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Babbittry, CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty

Reported Family Poverty in Whitewater Increased Over the Last Decade

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Over the last ten years, while Wisconsin and America recovered from the Great Recession, in Whitewater poverty among families with children actually increased. The Great Recession – deep and painful for many, lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. Afterward, most parts of America saw recovery, sometimes slow, sometimes rapid, but recovery by either definition.  That’s why for…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, Conflicts of Interest, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Elections, Gov. Walker, Kakistocracy, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin

Once a Gerrymanderer…

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Wisconsin, with a gerrymandered legislature and a crony capitalist, lame-duck governor, was never going to have an easy transition back to a tradition of democratically representative government and sound economic policy.  The men who engineered years of the wrong approach were never going to go gently to the political outer darkness that, deservedly, awaits them.…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Government Spending, Mendacity, Newspapers

New Developments About Jefferson, Wisconsin’s ‘Warriors & Wizards’ Festival

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There are new, troubling developments concerning Jefferson, Wisconsin’s ‘Warriors & Wizards’ festival, an event about which this website has been consistently critical (for many sound reasons). One can wait a day or so to see what this new reporting shows (and how accurate and honest the reporting is, considering how wobbly it’s been). In the…

Babbittry, Mendacity, Newspapers, That Which Paved the Way

Iceberg Aside, Titanic‘s Executive Pleased with Ship’s Voyage

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Despite ridicule from countless people, the Daily Union continues to deceive about the performance of Jefferson, Wisconsin’s the latest ‘Wizards and Warriors’ festival. Readers have this awaiting them: Weather aside, Cramer pleased by fest outcome. This is something like shipping magnate J. Bruce Ismay insisting that the Titanic‘s maiden voyage wasn’t too bad, except for…

Babbittry, Mendacity, Newspapers

What Else Would a Publisher Lie About?

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Across America, newspapers and television stations often have stories on consumer protection, where readers or viewers can have consumer problems addressed. These stories are popular because they reassure readers that the paper or station is on the side of ordinary readers and viewers. Imagine the opposite posture: where a newspaper lies to ordinary readers to…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Government Spending, Local Government, Newspapers

Sad Spectacle in Jefferson, WI (and How to Do Much Better)

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For four years, either Edgerton or Jefferson, Wisconsin has hosted a costume festival (originally a Harry Potter Festival, this year a Warriors and Wizards festival). Despite three years of disappointment, Jefferson held the festival again this year (after having – astonishingly – signed a five-year deal). I’ve followed the event over the years, and it…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, Mendacity, Open Government, Politics, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin

The Walker Cabinet Officers’ Open Letter

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Four cabinet secretaries of the Walker Administration have come forward to criticize the governor, and three of them have co-written an open letter against Walker’s relentless emphasis on political gain over sound policies. One of the signatories of the letter is Paul Jadin, who was Walker’s first Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation leader. It says all…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Government Spending, Local Government, Mendacity, Newspapers, That Which Paved the Way

Found Footage: Daily Union Arrives on Subscriber’s Doorstep

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See from the Daily Union Bus routes, security and parking addressed for Jefferson festival and Final preparations for Oct. 19-21 festival under way in Jefferson (reporter Ryan Whisner & publisher Brian V. Knox). But see Sean Biggerstaff’s thread on Twitter (“I am disappointed and also angered to say that I will not be appearing at the @WandWFestival in Jefferson,…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Culture, Local Government, Mendacity

Who Will Jefferson’s Residents Believe: Officials or Their Own Eyes?

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For three years, the Harry Potter Festival (in Edgerton and then Jefferson, Wisconsin) has been a fiasco and disappointment. (Note: I’ve not experienced personal disappointment: hundreds of patrons have.) It’s now re-branded as the Warriors and Wizards festival – because ignorant promoters ran afoul of the intellectual property rights of Warner Bros. – and with…

Assault Awareness & Prevention, Babbittry, Bad Ideas, City, Development, Economy, Local Government, Public Relations, State Government, Taxes/Taxation, University

On New Market Tax Credits for a Fairfield Inn and ‘Community Engagement’

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The use of government-issued New Market Tax Credits will bring Whitewater a Fairfield Inn and a building for the existing local campus to lease. Proponents of an ordinary hotel and a lease agreement for the university cannot offer any evidence that these projects will boost local individual or household incomes. What one can show –…