Editor:

It’s not like we don’t love the snow up here in the North, but we cannot believe the mining bill “snow job” coming up from southern Wisconsin, from congressmen in the senate majority, especially senate leader Scott Fitzgerald.
Reading the news from many Wisconsin newspapers these past few weeks, it is not hard to see the same Republican leaders boldly lying to get what they want…their same arrogance and their willingness to continue to disenfranchise Wisconsin citizens.

Get this: Sen. Cullen, (D-Janesville) said “It is incomprehensible to me that an elected official, who took the oath to serve the best interests of the people of Wisconsin, could endorse and vote for a bill which allows an out-of-state company to mine our natural resources and never pay a tax.”
Under Senate Bill 1, the mining company would pay little or no property, corporate income, net proceeds or other taxes to the State of Wisconsin, forcing taxpayers to pay the bill.

To make it even worse, the notorious Republican Grover Norquist of Washington, D.C., has stepped into Wisconsin politics by writing our politicians Wednesday, saying a tax on extracted iron would break the promise a number of state senators made to refrain from raising taxes.

Sen. Jauch, (D-Poplar) said, “Grover Norquist can’t find northern Wisconsin on a map, and in opposing a plan that would help Wisconsin taxpayers, he shows his ignorance of the issue.”

Where does Grover Norquist get off telling us here in Wisconsin what to think or do? He’s made an absolute mess out of the Republican Congress in Washington, D.C., putting it into the infamous “no” and “do-nothing” Congress mode, that the majority of American citizens totally disapprove.

So, Mr. Norquist, keep your twisted advice. We don’t like it or you.
State Sens. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville), Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) are sponsoring Bill 3, an alternative mining bill that includes a gross tonnage tax that we, up North, can give our support to. We are grateful for your initiative and courage and will do our best to spread the word. Keep up your good work.

Dick and Gail Gumness, Woodruff