Why do you think we're in this mess. Hmmm?

Ok, I'm not in a mood to add a narrative rant right now, given that I have a wedding and a massive tailgate to attend on a great July day. But let me throw out some links.

First of all, corporate profit margins are at their highest in at least 60 years. But hiring is still relatively stagnant. Hmmm....

Then, the Republicans claim that corporations and fake non-profits are planning to shell out $200 million for the 2010 elections. Think some of those record profit margins are going toward that? Hmmm...?

Another meme was put down by reality's liberal bias when the New York Times showed that homeowners with $1 million+ mortgages were more likely to foreclose than homeowners with laons under $1 million. Now why were we told by the Santellis of the world that it was dumb poor people to blame for the foreclosure crisis when the charts in the story clearly show it was house-flippers and other investors. Hmmm??

Closer to home, a Legslative Audit Bureau report shows that developers and businesses are avoiding millions of dollars of property taxes by calling land that's being held for building as "agricultural". Basically think of Terrence Wall's pumpkin patch off of Highway M in Middleton, and you get the idea. Now who pays those taxes for those extra required services if the developer scum cheating the system don't? Hmmm.....?

Oh, and it turns out we have a 2.5 billion structural budget deficit for the next governor. It's admittedly a conservative projection, since it figures a 0% increase in income and sales tax revenue in from 2011-2013, and if that's true, then we'll have bigger problems that just a budget deficit. But go behind the numbers, and you'll see that $290 million of that would be closed by reinstsating the estate tax for those years, and continuing combined reporting. Another $692 million goes away if you revert Medicaid assistance back to pre-stimulus levels. It still would leave a long way to go, but there are a lot of credits and giveaways on that list as well.

What do you think would happen if we closed a lot of these credits and had national health care replace Medicaid expenses? And how did we end up with all these credits and knick-knacks in the first place? Hmmmm??

And what's the common thread through all of this? I'll let all 4 of you figure it out, as I gotta get ready to look money for my girl and then get my drinkin' shoes on at Miller Park.