The nation’s economy continues to sputter in the wrong direction.  The latest ADP (Automatic Data Processing) National Employment Report released this week has stunning news that private sector jobs declined by 10,000 from July to August of this year. The decline was seen throughout major employment sectors, a sign the projected economic recovery is in the pause mode. Prior to the August decline, there had been employment increases from February through July.

The ADP National Employment Report calculates employment using an anonymous subset of approximately 500,000 U.S. business clients. You can read the August 2010  ADP National Employment Report here. 

The erosion of private sector jobs is placing incredible hardships on American families. New figures from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) show the number of consumer bankruptcies filed during August 2010 declined nationwide by eight percent.  However, the August 2010 filings are six percent higher than the filings made one year ago, and the total number of bankruptcies is now the highest it has been since 2005. The ABI indicates consumer bankruptcy filings could surpass 1.6 million this year.

These developments are a clear signal that Washington’s spending frenzy exacerbated the economic crisis gripping America. Families are being forced to tighten their belts, and soon they will not have belts to tighten.  Government at all levels is obligated to heed the actions of the American public and act likewise. Placing a greater financial burden on the shrinking workforce and shrinking incomes is fiscally irresponsible.

Beginning September 1, 2010, Wisconsin’s new electronics recycling law goes into effect. The law bans TVs, computers, DVD players, printers, and other electronics in landfills. Electronics that normally were tossed in the garbage will now have to be recycled.

Here is more information from the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Legislative Council.

Have you signed up for the Wisconsin No Call List? You’d better hurry. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection reports Tuesday, August 31, 2010  is the final day to register for the next list.

Registering is simple and free. You can visit the No Call List website here or call toll-free at calling 1-866-9NO-CALL (1-866-966-2255). Registration could take 30-120 days.

More  than 2.14 million landline and cell phone numbers are on the state’s No Call List. Cell phones comprise 43 percent of the current total. However, registering your cell phone is unnecessary and may be a very bad idea. Cell phone numbers are unpublished. If, for example, you provide your cell phone number to the national do not call list, suddenly, it becomes a published number. The lists of numbers must be purchased by telemarketers so they can comply with the do not call registry. It would be extremely easy for unscrupulous entities and foreign, international entities to get their hands on the numbers. Your best bet is to avoid registering your cell phone.

Exceptions to the No Call List include:

·                               Calls made to an existing customer like a bank or credit card company. 
·                               Calls made responding to a request or made after permission was granted      permission.
·                               Calls asking for a donation to a "nonprofit organization."
·                               Calls made for noncommercial purposes such as polls, surveys and political purposes.
·                               Calls made to a business telephone number.
·                               A call made by an individual acting on his or her own behalf, and not as an employee or agent of any other person. 

Here is more information.

Just ask Oregon. The Beaver State has had a long history of scorning taxes.

Nine times residents went to the polls to consider implementing a state sales tax. Nine times voters rejected the idea. Oregon’s constitution contains a ceiling on property taxes. If revenues surpass projections by two percent or more, taxpayers get automatic rebates thanks to an amendment adopted by voters.

It is stunning Oregon residents voted for large income tax increases during January 2010 rather than accept possible spending cuts. It was the first time since the decade of the Depression that Oregon voters approved tax increases.

With an increase of $727 million poring into Oregon coffers, it is the end of budget problems, right? Wrong.

Stateline reports, “In May, stunned lawmakers listened as the state economist outlined a new, $577 million shortfall in the current, two-year budget — the result of continued hemorrhaging in income tax collections. Last month, the National Conference of State Legislatures released a report showing Oregon and Illinois as the only states projecting shortfalls at the end of the budget year that ends next summer.”

What happened to the money from the January tax increases? 

The January tax increase ballots provide a lesson, and will be a hot campaign issue this fall in Oregon. Read more here.

To support his methamphetamine habit during the late 1990’s, Stephen Massey resorted to dumpster diving. On one of his nightly searches, Massey discovered a treasure chest of recycled paper containing a gold mine of personal information: names, Social Security numbers, and addresses. Massey and a partner created one of the most notorious identity theft operations in the country. Eventually apprehended and convicted, Massey’s partner served one year in prison, Massey, two.

