Paul Soglin: Waxing America

An Oxymoron: Republican Minimum Wage

Estate Tax, Wage Hike Teetering In Senate

The House, at about 1:30 a.m. yesterday, voted 230 to 180 to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, from the $5.15 rate on the books since 1997. The bill also would exempt from taxation all estates worth as much as $5 million -- or $10 million for a married couple -- and apply a 15 percent tax rate to inheritances above that threshold and as much as $25 million. For estates exceeding $25 million in value, the tax rate would be 30 percent.

If you are reading this there is about a one in a million chance you will benefit from this bill. There is a handful of superrich that will benefit from the inheritance tax cut.  If you benefit from the increase in the minimum wage, your share of fees and/or taxes to make up the cuts for the rich will cost you money.

To understand the deception The Center for American Progress has an excellent analysis, as does Responsible Wealth.

Currently, only those who leave estates greater than $2 million, or $4 million for couples, must pay the tax. In 2006, it is estimated that 0.27% of all estates in the U.S. will pay estate tax, meaning 99.73% of Americans can pass 100% of their estates to heirs tax free. Repealing the estate tax is estimated to cost $1 trillion over the first ten years of full repeal.

For a previous post: Inheritance Tax-Responsible Wealth

Any member of Congress who claims to aid low income families with this legislation is a fraud.

Wisconsin: The Most Representative State

author's note: CNN says Wisconsin is the most representative U.S. state. Yet for being 'typical' we are different and quirky.  It proves to me that with hard work, caring, and commitment the 'typical,' 'representative.' and 'ordinary' can be exceptional.  If you have a thought about something special that should be added to the list below, please post a comment.  I will add it the list over the weekend.

CNN reports :                         The most 'representative' state: Wisconsin

Looking for a  state that is a microcosm of the whole country?...

....In fact, a politician looking for that mythical microcosm -- the most typical state in the country -- should look no further than Wisconsin.

The Badger State comes closer than any other to state-by-state averages on 12 key measures, according to a new analysis by CNN Polling Director Keating Holland that takes a fresh look at U.S. Census data.

OK.  Here is our Wisconsin:

• We have Tammy Baldwin and Russ Feingold, two of the most principled politicians, respected for their integrity and their positions.  Both are Democrats.
• We may be the first state where the voters defeat a small minded, homophobic attack on gay marriage.
• We drink more brandy per capita than anyone else. and used to drink more than California, despite its overwhelming population.  My theory was it had to do with the beer.
• Madison is one of the most literate cities in America, and we still have locally-owned independent bookstores.
• Our taste in pizza, and most things cultural, is influenced by Chicago and New York, not the West Coast.
• We still have greater respect for lumberjacks and log rollers than for figure skaters and baton twirlers.  We love male and female speedskaters and hockey players.
• We are not afraid to spend good money on public education and child development (until recently).

Baldwin And Health: A Healing Combination

Rep. Tammy Baldwin demonstrates once again why we are proud she represents us. The Democrat, who serves Wisconsin's Second Congressional District, introduced  "The Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act".  As The Capital Times notes:

Development by legislators from both parties, as well as conservative and liberal groups, means that the measure would have broad support, she said.

States could develop plans varying as widely as single-payer health care systems or health savings accounts, but a certain level of benefits would be required.

While most elected officials introduce legislation before elections as a cheap shot to embarrass the opposition or create wedge issue, Baldwin has authored legislation that serves her district and the nation. Of particular note is the fact that she has two Republican co-sponsors.

Under the approach drafted by Baldwin, D-Madison and U.S. Reps. Tom Price, R-Ga., John Tierney, D-Mass., and Bob Beauprez, R-Colo.:

• States could submit proposals to expand health care coverage with a variety of approaches. A 19-member bipartisan commission made up of state, local and federal appointees would approve a slate of proposals that Congress would vote on.

• The states would become eligible for five-year federal grants. To obtain the funding, states would commit to specific reductions in the number and percentage of the uninsured. They would report to the commission on progress every year.

• Regions within states or regions including more than one state could apply for the grants.

• States would be encouraged to consider a variety of reform options such as tax credits, expansion of public programs such as Medicaid, creation of purchasing pools, single-payer systems, health savings accounts or combinations of these

Tammy is there to help solve problems; the District is fortunate that she's still young and will only gain seniority and clout as the House goes back to a Democratic majority in the next Congress.  That Republican radio guy Dave Magnum running against her again this November is only fooling himself thinking he has a chance.

Baseball, For the Love of the Game (and Money)

As the Major League Baseball trading deadline approaches on July 31, 2006 and teams scramble to spend that last dollar (that came out of my pocket) on some banjo hitter or over-the-hill sore armed pitcher that will get them into the playoffs, it is a good time to see how the big salaried teams are doing.

