GARVEYBLOG
July 2, 2009
Good faith, you say?
By Ed Garvey
The grim news seems to come in big dollops these days. GM closes Janesville plant--1,200 out of work; Chrysler takes our money to build a plant in Mexico in order to fire hundreds of workers in Kenosha; and then good old Briggs and Stratton announces the closing of its plant in Jefferson--520 jobs lost in a small town will pack a wallop. (Last year Briggs closed a lawn mower site in Port Washington and hundreds of jobs were thrown out like so much garbage.)
Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Executive, is so busy running for governor on his platform--"If I took Milwaukee County to the brink of economic disaster, imagine what I could do for Wisconsin"--that he can't take time to resolve budget problems. Nope! "Where is my Harley? I'm out of here," he yells as he furloughs hundreds of employees who had a contract based on good faith.
Let me explain why I'm angry. GM, Chrysler, and Briggs have been subsidized by the taxpayers of Wisconsin for decades. We trusted them. We gave them the Machinery & Equipment tax exemption known as the M&E exemption (A Pat Lucy idea). In turn, the manufacturers promised to keep jobs in Wisconsin. The quid (tax breaks) for the quo (jobs) is based on good faith. But here is the rub. If the manufacturer takes the exemption and leaves Wisconsin for Mexico, Czech Republic or China,(Briggs) they just do it. No offer to return the subsidy to Wisconsin. They don't even say, "Thanks, chump." "Hey! This is capitalism. Our duty is to shareholders not the workers or the state."
Briggs ignored the good faith promise, opened plants in the Czech Republic and China--and said, in essence, "To hell with Port Washington and Jefferson and Wisconsin." Good faith? Forget it.
Here is a modest proposal. When a company gets the M&E, how about placing 20 percent of the savings in escrow every year to be given back to Wisconsin if the company takes off. What's wrong with that? Ah, says Briggs, just trust us!
As for Walker, ride on, ride on.
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ARTICLE
July 2, 2009
New cars, used people
By Ed Garvey
We don't know if GM broke the rules in its decision to locate its new plant outside of Wisconsin, because we don't know what the rules are and no one will tell us.
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GARVEYBLOG
July 1, 2009
The smoke begins to clear
By Ed Garvey
OK, Wisconsin has a budget, no new taxes to speak of, no long-range transit plans, no public money to fund our out-of-reach-for-normal-people legislative races, and Jim Doyle will not head the Peace Corps as rumored. Oh well, like the Cubs, wait 'til next year--or term!
But lets begin with a superb decision issued by the Supreme Court of Minnesota. A 5-0 decision so solid that Norm Coleman raised the white flag. Not even Scalia or Thomas could be counted on to over-turn this decision. Franken won the election fair and square. (Imagine if the Supreme Court in Washington had been as judicious in 2000 and had done the right thing and ruled for Gore. But for that stolen election, there would not have been an invasion of Iraq, torture-the U.S. way, secret CIA prisons and renditions, a Wall Street disaster, a Bernard Madoff...too much to contemplate?)
Congratulations, Al Franken. Hope to see you at Fighting Bob Fest.
Who knew? Herb Kohl met with his newly created panel of advisers on Supreme Court nominees. (I think it is new--never read about it before. It is, according to Kohl's office jam-packed with scholars, citizens, non-partisans--whatever that means.) Surprise--no list of the advisers was included.
Speaking of non-partisans, Ron Kind, candidate for some higher office at all times, will co-chair the a think tank called "Third Way." I am not making this up. Catch this Madison-Avenue-drafted mission statement:
"Third Way is the Leading Think Tank (only think tank) of the Moderate Wing of the Progressive Movement." Whoa Nelly! Then this catchy phrase that I hope is put to music by Peter Leidy at Bob Fest: "COME LET US REASON TOGETHER: A GOVERNING AGENDA TO END THE CULTURE WARS."
Yikes! What culture wars? How about the class war, Ron?
