Kiplinger's recently issued their latest report on best American cities for every life stage and for your future. As was expected outside of the cost of living, Janesville did not fare very well.
Here's a snapshot of the chart listing a few cities posted at Kiplinger's Personal Finance considered for its list of Best Cities for Every Age, 2012. The Cost of Living Index is based on 100 being the national average. Job growth is the increase in employment from 2006 to 2011. Income growth is the increase in household income from 2006 to 2011.
Because the trends are taken within a five year window, The adverse economic effects from the closing of the General Motors plant are very obvious. As you can see, my town of Janesville is not doing well at all, particularly in the job and wage growth areas. It's in "Flint, MI" mode if I may be so blunt, and in fact has worse wage growth than Flint (2.5% vs 4.1%) over the same period of time.
With a feeling of complete helplessness, I've witnessed Janesville tumble down in slow motion from a solid upstart blue collar middle-class town and wrote about it all at this blog in real time as it happened, not after the fact.
Since 2006, I railed against the partisans and sycophants running the Janesville Gazette media monopoly and their decade long low-wage conservative agenda and war against school teachers, unions, liberals, democrats or anyone else who did not fit their particular brand of social engineering. Since that time I've "outed" the unholy alliance between the area's political action business groups and our local city and county governments. I even recall the dozens of emails I used to get from some Janesville residents telling me how wrong I was regarding my allegations of political activity about Forward Janesville and the Rock County 5.0.
I also remember like it was yesterday writing about the time when Congressman Paul Ryan, after being appointed to House committees, bragged that he would bring home even less of a return on tax dollars (federal aid, etc.) to his hometown and congressional district. These policies acted like a capital drain on the area and the results have been only short of catastrophic. I repeatedly warned readers that Janesville area workers and the people are losing the war many had no idea was being waged upon them, and that the American Dream isn't slipping away by chance, but is being systematically legislated out of our lives by right-wing ideologues. Apparently all to no avail.
All I can say now is let's hope we have bottomed out and the only way from here is up. But that's going to be a tall order to accomplish since most of the same phony people and the machinery that took us down that path are all still behind the wheel. That has to change first - before hope. With the opposition dug in with a divide and conquer mentality and in positions of power, we have a formidable enemy to overcome.
On the flip-side, there is some good news for Wisconsin. Madison, the Liberal Outpost and Unionista Sanctuary as eloquently described by the Democurmudgeon, was ranked No. 1 in the US by Kiplinger’s for young adults. The magazine said Madison was an “educated, tech-savvy city” with many recent college graduates who help foster an “entrepreneurial community” for start-up companies. Thugs. It even ranked high for families. Imagine that. Congratulations Madison!!
The Janesville Gazette posted one of their typical damage control messages masquerading as a news article on the front page about the politically motivated local economic development group, the Rock County 5.0, and their newest campaign to "get the word out" about the area's "friendly" business climate.
In addition, the group would like to dispel "negative stereotypes" attached to the Janesville/Beloit area - ummm, but it's not the group's own deeply polarizing and negative red state union busting divide and conquer sponsorship that we've all come to learn about over the past several months that needs dispelling. Instead, they believe the negativity stems from the perception that the area's base was dominated by the auto industry. That's the latest excuse now - it's all a matter of how others perceive the area. In their view, what could possibly be worse for a town than to be perceived as a slice of American Pie. So they're looking to target and rob the Chicago area of a few businesses. That explains their collaboration and friendliness all so perfectly well.
JGExcerpt:
Rock County 5.0 is a public-private organization designed to build economic development collaboration, communication and connections to benefit the county. [...]The marketing and public relations campaign will “get the word out” about Rock County to business and industry decision makers in the Chicago area, Otterstein said. It will run through the summer and into early fall using print, digital media, billboards and bus wraps, for example.[...]The campaign should increase awareness about opportunities in Rock County, Otterstein said. Another goal is to dispel “negative stereotypes” attached to the Janesville/Beloit area — that its economic base was dominated by the auto industry, he said.
What should have been a simple press release by the group is spun into a professionally polished "news" article for everyday local consumption. The Gazette has to do their part of course as a loyal and true ally to their own. They write up the group's story and statements without challenge or record of their latest controversy. But why should they afterall? It's not like the group is a democratic candidate or organization, the teacher's union or some malcontent blogger. Sheesh!
Much has been made so far, rightfully I must add, of Scott Walker's outrageous discussion with Rock County 5.0 officials about using a strategy of "divide and conquer" on a constituency in the state of Wisconsin. There's still more to come in the following weeks, but there's also an equally disturbing local story unfolding that seems to be getting a free pass here in Rock County. We must keep in mind however, that local truth and justice is at the mercy of the Janesville Gazette media monopoly.
Rock County 5.0 Co-chair Hendricks greets Walker: "Any chance we'll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions and become a right-to-work?" Hendricks continued. "What can we do to help you?"
"Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill," Walker said. "The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer."
Bingo is his namo.
After wishing to turn Wisconsin into a "completely red state," the co-chair of the economic group Rock County 5.0 does not say what can "I" do to help. It's what can "we" do to help. Remember, Scott Walker was not holding a personal conversation with Diane Hendricks of ABC Supply or Mary Willmer-Sheedy of M&I Bank. Hendricks and Willmer were acting and speaking in their official capacity as co-chairs of the Rock County 5.0 economic development group with cameras rolling. That's why this meeting was held in the first place.
So why is that important and what's so special about the Rock County 5.0 group? Nothing good actually, in fact I've been one of few local voices warning that the groups Rock County 5.0 and Forward Janesville are not the helping hand community organizers that they project to be. They are mainly politically driven self-interest groups whose core leadership is comprised of hyper-partisan right-wing engineers. We're in Atlas Shrugged territory here with a smattering of old world Republican pseudo-conservatives. Do they have a few members who are sincere with the community and true to themselves? Sure they do. But the group's 'community' image is highly over-rated and mostly staged through their enabler the Janesville Gazette, the Janesville Messenger and radio affiliates, and that includes much of what people will eventually see of them presented in the documentary, As Goes Janesville, no fault of the film maker.
But what should be extremely important within the context of Walker's "divide and conquer" conversation with the RC5 is the following overview statement from the group's Website. It reads...
Overview Excerpt: Rock County 5.0 is a five-year public/private initiative to advance Rock County’s economic development vision through a single voice. This vision, which has been developed through various interrelated local and/or countywide plans, represents a holistic approach to repositioning and revitalizing our economy. By working together as one community, we have the ability to leverage ideas and resources.
