Wisconsin's Anti-Business Attitude: Enough Blame to Go Around

Before we get to Patrick McIlheran's opinion piece, The Price of Ignoring the Price in Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we should check with our friends at Wisconsin Manufacturing & Commerce (WMC).

Here is the WMC Manufacturers Survey from 2006:

McIlheran attended what he called a 'good government Public Policy Forum,'  in Milwaukee, or at least he had something to say about it:

Taxes, of course: These were CEOs, so within minutes someone mentioned that ranking about 40th or so on tax climate doesn't help. Debate the criteria all you want, but the people deciding where the plant goes think they're valid.

Yup, we are still getting this line about taxes, even though WMC's own studies show that taxes are at the bottom of the list - right down there with that other phony issue, tort reform (lawsuit abuse).

McIlheran goes on to address another issue, and this is one that I believe is a legitimate concern: attitude.

Unexpected, however, was how blunt these business leaders were about the underlying attitude..."It's the tone of the place, the tone of the political economy," said John Shiely, head of Briggs & Stratton.... Why expand where the local culture is hostile to the creating of wealth? "It's the vestige of the old Milwaukee Socialist ethic," he says.

Wrong.

There is no question that there is anti-business sentiment in Wisconsin and that it is a serious problem. As I have observed, there are some people who are going to oppose anything, no matter how beneficial it is for the community, if business is behind it.

Changing the anti-business attitude is going to take two efforts. Those of us on the political left are going to have to deal with some of our own.

But the business community needs to do the same. When WMC constantly calls Wisconsin a 'tax hell,' misrepresents the nature of taxation in our state, and then works to shift the tax burden from businesses to residential property owners, they build significant resentment. It should also be noted that conservative voters, whipped up by right-wing talk radio, are as anti-business as their counterparts on the left when it comes time to forging business-public sector partnerships.

Leaders in the Wisconsin business community must stand up to WMC and tell them to put a muzzle on it.

As for "vestige of the old Milwaukee Socialist ethic," it was during those one hundred years that Milwaukee became a mighty industrial giant. Fairness, equitable taxation, worker protections, and industrial growth all occurred simultaneously. And arguments  that in this new international economy we are going to have duplicate working conditions in China are not going to cut it.

Fortunately, there are regional alliances of business, government and organized labor who are ignoring the WMC party line and working to make Wisconsin work.

Milwaukee 7- The Milwaukee7, launched in September 2005, was formed to create a regional, cooperative economic development platform for the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin.

The New North - Their mission is to harness and promote the region's resources, talents and creativity for the purposes of sustaining and growing the regional economy.

Thrive - Madison Region   "The eight-county Madison Region of Wisconsin is the ideal place for your business and your family to thrive. Our unique geographical placement is at the apex of the world's largest freshwater resource (the Great Lakes Basin) and some of the richest farmland in the world. This natural abundance shapes our cultures, our communities, and our economic drivers."

Did anyone else attend this conference? All that came out of it was whining and complaining? There was no recognition of the positive things being done by Governor Doyle, M 7, and other leaders?

End note: please send me links to the other regional economic development partnerships and I will post them here.

Update 11:00 am: Yesterday Whallah!, the all seeing, all knowing mother of all blogs, posted: It Taxes The Mind, jumping all of us on the tax issue.

Comments

[kr]

Patrick McIlheran and the WMC are all partisan politics and no solution.

If the WMC is about progress, then they'd do less to support our jurassic reich wing radio infrastructure which has a medieval suspicion of anything new and innovative. Anything that smacks of progress or the common good from rail systems to smoking bans to regional cooperation gets slammed by these mental midgets.

Charlie of course is touchy about this kind of talk, but the opinions expressed on his station and Belling's should stay in the bars where they belong.

[Freefall]

"When WMC constantly calls Wisconsin a 'tax hell,' misrepresents the nature of taxation in our state, and then works to shift the tax burden from businesses to residential property owners, they build significant resentment."

Thank you! Well put. WMC, what goes around, comes around. You let your own board misrepresent members' concerns, and now you have "concerns" about the "tone" around here? Take responsibility for creating it with misinformation.

It is not the everyday citizens of Wisconsin who are discouraging businesses from coming here, not us taking out ads and trumping up lies fed to your bloggers about the business climate here.

It is you badmouthing Wisconsin, WMC. You create the mess, we live with it -- and you tax us more for it. I have looked up your board list and member list and am boycottig you, WMC.

[raul]

Paul

You are being dishonest.

Look at question 16 on the survey.

Top policy problem facing the state: Taxes. No. 2. Health Care. No 3 Lawsuit abuse.

You are nuts.

Keep up the good work.

[Jack Lohman]

A major factor to the business climate is health care costs, and WMC is obviously inclined not to solve it. They sell health insurance and it would not help them to lose that product. I'd call that a conflict of interest that WMC members should address.

The Healthy Wisconsin bill would add $15 billion in payroll taxes and eliminate $17 billion in health care premiums. To most of us, that's a $2 billion reduction in business expenses. It'll bring new businesses to the state and keep old businesses here. That means more jobs and greater wealth. If WMC were not making profits on selling employee health care insurance, I think they'd welcome it.

[John Foust]

OK, Raul, what does question 16 say?

[Matt B]

Our unique geographical placement is at the apex of the world's largest freshwater resource (the Great Lakes Basin)

All eight counties are outside the GL watershed, are they not? What are they talking about?

[Jack Lohman]

Given Raul's answers above (Taxes. Health Care. Lawsuit abuse), it looks like all three can be tied directly to our moneyed political system. Our state legislature gives away $1300 per taxpayer per year to the fat cats that fund their election, and that translates to taxes. And they refuse to put forth meaningful health care reform because of all the money they get from WMC and insurance companies. And the trial attorneys? You guessed it. It is also called money.