Last year Racine passed an ordinance that limits the size of signage in commercial buildings to 15% of window space. The issue is being revisited and it looks like their is momentum to increase the amount to 50% of window space.
Mayor Dickert, who supports the 50% signage allowance, said "The reason for the ordinance is to have the authority to enforce the rules on those who are breaking them and protect those who do not. We have to remember this situation came about because some companies were following the rules while numerous others were not."
This does not explain the need for the ordinance. It explains the desire for authority. And I can't help but wondering just who needs protection from a storefront sign.
Suppose the city passed an ordinance preventing people from wearing yellow shoes. Now imagine a mayor saying "The reason for the ordinance is to have the authority to enforce the yellow shoes ordinance on those folks who continue to wear yellow shoes. Meanwhile, we need to protect those who are wearing shoes of other colors. We need to remember that this situation came about because some people were wearing properly colored shoes while others were wearing yellow shoes."
The problem with the ordinance is that there is no good reason for it. So get rid of it.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Propaganda Time at RUSD
Is there anything a Racine Unified referendum can't do?
According to an Journal Times article/RUSD press release, if we pass a $127 million spending referendum, we can do so without raising our taxes.
"Rarely do you get a chance to increase funding like this without increasing taxes" said Superintendent Lolli Haws. And "School Board President Dennis Wiser compared the referendum to refinancing a home at a lower interest rate and using the savings for renovations" according to the JT article.
So just how do you manage to increase taxes by $127 million without increasing taxes? If RUSD propagandists are to be believed, the state funding formula is such that poor districts will get increased funding from the state if they manage to milk more tax revenue out of their poor constituents. I don't know this to be true, but I certainly hope the state has not incentivized local overspending as that is the reason we are a poor district to begin with.
In any case, perhaps the RUSD leadership needs to be reminded that RUSD taxpayers are also residents of the state of Wisconsin and therefore pay taxes to the state. The money that supposedly offsets local spending is being paid as well by local taxpayers.
In other news, candy company Hershey announced that their new 2000 calorie Megabar can be consumed daily without any associated weight gain.
According to an Journal Times article/RUSD press release, if we pass a $127 million spending referendum, we can do so without raising our taxes.
"Rarely do you get a chance to increase funding like this without increasing taxes" said Superintendent Lolli Haws. And "School Board President Dennis Wiser compared the referendum to refinancing a home at a lower interest rate and using the savings for renovations" according to the JT article.
So just how do you manage to increase taxes by $127 million without increasing taxes? If RUSD propagandists are to be believed, the state funding formula is such that poor districts will get increased funding from the state if they manage to milk more tax revenue out of their poor constituents. I don't know this to be true, but I certainly hope the state has not incentivized local overspending as that is the reason we are a poor district to begin with.
In any case, perhaps the RUSD leadership needs to be reminded that RUSD taxpayers are also residents of the state of Wisconsin and therefore pay taxes to the state. The money that supposedly offsets local spending is being paid as well by local taxpayers.
In other news, candy company Hershey announced that their new 2000 calorie Megabar can be consumed daily without any associated weight gain.
Saturday, August 09, 2014
On Proportionality
So we dropped some bombs on ISIS in Iraq yesterday. I am ok with that. However, at present the world elites, including many in the US, are decrying the Israeli aggression against Hamas in the Gaza strip. The problem there is not so much the Israeli bombing/aggression per se but rather the proportionality problem. The Israelis are killing way more Palestinians than the Palestinians are killing Israeli's. And that just isn't fair say the elites.
So back to the US bombing campaign, led by a Democratic Nobel Peace Prize winner. Where is the proportionality? Has ISIS fired a single bullet at a US soldier? In the interest of proportionality, mustn't we allow ISIS the opportunity to lob some missiles into the US? Perhaps the advocates of proportionality could line up to take a bullet or have their throats slashed to demonstrate their commitment to proportionality and just to even things up a bit. Its only fair!
So back to the US bombing campaign, led by a Democratic Nobel Peace Prize winner. Where is the proportionality? Has ISIS fired a single bullet at a US soldier? In the interest of proportionality, mustn't we allow ISIS the opportunity to lob some missiles into the US? Perhaps the advocates of proportionality could line up to take a bullet or have their throats slashed to demonstrate their commitment to proportionality and just to even things up a bit. Its only fair!
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