Rock County 5.0 will foster a culture of collaboration, open/maintain functional communication channels and create connections - among and between various constituency groups - in unprecedented ways.
So when the sitting governor of the state advances a "divide and conquer" strategy for economic development to the co-chairs of a "culture of collaboration" group, did they reject that negative language by saying something like, "in all due respect Mister Governor, we wish to advance our vision by communicating and collaborating unity between the various constituency groups. We cannot support your strategy." No, not at all. Instead, the one voice, one vision of the Rock County 5.0 nods in agreement and then in the following year donates a half million dollars to the deceitful man and his sinister plan.
Where's the outrage? Where's the condemnation?
In the first two days, the RC5 enabler Janesville Gazette constructed their own hit piece to marginalize Brad Lichtenstein, the documentary film maker who captured a piece of business as usual between Walker and RC5 officials and dared to publish it. The newspaper sees this stuff all the time locally and works hard at keeping it properly reframed, filtered, presented, or omitted - properly gazetted. Because Lichtenstein apparently did not gazette this unflattering segment, they go after his $100 donation to the Barrett campaign back in 2010 to prove his nose is crooked. Without posing questions in the story, they write up (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to the Gazette story) the film maker's comments in a grilling fashion and frame him defending the recording and release timing of the video. See, Lichtenstein is in denial. Seriously, that's how they see it. Just pay no mind to the conversation or content of the video or the hundreds of thousands donated to Scott Walker from members of the RC5 - because they're our local non-partisan economic development community group!
The Gazette also headlined a "Sides spin union remark" story to further impeach the issue as typical partisan banter and deflect away from the local Rock County 5.0 betrayal. So these folks have no shame at all. They go into defense by playing even more offense.
The Gazette also worked some damage control into the Lichtenstein article to help shield one of their own, Mary Willmer, from some of the heat created by this firestorm.
JGExcerpt:
Willmer was asked for comment today, and BMO Harris Bank, which owns M&I, responded with an email that stated Willmer was not involved in the Walker-Hendricks conversation.
“Any interpretation that Mary Willmer was involved in the conversation or endorses the content of the conversation or reflected the views of BMO Harris Bank is simply inaccurate,” according to the statement.
Although MBO Harris/M & I is a supporter of the RC5, the banks were not participating in the conversation with Walker. Willmer was not at the RC5 meeting with Walker on behalf of BMO Harris Bank. She was there acting as co-chair of the Rock County 5.0, so injecting that defense becomes an irrelevant deflection. Yet BMO Harris/M & I Bank are not entirely innocent bystanders in this matter because they continue to financially support the Rock County 5.0.
Willmer too, in the role of co-chair of the RC5 has attempted to distance herself from the conversation, but has not condemned Walker's strategy or Hendricks uber-partisan "red state" remark and neither has any cash donors or supporting allies of the group stepped forward to declare Gov. Scott Walker incompatible with their vision and core strategy.
The following is a list of Rock County 5.0's major donors and sponsoring allies. Please call or write a letter asking them to publicly condemn Gov. Scott Walker's "divide and conquer" strategy and to withdraw their support from the Rock County 5.0 group. Or explain how does Walker's polarizing and destructive strategy harmonize with the RC5's stated "culture of collaboration" and constituency goodwill? The fact is, it doesn't. They already have over a year of support under their belt for Walker, so be respectful but confident knowing that you are on the right side of history.
Investors: $50,000+ ABC Supply * Alliant Energy * The Beloit Foundation * Blackhawk Community Credit Union * Blain’s Farm and Fleet * Data Dimensions * GOEX * Hendricks Holding Company * Janesville Foundation * JP Cullen and Sons * Kerry * Prent Thermoforming * Beloit Regal
Investors: $25,000 to $49,000 Blackhawk Bank * First National Bank and Trust * Kaiser Companies * Rock Roads Companies * Stateline Community Foundation
Investors Up To $25,000 Baker Tilly * Brennan and Steil * Agrace HospiceCare * HUFCOR * Johnson Bank * Johnson Insurance * L.A. Duesterback and Associates * Murphy Desmond Lawyers * Nowlan and Mouat * RSM McGladrey * SSI Technologies * Westphal and Company
Investors: In-kind Angus Young * BDN Connection (Beloit Daily News) * Blain’s Farm and Fleet * The Janesville Gazette * LAMAR * Terry Print Solutions
During Monday's Janesville City Council meeting, two council members sponsored and introduced a resolution asking the Janesville Common Council to go on record in calling upon the Congress of the United States to begin the process of amending the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons.
A council majority consisting of Kathy Voskuil, Russ Steeber, Deb Dongarra-Adams and Tom McDonald went on record refusing to demonstrate support for the core premise of the resolution. It never made it to the table for a vote.
At Monday night's Janesville City Council meeting, council members approved in a 4 to 1 decision to use their governmental power and tax revenue collectivism to leverage an advantage for a single private-for-profit business, SHINE Medical Technologies, with over 80 acres of free land, free capital and a taxpayer backed loan guarantee valued at $4 million. This is an outrage! The $9 million "incentive" package pledged to this single small business venture is almost one-quarter of the city's annual operating budget. By comparison, this deal was greater than the TARP bail-out was in proportion with the annual federal budget.
But first and foremost, this is about elected officials using government power and collectivism to leverage an advantage for a single private-for-profit special interest. That cannot be overstated.
Secondly, Janesville officials follow a notoriously backward status quo growth model that promotes the plowing under of our surrounding "Napa Valley." Rock County is home to some the deepest and most fertile topsoils on Earth, but no one would ever know it around here judging by the low value, priority and low esteem many area officials and residents show for the land. They view the level well-drained glacial-driven six-foot thick topsoil as the perfect substrate to lay curb, gutter and asphalt.
Make no mistake, local governments, mayors, city managers and councils all over the state and country are grappling with wrong-headed anti-competitive anti-market "incentive" packages and economic development guidelines written by corporate lobbyists and legalized in statehouses to lure existing businesses and start-ups away from one community to another.
These policies deliberately place a false onus on local officials for job creation and economic growth when in truth, there was absolutely nothing, city ordinances or other laws, stopping SHINE from starting up their business in Janesville on their own free will like other businesses have. In the end, these deals have a zero sum effect on the state economy while accomplishing their one true goal very effectively - redistributing wealth upward through elaborate capital shifting tax credits.
