Auto Insurance Rates Rise

Assemblyman John Nygren (R-89th District)

Wisconsin Property Taxes Among Highest in the Nation

Wisconsin Business Climate Among Worst in the Nation

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 Auto Insurance Rates Rise

 Many state residents have recently received letters from their auto insurance providers that state how changes made by the legislature will affect their rates.  When you read ‘legislature’ just insert ‘Democrat majority and Governor Doyle’ because not one Republican supported these changes made in the budget.  As a matter of fact, Republicans are currently introducing proposals that would repeal these devastating changes made in the budget.

 Because of the changes to auto insurance, rates are expected to rise dramatically.  At the time of the budget debate, the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance estimated insurance premiums would rise by between 33 and 43 percent.  Now we find out motorcycle premiums will rise even more.  Because of medical payment coverage changes motorcycle premiums are expected to rise by over 500 percent.  This was not known at the time of the budget debate.

 Before these changes over 90 percent of all claims were covered under the minimums that existed prior to the passage of the budget in Wisconsin.  In 2007, the average bodily injury claim in Wisconsin was $16,600 and property claim was $2,500.  Minimums prior to the changes in the budget for these types of claims were $25,000 and $10,000 respectively. 

 Why would these changes be sought if the overwhelming amount of claims were already covered under current law?  And why would the Democrat majority seek minimums so high Wisconsin’s will be the highest in the nation?  The blame rests with the Democrats and their special interest trial lawyer allies. 

 You only have to look at campaign contributions to know the story.  Trial lawyers donate to Democrats overwhelmingly and stand to reap millions in court settlements with these new changes.  Over the last few years, Governor Doyle received $262,000 from trial lawyers alone.

 I stated in press releases and Nygren’s Notes e-newsletters when the budget debate took place the adverse consequences of these insurance changes in the budget.  Multiple newspapers called for these changes to be pulled out of the budget or at a minimum be debated as stand alone bills.  The Appleton Post Crescent called these changes, “the wrong idea for the state” and the Janesville Gazette stated, “Many [drivers] likely would drop their policies, leading to more uninsured motorists and driving up costs for those who have insurance.”

 In my efforts to stop these changes, I went as far as to author a letter to the Joint Committee on Finance signed by 36 of my Republican colleagues which called for these changes to be removed from the budget.  Not one Democrat signed my letter.  I and other Republican legislators offered amendments to pull these changes out of the budget, but only garnered two Democrat votes in the Assembly.  Unfortunately, that was not enough to pull these items out of the budget.

 To add insult to injury, in the budget was a change in state law that will mandate automobile insurance coverage beginning on June 1, 2010.  Prior to this mandate, Wisconsin was on average with the rest of the nation in the number of drivers not carrying insurance (15 percent).  With these added insurance costs, many drivers will take their chances and drive without it.  This will put more drivers at risk of a catastrophe in the event of an accident or of being charged a $500 fine if pulled over.

 To remediate the adverse consequences of these insurance changes, Democrats from Milwaukee are throwing around the idea of eliminating the ability of insurance providers to use zip codes as one factor in setting insurance rates.  This is nothing more than a subsidy to high risk drivers that operate in much higher risk environments. 

 If this were to pass, high risk drivers would have their insurance bill paid for by good drivers in lower risk communities.  Why should bad drivers from Milwaukee be subsidized by good drivers from Peshtigo?  That is a good question for the Democrat majority. 

 I have a better idea.  Pass the Republican proposal and reverse these devastating automobile insurance changes made in the budget.  This will help keep families insured, protect them in the event of a catastrophic crash, and keep more money in their wallets.

 Wisconsin Property Taxes Among Highest in the Nation

 Wisconsin’s median average property tax bill is $1,066 above the national median average of $1,897.  Wisconsin’s lower median income made the affordability of property taxes 4^th worst in the nation.  Only Texas, New Jersey, and Nebraska were worse. 

 Property taxes are expected to rise even more.  Under the budget passed this year, the conservative estimate by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau was a $1.5 billion property tax increase.  I have consistently fought to lower property taxes by opposing cuts to local governments and school aids.  Those aids keep property taxes low.  As well, I support property tax controls which limit the ability of government to raise taxes without community support.

 Wisconsin Business Climate Among Worst in the Nation

 Forbes Magazine ranks Wisconsin 3^rd worst in the country for best states to do business.  Wisconsin fell from the 8^th worst on the list last year.  Forbes uses employer costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects, and quality of life in its ranking.  Only Michigan and Rhode Island were below Wisconsin on the list.

