The story by now is familiar: employees of Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac voted down an offer to keep 800 jobs from moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Realizing that they had just voted themselves out of jobs, union members began calling for another vote – but IAM headquarters in Chicago immediately shut them down.

A day late and a dollar short, Governor Jim Doyle issued a statement claiming he had done all he could to keep Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac. Doyle outlined demands that Mercury Marine create and retain 2,700 jobs and maintain a significant presence in Fond du Lac for 12 years. In exchange the state would provide unspecified financial incentives.

Doyle said he couldn’t release details of the offer because “doing so would likely put Wisconsin at a competitive disadvantage with other states.” This from the same governor who recently signed a $186 million business tax hike, driving long term employers like Harley Davidson and Briggs & Stratton out of Wisconsin.

OVER 8,000 Wisconsin Citizen’s in Madison, WI protesting Decades of U.S. Government Policies that have resulted in destruction of INDIVIDUAL freedom, liberty and prosperity.  These protestors are also very angry at the insane level of Socialist spending by The State of Wisconsin, the closing and moving of businesses out of Wisconsin, and the thousands of job losses resulting in unacceptable unemployment rates around the State, resultant from Governor James Doyle policies.  Doyle’s destruction of our business climate and State taxes and fees that are not tolerable anymore, according to these 8,000 Tea Party goers who chanted RECALL DOYLE, RECALL DOYLE so loud it echoed round the entire block.

Hundreds of Thousands of Americans, across the country, continue to protest decades of tyranny, usurpation, corruption, bailouts, TARP, stimulus packages, over taxation on people and small businesses, the loss of jobs and companies, The Federal Reserve “System” (A cartel of 12 privately held banks with massive control) and utter Constitutional contempt by all three branches of the U.S. Government.

In Madison Wisconsin the people also protested against the MASSIVE HUMOUNGUS Socialist spending programs of the State legislature and especially Governor James Doyle.  A group called W.I.N. (Wisconsin Interests Now) is helping Wisconsin citizen’s improve their lot with regards to insane spending and taxation policies of Governor James Doyle which have resulted in a vast number of business closings, business moving out of Wisconsin and job losses, by way of a Recall.   WIN feels that Wisconsin citizen’s, businesses, the economy and employment cannot possibly take another whole year of Governor Doyle’s $6.7 Billion dollar deficit spending and resulting tax and numerous fee raises.

See www.RecallDoyle.com

Watch, in this video, how much the Thousands of Wisconsin citizens at the Madison Tea Party want to see Governor Doyle RECALLED:

After the destruction of the Wisconsin economy and small businesses through taxation, fees on our citizens and small business and horrible business climate, the resulting loss of jobs and high Wisconsin unemployment numbers and the incredible high level of Socialistic and union spending programs, it is very easy to understand why so many thousands of people are willing to protest for the recall of Governor Doyle.

www.RecallDoyle.com

I would like to send thanks to all of the individuals who completed my budget survey.  I received hundreds of responses and they were very useful to me as I debated the biennial budget.  These are the percentages of yes’s and no’s and the questions included in the survey.

 1. Do you support increasing state government spending by nearly 8 percent and taxes by $3.2 billion as the governor is proposing in the 2009-11 budget?

Yes 2%            No 93%

2. Do you support a new $270 million tax on oil that will be passed on to all consumers at the pump?

Yes 5%            No 95%

3. Do you support the $1.2 billion increase in taxes that was passed by the governor and legislative Democrats this year without a public hearing? This tax increase has been cited as a reason hundreds of jobs were lost in our current economic downturn.

Yes 2%            No 96%

4. Should the existing cost controls placed on local government spending that aid in keeping property taxes in check remain in place?

Yes 85%         No 12%

5. Should automobile insurance requirements be changed, as the governor is proposing in the budget, if those changes will drive up the cost of auto policies by up to 43 percent?

Yes 2%            No 97%

6. The governor is proposing in his budget to cut the use of active GPS tracking for violent child sex predators and use passive tracking to monitor these sex offenders. Passive tracking would notify law enforcement personnel only after a sex predator violated his or her parole, or after a crime had been committed. Do you support this cut to close the budget deficit?

