Maybe we should have an increase in sales tax. I do not pay property tax, however I think it is only fair that we take the burden off the property tax payer.

MooShoo's comment shouldn't be the last! I have been checking back to this story for more comments, found none lately so here's mine! We need to keep a running dialogue on this topic. Here's an excellent site to inform you, well worth your time!
http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcours...

Last comment on this "news" story. Angus writes an editorial on Sunday that professes the objective and neutral political stance of the reporting. On the same day this so called news story, which is a tea party manifesto appears on the front page. What you do is more telling than what you say Gazette.

Bigdaddy, like most self-righteous reactionaries, is proud to be a felon and undermines our democracy. What school are you even talking about? One school that you can't even name is your proof? Clearly you don't know what school is.

This video sums it all people.

Farewell to Good Days indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8oNqIoJO...

@nomorse what do you need spelled out at you. If I write the way I want to or the way it should be the Gazett will just delete it.
1) why are schools putting new gym floors in when they still look new and are in great shape.
2) Why do schools need tvs in lunch room's and in the hallways.
3) To the lady's comment she said something about kids going to schools that were built in 1931, and I said some of your private schools are that old and they turn out some great kids.
4) Also one party will find something wrong with everything. But this how a country should be ran just how they run their family. Don't have, don't buy it.

trublubrewcrew
I just copiedd and pasted the comment you left. It copies all of it including suggest removal. I wasn't suggesting removal.
I disagree to some extent. I have been saving in 401k for 10 years now and like I said I have a hard time believing this will cover me for very long so I will have to keep working.
As others mentioned a medical bill can whip you out very fast even though you have insurance 80/20.

@greatplain: Not what I said. Re-read my comment please.

@bigdaddy2, I hope you're not driving. Can even you understand what you just wrote? If I understand your last comment correctly it certainly says a great deal about you.

@tthompson 1 in 100 that's good you also have to count the ones that have been taken off totally from the page, the counts don't add up.
Also like I said a private school can make it in a 1921 building over riding that lady comment.
One school Dis. put all new gym floors in when 2 of them were less then 11 years old. Did we do this 20 years ago hell no that's what this story is trying to tell you. But for a party out there they have to find something wrong with it. Also why do you need tv's in lunch rooms or in the hall ways? I could go on for T but you will still find something wrong. But I need to get out sing another form today on Walker to make it number 11 this is a blast.

Its a good thing that this couple can depend on an entitlement (Social Security), a program that the Democrats support and introduced and what the Republicans want to gut. Wondering about that road that Mr Powers takes to his part time job with all the improvements, ( lighting, pavement, bridges, safety standards, etc!!). All these regulations that are about to disappear because the Republicans want to save the Wealthy from having to pay taxes. Why doesn't the GAGZETTE report these facts in their Editorials, (I think they support the 1 % Ideology). Come on Mr and Mrs Powers, wake up and vote right, vote Democratic and save yourselfs.

Will we follow the course of societies past that have lost their way and crumbled under the devastating forces of economic upheaval, war and other crises? Or will we pull together as families and communities to create a brighter future?

antireactionary~ That's what's great about blogging... opinions welcome and you don't even have to have any truth to back 'em up!

FROGGER: Why suggest removal? Because my OPINION differs from yours?

Once again the right wing revisionists have their hate flying about. We have real working class people who are exploited by the rich 1%. Oh the exploitation they will endure from the thieving few! (thank you Richie95 for giving me the inspiration for the Richie Rich reply to your earlier post:)

It is people like this couple that are shouldering the burden of paying down the country's debt. Why is the TeaParty so against raising taxes on millionaires? Over 300 millionaires sent a letter to Congress asking that their taxes be raised! The top 15% saw an increase of net wealth of 392% in the last decade. Yet the TP seems to be fine putting the burden on the poor and middle class in thier stubborn narow minded idealogy of absolutely no more taxes on anyone. We need revenue as well as cutting spending. The revenue should not come from those who can least afford it. To a couple like this and the millions of others in the same situtation the difference to their income is a matter of survival where as to a millionaire it would have absolutely no impact. Explain to me why it was ok to borrow an additional $800 billion to continue the tax breaks for the wealthy while taking away what little safety net these people have.