 The Tax Foundation released their annual report on employer friendly states.  Wisconsin was 9^th worst falling from 13^th worst a year ago.  This puts Wisconsin back in the top ten worst states for hostility to employers.  The Tax Foundation formulates their ranking by using corporate, individual, sales, and property taxes.  Unemployment rates are also used.  The most employer friendly state is South Dakota and the worst is New Jersey.

 The Republican’s Wisconsin Jobs NOW Agenda will help improve Wisconsin’s business climate.  You can read about it from a press release I recently sent out here or view an overview of the Agenda here.

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.

Shorewood, WI: Growing from a starting core group of dozen people to recently passing the 6000 mark on WWW.RecallDoyle.com, in under five months Win has demonstrated the great anti Doyle sentiment that exists in our state. WIN was started by a group of WI taxpayers such as teachers union workers business owners and just plain people all joined together with the common purpose changing the direction that our Gov. has taken WI in. Specifically, WIN chose as a means of change the removal of our Governor through a recall.  The recall process instituted by the progressive movement in WI the early 1900’s to prevent the repeat of rampant special interest money of ever co-opting the Governorship as had happened during that era. We, the people of WIN, recognized that same co-opting of our Governorship even today.

WIN had a stated goal of enlisting the help of 10,000 volunteer signature gatherers to start a recall by June 1st. In a few short months we gathered 6000 volunteers. Though falling short of our numbers goal and the resultant miss of our start date, WIN’s statement to the political establishment in WI is that 6000 voices came together in four short months with no significant money, no endorsements (quite the opposite really – disdain and ridicule came at us from both the left and the right) and little to no commercial press coverage (we could not even buy billboard space from Clear Channel Communications because of censorship of our message “Taxed Enough? RecallDoyle.com”-a true freedom of speech travesty)-THIS IS AN AMAZING FEAT BY ANYONE’S MEASURE.

The people of WI are angry and though the recall is dead the spirit and actions of the WI electorate will live on. WIN will fight for truth and honesty in WI politics and a place at the table for the average WI taxpayer. WIN lives on as a citizens movement to expose our Gov. and his now famous words, “We cannot we must not and I will not raise taxes…Wisconsin’s problem is not that we tax too little it is that we spend too much”. We will be present at every opportunity to let Jim Doyle know that we have not forgotten his lies. Further, WIN will act in conjunction with CRG-Citizens for Responsible Government to spearhead the recalls of individual WI legislators. The express purpose of the recalls will be to get the tone deaf Legislators of WI to become responsive to the needs of WI families during this time of runaway government deficit spending, ever increasing tax and fee hikes and economic crisis.

1. We miscalculated on the last possible starting date. This is either a four and a half or five and a half month process from start to finish based on whether there has to be a recall primary. CRG made this clear. We always based decisions on the shorter time frame because there was not a Mark Neumann in the race necessitating a primary. Now there is and that threw our calculations off. That puts the conclusion of this recall into Jan/Feb 2010 depending on a start date. We have always said, as a group, from the beginning, that this recall process cannot go beyond 2009 for obvious reasons. Once you dip into the 2010 election year it becomes obvious that we will have an impossible job selling a recall over the natural 2010 election cycle. I did not have this fact hit me until after our last meeting was over. It was and still is sobering.

2. We missed our best start opportunity to catch people at their zenith of anger. This was during the passage of the state budget. The anger and interest level has subsided now and hits to our web site show as much. Also, donation flow has dropped to nothing.    

3. We did not concentrate on organizing our S.E. quadrant of the state. It is simply a matter of too little too late to try to pull it together now. Tom Spear had said to me that it would take 6 weeks to turn our group into what it needs to be to organize our population base. Tom, a now retired professional organizer by vocation, is one of the most optimistic people in this recall effort. I take great stock of what he says.

4. I believe that a miserably failed recall will be a bigger disaster for the conservative movement than no recall at all. I originally thought that if we failed we would not have to reveal the numbers to the press but now I realize that the final tally would be impossible to contain given the number of people that would be in the know. We would become a laughing stock to the left AND THE RIGHT. The press already smells blood and have started to call me about the viability of the 6000 member database that we have. I couldn’t answer the question to the WI State Journal because we have no real knowledge. Again, we have never had the time or enough people in the core group to do a full scale evaluation of the database.

A badly failed recall would give the opposition great  reason to ridicule us. It would also leave the impression that there is little opposition to Doyle -a message that WIN does not want to and cannot propagate.

Lastly, time has always been our enemy but keep in mind that in this short time we have achieved an amazing feat and all is not lost, far from it. WIN can go still go forward with our head held high. Without major money, press or endorsements we did what everyone, on both sides of the aisle, said couldn’t be done. What ACORN does with hordes of our hard earned tax money we did on a dime. We organized and became the voice for thousands of WI residents who wanted a say in the political process.

