Milwaukee and SE Wisconsin – Don’t Be A Transit Lemming

Transit, we all need it, we all use it (in varying ways) and in SE Wisconsin we all argue about it.  Over the last decade and a half the argument, for all intents and purposes, has been around what type of MASS transit are we going to build with the federal money we received exclusively for mass transit.  There have been multiple proposals from a multitude of people, organizations, and third party (“unbiased”) think tanks, but we are still sitting here after more than a decade with millions in the bank account.

Now, to start things off, I want to get my opinion out there so there is no ambiguity or that anyone gets the impression I have a secret agenda – I am NOT a proponent of light rail, additions to the train system, trolley cars, and the like.  I will admit that having mass transit (subways, light rail), can be convenient, but so can plexi-glass enclosed sidewalks (to avoid this horrendous cold and incessant snow), but when you stack up the costs of building, staffing, and maintaining these convenient little trains, the numbers don’t match up.  There is approximately 91 million dollars available to this area to build some sort of mass transit system, and the latest and greatest proposal being plopped on the table is the KRM (Kenosha to Racine to Milwaukee) rail line.  The advantages that are being thrown out there by the pro-transit crowd are: increased development along the rail line, it will be attached to the Chicago METRA line – furthering the line usage, and property values would go up 10%.  All of which is garbage.  There is no discernable proof that development along the lines would crop up, much less be successful (and before I get comments on Portland and other cities, please do your homework and find out the cost figures to build and sustain those lines and compare that to the increase in taxes from the so called development.  You will find there is a negative pay-back to the community as it relates to “development”).  The connection to the METRA line is a worthless argument.  Let’s take a hypothetical: I’m living in Milwaukee and I want to go to Chicago via the KMR/METRA line.  I catch the KMR line in downtown Milwaukee (I’ll say at the newly renovated Intermodal Station – still can’t stand that moniker, but oh well) and head down south.  According to the proposal I will stop at:

1. Milwaukee Southside
2. Cudahy/St. Francis
3. South Milwaukee
4. Oak Creek
5. Caledonia
6. Racine
7. Somers
8. Kenosha

NOW WE GET ON THE METRA LINE – assuming the extension goes through

1) Waukegan

2) Lake Forest

3) Highland Park

4) Braeside

5) Wilmette

6) Evanston

7) Chicago

 Whew, that’s a lot of stops for 90 mile ride.  I am sure if you’re a resident of Milwaukee, and want to commute to Chicago (or vice versa), this mode of transportation would be the best, most cost effective, timely form of transportation you could take.  What a farce.  By their own admission the 33 mile ride from Milwaukee to Kenosha (normally a 35-40 min ride would be 57 mins.  Take that ride AND the ride from Kenosha to Chicago and you have at least a 2 hour commute.  I lived in Chicago for awhile and temporarily commuted.  If you leave at the right time, your trip to downtown Chicago from Milwaukee is one and a half hours (that’s in the morning, arrival in Chicago: 7:15 am).   In this scenario your daily commute is an additional hour, 5 hours a week, 20 hours a month, etc, etc, etc. 

I could go on and on about how this plan is an absolute joke, but that is for a later post.  I wanted to finish on a recent article I read that adds just another layer of B.S. to this whole debate.  The following link is an article in the JSOnline reporting on the quotes and findings of one Tom Rubin from the libertarian think tank called The Reason Foundation.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/36210564.html  He says that many of the numbers the KRM support group has come up with regarding development along the rail line, rider-ship and property value increases are over-stated and that an express bus system is the better way to go.  This after a paid consulting gig from that same group caused him to all but wholeheartedly support the KRM plan.  Thanks Tom.  I’m so glad you can do such in-depth analysis on a transit issue and come up with a “solution” in June, and then come up with another “solution” trumping the one you just made 6 months ago.  This is the problem people.  Even the so called experts cannot come up with proper or agreeable conclusions to this issue, and I’m just supposed to pour 100’s of millions of taxpayer dollars into this because every other city is stupid enough to?  Yeah that’s right; I’m challenging the argument; “Well, Portland, St. Louis, Dallas, Minneapolis, and every other city is building light rail, why is Milwaukee so far behind?”  It’s the same answer I got when I was a kid and the same one I’ll give my kids and everyone reading this post: “If your group of friends jumped off a bridge, would you?”  Light rail and the experts (a loose term mind you) that consult, lobby, and support it are a joke.  Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and all other SE Wisconsin residents, do not follow that lemming in front of you off the financial cliff, you’ll regret it.