I think we'ld be doing ok if not for having to help out the kids. But what do you do?? Awefully hard to sit by and watch the grandkids struggle with school supplies, clothes, meds.....their next meal....and it goes on and on. We need JOBS! Jobs that pay a halfway decent wage so families can do for themselves and not have to rely on Echo, foodstamps, housing assistance and medicare. Survive our time here on earth, one day at a time and one problem at a time.

sure bigdaddy. the gazette deletes comments laced with facts. I guess that would explain why 1 in 100 is deleted in the political discussions.

#delusional

Unnamed companies are imaginary companies made up to fit right wing cliches.

"Over the years, Jim has had decent-paying jobs, but they didn’t come with union benefits, insurance or retirement, he said." So, you made some choices in your life, obviously poor ones, and now you blame someone else for where those choices have left you. Typical tea party people -- blame, blame, blame everyone but yourself.

Is this paper or the person who is in charge of removing comments a Democrats. It always seem's that when you throw facts at this paper they don't know what to do other than remove your comment. So Gazettextra do facts bother you that much? Keep doing what you guys do best cut paste, that's all your paper is today.

Get the latest in the "For Dummies" series of self-help books. "Dummies for Republicans." It features job hunting tips for ages 80-plus.

SuperDave: Your comment that this couple is not part of the 99% shows you do not know what it is about. They are already in it based on their income. Now Fox News has a spin...

If you don't have a job, you are ON VACATION!!!

Giving to the church? You mean the biggest freeloaders of all? They use government services but pay NO taxes. In fact, some get government money.

Yeah, Oreally can't you differentiate between a government entitlement used by Kenyan born liberal commies and a government entitlement used by deluded tea party people?

I love it when communists complain about the socialists.

Both my parents are older and have jobs. Quit blaming others for being selfish. Someone paid for your public education, but now you don't want to. The first generation SS recipients paid nothing into it because it is the next generation who pays for them, your statement is just what you paid.

cottonripe, you got the first part right about Oreally's confusion over Social Security. The Powers and millions of others are receiving "government checks" in return for years of contributions into the system. Perhaps Oreally feels that money should also be handed over to the 1%.
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On the "socialists" bit in the second part of your comment -- the correct word would have been elitists. Had they been socialists, the money would have been returned to society in a much more equitable fashion and not lopsidedly handed over to the 1% -- who continue to get rich off from wars fought only for profit. I might add, fought by our young men and women in uniform who suffer traumatic physical and emotional trauma and die by the thousands -- all in the name of peace and strength, one nation under God and all the other rhetoric the elitists use to incite a temporary groundswell of patriotism.

Hey, OReally, what's amazing is your apparent inability to differentiate between a Social Security System the Powers paid in to for many years and the irresponsible spending going on by your socialist friends in Washington. Now that's amazing!

reedrick- you ask if they give to their church. They've got their priorities in the right order.

These people knock government spending while they depend on a government check for their very existence. This is amazing.

trublubrewcrew-Did you read about the medical bills? ONE medical crisis can wipe out YEARS of savings.

vato for president

We can no longer support moral obligations as well as country invasions.

trublubrewcrew
Nov 28, 2011 at 1:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
I have hada 401k for 10 years. Pretty sure the amount in there right now will only cover me for 1 year. So that is an unfair statement.
I will still need to work when I am 65 because all the soc sec I put in may not be there. How fair is that???????? So 25 years of paying in plus another 25 to that and NOTHING from soc sec- so I hear.

KUDOS to you! I couldn't agree more. I am a single 30 something and have been paying for my own health insurance outright for nearly a year. I paid off my car early, and do not plan to replace it with a shiny new model any time soon. I live in an apartment because I don't want the expense and upkeep of a house. But I live within my means. I'm not on the verge of bankruptcy and although I have a bit of credit card debt, I could pay it off and close if it I wanted in the next few months. They are saying exactly what many of us have said for months and years. *claps* People like Jim and Lita will always get respect from me.

