If Trumpcare passes then these kind of counties and the people calling them home will become even more hapless and hopeless... 6/23/17
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Conveying what you mean, so that you tilt a few people to vote for you rather than your opponent is a subtle and tricky business. Some do it by championing lower taxes and less regulation. Deeper reflection will lead you to conclude this is exactly the wrong thing to believe.
The following story appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal about Florence County rebounding. It is a small population county, with a small economic base and few business players. From the story I conclude ... that a few local folks made some strategic investments coupled with some economic recovery in the hardwood business has led to the success.
On Wisconsin: Florence rebounds; votes for Donald Trump and improved schools - Barry Adams
It seems to me that their continued success is still tenuous. The title of the article illustrates one important choice they made - support education. Other choices to renovate and rebuild real estate derive from a combination of local folks and development decisions.
As I read the story I kept thinking about what I would want to find in a rural community to get me to move there and stay year round:
- If I were a young family would I want to move to a place with few or no schools ... this almost happened in Florence.
- At any age, would I want to live a long way from "healthcare facilities" in the many ways that might be defined ... depending on my age and family status.
- What about public libraries, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, technology (internet, etc.). Do I want to live where there are few to none?
- If I was a young person, who spent 3 hours a day being bused to school most of their life, would I want to stay there if I could not get a job or go to college or technical school. I think I would prefer a larger city where I can meet and do things my peers are doing.
- If I went away to school would I come back to a place with few job prospects and perhaps none given my education?
- If I were a "business" would I expand or locate in an area, with an aging labor supply or none at all. I think I would locate there only if the business were intrinsic to the local resources (e.g., hardwoods).
The next recession may knock them back to where they were before!
What is "Social Infrastructure"? All of the things mentioned above are examples of it. The article detailed how they had used Federal Grants of $2.75 million to replace water and sewer lines. Broadband internet access prioritized for small community access although physical is also social infrastructure.
Once upon a time "Universal Telephone Suffrage" was public policy -- why not the "Internet?"
That kind of investment is both social infrastructure and physical infrastructure. I wonder, did they have "lead" pipes?
Once upon a time "Universal Telephone Suffrage" was public policy -- why not the "Internet?"
That kind of investment is both social infrastructure and physical infrastructure. I wonder, did they have "lead" pipes?
The key message is what should they be expecting and asking from their elected state representatives. Should every community and county be on their own or should there be a concerted political effort to address this kind of inequality?
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11/11/2016
I don't doubt plenty of people have trouble, especially in rural areas, paying their property tax bill. That is a problem the "Homestead Credit" was designed to alleviate in Wisconsin - does it need expansion? Many rural areas also lack social infrastructure as well as physical infrastructure.
Why would a family with children want to move to or live in a place with no schools and little immediate access to health care. Why would a retired person want to live there either - they may be stuck and getting to a doctor is really a major problem? Why would someone growing up there, spending most of their time being bused to school, want to stay there when they can't get a job later; when they can go to a larger community get a job, meet other people their age, and have more of a social life?
Wisconsin Self-Insurance is likely to decimate healthcare alternatives for all citizens in rural areas. Decimating Medicaid and Medicare will hurt these places even more.
~Why?__________________________________
Local Schools are so very important ...
Net Migration Patterns for US Counties ... WI POP Lab
Net out migration, in most counties, has been the pattern for decades. It is simple to explain ... the labor force requirements have fallen dramatically (think of the first tractor, then think of the first tractor with headlights). Some small towns and counties have thrived by attracting "new sustainable businesses" and investing in social infrastructure to attract ancillary services: healthcare, libraries, retail stores, etc.
So you may be in one of those communities not doing so well. What can you do to spice it up? Get involved in politics and insist on real programs that will make a difference: universal internet service everywhere ... skip it and the out migration will accelerate and your community collapse even faster.
On February 4th, 2017 ... Is Walker starting to wakeup? Homestead Tax Credit still maybe a better idea then EIC ! HTC would do more to help "rural and elderly Wisconsinites".
Explained: Scott Walker's proposal to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit
#SocialInfrastructure Not Just Physical Projects should be #Democratic Party Strategy> #Florence WI #Rural Reality - WI 1848 Forward
#Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure: Increase #HomesteadTaxCredit was #Dems Policy not #GOP
#Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure as #Dems Policy NOT #GOP. Why do the kids leave?
#Foxconn :) for #Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure #HomesteadTaxCredit Policy Keep the kids home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11/11/2016
I don't doubt plenty of people have trouble, especially in rural areas, paying their property tax bill. That is a problem the "Homestead Credit" was designed to alleviate in Wisconsin - does it need expansion? Many rural areas also lack social infrastructure as well as physical infrastructure.