Quick Hit – City of Milwaukee “Intelligence”

 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36225944.html

 This is genius, pure genius.  A politician that understands that government does not need to tell private business how to ACTUALLY RUN their business and he’s acting on it.  The electorate in the City of Milwaukee, in “all its wisdom”, voted to mandate (MANDATE) that all businesses in the city provide sick days to ALL employees.  That’s not just anti-business, that’s just stupid.  We live in a city/county/state that is soooooo over-taxed, and soooooo anti-business and the City of Milwaukee decides to tell businesses how to compensate their employees.  Phenomenal logic (if you can even call it logic)…..

 

What’s next?  Mandate that all companies provide two weeks vacation?  Mandate that all companies provide health insurance?  Mandate that all companies provide on-site child care, or that all companies HAVE TO provide a pension?  Some (actually all) of those mandates are ludicrous, especially for those small businesses or businesses with temporary or part time employees.  Here’s the good part, if you would have told me that a government was going to force all companies in its jurisdiction to provide sick days to all employees, I would have told you that was ludicrous too.  The fact that South Milwaukee alderman Michael McCarthy not only voiced his opinion against this debacle of a referendum, but is actively seeking to exclude his district from it, is necessary and refreshing.  Kudos to Alderman McCarthy, and I hope everything goes the way he plans it…When/if I decide to start a small business, and this joke of legislation passes in the City of Milwaukee, and South Milwaukee is excluded, guess where I’ll be looking to set up shop first?!?!?

Quick Hit – Denise Revels Robinson

The first thing I have to say to this is, GOOD RIDDANCE….. 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36179844.html

As far as I’m concerned the state is not doing enough to all of the responsible parties in this debacle.  I mean a poor THIRTEEN MONTH old child died, and all Robinson says is she wants a transfer?!?!?  AND La Causa response to this was to ”re-assign” the case worker and demote the supervisor?!?!?  Unacceptable, but par for the course when it comes to organizations that have to “report” to the government or ARE the government.  These are the organizations, and people, we want controlling our health care (amongst other things)????  Unbelievable!

Corruption, Partisanship, and Everything Else

Who’s more corrupt Milwaukee or Chicago?  OK, that’s an easy answer – Chicago right?!?!?  Not so fast; Milwaukee,with impotent DA’s and more importantly do-nothing federal prosecutors (Buskupic not included), Milwaukee has made leaps and bounds to equal their southern counterparts – but I digress. 

I know it’s been several days since the IL Governor scandal broke, and every newspaper, blogger, and TV newstation has beaten the IL machine horse to death, but I wanted to look at this in a slightly different, somewhat biased way. 

We Milwaukean’s, along with the rest of the American public have been able to sit on our proverbial soapbox and look down on the people and politicians of the Chicago/Illinois machine, but is any community, state, or government really that “clean”?  Chuck Chvala, Scott Jensen, three Milwaukee Aldermen, THE Michael McGee debacle, and the Milwaukee County pension scandal…and that’s just Wisconsin politicians, off the top of my head.  How many other “back-door” deals have MKE aldermen, county supervisors, mayors, county executive, assemblymen, senators (state and federal), and congressmen been able to get away with, without retribution (not to mention the boundless other politicians strewn about the American political landscape)?  My guess is as good as yours, but sufficed to say, we are not a community, state, or government without skeletons. 

Why do I bring this up?  Simple….I read and comment on numerous liberal blogs, and for the most part I try to be civil, but I am sick and tired of those on the left accusing me and others on the right of demagoguery, stupidity, hypocrisy, double standards (you name the insult and it’s out there), when they are as guilty or culpable of the same corruption, maneuvering and political pandering as the right. 

I consider myself a realist.  I understand that people that I may agree with on an ideological front may be absolute jack-asses.  I get it….don’t like it, but I get it.  What I despise, and what I believe creates a serious divide in political discourse, is when one side doesn’t acknowledge that there candidate/PARTY can a) be as corrupt b) be as dishonest c) perpetuate and support the “same-’ol-same-’ol” – “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality. 

Pontification is easy.  I should know, I probably do it more than I should, but I’m admitting it…..I’m out there.  I’m admitting that there’s a partisan problem.  We talk about it, we complain about it, but when it comes down to correcting it, AS VOTERS, we do nothing about it.  Couple that with the fact that if there are two people in a room with differing political opinions (God forbid, egregiously different opinions) not only will NOTHING get accomplished, but there is a good chance that there will be a physical altercation.

I’m a conservative.   I’m a family man.  I am empathetic, giving and kind.  I’m not a racist, misogynist, or a homo-phobe.  I just have an opinion(s) as to how to better move our country forward.  Do I have all of the answers?  Will you agree with me 100%, 75%, 50% of the time?  NO!  But here’s the kicker…because I don’t vote for Barak Obama, because I believe in the free market, and because I believe that there needs to be some societal boundaries, I’m called a neo-con, racist, homo-phobe, anti-feminist and the like.  Calling people names, especially “charged” names (racist being a big one) all you’re doing is creating division, shoving people in corners and forcing one to defend themselves.  Sometimes without merit and honest discussion…..unfortunately.

