Brewtown Gumshoe

• Sunday Reading

  America's sea of red ink was years in the making
  
  Arizona economy may be worse than Michigan
  
  State and local budget cuts a time bomb for jobs
  
  State and local budget relief needed
  
  Steele's fuzzy math
  
  Who's to blame [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 12:01pm EST
  

• Money For Nothing

  Workers need to sacrifice, unions must make concessions, programs and services must be cut...belts need to be tightened.
  
  Unless it applies to the highway lobby, then we've got $22 million (which will likely end up much more) available for temporary fixes. Subsidizing the sprawl of business and' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 8:19am EST
  

• Tax Spanking

  Enough of this bullsh@# trying to paint Wisconsin as a "tax hell." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in step with their corporate cronies, complains continually about the taxes in Wisconsin. (The latest article states Wisconsin has improved, but, nevertheless, still implies we're onerous.)
  
  [And, seriously, if, as a' [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:23am EST
  

• Smart Growth?

  It's great that back in 1999 Wisconsin got on the Smart Growth bandwagon and required Wisconsin counties and communities to adopt a growth plan within 10 years. But how serious were we?
  
  A month or so before plans are due many communities will fail to make the deadline. [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 9:05am EST
  

• Eat The Rich

  Great article by Sam Pizzigati, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Have The Rich Won?
  
  Excerpts:
  
  Americans in the bottom 90% saw their average incomes increase a meager $47 a year between 1974 and 2007.The top 1% households made 12 times more income than the bottom [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:31pm EST
  

• Deficit Hypocrisy

  From Crooks and Liars, Born Again Deficit Virgins. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:24pm EST
  

• Wisconsin Budget Reality

  Some much needed perspective on Wisconsin's budgetary situation. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:20pm EST
  

• Housing Handouts

  Gifts for home builders and expensive home buyers. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:14pm EST
  

• Park It

  Yet another failure of privatization. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:50am EST
  

• Walk(er) Away

  Scott Walker rode into town, full of right-wing talking points, promising glory and growth for Milwaukee County.
  
  He's failed. County could face another budget crisis in 2010.
  
  He's gutted services, flip-flopped on serving only one term, terminated family-supporting jobs, all while digging a [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:33am EST
  

• Laughable Curve

  Tax cuts as public policy prescription for economic growth have been empirically proven ineffective for decades. Arthur Laffer's curve is a laugher indeed.
  
  As James Rowen highlights, John Kovari, of the Public Policy Forum, finds more corroborating evidence to support this conclusion.
  
  The fact that we' [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 4:16pm EST
  

• Drama Queen

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  Sarah Palin claims to not like drama. She’s [...]

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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 7:25pm EST
  

• Discrimination

  Ah, the stench of intolerance. Just what we want in a governor. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:54pm EST
  

• Job Creation

  Two good articles from the Journal Sentinel (here and here) highlighting the need for job creation programs. This should be the focus of the next stimulus package.
  
  For Further Reading:
  It's About Job Shortage, Not Skills Mismatch
  It's No Time To Cut Public Investments
  [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 10:12am EST
  

• Watering Down Corporate Accountability

  Lately, there's been a big push for making Milwaukee a water research hub. Richard Meeusen, CEO of Badger Meter Inc. and board member of WMC, has been one of the number one cheerleaders behind such efforts.
  
  In 2003, Badger Meter paid $125, 728 in corporate' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:56am EST
  

• Rectifying Reagan Fabrications

  Paul Krugman corrects a few (of the many) Reagan myths. [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:48am EST
  

• Save Our City

  We are finally beginning to publicly discuss UWM's "entrepreneurial" strategy, specifically their proposed engineering school on County grounds near Wauwatosa. Too bad much of the dialogue is condescending and superficial. The cabal of power brokers hell-bent on pushing forward with the suburban location are rather dismissive and disdainful of' [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:33pm EST
  

• The Funnies

  Jon Stewart skewers Glenn Beck.
  
  Stephen Colbert satirizes private health care and mocks privatization, in general. [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:57am EST
  

• Lies, Lies, Lies

  As is their want, the right-wing is energetically espousing revisionist and false views, and accomplishing their objective of having these lies envelop and permeate public discourse, thereby, sadly, steering the debate.
  
  Complaints regarding President Obama's employment numbers are simply petty, bitter, and nothing less than an attempt to besmirch' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:34am EST
  

• A Vacancy of Development Ideas

  More hilarity from the Journal Sentinel in Right Place, Right Time.
  
  Yes, more development boosterism. They editorialize about the Moderne, on Third and Juneau, being a project that will "kick-start" the Park East. And it will only cost the city "about $10 million."
  
  They quote a Wally [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:19am EST
  

• Luring Lunacy

  The Journal Sentinel's 'bend over and take it for business' boosterism is on full display in Tax Credits, Loans Luring Entrepreneurial Start-ups.
  
  The article basically rounds up the cast of giveaways Wisconsin (and others) uses to try to attract and retain business. It then concedes they work wonderfully' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:03am EST
  

• A Giant Sucking Sound

  Half of the $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate mortgages due in the next five years currently owe more than they're worth.
  
  We're not out of the woods yet. We should listen to Joe Stiglitz, nationalize bad banks, and get these toxic assets out of the system [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:52am EST
  

• Holding Cities Hostage

  The Institute for Wisconsin's Future has the whole story of the Mercury Marine debacle.
  
  For Further Reading:
  Mercury Marine Twisted Saga' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:48am EST
  

• Soak 'Em

  Shouldn't the water rate increase difference between the City and the suburbs be a disincentive for persons or businesses to locate in the suburbs? I can accept higher water rates as a City resident. But suburban rates should be substantially higher, to dissuade further sprawl. Shouldn't the cost of [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:09am EST
  

• The Wind Beneath My Wings

  Elizabeth Warren is the real deal.
  
  I agree with Matt Taibbi. [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:16pm EST
  

• Impatience

  After eight years of shit, and Obama being unable to bring the world back from the brink of destruction in ten months, we need to keep banging our head against the same old wall. [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 11:03pm EST
  

• Stimulation

  Lets get the next stimulus package done now.
  
  For Further Reading:
  How We Know The Stimulus Is Working [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:26pm EST
  

• Fair and Balanced Puerility

  "A man-child...a large ego...narcissistic..."
  
  The negatives, outlandish claims, and petty personal insults are aplenty in this "educational" interview.
  
  Guess who?
  
  Impetuously, and without a trace of self-awareness, that is Rush Limbaugh describing President Obama to Chris Wallace. [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 7:55pm EST
  

• Taking The Long View

  John Gurda has a great article with some thoughtful points regarding the future of Milwaukee, the public sector, taxes, and the irrelevancy we will face if we keep making the wrong choices. [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 7:50pm EST
  

• All Wet

  Do we have to give our water away?
  
  The City of Milwaukee is considering giving free water to businesses that locate in the City and create jobs.
  
  We have a comparative advantage in water and lower water rates than most of the country. This means "water-intensive" industries [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 6:09pm EST