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 Dan
Long - 48th District
1. In principle,
I support the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Some taxing
authorities have proven that without caps they will
continue to tax and spend on self-serving programs
and salaries. Other taxing authorities and/or sub-authorities
(such as the Dane County Sheriff and Monona City
Council) have proven time and again responsible
accounting and budgets. We need to recognize that
fact.
Some
figures are being bandied about indicating how corporate
property tax share has been dropping. Unfortunately
those figures are being skewed by including
not-for-profit corporations (such as churches) and
TIF properties. TIF or Tax Incremental Financing
is one way municipalities attract businesses and
jobs while generating local income to keep taxes
down.
2. I would
have to give a qualified no. We need to concentrate
on training (see 6 below) instead. We need to tread
lightly on regulatory moves such as this and make
sure it is not just a veiled attempt by Democrats
to increase tax revenues.
A
brief Econ 101 tells us that increasing minimum
wage will raise the wage threshold, closing the
gap between the highest paid. This breeds the notion
that the higher paid are losing ground thus pushing
for a higher wage, this increase then ripples down
increasing taxable income while also increasing
the costs of goods. The increasing costs of goods
and wages knock the marginal business out thus reducing
supply which increases prices and contributes to
unemployment. The bottom line is that the minimum
wage earner has not improved his living level. So
we then would need to increase minimum wage. I believe
this is otherwise known as the spiral of inflation.
Is
this a way to increase tax revenues? Yes and no.
Is it a way to improve the living wage? No. Training
and education are.
3. The
feds are blocking the importation of medications
from Canada. I feel importation should be allowed
with one caveat, if the consumer buys from an unregulated
source, liability lays on the consumer, not the
patient's doctor.
4. I personally
don't believe in allowing gaming itself and
feel less comfortable with the fact that these compacts
are out of the juristdiction of the legislature.
5. Anything
I can do to help anyone develop small business,
minority or not, will be promoted. As a struggling
small business with no employees (I started in my
home on Ridgewood Way off South Park Street), I
know the hardships of trying to get any startup
money. I am NOT big business friendly. Small business
means jobs for Wisconsin.
6. We need
to endorse self-help plans. Public schools need
to recognize that not all students are academically
gifted and will never be college bound. They need
to start training them for successful transition
to the real world. Most don't exit high school and
turn left to the university or right to the tech
college. An opportunity for vocational skills needs
to be developed starting in the sophomore year as
in German schools, providing an "interesting"
direction to go in instead of "boring"
college prep courses. These students will be less
likely to drop out thus becoming more productive.
Since much of the vocational skills development
equipment is expensive, we need to see how we can
meld vocational training from the tech college into
the school system.
Additionally,
and I may not be politically correct here, we need
to stop increasing the welfare state. While not
forgetting that some families occasionally hit the
wall and need some help for a short time, making
welfare the lifestyle is another matter. Thankfully
W2 is beginning to mitigate that. I grew up next
to Chicago and I lived (8 years) just four blocks
from what was formerly known as Sommerset Circle,
otherwise known as Little Chicago, while I single
parented three kids. I and my neighbors (people
of color) watched the influx of out-of-state arrivals
along with the disproportionate number of criminal
arrests. I realize that some families are trying
to escape crime and it follows them here through
families and friends. While appearing insensitive,
I need to remind that I grew up poor and shoeless
at times but chose a different route. Others prefer
the easy route.
 Joe
Parisi - 48th District
1. TABOR
does not address the root causes of high property
taxes, nor does it address our current budget crisis,
which was caused by an economic slowdown, too many
tax breaks given to corporations, a burgeoning prison
population, and the failure of the legislature to
plan ahead and create a rainy day fund when times
were good.
TABOR
also fails to address the question of how we will
fund vital services like police, fire, snow removal,
schools etc., especially in the many rapidly growing
communities throughout Wisconsin.
2. Yes.
You simply cannot survive earning the current minimum
wage. The minimum wage should be increased to an
acceptable level and indexed annually according
to the cost of living.
3. Yes.
We should act in the best interest of our citizens;
helping them obtain affordable presciption drugs
is one way to do so. I also believe that the competition
will help to bring down U.S. prescription prices.
4. The
legislature should have final approval over the
package that has been negotiated, but should not
micro-manage the process or try to open up the contracts
once they have been negotiated. It should be an
up or down vote.
5. Making
outreach a priority is important. This has met with
good success in the bidding of the construction
work for the first phase of the Marquette Interchange
reconstruction in Milwaukee. We should periodically
review the process to see what works and what does
not work, and to insure that we are meeting our
benchmarks.
6. It costs
taxpayers about $27,000 a year to keep a person
in prison in Wisconsin. While we certainly need
to lock up unsafe offenders, we also need to invest
our limited dollars into preventing crime — into
turning around the lives of young offenders before
they become adults.
As
President of the Board of Directors of Operation
Fresh Start, I have firsthand knowledge of one such
program. I know this works; I have seen lives turned
around. If we invest up front, if we provide opportunity,
we will save lives, make our communities safer and
save money on corrections.
We
also need to address the fact that too many people
with mental illness end up in our prison system.
In addtion, we need to focus on drug and alcohol
counseling. A relatively small amount invested in
early intervention programs can lead to substantial
long-term savings.
Finally,
we need to invest in children and in our communities.
We need strong neighborhood centers, a sense of
community, good schools, and affordable higher education.
 James
Block - 78th District
1. I feel
that government should have limits on spending.
We all need to talk more about how we can put power
into voters’ hands on what amounts government can
spend. We cannot live beyond our means as individuals
and neither can government.
2. State
government should refrain from fixing prices. When
government fixes prices, the process becomes political
and arbitrary. Most people move beyond the minimum
wage by working hard and earning raises. I
want a system where hard-working people are rewarded
for their contribution to society. We should focus
on making a competitive environment where people
can work hard to gain high-paying employment through
affordable education for all.
3. Seniors
need affordable prescription drugs, and I feel Wisconsin
legislators on both sides of the aisle must work
together to find a longer lasting solution for safe
affordable drugs.
4. The
legislature should definitely have a say in the
negotiation process with the American Indian gaming
compacts. The people of Wisconsin deserve accountability
through legislative involvement in a transparent
negotiation process. The governor should not make
secret — and permanent — deals without citizen input.
5. I believe
it is extraordinarily imporant to help all those
who want to start their own small-business. However,
Wisconsin’s high taxes make it difficult for the
common person to start from the bottom up. I will
work hard to make sure that costs from excessive
taxes will be kept low, and I want small-business
owners to be able to help pay for healthcare for
their employees through health savings accounts.
6. Classifying
people by the color of their skin is not an effective
way to begin a debate on corrections. If someone
breaks a law, that person must be punished as prescribed
in state statute without regard to race or ethnicity.
Ultimately, we need to make sure that all citizens
receive a basic education so they can work toward
goals that will keep them out of our state’s jails
and prisons.
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