Quick Hit – Genius Marketing

I graduated with a marketing major coming out of college, so I feel I have a kindred spirit to that corner of the business world, so when I came across this JC Penney video, I felt I just had to share…..

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=5e32d548

Good luck guys….

George Bush Legacy

I have, over the past several years, been relatively supportive of President Bush.  I know that is an unpopular stance to take, considering at the time of this post his approval ratings are hovering around 25-30%.  There are several reasons why I have generally supported him and his adminstration, but the one that stands out more than any is his unwavering stance on security.  Many will argue the tactics taken by his administration, and I believe there is room for discussion/debate on that subject, but the fact that we haven’t seen any attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11, especially considering our wars in the Middle East, is nothing short of a miracle.  Many Presidents have been in power in a time where there were no attacks on the U.S., (Franklin Roosevelt and George Bush are the only ones that have in modern politics) so why does 7 years of NO attacks deserve consideration?  The answer to that is simple; this is a different time.  Islamic extremism is at an all time high, you couple that with the fact that traveling internationally is much cheaper and easier than in years prior, that, along with the ability to obtain material to create severe damage…add that all up and you have a recipe to create major havoc.  I will, as my liberal counterparts like to do, ”blame” that on George W. Bush (I mean if you’re going to blame everything else on him, you HAVE TO heap the “blame” of no terrorist attacks on the US onto his shoulders…).  With that in mind, I’m curious what people think George Bush’s legacy will be in say….20 years?!?!?  I will, after a time, give a little more insight of what my opinion is, but for now, let me know your thoughts……

ANOTHER New Tax

I am now on board.  There is a recession coming (if it isn’t here already), and it doesn’t look good.  I for one, am cutting back on costs, spending less, talking with the family and deciding what we can buy and what we can’t, but is Milwaukee City/County, Racine County, Kenosha County cutting back?!?!?  Hell no!  The Taxers are going to be in power soon, so why should the small business or common taxpayer not be “more patriotic” and start paying more in taxes????  This region/state is a joke!  The Democratic party is voted in on the premise that they are “for the working family” and then they turn around and propose MORE tax increases. 

There is a group out there that was developed several years back called the Regional Transit Authority, that includes Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha representatives.  The “Authority” (interesting choice of words) is made up of one representative from the following elected officials: City of Milwaukee Mayor, Milwaukee County, County Executive, City of Racine Mayor, Racine County, County Executive, City of Kenosha Mayor, Kenosha County, County Executive and a 7th lackey that votes for any addition to the KRM proposals.  The reason I titled this post ANOTHER tax is simple.  This quasi-group of people voted themselves surveryors of the whole region as it relates to transit.  They are going to control the buses in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha  along with looking at and building the KRM (Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee railway that connects to Chicago’s METRA system) rail system – at the very least.   They also voted to increase the sales tax .5% for the three counties referenced to pay for all those systems (bus and rail).  Admittedly it’s not even close to being binding, but all the legislature has to do is say “Yes, that is a good idea” and we have an all encompassing Regional Transit Authority that can raise our taxes and give the big middle finger to all of those hard working tax payers.  This, for you Milwaukee residents, is in addition to the proposed and voted on sales tax increase for Milwaukee County, the guaranteed sick leave “tax” the city of Milwaukee businesses will have to face (many of them small businesses), and the double digit tax increase MPS has proposed. 

Sound like a lot?  Well, that’s because it is.  And since the Wisconsin, and specifically the Milwaukee, electorate decided to put people in power that do nothing but lick their chops and put their hand in your wallets, you have nobody to blame but yourselves.  Thank you, I’m rich enough, I can handle more of my hard earned money going to an entity that has proven time and again that they handle money like a 4 year old….. I’m being sarcastic by the way - I can’t handle anymore of my hard earned money being taken from me!

Quick Hit – The Dow Jones Argument

I’m a conservative, so this post may seem a little strange, but I want to tell all of those people on the left and the right to stop using the Dow Jones roller coaster ride as a reason to make your “case in points” argument.  In the case of liberals when the Dow plummets, don’t get on your soap box and say ”look, if we privatize Social Security, this is what can happen”.  In the case of conservatives, don’t use the dip in the Average when Barak Obama gets elected as a “see, I told you so…” moment.  This is not the best economic indicator we have, and when it goes up and down (especially recently) it more often than not, is NOT based on some political issue.  Just one mans opinion, but seeing blog posts on both sides jumping on that band wagon, well….it’s just plain annoying.

