Jim Doyle Funding Organized Crime? Or Worse?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that Wisconsin, thanks to Jim “Pol Pot” Doyle, increased the cigarette taxes to $1.00 per pack “for our own good”. At what point does it become a Prohibition-like price point for smugglers?

Check out this article in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Last month, New York law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of Queens resident Rafea al-Nablisi for smuggling 12,000 cartons of cigarettes a week. It was not the first such arrest, and thanks to New York’s latest cigarette tax hike, it will not be the last.

On April 23, less than two weeks after Mr. Nablisi’s arrest was made public, Gov. David Paterson signed into law a $1.25 per-pack tax hike on top of the state’s $1.50 per-pack tax. That’s in addition to New York City’s own $1.50 per-pack tax. Come July 1, New York City’s smokers will be paying on average $9 a pack for legal cigarettes.

But if history is any guide, most cigarettes sold will actually be trucked up from Virginia, or shipped in from China, by “butt-leggers” who can make over $1 million on each tractor-trailer load of smuggled smokes. The blunt fact, which politicians of both political parties are determined to ignore, is that high cigarette taxes in New York have led to a bloody, decades-long smuggling epidemic.[...]

As you may recall, the first bust of Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” (the bio of Henry Hill, a mobster in New York) was for selling untaxed (smuggled or hijacked) cigarettes. How long will it be before the smugglers invade Wisconsin? I’m assuming they’re already here but have yet to establish an efficient sales network. Well so what? you say. Well, here’s what.

[...]As the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said in September 2002 of New York’s cigarette smuggling, “Traditional organized crime is involved, terrorist groups are involved, and street gangs are involved.” Rivalry among these groups has resulted in numerous shootings and homicides.

The connection to terrorism is no exaggeration. When New York police cracked another smuggling ring in 2005, they uncovered a multimillion dollar flow of funds from New York City to unknown individuals in the Middle East. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly gave voice to the obvious conclusion: Terrorists probably got the money.

Just a few weeks before that 2005 bust, Buffalo-area businessman Aref Ahmed had been sentenced to three years and a month for cigarette smuggling. The feds said he’d used the racket to fund “scholarships” at terrorist training camps in Afghanistan during the spring of 2001. Going back to 1993, counterfeit cigarette stamps were found in the apartment of the first World Trade Center bombers.[...]

Naturally, none of the above will stop Pol Pot from taxing smokes. After all, it’s for our own good.

Politicians continue to use the health of smokers as their excuse for higher cigarette taxes. This view is myopic. As Gov. Wilson argued three decades ago, high cigarette taxes are bad public policy because of their effect on the rest of us. In the 1960s and ’70s, organized crime exploited high cigarette taxes at our expense. Today we face an even deadlier adversary.

Combatting the Delusional Local Politicos

Local politicos and some screwy business leaders are blind to the obvious. They think business will relocate to Wisconsin simply because we have water availability thanks to Lake Michigan. Happily, Patrick McIlheran pointed out the fallacy of this type of thinking in an op-ed piece he wrote in Sunday’s local rag.

Some selected highlights. Any emphasis mine.

I wonder if this was what it felt like to own a polka-records company in 1977, telling yourself that with Elvis dead, the kids would forget rock and come back.

Keep waiting. Meanwhile, we’ve got lots of people saying Atlanta’s drought will be what sends ‘em all scurrying back to Milwaukee.

From the man on the street to essays in political journals, people living on the shores of the world’s largest, most beautiful backwater are figuring that the drift of people, money and power to the Sunbelt will surely end now. They want our water, so they’ll have to come back.

Even serious, thoughtful people say this. “This is a very big economic development tool for the Great Lakes region,” said Todd Ambs to Milwaukee business leaders last month. Ambs runs the water division for the Department of Natural Resources. He knows more about the flow of water than I ever will. The message, he says, is, “you can come back to the Great Lakes.”

Not going to happen, says John Kasarda, who knows more about the flow of economies than I ever will. Kasarda, who researches entrepreneurship and demographics at the University of North Carolina, says there’s simply no evidence that constrictions in water supply alone can torpedo a burgeoning region. Phoenix and Las Vegas, you might recall, thrive. The southeast isn’t short of water. It just doesn’t organize its distribution well - yet.