Further, we all know getting a good guy in as Gov. is not enough because we would then have a Walker/Milwaukee County Board gridlock situation repeated all over again. We must remove bad small-time players and get nomination papers circulated for good conservative candidates who can replace them and help out a conservative Governor. We have been in the past and can still be a force for change in our state in 2010.

We can still have a long lasting positive impact for the betterment of our state if we learn from our mistakes, refocus and move on to the next citizen effort. I hope that you will join in the vision and  understand.

- -  Vince Schmuki/ Representing WIN-Wisconsinites Interest Now

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.

The Wisconsin deficit, per capita, is DOUBLE California’s.  Wisconsin is going to HAVE TO raise taxes and fees double what California is going to do to their taxpayers and businesses.  If WE THE PEOPLE don’t www.RecallDoyle.com ASAP, we only have ourselve to blame and we have nobody but that person in the mirror to blame.  The www.RecallDoyle.com people are doing everything they can to put a stop to this NOW!  It might be too late to stop Mercury Marine from leaving Fond du Lac, WI but what about other companies like Oshkosh Truck and hundreds more? 

A question we need to ask anybody who says; “This is recall Doyle campaign is stupid and a waste of time and money.  Wait for the election, it’s only a year + away.”  It has to be getting obvious for anybody who has any minimal electrical current traveling through their synopsis that HOW THE HELL CAN WE wait for a year?  Look at the financial devastation to our ENTIRE STATE of Wisconsin!  Now even Mercury Marine is considering leaving from Fond du Lac, WI ! !  How many more companies have to go before the idiots in the media cease the INSANE blackout of our RECALL of DOYLE?  Don’t they care about the people of Wisconsin at all?  Don’t they think that the people ought to have the right to know that we can do something about DOYLE NOW?  How much more damage are we going to allow him and his minions of Socialism, Communism and Fascism do to our State?  What will ANOTHER YEAR like the last one bring?  Isn’t our financial situation INSANE enough?  Aren’t we and our small and large businesses TAXED ENOUGH YET?  How much longer can we stand this beating? -  Is the answer we need to reply with!

Maybe if We The People of Wisconsin promise to www.RecallDoyle.com Mercury Marine might stay?  You have to admit, it sure would be a great negotiating point of prime importance to the company and its owners / stockholders and its creditors in terms of corporate savings (and therefore hopefully earnings) of ADDITIONAL taxation coming down the pike.  Think of the relief to know that Doyle and his sick and distorted WEAC, State union and all union and spend, spend, spend taxpayer and business taxes type mentality wouldn’t have to be dealt with anymore.  What if we could prove that We The People of Wisconsin mean BUSINESS and we get RID of Doyle (first(!) and have an eye on who next)?  Perhaps companies like Mercury Marine might be persuaded to stay.  I see this now as “SURVIVAL MODE” for the individual people and families of Wisconsin.  Just for the very first time, a week ago, I talked seriously about moving out of Wisconsin with my wife because of the size of the State of Wisconsin budget and the taxes that are coming down the pike, as well as the fact that The State of Wisconsin is going to have to go after businesses as well to support Doyle’s spending habit.  Who doesn’t know that the vast majority of companies, here in Wisconsin, don’t see that coming?  Who’s next, Oshkosh Truck?   We The People of Wisconsin have to PROVE to companies that WE are not going to let Doyle do this to them anymore!  If we don’t prove to the rest of our industries that we can handle Gov. Doyle for them, we are doomed!

Mercury Marine is the global leader in marine propulsion sales. It is the largest division of Brunswick Corporation with over 6,000 employees. Mercury’s headquarters is located in Fond du Lac, WI with operations in Stillwater, Okla.; St. Cloud, Fla.; Juarez, Mexico; Petit-Rechain, Belgium; and other international locations.

Perhaps we should send some WIN (Wisconsin Interests Now) people up to Fond du Lac?  The loss of Mercury Marine would/will be a huge hit for this town.  The business impact across the spectrum, losing Mercury Marine for heaven sake, would/will be devastating.  Mercury has been in Fond du Lac for as long as I can remember, like from when I was 5 years old when my father and I drove past the immense plant. It is a landmark along side of the highway for as long as I can remember, even before it was a freeway.

Read the hotlink on Mercury Marine:  http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20090624/FON0101/90624057/1985

How much longer can we AFFORD to wait to get rid of Doyle?  I’m afraid of what he can do to us taxpayers, employees and businessmen in five minutes, let alone another year.