(Insert Witty Blog Title Here)

It's local campaign season

2011-12-28T13:53:00.000-06:00

Jeffrey Kroll is running for alderman in Tosa. This is his blog. Judge for yourself.

It's not slavery if you volunteer

2011-12-13T15:53:00.001-06:00

The democrats have their undies in a bunch because some government employees had to contribute to their pensions and health insurance premiums. So much so that they are trying to recall the governor. Naturally, it takes peoplepower to make this happen. Since their issue is supposedly about pay and benefits, one would think the state donkey party would pay their workers a living wage with a great benefits package. Nope, this Craigslist post mentions that "Internships are unpaid and interns are required to commit at least 10 hours per week."

Using unpaid labor of students in a campaign whose goal is to increase the compensation of government employees? P.T. Barnum had a saying for those who would volunteer for such a thing . . . .

NOTE: Prospective ~~slaves~~ interns need to provide their own "transporation" and will also do tasks related to the "fedaeral" elections in 2012.

NOTE 2: This group will pay you $11.44 an hour to fight for wages higher than $11.44 an hour.

Tosa Tax Time--Act 10 Reform Edition

2011-12-09T11:27:00.001-06:00

While the property tax bills are a bit delayed hitting the mail, the math used to figure them is done and you can do a close approximation to what they will be.

Bottom line: My property tax bill will go up a whole $16! First time in ten years that my increase hasn't been three digits with that first digit consisting of a crooked number. My property taxes have nearly doubled in ten years. Extrapolate that rate of growth over the next ten years and I would pay a five-figure property tax bill on a very modest home on a postage stamp lot. This figure would rival the principle payment on my mortgage. That is unsustainable.

Thanks to Act 10 reforms (and years of big tax hikes escalating their base tax levy), the Tosa schools actually cut a few pennies from their share of the tax bill. However, all that and then some was wiped out by the County Board, which had the largest increase. The other entities had small hikes. In total, the tax hike is seven cents per $1000 of assessed value.

Thank you, Governor Walker. Half of the amount I normally budget for three-figure property tax hikes is on the way to your campaign. The rest is to organizations whose dues I cut out of my 2011 budget.

UPDATE: Saw the actual bill. Only $13! That is enough for a beer at a local watering hole that employs people, buys inventory, pays taxes . . . .

And a streak ends . . .

2011-12-05T16:32:00.001-06:00

As of right now it looks like Wauwatosa's streak of three consecutive female mayors is over. As of today, three men have thrown their hats in the ring. The first guy jumped in a few weeks ago and that is lefty John Pokrandt. Current alderman Peter Donegan jumped in today and was followed shortly by conservative Jim Moldenhauer.

Without knowing anything about Moldenhauer, the guy I want and think will win is Donegan. Donegan is known for digging into issues and asking the questions that the others don't think of. His questioning reduced the cost of the new fire station from a Taj Mahal to merely a palace. It's not his fault the rest of the aldercritters wanted to spend a boatload. He hung tough on the latest round of employee contract negotiations and the Tosa budget is better off for it. He has supported raising the mayoral salary many months before Mayor Didier said she was leaving and he was getting in the race-- that may be an issue that trips him up. I know Pete and we don't agree on everything, but he does enough right and has showed in the past six years that he is a very capable alderman.

The city unions won't support Donegan because he has pushed them pretty hard, but they will leave him alone if its a race against Moldenhauer. Pokrandt has no experience and I suspect will be exposed as a standard liberal who the unions will like. However, I think the impact of union support won't help him with Tosa's big fat middle who likes their candidates to have some experience. Donegan fits in a comfortable template of the retired long-time resident looking to continue his service to the city.

Restaurant Review: Bunkers

2011-11-16T11:50:00.001-06:00

I've been a bit light on the restaurant reviews lately because I made a conscious (and successful) decision this year to eat out less. It's cheaper and better for you to make your food at home; it is probably the easiest way to cut your budget. With that said, I haven't become a hermit who lives on soup and grilled cheese. I still go out; however, I no longer use restaurants as a substitute for my kitchen. Basically, I've returned dining out to its rightful place of that of a treat and meeting up with some friends. I've also trended down on the more expensive places that sell atmosphere and style and hide average food with whatever are the popular ingredients that week on the Food Network.

Trending down on those haunts also allows you to try more of the many great neighborhood joints we have around here. There are alot of fantastic places that offer great food at a great price -- many of them are located on the under-appreciated Greenfield Avenue in West Allis (meaning that yuppies and hipsters don't go there). One of these restaurants is Bunkers located at 7420 W. Greenfield Avenue. It is a nice, clean, unpretentious place that delivers great food at an affordable price. Want a top-notch steak? Then go on Tuesday nights for Times are Tough Tuesdays and you will get a fantastic eight-ounce filet for $9. It is a great cut of meat that is tender, thick and done to perfection. You can ala cart it up with some blue cheese, mushrooms, etc. They also serve up some great sliders and some damn good BBQ.

Are you going to take someone to Bunkers for an anniversary or some other special occasion? Probably not. But if you want to meet your friends at a great spot in the middle of the week or enjoy a great meal and get your money's worth, then Bunkers is the place for you.

Protestapollooza in Tosa

2011-11-15T16:22:00.001-06:00

So some folks are going to give in to their inner bully and go protest in front of Governor Walker's personal residence. They proclaim it is their First Amendment right to do so and indeed it is. You will have no quibble with me about that. You also have a right to make an ass out of yourself.

However, just because you CAN do something, does not mean it is a good idea. Other than feeling good and mingling with like-minded people on a nice fall day, just what do they think they will accomplish? Just more antics from the goon squad minority.

I believe they actually don't know what they want to accomplish. I know they proclaim they want Walker gone, but people always want the guy from the other party gone. I believe many of these people were itching to do this even before Act 10; they were out of power and simply want their power back. It's not what Walker is doing, it is the fact that they don't have any other way to stop it.

That is the raw political aspect of this, but it takes more than that to create this level of unhinged action. I believe the true reason of many of the most vehement people against Walker is that they think they are superior to him. Teachers and many government professionals consider themselves with certain societal status and they simply cannot comprehend that anything could happen to them. Then came the guy they call Governor Dropout and how dare he do anything to THEM! They have always chaffed about not making the money the think their status deserves and they really chafe when they perceive the general society under appreciates them. They have internalized these grievances. Governor Walker has rocked that world and poured gasoline on those embers of long-simmering resentment. That is why so many people have abandoned any sense of rational thought, decorum and restraint. People don't exhibit such a level of deep-seething hatred that causes one to act without any level of restraint or consideration if it is simply about money. They will do so, however, if they feel that the governor and those who voted for him are beneath them.

We interrupt this blog to bring you the following message

2011-11-14T16:27:00.001-06:00

Now back to the blog.

Since we haven't had an election in Wisconsin for a few months.....

2011-11-11T16:44:00.001-06:00

Recall fever is infecting elements of Wisconsin's left wing. I guess they can't take the hint from the results of the last few elections in this state. Anyway, the right to recall exists and those people are free to exercise their political rights, even if their intent is to crush the political rights of those who voted in November 2010.

If you are on the fence with regard to this recall please consider the following before you sign a petition.

1) What do you personally consider a reason for recalling a public official?

2) What is the agenda of those pushing for the recall?

3) What would be the results and political environment in Wisconsin after a recall?

4) Do political office holders have a right to their entire terms to implement their platform through the legislative process and legally exercise their powers granted by the Wisconsin Constitution?

5) Do you own a home in WI? Have you had a chance to examine your 2011 property tax statement?

6) Do you agree with the activities of anti-Walker people who have harassed his family and his neighbors, boycotted small businesses or threatened state legislators?

7) If you hate Scott Walker, how big will his mandate be when he wins?

8) Does the level of rhetoric against collective bargaining reform match with reality?

9) What is your opinion of the executive capabilities of Dem candidates who would run in the recall election?

A person does not have to agree with Governor Walker's policies but they should take a hard look at the bigger picture before they sign a recall petition. Do you want to live in a political environment where every policy issue results in an election? Do the voices of the voters in the regular election have significance? Should recalls only be reserved to remove officials who broke the law or committed highly unethical acts? If people take a step back and rationally examine all the information and not let emotions and inflamed rhetoric get the better of you, then you have done your due diligence as a citizen.

NOTE: It IS legal for an out-of-state resident to circulate a recall petition. Ask yourself this. Is a movement that would bring in such people to cirulate petitions truly grassroots effort by the majority of the citizens of Wisconsin?

I'll take a taxpayer-subsidized pumpkin spice latte, please.

2011-10-20T10:41:00.010-05:00

The Wauwatosa Economic Development Corporation met the other day to divvy up Community Development Block Grant funds from Uncle Sugar. The primary purpose of these funds in Wauwatosa is to:

The primary objective of the CDBG program is the development of viable urban communities by providing opportunities for decent housing, a safe living environment, and expanded economic opportunities to, principally, low or moderate income persons.

While my inner cynic tells me that CDBGs are simply slush funds for local politicians and do-gooders to play with, let's actually take a look at the current crop of recipients.

Four of the five recipients are local folks either going to start a business or expand their existing one. The one's seeking expansion appear to have their feet under them with regard to their current operation and want to do some bigger and better things. While I don't think that providing Tosa yuppies with more coffee, pastries and French cuisine falls under the purview of the Commerce and General Welfare clauses of the Constitution, I will acknowledge each of these four projects has the potential to enhance our city and do some good things.

The fifth recipient is Milwaukee-area coffee giant, Alterra Coffee Roasters. Alterra does provide an excellent product and, as a result, makes money hand over fist. Tosa's Lockers Point Alterra is definitely a key contributor to the company's balance sheet. That place simply mints money. As a result, it is only logical that Alterra wants to build a second coffee shop at 68th and Wells Street on a site overpaid for by a previous condo developer. Great location! Alterra will mint even more money in Tosa. Why? Because that area is filled with affluent Tosa yuppies -- although I know some of the frugal ones are happy with a senior coffee from the double arches. This is not an area in need of "decent housing," the houses there are architectural gems. It epitomizes "safe living environment" and is not in need of "expanded economic opportunities" because there are certainly very few "low or moderate income folks living in this part of Tosa. Alterra is not some mom-and-pop start-up business -- it's the top dog of its business sector. Alterra is not a local resident looking to enhance his or her community by running a business -- it is the primary competition to three of the other CBDG recipients.

The mayor was on board with this proposal and said "Alterra taking over the corner of 68th and North is a huge investment in the community. This is exactly what the CDBG money is meant for." 1st District alderwoman Linda Nikcevich, while liking the general Alterra proposal (I do also), disliked providing the grant to such an established business. I don't agree with Linda very often, but I do in this instance. However, if Nikcevich is simply mad because Alterra wasn't going to go into her district (something she is quite capable of doing), then she is a hypocrite playing politics.

Would Alterra build at this spot without the $220,000 grant? I suspect they would because it is fantastic location and fits their business model. Is the city tired of a vacant building and perhaps feeling a bit guilty about being intransigent with the previous developer.....yes to the first part and probably unaware of the second. Is there a bit of Alterra worship going on and the fact that they are Alterra played more of a role in the award than the company's merits with regard to the mission of the CDBG program -- most definitely.

UPDATE: Mayor Didier contacted me with her side of the story. She stated that Alterra met every criteria laid out by the Feds used to award the grant and had the superior plan of all five applicants. There are several different pots of CBDG money in Tosa and this particular one is tied to job creation and that there are penalties to the recipients if they do not meet the job-creation terms of the award. I thanked her for direct and thorough response and while I still disagree with the concept of handing money to an established company and would like to see the overall program changed, I do think a legitimate process was followed by the city with regard to these grants and all of the recipients met the grant criteria as established by the Feds.

TOTUS HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!!!!

2011-10-18T10:41:00.004-05:00

link here

But don't worry, TOTUS is somehow able to get messages out and it's doing okay...for now.

Stock Update: Dividends and Old Friends

2011-09-30T12:15:00.005-05:00

I love market carnage when I am 25 years away from needing the money. If you are 55 and over and need the money, it does truly suck to be you. I've parked some money during the latest round of market chaos. One can only park so much money in vehicles that pay next to nothing. I want this money to draw something resembling a return, but I want to maintain some semblance of security to the principle since I may still need this wee bit o' cash in the medium term. I currently have all of my emergency funds (one year of living expenses) in place so holding more than that in no-gain areas is highly inefficient. Therefore, on market down days I have picked up a few stocks under these criteria:

1) I already own the stock for its dividend yield and the price has fallen to my established buy zone. Drops in these stock prices increase the dividend yield while a return to the market of March-April 2011 will also result in a nice capital gain on these recent purchases. This is how I bought most of my stocks in the tumult of the summer of 2010.

2) Beat-down stocks that I did not own and now have a significant dividend yield due to the recent turmoil. These stocks also retain their strong forward fundamentals, have a good balance sheet, hold little debt and lead their sectors. They also have a history of dividend increases -- a dividend increase truly is free money. These stocks have also traded in an identifiable range since the lows of late 2008, which means I can presume their floor and thus evaluate that with regard to my goal of preserving capital.

3) Stocks that I owned but have sold in 2011 at or near their 52-week highs in order to capture long-term capital gains. Generally, they have been beaten down with the rest of the market and show every sign of resuming their former highs when the market resumes an upward swing. These are the guys that gave me the pile of money to play with in the first place, why not take another look at a good thing?

Proud to be an S.O.B.