Then we have the emerging Congressman Paul Ryan, suddenly cast as GOP presidential material. (Presumably that means no trips to Argentina.) Praise is coming from un-indicted war criminal Dick Cheney, and from Grover Norquist, the guy who would drown government in a bathtub. OK, Paul!
Finally this from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Legislative races in 2008 cost $20 million. Oh, did money make a difference? Ya think, Ole? Well here is your answer: 87 percent of the races were won by the candidate who spent the most. Now that is nuts!
The welcome mat at the Senate Democratic caucus will be ready after July 4 to welcome a former comedian, Al Franken, who joins the ranks of amateurs.
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GARVEYBLOG
June 30, 2009
Let us hear the trumpet!
By Ed Garvey
Dustin Beilke reminds us of Anthony Lewis's great book, Gideon's Trumpet in a wonderful but scary post entitled "Tuneless Trumpet," but he doesn't stop there. No, he tells the truth about the regressive, once progressive, state of Wisconsin. We are Mississippi for heaven's sake!
Public Defenders are appointed to the "non-rich-non-white" criminal defendants only because the 6th Amendment requires representation. Not effective, aggressive, and competent counsel, just someone with a law degree who will work for $40 per hour--losing money every hour she puts in. If the accused thinks the appointee is nuts, drunk, or incompetent? "Shut-up they explain."
I fear that the Legislature would can the 6th Amendment if it could! Instead our legislators strangle it.
This is embarrassing. If only we had governors who are/were lawyers---oops!
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ARTICLE
June 30, 2009
Tuneless trumpet
By Dustin Beilke
Wisconsin is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to paying for attorneys for the indigent.
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GARVEYBLOG
June 29, 2009
One person's crisis...
By Ed Garvey
Bill Kraus wrote a great blog post yesterday: "A crisis and an opportunity." Lots to think about. He reminds me that Fighting Bob Fest is just two months away and I can't wait to see all of you as we plunge in seeking answers to the difficult problems we face. Again, Kraus gives us his priorities and soon it is your turn.
There will be plenty of inspirational speeches from Tom Harkin, our third Senator; our mainstay, Jim Hightower, everyone's favorite populist; Jeremy Scahill, who exposed Blackwater in Iraq and New Orleans; Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore; 100-year-old "Granny D" Haddock, who walked across America at age 90 and then wrote Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell. With lots of good music, good food and beer, the Raging Grannies, Peter Leidy and more, we should focus on how we can effectively oppose more war, stop foreclosures, save our newspapers, push single-payer health care, well...there are plenty of challenges.
How about three Bob Fests next year? Baraboo, Eau Claire, Milwaukee? Your reaction.
Cost of war: As the news tells us that U.S. combat missions in Iraq will soon end, it is worth remembering the cost--Iraq: $682 billion; Afghanistan--$191 billion. What's that you say? Can't afford national health care? You jest!
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GUESTBLOG
June 28, 2009
A crisis and an opportunity
By Bill Kraus
The Wisconsin budget crisis is behind us to the extent it isn’t ahead of us due to latent structural deficits. The governor can veto out some pork and whatever additions offend him, but it is fundamentally his baby.
As agonizing as recession politics are, which are characterized by the worst of all worlds--lower income and higher cost--they do offer opportunities to rethink and rearrange the status quo. The status quo one should remember is not an accident. Someone put it there. And those someones are mobilized to make sure it stays put. The most serious threat to our democracy, as the NY Times Bill Safire pointed out 31 years ago, is hardening of the arteries.
Among the things on my unfulfilled wish list are:
1. The icon of local control of schools when most of the funding comes from elsewhere should be addressed. The state is putting up most of the money. The state should run the system. Set up a Department of Education as a cabinet office, fold DPI into it, and start running K-12 as the state system the Constitution envisioned.
2. How about turning the property tax into a series of fees for services and assess it on every piece of property that gets those services? Fire protection, police protection, waste collection, roads, and other vital services go to churches, non-profits, hospitals, everyone. Everyone should pay.