Special Agent Wayne Ivey of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement talked about Massey and other identity thieves at a special summit at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department Training Academy in Franklin. Thieves utilize all kinds of unscrupulous methods to ruin innocent peoples’ lives.

How can culprits like Massey get their hands on shredded papers chock full of personal data? Simple. We allow the criminals easy access.

Are businesses shredding? Not exactly. They hire other businesses to do the work. However, the coveted information to be shredded is placed in huge bags left in break rooms allowing cleaning crews a feast.

Ivey says far too many unsuspecting, naïve individuals like to place mail for pickup in their mailboxes and pull out the red flag as an indication to the postal worker. Red flag is right. Ivey says it’s like screaming out to identity thieves, “Please steal my mail!”

Identity thieves burglarize. Computer hard drives are popular targets. So are women’s purses. The number one place for a woman to have her purse stolen is dropping her children off at school. The number two place is at the gym. Beaches and parks are also prime locations for predatory identity thieves.

Do you use the Felony Lane at your bank’s drive-thru? The felony lane is the lane furthest away from the bank window, a prime spot according to Ivey to cash stolen checks and make phony withdrawals, especially with the lane usually having the worst quality surveillance videos in the bank parking lot.

Check washing bilks consumers to the tune of $815 million each year. Personal checks are stolen, and then the ink is washed from the face of the check and is re-written. Thieves erase the ink on checks using various chemicals and then change the payee and the amount. Acetone is the most widely used chemical along with bleach and carbon tetrachloride that is used to clean carpeting. As Ivey pointed out, these materials are easily purchased at Target and Wal-Mart.

Guess what inmates are learning in prison as they await their release to commit more crimes? Memory techniques that can be used to shoulder surf. Common at ATMs and check out lines and becoming more frequent at Internet cafes, the identity thief is literally memorizing and stealing your personal information by peeking over your shoulder.

Protecting against corrupt employees is difficult. Thieves will stalk and hand pick their partners to steal information at departments of motor vehicles and restaurants. These are typically single moms that agree to a certain fee for each identity they can turn over. At an Orlando TGIF restaurant, 75-thousand credit cards were recovered by authorities. Two waitresses had been using credit card skimmers easily hidden in their uniforms to quickly zap and store names and numbers. Counterfeit equipment is available online with parts sold at Radio Shack.

Thieves have placed overlays on top of ATMs that appear to be authentic, and return days later to remove their wizardry that has captured a host of new victims. Funeral companies have been fooled by thieves posing as insurance company agents calling to verify information about deceased individuals. Another prized document by thieves: a divorce decree.

Your cell phone could do you in. Ivey cautioned to always assume when talking on a cell or cordless phone that someone else could be listening.

The MOs used by identity thieves run the gamut, and as Ivey noted, there is no silver bullet to stop this evolving crime. However, consumers can and should take steps toward prevention.

More in Part Three.

The future of the economy is looking brighter. The economy is expanding. Economists are predicting an increase in growth.  The construction industry is bouncing back. So are investments in machinery and equipment.

The above is true. However, the pleasant economic outlook is permeating, not through America. Optimism instead is being felt in Britain and Germany.

Allan Meltzer, professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute submits the economic turnaround in Europe is a direct result of announced plans to reduce spending. Meltzer writes in the Wall Street Journal:

“President Obama is the victim of bad advice and misinformation. From his advisers, the Democratic caucus and the New York Times, he hears that markets have failed and the country needs more government spending to increase consumer spending. He is told that any plan to reduce government spending and the deficit will bring on another recession and even a new Great Depression. And he repeats the foolish claim that, since the rich spend a much smaller proportion of their incomes, it is good for the country to raise their tax rates.

Nonsense. After Britain's new government announced a multiyear program to reduce government spending, the pound rose against the dollar and the economy continues to expand across the board.

In the euro area, Germany has reduced the growth of government spending to bring down the budget deficit. Following the recent announcement of a credible, long-term German program to reduce future deficits, the euro appreciated strongly against the dollar. Forecasters expect a surge in second-quarter growth when it is reported later this month. A rebound in construction and investment in machinery and equipment shows renewed optimism.”

