What low standards. Would love to work for you.

Once again JRH. Huh? Posting like Doofa all over again. The gov needs to tell us it is hot and dry? I think Doyle and various and sundry other politicians could have figured that out too. The farmers will survive, they always do. Did Walker have to tell you to put your head in the freezer to escape the heat or is the obvious not your strenghth?

@Schmitzy -

Can you make sandwiches with a smile, wipe down tables, and sweep/mop the floor? If so, stop on by and put in your application! Just to warn you so you don't get your hopes too high, you may have some stiff competition from the local high school kids!

@$$andNonsense -

Yeah, there really is something about the stating the obvious, isn't there? Perhaps someone should tell Obama that his stimulus didn't work and that reported unemployment is still above 8% with real unemployment closer to 16%. He obviously hasn't gotten the message yet, despite having four years to do something about it.

"The private sector is doing fine."

What is he seeing that we're all missing?

Wow. You went from DF Walkers comment on the weather to Obama's failed policies in one post. Time to take your head out of the freezer (or some other place it shouldn't be). Your editor needs to keep better tabs on you before you press the enter key.

@Bren -

Again, given that increasing taxes was NOT an option, what would you have further cut from the budget and/or who else would you have laid off from the public payroll?

The restructuring of previously accrued debt issues was done as a compromise that even Democratic legislators supported. Your horse in the gubernatorial recall race, Tom Barrett, had just issued before the election another $100M bond in the City of Milwaukee, in addition to restructuring old debt, thereby not only failing to pay off his old debts, but actually accruing new ones. This led to yet another downgrade of the City's public debt offerings, making it three downgrades during Barrett's tenure as Mayor. Those downgrades translate to higher interest payments that the taxpayers of the City of Milwaukee will have to pay, thanks to Mayor Barrett.

And yet, I never saw a single comment from you blasting Barrett for taking on new debt, in addition to restructuring old debt, and thereby upping the City's overall debt exposure and interest payments.

The state has not been downgraded under Walker's tenure, has it? To the contrary, Walker's fiscal management has been praised by every credible non-partisan independent financial analyst.

So, why would the restructuring of debt have been acceptable to you under a Governor Barrett, but not under a Governor Walker?

You're nothing but a hypocritical partisan hack!

Hey Jimmy the Skipper, there was a tax increase for low income people (tax credit slash). We've gone over the near 18,000 public employees off the payroll before. Instead of following ALEC union stripping, ALEC tax breaks for corporations (funded by public employee salary cuts), etc.--but why waste time on should-a's. Wisconsin elected a special interest puppet and he's doing precisely what special interest puppets do. Our state's actual needs are a low priority for Walker and his benefactors. Sorry, I did a James R Hoffa and skipped the rest of your post. ; )

@Bren -

We've already been over all of your arguments before, but you fail to recognize and accept the reality of the situation.

Politifact debunked your tax increase on the poor argument. Walker's reforms merely excluded people from claiming the credits who were never intended to receive such tax credits in the first place and eliminated the fully refundable nature of those credits, as people who had no state tax burden were still able to refund the credit, thus getting free money from the state government.

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/may/10/gwen-moore/rep-gwen-moore-says-gov-scott-walker-gutted-tax-cr/

The tax breaks to businesses were necessary in the highly competitive environment for jobs, as other states offered similar breaks before Walker was ever elected. Those breaks stopped the exodus of manufacturing/industrial jobs and were specifically tailored to promote job creation. Also, there's no telling how many of those breaks will actually be claimed. Much of the current surplus and rainy day fund payments could very well be deriving from the fact that not very many of those tax breaks are being claimed. Outside the jobs program tax breaks, business taxes in Wisconsin remain the same as they were under Doyle.

Also, the only reason that restructuring was necessary is due to the fact that Doyle's illegal segregated fund raids had to be paid back (there was a Court order) and his open tab with Minnesota had to be retired (they were calling in the tab during the reciprocity agreement extension negotiations). If Walker didn't have to deal with those things first, he could have been paying down those debts. You know this.

