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The first heat map shows the states with a budget deficit (the bigger the dot, the bigger the shortfall). The second is the 2008 November election map.  With a few exceptions, there is quite the correlation between blue states and budget deficits. The biggest deficits are also in the bluest states (with the most Democrats).

State Budget Shortfalls

2008 Election Results

A great letter from the Chairman and CEO of UMB on the bailouts, I made the best parts bold. HT: Michelle Malkin

November 3, 2008

Mr. Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

Secretary of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Paulson:

As I reflect on the financial crisis that has gripped our nation, I feel compelled to write to you.

Government action was clearly needed to help shore up the nation’s financial institutions. I applaud you for taking quick action. However, I am gravely concerned with the actions that have been taken and their long-term implications for both our industry and the impact these measures will have on the moral fiber of our future leaders.

First, the rescue was more of a bailout. Its results will have made the large institutions larger and harder to manage and regulate. Secondly, as the system is repaired, these institutions which took such actions to bring the system down will be rewarded with new capital and clean balance sheets at the taxpayers’ expense. Meanwhile, financial institutions such as UMB will be penalized for operating with sound principles. Our first order of business is to protect our depositors’ liquidity. As a result of your actions, those who abused the system get stronger and those who protected their shareholders’ interest and those of the Deposit Insurance Fund will pay the price.

Lastly, I think it is inappropriate to use taxpayers’ funds to inject into healthy private enterprises. What message are we sending our future leaders? Is there no reward for doing the right thing? It seems there is only penalty. The reward seems to be for the reckless.

I believe that under a new administration, the CPP will become a political issue. I am afraid the new capital being used to shore up balance sheets and make acquisitions will not be looked upon favorably, as its original intent was to free up liquidity for extending credit.

Please while you go about the hard work of repairing our nation’s financial system, do not overlook the opportunity to restore dignity and respect for sound and responsible business principles.

If you don’t stand up for the good guys, who will?

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours very sincerely,

Mariner Kemper

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
UMB Financial

The November 2008 edition of WISCONSIN LAWYER, official magazine of the State Bar of Wisconsin, carries an article I co-authored with former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow, who has been a wonderful friend and mentor to me over the years.

The two-page “Tips for Practice” essay discusses the ways that WisconsinEye can help Wisconsin attorneys. As you may know, WisconsinEye is basically the Wisconsin version of C-Span. Mrs. Farrow is chairman of the Board of WisconsinEye’s non-profit corporate parent.

The article discusses ways that Wisconsin attorneys can use WisconsinEye’s online video archives to research legislative history. Now, I am generally in the Scalia-Sykes camp (see A Matter of Interpretation and Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County) when it comes to statutory and constitutional interpretation. As an original public meaning textualist, I don’t place much stock in legislative history, for a lot of very good reasons.

However, as former Solicitor General Paul Clement pointed out at the Conference on the Courts & the Presidency, sometimes an advocate needs to use those resources necessary to best serve his client. So even though I don’t like the use of legislative history as a jurisprudential matter, I understand that many judges use it in their decisions, and therefore attorneys need to use it to win over those judges. When those occasions arise that legislative history is crucial to winning a case, Mrs. Farrow and I suggest that an attorney use the video archives on WisEye as another source of such history. In fact, all citizens of Wisconsin ought to use WisconsinEye to learn more about our legislature and our laws.

As a young person making the big leap from renting to owning a condo in downtown Milwaukee, I have a totally new perspective on things as a result of my experiences and newfound tax responsibilities.  The heavy burden of Milwaukee’s property taxes, some of the highest in the nation, have made me realize just how big a portion of my rent was eaten up by county spending.

It got me thinking, why shouldn’t renters understand why their payments go up with each renewal of the lease and exactly how much of a building’s property tax bill is their share?  According to the latest HUD statistics, almost 40% of the population of Milwaukee rents, that’s a huge number of people who never see a tax bill, despite being impacted by it through their rent checks. Why do you think property taxes downtown get so high?  I think it’s largely due to the insulated renters who blame their landlords every time rent goes up rather than understanding the true source of their pain, property taxes.

So here is my proposal:

Just like a new home buyer sees the actual cost of their mortgage if they pay every payment(through the fair lending practices), a renter should see exactly what portion of the property taxes for their building they are paying for and how much of each rent increase is due to property taxes. Let them see and feel the pain of their voting choices.

Now, we can go back and forth all day about the equation to calculate a renter’s share of property taxes but, I would say keep it simple.  Total property taxes due for the building/# of units but, I am open to suggestions.

I will be reaching out to my alderperson on the topic and I will share any responses I get here. In the mean time, what do you think?

The Hon. Steve Austria is currently a state senator in Ohio, and serves as majority whip for the Republican caucus. On Tuesday, he was elected with 59% of the vote to represent the Seventh District of Ohio in the United States House of Representatives, which covers suburbs south of Columbus. He takes over for retiring Republican David Hobson.

Congressman-elect Austria is a 1982 graduate of Marquette University, with a B.A. in political science. He joins Republican Don Manzullo (R-IL) and Democrat Gwen Moore (D-WI) as Marquette alumni currently serving in Congress. Congratulations, Congressman!

This is just unreal:

Obama says in his first post-election press conference that he’s spoken to all the former presidents — Carter, Bush, Clinton, as well as the current Bush — and, looser than he’s been in months, dares a joke at the expense of the widow of the most recently deceased.

“I have spoken to all of them who are living,” he says. “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any séances,” he says.

He was responding to a question, from the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet, about whether he’d spoken to all of the “living” former presidents.

He was apparently referring to the reports in the 1980s that Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer while in the White House. Mary Todd Lincoln, however, reportedly held actual séances.

This must be King Barack’s idea of bringing everybody together. You liberals really got a great leader for the rest of us.