Yes 13%          No 85%

7. Should taxpayer dollars be used to provide health care and retirement benefits to unmarried domestic partners of state government employees?

Yes 8%            No 92%

8. Do you support, as the governor has proposed in his budget, giving new mothers on state welfare benefits 24 weeks of paid leave when mothers not on welfare receive up to 12 weeks of leave that may or may not be paid? This change in Wisconsin’s welfare program will cost roughly $1.5 million over the next two years.

Yes 2%            No 98%

Don’t forget to Recall Governor James Doyle.  Sign up here: www.RecallDoyle.com

Be sure to read the fascinating comments below by clicking on “comments”, below,  or clicking on the title of this post above and scrolling down to the comments.

He has tested, serviced and sold products made by Mercury Marine, the boat-engine maker that has called this city home for decades. He worked 24 years for the company and for the last 21 years has operated the Mr. Marine boat dealership.

So, Lloyd took notice when news began to surface this month that Mercury Marine might be looking to consolidate operations, either in Wisconsin or in Stillwater, Okla.

“It would be a devastating blow here; they’re the No. 1 employer in town,” Lloyd said, calculating the potential impact of Mercury choosing Oklahoma over Wisconsin.

The business climate in Wisconsin, due to State of Wisconsin socialist or what is called “progressive” spending programs, is deteriorating rapidly.  The Wisconsin State Assembly is moving Wisconsin toward socialist policies at lightning speed.    It must be obvious that the Democrats in charge are the worst offenders by far.  However, it should be noted that many, but not all, Republicans use smoke and mirrors to pretend they are for Freedom, Capitalism and Constitutional principles.

We The People have to work peacefully to restore the American Dream.  To start we can recall Gov. James Doyle, the ring leader of tax and spend, business and job killing budgets that has placed Wisconsin citizens  in grave economic harm.

www.RecallDoyle.com

See the rest of the Mercury Marine article here: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/49395002.html

We need to reign in State of Wisconsin Government spending and taxation, before the last business and person to leave has to be told where the light switch is and to lock the door.  We can either do nothing and lose businesses, jobs and our money through all manner of taxation or we can do something peacefully to turn this around.  But sitting and doing nothing while the State of Wisconsin politicians have their way with spending, policy and our taxes will only make it worse.

Automobile Insurance Gets Worse in Conference Committee Budget

Drivers from Northeast Wisconsin to Subsidize Milwaukee

Yesterday, the Senate passed a budget that was approved by a Conference Committee on a 17 to 15 vote with your senator, Dave Hansen voting in favor.  A Conference Committee is a panel of legislators formed to iron out differences between the Senate and Assembly when they pass different budgets.  The budget that came out of that committee raises taxes over $2 billion, property taxes an additional $1.5 billion, and increases government spending by nearly 7 percent.  As well, there are non-fiscal policy provisions that changed in this budget compared to the Senate and Assembly versions, including those dealing with automobile insurance.  This change is very important for Northeast Wisconsin drivers who, if it is enacted into law, will be paying higher insurance rates to subsidize high risk drivers in areas like Milwaukee.

In the Conference Committee budget Wisconsin automobile insurance policies would have the highest mandatory minimums in the nation and drivers would be required by law to hold insurance.  This would force drivers to pay higher premiums in order to keep from breaking the law.  The budget also included a hidden line that will force good drivers to subsidize higher risk drivers.  In the Conference Committee bill, insurance providers would be banned from taking into consideration where an individual lives when they set premiums.  In effect, this would force drivers from Oconto, Marinette, and Brown Counties to pay higher premiums to subsidize urban areas like Milwaukee where vehicle theft and collision are more prevalent. 

If this provision passes, Wisconsin would be the only state in the nation to have a complete ban on the use of territorial ratings.  A similar change was recently defeated in Connecticut and Michigan because of the added cost it would force on drivers.  Under the changes in the original budget proposed by the Governor, insurance rates were expected to go up 33 to 43 percent for drivers in Wisconsin.  With the Conference Committee addition, rates will go up even more and these added costs will disproportionately fall on Northeast Wisconsin drivers with clean driving records.