The top five spenders for 2006 and the position in their division as of today are: The Despicable Yankees (AL-East, 2nd), Prissy Boston Red Sox (Al-East, 1st), over-rated California-Anaheim-South LA Angels, (AL-West, 1st-tied), my retooled Chicago White Sox (AL-Central, 2nd and fading fast), Giant-Dodger replacements in Flushing Meadow Mets (NL-East 1st).

But take comfort. The sixth in spending, my beloved Dodgers, nee Brooklyn, are last in their division and not far behind them are the Cross-town, Cross-legged, Cat-crossed, Goat-bitten Chicago Cubs (got that brothers?).

What is nice is that some of the on-the cheap teams are doing well. The Reds, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks and the Oakland Castoffs, all with less than half to a third of the Hated Yankees' payroll, are either leading their divisions or solidly in the hunt for a wild card birth.

I don't know who I hate more, Selig or Steinbrenner. Reinsdorf would up there with them, but he does own the White Sox.

Local note: Minnie Minoso will be at the Mallards game at Warner Park, Friday, August, 4th - see you there.

Jerome Ringo and National Wildlife Federation

Jerome Ringo is the new head of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

Reading  The Nation, Green Goes Grassroots, (July 31, 2006), I was struck by:

...But what really sets Ringo apart both at NWF and throughout the mainstream movement's leadership is that he is black.

Like many others I am not alone in wondering why blacks are rarely seen in the environmental movement:

"I am the first African-American in history to head a major conservation group," he says. Environmentalism in the United States has been dominated by well-to-do white men since the late nineteenth century, when John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and Teddy Roosevelt first put the notion of preserving natural resources on the national agenda with their campaigns to establish publicly owned parks and wilderness areas. Alluding to this history, Ringo says the whiteness of today's movement isn't because of racism. It's simply that most environmental groups "were founded by people who fished to put fish on the wall, not by people who fished to put fish on the table. And for poor people, issues like ozone depletion have not been a priority, compared with next month's rent. But I tell people in Cancer Alley, What good is next month's rent if you're dying from cancer?"

Now Ringo wants to bring these varying constituencies together across class and racial lines to build a broader and more powerful green movement.

The Apollo Alliance:

Now Ringo wants to bring these varying constituencies together across class and racial lines to build a broader and more powerful green movement. His chosen vehicle, besides the NWF, is the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor unions, environmental groups, business leaders and elected officials that advocates a massive green jobs and development program for the United States. Apollo proposes investing $300 billion of public funds in green energy technologies over the next ten years. This investment would create 3 million new jobs and countless business opportunities, Apollo claims, while also fighting climate change and cutting US dependence on foreign oil. The benefits to poor and working-class Americans of such an economic stimulus program are clear, but the idea is also business-friendly enough to have attracted support from prominent Democratic moderates and other centrists, including the group Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Most mayors are enthusiastic:

At Anderson's (Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson) invitation, Ringo spoke about the Apollo program at the National Conference of Mayors in June and got a standing ovation, too. The Apollo message is ready-made for municipal governments; 235 mayors have committed their cities to meeting or exceeding the greenhouse-gas emissions reductions mandated by the Kyoto Protocol.

As I said years ago, there are two kinds of environmentalists: those who understand the city is part of the environment and those who do not.

Soglin and Konkel Agree: We Are Leaving Children Behind

Brenda Konkel provides some insightful information about the future of funding for children's recreation and after school programming in Madison.  City of Madison Children: Left Behind (Part I) :

Given that we keep approving all this sprawl to improve our taxbase, the fact that we don't have money to expand these much needed programs, something seems amiss.

These programs are critical for the health and development of our children. Theses programs are an essential element to keeping kids in school and out of gangs.

But we have not seen anything yet. Just wait until the budget numbers come in for Harambee and the related health agencies.

So much for progressive city government.

Raise the goddamn taxes.  And if it is too much of a burden on the property tax, then tell the state government to fix it, even if it means being perceived as critical.

"Left Wing Loonies" - Xoff Brilliant

The right wing does another fraudulent poll that, among other things, makes State Senator Tom Reynolds (R) look good.

Bill Christofferson, Xoff, does a post on the fraudulent poll.  He quotes Wisconsin Conservative Digest editor, Bob Dohnal.  This is the Dohnal who thinks that middle of the road Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnists, the Spice Boys, are too biased because of their stream of not so subtle jabs at Reynolds. Xoff:

Dohnal said the Reynolds results were especially good to see:

Spivak and Bice, the left wing loonies from the Milwaukee Journal have strongly made vicious, personal smears against Reynolds and his family, mainly because Dan Bice is strongly opposed to any Christians that are also conservative.