So once again I ask, 1) what additional budget cuts would you have made; 2) who else would you have laid off from the public payroll; and 3) why did you not attack Barrett for his public debt issue problems, which are far worse than Walkers, and costing the people of the City of Milwaukee dearly?

Only in cloud cuckoo land is a decrease in the welfare check (Earned Income Credit) a "tax increase." The tax code in the country and this state is already ridiculously progressive with the top 10 percent of households paying 70 percent of income taxes after earning only 45 percent of total AGI in 2010.

Between 2002 and 2007 overall spending by the states rose 50 percent faster than inflation and now we're supposed to feel bad that public employees are getting laid off? Can we PLEASE go back to the bad old Bush economy of 3 percent economic growth and 4 percent unemployment?

Bren = patriot! ; )

Answer: Right now it's not looking too good, Stormy. Some of Mr. Hoffa's questions have already been answered, many times. Mr. Hoffa also skims Bren's posts. Bren would infinitely prefer to interact with people who actually read posts.

@Bren -

Come on - I read all your posts and you know it. When you affirmatively assert an objective point, and then later attempt to walk-it-back by asserting that such a point merely represented your subjective opinion, when such a point is founded in existing primary documents and therefore can only really represent an objective reality (or a falsehood), do you honestly expect not to be called out on such spinning?

I have faith that the good readers of Patch will see through your spin, as the truth always reigns supreme.

However, if you're interested in having an honest discussion/debate on the issues, then why don't you just set aside the childish antics and just provide a direct answer to the queries made unto you?

Answer the following and let's put this to bed:

1) Where in either Ryan's Path to Prosperity or his budget, H.CON.RES.34, does it expressly exempt members of Congress?

2) Where in either Ryan's Path to Prosperity or his budget, H. CON.RES.34, does it expressly provide oil companies with $43B in tax breaks?

3) Cite your source showing that the Walker administration gave Georgia Pacific and Diane Hendricks preferential tax breaks outside those breaks received by everyone else and the job creation program.

4) Why did you not attack Barrett for his public debt issue problems, which are far worse than Walkers?

@Stormy -

We can extrapolate Bren's position from the information she already provided.

Remember, we are working under the conditions that:

1) taxes could not be increased because the voters were clear on this issue twice now in both the Nov 2010 election and the June 5 recall election;

2) there was a court order requiring the state to pay back the segregated funds that were illegally raided by Doyle; and

3) the state of Minnesota had called in its tab that Doyle had run up during his tenure.

So, Bren would have kept public sector collective bargaining in place. Bren wouldn’t have laid off any public employees. And Bren wouldn't have offered any corporate job creation tax breaks. From comments Bren previously made, she also wouldn't have cut state funding of public education. And given her stance on Walker's restructuring of debt, she wouldn't have restructured that debt, nor would she have borrowed any more money on the public credit card.

The results of Bren's plan:

There wouldn't have been enough money to meet the state's financial obligations and we would have had to declare bankruptcy or beg Obama for a bailout.

Conclusion: Bren = JOKE!

@Hoffa
You could of cut to the chase on you conclusion .But I got to admire your spirit for constantly holding Bren feet to the fire lol

Jimmy the Skipper, I did take time to read the bottom of your two very long posts. That sort of name calling is precisely why I've stopped taking you seriously. Even Mr. Ruble seems to have had his fill ("pompous ass"), and his "Crap-o-Meter" is set at a much more tolerating level than mine (based on his posts).

@Bren -

You attack Hoffa personally by calling him names such as 'skipper' and skimmer.'

Hoffa merely called your policy position a joke, and not you personally, which you would have realize if you didn't just skim Hoffa's posts, and yet Hoffa is the name caller?

What's wrong with this picture?

Apparently when Bren runs out of retorts or finds herself in an un-winnable position, she resorts to demonizing mud slinging.

Sorry Bren, but Hoffa doesn't roll that way! He rides the wave of objective fact, truth, and knowledge!