Why would a family with children want to move to or live in a place with no schools and little immediate access to health care. Why would a retired person want to live there either - they may be stuck and getting to a doctor is really a major problem? Why would someone growing up there, spending most of their time being bused to school, want to stay there when they can't get a job later; when they can go to a larger community get a job, meet other people their age, and have more of a social life?
Wisconsin Self-Insurance is likely to decimate healthcare alternatives for all citizens in rural areas. Decimating Medicaid and Medicare will hurt these places even more.
~Why?__________________________________
Homestead Credit – Tax Credits for Low and Moderate Income Families
https://fyi.uwex.edu/eitc/8-2/
*Homestead Tax Credit: In 2009, Democrats tied the Homestead
tax break to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Republicans repealed that annual “indexing,” beginning with the
2011 tax year.
Another way of saying Republicans and Walker repealed
#SocialInfrastructure.
Florence County Net Migration since 1970s ... see the tool below!
*Homestead Tax Credit: In 2009, Democrats tied the Homestead
tax break to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Republicans repealed that annual “indexing,” beginning with the
2011 tax year.
Another way of saying Republicans and Walker repealed
#SocialInfrastructure.
Florence County Net Migration since 1970s ... see the tool below!
Local Schools are so very important ...
Net out migration, in most counties, has been the pattern for decades. It is simple to explain ... the labor force requirements have fallen dramatically (think of the first tractor, then think of the first tractor with headlights). Some small towns and counties have thrived by attracting "new sustainable businesses" and investing in social infrastructure to attract ancillary services: healthcare, libraries, retail stores, etc.
So you may be in one of those communities not doing so well. What can you do to spice it up? Get involved in politics and insist on real programs that will make a difference: universal internet service everywhere ... skip it and the out migration will accelerate and your community collapse even faster.
It's nice to think things are rosy but the fundamentals have not changed except for a greater than normal political disconnect.
Consider ... 12/9/16 ... a little in the weeds but worth understanding !
Even with "help", manufacturing jobs sliding in WIsconsin
...But let’s also remember that right-to-work (for-less) was signed into law in Wisconsin in March 2015, with Governor Walker and his fellow Koch/ALEC hacks promising that it would “free up” manufacturing jobs, and “worker freedom” would allow for a better quality of life for workers. So given that right-to-work (for less) was in place for this time period, let’s take a look and see how that theory worked out, shall we? ...Problems with Property Taxes
On February 4th, 2017 ... Is Walker starting to wakeup? Homestead Tax Credit still maybe a better idea then EIC ! HTC would do more to help "rural and elderly Wisconsinites".
Explained: Scott Walker's proposal to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced this week he plans to increase a tax credit for the working poor he cut early in his first term. What is the Earned Income Tax Credit, and what would the governor's proposal accomplish?Let's start with the tax credit. The Wisconsin Earned Income Credit is a state extension of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which is essentially a tax cut benefiting low- to moderate-income working people. The federal credit is based on earnings, marital status and the number of qualifying children a filer has.In the 2015 tax year, 391,000 Wisconsinites received the federal credit, which amounted to an average credit of $2,167 per person.
... This must be something Democrats support, right? Not so fast.
In theory, yes. But it's more complicated than that. That's because Walker cut the EITC in his 2011-13 budget by about $24 million per year, a move critics said resulted in an effective tax increase on the working poor.
"Maybe if Republicans hadn’t cut the Earned Income Tax Credit in their 2011-13 budget, we wouldn’t need to have this 'plan,'" said Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison. "This is classic GOP politics: they start fires, watch them burn, then put the fires out, and take credit for being the heroes who save the day. All the while, Wisconsin’s working families get burned in the process."
#SocialInfrastructure Not Just Physical Projects should be #Democratic Party Strategy> #Florence WI #Rural Reality - WI 1848 Forward
#Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure: Increase #HomesteadTaxCredit was #Dems Policy not #GOP
#Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure as #Dems Policy NOT #GOP. Why do the kids leave?
#Foxconn :) for #Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure #HomesteadTaxCredit Policy Keep the kids home
#Florence Cnty #WI 1848 Forward: #SocialInfrastructure: Increase #HomesteadTaxCredit was #Dems Policy not #GOP -support #RichlandCenter #UWPlatteville
1 comment:
An instructive post. People to really know who they want to reach and why or else, they'll have no way to know what they're trying to achieve. People need to hear this and have it drilled in their brains..
Thanks for sharing this great article.
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