One reads that Foxconn [is] planning to buy land for innovation centers later this year. Read a bit closer, however, and one learns that ‘later this year’ is about as undependable as ‘the check is in the mail’ or ‘I gave at the office’: A question regarding innovation centers was one of many from Democratic Assembly Minority Leader…
City
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way
A Tax Incremental Financing Review
by JOHN ADAMS •
Today at four o’clock, the Joint Review Board is scheduled to review Whitewater’s tax incremental districts. Views of tax incremental financing – especially in a place like Whitewater – are a good test of someone’s basic understanding of economic development. Indeed, the test reduces to a simple relationship: the more one contends that tax incremental…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, August 28th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Book Club
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, August 28th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Book Club @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Book Club (Comedy/Drama/Romance) Rated PG-13; 1 hour, 44 minutes (2018) Four lifelong friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen) have their lives forever changed after reading the novel…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
Foxconn Deal Melts Away
by JOHN ADAMS •
Rick Romell and Molly Beck report Foxconn now declines to say it plans to build type of factory named in state, local contracts: But in a shift from its stance of two months ago, the company on Wednesday did not offer assurances that it still plans to build the type of liquid crystal display panel plant…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Politics, State Capitalism, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way
The Trump Tax Bill: The Illusory Pay Bump
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the spring, before and after a local election, the Whitewater Community Development Authority issued two press releases praising a part of the Trump tax bill as good for Whitewater. CDA executive director Dave Carlson presumably wrote the releases, and Larry Kachel, the CDA chairman, stars in one of them as offering gratitude for gerrymandered congressman…
America, City, Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Local Government, New Media, Newspapers, Politics, Press, Resistance, That Which Paved the Way, Trump
‘A Free Press Needs You’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Following Trump’s repeated attacks on the press as the enemy of the people, hundreds of publications across America are today uniting in a defense of their right to free expression. The editorial board of the New York Times, in A Free Press Needs You, describes our heritage and the threat to it: In 1787, the…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economics, Economy, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Politics, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way, Trump
The Trump Tax Bill: Massive Federal Deficits
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater Community Development Authority’s press releases flacking a part of the Trump tax bill for Whitewater show only that they either don’t understand what the Trump bill means for America, or that they hope others won’t understand. (See press release 1, press release 2.) This bill will drive the federal budget deficit to astonishing and…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economics, Economy, Politics, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way, Trump
The Trump Tax Bill: The Wrong Incentives
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority twice touted a part of the Trump tax bill as good for Whitewater. (See press release 1, press release 2.) Continuing a general look at the bill, it’s clear that it’s bad public policy, producing the wrong incentives. By its very nature, a tax bill is a government policy, favoring some allocations…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, August 14th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Commuter
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, August 14th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Commuter @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: “The Commuter” (Action/Drama/Crime) Rated PG-13 (action, violence, language); 1 hr, 45 min (2018) An ex-cop, now an insurance salesman (Liam Neeson), is ensnared in a criminal conspiracy on his…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, Paul Ryan, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC
Trump, Ryan, and Walker Want to Seize Wisconsin Homes to Build Foxconn Plant
by JOHN ADAMS •
A video on how Trump, Ryan, and Walker are abusing eminent domain law and seek to destroy the homes of Wisconsinites to build the Foxconn plant is well worth watching. The short video was removed from YouTube over a bogus copyright claim, but it’s back online. (In the time since the video was first published,…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economics, Economy, Politics, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way, Trump
The Trump Tax Bill: That’s Not Reform
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority represents a specific part of the Trump tax bill as beneficial to this city. (See press release 1, press release 2.) For today, looking at the bill generally, it’s bad for America: it’s a sham reform instead of a beneficial restructuring, and it makes this country’s outlook worse. Benjamin H. Harris and Adam…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economics, Economy, Local Government, Politics, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way, Trump
More About that Trump Tax Bill
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the spring, Whitewater saw two Community Development Authority press releases touting a specific part of the Trump tax bill. (See press release 1, press release 2.) In response, this website replied (1) with a link to a Congressional Budget Office study implying that, overall, the Trump bill will boost incomes for foreign investors but not…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, WEDC
The Next Guest Speaker
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last winter, the Greater Whitewater Committee, a local 501(c)(6) business league, invited Matt Moroney (a longtime Walker operative) to speak to residents on Foxconn’s many supposed benefits. The Daily Union‘s longtime stenographer correspondent dutifully and uncritically reported on Moroney’s remarks. See A Sham News Story on Foxconn. Over the years, key leaders of this business league have served…
City, Film
Film: Wednesday, August 1st, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Beat the Devil
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Wednesday, August 1st at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Beat the Devil @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: “Beat the Devil” (Action/Adventure/Comedy) Rated G; 1 hour, 29 minutes (1953). Written by Truman Capote, directed by John Huston, and bankrolled by Humphrey Bogart’s Santana Productions, this is a…