The other truth is, many of these business entrepreneurs have either strong investor backing or are wealthy venture capitalists themselves who comb state maps for Qualified New Business Venture Credits and Enterprise Zone Credits and mark economically distressed communities with pliable special interest controlled leadership like Janesville as an opportunity to exploit even further through intricately woven TIF District agreements and other financing derivatives. Economic tools offering access to government and tax treasury have become counter-productive and do little more than expand an entitlement mentality for the well-connected and other freeloading opportunists.
As a political blogger on my own soapbox, I have spoken out against tax credits for jobs, even roasting Sen. Russ Feingold for proposing them, and criticized the Janeville City Council when they endorsed the sprawl expansion pro-tax legislative agenda of the local WMC satellite, Forward Janesville. These closed loop trickle-down policies including TIF District modifications have successfully shifted taxes for the benefit of their membership while leaving the average taxpaying wage earner footing the bill. It's easy to spend someone else's money. Let me be clear. I ain't no tea party.
Lastly, at a time when I thought the public’s awareness of a captured government working deals to advantage private special interests was at it’s highest, I never thought this “incentive” package deal in Janesville would have ever gotten this far, but I was dead wrong. I never thought four members of our city council, in Fitzwalkerstan style, would ram through one of the most absurd and abusive uses of local government and collective revenue power I have ever thought possible on this scale. Regardless of your politics, Janesville and/or Rock County does not have a grassroots voting bloc actively working on local issues at all and it's beginning to take it's toll on our quality of life and trust in government. We are headed into the abyss.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King,
Robert La Follette, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Gaylord Nelson and Ronald Reagan must be all turning over in their graves after this one.
Last week, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch met with the area's business establishment collective in a warm-up sponsored by Forward Janesville to help clear the way for the organization's main event dinner party for Scott Walker. According to the Janesville Gazette however, she was "listening to their concerns about creating jobs and attracting employees."
Among the highlights from some of our business "leaders" were:
JGExcerpt:
Elizabeth Olson of R&R Concrete and Excavating said she couldn’t find people willing to work. “Everyone wants the glory jobs. Nobody wants to do construction,” she said. “A lot of people just don’t think it’s important to have a good, hard day’s work.”
Concrete construction is a grueling job that deserves a glorious paycheck - not the other way around. But one would think a business sounding this desperate for workers would have a list of links on their home Web page for job openings. However, none could be found. They do however post a link to an employment application at the bottom of their "About us" page. A quick view of the Gazette's jobs section also turned up zero help wanted ads from R&R.
Mark Bush of Data Dimensions said his company added jobs in this tough economy but it was difficult. He said it’s hard for Wisconsin companies to compete with foreign companies.
What's the fix? More state aid, government leverage and less taxes for you? What about the rest of us?
Bud Gayhart of the UW-Whitewater Small Business Development Center said businesses have been frustrated with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He said the DNR did not allow some businesses to expand because of nearby wetlands, even though the area wasn’t designated a wetland when the business opened.
The Janesville/Beloit/Rock County area is pock-marked with dozens upon dozens of vacant factory/warehouse/office buildings. Are you trying to me that regulations preventing the expansion of building over wetlands is a key reason why demand is down and jobs are scarce? Yeah, I think Bud is.
Kleefisch said many problems she has heard in Rock County are the same problems she has heard across the state. “What we need to do right now is help pull the private sector up by its bootstraps,” Kleefisch said.
Comment Quote from Gazette
GP -- "Isn't the expression pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps? It kind of loses it's meaning when you enlist help."
Make no mistake, members of Forward Janesville know the company they keep. Despite some rumblings of dissatisfaction with Walker, none of them including the Janesville Gazette has stepped forward over the past several weeks to publicly condemn Scott Walker or his plans. Instead they seem more determined than ever to make sure his plans happen.
As noted in the Janesville Gazette. The politically active lobby group Forward Janesville will be holding a strategy roundtable with Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch beginning at 7:30 AM Friday, March 18, at the Holiday Inn Express & Janesville Conference Center, 3100 Wellington Place.
Wisconsin's Republican Senators found a way to pass Gov. Walker's class war anti-worker proposal by claiming collective bargaining agreements have no spending impact on the state's budget, while previously insisting it will save millions. Without it having fiscal ramifications -- they were able to pass it without a single Democratic Senator present. It's an outrage!
Breaking the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers will have a ripple effect in the private sector and throughout the Wisconsin wage earning population. Wages will be going down further, benefits will be stripped, pensions will be defunded and hi-jacked all in name to break unions and defund working class support for the democratic party. It's an outrage!!
While Walker's top campaign contributors get billion$$ in road construction money and a special $200 million economic development slush fund kick-back corporation, the rest of us get stuck with the bill and having hundreds of millions stripped from public education. It's a double outrage!!
We, the working poor and middle classes of America, Wisconsin and Janesville Rock County have got to start fighting back. There's a war on for nearly a decade and we've been held down in submission by a wealthy but small minority.
We've been playing only defense when pushed. We need to get on the offense too. National and local Chambers of Commerce and their media enablers have the upper hand. While the working poor and middle class Americans work day-to-day, paycheck-to-paycheck, the corporate masters and their affiliates have all the time, energy and capital resources to organize and strategize the hi-jacking of all three branches of government including local. They've held strategy meetings in places like Palm Springs, California with elected officials to destabilize wage earners and working families, while their employees toil away creating their wealth. Their strategy is to defeat the checks and balances of power and to demoralize and defeat their fellow American. They are the enemy within.
What can we do? Well, all politics is local and the state GOP and their operatives have not been shy to admit that the phony-ed up Wisconsin budget repair bill is little more than an ideologically driven class war scheme to economically punish supporters of their political counterparts. That cannot stand. We must reciprocate. We must match their routine and double-up the focus on their support base as well. At the top of the list are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce followed by their state affiliates like the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) followed by local chambers like Rock County's Forward Janesville and the government usurping elitists of the Rock County 5.0. With tremendous help from their media enablers, these groups have been quietly waging a tax-shifting and power-grabbing war against the non-member population under the guise of job creation and lower taxes. The jig is up.
