Archive for June, 2010

FCC Plans New Taxes To Give Away Free Broadband To Low-Income Homes

Feds give away thousands of free computers with stimulus funds

MacIver News Service [Milwaukee, Wisc...] The FCC wants to establish new tax funds to ensure every single person in the country has a home computer and internet access, as part of the controversial plan that would allow the agency to regulate broadband access.

The FCC states in its National Broadband Plan “Everyone in the United States today should have access to broadband services supporting a basic set of applications that include sending and receiving e-mail, downloading Web pages, photos and video, and using simple video conferencing.” View the report here.

Not only should everyone have access, the FCC argues it should be in their homes. “While libraries and other public places are important points of free access that help people use online applications, home access is critical to maximizing utilization. Broadband home access can also help rural, low-income, minority and other communities overcome other persistent socioeconomic or geographic disparities,” according to the FCC’s plan.

To pay for these new broadband entitlements, the FCC would first take $15.5 billion out of the Universal Service Fund and ask Congress for “a few billion dollars per year over two or three years.” At the same time, the FCC would “broaden the USF contribution base to ensure USF remains sustainable over time.”

The FCC would also be expanding other service funds, like Lifeline and Link-Up America, to include broadband service. There are also plans to create the Connect America Fund (CAF) and the Mobility Fund. It also wants to design other “new USF funds in a tax-efficient manner.

The federal government has already spent millions of dollars in stimulus funds giving away free computers to low-income families. New York City received $22 million to give away 18,560 free computers this year with no created/retained jobs attributed to the project. Miami received $3.5 million to bring “broadband awareness to over 336,000 students,” give away 6,000 computers and potentially free internet access. Chicago got $7 million to provide computers to 11,000 residents and 500 small businesses. North Carolina got a million dollars for internet projects that include giving away 50 free laptops. Vermont got $2.5 million to give 1,200 computers to 4th and 5th graders.

The FCC estimates that 35 percent of American adults do not use broadband at home. The agency says they tend to be older, poorer, less educated, a member of a minority group or have a disability. They often cite cost as the reason they do not have broadband.

One of the FCC’s recommendations in its National Broadband Plan is “The FCC should consider free or very low-cost wireless broadband as a means to address the affordability barrier to adoption.”

To pay for all these initiatives, the FCC wants to expand the Universal Service Fund, Lifeline and Link-Up America to include broadband service, and create the Connect America Fund (CAF) and the Mobility Fund. It also wants to design other “new USF funds in a tax-efficient manner.”

The FCC cites the success of Link-Up America in expanding telephone service to low-income households. Subscribership went from 80.1 percent in 1984 to 89.7 percent in 2008. (That’s a .4 percent per year growth rate.)

While working to ensure every single American has a home computer and broadband access, the FCC wants to create a “Digital Literacy Corps” to train people how to use the internet.

Although FCC staff wrote the National Broadband Plan, the agency states “the author of this plan is America, itself.” That’s because the FCC has held dozens of workshops, online conferences and public hearings that drew tens of thousands of participants and comments.

The FCC first presented its National Broadband Plan to Congress in March and has hosted panel discussions there this month.

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Posted in News | June 29, 2010 | | 7 Comments

Did O’Donnell Parking Garage Tragedy Reporting Cross The Line?

When part of the façade of the O’Donnell Park parking garage fell away Thursday afternoon, killing one person and injuring two others, some speculated how long it would take before the tragedy was used for political gain by tying it to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. However, political cynicism paled compared to the exploitation of the tragedy by WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway.
  
By Thursday evening, WTMJ-TV news aired a news report from their “I-Team,” the investigative journalism unit of their broadcast. Aaron Diamint took to the air and, waving a handful of papers, said in an excited voice the “I-Team” had found evidence of nearly $600,000 of deferred “critical” maintenance to the structure.
  
“The bottom line is this. The entire O’Donnell garage operated by Milwaukee County Parks is in really bad shape. County leaders have known the specifics for at least six months and (waves papers) this is the evidence to prove it.”
  
The report then cut away to video of the accident scene with Diamint narrating.
  