2011-09-06T13:23:00.002-05:00

So much for Obama's call to civility. Here is Teamster thug Jimmy Hoffa introducing Obama at a rally.

Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: "Take These Son Of Bitches Out"

If that is the case then:

How not to run a state: Illinois edition

2011-09-06T11:48:00.005-05:00

Illinois took a decidely different path than Wisconsin with regard to its state budget. In the summer of 2010, I happened to be in Springfield, Illinois, for work and stumbled upon a massive public employee union rally that was there there to demand higher taxes so they could keep their jobs. It was attended by thousands bussed in on work time from across the state. Fast forward to November 2010 and the state's voters someone re-elected Democrat Pat Quinn to the governor's chair and he signed a lame-duck bill that raised raised income taxes by 75 percent without significant changes in how the state conducts its business or pays its workforce. Today, Governor Quinn is proposing to lay off thousands of public employees because the state is broke.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Governor Walker did not raise taxes. Instead by merely reining in collective bargaining, Wisconsin has a small state budget surplus and didn't have to lay off state employees. Also, many local governments do not have to lay off employees either.

Now I understand that Illinois is truly jacked up and has lots of other issues that contribute to its problems. However, in one state the union mob got its way and got laid off. In the other, they didn't get there way and they still have jobs. So perhaps we shouldn't take the ideas of these folks too seriously, except that they are a violent bunch that gets to hang out with the president.

Fun with Powerpoint

2011-09-02T09:56:00.006-05:00

Election recap

2011-08-10T09:00:00.004-05:00

But seriously,

The Dems spent $30 million to rent the Fond du Lac seat for a year and win the LaCrosse seat one year earlier than they would have anyway -- not the most cost effective use of campaign money. Also, rational Democrat strategists (yeah, they do exist) now know that four of the most competitive GOP state senate seats (strengthened by redistricting) that will be up in 2012 are now bulletproof.

The state will remain divided as ever, but the positive is that the flood of national money will now slow and Wisconsinites will be left to fight their own battles, which is the way it should be.

One word and one picture says it all

2011-08-09T09:36:00.004-05:00

Tosa City Council: They just don't get it edition

2011-08-05T12:47:00.008-05:00

The Wauwatosa City Council just spent a million bucks on some playground equipment for Hart Park.

Meanwhile, the city reveals that it may cost up to $50 million to fix the sewer system.

This is on top of a projected $8 million shortfall in the city budget in the next few years.

Sure Hart Park is a city jewel that has had some very good things go on there and ultimately a playground should be built. However, this is a want and not a need and is a want that can be both scaled back and funded through civic volunteerism, just like the Rotary Park Bandshell. Workable sewers are a need and a core responsibility of local government. Funding emergency services in the city budget is a need and also a core responsibility of local government.

There is a simple fact that the city council needs to understand -- the city will receive less and less money in future years from higher bodies of government, both state and federal. Tosa taxpayers will have to shoulder more of the load for their local government and will have to re-tailor their desires and demands accordingly. Not orienting the city budget in that regard is an abdication of their civic responsibilties.

Stock Buy Update: Stampeding Bears

2011-08-04T12:56:00.007-05:00

I am not in a position to buy stock right now, but if I were, I would be adding to my favorite dividend positions. Such companies are worth more as they fall with the entire market since the dividend yield goes up. It's when such stocks fall on their own due their own fundamentals (or due to a fall in their sector) is when you need to worry (I'm looking at you, GE).

Yeah, the US spends too much money and the doom and gloom has returned. But this level of selloff is simply emotionally driven. Might as well pick up some high-yield bargains from the stampeding bears. I had great fun last summer buying stuff when the Dow was 9800.

DISCLAIMER: If you take advice from a guy who's avatar is a martini-drinking cartoon dog then you are probably screwed.

Stock Sell Update: Creating a cash reserve

2011-08-01T09:09:00.006-05:00

I sold Norfolk Southern (NSC) last week very near its 52 week high. It's not that I had lost faith in the stock and no longer wanted to own it. It was the fact that other aspects of my life dictated that I increase my cash reserve. The disadvantage of using stocks to store your money is that if you need that cash now the market seems to be in a slump and Washington is in the midst of its latest round of "the world will end if we don't do something." I don't need this cash this instant; but I don't know what the market will be doing 6 months from now when I may need it. So I picked a stock where I was up 60 percent long term and cashed out. While it pays a nice 2.5 percent dividend, that is not enough of a return to risk that amount of capital gain. That gets me back to Rule #1: You don't go broke when you make money. I have plenty of other stocks with better dividends that I am leaving in place for that reason. With NSC, why give back those gains if my purpose is to create a cash reserve? If I get to a point where my cash reserve is no longer needed then I have a stash to reinvest in something new and fun, put it in my 2012 Roth IRA or even put it back in NSC if the price is right. Bottom line: I made money, I created a reserve and I created options at the price of giving up a small dividend and the potential for future gain on an already high-flying stock in a quirky market.

You mean the sky isn't falling?

2011-07-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

FOX6 Investigators: Budget repair law leaves most school districts in good financial shape

Time for some Ronald Reagan

2011-07-13T10:27:00.001-05:00

Sort of....

These people aren't Darlings

2011-07-12T17:06:00.003-05:00

Seems like this should have made more of a news splash than the Glendale Police Blotter.

$150 cell phone was reported taken from the Alberta Darling Campaign office, 311 W. Silver Spring Drive, at 1:30 p.m. July 7. Police were called when 25 to 30 protesters entered the building chanting and causing a disturbance. The phone was reported missing after they left.

A Warning

2011-07-12T11:29:00.002-05:00

That is all.

Perhaps if Photo IDs were edible......

2011-07-07T10:57:00.017-05:00

Then the Hunger Task Force wouldn't worry about them so much.

In December 2010, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel had a simple story that said that donations to Milwaukee Hunger Task Force were down.

"We need help so moms don't have to skip meals to feed their kids," Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler said. "Our business model depends completely on the kindness of local people who donate their money and volunteer their time."

All good stuff, feeding the hungry is a no-brainer that everyone can support, right?

Except the HTF isn't only in the food donation biz, unless it considers undermining the newly passed Photo ID voter law the equivalent of passing out dried mashed potatoes and cans of creamed corn. From an HTF email from their "Director of Advocacy": The ACLU is surveying people all over Wisconsin to assess the impact of Wisconsin’s new voter ID law, and they want to hear from people who might be disproportionately impacted by the law’s new requirements. We are asking your permission to allow Hunger Task Force staffer Mary Ryan and HTF intern Justice Bowers visit your program in the next month or two to conduct the attached survey. (I wonder if Mr. Bower's nickname is "Social"?...because HTF is a social justice advocacy organization, not a feed the hungry organization)

So how does that fit into the HTF mission statement: Hunger Task Force believes that every person has a right to adequate food obtained with dignity. Hunger Task Force works to prevent hunger and malnutrition by providing food to people in need today and by promoting social policies to achieve a hunger free community tomorrow.

So what other non-hunger things does HTF do with its donations? The ACLU thing isn't listed on its website. People donate to this organization for a specific reason and it's not to help out the ACLU. Even if you are all for these partisan activities, these actions are inherently stupid. Helping the hungry is a non-partisan problem and the generosity of the donors knows no ideological bounds. Partisan actions that don't fit an organization's mission statement simply undermine their credibility with half of their potential donors. As an aside, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel should take at look at this stuff before it runs free fundraising articles for them.

There are other organizations that assist the hungry in Milwaukee, such as Second Harvest, which appears to be more focused on its mission than HTF. A comparison of the websites of the two organizations reveals that Second Harvest is in the feeding the hungry business while HTF is about political advocacy under the guise of feeding the hungry. If you are in Wauwatosa, consider bypassing HTF and donate directly to the Wauwatosa Food Pantry. Then your donation will truly help a needy person in our community, rather than pay the salary of a "director of advocacy."

Note: Recipients of the Wauwatosa Food Pantry require a photo ID. So why again is HTF against free photo IDs for the poor?

"Get off my lawn!"

2011-07-01T08:53:00.006-05:00

Racine County will now use jail inmates to mow grass and pick up trash. It tried to do that previously in an effort to save money, but the union said no because they had the ability under collective bargaining to say no. As a result, Racine County either had to provide overly expensive service or none at all.

It is because unions stood in the way of common sense ideas such as this one is why they dug their own grave. There are thousands of small, common sense ideas to save a few bucks here or better manage resources there that will spring up all over Wisconsin. Taxpayers do not need to provide a pension in order to mow a lawn and a guy convicted of shoplifting doesn't need to rot in a cell.

Restaurant Review: Ono Kine Grindz

2011-06-30T10:05:00.003-05:00

I haven't been eating out as much lately so I the review segment has been lacking as of late. The best way to save money is to not eat out, but once in awhile you simply need to do something different.

Located at 72nd and North Avenue, Ono Kine Grindz is a casual Hawaiian market that serves plate lunches. It is owned by a gentleman who grew up in Wauwatosa, lived in Hawaii for a few decades and returned home. The business is located in a 1920s bungalow that had a storefront attached in the 1940s or 1950s. It is filled with shelves stocked with a variety of Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese food items.

The menu is limited to five or six items of which I had the Kalua Pork served with purple rice, macaroni salad and carrot salad. It was delicious. Remember what I said about the bungalow? The seating area is in the bungalow part of the building with all the woodwork and charm of a traditional Wauwatosa bungalow. Very comfortable. The market also subscribes to a Hawaiian newspaper and I perused that while dining on my Kalua Pork. Naturally, the paper had an article that involved a private investigator.

One Kine Grindz is casual, fun and brings something new and unique to Wauwatosa. Give it a try.

Tosa Mayoral Raise

2011-06-30T09:43:00.005-05:00

The issue of a pay raise for the mayor popped up again. I have no problem revisiting an issue of a salary frozen in time since the Reagan administration; however, that does not mean I support a raise.

What I don't want in that discussion though is the concept of raising the pay so it can be a so-called "family supporting job". Raising a family is not part of any job description. It is not the city's (i.e. the taxpayers) job to base the pay for its highest elected official on some vague notion. If we subscibe to that theory, do we get to pay the mayor less because he or she may be single or would we have to pay the mayor more if his or her family can field a baseball team. That is the definition of "family supporting" isn't it?

A local blogger raises a very good point. Raise the pay high enough and the mayoral position becomes a one sought after by career politicians eager to extend their state pension credits. I find the concept of a pension for an elected official to be appalling and not in the true spirit of public service. There should be absolutely no pension tied to elective office. If that were indeed the case, then perhaps the Milwaukee County pension scandal would never have happened. There is a theory that people will accept their lot in life if they feel comfortable within it, thus never striving to better themselves or change their situation. This theory also applies to politicians. Make an elected office too cushy and people will want to stay there. Give a politician a pension, they will always remain a politician. Give an elected public servant a pension, chances are that he or she will become a politician.

Getting off Uncle Sam's Gravy Train

2011-06-30T09:26:00.005-05:00

The State of Wisconsin is doing its part to cut down one of the biggest scams out there -- getting a Federal grant. The money point made in the article by the state government guy is that "we already do this stuff, why do we need to duplicate it".

Exactly. Federal grants are simply government pork. They may be for a worthy cause or for a cause that makes people feel good but they often duplicate a state service or get government in places where it doesn't belong. Essentially, grants are crack for local governments and non-profits. They support a couple of positions not normally needed and builds a nice little constituency of well-meaning upper middle-class folks who get to feel good about themselves because "they help people", never mind that nothing may have changed. It's all about getting credit.

These individual grants really don't add up to much in trillion dollar budgets, but they epitomize the growing reach and complexity of the federal government. Does Uncle Sam need to insert himself into everything? Uncle Sam is running out of money and sooner or later will have to change how it does business. Slowing down the grant industry (and it is an industry), is going to have to happen and we might as well start now.

Scott Walker is a lucky man....

2011-06-27T09:35:00.005-05:00

...who thanks God every day for the level of opposition he has faced over the past few months. Sure, there has been lots of yelling and screaming and other shenanigans as a result of the collective bargaining reform and the state budget and concealed carry and voter ID. This is all good stuff passed in a short amount of time, but none of it is really earth-shattering, ground-breaking reform. While the budget shortfall was eliminated without money swaps and fund raids, the budget still goes up 1.8 percent. Wisconsin gunowners now enjoy the same right as 48 other states. We get a voter ID bill that is largely based on one that has already been cleared by the Supreme Court. And public sector employees are getting a far better deal than they are in places like New York, California or Illinois and they still have a better deal than your average Federal employee (who no one thinks have it very rough).

These initiatives are merely low-hanging fruit. It's the easy stuff. Solid bipartisan majorities have wanted voter ID and concealed carry for ages. The governor signed a $66 billion budget -- one larger than that was signed by his predecessor -- that doesn't carry any significant restructuring of state government. It shaves here and there and consolidates a few things, but doesn't change considerably how the state does business. Okay, people are yelling about the collective bargaining privilege reform and stormed the capitol. Sure, it's a shock to the system of those employed there, but the end result will be opportunities for local governments to get a handle on the largest part of their budgets. Those governments can and some have decided they are not interested in taking full advantage. It's all pretty mild stuff. It's not an ObamaCare or a Ryan plan, or Tommy Thompson's W2. Those are bold changes or proposals on how government operates and affects people's lives.

