County is falling behind on park maintenance, audit says

Park maintenance also has slacked off. The report found that spending on park operations peaked at $72.4 million in 1976 and hit a low of about $21 million in 2004. Those figures were also adjusted for inflation. The decline was blamed on competing demands for scarce resources, with parks losing out to mandated public safety and social services.

I was waiting for that line. Once again, the fewer and fewer who pay the taxes get less and less from them and the larger and larger number of people who get things given to them take more and more

I wonder why hard working responsible people keep leaving the cities?
Oh, maybe because when they pay taxes they want them to go for things of their benefit.
And the moron liberal who wants to say "helping the needy is a benefit to everyone" does not have the ability to understand that liberal social programs do not help anyone.

Walker to propose privatizing Milwaukee County Zoo

I think I might have to side against Walker on this one...
And just so you liberals know Walker is quite conservative.

You always have to take things on a case by case basis, and in this case I am not sure private business can do better than how it is being done now.
I'm not positive, but maybe.

There are some things that just can not run on ticket sales alone. I realize things like the theatre and the arts in general need private (and public) funds to operate, but the quality of their work IS their job.

In the case of something like the zoo or the bus system the private companies would just say, "we are not going to lose money, so the quality of our product is going to have to go down"

They will say they need to raise prices or lower quality. We have probably the third nicest zoo in the United States, and I guess I am just tired of all the reason Milwaukee might still be a good place to live being taken away.

My tax money goes for a lot of things I don't use, here is one my family uses just about every week.
That is a big problem with govt today, they take more and more from less and less people, then give most of that money to people who didn't pay anything in the first place.

TERRIFYING 57% TAX LOOMS FOR BIGGEST EARNERS

This is what you vote for when you vote for a Democrat...
And we had people like Jim and Jay say they would not raise taxes...
it would be funny if it wasn't so sad

The Cap and Tax Fiction

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. It looks as if the Democrats will have to destroy the discipline of economics to get it done.

Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers. The leadership's solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

Their gambit got a boost this week, when the Congressional Budget Office did an analysis of what has come to be known as the Waxman-Markey bill. According to the CBO, the climate legislation would cost the average household only $175 a year by 2020. Edward Markey, Mr. Waxman's co-author, instantly set to crowing that the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average household. Amazing. A closer look at the CBO analysis finds that it contains so many caveats as to render it useless.

For starters, the CBO estimate is a one-year snapshot of taxes that will extend to infinity. Under a cap-and-trade system, government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally; companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions.

To get support for his bill, Mr. Waxman was forced to water down the cap in early years to please rural Democrats, and then severely ratchet it up in later years to please liberal Democrats. The CBO's analysis looks solely at the year 2020, before most of the tough restrictions kick in. As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to "offset" their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket beyond the CBO estimate of $28 per ton of carbon. The corporate costs of buying these expensive permits will be passed to consumers.

The biggest doozy in the CBO analysis was its extraordinary decision to look only at the day-to-day costs of operating a trading program, rather than the wider consequences energy restriction would have on the economy. The CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: "The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap."

The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

When the Heritage Foundation did its analysis of Waxman-Markey, it broadly compared the economy with and without the carbon tax. Under this more comprehensive scenario, it found Waxman-Markey would cost the economy $161 billion in 2020, which is $1,870 for a family of four. As the bill's restrictions kick in, that number rises to $6,800 for a family of four by 2035.

Note also that the CBO analysis is an average for the country as a whole. It doesn't take into account the fact that certain regions and populations will be more severely hit than others -- manufacturing states more than service states; coal producing states more than states that rely on hydro or natural gas. Low-income Americans, who devote more of their disposable income to energy, have more to lose than high-income families.

Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.

The reality is that cost estimates for climate legislation are as unreliable as the models predicting climate change. What comes out of the computer is a function of what politicians type in. A better indicator might be what other countries are already experiencing. Britain's Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years.

Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can't repeal that reality.