“When a thirty foot piece of concrete fell off the O’Donnell Parking Garage and killed a fifteen-year-old boy Thursday, it put a big fat exclamation point on a very long list of known problems uncovered by the I-Team. Nearly six hundred thousand dollars in deferred maintenance to the garage, important repairs found by Department of Public Works inspectors last December as part of a county audit.”
  
Diamint listed some of the items found in the report without linking any of them to the concrete slab that fell. Diamint then said to his audience that “County leaders” would go through the list “line by line” to see if any of the issues in the maintenance report related to the accident Thursday, something the investigative reporter failed to do himself. Had he done so, he would have learned that none of the items listed had anything to do with the tragedy.
  
Diamint added for dramatic effect, “Problems the county knew about but put off to save money.” But not for long. Had Diamint looked into the matter further before rushing to air with his sensational report, he might have learned that the required maintenance items listed in the papers he waved were repaired. Perhaps Diamint’s source for the report failed to mention this salient fact.
  
The report cut back to Diamint in the studio to inform viewers that the total deferred maintenance for the parks system “including this garage” was a “staggering” $200 million. Of course, Diamint cannot pin point anywhere this deferred maintenance across the entire parks system had anything to do with the concrete slab falling.
  
Diamint helpfully added for his audience the story of the piece of concrete that fell off the County Courthouse that did not injure anyone or have anything to do with his report except something fell. It’s a wonder he did not mention the apple striking Sir Isaac Newton in his report.

Even if at the time of the Thursday report Diamint was completely ignorant of the non-relationship between the required repairs and the accident, or if he was ignorant that the required repairs had been completed, when he did a follow-up report Friday he could no longer plead such ignorance.
  
The County Executive’s office issued a two-page statement detailing that the necessary repair work was done on Friday and stated that none of the required repairs had anything to do with the fallen façade.
  
However, Diamint’s follow-up report on Friday started with how the I-Team “broke the news” regarding nearly $600,000 in deferred maintenance, “specific structural and safety issues.” With that, the camera zoomed in on the scene of the accident implying deferred maintenance had something to do with the accident.
  
So despite knowing that the repairs had been made and that none of the issues mentioned in the I-Team report had anything to do with the accident, Diamint and the camera still tried to establish a visual relationship between the deferred maintenance and the accident. Apparently it was a storyline too good to let go.
  
Diamint continued, “The County only recently had them fixed. We don’t know what caused the collapse, but County Executive Scott Walker told me he knows what didn’t.”
  
At this point the report cut away, showing more footage from the accident and a picture of the victim, and then showing video of Walker saying, “Obviously our structural engineers are going to look and try to get to the bottom of it.”
  
The report then cut away before Walker could explain that none of what was reported by Diamint had anything to do with the accident. The video changed to more footage of the accident and repeated the I-Team report from the previous day regarding deferred maintenance without, again, making any connection between the maintenance report and the accident.
  
“The I-Team dug, too, and found a long list of deferred maintenance on the parking garage.” After going through the list again, finally Diamint said in the voice-over, “On Friday, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker reported that the parks department, which runs the garage, had recently made the repairs and is convinced that none of them caused the collapse.”
  
Diamint asked Walker, “How can you be so sure that none of these deferred maintenance items on that list didn’t play a role in it?”
  
“Right. Because the bottom line is that none of them have anything to do with the façade,” said Walker.  
  
Walker was allowed to explain that engineers would be focusing on how the façade was originally attached. “Right now, the point of focus is on how this was attached and if there was any question as to when it was attached originally, whether that was done properly or not.”
  
At this point Diamint finally mentioned that the original architect was fired from the project. Then the report cut to an interview with County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, a Walker critic with a history of a few building violations as a landlord himself.
  
“I want him to know that I’ll be a hound dog, checking every, uh, spot to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Holloway said.  
  
It was as if Holloway has no responsibility for what happens in the county as the County Board Chairman, especially considering that Holloway was elected to the County Board while the O’Donnell structure was still under construction.
  
