though he said Sunday he did so because he felt the County Board wasn't going to change it. 

But Barrett said in a statement Sunday that the city was not facing the same issue MPS faces. "The city has thousands of individuals who apply to be city firefighters or police officers," Barrett said. "These applicants are screened, undergo written, physical and psychological testing. They are offered employment based on merit. If the governor believes that only city residents are eligible to apply for city employment, he is wrong. Individuals who apply for employment with the city are informed that, if offered employment, they will have to reside in the city. No one is hired based on where they live at the time a job offer is made." 

Barrett said no one's personal freedom was being violated. "People are free to apply for a job and are free to accept the job at the time an offer of employment is made," Barrett said. "If this is an oppression of freedom, then why do we get thousands of applications? The governor's rationale doesn't hold up and doesn't make sense."

Remember during Walker's campaigning, he pushed the idea of overpaid public employees. Public workers were a major cause of Wisconsin's (supposed) budget crisis. So, it seems odd when he now says, "Nobody who's a public servant has enough money to just walk away from their home. They're going to sell it. If they do choose to sell . . . they're going to want to cover the amount that they've invested, that they put into that home. So the argument that property values are just suddenly going to shift I don't think matches up with reality."

Got that? Now, to support his political payback to the police and fire unions, suddenly Walker believes public workers are too poor and underpaid to afford taking any type of loss in selling their homes.

For Further Reading:
Attack On Residency Continues Governor's "Divide & Conquer" Strategy

South Side Leaders Blast Residency Proposal

Battle Lines Drawn Over Scott Walker's Move To End Residency Requirements

Ald. Murphy Rips Walker's Residency Plan

Walker Says He Faked Being In Favor Of Residency

Thanks Wisconsin Non-Voters

You suck!

...

57.7 percent of eligible Wisconsin voters voted in the recall election. (Sadly, the highest ever for a Wisconsin gubernatorial election.)

Yes, these issues are so important, and so meaningful is our democracy, we allow 42.3 percent of eligible voters to not participate.

U.S.A.!

Vote Tom Barrett & Mahlon Mitchell!

Go to your polling place. Time is running out!

Vote!

Polls close at 8pm. But, if you're in line at 8pm, you can not be turned away. You must be allowed to vote. Even if they've run out of ballots, they have to get more to ensure those in line, waiting to vote by 8pm, are allowed to vote.

If you're not registered, you only need a bill (utility, phone, etc.) with your name and current address to do so.
Vote Tom Barrett and Mahlon Mitchell!

Vote For Tom Barrett, Today!

Ed Schultz Live From Wisconsin: Scott Walker Recall Will Determine 'If The People Still Matter'

Walker's Terrible Job Record

A "great" "debate" is taking place on jsonline over Walker's Jobs Record An Unmitigated Disaster. (Actually, it's the typical uninformed conservatives griping about that which they seem to know little.)

One commenter, Cubcake, has been continually trying to fault the arithmetic in the article. When a professor does an analysis, he/she is just being a devious liberal lying with statistics. But when Scott Walker pulls  preliminary "data" from his rectum, which can't be compared to other states' numbers, this is sound statistical analysis.

Ceomrman2 has the definitive takedown(s), "You can view the total seasonally adjusted non-farm payroll here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t05.htm . There were about 2,732,000 jobs in Wisconsin in April of 2012. That is 21,400 fewer than in April, 2011. The numbers you're thinking of (i.e. the ones you linked to in previous posts) are not correct for this discussion. You can't blame a politician for the seasons or the rainfall levels, so numbers must be seasonally adjusted and must exclude farm labor. Yes, of course there are more jobs in summer when high school and college kids are out of school and farms need workers. Try taking a deep breath and thinking to yourself "maybe the guy who has spent decades researching employment trends in the industrial heartland of the United States actually knows what basic economic indicators mean?" Cubcake - the numbers you are referencing are not the correct numbers for this discussion. I can see why you might think they are - the profession's jargon can be unintuitive - but the relevant time series for this discussion is the seasonally adjusted non-farm payroll count. You can view that data here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t05.htm. You can feel free to disagree with Prof. Levine, but he does understand his basic economics measurements."

