It’s been less than a month since we’ve been able to catch our breath from the onslaught of special interest ads filling the airwaves during the state supreme court campaign, but some groups just don’t seem to know when to say when.
While media listeners have continued to endure the non-stop drum beat of the anti-cable TV ads running by a front group for AT&T (Keep TV for us, right?), this week an issue ad with a cheesy take off on a Warner Bros. cartoon hit the radio. The instigator? Club for Growth Wisconsin, which happened to be one of the major players behind independent support of the Annette Ziegler campaign for Supreme Court.
The Club has now set its sights on the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Transportation Authority for spending almost $500,000 in part to lobby state legislators on their various issues–one of which is an increase in the tax rate on rental cars to fund an extension of rail service from Chicago to Milwaukee. So far there are no bills introduced on the tax issue and there is no real outcry about it as well.
After all, it’s not like southeast Wisconsin would suddenly become the dreaded “tax island” of the rental car business, where it would lose renters to areas with lower taxes. Last time we checked it was pretty hard to shop around for a rental car outside of Milwaukee County when landing at Mitchell Field. But that hasn’t stopped the Club for Growth and a few wannabe groups from creating this red herring.
Who is the Club for Growth? It should be no surprise to those who follow their shtick that the group is made up of Republicans. In Wisconsin, R.J. Johnson, a former executive director for the state GOP, is the leader, along with Deb Jordahl, a self-claimed “conservative strategist” who also has a blog.
The national group’s Web site refers to its mission as restoring “the Reagan vision” for America. It claims some 40,000 members across the country, but really concentrates on getting big-money donations from conservatives and funneling that into campaign activity. And it raises millions.
In 2005, the state group took in $94,950, according to campaign watchdog Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Most of that came from four donors: $25,000 from retired Racine businessman Fred Young and $10,000 each from Wausau paper company executive San Orr, Milwaukee school voucher advocate George Mitchell and conservative Sheboygan businessman Terry Kohler.
WDC estimates that the group bought $400,000 of airtime around the state during the recent Supreme Court race, starting with a phony issue ad that supported Ziegler. The club reports that it gave $64,550 directly to campaigns in the 2006 election cycle.
The Federal Election Commission filed suit against the national office of Club for Growth for spending millions in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections without registering as a political action group and accepting contributions over the legal limit.
It’s clear the Club is planting this seed of a non-issue in order to land its bigger fish–an attack on the expansion of rail transit altogether.
Paint it Black: Good news on the Milwaukee’s graffiti front. Well, sort of. Marty Collins, the city’s Department of Neighborhood Services chief, told the city’s Anti-Graffiti Committee that the graffiti level in Milwaukee has remained about the same as last year. A finger in the dyke of taggers, perhaps? Not really. In 2006, Collins reports that graffiti incidents rose about 70 percent over 2005. So in 2007, we’re still about 70 percent higher than two years ago, for those doing the math at home.
Even the high-profile bust of a group of 10 taggers earlier this year hasn’t slowed the spread of paint, says Collins. As the veterans retire or are arrested, Collins says new artists are readily taking their place. One of the area’s most prominent taggers, Troy Lee Mosby Jr., was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison and 24 months in the House of Correction.
With the new blood, he says, comes new turf for tags as well. He says the latest hot spots are the Menomonee Valley (a perennial favorite) and the Riverwest neighborhood around the intersection of Humboldt and Center. He also says the city is having issues with a free weekly employment newspaper that does not keep up with removing tags from their street boxes, a city requirement.
G-Man Free Man: Carl Gee’s been a free man since November and apparently wants to get back in job training/social services business. Gee, who brought down the Opportunities Industrialization Center when he used it as part of a kickback scheme in the scandal that was started by former state Sen. Gary George, was released from federal prison in November.
He was sentenced to two years in 2005, ordered to pay $473,415 in restitution and serve three years probation for his role in skimming $500,000 in tax dollars through OIC. The social services agency ultimately shut down after Gee’s conviction.
Besides his freedom, he also lost his $215,277-plus annual salary. Word on the street is that Gee is trying to put together a program to help ex-prisoners in the African American community using federal grant money. He’s reportedly been in touch with Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s office regarding the idea. It could be an uphill career climb for Gee, however, since OIC was run largely with public money as well.
As for George, who was sentenced to four years in federal prison for various financial schemes using tax money, he is scheduled to be released Aug. 11 from his sentence, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. There are claims, however, that George was recently seen applying for a roofer’s job at a local job training and placement agency.
Walworth is Richest: Residents of Waukesha County might start feeling a little inferior about their neighbors to the south in Walworth County after a recent study by the Public Policy Forum found that Walworth County surpassed Waukesha in terms of per capita property wealth. The Forum reports that Walworth County stands at $132,391 in per capita property value and Waukesha came in at $130,348 in 2006. Southeastern Wisconsin overall has a rating of $89,844 compared to $83,482 for the rest of the state.
That says a lot about property values around here, since Southeast Wisconsin also has most of the population to water down those per capita numbers. Overall, the region’s property values grew faster than the state as well. Southeastern Wisconsin accounts for 39 percent of total residential property values in the state. Another positive note found that the city of Milwaukee grew 15.1 percent in its tax base from 2005 to 2006, the biggest increase since 1992.
Overall tax base results by county are:
- Milwaukee: $63.6 billion
- Waukesha: $49.5 billion
- Racine: $14.8 billion
- Walworth: $132,391
- Waukesha: $130,348
- Ozaukee: $122,741
- Washington: $101,110
- Kenosha: $85,558
- Racine: $76,217
- Milwaukee: $67,894
Rough Politics in Jersey: New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine was the third straight New Jersey governor to break a leg while in office. Among other serious injuries, Corzine broke his leg when the SUV he was traveling in wiped out on a New Jersey freeway. The vehicle was reporting going 91 miles per hour. Corzine’s predecessor, James E. McGreevey, broke a leg in 2002 during a nighttime walk on the beach and Christie Whitman broke a leg while skiing in the Swiss Alps in 1999.
An avid outdoors person he regularly takes extended paddling trips in the wilderness, preferring the hinterlands of northern Canada and Alaska. After a bet with a bunch of sailors, he paddled across Lake Michigan in a canoe.
He lives in Bay View.
