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Jobs.
Economic stability revolves around
the ability of persons to attain viable employment.
In these extremely harsh economic times we should be
going out of our way to foster small business growth
and promote every possible facet for profitable
expansion. There is not a single legislative
proposal in Wisconsin that can be evaluated without
addressing this most critical of issues. We should
also work to maintain and promote our current
resident corporations. Our workforce is as
competitive and hungry as any other in the state,
nevertheless the means by which an enterprise can
mobilize their production is unprecedented in all of
history: it is simply too easy to leave
tax-unfriendly state’s in favor of those states that
better recognize the tremendous benefit of fostering
successful business policies. Our tax base is
generated by profitable companies, not by overly tax
burdened ones. We need to aggressively utilize the
opportunity to incentivize the development and
growth of business as opposed to penalizing it. We
should also streamline our Department of Commerce.
The State Budget.
The budget is the number one issue
facing Wisconsin. We must spend less money and
control our deficit. Coupled with these principles
is a need for our legislators to stop raiding
dedicated funds or continually relying on one time
monetary influxes. We should never deficit spend to
fund an ongoing commitment. These policies
exacerbate our downward fiscal spiral and unfairly
pass the problem along to future generations. We
should also mandate that every program automatically
sunsets after a certain period of time. We should
adopt the rainy day fund amendment to assist with
future fiscal crisis. The budget should not be
utilized as a vehicle for non-fiscal initiatives
Green Jobs Act.
This bill is a job killer and an
economic black hole. It would be ruthlessly absurd
to subject Wisconsin to the island effect by
enforcing stricter standards than are required
nationally. This legislation is exponentially more
damaging in the 7th because we are home
to companies like Bucyrus and we have a brand new WE
Energies Coal Plant with an available power
surplus. Any new energy producing projects would
force the utility to directly pass along costs to
consumers by increased rate hikes in the short term
and decreased appeal to new corporations and
corporate expansions in the long term.
Education and A Penny for Kids.
Even though fiscal problems and
concerns are systemic throughout the entire state,
Milwaukee Public Schools garner a majority of the
attention regarding school funding issues. A
regressive style sales tax has an appeal in that it
will, reduce our dependency upon property owners.
The problem is that this type of policy does not
attack the root of the problem. We need to reform a
damaged system before we blindly throw money at the
current process and delay an inevitable shortfall of
an even greater magnitude. We must also focus on
promoting school choice by lifting the enrollment
caps.
Milwaukee City and County Governments.
One of the most effective and
permanent methods for reducing government spending
is though a decrease in redundancy and fixed
operational and overhead expenses. An excellent and
successful example of this can be seen in
eliminating or merging different levels of
government with common geographic and oversight
roles. This proposal has substantial potential on
its face but further study would need to be
conducted regarding the many potential lingering
county liabilities and commitments.
794 South to Racine.
Having well maintained and efficient
transportation routes are the lifeblood for
commercial success, economic development, and
regional appeal. It would be very beneficial for
the 7th district if 794 south were
extended to Racine. Several considerations must be
explored in conjunction and prior to this proposal.
We must first fix the Hoan Bridge. It would also be
beneficial to coordinate with Racine County in an
attempt to continue the route even further south.
Financials would need to be run estimating
construction, maintenance and eminent domain
expenses.
Minimum Wage Law for tipped employees.
Raising any minimum wage is a
detriment to increasing overall employment. This is
because any increase in the costs of operating a
business negatively impacts the profitability of the
establishment. These increased costs will in turn
be passed along to the customers by an increase in
prices or a reduction in the services provided. In
these extremely harsh economic times we should be
going out of our way to foster small business growth
and promote expansion. However, I do support
eliminating taxes upon tips.
Right to Bear Arms.
As a Wisconsin Hunter I thoroughly
believe in the sanctity of the 2nd
Amendment: “the right of the people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Human Life.
The rights of unborn people are at
the core of American liberty.
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