Thursday, January 31, 2008

Senate Democrat’s proposal: The silence is deafening

The Senate Democrats are going to fix the economy. At least, that is what our state’s senate Democrats were proposing yesterday.

Judging from the media’s silence on the issue, it appears the Senate Democrat’s proposal is dead barely after it was announced.

The media’s virtual blackout is rather astounding. I went cruising the usual places this morning looking for any kind of details on this huge announcement made yesterday.

After all, this is a very big deal and first and foremost on the minds of many Wisconsin residents.

Which is why I was so very surprised to be able to find very little information on the Wisconsin senate Democrat’s plan.

Our economy is taking a hit right now. Not only in Wisconsin, but there are troubling signs all over the United States. The Fed is currently cutting rates in an attempt to stop the downward spiral. The US Senate, the House and the President are all hammering out plans to see what can be done to stabilize the economy.

So why are we getting the silent treatment on the stimulus package being proposed by the Wisconsin Senate Democrats?

Take a look at the proposal by the Democrats and you can very easily see why folks are attempting to sweep it under the rug.

First, the senates Democrats are proposing increases taxes on businesses in Wisconsin by $180 million dollars. They are attempting to close what they believe to be a loophole in the law.

Let’s stop right here for a moment. I will be honest, I am not an economist, but in all of the plans proposed over the years, I have to say, I have never seen an economic stimulus plan that includes tax increase.

Never.

It just does not make sense. In an unstable economy why would government raid businesses for more money, if you actually need those businesses to keep people employed.

To make matters worse, another part of the economic stimulus plan proposed by the Democrats is the approval of the KRM.

I understand that some would argue that the KRM would some day bring a windfall of profits to Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee. This though is debatable, but what isn’t debatable is whether or not the KRM will help stabilize the economy right now.

Even it the KRM is approved today, it will be around 2012 before it will be up and running correctly. So the idea that this will help us right now is ridiculous.

You still have that whole tax increase issue to deal with. Residents of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee would have to pay more in taxes on car rentals in order to pay for the new KRM.

So far the Senate Democrats have proposed as part of their economic stimulus package the idea that you need to increase taxes on businesses and residents of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee.

You will get a kick out of this next set of ideas from the Democrats.

They want to spend money and lots of it.

Now I ask you, when you and your family are suffering a budget crunch, do you go out and plan a vacation right away? Do you start spending money right away and just hope your financial crisis goes away?

Of you do not do these things. Your budget is tight, so you tighten your belt and stop spending money on unnecessary items!

Not the Senate Democrats, they want to spend more money.

Here are some of the plans the Democrats have for spending more money.

$5 million to train welders and health care workers, $1.3 million for vocational colleges, $15.1 million to offset child care costs and $50 million in new spending for road construction.

I have some questions about these new proposals-

$5 million to train welders and health care workers- Where are they going to work after they are trained, since the businesses that would need to hire them are now paying more money in increased taxes?

$1.3 million for vocational colleges- Where are they going to work after they graduate, since the businesses that would need to hire them are now paying more money in increased taxes?

$15.10 million to offset child care costs- Don’t people need a job before they actually need help in paying for child care? Once again, the Senate Democrats are proposing increasing taxes on businesses.

$50 million on new spending for road construction- As it is, state revenue is dropping. We have no idea how we are going to pay for the millions of dollars in road construction on the projects proposed a few months ago in the new budget. How in the world do the Democrats plan on paying for the new road construction?

There you have it.

The Senate Democrats plan for stimulating the economy is to increase taxes on businesses, increases taxes on individuals in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee, and start spending more money on items we cannot afford.

No wonder we are getting the silent treatment from the media outlets around Wisconsin on the Senate Democrat’s new plan for economic stimulus. Even the media recognizes that this is a bad plan proposed by Democrats.

It appears that our Senate Democrats have it backwards and are confused. Apparently they do not realize that we are attempting to stimulate the economy, not crush it.

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