It's just unbelievable hearing all of these comments from people mentioning how the cost of healthcare is affecting their lives and then to see they are the very same people who are always commenting against national, single payer healthcare reform. They are apparently content paying double per person what the next 19 highest cost healthcare countries pay on average per person. And apparently content with the USA having been ranked 37th by the World Health Organization for quality of healthcare and in study after study being ranked dead last in healthcare quality when it compared to the other leading economic powers in the world. Go figure.

I don't feel sorry for them one bit. This is what happens when you don't SAVE for retirement. It's why you put money into retirement accounts so you can actually do something in retirement. No sympathy here.

Once again the left wing venom and hate flying about. We have real working class people who are not on the liberal plantation. Oh the hate they will endure from the enlightened liberals!

@Stubby, Demand or negotiate? You sound like a threat wielding thug like Mike Sheridan and his threat to put the hurt on Woodmans. What happens when you demand better insurance and better 401K and you don't get it? Are you going to put the hurt on the company? As nicksmom correctly states, for many companies the kitty is running dry--there's nothing left. My employer has a workforce of about 8,500. 2/3 of that are union employees and I will tell you they have come to the realization that negotiations are very difficult in this economic time. Demands make me laugh. If push came to shove if the union "demanded", the layoffs would be like an avalanche from hell. The company can not afford to do better than where they are at right now. How would we get the work done if these layoffs were to happen? Contractors. Contractors are waiting in the wings ready to pounce in and probably work at a much reduced rate than the current employees. My point here is that union or non-union, no one is making demands. You negotiate to meet somewhere in the middle and be darn happy that you get anything.

PJGnyc, thank you for providing jcommon with the state budget report. Here's another link showing Walker increased spending within his means. It's somewhere in there. http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/1...

Attention everyone with a pulse~ BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE!!!!

par18 -- the point is the public unions and labor are raping the public via the tax code. Property values drop, yet taxes increase to pay for the same level of staffing, salaries and benefits regardless of the impact on society. There will be no need for a fire house when there are no houses left to protect. There will be no need for police as the civil unrest takes over and the military is required to police us. These unions are destroying the country and our society and they dont care. In the end -- its really about power and money. They want all of it at the expense of the taxpayer. They need to go.

= troll talk

this story hit home. At 56,my husband and I question whether we will ever be able to afford to retire. He has rheumatoid arthritis, and his doctor is surprised he is still working. But he needs the insurance from that job to pay for the monthly $2 grand in arthritis meds. I, too wonder why various taxing bodies aren't made to live within their means? No, we did NOT need a new bike path. Sure they are nice, but noone can possibly say that they are either necessary or able to pay for themselves. Why are school taxes going up? What exactly is the money going to be used for? Roundabouts were mentioned somewhere, wouldn't stopsigns be cheaper? Someone else mentioned not being willing to pay a 'fair share' of taxes. I think it is one thing to pay for adequate police, fire, and ambulance service. It is another to be consistently asked to pay for things that are NOT necessary - for example, if bike trails are wanted, how about doing a 50/50 split with local biking groups?

par18 -- the point is the public unions and labor are raping the public via the tax code. Property values drop, yet taxes increase to pay for the same level of staffing, salaries and benefits regardless of the impact on society. There will be no need for a fire house when there are no houses left to protect. There will be no need for police as the civil unrest takes over and the military is required to police us. These unions are destroying the country and our society and they dont care. In the end -- its really about power and money. They want all of it at the expense of the taxpayer. They need to go.

Demand good health insurance & a 401k? Yeah, I wish. Do any of you realize what health insurance costs? Health insurance at my company is the #2 expense behind payroll & that's probably the case for most companies. You can demand whatever you want but the reality is that your wages will go down or your job will be eliminated because something has to give.

Yes should have kept the newer one. The old one could break. Give less to the church to afford the car for YOU.
Bike trail is good.
They could use the bike trail for something to do.
Sidewalks- no
Roundabout-no
"smallBIZowner
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"Still, it's not nice to point-out little errors like these."
-
These are big errors."
They are there all of the time.
Not sure what the "editor" does.

"cfox310
Nov 27, 2011 at 5:35 p.m.
Suggest removal

Thanks to this couple for being front and center for what many of us are feeling here in the city of Janesville. At times, I regret buying a house here almost 3 years ago."