Meltzer makes the case that the Obama administration should mirror the spending reductions in Europe rather than push another wasteful stimulus package.

In the private sector, businesses attempt to protect themselves from inevitable rising costs of health care and worker benefits by increasing labor-saving capital. Unfortunately, that means layoffs. What can the public sector do? Meltzer suggests putting a stop to new regulations on the private sector.

I appreciate this Meltzer line:

“People are not dumb beasts. Told that the government will spend more, many will expect to pay higher taxes in the future.”

Meltzer says Europe has jumped off the Keynesian bus. America needs to hop as well, and soon.

You can read Meltzer’s entire column here.

A special meeting has been scheduled Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at the Muskego Public Library to discuss the reconstruction project on Janesville Road. Here are more details:

 

I signed on to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing opposition to a federal takeover of the Internet. Numerous members of Congress and state legislators from across the country signed the following:

August 11, 2010

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, S.W.

Washington, DC 20554

RE: GN Docket No. 10-127, Framework for Broadband Internet Service

GN Docket No. 09-191, Preserving the Open Internet

Dear Chairman Genachowski and Members of the Commission,

We the undersigned, representing millions of American citizens, write in strong opposition to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) effort to regulate the Internet.

Over the past 25 years, the Internet has flourished in large part due to the extremely limited role that government has played. In less than a decade, the private sector has expanded broadband Internet access to over 95 percent of American households. Since 2004, the price to access the Internet has dropped by 23 percent, while during the same period overall consumer prices have trended upward.

Despite universal acknowledgement that Americans enjoy a free, open, and vibrant Internet, the FCC is relentlessly pursuing a massive regulatory regime that would stifle broadband expansion, create congestion, slow Internet speeds, jeopardize job retention and growth, and lead to higher prices for consumers.

We oppose the FCC’s effort to regulate the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, which was written during the depression era to regulate telephone monopolies – 60 years before the Internet was ever conceived. These proposed regulations would permit the FCC to dictate how the networks that serve as the backbone of the Internet are managed, thereby removing incentives for further investment and opening the door for price setting or future regulatory action. It could also remove the ability for parents and ISPs to prevent inappropriate material from entering the home. This regulatory “reclassification” would effectively turn innovative private Internet services into a public utility.

Earlier this year, a U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Commission was attempting to “shatter” the bounds of its legal authority by trying to enact Net Neutrality regulations without Congressional authority. We view this renewed effort by the FCC to reclassify the Internet under Title II as even more unfounded and onerous.

By pursuing Title II reclassification, the Commission is turning its back on years of precedent set by multiple U.S. Congresses, presidential administrations, the FCC’s own rulings, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which all found that the Internet should remain unregulated. Even more disconcerting, the Commission’s actions show complete disdain for strong bipartisan opposition voiced by a vast majority in Congress and the American people.

Placing the nation’s 21st century communications system under a pre-World War II law is the wrong approach to continuing broadband Internet expansion and adoption. The Internet has never been a regulated utility and we urge you to keep it that way by rejecting so-called “Net Neutrality” regulations on the Internet and the proposed Title II reclassification.

I received an e-mail on August 11, 2010, from Americans For Prosperity that reads, in part:

Thank you for signing on to the coalition letter circulated by Americans for Tax Reform in opposition to the Federal Communications Commissions effort to regulate the Internet.  We are pleased that we received support from over 150 national and state-level think tanks, advocacy groups, state legislators, bloggers, and talk show hosts.

Today, ATR formally released the coalition letter and filed it with the FCC. 

Just to recap the issue, the FCC is pursuing regulations misleadingly called “Net Neutrality” that would permit the government to dictate how Internet service providers manage the data that is transferred on the Internet.  To do so, the FCC would apply “Title II” laws to the Internet originally intended for monopoly telephone carriers in the 1930s.  The regulation opens the door for Internet taxes, price setting, content monitoring and censorship, and is also guaranteed to stifle broadband expansion and adoption, which would have a devastating impact on jobs and the economy.  These Internet regulations also go against longstanding, bipartisan precedent that the Internet should remain unregulated set by multiple Congresses, presidential administrations, the U.S. Supreme Court, and even the FCC itself.