I contend that the ruckus by the unions, liberals and Democrats in this state has only strengthened Governor Walker and the state GOP. The level of outrage has been completely out of proportion to what has actually happened in this state. In three months when the kids are back in school and we brace for yet another winter, the average Wisconsin person, if they even remember it at all, will wonder what all the hubbub was about. Their trash will still get picked up, their streets plowed, their kids will still go to school, none of their government employee friends will be laid off (unless you work for MPS but they dug their own grave) and their property tax bill won't be much higher than the last one. Bottom line, Wisconsin had so much low-hanging fruit, that it wasn't too hard to do the bare minimum without inflicting much widespread pain. A bold budget would have dropped state spending under $60 billion and done big things like closed a university or two (do we really need UW-Stout?) and reformed the whole Wisconsin tax code. I could see how such changes would get people agitated to the point of a capitol sit-in, but contributing to your own gold-plated pension?

The over-the-top response to these very mainstream, albeit semi-conservative, proposals forced people to look at the issue and what they found puzzled many of them. The thought "Wow, these people yelling and screaming will only have to pay this much for these great benefits and they are banging drums and boycotting local businesses? Sorry, while it sure sucks to lose anything and, as a Wisconsinite I really don't like my governor being confrontational, but try living in the real world with real paycuts and real losses of jobs and yet I still have to pay your salary, pal. I am going to wait and see what happens before I give the governor too much grief." In essence, there are lots of people in this state who see all this as a temper tantrum about protecting someone's personal status quo (special-interest politics), not some lofty defense of Wisconsin Progressivism.

Now that most people who are rabidly against the governor have exhausted themselves because normal people can only be mad for so long, the protest contingent has degenerated into the truly partisan and the causaholic burnouts of Madison, which nobody in the rest of the state ever took too seriously. The antics of these folks are even more out of proportion to what is actually happening and all they accomplish is showing people (with a conservative blog contingent eager to give them free publicity) just how out of touch they are and just how childish they can behave.

Meanwhile, the governor can just continue being uber-reasonable and perhaps engineer some bold reforms. However, I just don't think Scott Walker is a bold-reform politician.

Angering the Silent Voter: Green Bay Edition

2011-06-23T11:42:00.004-05:00

Public unions just keep not recognizing reality and will continue to lose support due to their whining. They have overplayed their hand in the public arena of ideas.

In Green Bay, the teachers are up in arms because they may have to work an eight-hour day.

The horror!

Note to teachers, you are not going to win any supporters by complaining about having to work an eight-hour day. You want to be treated like a salaried professional? Then don't complain about having to work the number of hours that unions historically claimed as one of their achievements.

This blog may be silent

2011-06-21T08:47:00.003-05:00

but it is still run by a voter.

Thank you Madison liberals and union goons for making it so easy for Governor Walker to get nearly everything he wanted. The more you screamed, boycotted and interrupted special olympians, the more you turned off the silent, but voting, majority.

State Democrats are all aTwitter

2011-06-02T16:19:00.003-05:00

Twitter perv Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is the guest speaker at this weekend's State Democrat Convention.

Time for some Milton Freidman

2011-05-25T09:47:00.002-05:00

Unions protect the rights of ....

2011-05-23T08:16:00.006-05:00

teachers who watch porn on school computers.

Of course the article contains details beyond the attention-grabbing headline. But the bottom line is that it cost the school district $300,000 to fire a guy doing something that is completely indefensible. Unions suing for viagra coverage and school board clowns wanting to give bonuses to teachers who faked sick days so they could throw tantrums at the capitol just rub those of us who pay the bills of the privileged class the wrong way. We simply exist to pay without having a say.

My dad was a teacher and a union member. He never said a single word about being in one or how he was getting screwed by the district or if the union had done anything to improve anyone's situation. It was probably because everyone involved--district, teachers, school board, taxpayers, voters--were, by and large, uber-reasonable people.

The protected antics of the public unions and their drain on the tax levy diminish government's ability to deliver the services and infrastructure demanded by its citizens. That $300,000 could have done a lot of good things in that school, instead it was used to fight procedural bullpucky. The Wisconsin version of Progressive government is one of an active government delivering a host of services to its population. The theory is that trained, rationale experts can do these things outside of the sphere of politics and corruption. The rate of return to the general society would be worth the higher cost of investment of the taxpayers or so goes the theory. The tradition of this system is one of the reasons why the people of this state demand a higher level of government services than many other states -- they have felt that government was doing things that truly made life better here and most people are willing to pay for that. I may think most of these people are misguided in their trust in government, but I am never going to win that culture war, but I can argue that the government they want isn't doing the things they want it to do.

What cases like the anecdotes mentioned above, or state employees gaming the system with overtime pay in the six figures, do is illustrate the tremendous drain on government resources by the privileged government employee class. The part of traditional Wisconsin progressivism lost on unions and many Democrats is that it sought efficiency above all else. It rightfully saw the patronage armies of entrenched political machines as a threat to government for and by the people. Such machines and their connected minions drained the treasury of hard-earned tax dollars and provided little benefit to the general public. Public projects that cost too much due to kickbacks and union cronyism, compensation above what the market will bear, work rules that invite featherbedding and benefit abuse drain resources from programs and projects that serve not only society's most vulnerable, but abuses those who pay the bills. So whenever I see a herd of union goons parading around the capitol yelling about their so-called right to view porn at work, what I really see is a privileged and politically connected class denying the Wisconsin taxpayer the right to an efficient government in the Wisconsin progressive tradition.

ARBT

2011-05-19T10:12:00.008-05:00

Stands for Any Republican But Tommy.

Herb Kohl deciding not to run for reelection is the only time I have had reason to mention his name in a blog post. Now that that is over, time to move on to his replacement.

I'll let the Democrats figure out their kabuki dance of who may or may not run before Russ Feingold decides that a two-year sabbatical from a government paycheck is long enough.

The rest of us in Wisconsin have a choice to make and it is a big one. There are probably four folks right now who are pondering a run who have a chance of winning this seat -- Tommy Thompson, J.B. Van Hollen, Ted Kanavas and Mark Neuman. My overwhelming pick is Ted Kanavas, who is a former state senator from Brookfield. He is a pretty smart guy who gets it fiscally. He would have to get better known statewide, however. Van Hollen's advantage is that he has won statewide office twice, but people still really don't know who he is. Mark Neuman burned lots of bridges last year with the folks who would do the heavy campaign lifting. That leaves the big old elephant in the room -- Tommy Thompson.

I did not live in Wisconsin during Tommy's first two terms as governor. I was not around for the Tommy the Reformer. I was around for Tommy the Spender. It's pretty easy to win 60 percent of the vote if you spend money on everything and everybody. Who else were the people going to vote for--Ed Garvey? Get real.

In the Senate, Tommy would probably be squishy on some of the big fiscal issues that Congress will have to face in the next few years. He also probably wouldn't work too hard. Far worse though is that I don't think Tommy would win. This senate race is going to be a brawl. It's going to be mean, nasty and expensive. It's going to feature sharp policy debates and candidates on both sides will have to articulate clear visions. What experience does Tommy have in these areas? He was last in office 11 years ago. His elections were cakewalks and he never had to do hard campaigning. He governed at a time where it was easy to be all things to all people because the state had enough money to be that way. This race will be a battle of fiscal visions and priorities because Uncle Sugar is out of money. Russ Feingold will be determined to regain something that he has internalized as rightfully his. He will campaign hard and have all sorts of minions out there doing his dirty work. I foresee Tommy not campaigning too hard because he thinks he can live on his past success. I see Tommy getting caught off-guard in debates on policy issues and not quite getting the issues that won the state for the GOP in the 2010 election. I also don't see voters of my age or younger being all that excited about Tommy and while we would vote for him, we won't write checks or do the volunteer work that is needed. Tommy would have to rely solely on the GOP establishment and that doesn't work in Wisconsin. And finally, Tommy is 70. He would be there at the most 12 years, which would be Herb Kohl-like in accomplishments. We have the opportunity to put someone of some long-term consequence in that seat.

Bottom line: Russ Feingold in 2010 was thought to be invincible and that turned out to be a thin veneer. Tommy's sense of popularity is also a veneer--one that has worn with time. This is a time of new ideas and Tommy isn't going to offer any.

Thanks for the good times Tommy, but don't let the door hit ya where the Lord split ya.

More HipHoponomics

2011-05-05T20:26:00.003-05:00

Since it was so fun the first time.....

Recognizing an excellent state employee

2011-05-04T11:38:00.002-05:00

People like to be appreciated and have outstanding service recognized. The governor has started an award program for state employees for outstanding service. This is a great idea and I as a constituent and Wisconsin taxpayer have nominated Governor Walker for this award.

Stock Update: A High Quality Problem

2011-04-28T11:32:00.012-05:00

While I think passenger rail is a waste of time and money, I have been "all aboard" with regard to freight trains. If you can haul a gazillion tons of something from Point A to Point B for $10 bucks, what is not to like? So I put my money where my mouth is and bought in 2009 some Norfolk Southern. It doesn't matter what I paid for it in 2009 because virtually every stock purchased that year was the equivalent of finding Macy's stuff at the Dollar Store (a point to ponder...would more women invest if they thought of it as shopping?)

The railroad just reported probably one of its best quarters ever and sees more growth in the future. As a result, the stock is at its highest price in the company's history. Since I have owned it, it has also raised its dividend 16 percent.

So should I sell and take my long-term gains, pay Uncle Sam his 15 percent and go find something else? The last time the stock was near this price was 2008 right at the point were it and everything else fell off a cliff. The bird in the hand is a pretty nice one and it would give me a substantial start on my 2012 Roth IRA, although it would draw diddly divided by squat between now and the end of January.

On the other hand, the company pays me 3.3 percent to keep looking for the bird in the bush. You are not going to find a risk-free, liquid instrument that pays that. The company's fundamentals are more than solid and some estimates see another $8-10 bucks for the stock price. The 2008 crash took everything down regardless of fundamentals and those with good ones have bounced back just fine.

If the company did not pay a dividend, I would sell because to hang out for a few more bucks in stock price would not be prudent. I did that with Ford and while it continued past the $15 where I sold it, it since has dropped right back to $15. If I keep it and the the price goes up...awesome! If it drops $10 bucks, I still get 3.3 percent and the opportunity to go bargain shopping. If I sell and it goes up, I still made money. If it drops, I can always buy it back.

Wish all of my problems were of this high of quality. If I could find a way out of my General Electric dilemma I would jump all over it. As of right now, I am going to install some limit orders and see what happens.

NOTE: In the Norfolk Southern conference call, they stated that corn reserves are at their lowest point in 15 years. They are shipping less of it to export terminals and more of it to ethanol plants. While I may have political opinions on that, it doesn't stop me from considering that particular reality with regard to investing. They are also pouring building materials into the Marcellus natural gas range in Pennsylvania....a place where Kinder Morgan is doing well.

The Hoyt Park Money Pit

2011-04-26T08:48:00.008-05:00

The Friends of the Hoyt Park Pool over the past few years has raised some money to replace the Hoyt Park swimming pool. This private organization received a substantial benefit from the taxpayers in that the county gave them the right to build the pool on county property for only $1. The cash-strapped county is also kicking in $1.5 million for some general park improvements.

During the creation of this organization and during its fundraising, the group said it would not need city dollars for this project. Skeptical people doubted that assertion all along and on the eve of the pool's opening, they are turning out to be right.

A swimming pool is a hole in the ground. And before the first kid even got water up his nose, the city is being asked to throw money down a hole.

The group is asking for money from the city's contingency fund. I thought contingency funds were for emergency expenses like when a bridge over the Menomonee River failed and required immediate reconstruction. I guess, in the mind of the pool people, contingency funds (Other People's Money) are for starting blocks and canopies.

UPDATE: The article linked to above was pulled this afternoon and this one was posted early evening. It basically says that the pool people do not need any money from the city. The question remains is was this a miscommunication between the pool people and some aldercritters and the city administrator or did the aldermen get an earful all day about this impending expenditure and have sense enough to get the request killed?

If it will cost $1 million to shut her up . . . .

2011-04-21T10:56:00.000-05:00

This is what citizen democracy looks like

2011-04-20T15:38:00.008-05:00

Folks packed city hall for the city council meeting to revisit passing some union contracts. I was not there, but from what I understand people who were actually from Wauwatosa (others from other places perhaps not so much) generally carried themselves well on both sides. Other than some alderpeeps claiming they are smarter than the rest of us because they went to NYU or insinuating that contract opponents were unchristian because they were creating conflict during Holy Week, it appears to have been a reasonable debate filled with factual information on both sides. After over four hours of debate, the council voted 8-7 to pass the contracts with one member absent. The mayor vetoed the measure today. Regardless of one's position on the issue, everyone can agree that whole community participated in the debate.

An article about the meeting had this quote that really captures the essence of this whole issue:

"This is the first time in my lifetime I've seen the taxpayer able to participate in collective bargaining." -- Jeff Wilhelm

That is really the whole point of restricting collective bargaining privileges -- the taxpayer didn't have a seat at the table where it was decided how their money would be spent. Now will the taxpayers always make the best decision? Perhaps not, but it's their money.

(Some) Union Goons boo the national anthem

2011-04-18T08:12:00.004-05:00

Lots of people at the capitol rallying and counter-rallying. The rally side played the national anthem and while pockets of the counter-rally may have quieted down once they heard the music, others kept right at their tantrum with the music loud and clear.

Union Goons: You have just pissed off every person who has worn a uniform.