Why because you are upside down now? Markets go up and down just like home values. It is still an asset. It will come back.
If you are a "flipper" you may be in trouble.
I had some neighbors dump the house because they were upside down. You still have to pay it no matter what it is worth.
Cars are the same way. You don't stop paying becasue they depreciate.(well some do)
You still need a roof over you head.
"And "Their savings took a hit when their son was hit by a car. They paid off what was left on the $1 million medical bill after insurance covered its part.""($200,000)

Nice of them to pay but they don't have the means. The SON should have paid or did BK if he wouldn't or couldn't. He had insurance was stated. If 80/20 he would still owe a lot. give them $100 a month for life until it is paid off.

"Those costs, by larger businesses, are hampered by many things, most importantly health care costs. You know, that thing that Obama tried to tackle but was severely weakened and watered down by the health care industry?"
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LOL. Yep that's the way to save money start another entitlement program. EVERY entailment program to date has spent more, by a large margin, over what was planned. This is exactly what the story was about...

What a great testimony as to why we need jobs with good insurance and retirement plans. Thank God for the unions. Without them, everybody would be in the same place as these honorable, hard-working people. Social Security will never pay all your bills in retirement - and for those under the age of 50, will probably be bankrupt before you collect your first dime! Organize with your fellow workers - demand your employer provide you with decent insurance so if, God forbid, you experience a tragedy like these folks did, your savings aren't wiped out. Demand at least a retirement 401k plan so you can start saving for your own retirement!

---

Governor Walker's policies are simply putting tens of thousands more families into this same situation. Taking away bargaining rights and cutting benefits to the bone or all together does not create jobs - it creates poverty - directly and measurably.

---

Yes - government needs to eliminate waste and cut back, but simply creating a new class of "poor" is not the solution. Exactly why we need to recall Walker...now.

@jcommon: see this link from the WI Dept. of Administration http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2011-13%2...

Go to page 8 of the document, and you will see that the Governor signed the current budget into law and it included a $1,138,844,400 increase in spending.

@Superdave nobody in the Occupy movement wants something for nothing. In fact, many of the issues that people are upset at are the same issues brought to the forefront by the Teaparty. From the 70's through to 2005 the .1% of wealthiest Americans saw their income rise 400%. Did yours? Do you think you take any less risk on a daily basis than the wealthy? What do people think "earn" means? I was taught you get an honest days pay for an honest days work. Is that where America is at? Can you say with a straight face that the vast amounts of wealth accumulated by global multinational corporations are the result of an "honest days work?" Maybe you can, but I can't.
------
We rail against government spending but have a feeling that if the economy was cruising along and everybody (by everybody I mean upwardly mobile Americans) was getting or had the opportunity to "get" what they wanted, it would be a non issue.
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These folks seem nice and I wish them well. The currents that move around the globe are vast and way over yours, mine and their heads. We give tax breaks to business to create jobs, but nearly every business person I know would not hire someone based on a short term tax break. You hire people when you #1 have demand, and #2 can justify a yearly salary depending on your costs. Those costs, by larger businesses, are hampered by many things, most importantly health care costs. You know, that thing that Obama tried to tackle but was severely weakened and watered down by the health care industry? 'member that? It's easy to paint a target on that thing we ideologically oppose, and I'm fine with that as long as the facts support it. Most often, they don't.

jcommon-part of the problem is "buying" like bribes, but the bigger problem is that the lobbyists are the "experts" who are "educating" the politicians on the issues. Politicians are not experts in every field and they are briefed about the things that they vote on. Say a vote on financial regulation is coming up and Joe Politician has to decide how to vote. He calls up some "experts" on this issue to "fill him in" and those experts are the lobbyists for the financial sector.

It is the 1% and the government that they have purchased.
Distinguishing between the two is naive or disingenuous.

jcommon, There's no need to blame only one party in the examples you've offered. Both are to blame and corrective actions should be taken in those cases.

How many modest politicians have you seen?