Cheers!

@skinny -

Someone's gotta do it!

; )

Thanks Stormy ;-)

Mine were also higher Randy.

Both my property tax and the State tax I pay monthly on my business went up.

Time will tell if SW's plans will work, but if the anemic jobs picture doesn't brighten up I don't give it much hope. There really is no reason to stall putting together health exchanges as it would be a real asset to individual purchasers and businesses. I have no doubt that this is clearly a political move and does nothing to help Wisconsinites.

That said, I feel for the farmers. Glad there are safety nets in place for them and they are not in danger of loosing their entitlements any too soon. Even Michelle Bachmanns late father-in-law’s farm, in which she and her husband, Marcus Bachmann, own a partnership stake, has received nearly $260,000 worth of crop subsidies — despite her outspoken opposition to farm subsidies. Not bad.

@Randy1949 -

Apparently, you're the low-information voter, as we've been over this a million times before and you've admitted that the problem lies with your local school board. Did Walker put all those people on your school district's board? I don't think so. So knock it off with crapolla blame game already!

Clearly, you can't blame Walker! Many localities / school boards managed to lower their overall property tax burdens by using Walker's reforms. On average, the state as a whole saw a property tax reduction - the first in nearly 30 years! If others could do it, then so could yours! There's no excuse as to why yours couldn't except for poor management and leadership at your local level.

If you want to point the finger on this issue, then make sure it stops at your local level municipality / school board. It's that simple.

When did I ever say that 'Scott Walker will lower your taxes?' If you're going to quote me, then quote me. But please don't make up crap and put it in my mouth! Walker gave the localities / school boards the tools they needed to shore up their budgets. If yours didn't, then blame your local leaders. Go to meetings. Run against an incumbent. Work for positive change. But stop blaming Walker!

How does being really well off prevent your cost of living from increasing exactly? Do grocery stores charge less for rich people? Do they get secret property tax breaks that don't show up on the GIS system? Come on - REALLY???

@Steve -

Are you talking about the unemployment insurance tax increasing? If you aren't, then what tax increase are you referring to exactly? Because I own/operate a small business as well and the only state tax rate increase that we've seen since Walker's been in office was on our share of the unemployment insurance tax. But Walker didn't effectuate that. You can blame Doyle for the exodus of jobs from the state that ran the fund dry and Obama for extending benefits! Walker had nothing to do with such tax increase.

Come on guys, let's be honest and fair here, can we?

Nope, Hoffa. We may have been over it a million times, and you keep saying that, but that doesn't change the fact that Scott Walker lowered no one's taxes (except maybe some select business people's). He keeps on collecting the same amount of state income tax, state property tax levy, keeps more of that money at the state level and leaves the local governments to fend for themselves. Some fend better than others.

I'm still waiting for the general wave of prosperity that was supposed to come out of this.

Randy, the reason why the same explanations have to be repeated to young Mr. Hoffa is because he skims/skips posts.

Our state is the victim of cookie-cutter special interest legislation that helps no one except those who need help the least.

My taxes went down. And if yours didn't ask yourself, how much higher would they have been under doyle/barrett?

But . . but . . . Steve, JRH just said the governor has no effect on property taxes. It's all our local government's fault!

Hoffa knows what he is talking about, and you ignore the reality.

Hoffa certainly writes a great deal...

At the least he back it up instead of I know this one guy who hunts and thinks it unsportsmanlike to use a semi automatic weapon.

@Randy1949 -

Please quote the part of Hoffa's 1:02 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012 post wherein he claimed that Walker lowered taxes.

In fact, what Hoffa said, and you even quoted, is that "taxes could not be increased....." Big difference between staying the same and going down, isn't there?

BTW - The state levy is to fund the state's forestation initiative. I thought you'd be in favor of state forests.

And with most of Doyle's blunders now out of the way, perhaps we can finally start to see a decrease in the state levy in the next biennium. That will depend on how serious we are as a state in paying down our accrued debt. Lucky for us, Walker hasn't issued any new public debt in our names, unlike his predecessors.