The cognitive dissonance of Republicans is breathtaking. No matter the reality (comparative stats, criminal investigations, lying to Congress, stalling investigations, crony capitalism, or dividing and conquering for big-money donors), whatever Walker says or does is correct in the eyes of his followers. This mindset is now de facto for conservatives. Nothing oppositional can penetrate their worldview. Close-mindedness and a penchant for sloppy analysis are not the prerequisites we should want for those supposedly involved in shaping public policy.

WOW! This recall election is big! Vote Tom Barret, Mahlon Mitchell June 5th!

Say No To Divide & Conquer: Vote Tom Barrett

Behind The Recall: The Rise & Fall Of Scott Walker

Also:

The Only Responsible Choice: Tom Barrett

Scott Walker's primary tactic for the recall election is to smear Tom Barrett on unemployment and taxes in Milwaukee. The unemployment rate has increased and taxes have gone up under Barrett. Let's ignore the fact that unemployment is up everywhere. That's why it's called a recession. Let's also disregard the fact that unemployment increased 34 percent for Milwaukee County during Scott Walker's reign.

And, we might as well lose all context and not mention that Milwaukee is also home to the majority of poor and minority citizens in the state. That might have something to do with the unemployment and taxes in Milwaukee, but let's not talk about that.

Let's also not forget Scott Walker took over $60 million dollars (considering the City and MPS) away from Milwaukee in his recent, contentious budget. Should Barrett simply fire teachers, police and firefighters to cover the loss? Or should he end all spending for the poor, the elderly and children? Which services should he stop? Scott Walker refused nearly a billion dollars in aid. How much would that have alleviated unemployment and taxes across the state?

When private companies wreck the economy, why aren't Republicans calling for them to be more efficient and trim more workers? Shouldn't the participants in the sectors responsible for the economic collapse be the ones sacrificing? Conservatives love talking on and on about overpaid public workers and union executives. Where is the outcry regarding CEO compensation? When will Republicans reprimand private executives unsubstantiated and overblown pay? It was alright for the government to step in and fire the General Motor's CEO (in the highly unionized auto industry) but no such actions have taken place on Wall Street, where the majority of criminals responsible for our latest economic debacle still remain.

The public sector not only pays for public services, but we also subsidize and provide tax breaks to the private sector. And, the government is actually supposed to regulate the private sector with regard to the public interest. So where is the demand for sacrifice and accountability from these Robber Barons? We refer to them as "private," but their decisions have public ramifications (and they receive public money), thus, the government needs to regulate their actions...and punish or fine them when necessary. I'd go as far as to say we should just usurp all their ill-gotten gains for the public good. But Republicans prefer firing nurses and teachers.

Republicans are great at making speeches about public workers needing to sacrifice, work for less, pay more for health care, etc., but where are the same calls for responsibility when private sector actors' actions destroy a bank, close a company, or tank an economy?

In a recession, Republicans want to cut public services while giving public dollars to private firms. Yet, they make no qualifications for such largess. Just fork over the money, these private entrepreneurs know what to do with it. Oh, and remember, we're also broke. Austerity only applies to the 99%.

Scott Walker's history has shown that his answer to a tight budget is to have someone else take over a program, to end a program, or to privatize it. As County Executive, his budgets attempted to slash county services, especially for the most vulnerable. The County Board would overrule Walker's Draconian cuts and then Walker would claim leadership, fiscal responsibility and vision. I don't hear Walker touting his record of running up the debt of Milwaukee County. Has he mentioned unemployment went up under his watch at the County? Does he mention the costs of the lawsuits due to his "leadership"?