"Living modestly" is their response to to being screwed by the rich? Did you hear mention of $1 trillion spent on Iraq and Afghanistan? What about another $trillion on Bush tax cuts for the rich? What about the $800 billion TARP bank bailout...did they get bailed out? Last year the 400 people on Forbes magazine's list of the richest Americans saw their combined net worth climb
8 percent. The good news for the wealthy came as the poverty rate reached a 15-year high and unemployment remains stuck near 9 percent. Wise up suckers, and get out of the John Wayne-Ronald Reagan alternate reality the propogandists have invented to make you feel good while being systematically subjugated by plutocrats. The government isn't a family at the kitchen table figuring out how to pay its bills. It's a bunch of lobbyists and politicians figuring out how to maintain power and wealth for themselves and their corporate masters.

@greatplain: You said "These people should join the Occupy movement". No, this couple is the antithesis of the occupy movement. The occupy movement seems to want something for nothing, which equates to more government, more spending. This couple is all about living within their means.

The same people who want to blame Walker and recall him, also want to blame the 1% for causing the problem with the nation. Please make up your mind, is it the 1% or the government...or maybe it is just blame whoever doesn't seem to fit your agenda.

youkillme,
Please provide the link where Walker increased the budget by 1.1 billion? All you people who want to blame the "rich", and you say that those people "buy" the politicians. PLEASE, the government is the problem if they can be bought. Where is the ethics of these "bought" politicians. Answer this, if a peace officer accepts a bribe, who is in the wrong and who should be in more trouble? The person offering the bribe or the corrupt officer accepting the bribe?

I haven't read the previous 51 comments so sorry if I repeat anything. This couple is absolutely right that government at all levels is too big, and spends too much money. We need to reduce government to about one tenth it's current size, and then keep cutting back from there. We're in a situation where some government workers retire at age 50 with a big fat pension and full medical. Where broken families are encouraged by a welfare system that rewards having more out-of-wedlock children. Where the first "lady" of the United States is allowed to spend millions on a junket to Spain, and to fly seperately from her husband when they are going to the same destination. Where the federal government effectively destroys the housing market by forcing lenders to lend to those who will not repay. Where we have troops in over 100 countries in a doomed attempt to police the entire world. Where we borrow money from China to give aid to Haiti. Where the president rewards campaign donors with a half-billion dollar gift of taxpayer money to fund a solar company that cannot possibly survive. And the list goes on and on. This couple is paying part of the bill for all of this waste.

Don't want to pay your fair share of taxes? Don't use the roads, police or fire protection, public schools, the library, trash pick-up,social security, the military to protect your precious rights, etc. Get the point. The list is really very long. The fact is that we live in a civilized community that needs to be paid for, but too many people want someone else to pay for those things that create a good quality of life and a stable community. We live in a period of self-indulgence and self-deception. Wake up America, or you are going to get what you wish for: anarchy and chaos.

Swansong -- whats missing in the picture is that these people are personally resopnsible for their own position, yet although they have taken personal responsibility, the lack of fiscal responsibility on the governments part has pushed them further out on the limb. Its not the lack of unions, health insurance, etc... its the entitlement attitude by others that has detroyed the fabric of the country and taking personal responsibility. Which most under the age of 30 just do not get. They were not raised during the depression and have few links to remember what can and will happen. They need to get an accurate history book out and read.

These people should join the Occupy movement. They're living it. I agree governments should live in their own means...so don't create a ridiculous war and destroy the progressive tax system.

Woodchuck - They paid into social security. They deserve those checks. I pay into it and won't be getting the check I deserve when I retire in 35 years.

Here's the first clue; governments are made up of "people". If people aren't capable of balancing their own budgets at home (most), why should they be up in arms over a government that surely can't?? Again, too much schooling and not enough EDUCATING happening in society!
Kudos to Jim & Lita Powers for being in the minority!

So the article seems to say, "Stop all this outrageous government spending. Oh, but keep those Social Security checks coming!"

Apparently the people currently on the city board have all the money since they dont see a problem spending and raising taxes to cover it even though the rest of us are trying to figure
out how we are going to pay our bills.

