Labor
Wait till Ron "Regulations Kill Jobs" Johnson hears about this. WisPolitics reports:
Walker also defended the Revenue Department's decision to require additional permits for so-called "roll your own" cigarette machines amid complaints that some retailers are shutting down because of the regulations.
The governor rejected the argument that the policy was hurting businesses, saying the DOR decision provides certainty for all retailers in the tobacco industry.
"It's not picking winners and losers. It's applying what the law is," Walker said.
"What we hear from employers all the time … is they want the certainty of knowing what the law is, what the rules are, that they're applied universally and across the board," he added.
Funny, what Ron Johnson hears from employers all the time is that it's not "certainty" they want. What they want is no regulations.
The idea that regulations are what's keeping businesses from creating jobs is as bogus as can be. But it's become GOP gospel, and Walker says it, too. Just not in this case.
AFTERTHOUGHT: Maybe the question we should be asking is which of Walker's special interest friends and contributors is this helping?
Original Author:
California Labor Federation
by Angie Wei, California Labor Federation
Bank of America's new $5 monthly debit fee, unveiled Friday, sparked howls of protest from furious bank customers now threatening to walk away to more consumer-friendly banking options. No one knows exactly how many will follow through on the threat, but according to one poll, a $5 monthly fee will drive 66% of debit users towards alternative methods of payment—cash, credit cards, or “other.” Agree or disagree with the 66%, but at least everyone can agree that it’s good consumers can freely decide to spend however they want and bank wherever they choose, right? Wrong.
Thanks to unaffordable fees, credit checks and other obstacles, big banks have shut out about a million California households from access to any banking services whatsoever. These “unbanked” workers, unable to receive direct deposit, have in recent years found employers replacing paper paychecks with mysterious “payroll debit” cards—electronic cards that charge massive fees only a banking lobbyist could love. Employers issue cards directly to workers, wages are loaded onto an account managed by the bank, and every payday, the nickel and diming begins anew.
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
Ah, State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin) - - Wisconsin's gift to political theater that keeps on giving.
On Thursday morning she's scheduled
a hearing on the state's use of traffic roundabouts - - that foreign roadway import that calms traffic, and saves on stoplight costs, but which Lazich finds overwhelmingly baffling.
City of Milwaukee Mark Belling fears a New Berlin roundabout, too.
Even though all turns are to the right.
Some other true-fact items from the Lazich archives:
* She proposed
criminalizing prank phone calls. This came after Scott Walker was embarrassed spilling the beans to the fake David Koch and earned her a shout out on "The Colbert Report."
* Led opposition to the Great Lakes Compact of 2008 even though it was making it possible for her home town to get the Great Lakes water supply it sought, because she believed it would destroy
Wisconsin's sovereignty.
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
If you examine the Walker/Fitzgeralds' agenda and accomplishments [sic] to date- - the Voter ID bill locking in Republican advantages, a parade of business tax breaks, the shift of agency rule-making to the Governor's office, the management of the DNR with
a "chamber of commerce mentality," the easing of mining approvals and wetlands protections, the boosting of private school choice, the crippling of public employee unions and members' collective bargaining rights, the starving of local bus systems, outright killing of both a Madison-to-Milwaukee Amtrak extension and separate SE Wisconsin commuter train, and more - - there's only one way to interpret it:
The far right, with Walker as the front-man CEO, is re-shaping Wisconsin as a subsidiary of the private sector run by the Class "A," preferred shareholders - - the WMC, major conservative donors and Americans for Prosperity-type advocacy groups, and ALEC, which provides secretive, members-only ideological and technical guidance.
That group is rewarding itself with dividends guaranteed, across the board, by Walker, the Fitzgeralds and other compliant legislative/managers on behalf of the majority, controlling Class "A" shareholders.
Original Author:
Sen. Kathleen Vinehout
When I heard the Governor had convened a “Special Session on Jobs” I was anxious to take look at the proposals.
Business owners tell me they need access to capital, lower health insurance costs and a skilled workforce. Just last week the Eau Claire Leader Telegram headline read Employers: Jobs are there, Skills are not.
Being from the country, I like to kick the tires and lift up the hood before I buy anything. Was anything that small business owners needed on the list?
This weekend, I got down to the tire kicking level. Amazingly, I found something besides ‘jobs’ on the agenda.
There are a few bills that help make it easier for businesses to get loans. One bill would make credit for farmers easier to obtain by expanding state loan guarantees; another bill increases the cap on loan guarantees for small businesses. There are several bills that create tax credits for investments.
Nothing on the list deals with rising health costs. Very little addresses the lack of skilled workers.
And who would have guessed a bill to protect drug companies and medical device companies from lawsuits if their product had FDA approval would bring jobs to Wisconsin?
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