MadisonMan

How Wisconsin Can Save Money

2011-05-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

Why does the State of Wisconsin have a full-time Legislature?

I hear talk around town that the Collective Bargaining Restrictions that were passed, and are now holed up in Court, are going to be re-passed again as part of the biennial budget. I'm curious why the bill can't be passed as a separate entity. It seems like all these different laws get folded into budget bills, and it got me thinking: Why not have two month-long Legislative Sessions per year, when everything is passed, and then people can go home and stop drawing paychecks. Legislators can be paid for two months of work per year instead of 12. If you just load of Budget Bills with non-budget items, aren't you really arguing that you don't have to be in Madison at all, except to pass the budget?

A bonus to getting Legislators out of Madison: They are less likely to think up wacky ideas to put into law because they won't be lunching with Lobbyists all the time. A part-time Legislature would depress the local economy however.

I've also been thinking: Why aren't Counties in Wisconsin consolidated? My understanding is that Counties originally were sized the way they are so that a horse-ride of a couple hours would get you to the county seat if you had to take care of any business. Well, it takes less than an hour to get to Madison, Dane County's Seat from just about anyplace in the county. Why aren't counties merged together? Think of all the duplication in services and jobs that could be eliminated if, say, Sauk, Iowa, Rock and Dane County merged into SIRD county, or if Milwaukee/Racine/Kenosha Counties all merged. Seriously: Why the status quo with county size?

Taxes (2011 version)

2011-03-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

Property Taxes: $9041 (9% increase)
State Taxes: $3769 (8% decrease)
Federal Taxes: $5366 (29% increase)

Income dropped about $6K last year, too.

Taxes

2010-02-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

Property: $8300
State: $4100
Fed: $4160

The property tax is the one that's jumped the most. Next year the Fed Tax will jump, as we'll be losing a tax credit. On the other hand, I won't be earning as much either, so maybe it'll stay the same!

Diet ... 198.5 pounds

2010-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

The New Year means a diet. Today I weighed myself: 198.5 pounds. I'm down 5 from where I was just before Christmas. We'll see how I do over the course of the year.

Words I don't like to see being used, Part II

2009-07-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

locavore, as in one who eats only locally-produced foods.

Everytime I see some fool use this word, I am reminded of Ricky Martin's Livin' the Vida Loca -- loca = crazy. Very appropriate for someone who uses this neologism that I hope dies a quick death.

Words I don't like to see being used

2009-03-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

elucidate

Here's a bad example of usage, from Express Science: Here, we elucidatethis question by using 26 years of satellite data to drive asimple physical model for estimating the temperature responseof the ocean mixed layer to changes in aerosol loadings.

Now, why don't the authors just answer the question!? No, they elucidate it. But to explain a question is not the same thing as to answer it.

What I've thrown away on powerball this year

2008-01-14T14:21:00.001-08:00

I will update this periodically, when bad judgement gets the better of me and I buy a powerball ticket. So here are the days I bought lottery ticket(s), and how much I spent. I should note that the last time I played, in November, I actually matched the powerball, for the first time in several years.

I'm curious to see what I spend each year, and this seems as good a place as any to keep track.

12 January: $2 at Hilldale Sentry
Update: Well, that was $2 wasted!

4 February: $2 at the Open Pantry on Regent Street
Update: another $2 thrown away!

13 March: Another $2 at the Open Pantry on Regent Street (I pass there on the walk to work sometimes)
Update: Another $2 ripped up and cast to the four winds.

2 May: Sometime yesterday I noticed that the jackpot was up over $170M -- if the odds are 170M to 1 then I've won when I bought a ticket. (Can you tell I didn't do well in statistics?) So I bought 5 at once and -- ugh! -- two of my picks have the same powerball. I hate that.
Update: Well, at least when you throw away $5 like I did on Saturday, you can spend $.41 and mail the ticket to the Super 2nd Chance drawing. Hope Springs eternal.

Sometime later in May: I threw away another $2. I have to say, though, that I think I'm wasting less money this year than last

25 June: I was buying gas on Speedway -- cheapest I've seen in days!! -- and I bought two tickets.
Update: Didn't match a single number!

23 July: Yesterday, at Sentry Hilldale, I was shopping for food and they charged me $6.80 for a pound of shredded cheese that was advertised at $4.67! I didn't realize this 'til I got home, and I had to go back, but they refunded the $6.80 and I got to keep the cheese. And I used $5 of the refund to buy 5 tickets at the Open Pantry on Regent on the way in to work this morning.
Update: Well, it should suprise no one that I won nothing. On the plus side, I didn't use that money to buy fattening snacks -- I've lost 5 pounds this summer!

I've bought 2 $5 powerball tickets since that last update. One just before going up north camping, and one on Saturday. In both cases, I won nothing. The jackpot now is close to $150M, so I might try my bad luck again.

20 September: I filled the tank with gas on Speedway and bought $5 worth. Here's one thing I'd love to do: Go to a restaurant and pay everyone's bill for an hour (anonymously) and have a leisurely meal, observing the reactions. I guess I'd have to arrange that beforehand, so I'd do it at my favorite place off the Square, since I know the owner. But not this time, I won nothing!

Earlier this month (October), I bought a single ticket, and won nothing. Another dollar ripped up and thrown to the four winds.

Add six more dollars to the total, from two weeks ago. Bummer.