WALKER WINS WISCONSIN RECALL ELECTION

See the Title?  Walker Wins Wisconsin Recall Election.  I am practicing up, saying it over and over and over, getting ready. 
And here's the latest good news.  Monroe WI School District saved over $800,000 on the renewal of their insurance/dental plans for the District employees.  The savings from Gov. Walker’s Act 10 keep on growing.    We are lucky to have him in Wisconsin!  He did what he said he’d do and what we elected him to do:  balance the budget, reduce the deficit significantly, put a lid on property tax increases, give schools and municipalities more control over their budgets, bring some sort of reason and sensibility to dealing with government worker unions.  He did it all, and in the process revamped collective bargaining. 

The result?  Gov. Walker’s reforms are saving municipalities and school districts millions of dollars enabling them to limit job layoffs.  The State of WI now has a surplus.  We are out of the red and well into the black.  Not many other states have a governor willing to make such difficult decisions. 

And what did Tom Barrett, Gov. Walker’s opponent do?  Barrett attacked Walker’s proposals to reform collective bargaining, but then Barrett used some of Act 10’s provisions to help reduce Milwaukee’s health care bill.  Barrett stated that the alternative was to cut 300 to 400 jobs.  And now when asked what Barrett’s “plan” is if he beats Walker in the recall election, Barrett and the Democrats have been unable to tell us.  That’s because they have no plan.  They just want Walker gone because he dared to challenge the unions.  If they regain power we will promptly reverse course, go back to restrictive collective bargaining, and financially be back in the red. 

Folks, the stakes in Wisconsin’s Ridiculous Recall Rant are higher than any state election ever.  Public employee unions understand that the legitimacy of collective bargaining is now in question as states, municipal governments and school districts struggle with the burden of a costly public sector, including pensions and retiree health care costs.  They understand that the Gimme Gimme Well is drying up. 

The Recall election date is June 5.  Every Walker supporter must goWalker. I am proud that you belong to Wisconsin. I hope you win in a landslide. to the polls and vote.  It is not enough to stay home and be happy that it’s over, though we all are relieved that Walker will finally be able to put this joke of an election behind him and get on with the business of governing Wisconsin.  We must send a powerful signal to other reform-minded governors and to the whole country that we cannot afford to go back to business as usual.  Wisconsin is righting its ship.  We can't afford higher taxes, runaway spending and even fewer jobs.  Thank you Governor Scott      

BREAKING THE PIGGY BANK

Hey, American Taxpayers, did you see the Reader's Digest this month?  Ooooh, have they got some goodie examples of Federal Spending Gone Crazy.  And the wisdom of college debt?  Read it here. 

NUTSO FEDERAL SPENDING.

*  Redundant engine program for the R-35 fighter jet, cost $207 million
*  Benefit checks sent to dead government employees, cost $120 million
*  International Center for the History of Electronic Games for video game preservation, cost $113,227
*  Columbia University, to study online dating, cost $606,000
*  To researchers at Wellesley College to answer the question, Do you trust your Twitter feed, cost   
    $492,005
*  Virginia Commonwealth University researcher for a study on hookah smoking by Jordanian students,
     cost $55,382
*  University of California, Riverside, to study whether happy or unhappy people spend more time on
    social media, cost $198,195
*  Primate researchers to study what feces-throwing among chimps reveals about communication
    skills, cost $592,527
*  National Science Foundation to study Women, Weaving and Wool in Iceland between the years
    AD 874-1800.

AND THE WISDOM OF RUNNING UP COLLEGE DEBT?

Colleges are asking students and parents to break the college piggy bank for these classes:

How To Watch Television (Montclair State)
Alien Sex (University of Rochester)
Harry Potter: Finding Your Patronus (Oregon State)
Arguing with Judge Judy (University of California, Berkeley)
Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame (University of S. Carolina)
Mail Order Brides: Understanding the Ph8illippines (Johns Hopkins)
Tightwaddeery, or the Good Life on a Dollar a Day (Alfred University)
Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse (Michigan State)

100,000 IRS AGENTS WON'T STOP THIS FRAUD

What's another 4.2 billion dollars to the beleaguered American tax payer?  Well, according to the IRS, it's just a drop in the big tax fraud bucket, and it's being spent for such a good cause.  Yup, that's right, it's a real necessity or there might be suffering and griping and whining and crying by the illegal aliens, the Obama constituency. 