And for the record, Hoffa's property taxes actually went down, as did an average majority of the state (confirmed by Politifact) - and not because my assessed value went down, but because the local and school levies actually decreased. I guess the people running my neck of the woods are in fact better than the people running the show in your neck of the woods.

So, instead of constantly blaming Walker, are you going to do something about the school board that you've complained about in the past? Or is it just easier to blame Walker?

@JRH -- I never said that YOU said Walker had/would lower your taxes, but I know quite a few people who voted on that basis.

As for the school board, short of voting in every election there isn't much I can do about it. My vote gets drowned in almost every election in my district

@Randy1949 -

Sorry, but that's Democracy in action. RUSD in Racine is the same way. Maybe it's time to start backing one of those 'emergency manager' laws ala governor Rick Snyder of Michigan?

Or get out there and start making some noise. You appear to be proficient at complaining about Walker on the Patch. Start taking on some of your school board members in your locality. Go to meetings. Start investigating their spending and report it to the rest of the constituency when they spend $500 on a toilet seat. Run against an incumbent on a platform of fiscal sanity, efficiency, and effectiveness. You could do a lot more than vote if you really wanted to - that's part of the beauty of our system.

But to place the blame on a guy that refuses to raise taxes on income earners to feed their money addiction just to save you a couple bucks on your property taxes - how is that stopping the problem of many in government being poor stewards of the public treasure?

Walker issued all of us a wake-up call.

About 6 months ago, the township of Mount Pleasant was looking to retrofit an ambulance. Hoffa went online and in less than 5 minutes found brand new ambulances for less than what the local clowns were going to put into refitting a high mileage old one! Why is that acceptable practice? That's BS!

Bottom line - we need to retake our local level boards / governments and hold them accountable!

I am still trying to figure out why i have to RENT my land from the government .. This is the new fuedal system ... Why oh WHY can i not OWN my freakin land .. oh thats right easier for the government to TAKE it from me .. Yes the great Benevolent government .. When was the property tax put in place cuz it seems to be a Commie scam ... thats right no private ownership of land right outta the freakin commie manifesto .. So please if you defend the property tax do you consider yourself a commie because in reality you are a freakin red azz commie

"I am still trying to figure out why i have to RENT my land from the government .. This is the new fuedal system ... "

For the same reason you still have to pay a condo fee or a homeowner's association fee for owning your condo or home in an exclusive neighborhood. It's for communal services. Unfortunately, that includes schools, which are expensive,

How's this for a fact, Tim? When a local government gets less of our own money back in state aid, it has to make up the difference somehow. That's either by raising taxes, instituting user fees, or cutting services. I've only been watching this happen for the last thirty years.

You should have listened better in school rather than listening to Fox before calling anyone a sheep.

Why does the local government 'have to' make up the difference? Did you ever consider that the local government has been spending too much on wasteful things and a reduction in spending might actually be a good thing?

Just which of your municipal services do you find 'wasteful'? Picking up the garbage? Putting out fires? Providing sewer and water? Having the police show up when you call them?

Randy, Act 10 provided for the local cuts. The elimination of collective bargaining saved municipalities expenses for health insurance and pensions.

Nice example of Rovian projection, Tim.

All I can say about your concept of a what a governor doing a good job is, is that it is more lax than mine. Welcome to the Land of Low Expectations!

@Randy1949 -

How much do you pay for garbage collection? I'm willing to bet that I could drive my refuse to the dump for much cheaper than what you're paying for collection. Look at water/sewer bills. Hoffa's on a private well and septic, thank heavens!

I thought that spreading the cost over the collective was supposed to make services cheaper for everyone and more efficient than the private guy could do it himself. So what gives?

@JRH -- I pay $60 a quarter for garbage collection, including recycling. And no, I couldn't drive it to the dump for that. I'm on my own well and septic system too, so all it costs me is the repairs every few years. And the electricity to pump it.

