Uppity Wisconsin

An interesting piece of Wisconsin political history surfaced today, courtesy of the Democratic Party -- the audio of Tommy Thompson's "Stick it to 'em!" campaign to stick southeastern Wisconsin with the costs of Miller Park through a new tax.

You have to wonder how that would play in a Senate campaign if Thompson finally decides to run.

If Tommy were the GOP nominee for Senate and Scott Walker won the nomination for governor, they could do a tandem act, since both were up to their eyeballs in sticking it to the Milwaukee area on the stadium issue.

Walker, then a state legislator who hadn't yet seen the political value in posing as a tax cutter, enthusiastically voted for the new tax.

In fact, Walker not only voted for taxpayers to foot the bill for Miller Park, but consistently voted against amendments to the stadium bill that would have protected fans and taxpayers. He even voted against a proposal to give Wisconsin residents the first chance to buy the Brewers if the team went bankrupt or considered moving out of state.

Fortunately, the Selig family found an owner who could afford to own the team and was willing to keep them in Milwaukee.

Good news, Wisconsin taxpayers. There are more swimming pools in your future. Look for one in a backyard near you -- but not at the park. Campaign press release:

Scott Walker, Milwaukee County executive and Republican candidate for governor, told a crowd of over 125 at Sheraton Hotel this weekend that as governor he would keep his promise to “spend taxpayer money as if it were my own,”...

Walker spent a chunk of his own money on a private swimming pool at his suburban home, while taking a 72% pay raise from the taxpayers. But the public pool in Wauwatosa, where he lives,  was closed in 2003 after Walker became county executive. WUWM radio reported:

In Wauwatosa, weeds snake up through cracks in the empty pool at Hoyt Park. The landscape is a stark contrast to the days when thousands of swimmers made Hoyt the most popular pool in Milwaukee County.

It's all part of Walker's focus on budget-cutting at the expense of quality of life services county government can provide. A private group has been working to raise the money to reopen Hoyt. and is close to its goal.

To hear WTMJ television tell it, Scott Walker got off a great line in his joint "debate" appearance with Mark Neumann on Charlie Sykes's "Insight" show in Waukesha Monday night:

"Tom puts his faith in government," Walker said in a clear, strong voice. "More spending, more taxes, more programs. I have had a career doing just the opposite of that."

Ah, yes, great contrast, Mr. Walker.

Except it's not true.

Dizzy yet from all of the spin about the campaign finance reports filed by candidates for governor?

One thing we can all agree on: They are raising a lot of money. After that, the analysis is up for grabs.

Scott Walker claims he had so many donors that his report caused the Government Accountability Board's online reporting system to crash. That caused the GAB to put out a statement saying Walker's claim wasn't true.

Bad group to get into a back and forth with, methinks. Who you gonna believe, a politician or the people who enforce the ethics laws?

Walker made much of the fact that he raised $1.75-million and has $2-million in the bank on Dec. 31. And -- imagine this -- he didn't owe anyone a single dollar on Dec.31, which let him hit the $2-million mark with $14,000 to spare. Why do I think there's a drawerful of unpaid invoices somewhere from vendors whose checks were written on Jan. 2?

But that's minor. The real story in Walker's report is the unmasking of Big Spender Scott.

For a guy who's running on proimises that he'll cut state spending, he isn't demonstrating much fiscal restraint in running his campaign.

Yes, the campaign raised $1.79-million in six months. But it spent almost $900,000 during that time.

So let me get this straight.

Wisconsin's facing a budget deficit of something like $2-billion, and Scott Walker's idea is to dig the hole deeper with a big corporate tax break? And the news media treat him seriously?

As Gov. Jim Doyle was getting ready to deliver his State of the State speech, Walker, surrounded by a bunch of Republican leggies, proposed repealing the state's combined reporting law -- the one that plugged what was widely known as the Las Vegas Loophole.

The Las Vegas Loophole let corporations avoid paying taxes on income they made in Wisconsin by registering their business in some other state, like Nevada, without a corporate income tax. Re-opening the loophole would add another $375-million to the deficit in the next budget cycle.

 How would Walker balance the budget while giving hundreds of millions in tax breaks to corporations?

by "redefining the way we provide government, looking at wages and benefits." He said all options would be on the table.

Everyone always says all options are on the table, but it's pretty clear that Walker wants to take the money out of the hides of state workers, following the same anti-worker, privatization policies he's used to create a disaster in Milwaukee County government.

The $375-million is just the tip of the iceberg, by the way.

Happy days are here again, according to Scott Walker, the county executive who's made such a mess of Milwaukee County government that his long-term solution is to abolish county government.

Walker's "state of the county" speech on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of his tenure, proposed even more privatization of services, and promised to reduce the property tax levy.

There is, of course, another side to the story.  County Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb offers it in a column on MilwaukeeBiz Blog. Some highlights:

No longer content to simply pretend that he has frozen the tax levy, when it has actually increased by nearly $45 million during his tenure, County Executive Scott Walker upped the ante during his State of the County address Tuesday by making an arbitrary and irresponsible bet when he promised to lower the tax levy next year...

There is no need to propose a responsible budget if you plan to skip town for a new job...

Cutting hundreds of jobs and doubling furloughs for deputies as the County Executive has done erodes service quality and makes our community less safe.

When is a government event not a public event?

