Owners of timbered property in rural Wisconsin who were able to get a tax break if they opened their properties to hikers and hunters - - a justifiable trade off since the public was providing the tax break - - will now get to expand the acreage they assign to the program but will still receive a tax break even if they close some of the property to the general public.
The Walkerites did much the same thing when they closed public access to lands receiving the tax break on the periphery of the proposed open-pit mining zone in the Bad River watershed.
Additionally, logging fees on these lands which had previously been collected by the DNR will be transferred to local governments - - a nice new revenue stream locally, for sure - - but yet another way for Walker and his legislative allies who hate the DNR to starve it and justify more agency staff and program cuts statewide.
In this administration, special interests shall benefit at the expense of the general public even if the general public is supplying the benefit or takes a bigger picture hit.
And the Walker crowd doesn't miss a beat in directing public benefits and resources to special interests, especially where water and land are involved.
The Walkerites did much the same thing when they closed public access to lands receiving the tax break on the periphery of the proposed open-pit mining zone in the Bad River watershed.
Additionally, logging fees on these lands which had previously been collected by the DNR will be transferred to local governments - - a nice new revenue stream locally, for sure - - but yet another way for Walker and his legislative allies who hate the DNR to starve it and justify more agency staff and program cuts statewide.
In this administration, special interests shall benefit at the expense of the general public even if the general public is supplying the benefit or takes a bigger picture hit.
And the Walker crowd doesn't miss a beat in directing public benefits and resources to special interests, especially where water and land are involved.
Walker owes those folks, after all, he is making it legal to put feces and urine in their water. Remarkably, the folks that belly up to the public teat to get gubbermint handouts because they own land that cannot be farmed or developed (so it has trees), can be bribed by giving them tax breaks without having to do anything as long as Scott Walker can literally put sh!t in their water!
ReplyDeleteTo the teabaggin' mindset, pigging out on public subsidies is good if it benefits them. Anyone else benefit from sane, rational, economically necessary direct or indirect subisidies that ensure we have an economy that benefits everyone?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the right-wing echo chamber they lead (with the help of hate-AM-radio amplifying the racism) has succeeded in propagandizing a significant number of Badger State citizens that toxic manure run-off is a good thing for you, your children, and elders!
To those landowners that leach off taxpayers with their land that is not able to be productively used in any other way than letting trees grow, what could be better than FREE MONEY with no strings attached!
Here's the foolishness of Wisconsin DNR's massive give-away to people that own land that is good for little else than growing trees:
Wisconsin was entirely clear-cut (except for insignificantly small forest preserves). The timber barons raped the Badger State and created a dangerous situation directly responsible for massive and deadly fires like in Peshtigo. It was these distorted monopolistic "market" forces that destroyed one of the most diverse and pristine habitats in North America.
To imagine that government handouts to teabaggers that rally against rational public investments is good policy is insane. Wisconsin could end the large subsidies for weathly land-owners and there would be no shortage of trees here -- they would not go anywhere. They would continue to sprout and grow on most of the land that is now forests.
All public-private "partnerships" are scams -- you and I pay the costs and wealthy insiders keep the revenues. Do not listen to DNR Department of Forestry hacks tell you that Wisconsin's subsidies for woodlands is a successful program. These programs serve no legitimate purpose in the 21st Century.
Walker has to give his teabaggin' property owners something, because he is contaminating their water with some of the most-foul waste on earth (and toxic chemicals too). He can buy them off at no additional cost -- let them keep their taxpayer subsidies and release them from providing something of value to the citizens that payed their massive subsidies.
Walker is not a bright man, but the interests behind him know how to divide, conquer, play the race card, and reward his base with give-aways that he takes from the rest of us.
James:
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty clear that neither your nor the previous commenter really understand the MFL program or how it works. And you also forgot to mention that the rate at which the land is taxed annually went up considerably in the past several years, and that when timer is harvested you pay a severance tax on the volume, making up the difference in deferred taxes.
Full disclosure: I wouldn't vote for walker of any of the other R's under the big dome. But I am a proponent of fair reporting.