With Crisis Looming, Surplus Refund Looks Dumb

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The Janesville school district has been very lucky in recent years that they've been able to build up a budget surplus. Good news for education in Janesville? Not quite…….

JG Excerpt:
Evert (superintendent) has said the board must be prudent, because although the district has been lucky with health-care costs in recent years, it's only a matter of time before it's hit with a surge in high-cost payouts.

Without a teachers contract and "it's only a matter of time" prudence, what better time is there than now to rebate $1.5 million to the taxpayers, heh?

GOP Tax Shift Doctrine Continues

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Federal appropriation's cuts mean local tax hike looming....again and again.

Excerpt:
State anticipates cut of nearly two-thirds for police
Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said President Bush has cut local law enforcement programs in the past and "this year again made recommendations of more than $1 billion cuts." We restored some of the cuts, but he insisted on his total numbers because he wanted to pump every dollar into that stupid war in Iraq," Obey said.

Republican politicians in Washington have trumpeted irresponsible tax cuts and domestic spending restraints while blaming democrats and local "mis"management for the tax increases necessary to refill the tank. This has repeatedly been a no-fail campaign tactic for the GOP. It's almost like a "perfect crime."

Ryan’s Hypocrisy Excerpt:
What the hypocritical Ryan fails to explain in taxpayer-funded press releases hailing his fiscal conservatism, however, is his steady pattern of voting for defense authorization measures -- especially so-called "emergency" funding plans for the Iraq occupation -- that contain massive earmarks, pork barrel spending and related abuses.

Gazette: Why Ruin Council With Pay?

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Possibly in response to my recent posting about a dubious article the Janesville Gazette ran on their front-page last week about the lack of city council pay, the editors opined again about Janesville’s current council-manager form of city government.

JG Editorial:
The city adopted this method of government during the progressive movement early in the last century. It easily survived a referendum in 2004 after critics led a petition drive to switch to a mayor and aldermanic districts.

The Progressive movement Janesville's current government sprung from should not be confused with today's Progressive's. Not even the same animal.

But, they threw out democracy with just one referendum? We now know that Janesville voters have to be pressed at least three times before anyone knows for sure what they want to do. That one loss was a window of opportunity for future progress towards genuine representative democracy in Janesville to build on, but because of a lack of marketing and organization the movement lost momentum.

The editorial published this past Saturday titled “Unpaid council serves our city quite well” also gave reasons why the newspaper thinks the council members are better off without pay.

JG Editorial:
But we like it this way. It's tough to argue with success.

That's a matter of definition and opinion.

JG Editorial excerpt:
But through the years, Janesville has been blessed with quality council members who desire only to serve and contribute to the community.

No need to spoil them now, huh? The Gazette supporting volunteerism for this expanding civic duty can only be traced to their greatest fear - another tax increase. I've never heard of money being a dis-incentive unless it's an undeserved hand-out, but this cannot be the case with all the praise and thanks the Gazette heaped on the council. But oddly, they also implied that if council members truly care about the community, they should expect no pay. The paper posted this anonymous comment on Sunday.

Sound Off Excerpt:
On Council Pay: Your headline on page 1A Sunday says "No pay, but that seems ok." Then you read that some council members want money. They know it's no pay when they run for the council. If they want to be paid, I don't think they should run for it.

I would guess (conservatively) that it costs a council member about $750 a year in out-of-pocket expenses (transportation, snacks, etc.) just to attend the council meetings, and that's the glamorous part.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
"What was meant to be a volunteer, very part-time, citizen responsibility starts taking on the trappings of a professional political position," Berry (WTA) said.

Does this transformation happen before or after pay?

Right now it's easy to see the Janeville council duties include library and on-line time spent researching projects and decisions, closed-door meetings, the loss of privacy, the time spent connecting with residents and going on field trips or even losing a friend over a comment or a vote. Might not be full-time, but it's got all the trappings of a profession.

For obvious reasons I don’t see paying council members, state representatives or other elected officials wages and benefits commensurate for their time and efforts as the reason corrupting their duty to perform. To the contrary, no pay or low pay makes gift money, perks and favors traded with outside forces such as friends or lobbyists all the more tempting. Volunteerism is a great and noble cause, sometimes even a high calling for many honest individuals, but it has its limits. Some can feel burned out, cheated and taken advantaged of.

And it’s not a fair question to ask of current Janesville council members or candidates, about whether or not they deserve some compensation. This is a question for every Janesville resident to answer, and my answer is a positively resounding and long overdue “YES!”

