Walker, GOP 'austerity' legislators trigger new local road fees
The fiscal phonies in Scott Walker's equally fake 'small government' GOP regime love to pose for holy pictures at budget signing time for purportedly saving taxpayer money, but all they are doing is playing is one of the oldest and most cynical budgeting games around - - slashing state spending on something basic, like street repairs, giving Wisconsin a horrible national pothole rating of fourth worst nationally...
thereby forcing city councils and county boards who to add local 'wheel taxes' to stem the flow of angry constituent calls by making up the intentional, state-mandated funding shortfall with new fees..
The locals have to take the wheel tax heat, while the fiscal phonies around the State Capitol party with the road-builders who are going to get fresh billions for new and wider roads in Milwaukee which Walker has lied about because they are unwanted by the people with the most land, clean air and peace of mind to lose.
The locals have to take the wheel tax heat, while the fiscal phonies around the State Capitol party with the road-builders who are going to get fresh billions for new and wider roads in Milwaukee which Walker has lied about because they are unwanted by the people with the most land, clean air and peace of mind to lose.
6 comments:
All valid observations, but the salient point is absent:
Without massive amounts of media propaganda blanketing the state mascarading as news, there would be no divide-and-conquer politics nor would we see socialism for the wealthy and austerity for the masses disguised as "small government".
I guess we each need to decide what types of analysis we can comfortably share based on our insight, expertise, and abilities; but is seems so wrong to make this about the people in front of the microphones and cameras and not about the media bias and outright lies.
Sure, on any given day, we may see mention of the facts you blog about in mainstream media -- but it is the exception, not the rule. Not only has no newspaper, radio, or television news team in Wisconsin connected the dots in this post, but the state's largest newspaper endorses everything Walker and the rest of the state's media shills jump on the bandwagon.
The lie of objective journalism has never been more obvious than across Wisconsin over the past several years. While many claim democracy requires an informed electorate, in-fact our "4th Estate" does everything it can to mislead and obfuscate.
And when that doesn't work? They tell bold-faced lies.
You bring up good points in this post, but I personally believe that Wisconsin's dysfunctional media echo-chamber bears more responsibility for this mess than the koch politicians. If it wasn't Walker and the current gang of repug thugs, it would be other koch whores -- there is a long line waiting to work exclusively for the 1%.
And everyone in that line knows that they can catapult the propaganda because Wisconsin's media does not exist to inform.
Actually plenty of local media have reported on these wheel taxes.
What needs to be done is to connect the dots between those actions and the decisions at the state level not to adequately fund transportation or local government. That goes directly to Walker and WisGOP
PS- Fresh take Anon! Never seen you give a multi-paragraph complaint about media propaganda before!
What local governments have implemented a wheel tax? No rural counties will do it. No acceptable level of wheel tax of a small population would begin to fix the county roads AND the local stretches of state highways. Under Walker transportation budgeting at the state level lobs the hot potato to local government.
The Marathon County Board just voted to approve a $25 annual county wheel tax. The City of Wausau has asked the county for their "taste", and the county has said "No". Soooo... the City of Wausau is now considering it's own vehicle tax. If approved, a city resident (who is obviously also a resident of Marathon County) is going to get clipped for about $50 a year for road repairs. But the important thing to remember is that Walker cut your property taxes by $18.
Here's the list so far, Will. Chippewa, Iowa and St Croix Counties so far, and as Mark notes, add Marathon County to that list soon.
Also include nearly 20 individual communities on top of that.
It will not be long before Walkerstan follows Texas, Michigan and several other states who have aggressively moved to tear up blacktopped roads in need of repair and make them gravel roads rather than spend the money to repair them. Maybe it's just me but I'm old enough to remember traveling around many places less than 75 miles further north than Madison and the only road to many of those towns was gravel. Dusty and rut filled until it rains and then you can add mud to the lovely drive. Winter and snow are a whole other paradise for travelers. This will be the plan here unless of course one owns a northern retreat and has made the appropriate contributions.
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