Union Goons Pick on Girls

2011-04-17T09:56:00.007-05:00

There was a rally and counter-rally at the state capitol yesterday. Sarah Palin showed up for the rally and was booed, yelled at and mocked by the union goons who showed up specifically for that purpose. Classless on the goons part, but that is public politics and Sarah Palin is an adult who thrives in such situations. She craves such attention and, as a result, if union goons want to give in to their base impulse to throw a tantrum, I have no problem with that. It doesn't cast the union folks in the best light, but it's not going to hurt their cause either. However, I thought for sure the union goons would act in a civilized manner and not yell, boo, scream and shout obscenities at a 14-year old girl who dared to make a public speech that didn't support the union view. That would be classless and juvenile and this is Madison, where people are loving, tolerant and do things "for the children."

Oh, was I wrong * (no I really wasn't because I am being sarcastic). The goons were so caught up in the moment that they ripped into this girl and tried to drown her out. Now perhaps the parents should have better considered what the crowd would be like, but the responsibility of the union's protesters falls completely on them. They didn't have to carry on, they could have listened to the speech and then yelled a consolidated "we don't agree with you". That would have been civil discourse and the event would have moved on without incident or fodder that can be exploited to make the unions look bad (i.e. their goonish ways would have been better hidden from public view).

Union Goons: I've said this before, you are cutting your own throats by your actions. Overtaking a community meeting by a state senator and congressmen and yelling until it is shut down, threatening boycotts of small businesses for not putting up a sign, as well as yelling and being crude to 14-year old girls is not going to win any supporters to your side. The events captured in that video may not represent the majority of your side, but they are the ones you allow to speak publically on your side of the issue.

Base impulses may feel oh-so-good at the time, but it is the calm, uber-reasonable approach that eventually wins friends and influences people.

* Citation: Althouse blog plus comments.

Two Deer and a Duck

2011-04-16T18:18:00.008-05:00

A bunch of folks and I decided to do the River Cleanup, which is an annual event to go along the rivers and parkways in Milwaukee County and pick up a winter's worth of accumulated trash. I arrived at one of the meet up areas and saw that there was a line. I asked myself, "why do you need a line to pick up trash?" Turns out that people had to sign in, get issued gloves and bags (don't people bring their own gloves to these things?) and get their free T-shirt. I saw no reason to sign-in to pick up trash and I didn't need an ugly T-shirt to tell other people that I am more concerned than they are. However, I did snag a couple of trash bags. The start time of 9:00 arrived and people were still signing in and I guess there was going to be a briefing for everyone before we started. Now with 22 years in the military, I am highly experienced in picking up trash so I left before I was told "be careful out there." Can't people in Wisconsin do anything without signing in and getting instructions?

I moved out to a local section of one of the rivers running through town and tromped through the woods until I reached the river bank. While it was a bit muddy from last night's rain, a thick layer of leaves kept it at bay. I was working for about ten minutes picking up various bottles, cans and pieces of plastic when I saw two deer standing thirty feet away from me while a duck was swimming in the river. I froze and we stared at each other for five minutes while the duck took off. One deer went back into the woods while the other looked at me some more. I resumed my trash grazing while the second deer grazed upon some fresh shoots of grass by the river bank. It eventually moved into the woods to join the other, still not far away. They remained there unconcerned while I slowly made my way along the shore. About ten minutes later a herd of kids with their parents came along being loud and the two deer high-tailed it out of there.

I fell in behind the line of kids who seem to run around in circles while their parents picked up trash. They left more than enough behind for me to fill my bag. I moved on to a more challenging location and picked up another bag. During my adventures, I found out where the Democrat kids hide their stolen 'Scott Walker for Governor' campaign signs and empty cans of spray paint. These people also had a penchant for Lay's Sour Cream & Onion potato chips as there were a large number of those type of bags at that particular location. Other items found throughout the morning included a number of tennis balls, a good fifty feet of rope, a baseball, a can of Axe body spray and a pair of panties.

Good thing I brought gloves.

Dear Wauwatosa Alderfolk

2011-04-14T15:18:00.011-05:00

What part of NO do you not understand.

A whole bunch of taxpayers/voters a few weeks ago told you they didn't want you to give away the store to the city's union employees. Most of you listened. Now some of you want to give us the finger and try to do it again. Let the mess in Madison play itself out and then settle the contracts. If the unions gave you a bunch of stuff, it's because they know you can take more once the law is in effect.

April 19th at 6:30 a meeting will occur to try to get this issue put back on the agenda. The taxpayers of Wauwatosa need to show up yet again and keep some of the people who work for them in line.

Alds. Linda Nikcevich, Don Birschel, Dennis McBride, Jeff Roznowski, Bobby Pantuso are the ringleaders of this effort.

When you talk to these people, be polite and respectful and several of them may indeed listen to you. Don't be a goon.

NOTE: Some of these folks are considering that it costs the city extra money each pay period because the employees are working under the previous contract and not the proposed one, which may be a valid, albeit shortsighted, argument. Others, like Linda N., are positioning themselves as a friend to the unions when they run for mayor next year (which explains why she has supported making the mayor job full time). My suggestion if you go and provide comment is to ask that no matter what decision an alderfolk may make, that it be based upon the best interest of the taxpayer, and not for the best interests of the unions or one's future political ambitions.

Stock Swop Update: Nothing runs like a Deere

2011-04-09T11:11:00.005-05:00

The broker gave me a call today to do a regular portfolio review. I switched some monthly contributions from one mutual fund to the other and also talked about how $10K in Johnson & Johnson twenty years ago is now worth $64K and pays $1700 a year in dividends. Too bad in 1991 I was twenty and had no money and it would be another 6 years before I did.

Anyway, my broker is in South Dakota (long story) and he was telling me about all the farmers stopping in wondering how to invest all their money from their $7/bushel corn, which if you own 640 acres of corncrop equals an after expense sum of $320,000. The one thing I have learned about both school teachers and farmers is that they are really good about crying poor when they actually aren't. Another thing I know about farmers is that they love to spend money and it never stays in their pocket too long.

We also reviewed my oil stocks of which I've own Exxon Mobil and Black Pelican, which just reinstated its dividend. I've owned XOM forever and it's done very well. With oil zooming up into speculator territory, the XOM price has zoomed up with it while BP has stabilized. I think I have too much money in oil stocks right now so on Monday I am selling the XOM to take the gains. It may go up a bit more, but if oil crashes again, its price will go right back down. Meanwhile, I think BP is at its floor right now and wouldn't be impacted as much by an oil crash.

With my oil money, I am going to buy some John Deere, which is simply the finest farm equipment company in the world. When farmers have money, they absolutely love getting a new shiny tractor, which most of the time is green.

Klopp goes plop

2011-04-07T18:56:00.003-05:00

For the gooniest of the union goons....

The Bridge to Nowhere

2011-04-07T08:38:00.006-05:00

I don't bike but I live in a town with lots of Lance Armstrong types (minus the performance enhancing drugs). A dream of many of the Milwaukee cyclists is to bike on the Hoan Bridge. If you aren't from around here and not familiar with Milwaukee, this is a huge bridge that crosses the harbor and it remained unfinished for years--hence the nickname "bridge to nowhere". Even then it served a useful role because it was the bridge that Henry Gibson and his Nazi henchmen jumped from in the "Blues Brothers."

The Hoan needs fixing and the governor is on board -- the previous administration wanted to tear the thing down. The cyclists have been battling for years for the right to bike across this thing and Gov. Walker has authorized special rides over the bridge; however, he is against a dedicated bike lane.

I think a bike lane should be considered if it doesn't significantly add to the cost of the rehabilitation project. The more extreme members of the bike crowd cite gas costs, commuting, blah, blah, blah. Whatever, let's be realistic. It would be cool and a unique way to see Milwaukee. It would be a destination for bikers and runners, as well as sightseers. It would be an attraction.

One example that should considered is the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. This high-rise bridge is two-miles long and quite comparable to the Hoan in scale and purpose. It includes a protected cycling/pedestrian lane and parking lots on either side of the bridge. From my experiences in Charleston, the trail is very popular for recreation and its a great way to see the city. The Hoan holds similar potential and if it can be done at a reasonable cost, then such a facility should be included with the Hoan.

Union Grove Roadtrip

2011-04-02T15:09:00.004-05:00

I went on a roadtrip to Union Grove today to support businesses unfairly targeted by some local union goons. Why people paid with tax dollars would target taxpaying businesses who employ people who also pay taxes is beyond me and strikes me as quite stupid. It was a nice day and I really didn't feel like inviting more snow by doing yardwork so I went for a drive.

Union Grove is about 4,000 folks and has a typical small town main street. I first stopped by a local restaurant to have lunch. It was quite good and at a great price. After leaving a generous tip I went up to the register and paid my bill. Upon payment, I told the owner that "I drove here today from Wauwatosa to support Union Grove" and his eyes lit up and he thanked me.

I next went to the Village Dollar store, which is the center of all this. It is owned by this nice little old lady who is a retired teacher. She is the one who went to the media when the union threats started. The place was packed and I had to wait 15 minutes in the checkout line. She also fielded several calls from people in other states while I was there. She has certainly made lemonade out of lemons.

After picking up my annual Easter purchase of Peeps, as well as some assorted items, I ventured to the local hardware store and purchased three boxes of nails for my nail gun. One can never have too many nails.

There was a sporting good establishment in town so I bought a knee brace so I can continue playing pickup basketball.

I next stopped at a small market/deli and found some delicious locally produced summer sausage.

All told, I dropped about 55 bucks in Union Grove. After every purchase I told the manager/owner that I traveled to support their city and everyone thanked me profusely. People in this country are free to believe what they want and to go to what businesses they want; however, you don't have the right to intimidate, coerce or be a goon.

Union Goons in Union Grove

2011-03-31T19:36:00.006-05:00

The public Union Goons are out in force in Union Grove. Threatening businesses who don't put up a pro-union sign in their storefront.

Send these thugs a message and vote against their favorite candidates on Tuesday.

A Saturday shopping spree to Union Grove sounds like a fine idea. With every purchase I will also give the following note:

Dear Business Owner

I traveled to your city and business today to show my support for those threatened with thug tactics. Thank you for operating a business that employs people and being a positive force in your community and our state.

Links to the Past

2011-03-30T16:32:00.006-05:00

I've commented on the growing divide between the private and public sectors long before it was cool.

February 2010

More Here

I also contended that it is an issue that will divide along non-ideological lines and I still believe that. I think that liberals who work in the private sector or own businesses will eventually tire of the Union Goon tactics of the leadership and the more militant members of public sector unions. I would even contend that even former union members or the majority who are just regular folks who happen to be in a union would tire of them too.

Second-hand smoke is safe if you are gambling

2011-03-30T14:36:00.006-05:00

That must be a scientific fact because otherwise the State of Illinois would have NEVER voted to repeal their statewide smoking ban for state-run casinos.

That must be why the Wisconsin state smoking ban doesn't apply to casinos, either.***

***Actually, it's because it's a Native American Tribe/Jim Doyle payoff thing thing, but that ruins the pithiness of the post.

Teachers shouldn't lie

2011-03-23T13:17:00.012-05:00

The Wall Street Journal highlights two married Wisconsin teachers -- Len and Mary Herricks -- from Oshkosh in a national article about public sector retirements.

Bottom line, despite what they may have you to believe, the Herricks do pretty well.

From the paper:

"Not only am I losing salary and benefits and facing a bigger work load, but now they are taking away my rights," says Ms. Herricks, a 56-year-old elementary school teacher. A teacher for 35 years who earns in the high 50s, Ms Herricks can now retire and collect nearly her former salary.

In reality, Mary Herricks makes $68,423 in salary and $13,917 in benefits.

I hope Ms. Herricks doesn't let her 3rd graders lie like that.

Meanwhile, Len does pretty well himself by making $75,916 with $32,635 benefits.

The annual compensation to this couple is $190,891 of which $144,339 is salary. That is some pretty good money in a city whose median FAMILY income was $48,000.

The article goes on:

Given that pensions are off-limits to certain taxes, Mr. Herricks says they will bring home close to what they did before. They also plan to substitute teach. Still, the move is bittersweet. "I never thought my career would end like this," Mr. Herricks says. "This was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life."

It's actually pretty easy to decide to retire in one's 50s and bank around $144K a year. I could find plenty of challenging and new ways to stimulate my mind and occupy my day if I was presented with such an opportunity,.

For the rest of us to have that type of retirement we need to save major cash. To build a nestegg that pays off that much money requires the rest of us to save $4 million dollars over our working life if you assume a conservative 3.5 percent in earnings payout once you retire.

That is a tall order but not utterly impossible. However, saving for one's retirement would be significantly easier if some property tax savings could be realized by having people like the Herricks contribute 5.8 percent of their salary ($8,347) to their pension -- seeing that they are going to get it all back anyway when they retire.

Other than the lying and trying to portray this as a hardship, I have no problem with the Herricks retiring to enjoy the fruits of their 30-plus years of employment. In fact it's a good thing because the district can now save money by hiring young teachers at far less cost and at far more taxpayer-friendly benefits packages. Also, retirements create job openings and churn in the workforce, which is a needed step to help reduce unemployment during a recession. With regard to the big pension, the WI Retirement Fund is in pretty good shape compared to the looming catastrophies in other states. But I hope that the Herrick's don't do what so many people with fat taxpayer pensions do -- move out state and we the residents of Wisconsin never see that money returned to our economy.

