Spent 30 minutes or so this afternoon listening to James Wood (he ran for Governor of Wisconsin and was defeated) talk with a paid lobbyist for the Wisconsin Counties Ass'n and and a host from some consulting group in Milwaukee.
They talked about "The Wisconsin Way."
In 30 solid minutes, I NEVER heard the phrase "cut spending." What I DID hear was "increase investment" and "re-align taxation."
(That means increasing the state income tax--both the top rate AND the graduation of the curve. Now you know why the Realtors are in this. Less proptax means larger home values means larger commissions. Duhhh.)
You know what that means, dear reader...
Yup....
The Roadbuilders, County Boards, Teachers, and Realtors are "helping" you to Spend More Money!!
And a tax-paid lobbyist is one of the leaders of the charge--along with a Democrat PR type from Madistan who ran for Governor and was,....ah...defeated.
One of the humorous parts occurred when the term "tax Hell" was brought up. Naturally, Sykes, Belling, and Weber were the Bad Guys--because they have the nerve to use the term. There was no interest in defining "tax Hell," of course--because that might mean mentioning that Wisconsin is somewhere between 4th and 6th in the country in state/local/sales tax/capita.
Nope. We're just going to say that those who USE the term are the bad guys.
And we're going to persuade you to Spend More Money because, of course, that's the solution to everything. More highways to noplace (see e.g., Hy 151 west of Madison.) More school-money. More "help" for senior citizens (who are leaving as fast as they can.)
They're coming to a place near you soon. Guard the women and children...
Here in Nevada, our Republican governor is ordering a 5-8% cut in spending because of a budget shortfall. His approval is rising. Our taxes are soooo much lower than in WI. It is the main reason why I moved from WI. last year.
ReplyDeleteJust bend over and take it WI. The Dem's rule and your Republicans are weak and people and businesses are leaving or choosing not to live in WI. anymore or will not move there.
There is no help in the future, so get used to it.
Two things Dan. A) Wisconsin's population is growing. B) Taxes were climbing at a higher pace during the Thompson years.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I are actually paying less than we used in state taxes, even though are salaries have been fairly stagnant.
The bad part is that due to Bush's tax "cuts" we are paying twice as much what we gained from the state to the feds.
Umnnnhhh...Capper...Nevada's population is growing a LOT faster than Wisconsin's.
ReplyDeleteBut in Nevada, they don't have a "Spend It All, and Then Some" mentality.
You'll find plenty of my distaste for Thompson on my blog. Tommy grew State Gummint by 50% during his reign, and spent lots of money on his two most faithful contributors: the RoadBuilders and the Building Contractors.