So despite the lack of any connection between the deferred maintenance reported and the accident itself, WTMJ-TV aired not one but two reports attempting to connect the accident to cost-cutting measures by Milwaukee County. The first report failed to establish any connection. The second report repeated the mistakes of the first, using visual cues to imply a connection before finally revealing otherwise.
  
Whether Diamint was fooled by his source for the original document, or the story was just “too good to check,” Diamint had a responsibility to his viewers to find out if the repairs in the report were completed or if they had anything to do with the accident before going on the air waving papers around as “proof.”
  
Once it was clear that the first report was completely misleading, WTMJ-TV and Diamint had a responsibility in the second report to correct the false impressions they made. Instead, the second report again implied that the deferred maintenance had something to do with the accident and gave very little time to the actual focus of the investigation, the construction of the façade itself.
  
The second report by Diamint even gave Walker critic County Board Chairman Lee Holloway one more chance to connect the county executive to the accident even though the likely cause of the accident actually occurred before Walker was county executive and while Holloway was a member of the county board.

Despite raising issues that had nothing to do with the tragedy, don’t be surprised to see excerpts of the “I-Team” report in political campaign ads this fall.
  
When surveys show a declining trust in the mainstream news media, it’s reporting like this that shows why the decline in trust is deserved.

By James Wigderson
Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute

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Posted in mi perspectives | June 28, 2010 | | 2 Comments

MPS Shows its Math
How the district will save $48 million, 480 teacher positions if the union agrees to concessions

MacIver News Service [Milwaukee, Wisc...] Milwaukee Public Schools has released its math showing how many teaching jobs could be saved if teachers agreed to a less expensive health care plan, after the teacher’s union accused it of fabricating the numbers.

This year the district was facing a $33 million deficit, and planned on 680 layoffs at the start of the budget process. However, throughout budget meetings MPS insisted it could save $48 million if teachers switched healthcare plans. That would save 480 of the positions to be cut.

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association disputed that claim, and said the switch would only save $7 million, which it said would only save 50 jobs. The union again blasted the district last week, accusing it of exaggerating the truth.

“District spokespersons continue to stretch the truth, mislead the public, and worst of all, use teacher layoffs as a bargaining tactic. The budget the Board adopted showed that their public proposals would generate only $7 million in savings – no where near the district’s claims,” said Pat O’Mahar, MTEA Interim Executive Director.

MPS then released its math to the MacIver Institute, showing how it calculated the savings.

The difference between the current PPO and the proposed EPO is $4,512 for single plans and $7,380 for family plans. The district current pays for 2,610 single PPOs and 4,810 family PPOs. Based on those figures, switching plans would save MPS $11,776,320 on single plans and $35,497,800 on family plans, for a total savings of $47.3 million. Since each teacher costs about $100,000 a year (salary and compensation), $47.3 million could pay for about 472 positions.

On Wisconsin Public Television on June 18, O’Mahar was asked if the union would accept the cheaper healthcare plan if MPS could prove the potential savings.

O’Mahar answered “I don’t believe our members should ever be asked that question in the context of having no choice.  What we have in the contract now for teachers is the two different choices, and over 80% of our members choose the more traditional PPO plan than the HMO.  The 20% that choose the HMO, that’s their choice, but we know from our surveys of our members, from bargaining, that our members are just like all of the other teachers in the rest of the state.  There is no district has only an HMO option for teachers.  And I don’t believe going forward that this district should not provide the benefits that all the other teachers in the state have, especially when our salaries are at the bottom of the surrounding districts.”

During that same program Michael Bonds, Milwaukee School Board President, explained “The reality is, we can’t sustain the current fringe benefit package.  We’re one of the few government entities in the nation that provide this high level.  And also, there’s no co-payment on a lot of stuff and we just can’t sustain it.”

Here is more of our coverage on MPS.


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Posted in News | June 27, 2010 | | Comments Off

Feds and Locals Disagree on FoodShare Fraud in Wisconsin

The same week Wisconsin Lawmakers expressed concern over fraud in the state’s FoodShare Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wisconsin’s program is one of the most accurate in the country and will be rewarded with an extra $3 million.