So what's the big deal?  Well, here it is.  There is a big old sink hole of a tax loophole which allows undocumented workers to collect what's called an Additional Child Tax Credit.  The credit is $1,000 per child, and it is being claimed by families who pay nothing in taxes.  Yup, you are smarter than the IRS Dummies because you figured it out right away.  They pay NOTHING in taxes, yet they get THOUSANDS back in refunds.  Oh, isn't our government efficient?

Here's how it works.  It used to be that you had to have a Social Security number to file your taxes, claim credits, and claim refunds, and each of your children had to have a Social Security number as soon as they came out of the womb, or you could not claim them as a dependent.  But some moron in Washington decided that wasn't really fair because undocumented aliens don't pay taxes or file tax returns because they can't get a SS number.  So what did the Wise Folks in government do?  They said well, we will create a new system of identification called a Taxpayer Identification Number.   And for anyone who can't get a SS number, we will assign them a TIN.  Oh, goodie, then they can file a tax return and get their refund.

All well and good until the recipients of the TINs found out how easy it is to scam the government of the country where they are illegally residing and working.  Actually, they already knew that since they continue to reside here without fear of deportation, thank you Mr. Obama and the Obama Justice Department.  So it's no wonder they decided to take advantage of the Child Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit simply by adding more kiddies to their tax return as dependents.  What's been known since 2001, yes, that is the year the first public outcry happened, has now become a 4.2 billion dollar per year fraud.  That's 11 years, and NOTHING has been done to stop it. 

And here's the best part.  Most of the "claimed family members", i.e., nephews, nieces, parents, grandparents, etc., as many as 20-25 listed on some tax returns, LIVE IN MEXICO.  They have never set foot on our soil.  Yes, most of the 4.2 billion dollars of OUR money is being sent to Mexico.  Many of the fraudulent tax return refunds were $10,000 to over $20,000 PER RETURN.

And yet the IRS says they won't do anything to stop it, in spite of Congress demanding that they do.  The House Republicans have introduced House Resolution 1956 that would limit all child tax credits to be given only to U. S. Citizens who have a valid SS number.  Guess where this bill is right now?  It's sitting idle in the House Ways and Means Committee thanks to the Democrats who won't let it be brought to the floor for discussion.  Even the IRS's Inspector General says this is wrong and it has to stop.  In fact, he has written letters over the last 4 years to the IRS telling them to stop this lunacy.  The IRS has ignored him.  Geesh, I wonder where they learned how to do that?  Could it be they are patterning their behavior after the Obama administration, who daily ignores our Constitution and our laws?

The Dems just don't want to deal with this right now because they can't afford to alienate any of the Hispanic base.  And even though those illegals who are here scamming our system are not supposed to be voting, want to place a bet on how many are actually showing up at the polls and pulling the lever for a Democrat?  I thought Obama promised to clean up Washington, get rid of fraud, waste and abuse?  Yeah, right, just another lie from the Liar in Chief. 

And what did one illegal alien say when interviewed and asked about the false claim on his return?  He said, "It's not taking advantage.  I'm very thankful to this country for the help it gives me."  Yuppers, that's right, he steals from the American taxpayer and calls it "help."  He thinks the American money tree will never wilt and die. 

Congress may be voting on a budget measure in the coming weeks.  A budget reconciliation package now being considered in the House contains language that would limit additional child tax credits to U.S. citizens with a valid Social Security number.  You must, and I say MUST, let your Representative know that this is just another form of government stupidity, it's stealing from all Americans, and you want it to stop.  And tell them it's another good reason to say NO to every attempt to increase taxes.  They'll just figure out some other stupid way to spend it. 

Here is where you can find out the name and contact information for your Representative.  Don't wait.  Do it today.  And if they don't listen to you, remember November is coming.  It's time to get rid of the trash in Congress.

CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Watch these videos of the TV news reporters who broke this story. 

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2

THE TRUTH ABOUT JOB GROWTH IN WISCONSIN

The St. Paul paper slammed WI for jobs lost.  Here's the real truth from our Assemblyman, Dean Knudson. 