Current automobile insurance requirements in Wisconsin are sufficient to cover over 90 percent of all auto collision claims and without mandating automobile insurance, the percent of uninsured drivers in Wisconsin is in line with the national average.  By increasing the cost of auto insurance the percentage of uninsured will surely rise.  

The Conference Committee budget is expected to be voted on in the Assembly this evening.  No amendments can be offered to a Conference Committee budget.  If it passes the Assembly, it moves to the Governor for signing.

Folks,

We here at WIN (Wisconsin Interests Now) are working to www.RecallDoyle.com to STOP these sorts of devistating effects on our State of Wisconsin economy, jobs, businesses, earnings, freedom and our individual rights.  The Socialist / Communist tyrannts, headed by none other than Diamond Spendthrift WEAC Union Doyle, have to be stopped.  Look at the report above that clearly shows you how much MORE they are going to be taxing us.  The report above doesn’t even fully tell you about numerous other taxes and fees that you are going to be hit with for just daily living transactions of various sorts. 

See: The Roth S.O.S. Report for all sorts of taxes and fees that we are going to have to pay.

Did you notice, above, that the State of Wisconsin actually INCREASED the budget?  Did you know that the State of Wisconsin deficit is TWICE that of California on a per capita basis?  But yet they increase the size of the budget?  On a per capita basis this means that our taxes and fees are going to have to increase twice as much as the poor people of California. 

If you want to STOP these sorts of MASSIVE increases WE HAVE TO www.RecallDoyle.com.  Sign up to become a volunteer to get fifty signatures on the RECALL DOYLE petition.  This whole thing is starting to stink!  And, we need to flush the Doyle-lett before Wisconsin stinks so bad we are all forced to leave just for our family’s survival from the spending and taxation stench.

Sign up as a volunteer to Recall Doyle at www.RecallDoyle.com TODAY!  It is financial survival for our families.

Topic of the week:

Budget Unacceptable – Harmful to Middle Class

Last week, the Joint Committee on Finance completed work on the 2009-11 biennial state budget.  That committee is made up of 12 Democrats and 4 Republicans.  Senator Dave Hansen who represents my district is a member of that committee.  The budget passed that committee on a party line vote with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed.  I don’t want to sound alarmist, but the details of the budget don’t lie.  The budget that passed is horrible for Wisconsin and specifically middle class families struggling to hold on to or find a job.  Even Representative Bob Ziegelbauer, a Democrat from Manitowoc, called this a “fatally flawed” budget.

Why is this budget fatally flawed?  There are numerous reasons and many of them are very complex.  Too complex to explain in a few paragraphs.  In no particular order, these are just a few of the problems I have with this budget and how it hammers the middle class – the very segment of the population the Democrat majority purports to protect.

First, there is the oil tax.  This amounts to roughly a $260 million gas tax.  This tax falls disproportionably on small contractors, local cooperatives, small employers, parents that commute or take their kids to school, and freight hauling truckers to name a few.  With every penny added to the price of a gallon of gas, one penny is sent to state coffers as opposed to being spent to expand a business, hire a worker, or for families to save and provide for their children.  This tax is estimated to raise gas prices between 5 and 10 cents per gallon.

Second is the tax on health care premiums and child care.  In previous sessions, Republicans were successful in making 100 percent of health care premiums and a portion of child care costs tax exempt.  Unfortunately, these exemptions are being viewed as a personal piggy bank by the Democrats in charge and they could not resist delaying these exemptions to fund additional state spending.  These delays add up to $103.5 million in added health care premiums and child care costs for the middle class over the next two years.

Third is the cell and landline phone tax.  This is a $100 million dollar tax on anyone that uses a phone or internet connection.  Last time I checked, the majority of people in Wisconsin use a phone or computer.  Consequently, this tax will fall disproportionably on the middle class.