What ya gonna do, when Democrats run wild with your money

In an era of huge deficits and massive tax and fee increases...Dems still can't stop being Dems...but keep voting for them:

Here’s the full list of earmarks Assembly Democrats voted to plug into the state budget late Wednesday, with their sponsors:
* $700,000 for a biotech incubator, by Rep. John Steinbrink (D-Pleasant Prairie).
* $500,000 for 4-year-old kindergarten in Madison, by Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison).
* $500,000 for road improvements in Sheboygan County, by Rep. Terry Van Akkeren (D-Sheboygan).
* Up to $400,000 for improvements on Highway B in Douglas County, by Rep. Nick Milroy (D-Superior).
* $300,000 for environmental cleanup efforts in Adams County, by Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids).
* $175,000 for improvements to Old Highway 18 in Stockton, by Rep. Louis Molepske Jr. (D-Stevens Point).
* $108,000 for the Plum Creek Fire Department, by Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau).
* $60,000 for Pepin schools, by Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau).
* $60,000 for Plum City schools, by Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau).
* $60,000 for Cochrane-Fountain City schools, by Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau).
* $50,000 for Barron County restorative justice program, by Rep. Mary Hubler (D-Rice Lake).
In other action, Assembly Democrats dropped a plan by the Joint Finance Committee to spend $28 million on a University of Wisconsin-Madison building for nursing. Rep. Spencer Black (D-Madison) sponsored removing that plan from the budget.
Also, Democrats approved studies recommended by Rep. Andy Jorgensen (D-Fort Atkinson) on creating a high-speed rail stop in Waterloo and finding ways to improve Lake Koshkonong.
Assembly Democrats also agreed to keep open the State Patrol headquarters in Spooner, as requested by Hubler. The trooper station in Tomah would also remain open but be merged with a Department of Natural Resources ranger station, as proposed by Rep. Mark Radcliffe (D-Black River Falls).
They also approved a plan by Molepske to allow UW-Stevens Point to create an undergraduate nursing program.
Assembly Democrats are expected to formally include all those measures when they meet Thursday to take up the budget. The debate and vote likely could stretch into Friday.

More liberal stereotypes come true

Again, we all know that liberals have to pretend to be conservatives to get elected in most areas.
In Wisconsin our Governor flat out lied when he said he would cut spending and not raise taxes. Anyone smart already knew that and it is coming to light now.

In the next budget there is massive tax increases. Some are hidden as fee increases, but since I just paid almost double to renew my car registration and things like garbage fees will be doubling, I would call that a tax increase. When more of my money goes out of my pocket to the govt, what else would you call it?

And what are we spending that money on?
In-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Hey, we can only tell you so many times what will happen when liberals are in charge...

Lawmakers propose beer tax increase

There are the Dems trying to raise taxes on beer...
Is there anyone dumb enough to think that raising the price of beer 2 cents will stop drunk driving...wow.

OBAMA'S RECIPE FOR CHANGE NOT MY CUP OF TEA

highlights from the master:

I had no idea how important this week's nationwide anti-tax tea parties were until hearing liberals denounce them with such ferocity. The New York Times' Paul Krugman wrote a column attacking the tea parties, apologizing for making fun of "crazy people." It's OK, Paul, you're allowed to do that for the same reason Jews can make fun of Jews. On MSNBC, hosts Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow have been tittering over the similarity of the name "tea parties" to an obscure homosexual sexual practice known as "tea bagging." Night after night, they sneer at Republicans for being so stupid as to call their rallies "tea bagging." Every host on Air America and every unbathed, basement-dwelling loser on the left wing blogosphere has spent the last week making jokes about tea bagging, a practice they show a surprising degree of familiarity with.
The point of the tea parties is to note the fact that the Democrats' modus operandi is to lead voters to believe they are no more likely to raise taxes than Republicans, get elected and immediately raise taxes.
Apparently, the people who actually pay taxes consider this a bad idea.
Obama's biggest shortcoming is that he believes the things believed by all Democrats, which have had devastating consequences every time they are put into effect. Among these is the Democrats' admiration for raising taxes on the productive.
All Democrats for the last 30 years have tried to stimulate the economy by giving "tax cuts" to people who don't pay taxes. Evidently, offering to expand welfare payments isn't a big vote-getter.
Obama's stimulus bill is the mother of all pork bills for friends of O and of Congressional Democrats.
And all that government spending on the Democrats' constituents will be paid for by raising taxes on the productive. Raise taxes and the productive will work less, adopt tax shelters, barter instead of sell, turn to an underground economy -- and the government will get less money.
The perfect bar bet with a liberal would be to wager that massive government deficits in the '80s were not caused by Reagan's tax cuts. If you casually mentioned that you thought Reagan's tax cuts brought in more revenue to the government -- which they did -- you could get odds in Hollywood and Manhattan.
The lie at the heart of liberals' mantra on taxes -- "tax increases only for the rich" -- is the ineluctable fact that unless taxes are raised across the board, the government won't get its money to fund layers and layers of useless government bureaucrats, none of whom can possibly be laid off. How much would you have to raise taxes before any of Obama's constituents noticed? They don't pay taxes, they engage in "tax-reduction" strategies, they work for the government, or they're too rich to care.
California tried the Obama soak-the-productive "stimulus" plan years ago and was hailed as the perfect exemplar of Democratic governance. In June 2002, the liberal American Prospect magazine called California a "laboratory" for Democratic policies, noting that "California is the only one of the nation's 10 largest states that is uniformly under Democratic control." They said this, mind you, as if it were a good thing. In California, the article proclaimed, "the next new deal is in tryouts." As they say in show biz: "Thanks, we'll call you. Next!" In just a few years, Democrats had turned California into a state -- or as it's now known, a "job-free zone" -- with a $41 billion deficit, a credit rating that was slashed to junk-bond status and a middle class now located in Arizona. Democrats governed California the way Democrats always govern. They bought the votes of government workers with taxpayer-funded jobs, salaries and benefits -- and then turned around and accused the productive class of "greed" for wanting not to have their taxes raised through the roof. Having run out of things to tax, now the California legislature is considering a tax on taxes. Seriously. The only way out now for California is a tax on Botox and steroids. Sure, the governor will protest, but it is the best solution ... California was, in fact, a laboratory of Democratic policies. The rabbit died, so now Obama is trying it on a national level.

Raise in taxes costs jobs

So a change in WI tax law has cost Harley-Davidson 22 million dollars. Harley said it will have to cut over 200 jobs.
You would have to think that losing 22 million dollars might costs a few jobs.
So answer me this:
Why do union workers mostly vote for Democrats, when it is Democrats that pass laws that cost them their jobs?

Oh, and we have learned that a Republican Gov has taken away over 300 jobs from Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle because it is clear the Republican Gov cares more about his constituents having jobs.

Sebelius admits errors, pays $7,000 in back taxes

The stories out of the Obama "administration" are so ridiculous its almost impossible to know where to begin.
Maybe that's why Democrats are okay with raising taxes, they don't pay them.
What else are you supposed to say?
Just like what is a teacher supposed to do when 10 kids in class refuse to sit down. You know what is supposed to happen, you know what the right behavior is...
But what do you really do when so many people don't care about doing the right thing?

Punishing the Rich: Obama style

So we are going to raise the taxes of the successful and now take away their itemized deductions.
Once again, liberals think they are doing one thing but are actually doing another.
It is what happens when you base all decisions on emotion and not fact.

When you do not allow the "rich" to itemize deductions, that means they can not write off charitable contributions. Therefore, non-profits are going to suffer greatly.
So, the rich are spending less, firing workers because they have less money, and now the very organizations that are trying to help the people liberals pretend to care about will be gone.

So, is Obama doing this because he WANTS the only people able to help the ever growing helpless in society to be the govt?
Actually, I don't think so.

I think he is just a liberal simpleton and he really thinks he is sticking it to the rich, those evil bad people. He doesn't realize they prop up the arts, non-profit organizations that help the poor, create jobs with their spending habits.
Nope, Obama just thinks the rich have too much money and he is going to redistribute it to the poor...its that simple for a socialist like himself.

We are in for a world of hurt.

What GOP Leaders deem wasteful in Senate stimulus bill

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations

Do any Democrats pay their taxes?