"You asked for some background on the recent report by the federal Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that showed Wisconsin as the only state with job losses when comparing March 2011 to March 2012.  Here are some thoughts:

Our economy is recovering but slowly, not nearly at the rate we would like.  Part of this is due to the loss of "establishments" or business units during the recession.  Wisconsin lost more employers than our midwestern neighbors.  When an employer lays off workers, that employer can hire back when the economy improves, but when the business closes or moves out of state it will take longer to see strong job growth again.  
The majority of the job loss numbers in Wisconsin are government employees.  Governor Doyle ran in 2002 on the promise of cutting 10,000 government employees. That promise helped portray him as a fiscal conservative and get him elected.  The number of government employees in Wisconsin was 432,400 in November 2002 when Doyle was elected.  By the time Walker was elected there were 433,000 government employees in Wisconsin.  The March 2012 report showed 410,200 government workers in the state, down about 23,000 since Walker's election. 

Check out the lower right corner of page 4   http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/newsreleases/2012/unemployment/120419_march_state.pdf
The BLS estimate is based on surveys, unemployment data and sampling.  It isn't perfect, and every estimate comes with warnings about possible sampling errors.  In Wisconsin there is a great possibility for sampling error within the government sector, particularly local governments   like schools.  We have a handful of large districts that postponed implementation of Act 10 by extending the union contracts.  These few districts have had large layoffs as a result.  Any extrapolation from a sample including one of those districts would lead to large error in the estimate.  No other state has this situation.  The reliability of the BLS methodology in estimating the loss of government workers is not certain.  
The trend is up but the job numbers have bounced up and down over the past  year.  March last year was strong and this March weak so our comparison to a year ago is unusually weak.  Take a look at the graphs here to see the fluctuations.    http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/wisconsin/ 

The CES survey is used as part of the BLS estimate.  It doesn't count proprietors or self-employed persons as well as some other categories.   
Employer optimism is the key and Wisconsin businesses are gradually becoming optimistic.  Getting the recall behind us should help even further.  Just this morning I talked with the owner of a tool & die company in business for 13 years.  Last year was a record year, but they did it without adding employees because of hesitance to commit to new hiring.  Our challenge is to get small business owners like him ready to invest, expand and hire.  We have work to do.  None of the Democrats   have a plan.  Unless maybe to hire back the 23,000 government workers.  

Dean"

WHAT THE GOV. WALKER RECALL IS REALLY ABOUT

Saw this in MOMENT OF CLARITY, by Tim Nerenz.  Thought it was worth sharing.  Tim speaks the truth about the sideshow Walker Recall effort.   It's a lot of words, but it is definitely worth the read. 
"In the past few days the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a couple of remarkable articles on the upcoming Wisconsin recall elections – both interesting and infuriating.       

The first one reported that the public-sector unions who endorsed Democrat candidate Kathleen Falk have now suspended advertising on her behalf with just weeks to go before the primary. 
Thank you so much, WEAC and AFSME, for forcing a primary upon us that will add several millions to the $9 million it was already going to cost the taxpayers to humor you with a recall, only to pull out when it came time to spend some of your own money on it.  That’s just terrific; a sure-fire way to win over independent and undecided taxpayers by spending a boatload of their money for nothing.  Bravo.

The second was the astonishing admission of both leading candidates to unseat Governor Walker – Falk and Tom Barrett – that they have no plan to offer the voters of this state to counter the reforms enacted by the guy they want to replace prematurely.  Even the liberals at the paper found this       bizarre.  

Thank you so much, Democrat Party of Wisconsin, for forcing a recall election that will cost taxpayers upwards of $20 million in a runoff between two candidates who, with nearly 18       months to come up with a better idea than Scott Walker’s reforms, can’t think of anything besides not being Scott Walker.  Isn’t the cream supposed to rise in the dairy state?        

There are 3.6 million other adults here who are also not Scott Walker and who also have no earthly idea how to run the State of Wisconsin effectively. Why not put them all on the ballot, if that’s what democracy looks like.  Just pick one at random; or maybe rotate daily, so everybody has a better chance of taking a turn.  Maybe it could be a scratch-off lottery prize and we can make some money on the deal.       

The left also endured a minor thong-twist this week over Walker’s reinstatement of merit bonuses for some state employees, although I don’t know why paying state workers a little more would cause angst among Team Public Worker. 