I believe the wage earning class of each community must look inward to identify those that have been working against them and begin economic sanctions. This is not an action, suggestion or position against economic development or business. At the same time, this is not a labor union directive. Or a teachers strike. Or a police or firemen's boycott initiative. It must be people driven in solidarity with goals to restore the free market bargaining rights we once had. It is however a counter initiative to the actions they have taken by supporting Scott Walker and the bomb throwing republican party.
Boycott Scott WalkerExcerpt:
Money can buy anything, even a governor. Of course, when you buy something, you expect to be able to use it. This is what is happening right now with the people who bought Scott Walker’s governorship. Let’s strike back with a powerful tool at our disposal, the power of economic sanctions. The mission of this website is to help take some of the confusion out of the process of boycotting businesses that support policies that you don’t approve of. We hope to make it a little easier by listing businesses by type and area, and listing products and services that are offered by these businesses. They have made their will felt with their money, let’s do the same with ours!
In order for these boycotts to have any effect, we must bring it home. We can't be satisfied by boycotting products and services from out-of-state or national corporations while giving a pass to the local sponsors of this outrage. That won't do. It's going to hurt. But it's going to hurt alot more if we do nothing.
In Janesville and the smaller communities in Rock County, it'll be difficult identifying local businesses that helped elect Scott Walker, Joe Knilans, Evan Wynn and Amy Loudenbeck and boycott them simply for the localism aspect, but you can start by looking at this list of Forward Janeville members. The list is large but there are alternatives to shop at and spend your money. I'd like to see some help from folks who know of businesses that are not members of Forward Janesville so I can create a strong list of alternatives and post them here. You can send them to me at loukaye@gmail.com
Don't worry about folks who say they'll stop buying union, if they're comfortable saying it now, they already have long ago. Don't worry about folks who say they'll patronize these businesses twice as much. Good, because they'll have to. They'll have to buy twice the product and double-up on their subscriptions and services just to keep pace. Let them. We need the work.
The bottom line is to strike back with economic sanctions against the people that paid for Scott Walker’s campaign for governor. They are complicit in what is happening to Wisconsin and to all Wisconsinites right now. At the same time, this would offer an opportunity for individual business members of Forward Janesville to stand up with solidarity and condemn Scott Walker and local republicans if they feel they've been wrongly associated. Your support is welcome.
BOYCOTT LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT HELPED ELECT SCOTT WALKER
For starters, this is a short list of major sponsors of Forward Janesville and their legislative agenda.
ABC Supply, Inc.
Blain's Farm & Fleet
Bliss Communications (Janesville Gazette and affiliates)
Data Dimensions
Hendricks Holding Company
J.P. Cullen & Sons
Johnson Bank
Johnson Insurance
KANDU/Best Events
M&I Bank
Mercy Health System
Murphy Desmond
Rock Road Companies
Seneca Foods Corporation
SSI Technologies, Inc.
Terry Print Solutions
Forward Janesville will be hosting a victory party on March 29, 2011 at the Holiday Inn Express; Janesville Conference Center, 3100 Wellington Place from 5:00 - 8:30pm Keynote Speaker - Governor Scott Walker. This would be a great time if someone could pick up the ball and organize a protest.
Going along to get along is not good enough. It's time to realize that the person who wants to defeat us might not be our mortal enemy, but they're certainly not our friend either. There will be hypocrisies. There will be trade-offs. There will be collateral damage. But it's time to act!
The fight is only just beginning. The people. United. Will never be defeated.
Think ProgressExcerpt;
In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly moments ago, State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), one of Walker’s closest allies in the legislature, confirmed the true political motive of Walker’s anti-union push. Fitzgerald explained that “this battle” is about eliminating unions so that “the money is not there” for the labor movement. Specifically, he said that the destruction of unions will make it “much more difficult” for President Obama to win reelection in Wisconsin:
FITZGERALD: Well if they flip the state senate, which is obviously their goal with eight recalls going on right now, they can take control of the labor unions. If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.
There's a war on the working class people of America. Stop playing only defense. We need to get on the offense too. Chambers of Commerce and their media enablers have the upper hand. While the working poor and middle class Americans work day-to-day, paycheck-to-paycheck, the corporate masters and their affiliates have all the time and capital resources to organize and strategize the hi-jacking of all three branches of government including local. They want to defeat their fellow American.
America is in a ideologically driven class-based civil war. It's time to start fighting back.
Although this is only the program for a strategy meeting held in Palm Springs, California two months ago by the Koch brothers and their astro-turf machine, Americans For Prosperity, it's still worthy of a download and quick study.
Koch Strategy Meeting ProgramExcerpt:
In order to understand issues and develop strategies more effectively, the proceedings of this meeting are confidential. The meetings are closed to the public, including media. Please be mindful of the security and confidentiality of your meeting notes and materials, and do not post updates or information about the meeting on blogs, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, or in traditional media articles. These meetings are invitation only and nametags should be worn for all meeting functions.
Lot's of attention has been paid to the billionaire brothers dirty, David and Ed Koch, since Walker spilled the ideological and illogical underpinnings of his attack on Wisconsin's employed in a phone conversation he had with a reporter posing as billionaire David Koch of Koch Industries. But flying under the radar in the midst of it all is Wisconsin's very own ideologically skewed billionaire, none other than Beloit's Diane Hendricks.
JS OnlineExcerpt: (Dec. 25, 2010)
She has stepped forward as a significant figure in conservative politics - donating to Republican candidates and committees, serving on the party's national committee and speaking out publicly on her beliefs.
There's much more to it than that of course.
A Little Local History
Hendricks is the owner of ABC Supply in Beloit and has vast real estate holdings throughout the mid-west. Locally in Rock County, the wealthy Hendricks Development Group rarely makes a move towards economic development without first capturing significant tax credits, TIF surplus funds or other capital perks from the economically devastated tax base. She is a major influence in Janesville's powerful quasi-chamber of commerce, the politically active anti-labor and private for profit business group "Forward Janesville." She also serves as a co-director of the area's wealthy elite syndicate, the Rock County 5.0.
Local GOP Legislators Payback Their Masters
In addition, two of the area's newly elected Tea Party Republicans to the state's legislature, Joe Knilans and Evan Wynn, have shown their devotion and unabashed vocal support for Hendricks Koch-like cartels of Forward Janesville and the Rock County 5.0. These groups again, under the influence and financial support from Hendricks, have made a major push to transform non-partisan local and county government into a copulating banana republic run by key members of their corporate machine. Locally, they are the force that must be reckoned with if the "little" people want to take their government back.