Scott Walker Saves $$ for Tosa Schools

2011-03-22T14:02:00.011-05:00

The pension and health care contributions of the governor's budget repair bill saves the Tosa School district over $4 million dollars. The district does lose a substantial amount of state aid; however, the district still saves $798,000 even after the state aid cut.

This amount doesn't even consider savings as a result of efficiencies gained by not having to collectively bargain what brand of chalk the teachers want to use.

With regard to the reform of the collective bargaining privilege, I see it as a plus for school districts who want to manage their own affairs. A real debate between all parties interested in education--administration, teachers, parents, taxpayers and even students! (notice I didn't state unions) -- has the opportunity to occur if the community wants it to happen. For example, if the parents want teachers to have their inservice on saturday morning instead of a friday afternoon, then such a discussion can take place in the open rather then have it hidden in a contract sausaged up in the back room.

Local governments and school districts -- as well as the people who elect both -- will have the opportunity to be as responsible or as wasteful with these savings and tools as they want to be. Some will fail miserably while others will shine, most will plod along as they always have -- which will cause many to wonder what all the yelling and screaming was for.

It's okay to lose to Marquette

2011-03-22T08:55:00.002-05:00

Some teams even hang banners in their gym when they do.

GO MARQUETTE!!

Dane County does not represent Wisconsin-Part 1

2011-03-18T16:05:00.005-05:00

The bottom line on a Dane County judge granting an injunction on publishing the Collective Bargaining Privilege Reform Act of 2011:

Judges are elected and any Dane County judge would lose their next election if they did anything that helped Scott Walker. In other words, if Scott Walker was driving 54 in a 55, they would rule that he violated the speed limit by driving too slow.

Nothing to see here but political maneuvering and delaying tactics.

Wrote checks yesterday to the Governor's campaign as well as some GOP senators. Money well spent.

Dear Wauwatosa Citizens

2011-03-16T08:49:00.004-05:00

Congratulations for representing the city well in your conduct at the latest city council meeting. Whether for or against the matter at hand, you displayed a calm and rationale presence that was completely opposite of the goons who had invaded the building previously.

Stock Buy Update: Kinder Morgan

2011-03-15T16:34:00.004-05:00

I had my 2011 Roth IRA cash sitting around drawing 30 cents of interest per month. Not exactly a stellar use of that money, even with a tax free return.

So I threw the whole thing at Kinder Morgan (KMP), which is a limited partnership that pays out a fat 6.5 percent dividend. And since it's in my Roth, the earnings are tax free (as well as the capital gains). KMP is the cream of its industry and moves natural gas via pipeline from point A to point B. Egypt doesn't impact it, Japan doesn't impact it, the price of natural gas has a minimal if any impact. It's like a toll road in Illinois. You drive on it because you have to and you pay......except in this case, to me!

As far as the rest of the market is concerned. Too crazy for me to do anything else right now. My gut feeling is that the market really wants to go up and when its all clear with Libya and Japan, off it will go. But my gut feeling isn't strong enough for me to risk some cash.

A guy from Tosa posts an article written by another guy from Tosa about a third guy from Tosa

2011-03-13T10:03:00.003-05:00

Wauwatosa native Stephen Hayes writes about Scott Walker and the whole budget repair bill.

It's been a fascinating few weeks

2011-03-10T09:30:00.006-06:00

So there is finally movement on the budget repair bill. It's about time something happened because the status quo wasn't good for anyone. It's been fascinating watching this from a strategy and tactics point of view.

Politics is the art of the possible.
This point often is lost on ideologues. We all have our beliefs and opinions and just know in our hearts that they would work if only given the chance to be implemented fully. The problem is that you rarely, if ever, get to implement exactly what you want. If you overshoot, then you get nothing. This point is also often lost on moderates, but in a different way. When you are presented with an opportunity to work towards what you want, then have to take full advantage because opportunities are always temporary. From a strategy point of view, it can be summed up in knowing when to pick your battles and knowing what objectives you want to achieve as the result of that battle. It's also about knowing your opponent's capabilities and probable courses of action.

With regard to the current issue of reforming collective bargaining privileges, Gov. Walker had several options. He could have attacked the issue with modest changes across a broad front or sweeping changes on a narrow front. The alternatives either didn't do anything significant (no long-term reforms) or would have been unattainable (broad reforms on everybody). The Governor chose to attack deep into the issue but on a limited front. He chose to not to touch police/fire unions, which limited his front to non-emergency services. Ideologues and moderates didn't like that move for different reasons. Ideologues wanted a broad and deep changes to everyone while moderates didn't like the perception of unfairness to different groups. Both have a point, but one needs to get back to the main topic -- politics is the art of the possible. In the Governor's view, not having to deal with the inflamed rhetoric of "Governor Walker wants to burn down your house" was worth the costs not getting wholesale reform. Some may not like that aspect of the strategy, but if one likes everything that a politician does, they generally find it's only them that can fulfill their desires.

Tactics and strategy are different, yet connected. A strategy is a goal and tactics are the methods used to achieve that goal. An offensive strategy can have elements of defensive tactics, while a defensive strategy can carry tactically offensive components.

The Democrats have the defensive strategy of protecting collective bargaining privileges and slowing down any of the initiatives of the Governor and the GOP legislature. Protecting these privileges maintains their campaign contributions from unions and is their overarching goal of this entire circus. Their offensive goals are to win back control of at least one of the four levers of power (governor, assembly, senate or state supreme court).

So what happened?
Think of the Dem senators holed up in Illinois as a fortress and the union theatrics as the forces screening that fortress and protecting its flanks.

The Democrat were on defense and had few tools to use in this fight. They abandoned some of them and overplayed the others. In the art of strategy and tactics, it is very difficult to win a sustained battle while entirely on the defense. Early in the process, the Dems had the means to amend the bill in the Senate to round its edges and soften GOP support. Properly played, this defensive tactic would have carried benefits for the Dems in future legislative battles regarding the main budget bill. Instead, they completely abandoned that tool and chose to quit the field and hole up in Illinois. Quiting the field and retreating to their fortress position prevents an opponent with overwhelming firepower (the GOP controlling the executive chair and both houses of the legislature) from using that firepower in a frontal attack.

However, this maneuver left only one way for the Dems/unions with only one immediate offensive tactic--theatrics. Capitol protests and occupation, Michael Moore, drum circles and yelling in the Wauwatosa library were the only way for them to engage in this battle. In this case, theatrics were the forces that screened the senate Democrats who were inside their Illinois fortress. Theatrics, while initially powerful, are compelled by emotion, not by rational thought. Emotion in politics is a hothouse flower for all but the most committed to a particular cause. The effectiveness of theatrics breaks down over time as the emotions of both the participants and observers is spent, the attention of the general public is drawn elsewhere or the antics of the participants is seen (or painted) as loony or dangerous. In this case theatrics were used as an offensive weapon to try to thwart the legislation--to force the GOP to surrender the fight. Without such a surrender, theatrics as a tactic needs to be hinged to a defined event (like an election) where other friendly forces have the ability to pick up and carry the fight on their terms. No such event exists in the immediate future with the exception of the April State Supreme Court election. As a result, the GOP response was to take a defensive posture and let the natural erosion of the power of the theatrics run its course; they denied the protesters with anything that changed the dynamic. There was no video footage of police dragging people out of the capitol, nor was there a wall of police or national guard arrayed around the capitol grounds; events that would have escalated the drama and refuel emotions. The protesters were denied the ability to affect their own events in a manner that benefitted them and the Senate Dems could not rally their troops from their Illinois hideout.

A conventional force hunkered down in the defensive posture is eventually bypassed.

The Senate Dems in Illinois removed themselves from the legislative process and all the institutional support they gained from it. Other than the fiscal bill quorum requirement, they could no longer impact any movement of the remainder of the legislature. They essentially retreated to a single walled fortress, which is impregnable from direct attack. However, they by themselves are unable to stop their opponents from maneuvering around that fortress, which is what the legislature did yesterday when they split the budget repair bill into fiscal and non-fiscal components. The protests, while still occuring and will undoubtedly reach a higher level of crescendo, hold little potential to impact the dynamic in a way that is positive for them in the immediate term. Any show of violence will undermine their position and simply yelling the same slogans but only louder will not open new ears to their message.

The primary failure of the Democrats was to not use the power of theatrics as a opportunity to find a leader who could have become the face of the debate. Jesse Jackson and Michael Moore have had more face time in front of these protests than elected democrats or those who could potentially run for a political office. An emerging leader could have developed rationale arguments to blunt the message of Governor Walker and been an electoral threat down the road; a threat that could have forced Walker to retailor his message. Right now, the parties of the debate are the mob verses a governor who comes across as very calm and deliberate with his message, even if you don't agree with him.

The Democrats offensive strategy
The Democrats do have a potent offensive tool -- the upcoming state supreme court election and the recall. These strategies are in the future and can make use of their minions holding drum circles on the capitol lawn. They hold the ability to tip the balance of the state supreme court in April, which will allow the Dems to undermine the governor through the courts. A loss may also wilt some of the more squishy GOP legislators. Successful recalls will also have the same effect or even flip the senate to Democrat control. However, this is also a double-edged sword. A win by Judge Prosser would blunt the impact of this strategy and GOP victories in recall elections would actually strengthen Governor Walker.

It's going to be an interesting couple of months.

Dear Wauwatosa Union Goons

2011-03-08T15:33:00.005-06:00

This is not how to behave in a public venue open to all residents of the city.

You may feel all unified when you hog a public forum and yell and scream, but all you have done is show non-partisans just how unhinged you are.

If you are a teacher at this event, do you let the children of your class behave in this manner?

If you are an employer at this event, do you let your employees behave in this manner?

If you are a parent at this event, you must be the ones with the screaming children at the local Target.

You are an embarrassment to the city of Wauwatosa and as of right now, do not appear to be intelligent or mature enough to engage in a responsible debate.

Sincerely,

Someone a whole heck of alot calmer than you.

You mean money no longer grows on trees?

2011-03-02T15:11:00.004-06:00

The local school superintendent (and local government) ponder the loss of state aid under Governor Walker's budget.

The superintendent and school board should have thought about that before handing out fat raises and then jacking property taxes.

Those evil corporate profits...

2011-03-01T10:38:00.003-06:00

...fund the retirement of Wisconsin government employees.

Changing Collective Bargaining Was Okay in 2009

2011-02-23T14:41:00.007-06:00

You witness all this protesting going on or talk to a unionized public employee and they all tell you that collective bargaining is a right...blah. blah. blah. Gaylord Nelson gave it to us in 1959!!! blah. blah. blah. It can never be changed in anyway shape or form because that would be UNION BUSTING!!!!! blah. blah. blah.

First of all, it's a privilege, not a right. If it was a right, we would all have it and the government would be incapable of granting it. But that concept is like describing the sky to a blind person.

What can and cannot be collectively bargained is changed ALL THE TIME. The legislature can change the rules whenever it feels like it. Many, if not most of the time, the legislature can expand collective bargaining to favor the unions, just like it did in 2009 when it passed seven changes to what can be bargained or how the procedure is done. The costs of such changes in collective bargaining are passed on to us the taxpayer or us the resident who has a diminished city service.

No school teachers flooded the capitol in 2009 to protest that the rules for collective bargaining were going to be changed. In fact, they flooded the capitol to make sure they were going to happen! So clearly, they are not against changing the process, they only get agitated when the process doesn't benefit them. Which is entirely within their right; however, don't pretend that this is some dictatorship and you are going to be forced to work in chains. Want to change the rules back? Go elect some more Democrats or pay off more senators like Dave Schultz (R-the only Republican to which WEAC gives money)

And don't pretend that this is some civil rights struggle or that your work for the social good. You are no different than anyone else, you want the best deal you can get. I would respect you a whole lot more if you simply admit it.

Dear Wauwatosa School Board and Superintendent Ertl

2011-02-20T21:23:00.007-06:00

Please check out this link regarding teachers in your school district. It mentions two teachers of Governor Walker's children using them as props for their political protest.

Professionals do not hide behind children and use the children of their political opponent in their demonstrations. Governor Walker and most parents of the city entrust their children with the Wauwatosa schools and its teachers. They expect these people to be professionals and safeguard the children they are charged to instruct. Pointing them out individually to protest against a parent is the sign of a tiny, hate-filled person who is incapable of rational thought; because a rational person would never use someone else's children in this manner.

If the teachers of Wauwatosa schools are capable of this level of unprofessionalism, can you guarantee that those same teachers will not retaliate against the Walker children in another manner such as lowering grades, denying assistance, unfairly singling out for discipline or allowed to be bullied? I expect these teachers to be disciplined and a reminder to all staff that they are charged with teaching children entrusted to their care; they are not political props. If the teachers union really wants to further lose this debate, just continue with such petty and shallow behavior. Do you employ professionals or union thugs?

Sincerely,

A Wauwatosa Taxpayer.

------------

Contact the Tosa School Board here

Superintendent Ertl

Little blue pills are a right?

2011-02-18T13:57:00.011-06:00

The unions are screaming about a loss of their collective bargaining "rights." Which really means the right to hold a local government entity hostage with outrageous demands by horny middle-aged men and file lawsuits if they don't get your way. There is a significant difference between a right and a privilege and the unions don't understand the difference. You see, 50-years ago the Wisconsin legislature that was elected by the people granted the privilege of collective bargaining to public employees. It may have been a good idea at the time. However, it was a privilege not a right. Rights are held by all and privileges are granted to a few. The Wisconsin legislature grants privileges and favored groups all the time. It also revisits such privileges and either expands, alters or eliminates those privileges. That is all the current Wisconsin legislature (still elected by the people) is doing -- reducing what public sector unions can and cannot bargain for. You see the voters of Wisconsin elected a governor and a legislature to fix the state's fiscal mess and this is one way they are doing it. If the people don't like it, they can pick a new legislature in 2012 and a new governor in 2014.