The people who think Atlanta’s drought will send people back here are buffoons. With telecommunications being what it is today, people can live just about anywhere they want. So, the jobs will go to where capital is welcomed and stay where it is treated fairly. As Kasarda points out:

The lake won’t save us. A new attitude might, suggests Kasarda. What made the Sunbelt as much as air conditioning was a pro-enterprise culture, he says - an encouraging attitude toward growth, a “flexible, non-union environment,” decent taxes. “They put out the red carpet for business,” he says, and it worked.

And here? “The attitude in Milwaukee toward business is awful, and you just don’t see it anywhere else,” Briggs and Stratton CEO John Shiely told a reporter this month. He and other executives had the temerity to say the same in public last winter and were excoriated as wanting “to return to the 19th century.” How dare they mouth off! Don’t they know their place?

Suppose Atlanta were rewound to some prior century - that its growth were halted. It’s gained a million people in six years; where might the next million go instead? Shiely contrasted Milwaukee with the welcoming attitude in Murray, Ky., and that should be a hint: There are lots of other Sunbelt towns. If Atlanta’s got too many people drawing from one little river, that’s solved as people spread to other rivers in the welcoming, low-tax South.

Think the above isn’t true? Guess what? Texas just surpassed New York as the state with the most “Fortune 500″ firms with 58 now in Texas.

Some of that was due to the growth of local firms but more was because of firms that relocated out of the high-tax, anti-business climates of states like the socialist shithole under Pol Pot Doyle Wisconsin. Seems to me Texas is not exactly known for having a lot of water. (As I side note, I paid $4.75/gal for avgas in Texas compared to $5.85/gal here.)

Until the negative attitudes toward business are reversed here, we’ll have plenty of water. No jobs, of course, but plenty of water.

Football Season Ticket Holders at UW Get Screwed

Cross posted at The Wisconsin Sports Bar.

Upon checking my mail when I got back from The Mighty Badger win in Omaha (see earlier post) I got my season ticket football crap from UW. The final game of the year is against Cal-Poly.

Barry….are you telling season ticket holders the last game of the year, at full price, is fucking Cal Poly? And are are telling us we have to pay full price for that game? Not to mention the cupcakes of Akron and Marshall (well, Marshall might be OK).

What the fuck? What are you Alvarez, some kind of Jim Doyle acolyte? (Sorry for the political reference but this just suxxxxxxxx).

The UW Athletic Department should subsidize season ticket holders for any post-season action based on this weak non-Big 10 crap.

Morons in Madistan!!! Pay Attention!!!

Yes, Russ Decker, yes Pol Pot Doyle, this means YOU. It also means every hammerhead in Madistan that loves to tax everyone into oblivion.

Check out this article in the 2/12/08 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

An old adage says high taxes don’t redistribute income, they redistribute people. For new evidence look no further than migration patterns within the United States, as documented in a new survey by the moving company United Van Lines.

A record eight million Americans — some 20,000 people every day — relocated to another state last year. So where are these families headed and why? The general picture is this: Americans are continuing to flee the Northeast and Midwest, while the leading destinations continue to be Southern and Western states.

The United Van Lines study finds that the biggest population loser last year was Michigan, where two families moved out of the state for every new family that moved in. Americans are also fleeing New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Without interviewing the departed, it’s impossible to know the reasons for this outward migration. No doubt overall economic prospects, climate, quality of life and housing prices play a role.

But one reason to conclude that taxes are also a motivator is because the eight states without an income tax are stealing talent from other states. They are Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming, and each one gained in net domestic migrants. Each one except Florida — which has sky-high property taxes on new homesteaders — also ranked in the top 12 of destination states. The nearby table ranks the top five destination and departure states.

Politicians who think taxes don’t matter might want to explain the Dakotas. North Dakota ranked second worst in out-migration last year, while South Dakota ranked in the top 10 as a destination. The two are similar in most regards, with one large difference: North Dakota has an income tax and South Dakota doesn’t.

Here’s another example. The only Pacific Coast state to lose migrant population in 2007 was California, which has the highest state income tax in the nation. This is the continuation of a dismal 10-year performance with nearly one and a half million Golden Staters leaving what was once the premier destination state in America.