Left wing loonies? Then what am I?

I had to chuckle at that one. Xoff is right on. Occasionally we may be confused on the left, but we have not lost our equilibrium or our sense of direction.

Bicycling Dane County

I have been doing close to 100 miles a week bicycling Dane County this year. Observations:

• The most dangerous riders are on the trails, not the county and town roads.
• The most dangerous practices are riding two abreast into oncoming traffic, and wearing no helmet - usually the same people are guilty of both.
• Judging from the change in mowing practices in Orton and Olbrich Parks, I would say active recreation advocates won out.
• The plethora of illegal signs on front lawns and terraces have decreased since Lisa Subeck and I raised the issue a month ago.
  • Contractors are clearly the worse offenders, followed by landlords and restaurants.
  • I called City of Madison Building Inspection on two offenders and it was handled promptly.  I should not have had to make the call. They cleaned up the garish Midvale Heights Apartments.
  • Lisa: how is your area doing?
• The most littered street has to be the first 200 feet of Doncaster across from the apartment building. I am almost certain the apartment building's dumpsters are improperly placed and screened. I pity the poor single family residences down the block who keep the area tidy.
• I still enjoy using the Capital City Trail and then heading around Lake Monona and winding down State Street.  My two favorite retailers continue to be Paul's Bookstore (Carol is almost always in.) and Poster Master (Dan is just as likely to be in someone else's shop.). Local merchants!
• The bike lane on University Avenue needs reconstruction. For the number of bikers, it is just too dangerous.
• The ride to Paoli is the best.
• The Sixth District owes a lot to Michael Christopher. When he was elected to the City Council in 1973, he made a concerted effort to get as many trees planted as possible to replace the dead elms.  It paid off.

"Net Neutrality:" It's All About Control of the Internet and Your Wallet (And What You Watch and Download)

Waxingamerica editor Barry Orton, arguing for "Net Neutrality," has an op-ed article in today's Milwaukee JournalSentinel, which the paper headlined:  "Internet Speed Must Not be Based on Ability To Pay."  Orton warns:

If, in the interest of letting the phone companies compete with the cable companies for our video dollars, Congress finesses net neutrality by mandating no more than a simple study by the FCC, be prepared for a very different Internet.

Content branded "premium" could speed along using the fast lanes, and information for the rest of us might crawl bumper-to-bumper on the service roads.

The JournalSentinel ran an accompanying anti-neutrality piece by Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolfe for the phone company sock-puppet group "Hands Off the Internet:"

What is being proposed is a first--ever regulation of online services, under which the FCC would micromanage the way the Internet is architected, managed and priced. The likely result will be reluctance on the part of providers to offer such services because of the regulatory difficulty and legal uncertainty.

It's the same old telephone company political scare tactic: "don't regulate us, or we won't build you an adequate network."  Millions of dollars of advertising, lobbying, campaign contributions, and litigation seem to work every time.

The JournalSentinel also ran an editorial, calling for a "light touch" for Internet regulation, confusingly worrying: "... how do consumers benefit when innovation at one end of the highway is snarled because of a misguided attempt to protect it at the other?"

As Waxingamerica put it several times as this legislation moved through Congress: This is a massive economic and power grab.

(At least the JournalSentinel devoted some space to this issue, even if they came down editorially on the wrong side.  Readers of the Wisconsin State Journal still have not yet seen mention of Net Neutrality anywhere in the news or editorial pages.)

- Barry Orton

Halloween: A Case Study in Public Administration

At my request Madison City Attorney Mike May posted his opinion on the city charging for Halloween. (I am sure he would have done it anyway.)   Below is my email to him:

Michael:

Thank you for posting the Halloween opinion on the website.

I have a question, having read the opinion several times.  Where does it state that there is authority to charge individuals to enter State Street?

I take exception to your conclusions regarding Sec 66.0627 Wis. Stats.  I do not believe that the city can charge State Street property owners for the purpose you describe.  However, for the purpose of discussion I will concede that point.

If you are correct, how do you then get to the point of collecting the money from the people who wish to enter the street rather than the property owners. I do not see how you made the leap from Sec 66.0627 to collecting money from citizens without a municipal ordinance or enabling state statute.

This raises a more serious question: Both the expenditure and the contemplated revenue are clearly budget amendments.  You cannot set up a revenue source without putting it in the budget.  This violates virtually every state statute and city ordinance that cover revenues, expenditures, management of cash, accounting, and finance.

Where is the budget amendment?

There is clearly a serious constitutional question.  Now it has morphed into something larger than Halloween - significant fiscal matters implemented without benefit of municipal legislation or meeting the requirements of Secs 62.12(2), 62.12(3), 65.05 Wis. Stats.