Thank you again and please feel free to contact me at kcobb@atr.org if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kelly William Cobb

Americans for Tax Reform

202.785.0266

The Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has completed a state statute required analysis of pupil test score data comparing test scores of Milwaukee Public School (MPS) students to test scores of students enrolled in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. The key finding is that the data “show no significant difference in the performance of Choice pupils and similar MPS pupils after three years.”

Researchers with the School Choice Demonstration Project that are conducting a five-year study of Choice and MPS students firsts elected during the 2006-07 school year supplied the test score data to the LAB that also interviewed researchers and officials familiar with the Choice program. They indicated the five year study (The LAB’s report is the third of five) is the most comprehensive effort thus far comparing test scores of Choice and MPS students and the LAB reports the sampling techniques are described as “innovative and vigorous.”

THE LAB emphasizes there are limitations on information that can be studied, analyzed, and determined:

“Although we understand that individual pupils cannot be identified, we had initially believed that the project would provide us with data that identified the school attended by each Choice pupil who took the tests. However, citing confidentiality concerns, the project did not provide information on these pupils’ schools. Federal law generally requires written permission from parents or guardians before information about individual pupils may be released. In addition, project researchers signed agreements with their universities stipulating that they would not release information that identified pupils or the schools they attended, and they signed similar confidentiality agreements with Choice schools and the parents and guardians of Choice pupils. Because the data available to us do not identify the Choice pupils and schools, we are limited in what we can report and confirm. For example, these data do not allow us to provide legislators and other policymakers with information about academic performance specific to each of the 127 Choice schools that operated in the 2008-09 school year.”

The School Choice Demonstration Project reviewed  the scores on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination reading and mathematics sections, that are scored separately, for pupils that were in the fifth through eighth grades or the tenth grade during the 2008-09 school year, and who also took the test during the  2006-07 school year. The LAB analyzed the project’s data and generally confirmed the results with some slight differences.

To determine whether enrollment  and participation in the Choice program contributes to academic achievement, the project calculated the average changes in test scores from the 2006-07 to the 2008-09 school years for pupils in the Choice sample and the MPS matched sample. The LAB writes, “For the most part, the researchers did not find statistically significant differences in test score changes. However, they reported that the test scores of seventh-grade pupils in the Choice sample increased more, on average, than those in the MPS matched sample on the mathematics section, and the difference was statistically significant. We did not find any significant differences in the average changes in reading or mathematics scores between the 2006-07 and 2008-09 school years.”

The LAB also found that test scores for Choice and MPS pupils tend to increase as they progress to higher grade levels, regardless of any changes in their performance.

Choice schools will be required during the 2010-11 school year to administer the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination to all pupils in the third through eighth grades, as well as to those in tenth grade, and to annually report pupils’ scores to the Department of Public Instruction.

You can read the entire LAB letter report that contains several tables with tests score data here.

Tribal revenue from gaming in Wisconsin was approximately $1.3 billion during each year from 2007 through 2009 according to a report by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB).  Tribal revenue dwarfs the state’s gaming intake. The LAB reports the state’s revenue from all gaming sources totaled $124 million during fiscal year 2008-09, an increase of $52 million from fiscal year 2006-07. The increase was the result of a one-time $60 million payment to the state by the Ho-Chunk tribe during December 2008.

Under state law, the LAB is required to conduct a performance evaluation of the state Division of Gaming every two years. The Division oversees the gaming operations of tribes that have negotiated compacts with the state.

During 2009, tribal gaming profits, or revenue in excess of expenses, totaled $543.4 million, a decrease of $56.1 million from 2007, or 9.4 percent.

The LAB reviewed financial and compliance audits conducted by the Division of Gaming to ensure the 11 tribes that operate 27 casinos in Wisconsin are following provisions of their negotiated state compacts. From January 2007 through December 2009, the Davisson of Gaming performed 67 financial audits and 50 compliance audits. Upon examination of a random sample of the documents, the LAB determined they were complete and accurate, demonstrating the Division of Gaming followed its procedures.