“We have worked very hard in Wisconsin to make sure the right people have the right benefits at the right time. And we are proud to be a national leader on an important issue for the health and well being of people across Wisconsin. These bonus awards prove that our hard work is paying off and that hundreds-of-thousands of people in Wisconsin are getting the food benefits they’re entitled to,” said Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary.

However, recent investigations by Racine County and the Racine Journal-Times reveal the right people are not getting the right benefits at the right time.

“County officials announced in May that they had uncovered massive fraud in the state’s FoodShare program, which provides families in need with debit-like cards that allow them to purchase food,” reported the Racine Journal Times earlier this week.

“FoodShare cards are being sold, and anyone can use the card as long as they have a pin number,” Racine County Human Services Fraud Supervisor Susan Keown told the paper. That transaction is also enabled by federal rules that state people do not have to show identification to use the cards.

This problem has not escaped Wisconsin lawmakers. At a Joint Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, members discussed possible steps the state could take to stop FoodShare fraud.

“The effort here is to get food to folks who are really struggling, but there are individuals taking advantage of this program,” said Senator John Lehman, D-Racine.

“We have seen that efforts throughout the state have really been lax with people who are committing this kind of fraud. We know that in other states like Michigan, they have thousands of people who are prosecuted for Foodshare fraud. I think in Wisconsin I think it was 60,” said Representative Robin Vos, R-Racine.

A recent audit that uncovered massive fraud in the state’s child daycare programs has prompted the Legislative Council to conduct a study of public assistance program integrity.

Senator Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, has been named the chair of that committee. His office did not return a message from the MacIver News Service whether FoodShare would be included in that study.

At the Joint Finance Committee meeting, Senator Lehman said, “We’re making every effort to get FoodShare included in the subject of that study committee. I believe that’s going to happen. But whatever we can do here in Madison to help out the reporting and the prosecution of any kind of fraud just gets more food and more resources to people who really need it.”

Representative Vos added it is important “that we don’t wait until February to start going after people that commit fraud.”

However, the Legislative Council said the study’s first meeting won’t happen until August or September. It will meet once or twice a month for the rest of the year. The committee will try to have recommendations ready for the next legislature at the start of the new session in January.

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Posted in News | June 25, 2010 | | Comments Off

More Interesting Spending at MPS Revealed


Click in bottom right hand corner to scroll through the April Check Register

MacIver News Service -[Milwaukee, Wisc...] As the fallout from the passage of its annual budget continues to be felt, Milwaukee Public School’s spending practices continue to come under scrutiny.

Expenditures include thousands of dollars for leather coference chairs and trophies, and tens of thousands of dollars for what the district labeled as “Contributions” to United Way.

Calls to officials at the MPS district office on Vliet Street in Milwaukee requesting comment on these expenditures went unanswered

The MacIver News Graphic, above, includes only some of the expenditures to vendors from May, 2010. We ran a similar graphic and story last month and this will now be a regular feature at MacIver News. However, anyone can can examine the MPS checkbook for themselves, at anytime, online.

MPS spending is a web tool developed by Milwaukee Public Schools to allow the public to review and analyze school district spending. The site allows users to examine spending by several criteria, including school or department, funding type (Board or categorical funds) and vendor. The tool tracks expenditures that are processed through accounts payable. It does not track contract amounts or budgets.

The district’s new budget bridged a $33 million budget deficit from last year, and Superintendent William Andrekopoulos has sent layoff notices to hundreds employees to bridge the gap.

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Posted in News | June 25, 2010 | | Comments Off

More Election Fraud Charges Emerge in Milwaukee
AG Van Hollen Vows Continued Crackdown

MacIver News Service  [Milwaukee, Wisc...] Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that the Election Fraud Task Force  has brought two additional election fraud cases in Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice, acting as Special Prosecutor for Milwaukee County, has filed felony charges against David E. Lewis and Ramon Martinez, alleging that each defendant voted in the November 4, 2008, Presidential Election while on an active period of supervision as a convicted felon.

Each individual charge carries a potential penalty of imprisonment up to three and a half years and a $10,000 fine.

