This Idiot Thinks He's The Fourth Best President - Reality Has Him Fighting For Dead Last With Jimmy Carter!

The Job Center of Wisconsin is Offering 32,582 + Jobs

The Job Center of Wisconsin has more than 32,582 Wisconsin open jobs posted on its website. If you or anyone you know is out of work and looking to find a job we hope this will help you.

Click Here To Go To The Job Center of Wisconsin

Wisconsin's Recent Tax History - From the MacIver Institute

More Proof The Village of Waterford Doesn't Need A Full-Time Administrator

According to the 2010 US Census, the Village of Sturtevant has 1,602 more residents than the Village of Waterford does. Yet, Sturtevant's Village Administrator has been working 4/5ths of a full-time position, and in the 2012 Sturtevant Budget, his position (by his recommendation) will be cut to a 3/5ths of a full-time position. The position doesn't warrant a full-time employee.

With 1,602 fewer residents and much less in commercial, manufacturing and retail, the Village of Waterford clearly does not need a full-time Village Administrator.

Click Here To Read The Article In The Racine Journal Times

It is time for the Village Board to take a serious look at where we are spending our valuable tax dollars!

IT'S Working!!!!

A little bit about the Occupy Wall Street Idiots

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.


2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.


3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.


4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.


5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Do We Need A Full-Time Village Administrator in Waterford....and Why Are We Paying The Town To Supervise the Village Chief

We're wondering if we really need a full-time Village Administrator in a small town like Waterford. It seems like a lot of tax payer money toward what really should be a 1/2 time position.

...and while we're talking about the Administrator and unnecessary costs to the Village, why is the Village paying the Town to supervise officer Shanning a Village employee?

Its our understanding that the Village pays the Town $15,000 to supervise officer Shanning! Isn't that the Village Administrator's job????? It most certainly is, that's why we are paying her!!!!

What's more, the Sheriff has offered to supervise officer Shanning for free!

WE ARE UNNECESSARILY PAYING $15,000 TO THE TOWN DO DO THE VILLAGE ADMINISTRATORS JOB....ONE THAT THE SHERIFF WILL DO FOR FREE!!!!!!

The Town of Waterford Should Contract With The Sheriff's Department & Save Us Over $100,000 a Year Like The Town of Burlington Just Did

We'd like to see our Town leaders step up and explore contracting for law enforcement services with the Sheriff's Department like the Village of Waterford, and now the Town of Burlington do.

Not only could we save in excess of $100,000 a year, but we would likely improve the police service we get.

We've noticed that the Town's police chief has a take home large truck for a squad but doesn't even live in the Town and doesn't respond to calls. He apparently sits in his office all day while another full-time cop is out on patrol. Do we really need two cops on duty at a time in the Town -where one of them sits in the office all day.

I hope our Town Board will take a look at this. These are dire economic times and we hope our leaders will step up and save us money while improving service with a law enforcement contract with the Sheriff's Department.

US Commercial on the National Debt

The TRUTH about the budget repair bill!!!!!

Liberal Taxes explained

WGSD School Budget Update & Spending Alert

WGSD School Budget update and spending alert



I thought I would provide the community a quick update on WGSD’s budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year that starts on July 1st. Since this situation is fluid with the legislators still working on the biennium budget and the liberal Madison courts tying up the budget repair bill, these numbers can still change.



Wisconsin businesses and taxpayers suffered quite a bit during the last governor’s 8 years of ever expanding government and the increase in taxes to pay for it. A lot of businesses left the state or limited hiring as a result of the poor businesses climate and the state’s tax base suffered as a result.



It was refreshing when Walker and the Republican’s regained control of the state’s finances. They were honest with the public when they said we can no longer plug a 3 billion dollar budget shortfall by expanding taxes and fees, but instead needed to make tough choices to improve the state’s business and tax climate. These tough choices meant a reduction in state equalization aid to schools of around $800 million over the next two years. WGSD administration estimates that to be about an $800,000 reduction for WGSD for the next fiscal year.



As part of the budget repair bill, Walker and the legislators provided school districts the means to reduce expenses to cover the reduction. This allows programming for students to remain in place and prevents huge property tax increases.



WGSD board plans on taking advantage of these provisions by having district employees pay half of the Wisconsin Retirement System which amounts to $400,000 per year. Public employees will still have a defined pension when they retire which will provide payments to them for the rest of their lives.