3. K-12 and vocational and technical education costs which are paid in part or in full with property taxes could be picked up by the state which has access to the almost equally unpopular income tax or the most popular of an unpopular category, the sales tax.
4. Wisconsin is awash in governmental units. What is it that towns do except conduct elections? Which brings up the parallel point that we have a ridiculous number of election districts in Wisconsin. Is it time to eliminate towns?
What about counties in metro areas. Isn't it time for us to have metro districts that fold in the suburbs and the cities and villages that are really part of the greater inter-dependent metro system?
6. Is it not time to extend the sales tax to services to recognize, among other things, that ours is increasingly a service economy. There’s a good excuse lying around for putting a sales tax on legal fees, to take one service at random. The money this would raise could be used in part to pay for court elections. This would eliminate the unsavory practice of lawyers paying to elect judges, and would have the desirable side effect for lawyers of not having to make those contributions. It may be more of a cost transference than a tax increase. Win-win.
7. There are minor cost savings available as well. All the work that the Constitution drafters assigned to offices like the secretary of state and the state treasurer has been taken over by the Department of Administration. These offices can be eliminated, which would require amending the Constitution over the dead bodies of the traditionalists from both parties. How about simply not funding them, which wouldn't?
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GARVEYBLOG
June 28, 2009
How many unemployed?
By Ed Garvey
Now and then a fact jumps off the page and scares me. Bob Herbert, one of my favorite columnists wrote Saturday in the NY Times, that "seven million people were officially counted as unemployed in November 2007, a month before the recession began. Now there are about 14 million. Add part time and discouraged and the underutilization rate is truly alarming...nearly 30 million as of May 2009."
One explanation that the DLC would hate to hear is, you guessed it, NAFTA. The Clinton Democrats pushed NAFTA through Congress and now we know that the warnings from Ross Perot to the UAW were, if anything, understated. Take Kenosha. Chrysler will close the engine plant, take our money to build an identical engine plant is Mexico, and purchase more parts from China while our workers in Kenosa hit the streets. NAFTA on steroids. Time to repeal NAFTA? You betcha!
Marinette County: I spoke in Marinette Thursday and had lots of fun. Single-payer health care, public financing of campaigns, and re-districting were hot buttons. Several in the audience will be at Fighting Bob Fest, and and at least 10 volunteered to write articles for www.FightingBob.com. A good trip.
Recall that Citigroup will reward employees with big pay increases. Citi got about $45 billion from us. Japan just told Citigroup to suspend advertising in Japan because they violated banking rules. Is there no end to their nonsense?
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ARTICLE
June 28, 2009
Anti-business plan
By Bill Berry
Our lousy health care system is an impediment to small business success and innovation.
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GARVEYBLOG
June 27, 2009
What is in the package?
By Ed Garvey
GM screwed us again and the governor and Tim Cullen ask, "Were we used by GM?" What did we say as kids? Is the Pope Catholic and do bears....in the woods? Oh, say it ain't true! Doyle said he was "deeply disappointed" that GM hadn't chosen "a very strong package" offered by Janesville, Rock County and the state.
"I do not believe that Michigan matched us. I certainly hope that we were not used to leverage more resources from Michigan." (Question: Wouldn't GM have been irresponsible not to use Wisconsin's package to get more from Michigan?)
C'mon! For goodness sakes--Were there any rules established for the bidding process? Doyle doubts Michigan matched our package. If that is important, then find out. Let us be the judge. Get the White House to tell us the content of Michigan's package so we can compare the two. Did Michigan cheat? Before we decide if we were used, tell us what was in the package personally delivered to GM by Governor Doyle. Did he offer tax breaks? Money? Wage concessions? What was so good that he doubts Michigan could match us?
I thought our government owned GM. No? If we do, and if the president fired the CEO, and if...you get the picture. Should Doyle have taken the package to the White House instead of Detroit? Bring back Monte Hall and "Lets make a deal"! Maybe a public bid process would level the playing field. But the governor likes closed doors. I'm confused.
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