So who is winning between the corporations and the unions? That is very clear!
---
...a sociology professor at the University of Washington, looked at the period between 1973 and 2007, when inequality in hourly wages spiked by 40 percent. During that time, union membership for private-sector male workers fell from 34 percent to 8 percent...
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/07/stro...
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Corporations own the political right.
Unions own the politcal left.
Until the dollars are taken out of Govs. hands, you lose.

(where I typed deficit, I meant debt)

"Between 1993 and 2001, federal debt held by the public fell from 49.2 percent of GDP to 32.5 percent of GDP. What stopped the paydown of debt wasn’t liberal big spending; it was demands from conservatives that the surplus be used to cut taxes. George Bush said that a surplus means that the government is collecting too much money; Alan Greenspan warned that we were paying off our debt too fast."
http://economistsview.typepad.com/econom...
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The rich got the windfall from these cuts (so we wouldn't pay off the deficit too fast!)and NOW they are using this debt "crisis" to cut programs that help the middle class and the poor!

This story is mis-titled. It should be called "Why the middle class is losing the class war."

A formerly middle class couple is worried about finances; the husband "had decent-paying jobs, but they didn’t come with union benefits, insurance or retirement," so they live on their social security.

And "Their savings took a hit when their son was hit by a car. They paid off what was left on the $1 million medical bill after insurance covered its part."

What's wrong with this picture? The lack of decent health insurance and jobs that offer adequate benefits including a retirement program. And the cuts in funding to local governments by Scott Walker, forcing local governments to raise taxes and fees or be unable to provide essential services. And overly expensive health care and health insurance companies that make obscene profits at our expense.

These are the things that have them in a bind and they don't even realize it. People need to wake up to the real problem. It's called class warfare. And the bottom 99% are losing.

They should come to my kids' school that was built in 1921 before they were born and tell me about extravagance of government.

Sheesh. Is this a story?? Doesn't every person everywhere have opinions? Hasn't everyone made the decisions they have to live with in life?? The author of this non-story can get this in every bar in town.

mgcarguy-it only takes 5-8 years to get back what you put into SS for most people. So if you live as long as the average lifespan for the US, you will easily collect more than you put in. If you live to your 90's, you'll get WAY more! But it isn't a savings plan, the current workforce is paying for the retirees, just like it has always been. Problem comes when there aren't enough in the workforce to support all the retirees.

Does this couple really understand what is going on in politics today? Do these people realize they are the ones including the baby boomer generation who have put more of their earnings into building this great nation and into Social Security than anyone else, are about to have their national investments privatized and their futures looted and destroyed? They are the ones being accused of driving up the debt! We have a debt of $15 trillion and Congress's only way to pay for it is to cut taxes for the wealthy? The people here talk about living on a fixed income such as Social Security but do they know Republicans view SS as a hammock? Cain said, "If you're not rich you have no one to blame but yourself." Paul Ryan and Newt Gingrich will kick those "safety nets" out from under you and say "RISE." Scott Walker cut hundreds of millions from communities and shifted hundreds of millions more from the working poor and middle class to meet his budget. He did not cut his budget, he increased it by $1.1 billion. If you're on a low fixed income, don't worry. Walker's going after your homestead credit next. Who's going to pay? You are Lita and Jim Powers. The rich people and their tools in government love you.

Local taxes are going up because state and federal revenue is down because of the recession, which was caused by a small number of people on Wall Street, who by gambling with other people's money made enough money to lobby and change the laws that kept them from crashing the world economy and becoming too big to fail and left the tax payers on the hook to pay for their excesses and recklessness. Don't blame the local folks in government, we are all the victims.

A good front page story for the Gazette might be a story about how few people ever get back from Social Security what they have paid in. That might educate some folks who think Social Security is " government money." Our government does not give away money. If you think this statement is wrong, hold out from your taxes what you think the government should be giving you.

Nice article. I would like to hear what Yuri Rashkin or Sam Liebert our most liberal under real-world experienced counsel members would say to this couple who are living in their means. I would bet nothing. . .

If you want to blame the government, then you need to look at why the government has done what it has done. Who pulls the strings? Who has the power to pressure politicians? Who pays for the lobbyists to change laws like Glass-Steagall or to give corporations personhood or to make money equal to free speech? Who has gained the most from those changes and who has lost the most? Think about it!!!