As you can see by the article that I linked to, I really doubt the legislature 50-years ago intended for unions to use their collective bargaining privilege for little blue fun pills. Also, the ability for unions to throw a hissy fit about the tinest parts of a contract collectively adds up to millions of dollars in increased cost to the taxypayer. Governor Walker wants to focus collective bargaining to one item--wages. Since the unions abused their privilege by seeking things like blue happy pills it would be good for them to only focus on one thing for awhile.

So would state employees prefer the solutions proposed by a Democratic Governor?

2011-02-18T08:44:00.006-06:00

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is pondering laying off 10K state workers.

Given the level of outrage by state unions against Governor Walker's mild proposal, I come to the conclusion that they prefer the Cuomo approach.

I suspect that the rank and file union types don't understand that consequence. I wish they did because this big dog and pony show in Madison has been engineered by the union leadership simply so they can keep their power. Union leaders and political hacks will gladly sacrifice 10K worker bees as long as they get to keep the following:

1) Everyone has to either join the union or pay for their "representation".
2) The state still collects the union dues and passes it on to the union.

If people had a true choice on whether or not to join a union, many would not, especially if the union had to go out and collect the money itself instead of the auto withdrawal of the paycheck that currently happens.

Without those two things, the Marty Beils of the world no longer get to collect fat paychecks while they throw the people they supposedly represent under the bus.

Well, this is interesting!

2011-02-16T18:19:00.005-06:00

First of all. SCOTT WALKER IS THE BEST GOVERNOR EVER AND I CANNOT WAIT TO VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN IN 2014!

Now that I have that off my chest.

We do live in interesting and exciting times. Governor Walker truly understands that he has a once in a lifetime chance to remake the fiscal health of Wisconsin at every level of government. An elected executive and a legislative majority are at their most powerful in the earliest days of their terms. Political capital is not a bankable asset. It has to be spent in order to earn more of it and you cannot save it for a rainy day.

So the governor is, to quote Rahm Emmanuel, "not letting a crisis go to waste" by using the state's massive fiscal problem to rein a massively out of control expenditure at all levels of government -- employee compensation -- while setting the stage to tackle the upcoming biennial budget which starts out $3.3 billion in the hole. The state has bypassed such shortfalls for years through accounting gimmicks, funding raids, tobacco settlements, etc. All those are done, there are no more quick fixes.

So the governor is going to defang the money-suckering government unions. It's about time. I am philosophically opposed to government unions for several reasons that include: Government employment is not like working in a West Virgina coal mine, as well bargaining is supposed to be an adversarial arrangement between management and labor and unions influencing the negotiator through elections undermines that relationship to the detriment of the taxpayer.

I could go on but that is not the point of this post. Everyone is going back and forth on the surface level of this issue and that is routine and boring. The real significance of this proposal is that the savings from this new labor situation and limitation on what unions can negotiate is that the next budget WILL have significant cuts state aid to local governments and school districts. Savings to local governments on employee compensation will allow them flexibility to absorb these aid cuts without laying off a ton of people or jacking property taxes. The state has been cutting aid for years and the result is generally the locality filling the hole with property tax hikes. If Governor Walker was to do this without creating a way for localities to rein in employee costs then he would rightfully slammed for raising our already too high property taxes. These cuts, while sucky for the employees (BTW: sucky is truly a relative term because the vast majority of people would love this compensation package) have a structural effect beyond a one-time cost savings. It lowers the cost basis, which saves money for years to come. It also allows cash strapped local governments to better manage their affairs. It will also lead to more efficiency in the government workforce.

Governor Walker has a lot of work to do yet to get Wisconsin in healthy fiscal shape, but this is a tremendous start. Sure he has made people that didn't vote for him mad, but bold leadership draws lines in the sand. BTW such budgetary leadership is not possessed by our president, who punted on his opportunity to be bold.

Time for some Ronald Reagan

2011-02-04T13:47:00.001-06:00

The Gipper's 100th birthday is coming up.

Stock Update: Ford and Intel plus some BP

2011-01-28T10:16:00.007-06:00

Bought Ford after it tumbled 11.5 percent today on word that it didn't make as much money as people thought it would make. Key point remains that the company made money. It has also paid down its debt to under $20 billion and is paying $5K bonuses to the wrench turners. The stock has really run up and was due for this sort of fall. All it has to do is go back to where it started the day and I've made an 11 percent return.

In a budget move caused by the subject of my last post, I chose to sell some stock and so I could buy some Ford, rather than dig into savings. I sold all that Intel that I encouraged people to buy when it was under $20. Since rising to $24, the stock has been flat in the $21-$22 range. I did trade in the 3 percent dividend by selling; however, 11 remains greater than 3. Plus these trades were in my fun investing account, I still own a chunk of Intel in the main account where my dividend yield is closer to 4 percent.

In the main account, I added to my position in BP since the company is making wads of cash, no one outside of the Gulf recalls that an oil spill ever happened and it now has an agreement for a massive oil field in Russia, which doesn't mind oil spills. It is also considering reestablishing its dividend.

PS: After commission, I made enough on this stock on Wednesday to go out for a moderately priced dinner.

Dear Elected Official

2011-01-27T14:34:00.004-06:00

My boss sent out a memo today saying "we can not increase salaries as we incur more debt."

Hopefully, our esteemed elected officials at all levels of government take this to heart with regard to gov't employee pay/benefit hikes, as well as the pondering of tax hikes on us private-sector working folk who are damn tired of paying for pay hikes when we get squat.

Dear MMSD Commissioner Didier

2011-01-20T09:41:00.015-06:00

Although I get to vote for or against you for mayor of Wauwatosa, I have no say regarding your position on the board of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District since it is an unelected, unaccountable board with not a single member trained as a civil engineer or as an expert in sanitation infrastructure. (Part of the theoretical appeal of government in the Wisconsin progressive tradition is the use of highly trained experts in positions like an MMSD to make rational decisions free of political influence, but I digress and will save this topic for a future blog post).

So using my second-hand ability to hold the MMSD board accountable with my tax dollars, as well as those charged to my quarterly water bill for storm water drainage, I thought I would express my displeasure with the MMSD trial balloon of charging certain homeowners $3,000 replace their sewer laterals and install sump pumps.

I understand that aging infrastructure is a problem and it needs to be replaced. However, I think your organization is not focusing on the real problem but is instead focusing on where it can make people pay.

I find it difficult to believe that rain that falls on my lawn, as well as all the other ones in Milwaukee and trickles down 7 feet to the sanitary sewer lateral and enters said lateral through some leaks can cause MMSD to dump gazillions of gallons of sewage into Lake Michigan every time we get an average rain. I also find it hard to believe that enough water trickles down along my foundation to the drain system to also cause said dumping.

If you do believe that to be true, then I do want to thank you in a roundabout way for at least admitting that rainwater entering the sanitary sewer system is not a good idea. Because now that MMSD believes rainwater in a sanitary sewer system is bad, it will work to disconnect the combined storm/sanitary sewer systems in Milwaukee and Shorewood. Systems designed to take all the millions if not billions of gallons of rainwater that falls in those areas and put it directly in the sanitary sewer system as quickly as possible. If MMSD does not consider that to be an option, please tell me why then water trickling through 7 feet of earth to a hole in a homeowner's lateral is more of a problem than a system designed to put directly that same rain water in the sanitary sewer the minute it hits the street drain? I am not an engineer, but neither are any of you on the board.

Perhaps MMSD can work to get more Milwaukee homeowners to disconnect downspouts from the combined sewer system. Physics tells me this puts more water in the system at a much faster rate than my lateral that is 7 feet underground.

Perhaps MMSD two years ago could have talked to Gwen Moore, Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl to redirect $800 million in Federal choo-choo train dollars to upgrading the combined sewer system. Isn't protecting Lake Michigan more important than subsidizing the affluent so they can sip Starbucks while they ride to Madison? Sure, Scott Walker killed the train and the money is gone, but you had plenty of time prior to that. Sure, some folks claim that that money could not be redirected, but if its one thing that we learned in the past two years of Washington, DC, it really doesn't matter what money is allocated for if people really want it to go somewhere else.

I suspect a big part of the board's preferred option is fixing a million tiny holes that are probably 30 percent of the problem instead of the big hole that is 70 percent of the problem is that you are going where you can get money. Reading through that MMSD board, its certainly loaded with people who have no qualms about sticking it to suburbs like Wauwatosa -- a city without a combined sewer system, few if any downspout connections to the sewer system, and has sacrificed some of its most vital green space for massive flood control and rainwater capture projects.

So I urge you to speak for your city and its residents and also remind the rest of the board to focus on the primary source of the problem, not the politically expedient and financially appealing bandaid.

Signed,

A responsible homeowner who will voluntarily upgrade his lateral at the same time the City of Wauwatosa upgrades the sanitary sewer line running along his street. Might as well only dig that hole once and get some volume-driven cost savings as well.

Just Call it Delicious Yum Yum Fish!

2011-01-18T09:19:00.004-06:00

Here is a fun story about an area chef making Asian Carp delicious.

Well, the first third of the story is fun, the rest of it is the reporter finding the various Professor Buzzkills who think eating Asian Carp is a problem. Now these eggheads do make some good points about how eating these carp won't solve the problem, but the reporter simply beats the issue to death. Yeah, we get it, some guy in Mukwonago isn't going to beat back the Asian Carp problem by serving tapas.

So what I want to ask these fish experts who are working on the problem -- what should we do instead? Entrusting you to think up smart ways to fix the issue hasn't been working out too well. Yeah, we get that the Chicago political machine and the Army Corps of Engineers either is developing Asian Carp as a new voting constituency or is the most lumbering bureaucracy ever, but you guys are the ones with all the fish smarts. Anyway, when you think up some no-fun solutions that will truly work, then you can get back to me. Until then, let us find new ways to eat fish that literally jump into a boat.

Until then, let Americans do what we do best, which is free enterprise and eating. There are Will Do, Can't Do and Won't Do people. We obviously have some Will Do folks in the kitchen, where are they in the positions of science and responsibility on this issue?

I don't know who will win...

2010-12-28T15:14:00.007-06:00

...the election for Milwaukee County Executive, but I guarantee it won't be this loser.

This twit -- defeated State Senator Jim Sullivan (D-Tosa) -- also uses perhaps the stupidest phrase ever to describe why he is running...."Now more than ever". He is also going to "roll up his sleeves" to "make tough decision" so we can all "get back on track".

Any other mindless cliches you care to throw in there, Jim?

I want to know how much money Jim has in his campaign warchest from the last race. Is there a way, by running a race he has no chance of winning, of him getting his hands on that money?

Okay enough conspiracy theory, but I will, however, continue to entertain Jim's fantasy. So Jim, what are your positions on county employee benefits, the mental health complex, reduction of the county board size, property taxes, sales taxes, transit, parks . . . . Do they differ from my prediction of Protect!, Spend money on union employees, Only if conservative ones lose out, Raise Em!, Raise Em!, Spend more money on union employees with no increase in quality of service and Spend more money on union employees with no increase in quality of service.

Those decisions sound to be more tough on me then on you.

Stock Sell Update: End of Year

2010-12-14T13:43:00.004-06:00

I put my portfolio on auto pilot during my three-month Army field trip. I did not have the necessary time to put forth in research, nor did I have regular access to a computer during market hours. As a result, I put my limit sell orders on my speculative stocks, as well as those that don't pay dividends. With the recent upward movement in the market, all of these orders eventually triggered -- leaving me in a great cash position in which to start the new investment year.

I left a fair amount on the table with this strategy because some stocks went much higher than where I sold them. My normal attention to my portfolio would have caused me to revise some of the limit orders upward; however, that is hindsight and, in the end, my strategy of capturing gains in an environment where I couldn't pay attention was successful.

In a broader context, I also sold some long-term positions in companies that had seen significant gains, but that did not pay dividends. My long-term position in Ford was one of these. Although it looks like Washington will continue with the current capital gains tax rate, I am going to take those gains in the current tax environment rather than one where the only known factor is that the rates won't be going down. Plus, without a dividend payment, the only way to make money was to sell the stock. Bottom line: You never go broke making money. So instead, I'll pay the 15 percent cap gains taxes and roll the rest into my 2011 ROTH IRA.

Put your money where your mouth is

2010-12-06T16:22:00.007-06:00

If you don't think you pay enough in taxes then please click here. Once you have sent me a cancelled check then you can talk to me about how you wish we could all pay more taxes.

A different train of thought

2010-12-05T17:02:00.005-06:00

Because I was down south and had made my prediction months before, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the Wisconsin Democrat Party getting its largest buttwhupping in the history of the state. However, I did note that automobile-speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison became quite the campaign issue. One that will remain significant throughout 2011.

There are lots of predictable arguments both for and against, and celebrity (at the local level) historian John Gurda continues to weigh in with historical vignettes tied together with a level of nostalgia befitting that of the coffeetable book historian that he is.

All that is boring, while maybe not boring, but most certainly overdone to the point of being tedious. There are lots of other angles to explore beyond "Build it" and "Don't build it."