Biggest Financier of Wisconsin Corporate Republicans
JS OnlineExcerpt:
During 2008 and 2009, Hendricks and ABC Supply contributed nearly $150,000 to Republican candidates and political organizations. That's more than double the contributions of any of Wisconsin's other eight billionaires, their spouses and their companies.
Although Hendricks donations to Walker's campaign last year might seem modest to Koch's reported $43,000, it's clear she doesn't put all her eggs in one republican's basket. No single Rock County individual comes close to Hendricks in total contributions to Wisconsin republicans. Money buys power.
Huge Paul Ryan Supporter
JS OnlineExcerpt:
She's a longtime supporter of Rep. Paul Ryan, a rising conservative star, and recently supported fellow Republican Ron Johnson in his ultimately successful Senate race - after she'd grilled him over Sunday brunch in Beloit.
These are the real owners of Rock County and in a large sense, the state of Wisconsin. With Ryan and Hendricks, south central Wisconsin has been politically and economically conquered. They've now taken their roadmap to ruin right up to the state Capitol and of course, their ideological clone and regressive puppet Scott Walker is marching to their orders.
Yet, despite the fact that nearly everyone in Ryan's district have taken major financial hits with rising unemployment and declining wages, Hendricks has done quite well with Ryan in office. The growing disparity between the rich and the poor couldn't hit home any closer than this.
Excerpt:
– Afton, Wisconsin’s Diane Hendricks, of ABC Supply Co. Inc., saw her ranking fall from 158th to 170th. Yet she found some solace in the fact her net worth grew by $100 million to $2.1 billion.
That's not enough. Rich people like the Kochs or Hendricks considers 5% annual growth in their personal wealth a devastating loss. Trust me on that.
Financed Movie Attacking Liberalism
JS OnlineExcerpt:
She's been fighting mainstream Hollywood culture by investing in movies - including "The Stoning of Soraya M.," the story of an execution in an Iranian village, and the right-of-center political comedy "An American Carol" - that deliver messages she thinks need to be heard.
The movie "American Carol" was little more than a right-wing corporate hit-job meant to mock and delegitimatize American documentary writer and director Michael Moore. It would have never been produced without the major funding coming from Hendricks. Yet, who in their right mind would financially support a movie meant to attack the character of a non-elected living person citizen in such a fictional fashion - that is - without any factual basis or biographical evidence. Except for Hendricks that is. Truly a testament to her self-righteous superiority and authoritarian character.
"People have lost what this nation was built on," Hendricks said. "I think our core values have been set aside. . . . I believe in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. If we just go back to the basics. . . . .I do not want to give up our republic and become a socialistic ideological nation. That's not who we are."
That is right out of Glenn Beck's and Paul Ryan's political dementia. An ideological, undeclared but vicious war on progressivism, liberalism, social and economic justice, organized labor, and on the working poor and middle-classes. It is a well funded and well organized effort to wrest government away from the people and into the hands of the corporate owners.
Sycophants Genuflect
She has enough political clout to command the attention of George W. and Laura Bush when they paid a visit in late September, lunching with her and speaking to ABC Supply employees.
It should also come as no surprise that Hendricks was among the first private individuals Scott Walker paid homage to soon after he was inaugurated governor.
The Koch, Ryan, AFP Strategy Session
Soon after the Scott Walker's inauguration, the Koch brothers convened a special strategy session to coordinate the funding and direction of the conservative movement. In attendance were Paul Ryan and Diane Hendricks.
Rock NetrootsExcerpt:
ThinkProgress revealed a partial list of the attendees, including GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, Americans for Prosperity officials like Alan Cobb, political consultant Michael Goldfarb, longtime lobbyist Nancy Pfotenhauer, and a number of donors, including Home Depot founder Ken Langone and Rock County billionaire heiress Diane Hendricks. Read more here.
Look over that cast of characters again attending that party in Cali. Koch, AFP officials, political consultants, Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks and Rep. Paul Ryan. One could only safely speculate that the state of Wisconsin was at the top of their agenda.
I believe there's plenty more than just mere intuition to conclude that Diane Hendricks is holding a majority controlling interest not only in Walker's governorship, but in both of our statehouses. With the heavy financial backing and permission from Koch and Hendricks, Walker and the state's GOP have coordinated a state version of Paul Ryan's class war roadmap plan onto the citizens of Wisconsin. Of additional interest is Walker's demolition of the state department of commerce into a $200 million corporate slush fund tool for the state's wealthiest campaign contributors. Watch for Hendricks to play a significant role in that tax shifting backdoor wealth redistributive "public/private partnership."
Koch might be the name in Wisconsin's news for now simply because he is the evil outsider, but don't underestimate Hendricks future influence in the war on the middle-class. She is the real thing.
TMJ4Excerpt:
In 2010, Koch's political action committee gave Governor Walker's campaign $43,000 it's second largest contribution. So what? Well, to save money, the Governor's controversial budget bill would allow the state to "sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without the solicitation of bids."
Critics say no-bids could mean some sweet deals for Koch.
Oh my, we got ourselves quite a tail-wagging going on in Wisconsin. You are thinking, what? This is about collective bargaining and workers' rights!
Bullshit. You are being wagged.
As always this has to do with money, and the union "compromise" coming down the pipe was set up to be the "booby" prize while the Koch Brothers get their "booty" prize. This is all being well-orchestrated with an end game that has absolutely nothing to do with unions.
As I said in comments before, to much bewilderment, this is about power plants and a vertical monopoly the Koch Brothers have their eye on in Wisconsin.
So in short:
1) Koch Brothers get their puppet Governor Walker in power
2) Governor Walker gins up a crisis
3) Democrats and Progressives take the bait and counter-protest on collective bargaining
4) Governor Walker will compromise on collective bargaining if the rest of the budget is passed as is
5) Bill passes, with trojan horse give-a-way to the Koch Brothers nested in
6) Koch Brothers will buy Wisconsin state-owned power plants for pennies on the dollar in closed unsolicitated bids for which there will be no oversight
7) Koch Brothers get the best vertical monopoly in a generation.
MotherjonesExcerpt (Andy Kroll)
Now here is where it gets tricky. Right now everyone thinks this is about collective bargaining and the rights of the worker, especially to assemble.
This is what these two Kochs want you to think. See, they are ginning up a great big whole controversy to hide something deep in the bill that they think no one will notice.
