Lack of Leadership Continues in Underheim’s Support of TABOR
Contributed by: Gohintz
OSHKOSH – In a disappointing, but not surprising move, Representative Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh) joined Assembly Leader John Gard in signing a letter of support to the Senate in an effort to hastily pass the proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). This comes just days after he stated, “It’s not the right time to take this up. Not only would this look extremely political, it would be extremely political.” It has become increasing difficult to understand where Representative Underheim stands, how he makes his decisions, and whether he considers his constituents’ interests.
The proposed TABOR is a state effort to control the revenues and expenditures in a one-size fits all formula for over 2,000 units of government in Wisconsin. It runs roughshod over the constitutional principle and long-standing practice of local control. When challenged this spring by the Governor to keep property taxes flat, the City of Oshkosh responded by not increasing the tax rate while still maintaining core services, despite a $1.4 million (10 percent) state shared revenue cut. The real spending problem appears to be at the State level, where they are working to eliminate a $3.2 billion deficit. Underheim, in signing on to TABOR is basically saying “Save me from myself because I can’t make tough decisions.”
A key component of Wisconsin’s ability to compete in the future economy will be based on its’ quality of life. It is unclear how a measure that would decimate primary education, higher education, and significantly hinder the state’s ability to assist its most vulnerable citizens would add to that quality of life.
“I think amending the constitution on this issue is a terrible idea, and reeks of election year tactics and removes the decision making that legislators were elected to do. As the Appleton Post Crescent said in a recent editorial TABOR is “an admission of legislative incompetence. By asking the voters to trivialize the state constitution with a cap on government spending, lawmaking proponents are telling Wisconsinites, “We’re not responsible enough to control our spending. You’ll have to do it for us.” If Gregg Underheim really wanted to address government spending and the increasing individual tax burden, he would use his position as chair of the Assembly Health Committee to propose measures to lower the cost of health care. Recent state and local government spending increases are driven primarily by the increased cost of benefits for their employees. Another consideration would be to look at tax fairness and review why the corporate tax burden has dropped while the individual tax burden has gone up in recent years.”
“TABOR is a gimmick pure and simple. The state has tough spending decisions to make and we need someone with guts not gimmicks in the legislature. We need some leadership for a change in the 54th Assembly District.
Lack of Leadership Continues in Underheim’s Support of TABOR
Authored by: blbain on Wednesday, July 28 2004 @ 08:36 PM MDT
Well put Gordon! I can't wait for November when the people of the 54th Assembly District elect you our new representative!
Unfortunately, Representative Underheim has once again proven his disconnect with the citizens of Oshkosh. I'm beginning to think there are two sides of Representative Underheim...an Oshkosh side and a Madison side.
The Oshkosh side speaks out against what happened in Madison this week. The Oshkosh side goes door to door and comfortably sits with the editoral board of the Oshkosh Northwestern touting how he's working for us. Unfortunately, that side rarely ends up representing us in Madison.
Clearly Representative Underheim cannot stand up to Speaker Gard and the conservative GOP. Clearly Representative Underheim doesn't trust the elected officials in Oshkosh and Winnebago County to do their jobs. Why else would he have signed his name in support of the so-called TABOR?
It's clear to me that we need leadership for a change! And, our choices are also very clear. We can either re-elect someone more concerned with representing Speaker Gard, or we can elect someone who says he's going to Madison to “offend” everyone, or we can elect a candidate who understands and is committed to representing the true needs of our city. That's why I'm supporting Gordon Hintz for the 54th Assembly seat!
---
Bryan L. Bain
Lack of Leadership Continues in Underheim's Support of TABOR
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28 2004 @ 10:37 PM MDT
I'm not going to Madison to offend _everyone_, just to offend Jim Doyle, John Gard, and Mary Panzer. Each one represents policies that are very bad for this community. I like Gordon and think he's a very nice guy. But to go to Madison already believing that Doyle must not be offended is to simply replace the Underheim/Gard relationship with a Democrat/Doyle pair. Oshkosh gains nothing from that, as Doyle's policies are anti-university, anti-environment, pro-corporate tax break and loopholes, and pro-status quo as regards out corrupt Madison political system.
I encourage you and all other readers of this site to take a closer look at my campaign.