Both Lewis and Martinez are charged with one count of Voting by a Disqualified Person. Lewis is also charged with one count of Providing False Information to Election Officials. Both crimes are felonies. According to Wisconsin law, all felons on an active period of supervision for a felony offense are prohibited  from voting in any election.

The complaint against Lewis alleges that he registered to vote at the polls on November 4, 2008, thereby certifying that he was a qualified elector. It also alleges that he then cast a ballot. At that time, Lewis was on an active period of probation for felony convictions in Milwaukee County. A separate complaint alleges that Martinez cast a ballot at the polls on November 4, 2008. At that time, Martinez was also on an active period of probation for felony convictions in Milwaukee County.

Lewis and Martinez are scheduled for an initial appearance on July 26, 2010, at 1 p.m.

The Task Force is an ongoing collaborative effort  between the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office and the Milwaukee Police Department.

Also today, Van Hollen announced that two other individuals previously charged with election fraud arising out of the November 4, 2008, Presidential Election were bound over for trial following their preliminary appearances in court this afternoon. Herbert and Suzanne Gunka were are each charged with the felony offense of Double Voting and had not guilty pleas entered as they appeared before Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner David Sweet.

In this recent interview with MacIver News, Van Hollen vowed to make sure more resources were devoted to maintaining election integrity across the state during the upcoming 2010 election cycle:

 

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Posted in News | June 22, 2010 | | 2 Comments

Debating Education and the Bailout

Each week, the Website WisOpinion.com asks our own Brian Fraley to debate Scot Ross from One Wisconsin Now in an exchange of emails. The topics are chosen by the two participants and the views expressed reflect their own personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the official policy positions of the organizations for which they work.

This week the duo discuss education funding, MPS and the upcoming Son of Stimulus bailout of state and local governments.

From Fraley’s entry:

When the MacIver Institute devotes hundreds of hours reporting on and analyzing the mess at Milwaukee Public Schools, we do share these horror stories, but it is hardly cherry picking. MPS is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with public education. Zero attention is spent on assessing value, or return on investment. Instead, the dollars going into the system are the only metric used to determine success. Milwaukee’s per-pupil expenditures far exceed the state average and continue to go up every year. For that, we have a bloated administration, consultants and counselors out the yin-yang and kids who can’t read or do math at grade level. The achievement gap between students of color and their white peers in MPS is the largest in the nation. The number of empty seats on stage at every graduation is staggering. Bad teachers who continually fail their students can’t be fired because they’re protected by a union that celebrates mediocrity. But we conservatives, who believe we shouldn’t keep throwing good money after bad and should instead improve the outcomes at public schools, are the bad guys? 

 

Read the entire exchange, here.

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Posted in mi perspectives | June 21, 2010 | | 1 Comment

State Cherry Picks Unemployment Numbers

MacIver News Service [Madison, Wisc...] The numbers don’t lie when it comes to Wisconsin’s unemployment situation, but they tell different stories depending on who is reporting the news.

Last  week the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the Associated Press and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel all had vastly different interpretations of May’s unemployment figures.

The State of Wisconsin emphasized 40,000 new jobs were created in May and the unemployment rate was 7.7%. Meanwhile the Journal Sentinel reported the state lost 7,900 jobs and the unemployment rate was 8.2%. The Associated Press asserted that 40,000 new jobs were created and there was an 8.2% unemployment rate.

The reports are different because the organizations were working with two distinct sets of numbers. When the state collects unemployment figures each month, it compiles the data by seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted numbers take into account seasonal workers (like those who work in tourism or landscaping), while the unadjusted numbers show the total number workers in the state.

Economists prefer to work with the seasonally adjusted numbers, because they say it provides a truer picture of the economy. Those are the numbers the Journal Sentinel focused on in its story about May’s unemployment. The state focused on the not seasonally adjusted numbers, which painted a rosier picture of the state’s economy.

“The Doyle Administration’s spin on the recent jobs report masks a reality that’s all too clear to economists, employers and those underemployed or out of work. Government jobs and short-term stimulus work are no substitute for the private industry prosperity we desperately need to help Wisconsin families and businesses thrive long-term,”said Senator Alberta Darling, R-River Hills.