See, Governor Walker is going to back down on collective bargaining at the end of the day, if the Democrats will just "compromise" and pass the rest of the budget as is. The Democratic Party will view it as a success in policy and Progressives the land over will be doing a victory dance. The Kochs will be laughing at you all, because they just played y'all like a fiddle.
Even without those suspicions, this whole bill is a pig. It has everything thrown in it to see what they can get away with. Union busting, anti-gay legislation, selling state run infrastructure, no bid contracts, Medicaid take aways, BadgerCare, SeniorCare, pension raiding, cronyism, the dictator clause, by-passing of the legislature....what else haven't we seen?
Yet, Walker and the Koch Bros. couldn't pull this off without more help. Not just from state GOP legislators but with planning months before the election from others buried within the GOP borg. Most notiably, Rep. Paul Ryan and Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks.
This is all scary but it makes an awful lot of sense. If true, Scott Walker could be the most conniving if not corrupt governor in the history of Wisconsin.
Remember when Janesville city officials incorporated a water rate billing plan developed by the environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin? The idea was that Janesville water utility customers would be rewarded for conserving water by paying less per unit of water as their water usage decreases, a reverse of the current billing system. In other words, the end of volume discounts.
Well, Walker and his "open for business" advisors found a way to get around the water conservation measure for his corporate contributors in the deceptively titled "budget repair bill."
Examiner.comExcerpt:
The most remarkable of these credits is the Water Consumption Credit. The credit allows industrial enterprises to defer up to $300,000 a year in payments to the municipal water company. This credit can be claimed each year from 2009 until 2020. Credits such as this, along with the relatively tax-free Development Opportunity Zones and Enterprise Zones have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in tax funds that have been funneled right back into the pockets of big business.
Back then when the Janesville city council approved of the new water rate plan, I thought the Janesville business establishment and their politically active lobbyist group (Forward Janesville) were eerily quiet about the impact it could have on volume users.
In addition to Janesville being declared a tax-free Development Opportunity Zone, industrial users will now also have the luxury of state taxpayers picking up their tab for water usage. So the "little people" in Janesville are not only paying a little more for our household water to help conserve water, we're also footing the bill for the biggest industrial consumers.
Locally, before you thank Forward Janesville for this outrage ask them, "what else is there that we don't know?"
JGExcerpt:
JANESVILLE--A Janesville manufacturer of promotional products will close its doors in April, eliminating about 75 jobs. Employees of Norwood Promotional Products, 1309 Plainfield Ave., learned of the decision Wednesday to move local operations to a facility in Red Wing, Minn.
Norwood Promotional Products is the first casualty in Janesville of the new certainty ushered in by the statewide romp of republicans in November. Company execs claim that an "analysis" showed moving the operation out of Janesville would improve customer experience and streamline operational capabilities. In our new world of global free-market capitalism, that's just a safe way to say "creative destruction."
They (the local establishment and media) could pretend the loss of 75 jobs doesn't mean much here, after all what's another 75 jobs after losing 3,500 regional jobs from the closing of the GM plant. They could say the handwriting was on the wall for Norwood after filing bankruptcy back in 2009. But make no mistake about it, small to medium sized companies like Norwood are what's left of the backbone of the Janesville/Rock County economy. Unlike fast food restaurants and Janesville's Mercy hospital, these small manufacturing businesses are not merely recirculating the area's wealth - their payrolls actually bring in much needed fresh added capital. Psychologically, it's devastating and I fear Janesville hasn't seen the end of it.
So let's cut to chase. Norwood resides in Rep. Paul Ryan's congressional district. Why does this matter? Well, because he repeatedly won awards for legislating manufacturing excellence from an outfit called the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). So, how is it when a congressman voting NAM's way over 90 percent in near perfect alignment with his votes on his party's legislative successes from 2000 through 2006, resulted in a precipitous decline of the once robust manufacturing industry within his own district? Hey, don't look to blame democrats - most did not win those prestigious manufacturing awards because they voted against many of the GOP's trade and business policies. Besides, government doesn't create jobs and democrats are socialists is the current winning narrative. Clearly then, today's joblessness is a direct product of past republican policies that all but outlawed manufacturing on American soil.
Let's not forget Gov.-elect Scott Walker either. In a recent editorial, the Chicago Tribune touted him as a governor who is prepared to steal jobs from other states. Really. Good luck with that one. "Wisconsin's open for business!" was one of Walker's first hollow platitudes after winning the election. He'll create and save jobs, by gum. Perhaps Walker could order Norwood to delay shutting their doors until after he is sworn in, so he can fully evaluate their decision and it's effect on the state. Do I sound bitter here?
Yet, Walker and Ryan are merely the tip of the future "certainty" iceberg here in Wisconsin. Norwood also resides in soon to be former Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan's district, but he's a democrat and we all know democrats don't create jobs. He was defeated by job creator extra-ordinaire republican Joe Knilans who promised to bring jobs back to Janesville. During his campaign, he accused Sheridan in failing to bring new production to the GM plant. Surely, Knilans can protect a measly 75 manufacturing jobs then, right? So, what's Knilans doing about Norwood? Can't wait to hear about it. Do I sound bitter here?
Oh, and we can't forget Ron Johnson. Where is that crown jewel of a businessman-turned-senator? That's Mister 30-year-successful-small-businessman-job-creator himself. Heck, if he walked through the doors of Norwood right now everybody would have to put on sunglasses before being permitted to bask in his awesome presence. You know, the Janesville Gazette editorialized against Russ Feingold by claiming he never did much for Janesville. Hear that Sen. Johnson? Now's your chance to step up in Janesville and show what you can do what Feingold failed to. Do I sound bitter here?
So, where are all those tax cutting republican promise-keepers of jobs?
Yet, where is the all powerful local lobbyist group Forward Janesville on this? What about the big-shot business experts of the much ballyhooed Rock County 5.0? You know full well too, that if those local groups happen to "woo" a new business into Janesville someday - the Gazette won't let you, I or anybody forget about it for the rest of our lives. Be prepared for that one.
Hey, I'm not saying it's easy - but these are the folks pushing to deficit spend $1.5 billion for an interstate expansion on a growing population of jobless taxpayers. THEY sure made it sound like job creation is easy if only we can bring certainty back and get rid of those damn socialist democrats. They made it sound like democrats were anti-business and did everything wrong and created too much future uncertainty while Republicans claimed they will reverse that direction.