Despite the huge price tag, it's neither an infrastructure nor a budget issue -- both are battlefronts in the proxy war between affluent urban liberals and everyone else. Rail between Milwaukee and Madison represents to urban liberals in those communities a sign that they are East Coast or European, not mere Midwesterners only a few miles from cornfields. Supporters think of their support of rail as enlightened, green, etc and think of opponents as rubes stuck in their SUVs. They dismiss the financial aspects as short-sighted and overestimate the numbers of people who will ride.

The merits of this line change depending on the argument needed to be made at the time. It's supposed to be part of a Midwestern network emanating from Chicago to other metro areas. Such a network requires speed between the principle cities, which means very few stops at smaller cities. More stops equals more time which equals fewer passengers who will take it between the principle cities. In this case it would be Chicago to the Twin Cities via Milwaukee -- a route that would best serve people in those cities but paid for by the pass-through state of Wisconsin. Knowing this, the Madison to Milwaukee segment has been embraced by proponents in those cities in a parochial manner. Having several stops between Milwaukee and Madison and building the Madison stop downtown would add significant time to the ultimate destination of the Twin Cities. If a true high speed line between metro areas that has value to passengers who would travel between destinations then it can't serve the smaller cities and downtown Madison the way the local liberal establishment would desire. However, if built with a commuter focus to meet the parochial interests then the larger intent of serving major metropolitan areas is diminished. It's hard to sell an idea when you have conflicting intents.

One question that I would like to propose to supporters who live in affluent urban enclaves is why are you supporting something that would promote suburbanization and urban sprawl. If this line is built with a commuter focus, then it makes it easier for people to not live in a primary city. Folks who would ride this train would be the affluent. A low-income person is not riding this thing from Oconomowoc to Milwaukee to clean a downtown office building. An average middle-class person in the burbs probably won't want or be able to flip for the fare on a regular basis. Instead, this train would be filled with folks clickity clacking on their laptops and drinking Starbucks on their way to their high-end jobs. Many of these people if they truly hated car commuting would live and pay taxes and support local businesses and put their kids in schools and build strong neighborhoods in the metro area's primary city. Instead, while they may work in the city, their dollars, kids and influence are out in the burbs. This is the very same line of reasoning that train supporters use to criticize freeways.

Sprawl is sprawl no matter what type of transportation people use to get from Suburb A to Downtown B. The Chicago Metra system has turned more than a few cornfields into subdivisions. Inhabitants of affluent urban enclaves lament suburbia as a drain on resources and talent that has forced cities into decline. I think the opposite -- that the problems and inhospitable nature of cities force people to the suburbs. If the liberal view of suburbanization is indeed true, then why would they support yet another method of transportation that will feed suburbia at the expense of cities?

I have returned

2010-12-04T16:56:00.005-06:00

For the past nearly three months I have been in a southern state doing an Army school. During this time, I experienced nearly perfect weather -- comfortably warm and dry. This not only provided for a good training experience, but one that facilitated excellent recreational opportunities during my off-time. Naturally, I returned to Wisconsin just in time for some snow. Not only did this state have great weather. It also had a lower tax burden to go along with its schools, roads, services and all the other things you find in higher tax states like Wisconsin.

The course went really well and I was more than able to hang with Soldiers nearly half my age and used some experience and common sense to work smarter and not harder on my way to scoring within the honors part of the class.

The great thing about the military is that you meet great people of all different backgrounds from all over the country as well as the world because several of my classmates were recently naturalized citizens. Every size and scope of college was represented from West Point to TinyTown State. The class was majority women and half minority. Nearly every political persuasion was represented and included someone would be best classified as a hippie chick. We united as a team to support each other and get the job done. We also became friends and had alot of fun. It's everything that liberals dream about, but most refuse to participate in as they remain in their affluent, lilly white enclaves (the liberals/democrats in the group agree with this statement wholeheartedly).

If you ever have the opportunity to go live somewhere else, do different things and meet different people for a few months you should definitely do it. It opens you up to a whole new perspective and brings many new challenges. This is a benefit of the military that has been unmatched by any other experience. I have had the benefit of such experiences for the past 21 years. Such an aspect cannot be captured in a mere vacation. All in all, it was a great experience. Now it's time to wake up to reality and go shovel the driveway.

Too spicy for me

2010-09-29T20:37:00.002-05:00

Local business Penzeys Spices is going to protest the AZ immigration law by marketing a protest spice. Fine, they are a business that is free do what they want.

I am also free to not buy their products. As much as I hate moralizing posturing, I really hate it when its used as a marketing tool.

Just concentrate on making a quality a product and you don't need gimmics.

New Places and New Faces

2010-09-07T15:01:00.003-05:00

I am off this week for a three-month, all-expenses paid trip to an Army post in a southern state. I would rather such a trip occur in January, but its better than taking it in June. This is not a deployment. It is an Army school I need to complete in order to advance my military career. Most of it will be in a classroom, but I will set foot in the field for a bit. This won't be the drill sergeant yelling at you type of school, this will be in the class of you are a professional soldier here for some training that will make you more valuable to the Army. We will work you hard and challenge you, but once you are done with your duty day then the rest of it and your weekends are yours. And we will even give you your own private quarters with a roof....unlike those infantry guys who only sleep underneath trees.

As an (ex)infantry guy who is over 40, a roof sounds pretty nice.

Stock Musings

2010-09-02T15:10:00.004-05:00

Looked through the monthly stock statement today and some things struck me.

--The pile of GE I have bought in the $17 range now pays a 3.5 percent dividend. I would expect another penny or two dividend increase within the next few quarters. That makes it much harder to sell a company I hate. There are worse problems.

--Based on today's payment, Nordic American Tanker pays a 9 percent projected yield. I am putting this on my watch list for next year's Roth. NAT's yield does go up and down like a yo-yo; however, it has stated that it won't float new shares, which it has in the past to finance new ships.

--Norfolk Southern is a really good stock. Buy it under 51, it doesn't stay there long.

--When the housing market is sorted out, people will kick themselves for not buying Home Depot at $28.

--I speculated in Sandridge Energy at 6. That didn't work out so well. Maybe you will have a better shot at 4. Good thing I only stuck my toe in the water.

--I could have made alot of money riding the Bucyrus wave that constantly moves between 52 and 62, but didn't. I never seem to have that pile money laying around when it's at 52, which is why Newell Rubbermaid at 16, PolyOne at 11.50 and Frontier Communications at 8.25 are going to get sold. Two out of the three will have made money and the other will break even.

--Johnson & Johnson has hit a rut with some product problems and litigation. No one likes their CEO either. When that is sorted out, it could be a fun ride provided you own some. In the meantime, have fun collecting 3.69 percent, which is much better than what the local bank is paying.

And if you take stock advice from a guy who uses as an avatar a cartoon character of a dog drinking a martini, then you deserve to lose your money.

Stock Buy Update: INTELligent people use standing limit orders

2010-08-31T12:47:00.006-05:00

See that brief dip in Intel on Friday?

You too can buy at the bottom of that dip if you have a low-end standing limit order to buy a stock you like. I only use it for stocks I like long term and only for a deep discount. You also need to have that money laying around to pay for it -- I did indeed have this but since I am a cautious guy and have a budget, I have canceled my other standing limit orders until next year.

You may notice that Intel is a few pennies cheaper today than it was for that dip. That is why you need to put your standing in for a price that you feel very comfortable with. I like this stock and would put in a $15 limit order if I wanted to commit the money to back it up.

Intel is in the Recovery Summer doghouse right now and it may remain below the bargain price I paid for it, but it's yield is now 3.5 percent. It's loaded with cash and is now acquiring other companies. It's backed down its future guidance, but the company isn't going away anytime soon.

Dear Mayor Didier

2010-08-27T15:29:00.010-05:00

If you support a medium-speed train station in Wauwatosa with my city property tax dollars I will actively work against you in the next election.

If you don't emphatically tell your city planners to shut up and cease pursuit of this train stop, I will actively work for your opponent.

The proposed "high-speed" rail system is designed to get you from big city to big city, i.e. Chicago to Milwaukee and Milwaukee to the Twin Cities via Madison. Having two stops on this system within five miles of each other is antithetical to the very concept of "high speed." It is not designed as commuter rail, which is what the proposed Milwaukee-Kenosha-Racine system does. Commuter rail connects to smaller communities near a major metropolitan area. Nor is it a streetcar/light rail system like the EL system in Chicago that serves within a major city. A HSR stop in Wauwatosa is akin to using a semi truck to pick up your groceries. Getting a government goodie is not an emergency that would require us to abandon the way we proceed with our local debate.

Can the City of Wauwatosa afford the following:
1) Building a station--the feds won't pay for all of it, which is why Oconomowoc got theirs yanked.
2) Provide police presence at the station.
3) Dedicate land for a parking lot -- if its in the Village, then that exacerbates a problem it already has. If it's near Froedert/Research Park, then what is the impact on the county grounds. What private property will be taken off the tax rolls?
4) Pay for the annual operation costs of the station.

Jumping in a knee-jerk manner that bypasses our community's normal method of debate simply to get a gov't goodie that will incur significant local costs to operate is utterly irresponsible. Any aldercritter that pushes adoption of such a station without doing due diligence, public debate, planning and zoning boards, council committee debates and votes as well as full city council votes should be removed from office. Getting a government goodie on a purely political timeline is not an emergency that requires Wauwatosa to change how we conduct our local debate.

Public Sector Compensation: Tosa Schools Edition

2010-08-27T12:56:00.005-05:00

The Wauwatosa School Board authorized 3 percent pay hikes (plus health insurance boosts!) for administration and non-union employees. That is smaller than the 4-plus percent hikes the teachers get in each of the next two years. On the surface, the admin hike is not the worst one in the world.

But when placed against the context of the school board floating the idea of a 10 percent levy hike a few months ago then all of these pay raises are simply irresponsible.

One school board member was quoted about the non-union pay hike: "We are working within our budget parameters, we are not overspending with these changes."

Really? I consider any pay raises funded by a 10 percent property tax hike to be "overspending" and I highly recommend that you change your "budget parameters" to something resembling economic reality.

As an aside, it would be really handy of the TosaNow newsite would link all of their school board and common council articles together so people could have a one-stop shop to read about all the goings on with their local government.

A guy from Tosa posts a story written by another guy from Tosa who talks about yet another guy from Tosa.

2010-08-26T13:36:00.005-05:00

Stephen Hayes, a Tosa native, pens a long article about Tosa resident, Scott Walker.

Fun with cartoons

2010-08-24T15:35:00.003-05:00

A part of my job that I consider fun is rummaging through old small-town newspapers on microfilm. These small town papers covered everything from national events to Ethel Johnson's Saturday card club. Compared to today, the papers are well written with a higher level of vocabulary and grammar. They really didn't have an opinion section but many would include editorial cartoon.

These cartoons are from small-town Illinois papers around 1938, which was a year when people had run out of patience with FDR's New Deal. Sorry for the distortion. I had to take the photos from an angle since the images were projected from a microfilm reader.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Save Big Money at Office Max

2010-08-18T12:10:00.005-05:00

I work for a small company and buy all of our office supplies. The boss has me use Office Max for a host of reasons I won't get into. Don't bother commenting if the Dunder Mifflin of your world is cheaper...change ain't going to happen.

If you are in the same boat and are not using their MaxPerks program then you are not saving 8.1 percent on your purchases (after you go through their hassle-oriented process).

It's also cheaper to buy their printer cartridges online than in the store, as long as you buy over $150 at a time so you qualify for free shipping. I typically have to add a box of envelopes to hit that magic number. We need those anyway. Recycle those cartridges at the store for credit to your MaxPerks account.

It all adds up in a hurry.

This is just one little example of how little companies try to get by...saving 8 percent here and 5 percent there. Think there are parts of any gov't budget that can take an 8.1 percent cut and not affect what goes on? I do.

Time for some Ronald Reagan

2010-08-17T09:24:00.001-05:00

Ouch!

2010-08-16T16:34:00.009-05:00

Having the president visit your company and making it bit better known is not necessarily a good thing. Especially if investors read this article in the WSJ.

Stock Update: Buy--Ford; On deck to sell--Newell Rubbermaid

2010-08-12T09:28:00.015-05:00

Bought more Ford after yesterday's 'Recovery Summer' discount.

GM is going to IPO soon and I expect Ford to piggyback on interest in that stock. I also bought it at a 14-day low.

Buddy of mine is looking at TOT due to the yield. I like it, but already have enough going on in energy stocks. Its 'recovery summer' discount was $3, which makes it even more intriguing. However, one must stayed diversified.

I have owned a chunk of NWL since Dec 2008. It has made a nice run. When it snaps back after yesterday's carnage I am going to sell and take my long-term capital gains this year instead of next year when I will have to pay higher taxes on those gains. It pays a tiny dividend but not enough to override giving Uncle Sam a chunk of my gains via the impending tax hike to pay for things like $26 billion to stimulate the libidos of Boomer-aged unionized teachers. It will also free up some cash for future opportunities. It's a good company and will continue to watch it, but tax planning is also part of investment strategy. I may buy it back after another 'Recovery Summer' discount.

Public Sector Compensation: Wauwatosa edition

2010-08-06T10:37:00.013-05:00

In order to be an informed resident, I make it a point to occasionally slog through the meeting minutes of the Wauwatosa City Council and its various committees. I don't have cable so I can't catch them on Tosa TV and Tuesday is basketball night for old guys with bum knees and no talent so I usually don't go in person.

