Wisconsin
More lakes than MN
America's Dairyland
Worldwide Ginseng Producer
Cranberries
Greenbay Packers and the TP Capital of the World
2nd Hmong homeland and cultural capital
First Ice Cream Sunday served
Logging and a declining paper industry
A rapidly aging population (exporter of young people)
Population is rapidly moving back from rural communities into cities and suburbs
Communities statewide are using eminent domain to demolish low rent housing (excess capacity right?)
Out of state individuals are rapidly buying up rural property and increasing tax burdens.
3 companies own 70% of all rental properties in Wisconsin. Rent has gone up during this buyoff while individuals income has dropped.
100 years of silica and granite mining (now declining due to a TX ramp up of frac sand.)
A program to raise speed limits to increase gas tax funding, despite a 40% increase in freeway deaths immediately following the first bump in limits.
Primary roads are great, overbudget but secondary roads can be up to 100 years old without repaving, state defunds or underfunds the road budget while allowing semis, taxis , cement and certain off-road equipment to get on road taxes refunded.
The counties then turn around and charge wheel taxes on cars and motorcycles but don't charge trucks wheel tax.
Drunk driving and bing drinking capital
33 years of primarily Republican leadership at all levels of government (except for 4 years)
During this time...
Personal Property taxes went up 400%
Hunting and fishing fees went up 1000%
License plates went up 800%
Electrical fees charged to individuals only, went up 400% (of my $48 utility bill $6 is use and $36 is a form of municipal tax)
90% of small farms have gone bankrupt due to taxes that only affect small farms.
Mode income has stagnated AKA most people earn less than they would 35 years ago despite a slight increase in "average" income which is meaningless because under 3% of the state earns around the "average" income.
The Trump tax break has actually increased Wisconsin income tax rates (due to how our taxes are structured)
We have moved to a service economy from the previous agrarian and manufacturing society.
196 schools that primarily serve primarily poor people have been defunded at the state level or combined into other districts but the local government or schools have been blamed for the resulting failure that occurred after being defunded.
Teachers unions have been more or less disbanded to save money while the school administrators wages, along with the state Governor, assemblymen, judicial and senate have gotten as much as a 50% increase in pay during this period, for example, the Milwaukee school administrator is getting 4 million a year in compensation (well worth it I bet) despite repeated findings that the office is unnecessary.
A Public official using the power, personnel and money of his own office to fund and operate his political campaign for a different elected office has been legalized retro actively due to a recent lawsuit against the governor .
The David Prosser inspired "Prius Tax" Passed with help from assemblyman Mr. Fitzgerald (15 years in the making)
His $1 a gallon gas tax hike which has passed 3x through the assembly (then veto'd) is in the works in the assembly again and is already being blamed on Tony Evers who doesn't even hold office.
Our state claims to have a balanced budget but has sold close to 2 billion in municipal bonds while having this balanced budget.
The Foxconn boondoggle has set us up for billions in tax payer funded bonds with no guarantee that they will even get to production levels to repay the investment.
The location of the facility is near IL residents who will mostly benefit with minimal Wisconsin population nearby.
And I could go on and on.