So I'm not bitter - I'm just waiting for all of these republicans to do what they claimed democrats failed to do - and start saving and creating jobs. This isn't a dare - I'm only reminding you of your promises and asking that you keep them.
Yesterday's Gazette editorial lamented the city's defunding of the Janesville Design and Development Center and gave a thumbs down to its eventual demise.
JGExcerpt:
Six years after debuting as a catalyst for the economic and aesthetic revitalization of the city's downtown, the Janesville Design & Development Center will close at the end of this year.
Facing a tough budget, City Manager Eric Levitt proposed a decrease in the design and development center subsidy from $50,000 to $20,000 for 2011. According to the lobby group running the center, Forward Janesville, that amount won't be sufficient to continue the operation that requires $50,000 to $60,000 annually.
Strangely left out of equation and absent from the Gazette's articles relating to funding the economic development center is the area's newest economic development marketing initiative known as the Rock County 5.0. Comprised of some of the area's wealthiest business people with direct links to Forward Janesville, the group boasts a private cache of over $1 million to market Rock County economic development. Over the past year, the Janesville Gazette has repeatedly publicized the groups' thirst for new businesses and ideas to foster local economic development.
But their apparent unwillingness to fill the design center's budget gap should leave everyone wondering about what the 5.0's intentions really are. If the Rock County 5.0 doesn't see any value in the marketing and potential development of the county's largest downtown - why should anyone else?
I know, you see a chalk board and you might think Glenn Beck was here. Sorry to disappoint. But I couldn't help myself putting our local situation into perspective after I watched Keith Olbermann's video (at the bottom) on congressional districts capturing stimulus dollars through "letter" marks while their GOP representatives publicly slam the "Obama" stimulus as a failure. Olbermann was describing the 1st congressional district recovery to a tee.
With Republicans and the Tea Party, the big problem facing us is the deficit. It’s immoral they say, to spend money we don’t have. No, that’s not right – first we have to extend the Bush tax cuts because the worst time to raise taxes to pay down our debt is during a recession. Deficits can wait until we get the economy back on track - right? But maybe it’s not the deficit that’s the problem – maybe it’s the stimulus spending! That’s it. It’s the democrats fault. But that's not right either because local Republicans claim we need infrastructure improvements. Well, we can still blame democrats right? I mean afterall, they're the ones earmarking the spending.
But does anyone ever wonder why Rep. Paul Ryan’s name doesn’t pop up on the “A” list of deficit spending stimulus congressmen? Primarily it’s because Ryan’s biggest local contributors and support base don’t ask him for anything but tax cuts and smaller government. But don't be fooled, Ryan's home base contributors lobby for state dollars and state tax credits like there is no tomorrow. The catch here is they're not stupid - they do this through state democratic legislators. If state democrats were smart, they'd have Ryan sign his position statement on all state spending requests for his district before moving forward on them. You know, spread some of that inter-governmental love around. But that's another story.
The Rock County establishment base, mostly old money self-described GOP “conservatives,” Rand-roids and "ancient" progressives with a smattering minority of country-conservative democrats make up the boards and membership of Forward Janesville and the Rock County 5.0. Both of these groups, huge, huge Paul Ryan supporters, are also the driving force lobbying state and federal government to deficit spend up to $1.5 billion on the I39/90 interstate expansion. Where’s Ryan? When he’s not plugging his book, he’s out on the trail telling folks Republicans must not "buckle in the knees when it's time to cut spending" like they did the last time they held the majority. But that doesn’t reflect on his support base because remember, Ryan's their smaller government and tax cut guy.
If Republicans win the the majority, Ryan promised to lead a shock and awe campaign to go after government spending which by the way, if true, makes it doubly important for his home base to lock up that $1.5 billion road job now before its too late. Secure the plum first then tax cut the profits afterwards. Socialize the debt on the working tax payers. That’s their ticket to prosperity.
A few months ago, these same Ryan groups also participated in a local economic summit with Obama’s counsel on economic recovery. The groups drew up a request of eight earmarks…”letter” marks totaling over $40 million and instead of presenting their wish list to their congressman Paul Ryan, where it actually belongs –- they presented it to the Obama White House official. Hey, they have Ryan’s "war on spending" image to protect.
JS OnlineExcerpt:
So far, $3 billion in federal economic recovery funds has come to Wisconsin; of that, $300 million has been targeted to the congressional district that includes Janesville.
In January, it was reported that Rock County was awarded more than $2.3 million in National Emergency Grants to support workers hardest hit by auto layoffs over the past 15 months. These are also “letter” marks requested and granted through the president’s administration.
Finally, Ryan’s name doesn’t pop up on the “A” list of deficit spending stimulus congressmen because he also receives plenty of help from the Janesville Gazette monopoly to cover up these local connections and further protect his image. They are all in the loop on the receiving end of the deficit and stimulus spending, and they are all in the loop for Ryan's smaller government and tax cut prosperity. It's win - win.
As reported in the Janesville Gazette this week, Rep. Paul Ryan's hometown was awarded a $1.2 million federal construction grant to build a small-business incubator. The city had to agree to a 25-percent match of $400,000 which was extracted from a TIF district surplus.
The federal money is coming from the Community Trade Adjustment Assistance Program which is part of President Obama's "stimulus" American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It should be noted that Ryan has repeatedly said that by any objective measure and account, the stimulus has failed and should be repealed - so we know he had nothing to do with it. Apparently however, there are plenty of Janesville locals that welcome the business incubator.
I bring this up because there is a huge disconnect, or shall I say an absence of local media coverage given to Rep. Paul Ryan's efforts to save local jobs and promote economic development within his own district. More accurately though is the reason why this information disconnect seems to exist in the first place: that the media in all honesty has regarding Ryan's efforts, absolutely nothing to report on.
In a recent interview with the Gazette editorial staff, they had nothing to report on other than his perspective on the Tea Party movement's effect on getting elected to another term. It's not like there are any other priorities to discuss. Truly pathetic all around.
So, lets forget about Ryan's representative efforts for a moment. We already know he does nothing economically stimulating and is hostile to any federal help coming into our district. If I'm wrong, feel free to challenge that statement.