The LAB suggested the expenditures pertaining to the Division’s full-time legal counsel be monitored closely to ensure they are reasonable and necessary. The Chicago home of the Division staff attorney has been designated his office headquarters. From fiscal year 2006-07 through fiscal year 2008-09, the Division reimbursed him $26,300 for mileage between his home and the Division’s office and for food and lodging while he stayed in Madison.  The LAB reports, “Division officials believe that the experience and specialized knowledge of this employee justify this unusual arrangement, and they assert that contracting for legal services would have resulted in substantially higher costs.”

The LAB noted the closing of the Dairyland Greyhound Park during December 2009. Money wagered at the park decreased from $56.9 million during fiscal year 2006-07 to $38 million during fiscal year 2008-09.

The Division licenses charitable organizations that conduct bingo and raffles, and it registers crane games. From fiscal year 2006-07 through fiscal year 2008-09, state revenue from bingo totaled $1.5 million, state revenue from raffle license fees totaled $634,100, and state revenue from crane game registration fees totaled $49,100.

You can read the entire LAB report here.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is updating the website.

Visit this page to read about proposed changes to the DNR site and to tour the new site.  The DNR is interested in website design advice not website content advice.

After reviewing the new design, you may fill out a confidential survey at this link.

The deadline for receiving your survey response is Monday August 16.

The meeting room at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department Training Academy was filled with law enforcement officials, many of them armed, attending a  special summit. The main presenter opened with a Bible story.

Rebekah and Isaac had twin sons. Born first, Esau grew to be a hunter and was extremely hairy. The smooth-skinned Jacob was a soft spoken home-body.  As Isaac grew old, he became blind. He asked Esau one day to catch some game for a special meal so that he might bestow upon his eldest son his blessing. As Esau hunted, Rebekah and Jacob joined forces to trick Isaac. Rebekah cooked a separate meal and helped disguise Jacob with hairy arms and Esau’s clothes. Jacob presented his blind father with the meal, and Isaac, feeling a hairy body and smelling Esau’s clothing mistakenly gave his blessing and his inheritance to his youngest son. Esau returns too late from his hunt to prevent the stolen blessing that Isaac, regrettably, refuses to revoke.

Special Agent Wayne Ivey of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told those at the summit that the Old Testament account marks the first recorded case of identity theft. The Biblical anecdote demonstrates identity theft is not new; it has simply evolved into the fastest growing crime in the world. 

Listening to the startling information presented makes one realize that this crime is scarier than most imagine. The former police chief of Columbia, South Carolina, Dean Crisp called identity theft the “most under reported, least cared about” crime. Most police officers receiving a complaint about identity theft according to Crisp have a simple, nonchalant, lackadaisical response: “So.”

Even scarier are these discouraging words from Agent Wayne Ivey:

“No one is immune. There is no silver bullet to stop identity theft.” As evidence, Ivey asks if anyone has been victimized. Several police officers raise their hands.

One out of 10 will be targets. Only one out of 700 identity thieves are actually apprehended, convicted, and go to jail. Law enforcement, unfortunately, are unable to keep up, are saddled with funding limits, and are admittedly focused on violent crime.

Despite the escalation and severity of identity theft, Ivey says law enforcement lacks a clear understanding of the crime and compassion for the victims. To police officers and prosecutors, identity theft just isn’t sexy.

Senior citizens are prey for identity thieves for many reasons according to Ivey. Susceptible seniors are intimidated by, and therefore refuse to use computers. Some are senile, too gullible, too trusting. They are affluent and have nest eggs, and because identity theft is a crime driven by greed, seniors are desirable targets. The thieves know all too well that when victimized, seniors are much less willing to pursue the case fearing involvement and possible retaliation. So their crimes go un-reported.

Who is to blame for identity theft? Plenty of folks.

Financial institutions: Ivey says most will not target an identitty thief as a “perp” unless there is more than $10,000 involved.

Credit card companies: Are they losing money? Not on your life. The companies merely offset losses by passing on higher interest rates to other consumers.

