A sensible person would never have listened to a Walker Administration operative in Whitewater tout Foxconn without laughing or looking about for a nearby tomato. No sensible person would have made that operative a guest speaker at an annual dinner or written about the event without criticism. (See, about that Greater Whitewater Committee dinner and that…
State Government
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn Roundup: Desperately Ill Edition
by JOHN ADAMS •
Before and after the recent election, solid assessments on Foxconn came to press, and they confirm how irrational and wasteful is that project. Earlier this year, the local business lobby (the Greater Whitewater Committee) invited the state capitalist stooge official overseeing the project to a dinner in Whitewater. I’ve no idea whether Matt Moroney will show…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn: Failure & Fraud
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two national publications with recent updates on the Foxconn project, and each report highlights fundamental problems with the billions in public subsidies for that foreign corporation. Here’s a roundup of the latest on this dodgy corporate welfare: Bruce Murphy (writing online for national tech site The Verge) reports Wisconsin’s $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle (“Gov.…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Poverty, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
In Whitewater and Elsewhere, Employment’s Only Part of the Story
by JOHN ADAMS •
In times of high unemployment, of course it makes sense to get people back to work. Jobs, jobs, jobs isn’t a bad mantra when people don’t have work. (Work isn’t simply about an income, but a place in society.) Today is not, however, the Great Depression. Listen to ‘development professionals’ go on about job-creation at…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn’s Predatory Reliance on Eminent Domain
by JOHN ADAMS •
Taiwanese-owned Foxconn is relying on eminent domain to seize Wisconsinites’ private homes for the sake of that foreign company’s project. Principles of eminent domain, sadly, have been vastly increased since a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision expanded government’s power to take from ordinary homeowners, among others. Those expanded governmental powers mean that residents who lose their…
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
by JOHN ADAMS •
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…
CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poetry, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Walworth County, WEDC, Wisconsin
Majority of Walworth County’s Renters are Rent-Burdened
by JOHN ADAMS •
A new study, Paying the Rent, from the Wisconsin Policy Forum finds that a majority of Walworth County’s renters are rent-burdened, placing the county in the top five most distressed in the state by that measurement. (There are, of course, 72 counties in Wisconsin, so Walworth County is among the weakest of a very large…
CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Walworth County, WEDC, Wisconsin
Walworth County’s Working Poor
by JOHN ADAMS •
In Whitewater and throughout Walworth County, huge numbers of residents are “asset limited, income constrained [yet] employed” (ALICE®). A report from the United Way of Wisconsin, entitled ALICE® ASSET LIMITED, INCOME CONSTRAINED, EMPLOYED WISCONSIN, reveals the truth about many in our community. Walworth County measures slightly worse than the already-disappointing state average. The talk of…
America, Elections, Federal Government, Law, Liberty, Local Government, State Government
Voter Registration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Those of us who are residents and citizens, who by birth or naturalization have a right to vote, should not have to run a governmental maze to exercise that right. On the contrary, government officials and their bureaucracies are mere instrumentalities of a popular sovereignty, and their officiousness and obstacles at best offend, and at…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Open Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, UW Madison
Foxconn’s Secret Deal with UW-Madison
by JOHN ADAMS •
These last several years in Wisconsin have seen a politics of corporate manipulation of public spending and a retreat from principles of open government. Businesses and business lobbying groups routinely expect public money for business projects that should be wholly private. (Scheming development gurus often refer to taxpayer money as their ‘tools,’ as though the…
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’
by JOHN ADAMS •
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 –…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
“Later This Year”
by JOHN ADAMS •
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…
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…