But Ryan places plenty of importance on the upcoming election. So the only fair questions to ask the local media are: where are the stories reporting on the interactions of the area's public officials with Paul Ryan? Why aren't we having stories on the Janesville city manager's interactions with the congressman? Has Ryan been receptive to sponsoring earmarks in Congress? What about interactions with the city's new economic development director and so forth and so on? If we won't get Ryan's position, then at least why aren't we getting their positions on Ryan? Are they standing with us or are they standing with him? Explain. Where are the local business group's views on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act? If they are supporters of Paul Ryan, shouldn't they demand the money not be accepted? We just don't know.
The country is facing a projected $1.4 trillion dollar federal deficit this year and the state of Wisconsin faces a structural $2.7 billion deficit, where does Ryan stand on deficit spending up to $1.5 billion for an interstate expansion through his district?
Ryan's base of supporters, mostly wealthy "free marketers" of Forward Janesville and the Rock County 5.0 group are eagerly pushing for the massive government spending. Does their position mesh with the congressman's so-called fiscal conservatism? If it doesn't, will they support electing a new representative for the district? If not, why not? How can they reconcile their support for Ryan if he opposes their massive deficit spending agenda? Conversely, if Ryan doesn't oppose Forward Janesville's legislative agenda, where's the explanation from Ryan justifying the deficit spending? Remember, this is a guy who is against all government spending stimulus and doesn't blink cutting off your Social Security if it means he gets a tax cut in the near future.
Equally offensive, in the Gazette article about the business incubator, the newspaper mixed in a plug for a business "contest" sponsored by the Rock County 5.0, a Ryan-base support group that gets plenty of Gazette ink and credit for spurring area economic development when in reality - other than lobbying government, they have done very, very little.
After claiming they've raised over a million dollars for their economic development initiative, whatever that is, their only development so far is nothing more than a publicity stunt masquerading as a contest offering $25,000 worth of members goods and services to help the "winning" business entry accelerate their business plan. In the meantime, a real economic development business incubator has to be funded by the government? Where is the free market? Yet, if they don't object, does that mean they now support Barack Obama?
So far in less than a year, President Obama's stimulus program has saved more jobs in the short term and seeded more opportunities for the locals than Ryan has done over his entire career. Still, that's not saying too much - for Barack Obama that is.
So, where is the reporting on Ryan's efforts for economic development in his district? Oh, I'm sorry, I've already explained that part.
In what appears to be a complete role reversal of unashamed political pandering, Evan Wynn, Republican candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly’s 43rd district (Hixson) has endorsed the legislative agenda of the politically active special interest lobbyist group Forward Janesville, a local privileged group oftentimes masquerading as a "community" organization despite top officials admitting they are working specifically for the interests of their paid and private membership, has challenged incumbent Rep. Kim Hixson to do the same.
In years past, Forward Janesville was more openly honest about their near-Randian brand of right-wing establishment partisanship when they regularly posted editorials in favor of corpo-crony Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Debi Towns in the Janesville Messenger. Since the advent of your favorite blog however, it appears they have purged most of the information regarding party connections from their website and reframed their appearance and ideology statements. However, all the same people with all the same connections and motives remain firmly in place.
Forward Janesville, whose membership is loaded with local business conservatives, also happens to be the primary lobbyist hypocritically pushing state legislators to liberally deficit spend over a billion dollars for the I39/90 interstate expansion. Their entire legislative agenda revolves around a tax-jacking wealth redistributive scheme by charging up and tax shifting a billion dollar road construction tab for their membership's pockets on the taxpayer's credit card while they enjoy additional tax credits and other targeted cash incentives. Who will wind up paying off the debt? Let's just say it won't be Santa Claus.
In a Forward Janesville editorial from May of this year, the group's VP wrote to say he was outraged by what appears to be a new development he noticed while on a junket in Madison.
Forward Janesville Editorial Excerpt:
Speaking of obstacles, some of our groups reported that an unfortunate trend is gaining steam at the Capitol. A number of offices have posted "no soliciting " signs on their doors with messages to the effect of, "If you aren't from our district, we don't want to receive your information."
Forward Janesville believes those legislators should be called out and scolded for standing up against solicitation. Say what?
Welcome to the new paradigm. Instead of candidates earning an endorsement from a voting bloc on their own principles and integrity, if it's really that important to earn an endorsement, the bold new world of misguided change agents like Evan Wynn running for public office actually challenge their competition to do as they do - and capitulate to the special interests.
Wealthy business groups, but more specifically republicans, are leading the way to sidestep legislative and executive decisions in order to carve out tax revenue from government budgets.
JGExcerpt The Finding Forward Coalition says transfers from the fund to help balance perennial state budget deficits has hurt the state's infrastructure, jeopardizing commerce and costing jobs.
They've gone full metal-jacket with their deficit spending rhetoric and earmark hypocrisy. They want to constitutionalize "earmarking" tax dollars for special interest priorities - even if it guarantees deficits or makes them worse.
GOP candidates for governor, Scott Walker and Mark Neumann, support that deficit guarantee.
Sunday's Janesville Messenger contained an article (Page 4, bottom) by a Forward Janesville official summarizing their annual lobby junket of organized business interests and other appointed officials from Rock County to inform state legislators about their "prosperity" agenda. Most of their road to riches ideas are primarily tax cuts and tax credits for themselves while supporting the local road building and construction industry with tax hikes for everyone else. So they're not kidding when they refer to their presentation as a "roadmap." They mean it.
But what I thought was really unusual was this seemingly new development...
Janesville Messenger Excerpt: Speaking of obstacles, some of our groups reported that an unfortunate trend is gaining steam at the Capitol. A number of offices have posted "no soliciting " signs on their doors with messages to the effect of, "If you aren't from our district, we don't want to receive your information."
The writer says he was outraged by this development and that those legislators should be called out. Say what? I agree to a point, but called out and awarded trophies for finally standing up to unsolicited special interests.
For a change, it doesn't matter whether they were Republicans (yes even Republicans, God help me), Democrats, Independents, black, blue, green or pink, what mattered is that they are messaging they are not for sale. So yeah, I'm interested in learning who those state legislators are so I can post them here with little "good government" badges next to their names. It certainly is not the end all to the corrosive influence of special interests and lobbyists in government, but it's a small baby step. Can't speak for the rest of the legislators.
I'm continually surprised by politicians who seem to be oblivious to the fact that the more entrenched they become with special interests, particularly with private interests from outside the borders of their district, the more intolerable and even unacceptable they become. Perhaps that notion too is a new development. I hope so.
Forward Janesville, whose membership is loaded with local business conservatives, also happens to be the 