Best,
-Tony Palmeri
www.tonypalmeri.com
OSHKOSH – In a disappointing, but not surprising move, Representative Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh) joined Assembly Leader John Gard in signing a letter of support to the Senate in an effort to hastily pass the proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). This comes just days after he stated, “It’s not the right time to take this up. Not only would this look extremely political, it would be extremely political.” It has become increasing difficult to understand where Representative Underheim stands, how he makes his decisions, and whether he considers his constituents’ interests.
The proposed TABOR is a state effort to control the revenues and expenditures in a one-size fits all formula for over 2,000 units of government in Wisconsin. It runs roughshod over the constitutional principle and long-standing practice of local control. When challenged this spring by the Governor to keep property taxes flat, the City of Oshkosh responded by not increasing the tax rate while still maintaining core services, despite a $1.4 million (10 percent) state shared revenue cut. The real spending problem appears to be at the State level, where they are working to eliminate a $3.2 billion deficit. Underheim, in signing on to TABOR is basically saying “Save me from myself because I can’t make tough decisions.”
A key component of Wisconsin’s ability to compete in the future economy will be based on its’ quality of life. It is unclear how a measure that would decimate primary education, higher education, and significantly hinder the state’s ability to assist its most vulnerable citizens would add to that quality of life.
“I think amending the constitution on this issue is a terrible idea, and reeks of election year tactics and removes the decision making that legislators were elected to do. As the Appleton Post Crescent said in a recent editorial TABOR is “an admission of legislative incompetence. By asking the voters to trivialize the state constitution with a cap on government spending, lawmaking proponents are telling Wisconsinites, “We’re not responsible enough to control our spending. You’ll have to do it for us.” If Gregg Underheim really wanted to address government spending and the increasing individual tax burden, he would use his position as chair of the Assembly Health Committee to propose measures to lower the cost of health care. Recent state and local government spending increases are driven primarily by the increased cost of benefits for their employees. Another consideration would be to look at tax fairness and review why the corporate tax burden has dropped while the individual tax burden has gone up in recent years.”
“TABOR is a gimmick pure and simple. The state has tough spending decisions to make and we need someone with guts not gimmicks in the legislature. We need some leadership for a change in the 54th Assembly District.
Lack of Leadership Continues in Underheim’s Support of TABOR
Authored by: blbain on Wednesday, July 28 2004 @ 08:36 PM MDT
Well put Gordon! I can't wait for November when the people of the 54th Assembly District elect you our new representative!
Unfortunately, Representative Underheim has once again proven his disconnect with the citizens of Oshkosh. I'm beginning to think there are two sides of Representative Underheim...an Oshkosh side and a Madison side.
The Oshkosh side speaks out against what happened in Madison this week. The Oshkosh side goes door to door and comfortably sits with the editoral board of the Oshkosh Northwestern touting how he's working for us. Unfortunately, that side rarely ends up representing us in Madison.
Clearly Representative Underheim cannot stand up to Speaker Gard and the conservative GOP. Clearly Representative Underheim doesn't trust the elected officials in Oshkosh and Winnebago County to do their jobs. Why else would he have signed his name in support of the so-called TABOR?
It's clear to me that we need leadership for a change! And, our choices are also very clear. We can either re-elect someone more concerned with representing Speaker Gard, or we can elect someone who says he's going to Madison to “offend” everyone, or we can elect a candidate who understands and is committed to representing the true needs of our city. That's why I'm supporting Gordon Hintz for the 54th Assembly seat!
---
Bryan L. Bain
Lack of Leadership Continues in Underheim's Support of TABOR
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28 2004 @ 10:37 PM MDT
I'm not going to Madison to offend _everyone_, just to offend Jim Doyle, John Gard, and Mary Panzer. Each one represents policies that are very bad for this community. I like Gordon and think he's a very nice guy. But to go to Madison already believing that Doyle must not be offended is to simply replace the Underheim/Gard relationship with a Democrat/Doyle pair. Oshkosh gains nothing from that, as Doyle's policies are anti-university, anti-environment, pro-corporate tax break and loopholes, and pro-status quo as regards out corrupt Madison political system.
I encourage you and all other readers of this site to take a closer look at my campaign.
Best,
-Tony Palmeri
www.tonypalmeri.com
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 12:38 PM
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