Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 30. Sunrise is 7:25 AM and sunset 4:35 PM for 9h 09m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 4.5% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1923, Milton College president A.E. Whitford bans dancing by students in off-campus, semi-public…
Government Spending
City, Daily Bread, Fire Dept, Government Spending, School District
Daily Bread for 12.28.21: Fire & Rescue
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will see snow or freezing rain with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 4:28 PM for 9h 03m 56s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 34.1% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1967, American businesswoman Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman…
Daily Bread, Foxconn, Government Spending
Daily Bread for 12.22.21: Foxconn ‘Manager’ Feasts on Public Tab
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Daily Bread, Economy, Government Spending, Hypocrisy, Never Trump, Republicans, Trumpism
Daily Bread for 12.15.21: Trumpism Has No Coherent Economic Policy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread, Government Spending, Police, Politics
Daily Bread for 8.22.21: ‘Defund the Police’ Was a Molehill
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Daily Bread, Government Spending
Daily Bread for 8.18.21: Paycheck Protection Loan Fraud
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Foxconn, Government Spending, Scott Walker, WEDC, Wisconsin
Foxconn: Perhaps – Perhaps – a Few Lessons Learned
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Scott Cohn of CNBC reports After Wisconsin’s Foxconn debacle, states and companies rethink giant subsidies. Rethinking is a hopeful prospect, but there has been significant lasting damage, as Cohn reports: Economic development officials in Wisconsin say they are more than ready to move on to other matters now that they have renegotiated a massive subsidy deal…
Bad Ideas, Boosterism, Development, Foxconn, Government Spending, Politics, Scott Walker, Speaker Vos, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin
Adding the Amounts Spent for Foxconn (So Far)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Wisconsin’s new deal with Foxconn will reduce the cost to state taxpayers, but local governments have already spent vast sums on a project that will not – by Foxconn’s own belated admission – come close to what was originally, and ludicrously, promised. Bruce Murphy writes of The True Costs of New Foxconn Deal: the true cost…
Bad Ideas, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, Scott Walker, Trump, WEDC
Foxconn: New, More Realistic Deal Means 90% Reduction in Goals
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
After years of flamboyant lies about what Foxconn would be able to achieve in Wisconsin, there’s a new deal with that foreign corporation. That new arrangement reflects a reduction of 90% or more in what Wisconsin expects and what the state will offer. Local governments have already wasted millions on absurdly grandiose, false promises Not…
City, Government Spending, Local Government
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 2.2.21: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Whitewater Common Council met last night, 2.2.21. The recording of the meeting is embedded above. The agenda for the meeting is available. A few remarks, on selected items of the agenda — 1. Term Limits. Whitewater has relaxed term limits for boards and commissions. A city that has an admitted same-ten-people problem will now allow some…
Government Spending, Lobbyists, Television
Overreaching: WisconsinEye Wants a Paywall and Government Funding
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
WisconsinEye is an online and cable network that broadcasts and publishes videos of state government meetings. It’s a useful nonprofit service, that has run on private donations. As donations are drying up, WisconsinEye president Jon Henkes has a two-part plan: erect a paywall (for content older than a day) and seek state funding. Patrick Marley…
CDA, City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government, Poverty, WEDC
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 1.19.21: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
The Whitewater Common Council met last night, 1.19.21. The agenda for the meeting is available. A few remarks, on selected items of the agenda — 1. Public Works Buildings. Whitewater plans to update its public works buildings, now scattered over a multi-acre plot near Starin Road. The total estimated price is high for a small town (about…
Business, CDA, Charity, Development, Economics, Economy, Failure, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Poverty, Press Release
Markets and Markets
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
One reads that Whitewater now has an option, for most of the city, of grocery delivery from nearby cities. As it is, Whitewater has a Walmart, but no stand-alone, full-service grocery. Private delivery service is a benefit to the community. It’s better to have more grocery options than fewer. These are private enterprises providing private delivery…
Budget, City, Demographics, Government Spending, University, UW System, Wisconsin
UW-Whitewater’s Budgetary Challenges Require a Studied Approach
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Whitewater is a college town. If a college town, then a college: the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I’ve written about the university now and again. A simple summary of my views would be that Whitewater benefits from having a university, but that the school’s leaders (notably Telfer and Kopper) have failed both individuals and the community.…