Lending organizations: Ivey contends they are unconcerend because the money they lose isn’t worth the money they’re gaining.

Consumers: They are culpable, too, due to their lack of vigilance and falling for scams.

In Wisconsin, most identity theft is credit card-related followed by government document cases. That follows the national trend.  The Federal Trade Commisison reports nationally, credit card fraud is the top identity theft complaint followed by fraud related to government benefits, utilities, phones and loans. Identity theft is the #1 consumer complaint in the United States. Again, everyone is vulnerable.

How the thieves operate in Part Two.

Back to school shopping sales may not be what they seem. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is warning bargain hunters to make sure they are paying the right price on popular back to school items.|

According to a news release, during 2009, “DATCP weights and measures inspectors tested more than 25,000 items for price accuracy in stores all around the state. The total price scanner accuracy rate for 2009 was 96.5%. That percentage includes both overcharges and undercharges. Seven companies paid civil forfeiture settlements – totaling more than $250,000 – as a result of weights and measures price scanner inspections. None of the companies involved admitted to having committed violations.”

DATCP reports investigators save the average Wisconsin family about $600 a year.

Here is more from DATCP about how to prevent scanner errors.

A special Wisconsin deer hunting season for hunters with disabilities is scheduled October 2, 2010 through October 10, 2010. Hunters wishing to participate must have a sponsor by September 1, 2010.

The special hunt is the first of the season, providing disabled hunters better access and weather.

Here are more details including a sponsor list for the hunt.

More bad economic news for Wisconsin. To confront a decline in tax receipts, the state finds itself in an ugly pattern of issuing debt at a faster rate than other states.

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WRPI) reports that since the Legislature voted to allow the issuance of bonds during 1969, our dependence on debt has skyrocketed. Wisconsin ranks #12 in the nation among the states in debt per capita. Our $1,720 in debt per capita  is $423 above the national average.

In Wisconsin, we tax, spend and borrow more than we have the ability to pay. The same holds for true for debt that is being issued at a pace the state is unable to afford. Negative ramifications are the result: a strain on the state budget leaving less money  for important programs and services,  an increase in the cost of ongoing programs, and a reduction in the state’s bond rating.

“When the new governor takes office in January of 2011, he’ll have the state’s large debt burden to thank for much of the state’s shabby fiscal condition.“

Read more here.

Unscrupulous scammers are always working overtime in their effort to bilk consumers. During 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) received 13, 648 official consumer complaints. The department takes thousands of calls each week.

The good news is that DATCP is witnessing more and more smart consumers that have caught on and refuse to be taken by con artists. DATCP says consumers are becoming more aware of shady deals, are refusing to give out personal information, and are closely examining g company records.

Read more about how consumers are making smart decisions here.

Chris Schneider, a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) takes a humorous look at a very serious problem: the state’s $2.5 billion structural deficit.

Schneider laments at the lack of any serious effort to reduce the deficit: “Spend less, set money aside for budget downturns, don’t violate the Constitution by raiding poor, defenseless trust funds to plug the budget, don’t issue debt to fund ongoing commitments, etc.  Somehow, those ideas have become the radical ones.”

Since the state has been unwilling to take necessary deficit reduction measures, Schneider has developed his own “revenue enhancers” that he says would make a dent of “$1.536 billion per year in revenue, without anyone in the state really noticing any difference in their lifestyle.”

His ideas include the “Deluxe Package” driver’s license, the Vengeance Pass, the UW Professor “Fantasy Camp” Program, the “Visiting Legislator” Program, and the Violent Offender Telethon.

They are a hoot. Read about Schneider’s revenue enhancers here.

Wisconsin taxpayers stand to lose a lot if the Bush-era tax cuts are allowed to expire.

The Tax Foundation in Washington D.C. has studied the effect the expiration of the Bush tax cuts would have on average middle-income families by all states and Congressional districts. The Tax Foundation explains its methodology:

“By the term ‘average middle-income family,’ we are referring to the average of the families in the middle 20 percent of the income distribution. This is different from the ‘average family,’ which would have a much higher income level than the ‘average of the middle-income families,’ given the skewed distribution of income.”