Fourth is a ten percent increase in the cost of energy bills in order to increase payments from the low-income energy assistance program.  This increase amounts to millions in additional costs falling on responsible utility bill rate payers.  These costs will be paid by anyone that pays a heating and electric bill.

Fifth is the increase in the garbage tax that would make Wisconsin’s highest in the nation.  This tax will bring in $50 million annually and will be paid by small employers who are struggling to stay afloat and keep people employed.  It will also raise costs to local units of government.  These governments will be forced to raise property taxes to pay for these added costs because they are already having their state aids cut in this budget.  Under the budget plan, property taxes are estimated go up a minimum of $1.5 billion statewide which amounts to over $300 per household.

Finally, there is the tax on hospitals.  This tax amounts to $1.13 billion paid by anyone that uses a hospital or pays for health insurance.  This was sold to the hospitals as a way to increase medical assistance reimbursement rates.  Unfortunately, for the hospitals and any patient that uses one, this is nothing more than an accounting gimmick where Governor Doyle and the Democrats skim $417 million of the money to plug the budget deficit.  In other words, the Democrats are using a budget gimmick and in doing so raising health care premiums on the middle class to plug a deficit partly caused by other budget gimmicks.

In the budget there are many policy changes that will hit the middle class as well.  Car insurance rates will go up between 33 and 43 percent.  Health insurance costs will go up due to added mandates.  Employer insurance costs will go up because of liability changes.  These changes are being placed on Wisconsin drivers and employers simply to pad the pockets of trial lawyers.  Existing standards are satisfactory for over 90 percent of all auto policy claims and liability coverage’s are satisfactory as well.

The parts of the budget I have mentioned are not the only parts that hit the middle class, but they are some of the most glaring.  Because this budget is so bad for the majority of my hard working constituents I cannot support it in its current form.  I will work to make changes when the budget is debated next week in the full Assembly.  However, it would have to drastically change to gain my support.  It would have to change from a budget that punishes the middle class to one that actually has the goal of creating jobs and setting Wisconsin on a successful economic path for the future.

Save a Stamp!  Spring Budget Survey Now Online

My spring budget survey is now available online.  Survey participants can complete the survey online and save a stamp.  This survey is a great tool for me as I prepare for the biennial budget debate in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Spring Budget Survey Online

Doyle gets $millions via the Garbage Tax

A week or so ago, Rep. Karl Van Roy (R – Green Bay) wrote a great piece about garbage. Well, I thought it was great, because the Recycling Fund (and fund transfers) is something I’ve been griping about for years. Another fund that our hard-earned bucks go into – and lo and behold, Governor Doyle (and the legislature, let’s be honest here) confiscates it for other stuff. It’s really maddening – and it’s especially maddening because when the Recycling Fee goes up, that goes straight to your tax bill. Straight. I saw it when I was on the Council for 10 years worth of budgets. The county’s cost for dumping increases and they pass it on 100% to the City. Smooth and easy. And really maddening!

Anyway, Karl tells the tale well, with all of its slight-of-hand millions ($166M and counting!) stolen for completely unrelated programs. (Emphases are mine.) JE

During the 1990’s, Wisconsin enacted legislation to encourage recycling and waste reduction, including prohibiting certain items from being placed in landfills and establishing financial assistance payments to local governments to operate local recycling programs. To fund these programs, businesses and municipalities pay a variety of surcharges and tipping fees on every ton of solid waste disposed of in landfills throughout the state. Essentially, tipping fees are taxes paid on garbage.

In the 2007-09 budget, the tipping fees were increased from $3.80 to $5.90 per ton, a 55% increase. In the 2009-11 budget that is currently being debated, Governor Doyle proposes to increase [and JFC passed 5/23] the tipping fees yet again from $5.90 to $10.30 per ton, a 75% increase.… According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget summary, the fee increases alone will generate $48.6 million dollars in additional funds above beyond what is currently collected under the current fee structure.

Without a doubt, waste management companies will pass on these tipping fee increases to their customers if they are signed into law. That means municipalities will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher property tax bills; landlords will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher rent being charged; businesses will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher prices customers pay for the goods and services they receive.