Meanwhile, next door, Nevada was second among the states in new families — and a big percentage of the new arrivals are Californians. Nevada has no income tax. High income Californians can buy a house in Las Vegas for the amount of money they save in three or four years by not paying California income taxes.

One of the few Northeastern states that gained interstate migrants in 2007 was New Hampshire, the only state in New England without an income tax. For the exception that proves the tax rule, we should also mention Vermont, a high-tax state with a big net influx last year. Maybe these folks like the Ben & Jerry’s lifestyle, and we also hope they like the government they’re paying for.

We invite readers to visit the U-Haul Moving Company Web site (www.uhaul.com), where you can type in a pair of U.S. cities to learn what it costs to move from point A to B. If you want to move, say, from Austin, Texas to Southern California, the moving van will cost you $407 to rent. But if you want to move out of California to Austin, the same van costs $1,831. A move from Dallas to Philadelphia costs $663, versus $2,433 to swap homes in the other direction. The biggest discrepancy we could find was $557 from Nashville, Tennessee to Los Angeles, but the trip costs nearly eight times more, or $4,285, to move to Nashville from L.A.

Our friends on the left say Americans are willing to pay more taxes to get better government services, but their migration patterns reveal the opposite. Governors would be wise to heed these interstate migration trends as they try to cope with what may be one of the worst years in recent memory for state finances. The people who tend to be the most mobile in American society are the educated and motivated — in other words, the taxpaying class. Tax them too much, and you’ll soon find they aren’t there to tax at all.

Emphasis mine for the tax ‘em to death crowd in Madistan.

Stupid is as Stupid Writes

I’m never confused when I see moronic editorials from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal. Why should I be?

Here’s the latest editorial which shows why it’s a good thing to have a monopoly in the news market. While the MJS runs articles about how to get business to relocate here, they (the editorial board) support the destruction of the rights of business owners. You don’t like smoking? Tough.

Let the owners decide. The Fuel Cafe, a very popular (and formerly smoking allowed place) in the 3rd Ward just went smoke-free. It was THEIR choice, not a choice of Pol Pot Doyle and his little cocksucking sycophants minions in the Legislature.

Given the stupidity of the editorial board, an extension of management, is it any wonder why the stock charts look like this? Maybe Steve Smith, the CEO of JRN, can explain the performance of his stock by saying that none of his editorial writers smoke and that none of them understand how freedom of choice and market forces work while explaining the stellar performance of JRN stock under his tenure. Take a look at JRN vs. the S&P.

Good for you, JRN…none of you smoke as you all destroy shareholder value. Nice job.

What Was He Thinking?

Here’s a little tidbit from a meeting Pol Pot Doyle had in Brookfield to outline his plans to expand and upgrade Wisconsin’s economy. The meeting was held at Competitive Wisconsin.

It’s the usual crap we’ve come to expect from Doyle. Here’s some of the good and the lies.

“Doyle said he plans to announce more than $200 million in public and private investments that would be used to modernize agricultural practices as well as find new market opportunities. Doyle also announced that the state would provide tax credits for cheese cooperatives and dairy producers.”

Umm…..why do they need tax credits? ISN’T IT BECAUSE WISCONSIN’S TAXES ARE SO EFFING HIGH THEY CAN’T COMPETE UNLESS THEY GET A TAX CREDIT?

“In order to compete with manufacturers across the country and the world, Doyle said the state must have a “next-generation manufacturing plan” that would help small and mid-size companies keep up with larger firms.

Doyle also said it was important for the state to look into new opportunities for investment, such as the rapidly expanding biotechnology field.

“Growing Wisconsin will require a commitment to innovation,” he (Doyle) said.”

Pol Pot needs to wake up. Given the lawsuit happy business climate and the confiscatory tax policies, not to mention the stupidity of the State Legislature to make that climate even worse, no one would relocate here. Does the name Briggs and Stratton ring a bell? It’s now a Lowe’s Superstore.

Now here’s the part that led me to headline the post the way I did. The President of Competitive Wisconsin, a certain Tom O’Neill had this to say after Pol Pot’s speech.

“Competitive Wisconsin president Tom O’Neill of M&I Bank praised the governor for his “strong commitment to Wisconsin business” and lauded Doyle’s achievements in office.”