DWD does not always lead with the not seasonally adjusted numbers in its monthly press releases. Sometimes the seasonally adjusted numbers are more positive, and that’s what the state leads with.

In fact, May was the first month this year that DWD focused on the non-seasonally adjusted numbers. The last time DWD went with not seasonally adjust numbers was in December.

Both sets of numbers usually appear in the state’s press release, but the less appealing numbers are buried in the story.

When we take into account the seasonal adjustment, instead of adding 32,000 private sector jobs, the Wisconsin economy lost 7,900 private sector jobs in May. The net change from a year ago is a loss of 37,400 jobs in the private sector.

In seasonally adjusted terms, 3,700 jobs were lost in in the hospitality sector in May and 6,700 jobs were lost since last year. In non-adjusted numbers leisure and hospitality may have added jobs in the last month, but there is still a loss of 7,500 jobs since last year.

Overall, in May Wisconsin’s economy (both private and public sector) added 1,600 jobs in seasonally-adjusted terms, as opposed to the “tens of thousands” that the governor claimed.

The discrepancy has touched off a political tussle.

“Sadly, the Democrats here in Wisconsin made it clear they’re much more worried about their own jobs than the 100,000-plus jobs we’ve lost under their leadership,” said State Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus. “They’re trying to pretend their actions don’t have consequences, and now they’re finding out that they can’t ‘spin’ the economy into recovery.”

An official with the Doyle Administration didn’t dispute the private sector job loss numbers, but did issue a statement chastising the reporting done on the matter.

“Several media outlets misrepresented state employment figures released yesterday by the Department of Workforce Development,” said Deputy Administration Secretary Dan Schooff on Friday. “The figures reported yesterday relating to state government employment and hiring used by the federal Department of Labor can be easily misconstrued. In the most recent report they indicated that the state hired 2,900 new employees (not seasonally adjusted). They also indicated that the state hired 3,100 new employees (seasonally adjusted), as was reported by several media outlets.”

The MacIver News graphic below shows the first sentence in the Department of Workforce Development’s monthly unemployment press releases for the last six months, which shows the Administration does not have a standardized way of reporting unemployment figures.

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Posted in News | June 21, 2010 | | 2 Comments

Beyond the Spin, State Employment Numbers Dismal

Next vacation, I’ll tour government offices…

I did my part for the Wisconsin economy. Last week the Lovely Doreen from Waukesha and I ventured to the Wisconsin Dells with our children, doing our part to pump dollars into the local economy. We took full advantage of the increase in the seasonal employment in Wisconsin as tourists. I even got a picture of myself wearing a funny Moose hat.

Seasonal employment is the key. Every May, Wisconsin adds jobs to ready itself for the summer tourism season, ramping up for construction, and other industries that require the warmer weather. Indeed, the numbers are out for May unemployment and in numbers not seasonally adjusted, leisure and hospitality added 10,700 new jobs last month.

With the release of the May unemployment numbers, the state announced a reduction in unemployment last month and the creation of 32,000 jobs, according to the unemployment figures not seasonally adjusted. The champagne corks were popping and the governor celebrated as the state’s unadjusted unemployment rate dropped 0.5%.

Governor Jim Doyle released the following statement:

“The tremendous drop in the May unemployment rate and the state’s addition of tens of thousands of jobs reflects our hard work to help communities across the state recover from the national economic crisis. I will continue to do everything possible to make sure that as this national economy turns around, Wisconsin is in a position to come roaring back.”

Unfortunately, every silver lining has a cloud attached to it.

When we take into account the seasonal adjustment, instead of adding 32,000 private sector jobs, the Wisconsin economy lost 7,900 private sector jobs in May. The net change from a year ago is a loss of 37,400 jobs in the private sector.

Even the hospitality industry is worse off. In seasonally adjusted terms, 3,700 jobs were lost in May and 6,700 jobs were lost since last year. Using the terms the governor would prefer, in non-adjusted numbers leisure and hospitality may have added jobs in the last month, but there is still a loss of 7,500 jobs since last year.