The Company Driven Economy

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A conservative economics teacher at a liberal arts college explains…..

JS Online Excerpt:
So I tell them, "The next time you hear about the evil oil companies, the evil Wal-Marts or any other evil company, remember that without them, you would not be at this institution, I would not be here, your other professors would not be here and the new building would not be built."

But can these companies even once create the jobs from the profits that pay the wages to pay our taxes without the “evil?”

Excerpt:
Companies are the economic engine that drives the economy of the United States of America.

But there is something missing from this equation. It's amazing how the writer gives such refined praise to companies as the singular economic engine powering the economy. And as long as companies can single-handedly generate self-sustaining profits and reap all the credit, who needs customers?

Read another view here and here.

Gazette Editor Wins Liars Award

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Some good news for a change.

Liars Club Excerpt:
A man with a stellar name, Greg Peck of Janesville, is this year’s contest winner, which will bring him a grand prize of notoriety and a parchment certificate. Peck’s one-liner involved the Wisconsin River, which he said “was so low this year that the local government started taxing us for more property on our riverfront lot.”

This sounds like stock Gazette stuff to me. But a Gazette editor lying about taxes and winning an award for it? Wouldn't you just know it?

Peck said it is ironic that someone whose job it is to uphold truth and justice won a lie contest.

Pssst. Hey, Greg, you can stop now – the competition is over.

Bhutto, A Victim Of Culture War

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After returning to her homeland after eight years, Benazir Bhutto was murdered in broad daylight by religious extremists.

JG Excerpt:
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up. Her death stoked new chaos across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

This came as no surprise coming just two months after a previous attack. But how does the media know for sure that the person(s) who shot Bhutto was the same person who blew himself up?

This was not an attack on democracy, the religious fanatics want democracy...a theocratic democracy. It was an attack on progressive secularism.

Culture warriors killed off Bhutto. Bill O'Reilly should be proud.

War On Iraq Nearly 10 Times The Waste

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The omnibus budget bill passed by Congress and signed by Bush funds most of the federal government for this entire fiscal year, which actually began more than two months ago. The original bill was estimated at $516 billion but expected to balloon to $560 billion as more money will to be added for Iraq and Afghanistan. It contains more than 9000 domestic earmarks, a phenomenal exercise in tax dollar allocation, but still woefully shortchanges domestic interests.

Some organizations have actually slammed the earmarks, and had they been omitted, the $516 billion Omnibus would have dropped way down to $508 billion, a difference of less than one-half of one percent.

Budget Contains 9,000 earmarks:
Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates that the 8,983 special earmarks will cost taxpayers more than $7.4 billion, though additional costs will become apparent in coming months.

Bush, who has repeatedly used his veto power to kick sand in the face of the majority will in Congress, signed the measure, which includes a $70 billion down payment towards a whopping $196 billion executive earmark requested for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 10 times the amount Congress is accused of wasting in America.

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MSM Defending Bush/Cheney

Excerpt: The current right-tilted asymmetry of the American news media has made it difficult if not impossible to achieve any sustained accountability for any of the Bush-Cheney offenses.

I remember a time when newspapers led the charge against government corruption, deception and irresponsibility - now, they defend it.

It’s Heeeeere! The Peak-Bush Economy

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Financial Crisis Looming

After a slow and stumbling start fueled by low Fed interest rates following 9-11, officials in Washington are scrambling to try to prevent the eminent failure of Bush’s “ownership society” from pushing the country into recession during an election year. There is a strong feeling, though, that the government will need to do more to avert a complete meltdown.

And if that doesn’t cheer you up, perhaps this will.

Blown Away By Property Taxes And Assessments:
Then he got his property tax bill that had nearly tripled. His bill in 2005 was about $2,900 and was $4,600 last year. This year's bill -- $7,568. "I almost had a heart attack," said Gunyon. "My reaction was one of pure anger." His problem is not unique. The amount paid in local and state property taxes in the country increased 50 percent from 2000 to 2006, according to Census data cited by some U.S. Congress members when discussing the topic. During that time, inflation rose 17 percent and median household income dropped 2 percent.

The old “higher local taxes fueled by Republican Fed tax-cuts” trick. Stage two to the GOP destroy-taxes-on-wealth plan involves alleviating the very problem they caused by eliminating property taxes all-together and offset by a flat-tax or consumer tax.

Time to put on the rose-colored glasses and look for a democrat to blame.