I'd prefer cities and states stop giving tax cuts, tax breaks and subsidies to the already well-to-do. Sadly, in today's "government is here to serve business" mindset, these types of giveaways (Harley Davidson, Mercury Marine, Miller Park, the Bradley Center, etc.) are increasing. Business is our savior. They've got it all figured out. Strangely, though, they can't seem to get anything done without the government assuming most of the risk and coughing up the initial funding for projects. Sorry, but you're not a great business guru or economic genius because you've bought enough politicians to write legislation to subsidize and insure your private venture's success.

Wisconsin's own Department of Commerce has been transformed, under Walker, into the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Rather than managing the interests of the state alongside those of business, this entity is now all about promotion, marketing, and funneling money to private business interests. Again, we're supposed to believe business knows how to get things done, thus it is justifiable to use public dollars to help them out. Therefore, we need a public agency performing businesses' PR and fundraising?

The point of all this is to illustrate the bizarro world in which the Republicans operate. In their view, government is inefficient, too big, and burdensome. The "free" market and private enterprise are a well-oiled machine. Government should not pay employees living wages. Government work isn't even real work. Government services are silly and trivial. The sanctity of the "free" market is what makes peoples' lives worth living. Roads, water, clean air, schools, police and fire protection - these are just a few examples of those worthless public works. BUT (and here is where the Republican craziness really gets interesting) we should all be in favor of public dollars funding private speculation...because it might lead to job creation.

Public governance has been transformed from performing services we all enjoy and appreciate into a casino. And, the Republicans own the casino. Now the government exists to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private business escapades. Before our taxes maintained/fixed roads, provided clean parks, and ensured good schools. Tangible things we could all experience and benefit from. Today, those are secondary. Government dollars are now "invested" in the private sector with the hope of job creation.

Regarding Scott Walker's own job creation accomplishments as Wisconsin governor, the record is somewhere between losing roughly 20,000 jobs or gaining 30,000 job. Thus, if we assume the best possible outcome based on this 1-year performance, Walker is on pace to create approximately 120,000 jobs over his first 4-year term. Which will be 130,000 below his campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs in his first term.

If someone simply promising the sky and then failing miserably is your idea of governance, Scott Walker is your guy. If reasoned, deliberate, methodical decision-making, with everyone's best interests in mind, sounds more like quality governance, Tom Barrett is the only choice.

Vote Tom Barrett, Mahlon Mitchell June 5th!

Moving Backwards With Scott Walker

Before Scott Walker and Republicans attack Tom Barrett and Democrats over their supposed economic failures, Walker and his ilk should look at their own abysmal record. 

Let's face it, the whole economy has been bad for workers for the past 5 years (actually since the 1980s). We're in a recession. And, the austerity measures and budet slashing are making things worse. Unemployment is high all over. Blaming this all on Tom Barrett makes as much sense as blaming it all on Scott Walker. (Although, Republican austerity policies are definitely prolonging the recession and adding unneeded suffering to the equation.)

But I get it, it's politics. So, with that in mind, here are various graphs of indicators of Wisconsin's economic performance and how Scott Walker is failing Wisconsin:

"The leading index for each state predicts the six-month growth rate of the state's coincident index. In addition to the coincident index, the models include other variables that lead the economy: state-level housing permits (1 to 4 units), state initial unemployment insurance claims, delivery times from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing survey, and the interest rate spread between the 10-year Treasury bond and the 3-month Treasury bill."

"The Coincident Economic Activity Index includes four indicators: nonfarm payroll employment, the unemployment rate, average hours worked in manufacturing and wages and salaries. The trend for each state's index is set to match the trend for gross state product."

"Estimated using sales prices and appraisal data."

"A statistic researched, recorded and reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics intended to represent the total number of paid U.S. workers of any business, excluding the following employees: general government employees, private household employees, employees of nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to individuals, and farm employees."

"A term used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to describe the subset of Americans who have jobs or are seeking a job, are at least 16 years old, are not serving in the military and are not institutionalized. In other words, all Americans who are eligible to work in the everyday U.S. economy." 

The Cats Out Of The Bag

If voters in Wisconsin could do it again, knowing what they know now, Tom Barrett would be our governor.