@Randy1949 -

Hoffa drops his garbage off at the dump every month when he goes into town to run other errands. So it really doesn't cost Hoffa anything. And Hoffa saves $240/year. Also, are you sure that none of the property tax levys go to supplement and support the waste collection services, on top of the user service fee?

In all reality, do you know what your garbage collection is really costing you?

Luckily, Hoffa's township doesn't offer garbage collection. If you want it collected, you have to go with a private contractor.

Hoffa has a 1,750 sq/ft home, 18 x 36 in-ground pool, a 32' x 44' framed barn (that Hoffa will soon be expanding) with concrete foundation, and a 24' x 20' framed wood shed with a concrete foundation, on 2.64 acres of land.

Hoffa's last property tax bill was $878.20 with the homestead exemption. And Hoffa's school district is consistently ranked as one of the best in the state. How are the locals running the show in your neck of the woods that much worse the locals running the show in Hoffa's neck of the woods?

And what repairs do you have to do to your well/septic bi-annually? Hoffa's parents have run their well/septic for the last 30 years, having the tank pumped 4 times. And their systems are running great. What are you doing to or what is wrong with your system that it requires bi-annual repairs?

Randy's septic system is 60 years old, and drain tiles start to collapse. The honey-sucker guy told me i should start having it pumped out every two to three years. Before that, I'd let it go ten. We're on our second or third pump -- I honestly forget which. I know it's cheaper to be on my own system.

@Randy1949 -

60 years on the original drainage field is pretty awesome. You obviously do a nice job of maintaining your system!

Hoffa hopes that he gets as good of service out of his drainage field, currently 33 years old, as you've gotten out of yours.

Hoffa's well pump is standing strong at 33 years old as well! Let's hope for 33 more!

Good luck with your pump. High iron content in well water has the same effect on a pump as lots of greasy fast food has on the human heart. Ours get choked off every 15 years or so, and the water-softener doesn't like it either.

Boy, you don't have a clue. My conservative values would put a kid like you in the dirt. Brush up and get a clue junior. Sucks to be a gennyxer. I would bet anything you aren't married, no kids and likely rent.

$$andNonsense -

You really need to do something positive and constructive with all that pent up hatred and rage you're harboring! I don't think I've met a more angry liberal than you.

Hoffa has already told you that he isn't married, nor does he have any children - yet. And yes, Hoffa does OWN a beautiful homestead. Hoffa realizes that an inhabitant of a trailer park, such as yourself, may be envious of Hoffa's position, but you should really learn to appreciate and take pride in your double-wide!

What is the $42 million for? Act 10 only allows for minimal increases.

Free hookers and cocaine, Greg. Watch a 4 minute video for the full story or skip to 3:20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_ult6-Tb4

???"Over $42 million in capitol improvement projects that promise energy efficiency for Racine Unified Schools won't increase your tax bill, but it won't decrease either."???

Hello, Alfred's new sock account. I will again inform you that I have never received any form of government 'teat' since I left the tenth grade, nor have I or any member of my family worked for the government. The money flows in the other direction.

@$$andNonsense -

Again with the completely false and erroneous personal attacks - it just never ends from you, does it?

While Hoffa may live in the boonies, by choice, his restaurant, which pays a lot of taxes, is located in a City. And Hoffa has never leached off anyone. Just because Hoffa doesn't like being raked over the coals for services that should be dirt cheap, especially when their costs are supposedly being spread over the collective, doesn't mean that he doesn't pay his fair share for the services he does utilize.

Between Hoffa's property taxes on his home and business, corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, and personal income taxes, I'm willing to bet that Hoffa's yearly tax burden is far more than yours is. Not to mention that through his restaurant, Hoffa has created 2 full time and a dozen part time jobs for real people, who all also pay into and participate in the system.

You should thank Hoffa for be willing to take on the kind of risk that advances our society as a whole instead of demonizing him. But Hoffa's knows that you won't because, well, let's face reality here - you're a grumpy old envious liberal.

Good day!