The bill also allows WGSD to increase the portion that employees pay towards health insurance from 7.5% to 12.6%. The board can also choose their own health insurance carrier rather than the union insurance plan. This provision will mean the union insurance plan will finally have to compete with other insurance companies and can no longer charge monopoly like prices due to union contract language. Through these provisions health insurance expenses were lowered by $240,000 per year. The new insurance plan and cost to employees is still better than what most taxpayers have.



Salaries were also reduced by $200,000 through a combination of reduced positions from attrition/smaller school enrollment and the retirement of some of our higher paid teachers.



Through the above provisions the board was able to cover the state reduction by decreasing expenses instead of raising taxes. Student programming was not reduced and we are even expanding the Spanish classes to other grades.

The WGSD finance committee is still reviewing some of the other worker ‘rights’ costs that the current union contract requires but the budget repair bill strikes down. Among these is a $4800 payment for employees that don’t need health insurance ($77,280 total cost), sick days that can be rolled over to a cash payout (current $389,000 unfunded liability), and post-retirement health insurance benefits that currently cost $138,000 per year.



As the school year winds down, take this opportunity to thank our teachers for their efforts in the classroom and also for taking this financial hit. While it was time to reset the taxpayer/union relationship since the previous path was unsustainable, this will impact the finances of our public employees.



Another creative aspect of the new budget proposal is revenue limits will be tightened. Revenue limits are the maximum that a school district can collect in property taxes and state equalization aid combined. In the past, if the state reduced aid to a school district the school district would just increase property taxes to cover it. Since I joined the WGSD board we no longer “tax to the max” and in fact have over a million dollars left on the table. The new revenue limits will prevent other school districts from raising property taxes an extreme amount.



Please keep in mind that your local school board has a lot of power to control or increase expenses. The current school board president is advocating for health retirement accounts and a new plan for taxpayers to buy laptops for WGSD students.



The taxpayer funded laptops will be reviewed by the finance committee at the June 6th committee meeting. The president has this fast tracked for a full board vote at a special meeting on June 9th. The taxpayers have all ready funded new PC’s and smart boards throughout the district over the last few years. If you have thoughts on this new technology plan please let your school board members know.



(Note: The opinions expressed in this article are mine alone and may not be reflective of the WGSD School Board.)



Chuck Poole

WGSD School Board Treasurer

Don't Forget To Vote Today - May 3rd!!!!!!

Scott Gunderson's Assembly seat is open in the 83rd District due to his appointment to the DNR by Governor Walker.

Gas Price Hypocrisy

In light of todays weather, this video is certainly appropriate!

Thanks for the laugh Mr. Nicholls

We got a great big belly laugh yesterday when we read the reference to WGSD board member Nicholls in the Racine Journal Times article "Western Racine County school board candidates tout fiscal responsibility, experience."

Click here to read the article

Mr. Nicholls is one of the reasons the WGSD spending has been out of control for the last several years. But hey, thanks for the laugh nonetheless.

What a Great Day For Taxpayers Today

What a great day in Madison today for taxpayers. Hopefully, tomorrow will offer more of the same. It is time to take back our local budgets from the unions.

I joined over 98,000 citizens in Standing With Gov. Scott Walker http://standwithwalker.com via @afphq

I joined over 98,000 citizens in Standing With Gov. Scott Walker http://standwithwalker.com via @afphq

Facts & Statistics From the MacIver Institute on the State Budget

Click Here To See Some Interesting Facts and Statistics From The MacIver Institute on the State Budget

Did you know at MPS there are 17 Painters making $98,000 in salary in fringe. Gym Teachers making over $100,000 in salary and fringe? WOW

If you want to see what some of our local teachers, administrators and support staff make see the link (Fine Pay For Public School Employees) on the right side of the blog. Keep in mind that they pay nothing toward their retirement and very little if anything toward their health insurance premiums.

More Great News For Taxpayers As Governor Walker Rolls Out the 2011-2013 FY Budget

Click Here To See The Budget!!!!!!!!!!!

An Open Letter to Public School Teachers

An Open Letter to Public School Teachers
by Liz Buss Nameth on Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 2:36pm

I would like to introduce myself. I am Liz Nameth and I pay your wages.

First off, I do understand your plight. Far more than you realize. It really sucks that the economy took a nosedive. Believe me. I know. Ten years ago I worked in management. Today I work as a bank teller. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful I have a job. I know too many people who don’t. But, the reality is that my wages have been cut in half. To compound the problem, my husband’s business has also declined by half. To say our finances have been devastated is an understatement.