These fee increases are unacceptable tax increases on Wisconsin residents and businesses, especially in the midst of a recession.

According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, between 1991 and 2008, $107.5 million was transferred from the recycling fund to the state’s general fund to pay for programs completely unrelated to recycling, even though it is supposed to be a protected segregated account. In the current budget, an additional $31 million is expected to be transferred from this account to the general fund.

[And how about this?] In his proposed 2009-11 budget, Doyle completely eliminates the Clean Sweep Grant Program, the Recycling Efficiency Incentive Grant Program, and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Demonstration Grant Program. These programs were all funded by the Recycling Fund and clearly relate to the goal of reducing waste in our landfills. Instead, Doyle takes the money from those programs, and uses it to pay for the creation of a new UW System Bioenergy Center. ($8M, $4M each year)

Furthermore, Doyle’s budget proposes to take $27 million collected from the environmental management tipping fee to pay the costs of debt service on outstanding government bonds. Like the recycling and transportation funds, this is also supposed to be a protected segregated account. Yet again, the funds are being used for something other than their intended purpose.

Some justify these exorbitant fee increases as a way to discourage out-of-state waste from being put in our landfills. The facts are that 80% of the solid waste in our landfills is generated from Wisconsin sources, and the fee increases over the years have proven to be ineffective at decreasing the amount of out-of-state waste being imported. In reality, these fees only serve as a punishment to us because the vast majority of the tax increases are being paid by Wisconsin businesses and homeowners without any benefit in return.

During these financially difficult times, government should not be increasing costs for Wisconsin residents and businesses and making it even harder for those who are already struggling to keep their heads above water. Increasing the garbage tax will do nothing to improve our state’s economic picture.

Karl Van Roy is a Republican and represents the residents of the 90th Assembly District.

The other day someone claiming to be “Deep Throat” (helpfully clarified as “not my real name”) left a letter and a floppy disc at Isthmus. The letter called negative attention to the final round of employee bonuses dispensed by the state of Wisconsin in the final quarter of 2008; the disc contained a list of recipients.

“You’ll recall that [Gov. Jim] Doyle announced in late November that [the state] would eliminate these payments,” wrote Mr. or Ms. Throat. “Seems like a lot of them got in just under the wire.”

The list itemizes “discretionary compensation awards” — bonuses — to 82 state employees, including the UW System. A few are lump-sum payments: $1,000 here, $500 there, $3,150 to one UW-Madison supervisor for “new duties.” But most are per-hour salary adjustments for merit, equity, new duties and retention that extend permanently into the future. AIG execs, eat your heart out.

One of the highest hikes, a $3.42 per hour bump (more than $7,000 a year), went to state labor relations manager Kathleen Kopp, for “equity/retention.” She now makes $101,957 per year. Deep Throat finds this “galling” because Kopp is “in charge of contract negotiations with state employee unions,” where the goal is said to be a two-year wage freeze.

Jenny Donnelly, director of the Office of State Employment Relations, where Kopp works, calls this pay hike “a retention bonus,” offered because Kopp had been “recruited to leave” at higher pay by another state agency. One way or the other, Kopp was destined for higher pay.

Donnelly says the cutoff for bonuses was Nov. 23, three days after Doyle issued his directive. That means employees like Kopp got upward salary adjustments that will continue year after year while someone scheduled for a pay bump on, say, Nov. 24, got zilch. Isn’t that a wee bit unfair?

Maybe, but Donnelly says “nobody has raised that with me.” These state workers are a stoic lot.

I ask, WHY WOULD WE NOT RECALL A LYING GOVERNOR LIKE DOYLE who is trying to steal even more money out of our pockets in all sorts of taxes and fees?  Do you think we like paying another $6.7 BILLION dollars in taxes and fees?  Or, lose even more jobs by small businesses either closing shop or moving out of this tax hell hole to another State?   HELL NO   and We’re Not Going to Take it ANYMORE!

Signup here: www.RecallDoyle.com