If the Bush tax cuts expire January 1, 2011, the average middle-income family in Wisconsin would pay a federal income tax in 2011 of $5,446. The national average is $4,964.

If the tax cuts are extended, the average middle-income family in Wisconsin would pay a federal income tax in 2011 of $3,929. The national average is $3,423.

The average Wisconsin middle-income family would see a tax savings of $1,518 if the tax cuts are extended. The national average is $1,540.

You can read the Tax Foundation study here.

Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal also did some number crunching and came up with the tax bumps Americans can expect if the tax cuts disappear:

“For a typical single filer with adjusted gross income of around $40,000 it might be about $400 a year.

For someone on $80,000, about $1,600.

How about married couples filing jointly? They'd get hit with higher tax rates and a lower standard deduction. (It was raised in 2001).

A couple earning $80,000 a year in adjusted gross income might pay about $2,200 extra. A married couple on $160,000 a year: Maybe $5,500 extra.

If they have children it would be more, as the child tax credit would revert from $1,000 to $500. Ouch.”

Ouch is right.

Read Arends’ column here.

Call it a lip-smacking labor of love.




Bertha Hynek of Allenton is eating an ice cream cone while her grandson, Wesley Priesgen, 10, works on an ear of roasted corn at the Wisconsin State Fair. Photo: www.wisconsinhistory.org.




Photo: www.flickr.com

August 5 through August 15, 2010 at the Wisconsin State Fair, dedicated workers at the New Berlin Lions Club stand (shown above) will take picture perfect ears of Wisconsin sweet corn and lovingly dunk them into real, honest to goodness melted Wisconsin butter.

They will perform this mouth-watering ritual over 100,000 times, and the money goes to numerous charities statewide. All the corn dunkers and other workers are volunteers.

Photo: playinthecity.blogs.com

Fresh, roasted sweet corn on the cob dripping with butter is a rich New Berlin Lions Club tradition dating back more than 50 years. During 1957, the club opened its first corn roast stand at the Butler Lions Frontier Days celebration on Butler’s main drag. Heavy rains almost completely ruined the club’s efforts the following year. Soon after the near washout, the decision was made to move to the State Fair Park grounds.

The current corn roast stand was built during 1975 to comply with a state directive that all buildings and stands be permanent structures. Club members performed most of the construction of the stand and the club stopped using charcoal pits. A natural gas system prepared corn for the first time and was used until 1997, then self-contained units moved in and cooked the ears evenly and efficiently. Today, five units are capable of producing 800 cobs an hour each for a total of 4,000 cobs per hour.  Seems so modern, compared to the day the bank refused the money because it was so laden with butter.    

The popular stand has a loyal following that returns year after year.

Norb Stadler of Milwaukee told the Waukesha Freeman, “Basically, it’s one of your stops, one of your haunts, if you will, at the fair.”

Barbara Kershner of Menomonee Falls told the newspaper, “It always seems to taste better here than when you make it at home. Oh, and I like the butter - when they dunk it into that big vat of butter, that’s pretty special."

Over 100,000 ears of corn sold, more than 1.5 tons of butter and 25 pounds of salt used, with all money raised for great causes. None of it would be possible without the devotion of 120,000 volunteers. New Berlin Lions members work a half dozen shifts and New Berlin Lionesses members work four shifts assisted by volunteers from all walks of life, including students, and numerous other clubs and organizations.  Somehow, the altruistic flavor of the stand makes its signature product taste even better.

"It’s good corn, but what makes this better is that it’s going to charity," Stadler said during his interview with the Freeman. "They could charge $5 an ear and I still would pay it. The majority of this doesn’t go in someone else’s pocket, it goes to charity."

Not only is the New Berlin Lions Club roast corn tasty, it is very good for you. MSN.com reports roast corn on the cob is one of the best theme park foods.

MSN reports, “There's not much that the cooks can do to spoil this snack. Whether it's boiled, steamed or grilled, an ear of corn delivers just 201 calories and 1 gram of fat. Of course, dousing it in butter will add significant fat, and loading it with salt will up your sodium intake.”