They say it is too costly in this era of austerity, but the bonuses will only cost taxpayers an additional $725,000 or roughly 1/30 the cost of the recall over…what was that again?  Oh, yeah, cutting state workers’ pay in the age of austerity.      

Actually, it is no longer clear that the recall is about worker pay; in fact,  I don’t think anyone knows anymore what this recall is supposed to be about. 

It started over benefit adjustments for public employees, but once a database of teacher salaries and benefit values was made public, sympathy for besieged public servants turned to envy.

Then it switched to collective bargaining, which sounded like a pretty good principled argument until residents of the Badger state got a good look at the behavior of the “collective” in question when they hit the capitol en masse last winter.  And putting the muscle to neutral businesses turned off a lot of fair-minded people who suddenly understood that “bargaining” has a different meaning altogether to the boys from Chicago who are calling the shots.    

So the argument shifted to Walker’s cuts in education funding, which actually had a little traction going until we discovered the extent of the WEA trust insurance scam and realized how much we have been ripped off and for how long in the name of education.  Turns out your average fish-fry cheesehead couldn’t get whipped into a frenzy over cuts to money-laundering.        

Then it was just sort of, generally, um, that Walker’s Act 10 reforms, like, you know, kinda destroyed the state and stuff; until people started to see that the state was not destroyed and over $1 billion had been saved in less than a year since Act 10 was implemented over the objections of every living and breathing Democrat, who are still living and breathing despite the issuance of 100,000 concealed carry permits, thank you very much Governor Walker. 

Then it was all about jobs – the Democrats had something going on there until they voted down the mining bill and killed off the biggest opportunity for high-wage job growth to come down the pike in this state in many years.  It is quite a feat to get unions and old people from up North pissed at       Democrats – kudos.   
   
Next they tried out this pitch:  it wasn’t exactly what he did, it was how he did it.  But when people looked at their lower tax bills and those concealed carry permits they pretty much decided it didn’t matter how he did it.  And besides, having a majority of both houses of the legislature vote for a law that the governor then signs, is pretty much how he is supposed to do it.  It’s the veto by any old county judge with ink in the pen that is a process problem. 

So now about all that is left for The Left is the old standby - Walker didn’t tell us he was going to do this reform stuff before we elected him.  Forget that we didn’t buy this crock when they first whipped it on us in January of 2011 - that’s their story and they are sticking to it…for now. 

Let’s see if we got this straight: we are supposed to throw out the guy who saved the state from fiscal catastrophe because he didn’t spell out his plan to a level of specificity satisfactory to his       opponent, and replace him with said opponent who has...wait for it...no plan whatsoever.    
Really?  And then what? 

I guess recall that one in a year, too. Because if they won’t tell us anything at all now, then if they do anything at all once in office it will be at least equal to Walker’s transgression – i.e., not telling us ahead of time exactly what he was going to do and how. 

If that is how this is all supposed to work from now on, then we might as well just rent a Governor for a year instead of hiring one for four and then tossing him or her after one anyway.  Someone call Manpower and see what the rate would be for a temp.     

This is not getting ridiculous; it put ridiculous in the rear view mirror a long time ago.  President Obama has no plan to solve the deficit and the debt at the federal level; his Treasury Secretary admitted so under oath in a Congressional hearing.  They apparently think not-Paul-Ryan is a       winning strategy.  Governor Walker’s opponents admit they have no plan to avoid deficits and debt at the state level; they apparently think not-Scott-Walker will work here, too. 

Until someone in the Democrat party brain-trust decides to make this a difficult decision and       give us a plan – any plan - to consider, the recall vote is going to be easy, even if you don’t care much for Scott Walker.  Whoever runs against Walker plans to spend more, tax more, and tell us what to do, and if Walker wins he plans to spend less, tax less, and tell us what to do.    

So if we are going to have a government hell-bent on telling us what to do, we might as well have the one that takes less of our money doing it.  Not exactly bumper-sticker material, but then I'm not a Republican with turf to defend or a Democrat with an axe to grind - just a libertarian with an opinion."      

“Moment Of Clarity” is a weekly commentary by Libertarian writer and speaker Tim Nerenz, Ph.D.