When it's a phony State of the County speech by gov wannabe Scott Walker, scheduled at a private business.

People toting guns can attend events with President Obama, but no one with a toilet plunger is going to get near County Exec Walker.

Two representatives of One Wisconsin Now (OWN) were thrown of the event when they showed up with plungers to urge Walker to clean up the mess he's made of Milwaukee County, and not just in the courthouse bathrooms.

[UPDATE:  After first throwing out the two, their plungers and "Clean up your mess, Walker" sign, company employees let them into the event, sans plungers and sign, but kept them cordoned off from the crowd and had a 'chaperone" accompany them.  They were able to get news releases in the hands of the media, however.]

Perhaps more worrisome to the Walkerites, the OWN people were armed with a news release.

See any irony in this, from WTMJ Radio website?

When I asked last week whether AirTran would get naming rights for the Scott Walker for Governor Harley ride, in return for its corporate sponsorship, I thought I was being facetious.

Sometimes a person's imagination doesn't stretch far enough. The Journal Sentinel reports:

 For this year's trip, AirTran will pick up the estimated $2,800 gas, hotel and meal tab. In exchange, the AirTran logo will be prominent on flags that can be mounted on participants' motorcycles, signs on support vehicles and on the headscarves some cyclists wear.

And you know what? The odds are overwhelming that the Milwaukee County Ethics Board, which has always rubber-stamped whatever Walker did, will say that's just fine.

This is my favorite part of the story, though:

He'll strictly avoid any talk about the governor's race or politics during the dozens of news interviews his staff has arranged for him on the trip, Walker said.

If there is one story that does not mention he's running for governor, I'll be anxious to see it.

What a load of crappity crap, crap, as that old poophead Charlie Sykes would say.

The Scott Walker Harley ride to promote himself and his bid for governor, under the guise of promoting Milwaukee tourism, has raised a lot of questions since he first started it in 2004. He's just raised some more questions, and a few eyebrows, with this report in the Journal Sentinel's Let's Ride blog by Rick Berrett:

Walker will lead a group of 80 motorcycle riders on the six-day, five-state tour that will wind through Wisconsin, as well as Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota, stopping in more than 35 communities.

 AirTran Airways and ChooseMilwaukee.com are sponsoring this year’s ride, offsetting any taxpayer expenses, according to Walker.

He will promote area attractions including the Harley-Davidson Museum.

A map of the route and tour schedule can be found on the Executives’ Ride web site. (Maintained by the taxpayers)

A few questions:

Will they get naming rights? Will this be billed as the AirTran Walker for Governor Tour?

Dorothy Moore, Walker's executive secretary in the county exec's office, is again the contact for the ride.

This is going to in some way sound like a petty complaint, but bear with me.  According to this story on WISN,  Scott Walker's  new campaign web site was developed by Ohio-based firm Midnet Media.  Oddly enough, it appears it's actually hosted in New Jersey. So - this same Scott Walker who is complaining about the drain of jobs in the state doesn't want to hire a Wisconsin web developer or host  to do his own web site -either because they couldn't find a Wisconsin company capable of doing it, or because Wisconsin companies are too expensive, depending on which spokesperson for the campaign you believe.

Funny how big a crowd of 5,000 (if it really was that big) played in the media when it was right-wing teabaggers coming to protest paying for their government services. It was portrayed as a mammoth grassroots uprising, a taxpayer revolt.

When perhaps twice that number of people marched in Milwaukee Friday for immigration and labor rights, the stories were about how much smaller the crowd was than last year's 30,000.

The May Day rally organized by Voces de la Frontera had no official crowd estimate. The estimated attendance at the Republican-organized teabag rally at the state Capitol came from the organizers.

Given that precedent, Voces should have told reporters there were 50,000 at Veterans Park.

Update: They did estimate 30,000.

Many more marched than stayed for the speeches, but the photos are impressive.

BusStop - No You Can't

As promised, Scott Walker has vetoed a Milwaukee County Board referendum. The referendum's goal is worthy: property tax relief from parks and transit expenses. Visitors share the costs with a modest sales tax increase. The natives pocket the difference.

To explain why citizens are forbidden a vote in Milwaukee County on their property taxes -- one of the most annoying and unfair taxes ever invented to siphon our wallets -- he ought to step to a microphone and address the citizens with three simple honest words:

"No You Can't."

Laughter would be healthy. History -- which is now moving in the Yes direction - makes this man funny.

There is a way to make a city work for everyone. Walker's politics of "no" are moving against history. Look at him.

Proof of his History Deprived Mind? Well, his veto claim that "There already was a referendum on this issue...."  Lena Taylor actually refused to support a new sales tax.

And sometimes it’s hard to believe my own eyes:

Jim Sensenbrenner goes off on entitlement programs in The Journal Sentinel:

It is time for Democrats controlling the agenda in Congress seriously to debate the crushing costs of entitlement programs and start implementing real reforms.

Gee, weren’t the Republicans in control of the House from 1995-06? And didn’t they control both houses of Congress and the White House 2003-06? Or did the sky just start falling since the Dems took over?

Audit finds bus system in decline

With a veto override attempt coming up next week on a sales tax referendum, a recent state audit is echoing calls to boost funding for the Milwaukee County Transit System.

The independent audit, required by state law, depicts the bus system as a cost-effective operation with declining service.