It's ironic that he talks about government overspending when his source of income is a government check.
.
Now don't get me wrong. I am not making a comment on SS. I'm sure he paid into it his entire working life and he deserves a return on that. Just noting an observation.

gotta agree -- why is this on the front page? this is not news . . .

these people are struggling, trimming to stay on their own feet, but how is it in one of the wealthiest countries in the world people who worked hard all their lives have to struggle like this? Why didn't Jim have retirement or health insurance?

There are some more important questions raised that need to be addressed than the government going into debt to pay arms manufacturers and oil companies via war spending and bailing out banks to keep some Americans working. . . How did greed overtake our national values? What happened to ethics? Who cared when unscrupulous people and companies made money by scamming consumers?

The ultra conservative Herman Cain would tell Lita it's her fault that she doesn't have a job.He said it, not about her but about anyone who is jobless. It is very apparent from this article that the average hard working and honest person doesn't stand a chance of improving their lives. Too bad they couldn't have had union jobs with secured pensions and that they have to rely solely on Social Security- which conservatives want change.

"Over the years, Jim has had decent-paying jobs, but they didn’t come with union benefits, insurance or retirement, he said."
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The best and brightest minds in political advertising and all the money in the world could not come up with a better campaign ad AGAINST Walker than Jim just did. I hope they have a video of him saying this and Jim's permission to play it over and over and over again during the recall election. Thank you Jim and Lita for sharing your story.

These two are the nicest people you could ever meet. I was lucky enough to be their neighbors about 6 years ago. So sorry to hear of the difficult times they are facing like so many of us.

Once again, the gazette or Gazette at its finest... We ever going Scottie posting on a Sunday night....

sangus-Don't lower yourself to the level of the grammar police. You do not owe them an explanation.
Secondly, this is a problem that stems from Washington D.C. as long as the government is allowed to borrow money to make interest payments on loans from the same people who hold the loans, we as a country are (to put it mildly) screwed.

For those who believe "couple" is always singular:

Couple - AP stylebook says: When used in the sense of two people, the word takes plural verbs and pronouns: The couple were married Saturday and left Sunday on their honeymoon. They will return in two weeks. In the sense of a single unit, use a singular verb: Each couple was asked to give $10.

Scott Angus
Editor

Mr. & Mrs Powers--I feel your frustration with our economy, but your anger and resentment should be directed toward the 1% and not the government. Some interesting facts to consider from Sen. Sanders:
.
*The percentage of income going to the top 1% has nearly tripled since the 1970s.
*Between 1980 and 2005, 80% of all new income created in this country went to the top 1%.
*Today, the top one percent earns more income than the bottom 50 percent.
*The US has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country in the industrialized world.
*Right now the top 6 financial institutions have assets equaling 60% of US GDP.
*315k people are making about half of all capital gains on the sale of shares or property after 1 year.
*The wealthiest 400 people in America now own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans.
*Hedge fund managers who made a billion dollars last year now pay a lower effective tax rate than many nurses.
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Tax the mega rich who have manipulated the government to promote and protect the disparity of wealth in this country.

If these guys think Janesville is bad, they ought to check out Flint Michigan. Flint got hit long before Janesville did and things are a whole lot worse there. They cite Solyndra (a drop in the bucket) and GM (which would have killed an entire industry had they not loaned the money-now repaid) but they will no doubt go and cast ballots for budget hawks that will hack away at their Social Security and Medicare and leave them worse off than they already are. Whiners.

While I am six years younger than these people I can relate to their experiences. Insurance costs, drug and medical costs are all going up at a much faster pace than my part-time income. Many of us have had to continue to work into our "golden" retirement years just to maintain a basic existence. Taxes are going up locally but that, in part, is from the Shift the Shaft mentality of those running our state at this time. It seems clear that the intent of our state leaders is to strip the elderly of a few meager possessions before they screw them into their well-earned graves. What's still in your wallet, Janesville?

