Economics
Walker Squanders Public Dollars, Perpetuates Job Creation Myth
The 7-23-14 Marquette Law School Poll shows that 51% of Wisconsin voters hold a mistaken impression on job creation:
9% of voters say Wisconsin is creating jobs faster than other states,
42% say Wisconsin is creating jobs at about the same rate as other states.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports results of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages -- the government's most reliable source of employment data and the one Walker endorsed as the authoritative measure of job trends at the state level -- as follows:
Instead of 250,000 new private-sector jobs, ...
Unions: The Folks That Brought You the Weekend
We are all better off because of unions and this is true even if you have never been represented by one. A good example is the weekend. The standard work week used to be 60 to 80 hours a week in the early 20th century. Everyone, including children, were expected to work 10 or 12 hour days six days a week. Sunday was a day off only because you were expected to go to church.
The weekend did not come about because employers cared about their employees. Employers had to be forced, through laws and union contracts, to allow workers time for their families or some ...
Outsourcing Superior
The decline of good jobs has been the defining feature of our economy for some time. The results have been disastrous for working families and the economy as a whole. The trend is continuing in Superior, only this time it is our public employers killing jobs.
UW-Superior is planning to outsource the custodians and grounds maintenance staff to a for-profit company. These jobs have always been state civil service jobs. They were usually full time, paid modest wages, but had good benefits. The 26 affected employees only average about $12 per hour.
The community reacted ...
Tax Dodger…Verizon
This is the eighth in a series on corporate tax dodgers. These summaries are taken directly from the report on Corporate Tax Dodgers by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies
It is the same old story. Spend $15 million in a single year for lobbyists to convince legislators to pass laws allowing you to pay no taxes (from 2008 to 2012 Verizon actually had a negative 2.8 percent tax rate amounting to a $7.3 billion tax subsidy). Claim that low taxes create jobs and proceed to slash your workforce by 28,500 people. Drive America and her people into ...
Corporate Tax Dodger…Apple
This is the seventh in a series on corporate tax dodgers. This summary is taken directly from the report on Apple Tax Dodging by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies
Purchase the legislators and legislation which allow you to “legally” pay few, if any taxes:
“Apple could spend $4 million lobbying politicians on the Hill, twice what the company spent last year and more than 20 times the $180,000 it spent in 1999, according to Reuters. The bump in lobbying spending comes with the iPhone maker under fire for allegedly being one of the ...
Corporate Tax Dodger…Merck
This is the sixth in a series on corporate tax dodgers. These summaries are taken directly from the report on Corporate Tax Dodgers by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies
Do everything in your power to drive America into debt by spending $9.5 million in 2012 alone lobbying congress to write laws allowing you to avoid paying taxes. Offshore $53.4 billion in profits on which you have paid no U.S. taxes. Pocket $8.7 billion in taxpayer funded contracts from Uncle Sam – largely for pharmaceuticals provided to Medicare. Then have your CEO, ...
Corporate Tax Dodger…Pfizer
This is the fifth in a series on corporate tax dodgers. These summaries are taken directly from the report on Corporate Tax Dodgers by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies
First you use research from the National Institutes of Health and major public universities, funded by average American taxpayers, to help develop your highly profitable prescription drugs. Then you spend millions of dollars on lobbyists to convince legislators to write laws forbidding the U.S. Government to seek competitive bids on drug prices, thus ensuring American ...
Corporate Tax Dodger…General Electric
Corporate Tax Dodger . . . General Electric
This is the fourth in a series on corporate tax dodgers that will be presented over the next several weeks. These summaries are taken directly from the report on Corporate Tax Dodgers by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies
“Over the last 15 years, GE has spent more than $284 million lobbying Congress, an average of $100,000 every working day for the last decade and a half.”
Given that General Electric (GE) is one of the largest tax dodgers in America, it is a complete mockery of hardwo...
Wausau Move to Amend in the Wausau Daily Herald
A group of Wausau citizens are working to protect our democracy. They are looking to get the money out of politics and having our government more accountable to the citizens, not to whoever gives the most money. Super PACs and lobbyists are drowning out the ordinary person’s voice and putting our representatives in a difficult position. These representatives find it difficult to listen to the people when the “big” money speaks louder. With a Constitution amendment regulations again can be put on campaign finances and all citizens will have a voice.
Read ...
Who’s Helped By Raising The Minimum Wage?
The minimum wage struggle is an issue which affects so many individuals and families