I hope Mr. O’Neill is a better banker than an observer of the obvious around him.

How about this Mr. O’Neill?

“Wisconsin will never be able to compete on any level unless the state’s tax laws are scrapped and Governor Doyle shows a commitment to reward, rather than punish those who achieve in the Great State of Wisconsin.”

I’m not holding my breath…especially after looking at the make up and mandates of Competitive Wisconsin.

We’re Number 1

According to an article in Microsoft Money, The Socialist Republic of State of Wisconsin is #1 in property taxes based on the rate of taxes as a % of the value of the house.

Using the same measurements, Wisconsin is #5 when property taxes are ranked as a % of median home owner income.

When it comes to Taxes by State, i.e. Gas, Cigs, Sales Tax and all state and local taxes, we rank #12 nationally.

Yet Doyle, Robson, and the other Libtards in Madistan want to RAISE our taxes. What’s wrong with that picture?

Hsu Arrested in Colorado

Looks like Norman Hsu was tired of all the air delays so he decided to flee via Amtrack.

Wonder if Pol Pot Doyle will change his Asian travel plans to include Colorado?

Now We Know Why Doyle is Going to Asia

Well, now we know the real reason Pol Pot Doyle is going to Asia. He wants more money from Norman Hsu.

Hsu, the big democratic fund raiser, who skipped a $2.0MM bail and is most certainly in China, gave $2,000 to Doyle as a campaign contribution. Naturally, Pol Pot decided he’s not going to return the money

“Even though Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu remains a fugitive from justice, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle is not parting with the $2,000 in donations he got from the New York businessman. Doyle says he is monitoring the situation with Hsu to see if there was anything wrong with the contribution received in 2005. Doyle says he doesn’t know “one way or the other” whether the allegations against Hsu are true.”

What a load of crap. Of course, it’s nothing less than we have come to expect from the most ethically challenged governor in the history of the socialist paradise once known as State of Wisconsin.

The majority of Wisconsin voters are on the hook for this hoople. Nice job.

Freedom Eden has a an excellent post (as usual) on this subject. Link

Dems Don’t Want to be Confused by Facts

The Dhimms are almost becoming a parody of themselves. Since they’ve already decided “the surge” isn’t working, they are now showing their true colors since, by all accounts, the surge IS working. Let’s start with one of the biggest hooples in The Senate, Fritz Schumer.
From a speech on the floor.

“And let me be clear, the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda said to these tribes we have to fight al Qaeda ourselves. It wasn’t that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords took peace here, created a temporary peace here.”

What a disgusting piece of shit. Someone should go surge on this asshat.

The above links also points out that James Clyburn of South Carolina, the #3 Dhimm in the Senate said that good news from Iraq would be bad news for the Dhimms.

Then we have the stellar Nancy Peolosi who wants to be an Islamofacist.
I wish she would just declare her loyalty to the enemy so we could shoot her.

From The Washington Times

Congressional Democrats are trying to undermine U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ credibility before he delivers a report on the Iraq war next week, saying the general is a mouthpiece for President Bush and his findings can’t be trusted.

“The Bush report?” Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin said when asked about the upcoming report from Gen. Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq.

“We know what is going to be in it. It’s clear. I think the president’s trip over to Iraq makes it very obvious,” the Illinois Democrat said. “I expect the Bush report to say, ‘The surge is working. Let’s have more of the same.’ “

The top Democrats — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California — also referred to the general’s briefing as the “Bush report.”

Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Gen. Petraeus’ report was potentially compromised by the White House’s involvement in drafting it.

“If the same people who were so wrong about this war from the start are writing substantial portions of this report, that raises credibility questions,” he said.

Looks like these poor schmucks are cheering so hard for the defeat of the U.S. on a global basis that they can’t speak, or think about anything else.

Here’s some more from the Speaker of the House who has helped the current Congress achieve a lower popularity rating then President Bush.

“We will see what the Bush report will be at the end of next week,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “The facts are self-evident that the progress is not being made. They might want to find one or two places where there has been progress but the plural of anecdote is not data.”

She said Democrats were determined to uncover “the ground truth in Iraq.“

Yeah, right.