To youkillme: This story is a far cry from yellow journalism. And it is a good front page story. It is a story about what is being discussed by many people. There are people in Janesville who cannot afford to live in Janesville any longer. Propery taxes seem to be designed to confuse people. The smart people who figured this out should be smart enough to figure that the common person on a fixed income cannot afford the taxes on a modest home. The city appears to have dug a hole they will have trouble getting themselves out of. I think it is really sad that people who have spent a lifetime paying off a house cannot afford to live in it. This couple is very near that point. My wife and I are thankful for the strict home business laws that kept us from moving to Janesville 23 years ago. We ended up moving to another state and now we are retired in yet another state where one can live nicely on their social security and savings. We can still drive two new cars also. Thanks Janesville.

No, you can't fix stupid, but you can speak S L O W L Y to the ignorant like 6824. Under state law, municipalities must reassess if market value differs by more than 10% from assessed value. And when using alegebra, the coefficient is always in front of the variable:)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...
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Fine wines, lobster lunches and million-dollar salaries – life as a Wall Street shark was thrilling at first. But amid the extravagance, Philipp Meyer was sickened by a moral deficit at the heart of America’s financial system
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This idea of the God-like Market - all-seeing, all-knowing, and beyond question - is what allows CEOs to put a few thousand people out of work while giving themselves a $40m paycheck. It’s what allows certain hedge fund managers to take home half a billion (yes - billion) in a good year, while schools and bridges fall apart.

In reality, The Market is nothing more than the people who comprise it. Access to trading markets is very tightly controlled - it is not like a shopping mall. And it is certainly not magic. It’s just people. A very small number of people, in fact.

Thanks to this couple for being front and center for what many of us are feeling here in the city of Janesville. At times, I regret buying a house here almost 3 years ago.

MooShoo - It sounds to me like you are the one thats a little clueless. In 2010 the ratio used for taxes in Janesville was .8810. For people slow like you this means fair market value X .8810 is your assessed value. What Jim was trying to say is that his assesed value is more than fair market value not 11.9 percent less like the city claims. Can't fix stupid.

I'm pretty sure their house in the background is the house I grew up in! Caught my attention right away. Interesting article.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning...
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Lest We Forget: Why We Had A Financial Crisis

According to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, no fan of government spending, Janesville's rank among state municipalities is 188th (per capita levy). The net levy including the county and school district is 217th.
http://wistax.org/facts
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I can't currently find the citation -- it may be in one of the city's budget PDFs which are not searchable -- but Janesville has one of the lowest number of staff members per capita of its peer cities.

Nicely done, Mooshoo. The Gazette basically took what amounts to "letters to the editors" views of two couples and attempted to articalize their opinions as "news." Not quite yellow journalism but close.

"If the state, local and federal governments would think twice before they spend—if they would live the way we do—they wouldn’t be in the trouble we are today,” Lita said.
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Mrs. Lita has bought into the bait and switch perpetrated by the conservatives on the Teabag crowd. The government has become the conservative's bogey man when in fact it is unfettered greed and speculation in financial markets that lead to the economic meltdown.
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Jim cited Janesville’s recent citywide revaluation that increased their home’s value to more than what they believe anyone would pay for it.
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Mr. Jim does not know the difference between assessed and appraised value and how that assessed value relates to the property taxes he pays.
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Maybe the couple should act like the government, Jim said. Maybe they should have kept the new car instead of the old. Maybe they should have run up debt on their credit cards.
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Mr. Jim does not understand that local government is under levy limits and must, and by law must pass a balanced budget.
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Maybe this story is not news, maybe it is lazy journalism, and maybe we should ask why it rates a front page.

sorry Anti - my bad ;)

Its the "budget" system, they increase it all the time and think if they dont blow all the money they wont get it again next year. I agree, we were just fine for how many years with out bike trails, roundabouts, sidewalks...etc.

The future of big government is rather bleak. I expect a HUGE move nationwide from public to private jobs. Private schools, individual trash haulers, small mail delivery companies, etc...

Anti_Clockwise - how about in the caption under the picture (they way they must). Still, it's not nice to point-out little errors like these - the article is very interesting and displays an important "mood" that is sweeping across the nation. None of the errors change the meaning of the article.

Good story. It is sad to read about what is happening in Janesville.

The stage is being set for Janesville to become a major player in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.