Quick Hit – Glendale: The Tax Hell Within The Tax Hell

I thought the City of Milwaukee was bad with taxes, looks like Glendale is the tax hell within the tax hell (countywise):

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/34272399.html

 

No wonder Glendale was only 1 of 3 communities last week to vote for the Sales Tax Increase…..I guess they’re just as bad as Milwaukee when it comes to dipping their fingers in private businesses pocket books – especially those nasty tax-exempt ones.

Milwaukee County Tax Referendum – Define “Spoken”

Leave it to the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel to define “The People Have Spoken” in the following fashion, as it pertains to the Milwaukee County Sales Tax Referendum results. 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/33929259.html

Here are the results as of today:

Percentage “Yes”	51.0%	-
Percentage “No”	49.0%
Total Votes “Yes”	185,562
Total Votes “No”	178,472
Percentage of Communities Voting “Yes”	15.8%
Percentage of Communities Voting “No”	84.2%
Community	# of Votes “Yes”	% Voting Yes	# of Votes “No”	% Voting No
Bayside	1123	46.5%	1294	53.5%
Brown Deer	2866	45.8%	3395	54.2%
Cudahy	3881	46.4%	4489	53.6%
Fox Point	1881	48.1%	2031	51.9%
Franklin	6534	38.2%	10560	61.8%
Glendale	3884	51.1%	3711	48.9%
Greendale	3066	38.1%	4975	61.9%
Greenfield	7332	41.5%	10342	58.5%
Hales Corners	1599	38.7%	2528	61.3%
Milwaukee	107550	57.4%	79692	42.6%
Oak Creek	6313	40.8%	9169	59.2%
River Hills	431	42.0%	596	58.0%
Shorewood	2082	45.7%	2469	54.3%
South Milwaukee	3949	54.0%	3361	46.0%
St. Francis	4596	46.0%	5448	54.0%
Wauwatosa	11991	45.6%	14304	54.4%
West Allis	11924	44.0%	15195	56.0%
West Milwaukee	759	51.3%	721	48.7%
Whitefish Bay	3801	47.6%	4192	52.4%

They are correct in the sense that the county has spoken, but their analysis of the voting by no means supports their claim that there is a mandate by the county to get this put into place.  When all but three communities’ vote NO (a resounding NO in almost every community except Milwaukee and Shorewood) that should tell you that there is considerable negative feeling towards this tax increase.  If this were a city of Milwaukee referendum, than I would fully agree that there was a clear message by the voters to put this increase in place.  The problem is it wasn’t just a city of Milwaukee referendum, it was the whole county.  If you are going to increase a tax on the whole county you had better take the other communities’ votes VERY seriously and not just base your argument on the weighted decisions by the geniuses in the city of Milwaukee.

Another issue that needs to be addressed regarding this tax increase is the wording of the referendum as it read on the ballot.  It states the following:

“Shall Wisconsin grant Milwaukee County the authority to provide property tax relief of at least $67 million by levying a 1% use and sales tax to be used to remove the following three items from the property tax levy: parks, recreation and culture; transit; and emergency medical services?”

Is there a reason they didn’t write it in the following fashion?

 

“Shall Wisconsin grant Milwaukee County the authority to increase the sales and use tax by 1% to be used to remove the following three items from the property tax levy: parks, recreation and culture; transit; and emergency medical services?  Along with providing property tax relief of at least $67 million dollars.”

Answer: Because if they start off the question with the ACTUAL intent (to raise taxes) instead of the fleece job of couching this as property tax relief the referendum would have never passed.  These are the tactics of the tax and spend crowd that permeates Milwaukee and Wisconsin. 

 

The next little nugget in all of this is everyone must realize that when you increase or institute a tax, whether it is for the city, county, state, or country it NEVER gets rescinded.  These decisions are permanent, worse yet, many governments use these increases as reasons to “pile on” several years down the road.  An example of that was the 1991 increase in the county sales tax, with promises that it was going to lower property taxes.  The tax was passed, instituted and property taxes went (wait for it…..) UP!  Should we take them for their word – Again?!?!  I’m not.

 

The last issue I have with this whole “the voter has spoken” deal is that 51% of the votes cast came from the City of Milwaukee (both Yes and No).  As I mentioned before this is a county tax and not a city tax, but the point I’m trying to make is that we had the city of Milwaukee make a decision that affected the other communities, when there was little to no support from those communities from the outset.  That decision?!?!?  The deep tunnel.  Think Milwaukee made a good decision for the outlying communities on that one?  If so, you haven’t been down to the lakefront beaches over the past several years.  With the billions of gallons of raw sewage dumped there over the years, our once great lakefront has become the port-a-potty of Milwaukee County board decisions.