We own three cars – one with a bad engine, another with over 200,000 miles which needs work and a third with 140,000 miles which needs work. I am thankful we have transportation. A lot of people don’t.

Our house needs a lot of work as well. Our windows are ancient and don’t hold the heat well. Our bedroom roof leaks on our bed. I am thankful we have a home. A lot of people don’t.

In the last three years, we have been able to afford to go camping once. My children don’t get Christmas or birthday presents because we can’t afford it. We struggle to make $200 feed all three of us for a month. We eat a lot of canned tuna. I am thankful to have food. A lot of people don’t.

Throughout all of this, I have continued to get up and go to work every day. I have continued to laugh and love and live. I am thankful for the abundant life I have – a husband who loves me, children who love me, a roof over my head, clothes to wear and food to eat. Compared to 90% of the world, I am wealthy beyond measure.

What does this have to do with your dilemma?

I read recently that the benefits package paid to employees in our local school district cost $20,400 per year per employee. I did the math on this. Using the highest income tax bracket of 7.75% in Wisconsin, someone in the private sector needs to earn $263,000 per year just to pay the benefits for one employee. Put another way, in my town, those benefits are covered by twenty average homeowners’ property taxes.

This has not even started to pay for the building or your wages or books or anything else needed to teach our children. This is just the benefits for the lunch lady. Is this sustainable? I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for what you do. I agree you deserve to be very well compensated. But you know what? We can’t afford it anymore. What we deserve and what we can afford don’t always line up. It sucks, I know. But that is reality.

If you don’t accept a cut in your benefits, tax rates must be raised. We have a shortfall. We can spend all day bickering about who did what and who’s to blame but that won’t solve a darn thing. At the end of the day, we still have a shortfall and it still must be fixed. There are only two ways to fix it – raise taxes or cut spending.

So, what would you like me to cut from my personal budget to continue to pay your benefits package? Let’s not forget that the “tax revenues” which pay you are actually a portion of my wages. To continue to pay your benefits as they are means less money in my pocket.

We are all struggling to dig out of the greatest economic downturn in 80 years. “Tax revenues” (my wages) are down across the board. We are all hurting. In my book, you are not exempt from this simply because you work for the government. To prevent you from suffering a little means that I will suffer even more.

I am sorry but this time I have to say no. Not because you don’t deserve it but because I don’t have it to give. This is not a personal attack on your teaching ability. This is just me asking you to contribute and sacrifice a little as well for the good of my children you teach, our state and our nation. Let’s face it – your benefits package is far nicer than mine and most of my private sector friends and family. For three years now, my increased insurance premium has been more than my annual raise so I take home less now than I did three years ago. How about you?

I can’t help but wonder, when do you have enough?

As far as denying human rights, unions were created to protect the safety and welfare of workers – to end sweat shops and child labor in America. The unions did their job well. The laws have changed and today those basic rights are protected by law. Nobody is taking away your right to a safe work environment.

In closing, it is my hope that you are teaching my children because you love them. Love trumps money every time. Do you love my children enough to teach them anyway?

Sincerely,
Your employer

NOTE: Thank you all for the comments, messages and friend requests! Due to the overwhelming response to this letter, I have created a page called "Open Letters to the Public" to provide a forum for discussion. Please go to the link below to join the conversation! Thank you!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Letters-to-the-Public/165371280178140?sk=wall

Did I miss something...I thought it was about the children

Teachers all over this state are showing their true colors. It isn't and has never been "about the children." It has always been "me me." What has the WUHS and WGSD done with teacher salaries over the last five years (those five very rough years for many, many people)? While taxpayers get laid off, take pay freezes and pay reductions, lose their homes, etc. the teachers and administrators kept getting raise after raise after raise - truly amazing in these times - and if you even suggested that they should take a simple one year pay freeze - my God you were attacking teachers. Well, this is what you get for being selfish and pigheaded - thumbing your noses at the taxpayers. Finally we will get control of the costs of our public employees, and teachers in particular.

For an 8 month of the year job - three months off over summer and another month during the year (Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks) - not to mention all the sick and personal days - kicking in toward your retirement and paying a small portion of your health insurance premiums is not a bad deal.

If you don't like it, quit!

Governor Waker's Budget Bill is Great News for Taxpayers

Click Here To See The Governors Bill