Every resident of the City of Wauwatosa needs to read the minutes of this particular Employee Relations Committee meeting. The union contracts for the city are up for negotiation this fall and the minutes of this meeting describe what city employees (which by and large do a fine job) currently receive.

It's pretty appalling.

Right now, a Tosa employee pays 2.8 percent ($38 a month) of the $16,538 cost of a family health insurance plan, which is the cheap one, and 2.9 percent ($43 a month) of the $18,133 version. Single employees pitch in 2.6 percent ($14 a month) for a $6,609 plan and 2.9 percent ($17 a month) of a $7,253 plan. Tosa taxpayers pay the rest. The comparable private sector contribution per employee as stated in the minutes is 24 percent.

I contacted my aldercritter about the retirement system. The plan is the same as the State of Wisconsin where the city also pays the employee contribution in addition to the city match. The rate of the contribution is 10 percent of salary plus overtime.

Great deal if you can get it. Unfortunately, the rest of us who pay for those benefits have had no pay raises for a few years, lost benefits or have had our individual contributions to benefits increased while the employers cut their share (that is if we are lucky enough to have a job).

This compensation path by the city is completely untenable. The city has borrowed significantly to pay for a fire station and rebuild century-old infrastructure. It is also pursuing an $8 million bond issue to pay for a shortfall to the pension program. These and other items will demand a higher percentage of the city's tax levy. Cuts can be made all throughout the budget, but over 75 percent of the city budget is dedicated to employee compensation. It is the only place real budget cuts can happen.

On 31 August at 7:00, the Employee Relations Committee will have a public comment period before deciding on a directive for the city administration for these contract negotiations. I suspect the city unions and other employees (around 500 people) will have their folks there demanding this and that. Meanwhile, the rest of Wauwatosa who pays these bills is 45,000 people. Show up and make your voices heard (in an articulate and respectful manner).

Contact information for your aldercritters is here. A map of the districts is here. If you want to get in on the gravy train, you can fill out an employment interest statement here.

My position: Raise the employee health care contributions to no lower than 15 percent (prefer 20); Have employees pay their contribution to the pension system. One year pay freeze with 1 percent increases each of the next two years (remember, they still get step raises in a zero inflation environment). This is more than fair considering with actual unemployment in the range of 20 percent that having three years of job security with a benefit package that would still be superior to the private sector is one hell of a deal.

Tom Barrett: Lake Michigan Polluter

2010-08-05T15:44:00.011-05:00

In 2004, Milwaukee Mayoral candidate Tom Barrett attacked Interim Mayor Marvin Pratt in a 2004 campaign ad about sewage dumping. He criticized Pratt for doing nothing in his 60 days in office and promised to have a plan to deal with the issue within 100 days. Six years later, the only thing that has changed under Mayor Barrett is the exponential growth in the amount of sewage dumped into Lake Michigan. Barrett appoints MMSD board members and has kept the same guy from 2004 as the chairman. Admittedly, the sewage dumping problem is a difficult one that cannot be fixed overnight, however, Tom Barrett ran on this issue and has had 2,100 more days than Pratt to work on it, therefore, he should be held accountable.

Tom Barrett is fine as a politician who simply occupies a seat and not screw it up too badly. He will hold that seat as long as he wants it. However, Tom Barrett, first as a congressman and then as a mayor, has never been confused by either liberals or conservatives with an innovative leader who wants to change the status quo.

I have too much money...please spend it on cocaine for monkeys

2010-08-05T09:26:00.015-05:00

This is fun in a sick and twisted way. It's a chart of the resulting tax hikes after the Bush tax cuts expire on 1 Jan 2011. What makes it fun is that it's broken down by state and congressional district based upon median family income of that particular state or district. Those in Wisconsin who make $65K a year get to pay $1,500 more in taxes...yippee! I am sure that will not impact the fragile/non-existent economic recovery in the least. For those in states with massive state debt, might as well pile on another grand or so in state and local taxes too!

Okay, what if you don't fall close enough to the median to figure out the effect on you? Then try the personal tax calculator to see how much of your hard-earned money you get to fork over for this esteemed list of worthy federally funded projects. We could have gotten a new WPA or CCC with the Porkulus Package, instead we get to give cocaine to monkeys (Item 28 within the link)! Now, while I might pay an extra fee at the zoo to see monkeys high on cocaine, I would rather keep that money so I can flush it down the toilet myself. I prefer literal experiences as opposed to figurative ones.

Now some Democrats are beginning to understand the economic impact of raising income taxes on the 50 percent of the population that pays them and want the tax cuts extended. Unfortunately, they still screw that up. For example, Rep Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wants to adjust income tax brackets based on cost of living. If you live in expensive places filled with liberals (San Fran, NYC, Boston, Chicago, DC) you would get to pay a lower tax rate while frugal conservative/moderate people smart enough to live in Nebraska get punished with a higher tax bracket.

This doesn't even figure in the taxes coming under ObamaCare.

Mad yet?

Another reason to love Nebraska

2010-08-04T14:44:00.005-05:00

If the right job opened up I would move to Nebraska in a heartbeat. It's clean, closer to relatives, cheap to live, great outdoor activities and is well managed to the point that its state gov't debt per capita is $15. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has rolled up $1,720 in debt per capita. Just think what you could do with an extra $1,705!

The state has a unicameral legislature -- one house of government. Its pretty easy to know who to blame if the state runs up the tab.

I've have spent considerable time in the state for professional reasons. Residents love the place and like how its overlooked by people from coasts or rustbelt Midwest because they know a good thing when they see it and don't want to share it.

Interesting map at the link....check out the state debts per capita of the blue-voting states.

For all of you neopuritans out there

2010-07-28T16:24:00.001-05:00

Here is your opportunity to tattle!

$40,000 is the new rich?

2010-07-28T14:08:00.011-05:00

The Bush Tax Cuts are set to expire on 31 December 2010 and Obama and the Democrats seemed determined to let it happen. They babble about how Bush passed "tax cuts for the rich" and all sorts of other class warfare prattle. So in this equation, just who do the Democrats think are "rich":

1. Married couples who make a combined $80,000 a year will pay about $2,200 more in 2011 than in 2010. Fat cat couples with $160K will pay about $5,5000.

2. Anyone with a kid pays $500 more....that tax credit drops from $1000 to $500.

3. Single folks who make $40,000 get to pony up an additional $400. That will teach those rich people for having a job that allows them take care of themselves, buy a house, save for their retirement or treat themselves nice on occasion. Get promoted and make the big bucks at $80,000, then you need to pay $1,600.

Essentially, you are rich in the Democrat world if you pay:

1. Income Taxes
2. taxes on dividends or interest
3. capital gains taxes

So how did $40,000 and some crumb crunchers running around make a person rich -- because Obama and the Dems have been telling me forever that Bush only gave tax cuts to the wealthy!? The Bush tax cuts created the 10 percent tax bracket, which will go poof once Dick Clark is brought out of suspended animation for New Year's Eve. The rate on that new bracket will go up 50 percent. All of the other brackets will edge up a few points as well.

Now those figures only assumed standard deductions and some people can take a zillion of them if they do this or that. However, everyone who pays income taxes will pay more of them in 2011. If you are for that then good for you, have a cookie! This is not a post about where the tax rate should be. It is to state that the "no tax cuts for the rich" rhetoric by the Democrats is simply a bunch of garbage. They own Congress and if they wanted to extend the Bush tax cuts they could do it. The reality is that they don't want to. They like the expiration concept because while those that pay attention know why the cuts expired, the rest of the folks will never hear news stories about their vote on the "Tax Hike on Everybody Act of 2011" because that vote never had to happen. Instead, those hikes will just happen and many won't notice and many more will simply shrug. It is the worst and most cynical type of political calculus.

NOTE: The article I cited at the end state that Obama wants to extend those lower level cuts; however, its approaching August the Democrat Congress has yet to act on anything. If Obama really wanted these cuts extended, it would be rolling through the halls of Congress as you read this. His heart really isn't in it.

Stock Sell Update: Ford

2010-07-22T11:20:00.004-05:00

Ford reports earnings tomorrow and it was up 3.8 percent today -- adding to a nice run the past few weeks, which is when I bought it around ten. Sold a portion of it for a quick 12 percent gain -- nice because it doesn't pay me a penny of dividend to hold it while it bobs up and down. Sure, it may go up tomorrow after it reports earnings, but it may also go down. Never let 15 percent be the enemy of 12 percent because 12 percent can turn into 8 percent in a hurry. I suspect I will have another opportunity to buy it back cheap, if not I still hold a position that will be going up.

I call that a high quality problem.

A must read article

2010-07-20T10:49:00.006-05:00

I have no reason to blog on politics anymore because this article sums up everything I care to say on the subject.

Money Quote: The ruling class's appetite for deference, power, and perks grows. The country class disrespects its rulers, wants to curtail their power and reduce their perks. The ruling class wears on its sleeve the view that the rest of Americans are racist, greedy, and above all stupid. The country class is ever more convinced that our rulers are corrupt, malevolent, and inept. The rulers want the ruled to shut up and obey. The ruled want self-governance. The clash between the two is about which side's vision of itself and of the other is right and which is wrong. Because each side -- especially the ruling class -- embodies its views on the issues, concessions by one side to another on any issue tend to discredit that side's view of itself. One side or the other will prevail. The clash is as sure and momentous as its outcome is unpredictable.

Nah, I'll always be something to say.

The ruling class is not limited to the leaders, it includes those who don't trust other people to make decisions for themselves. This is represented by local aldermen who insinuate opponents to a particular housing endeavor are racist. This is also the private citizen who wants government to make sure that a favored business receives no competition. This is also a teacher's union who doesn't respect the tax base of the community and demands raises well beyond that of the current economic reality.

A heartless question that needs to be asked

2010-07-15T08:52:00.013-05:00

Should I wait for Warren Buffett to die (or fully retire) before I buy BRK.B?

I have some philosophical problems with established companies who are rolling in money but don't pay a dividend; however, you can't argue with Berkshire's results. Owning BRK is like owning gold....you don't make a cent until you sell. Mr. Buffett, unlike gold, won't last forever and his presence is surely baked into the stock price. While he has many very talented people running the day-to-day, He still is making the firm's major decisions and as long as he troops up to Capitol Hill for hearings and schmoozes with presidents he is a major factor to consider before you buy this stock. When non-investors know who runs a company in Omaha, Nebraska, (a great town I would move to in a heartbeat) and that person has his own celebrity status, then people will make more irrational decisions with regard to that company's stock.

Although I am real tempted to buy 10 shares in the 75 range and let them sit for a decade, that is a tough thing to do in the digital age market where constant turbulence is the new normal. Those shares are now cheap enough that the traders and ETFs will move in and out of them, which can leave a long-term investor hanging. What is frustrating about BRK is that it loves to invest in established, dividend-paying companies. So why should it not put its money where its mouth is? I would be more at ease with the stock getting tossed around if I was getting paid to hold it long term. Now BRK.B is not as bad as say an Apple, which mints its own money but doesn't hand a penny back to shareholders. I no longer see Apple as a traditional growth stock that needs its capital to grow the company...its now fully established and should return some profits to investors. Someday, Apple will permanently lose a hundred or so off its stock price...though probably not for awhile...and a lot of people will have nothing to show for it.

I could trade in BRK.B in the medium term and take $20 spikes here and there, but the capital outlay in the 70s and 80s is a bit stiff for my modest means. I can play that same game with cheaper stocks. However, I do recognize that if I were to have an outlier to my basic philosophy, and one should be open to other ways of thinking with a small part of one's portfolio, then BRK.B would be a good way to go...but I am still left with the question I posed at the start of this post.

NOTE: Why don't I write as much on issues and events as I used to? Because there is more money in the market than there is in punditry and while I will draw a small Army pension at age 60, no one else is going to hand me a pile of money when I retire.

Stock Update: Holding Patterns

2010-07-14T15:36:00.007-05:00

A blogger buddy of mine embraced my idea of "you can't buy enough Intel when its under $20.".

Well, the bears went on a 4th of July vacation and haven't returned. Nice little week and a half run up on a beaten down market. It doesn't hurt that lots of companies are posting strong earnings reports this week either. My only move was to pick up some XOM at 58, which is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time. So what does this mean for me now that all the bargains are gone? It's time to hunker down and rebuild the cash positions. So much of my paycheck every month goes onto my brokerage accounts and I have completely tapped that fund over the past 6 weeks. I have never bought so much stock in such a short period of time; however, all but an impulse buy of Black Pelican (BP) have been at price targets I set well before this recent slump. Without such strict targets, I would have bought F at 12 instead of 10, Intel at 21 instead of 19 and XOM at 62 instead of 58. Most of what I bought is in the retirement portfolio where I sit on shares and reinvest dividends. As far as more speculative stuff, if C pops 5.50, F hits 14 or NWL returns to 18, then its time to count some money.

I think the political game will cool down this summer prior to the election because the Dems, especially with Financial 'Reform' now hammered out, realize that while a strong market may not help them, a bad one will crush them. Earnings have been great and people will still buy stock in great companies that make money. Europe seems to have stabilized and most people have gone from the angry to acceptance step with regard to the oil spill. If people were getting jobs, then I would be liking this market a whole lot more rather than my tepid appreciation of it at this time. As a result, no new buys for awhile because just like 11K will come again, so will 9500.