Overall, Wisconsin’s economy in May added 1,600 jobs in seasonally adjusted terms, not the “tens of thousands” that the governor claimed. 

According to the seasonally adjusted unemployment numbers, the number of government jobs in Wisconsin grew by 7,900. The net change in seasonally adjusted government jobs is plus 9,500. The other economic sectors that have seen any job growth in the last year are waste management and administrative services (5,500), educational services (3,100) and health care and social assistance (2,900).

State government alone added 3,100 jobs in the last month, although Department of Administration Deputy Secretary Dan Schooff says the numbers used by the federal Department of Labor “can be easily misconstrued.” Schooff says the actual number of state jobs increased only by 222 positions from April to May. 

The federal government added 3,800 jobs using seasonally adjusted figures, while the local governments added 1,000 jobs using seasonally adjusted figures.

Using figures not seasonally adjusted, government jobs went up 8,200. Of them, 4,100 were federal jobs, 2,900 jobs were at the state level, and 1,200 jobs were at the local level.

It is not known how many government jobs are the result of stimulus spending, nor was it clear how many of the jobs were census-related. However, the state’s relied upon over $3.4 billion in federal stimulus money to attempt to bring the state budget into balance last year (see the MacIver Institute’s $13 Billion of Bad). When that federal money goes away so will many of these government jobs. The alternative is higher state and local taxes, further hurting the private sector and reducing the number of private sector jobs.

Far from celebrating, Wisconsinites should be concerned about the continued wrong direction for the state’s employment figures. When we continue to have a net loss of private sector employment, and we add in a shaky funding foundation for future government expenditures, the result is likely to be more economic trouble and continued high unemployment.

That will continue regardless of how many funny hats I buy.

By James Wigderson
Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute

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Posted in mi perspectives | June 21, 2010 | | 1 Comment

Nass Says UW Hire Was Political Favor

MacIver News Service [Madison, Wisc...] The ranking Republican member of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee is calling the recent hiring of a top Doyle aide by the University of Wisconsin System ‘innappropriate,’ ‘unethical,’ and ‘immoral.’

State Representative Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) today blasted the selection of Department of Administration Secretary Michael Morgan as the new Senior Vice President for Administration and Fiscal Affairs for the System. 

“It’s immoral and unethical to give somebody a job that cost taxpayers and students about $345,000 annually in salary and benefits without having them compete against other qualified candidates,” said Nass. “Frankly, giving away a public sector job in this manner with compensation amounting to 1/3 of a million dollars annually ought to be illegal.”

Nass is particularly disturbed that the University System president hired Morgan to be a senior administrator over the UW System’s fiscal affairs.

“President Reilly’s decision to hire Morgan, without a formal selection process, is about throwing a life-preserver to a Democrat using taxpayer and student funds,” Nass said. “Mr. Morgan is the second most responsible person behind Doyle for the disastrous management of state finances. He has red ink all over his hands for leaving the state with a $4 billion deficit and financial decisions that will devastate our state’s economy for many years to come.”

Tom Anderes resigned the position to accept an offer from the University of Arizona on April 30th.

A representative for the UW System said when the job became vacant the System wanted to move quickly to fill this critical position and that his hiring was not a political favor.

“It created a vacancy that we weren’t expecting that needed to be filled quickly by someone who could hit the ground running,” said David F. , Executive Director of Communications and External Relations for the UW System. “Michael Morgan did not come looking for a job from the university nor did anyone come to the university looking for a job on his behalf.”

Giroux said Morgan was recruited because of his experience and knowledge of both the UW System and state government.

“President Riley reached out to Michael Morgan personally to see if he’d be interested in this opportunity. He accepted,” said Giroux “We didn’t post the job and appoint a search committee. We didn’t spend tens of thousands of dollars for a national search. We didn’t revisit the salary. We kept the salary frozen at its current level.”

Nass says despite the fact the position officially became open in April, Reilly has known about this possible vacancy since late last year. The Republican lawmaker believes a formal search should have been conducted and that the decision to hire Morgan should be reversed.

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Posted in News | June 17, 2010 | | 2 Comments
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