I keep hearing that everyone has to pay their "fair share."
Well, to top Democrats I guess that share is zero.
Just imagine the huge deal this would be if Republicans were caught cheating on their taxes.
Its already well documented that conservatives give more of their personal wealth to charity while liberals feel they should have higher taxes so govt can take care of everyone.
Well guys, if you don't pay any taxes, how is that going to work?

Milwaukee County list for stimulus money includes buses, parks

I don't mind this plan.
If Obama is going to turn on the printing presses and spend us into oblivion, why not get some THINGS for it.
What do I mean?
If the money is used to upgrade infrastructure, to improve existing project, update buildings or equipment, fix things...I have no problem with that.

It is when people like Doyle want to take all that money and build something completely new (light rail) that will require the tax payers to fun forever, that actually hurts us in the long run.

If we can get the money and use it this way, go ahead...

BAILOUT MONITOR DECRIES LACK OF COHERENT PLAN...

Even though it is the Dems who are throwing this money around like its going out of style, I'm sure Republicans would not do a whole lot better.
Stop letting congress spend YOUR money, especially when they have shown they have no clue what they are doing (and you want them running your health care, HA!)

I heard a great plan today.
Take what is left of this bailout money, and use it so that everyone who earns money would not have to pay federal income tax or SS tax for the months of January and February.

Think about all that money you would have instead of some morons from CITIBANK having it.

What do you think?

Biden calls paying higher taxes a patriotic act

Oh ya...don't forget...your taxes WILL go up with BHO elected and the economy will go into a full out recession, maybe a depression.

Milwaukee lags behind on parks spending

So we have the highest property taxes and some of the worst recreational facilities?

This is one area liberals and I can agree on...
When I was a kid I would go to Wilson Park pool, play baseball, tennis and football and enjoy the great outdoors for hours at a time.
Even as I was starting to get older they started closing parts of the pool because they didn't want to pay enough lifeguards.
Just yesterday I was walking around Humbolt Park pond and it was disgusting and embarrassing.
About a third of it had a top layer of green alge filth on it, and about half of the shoreline was obstructed by 8 foot high weeds, weeds that used to be drudged out every year.

This is one of the few thing that EVERYONE who pays property taxes can use. Most people who pay property taxes don't need all the failed social handouts that suck up almost half the budget. Most of us who pay property taxes get a far lower share of police patrols.
And many who pay property taxes either don't have kids or send them to schools other than MPS.
The parks are something EVERYONE can enjoy, and the way they are being treated makes them harder and harder to enjoy.

Holes blown in budget

Once again, the things being cut are things that people who actually pay taxes might use.
No mention at all of any social programs being cut.
In a liberal town, the responsible and successful keep getting less and less while paying more and more...

The stereotypes are true for a reason

I have said that liberals tax you to high heaven, and break us up into groups:
rich vs poor
young vs old
black vs white

Well, Obama covered three of my four stereotypes in about two sentences:
Bush proposed a Social Security plan in 2005 that focused on creating private accounts for younger workers....Obama said McCain would push to raise the retirement age for collecting Social Security benefits or trim annual cost-of-living increases. Obama has rejected both ideas as solutions to the funding crisis projected for Social Security in favor of making higher-income workers pay more into the system.

Okay...Obama is saying young people are trying to steal old people's money and ruin their social security....old vs young

And it should be those rich people that pay more taxes to fix the problem:
tax the crap out of us cause that is the only way liberals know how to solve problems and rich vs poor...
There ya go...
The way I describe liberals on this blog is not a "cartoon"...it is proven to be fact every time a liberal utters a sentence.

then McCain comes back with a GREAT answer that, of course, will make liberals mad...they get mad when anyone say anything true that they know makes them look bad...

"John McCain has been clear about his belief that we must fix Social Security for future generations and keep our promises to today's retirees, but raising taxes should not be the answer to every problem," Bound said.

New Jersey Lawmakers Consider Tax On Fast Food

I keep warning you, and you keep saying my predictions are crazy...
In the liberal world, it always starts off small, because the American people would never support these crazy ideas right off the bat.
They have almost got it so no one can smoke anywhere, not even your own car and house...

They are working on taking away any "choice" you have in food choices...
Wait, the Left is the party that calls themselves "pro-choice"...right?
What choice are they talking about again?