A majority of Americans oppose what Scott Walker is trying to do.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. The Republicans have shown their hand. Now that the people can see the Republicans' true intentions, they're waking up. Lets hope the future holds a bounty of recalls, and a return to sane, fair governance.

Hoisted By Your Own Petard

Scott Walker loves to repeat his "I've held property taxes low" talking-point as some sort of validation and/or credibility for his (allegedly) superior vision and management skills. The County portion of property taxes were down 0.6 percent last year. The City's portion was down 2.5 percent, while the State was down 7.4 percent.

So, using Scott Walker's own logic, Governor Doyle and Mayor Barrett have an even better vision and even better management skills.

Film Flam

Here we go again...

I guess Tom Barrett feels he can't allow Scott Walker to have all the stupid to himself. As the Journal Sentinel notes, "Both gubernatorial candidates support film tax credits."

Yes, a big economic development - jobs - strategy for both candidates is luring the film industry.

These two think "creating jobs in new media and film [is] a priority" and are "central to our prospects for a brighter economic future."

I've previously posted, "The Wisconsin Department of Commerce issued a report showing that film tax credits as an economic development strategy are not cost-effective." The Journal Sentinel found the state reimbursed Public Enemies every dollar spent here.

Economists have shown deficit spending during economic downturns works, food stamps are stimulative, as are infrastructure investments and aid to state and local governments. Social scientists have also shown that film credits as some sort of economic development policy do not work. Yet, for some reason, we condemn the former as wasteful and unnecessary, while bellowing about the need to increase the latter.

Film credits as an economic development strategy shouldn't even be part of the discussion deciding our next governor.

For Further Reading:
Economic Incentives
Economics Incentives Package Heavy On Film Subsidies
Film Credits Won't Transform Illinois Economy
Film Tax Credits Are Bad Economics
Food Stamps And Unemployment Insurance
More States Yell "Cut" On Film Tax Credits
On The Chopping Block
Voodoo Economics Of The Silver Screen

Fratboy Follies

Regarding the County's undeveloped Park East land, Pat McIlheran blames Mayor Barrett and union wages for lack of construction on the property. He, as always, cites the Tax Foundation to regurgitate the "business climate" argument. And, for fun, he also opines that Wisconsin's regulatory and legal framework are onerous. The true aim of this McIlheran piece seems to be to just repeat the usual right-wing talking points and to slam Tom Barrett.

He belittles Barrett's economic plan, while championing Walker's as somehow being bold and refreshing. Others have already eviscerated Walker's 68 - yet is really only 3 - page plan and revealed that it is the same old calls for lower taxes and doing stuff - the stuff is never specified. You see, the only aim conservatives have is to cut their own taxes. They don't really want to govern, sustain the middle-class, secure retirement, nor enable all access to health care.

There is really nothing of substance to McIlheran's rant. All that can be discerned is that Scott Walker our savior while Barrett and well-paying jobs connected to thoughtful development are garbage. Nowhere does he cite any business that Walker has attracted or retained, nor does he mention any significant development initiated under Walker's leadership.

Someone, please, tell me something positive Scott Walker has ever done. He is a political opportunist, flip-flopping his way from one elected position to the next. He has never been on the side of working people and policies that amount to anything for them. He talks the typical right-wing talk, but when leadership is needed, he kicks the can down the road or blames someone else. The difference between Barrett and Walker is the difference between a thoughtful adult and a fratboy.

For Further Reading:
Are Wisconsin Taxes Too High?
Business Climate
State Business Tax Burden Rankings
Tax Foundation Proposals Are Lose/Lose For Wisconsin
What Do Business Climate Rankings Really Tell Us?
Wisconsin Business Climate Statistics

Midweek Reading

Are Low Taxes Exacerbating The Recession?
Developers Getting Tax Breaks On "Agricultural" Land
Gas Taxes Give Us Break At The Pump
Scott Walker Rushes Release Of Plan To Keep Pace With Tom Barrett
Tax Fraud
Three Biggest Lies About The Economy