Cigarette tax: Where there is smoke, there is ire

Grover Norquist, the guru of neocon no-tax policies, told state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch to quit blowing smoke about agreeing to a $1.25 tax increase on packs of cigarettes.

Norquist says the tax will hurt small business, noting that small businesses in New York City lost $127 million in profits after a mighty cigarette tax hike. Some 10,000 jobs were lost and 88 percent of small businesses said they were hurt, he adds.

"Rather than the ‘quick fix' of a tobacco tax hike, I encourage you to reform using exclusively the revenue taxpayers have already overpaid into government coffers," Norquist writes in a letter to Huebsch. "Even beyond the significant damage to small businesses and the overall state economy, funding children's healthcare programs with a diminishing revenue source is an irresponsible move.

"You have the opportunity to define your party in Wisconsin as the party opposed to tax-and-spend policies," he continues. "Your party has long been branded as the party of low taxes, and by raising taxes the assembly majority would risk losing credibility with Wisconsinites."

Huebsch, however, is getting mixed signals from his conservative pals. Either that, or state GOP chairman Reince Preibus doesn't know what's going on. Preibus sent Huebsch a cheerleading letter praising him for "holding the line on taxes."

"We live in one of the highest taxed states in the nation where raising taxes should be the furthest thing from our minds," Preibus writes. "As a Party we do not support more taxes and your efforts to hold the line on behalf of Wisconsin taxpayers are greatly," writes Preibus.

Pay for Play: If you have a do-nothing Legislature, does that mean they should still get paid?

A few lawmakers have figured out how to get some mileage from the state budget stalemate by suggesting that if the budget isn't approved in a timely fashion, they shouldn't be on the payroll.

The Badger State stands alone as the only state in the union that has not passed a budget. State Rep. Louis Molepske (D-Stevens Point) is passing around a bill that would defer lawmakers' pay if a budget isn't passed by Aug. 1 (July 1 is the theoretical deadline now).

Local governments are wringing their hands since they don't know what level of state aid will be forthcoming without an approved budget. Molepske plays into those fears as well.

"There is no question that the current system allows legislators, regardless of party affiliation, to dig in their heels in on their respective positions without any regard for the impact that it could have on the general public and those putting together budgets as required by state statute," states Molepske.