Daily Archives: April 10, 2005

Money, Politics, Medicaid & Jim Doyle

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Spivak & Bice harvest email from a dental claims provider:

“It’s clear to me that (Jim) Doyle is going to win. . . . McCallum is a stiff,” wrote Borca, the multimillionaire founder of a slew of Milwaukee-area companies. “I’m having dinner at a friend’s house tonight (Jack Goodsitt) who is a good buddy of Doyle . . . there will only be four of us, and he set it up so I could get to talk with Doyle.
“I’m giving Doyle ten grand with the same understanding of our personal meeting about Medicaid. . . . I hate giving money to a democrat, but we sent 50 grand to NJ, and will now win the dental carve-out. I’m hoping you will help offset my Doyle expense to the tune of 2 grand . . . if you don’t want to, I’m still going to do it, as I did mccallum . . . let me know.”

Doyle has raised more money at a faster rate than former Governor Tommy Thompson.

Where the Innovators Are

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Laura Rich:

As James Surowiecki writes in the April 11, 2005 issue of The New Yorker, innovation has fallen almost entirely upon the shoulders of small businesses; big companies can’t manage it anymore. They’re still spending money on research and development, but those budgets have shrunk dramatically in most cases, and many are outsourcing R&D or forming R&D alliances with other big companies.
Surowiecki focuses on the decline of an innovation culture at Sony, which hasn’t really been able to corner any market since the Walkman. While some may bemoan the disintegration of innovation out of such giants, it’s really not so sad. New ideas that come from smaller businesses are often more exciting and groundbreaking (just look at many of the ideas that come from the Inc. 500), and, as small businesses make up three-quarters of all businesses, perhaps even more essential to the health of the economy.

Yet another reason why our politicians need to pull their head out and make true high speed networks a reality in Wisconsin…

Philadelphia Municipal Wireless Plan

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Esme Vos:

Philadelphia has officially released the business plan for “Wireless Philadelphia”, the citywide wireless broadband network, and the RFP. They are using the Cooperative Wholesale model (similar to the model used by UTOPIA in Utah). You can also go to www.phila.gov/wireless to view these documents. There will be a web conference today at 15:00 Eastern time – details for joining the conference are here.

via wifi net news

A Tax Increase that President Bush Didn’t Mention

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Edmund Andrews:

CYNICS have long predicted that the Bush administration, plagued by budget deficits, will eventually start raising taxes. But now it is becoming clear how it would do so: the alternative minimum tax.
Baffling in its complexity and often bizarre in its impact, the alternative minimum tax is a giant undeclared tax increase that will ensnare tens of millions of moderate-income families in the next several years.