"But it's a whole grain, it's high in fiber and it has a natural sweetness—the combination may make you feel full and satisfied enough to resist other more fattening treats," says Tara Gidus, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

It is amazing the labor, production, and results that take place over the 11 days of the fair.  After the fair the Lions celebrate with a thank you dinner for all of the volunteers. Lions and Lioness prepare and serve up a Saturday night dinner for all of the Fair volunteers. Later on at Parade of Checks night, as all of the money is distributed to various causes, Lions sit back and are thankful that they are able to do so much for so many people.  

As a New Berlin Lioness, I am pleased to volunteer every year at the popular New Berlin Lions Club Corn Roast Stand located at the corner of Central Avenue and Second Street. Please stop by the stand, buy an ear of corn, and say hello!

For three days, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial writer and columnist James E. Causey turned himself homeless.

“I slept on a park bench. I slept on church steps. I slept in my car and at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. I ate at free meal sites. I panhandled for nearly three hours, collecting just enough change to buy a flatbread sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts,” Causey wrote in the newspaper’s Crossroads section June 27, 2010.

Standing in line at the St. Benedict's Community Meal Center at N. 9th Street and W. Highland Avenue, Causey heard obscenities, cursing, and idle threats from those waiting for mashed potatoes, meatloaf, green beans, and day-old bread.

Causey wrote of deplorable conditions at the Rescue Mission’s men’s shelter. Calling it his “most eye-opening experience,” Causey detailed the communal shower and sleeping arrangements that had bunk beds placed three feet apart.

A jolt came as Causey described his Rescue Mission experience. This surprising line jumped out about two paragraphs into Causey’s column:

“You need a state ID to get a bed.”

Absolutely stunning. A homeless individual, in order to secure a bed at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission is required to display a state ID.

You need a photo ID to, as the slogan goes, Make it a Blockbuster Night and rent a video.

Want to purchase a six-pack of beer at Pick ‘n’ Save? Have your photo ID ready at checkout.

Getting your ears pierced? Yes, you will need a photo ID.

Is the Post Office holding your mail because you were on vacation? What about some credit card purchases? Applying for a driver’s license or library card? Boarding a plane? Entering a federal building? Renting an apartment? Cashing a check? All require presentation of a photo ID. Add to the list getting off the street and finding a spot to sleep at Milwaukee’s Rescue Mission.

One of the loudest, most common arguments by opponents of a photo ID requirement to vote is that the stipulation will disenfranchise voters, especially the poor and minorities. James Causey’s column describes the “extreme poverty that has a vise grip on so many people,” and he witnessed “black and white” during his 72 hours of research. According to those that have obstructed every attempt to enact a photo ID law in Wisconsin, this group of people, the poor and destitute that Causey encountered would be the most affected. Somehow, this downtrodden faction of society has the wherewithal and ability to secure a state ID necessary for a cot at a homeless shelter.

The rescue Mission revelation reported by Causey blows a significant hole in one of the primary defenses against photo ID.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports that in 26 states, “All voters are asked to show identification prior to voting.  Eight of these states specify that voters must show a photo ID; the other eighteen states accept additional forms of identification that do not necessarily include a photo.  In no state is a voter who cannot produce identification turned away from the polls—all states have some sort of recourse for voters without identification to cast a vote.  However, in Georgia and Indiana, voters without ID vote a provisional ballot, and must return to election officials within a few days and show a photo ID in order for their ballots to be counted.”

In several states, the argument that some voters either do not possess or cannot obtain IDs is countered by providing them the opportunity to cast provisional ballots, giving them time to furnish proof of citizenship.

During a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court case, the high court wrote, “Voter fraud drives honest citizens out of the democratic process and breeds distrust of our government. Voters who fear their legitimate votes will be outweighed by fraudulent ones will feel disenfranchised."

Quite honestly, photo ID opponents have exhausted all of their arguments, including their ace in the hole. How can one seriously submit a photo ID law would deny access to the polls to poor and minorities while they display state IDs to sleep at the Rescue Mission?

To reduce voter fraud and restore voter confidence in our critical election system, a strong Wisconsin photo ID law must be a top priority during the next Legislative session that begins January 2011.