Barbara Lawton: Conservative Champion

Conservatives, as a group, are a little bit kerfluffled these days. With two days to go before the Iowa caucuses - the starting gun for Election 2008 - true blue liberals have a bevy of bleedin’ heart candidates from which to choose. Conservatives, on the other hand...there are good conservative reasons to dislike every single presidential candidate, regardless of party.

Like I said. Kerfluffled.

So how surprising was it to get a lesson in real conservatism last week – not from a conservative, or a Republican, or even a moderate. No, it was Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton – a liberal Democrat if there ever was one – shining the conservative light in the darkness.

The story: Baraboo, Wisconsin, is one of 20-odd cities under consideration as a location for Johnny Depp’s new movie. Wisconsin wouldn’t even be in the running, Lawton says, except:

Baraboo wouldn't even be considered for the shooting of an upcoming Hollywood film if not for state tax incentives taking effect Jan. 1, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said.

…

Wisconsin couldn't lure a Hollywood production if not for the upcoming tax breaks, Lawton said. "Without it, they never would have come knocking on our door," she said. "They wouldn't have given us a second glance."

Amen, sister. Amen.

The more expensive something is, the less of it will happen. Lower the cost, and more of it will happen. If it costs Hollywood more to make movies in Wisconsin, they’ll choose someplace else.

Good conservative gospel. The Laws of Supply and Demand.

Thus, in 2006, Wisconsin enacted a 25% tax credit for film production in Wisconsin – as bipartisan a bill as you are ever likely to see.

That’s good news for Wisconsin, Lawton says.

"This is an industry that has a real impact on creating jobs," Lawton said.

Amen, sister. Amen.

Hey, you know what other industries have a real impact on creating jobs? All of them. If we’re giving 25% credits to limo-and-champagne Hollywood types, how about giving the same credit to pickup-and-lunchbucket greasy-fingernail types, too?

Doing so would create more jobs. I know, because LTG Lawton, champion of fiscal conservatives, said so!

Now if only she could work on her colleagues a little. Majority Democrats in the State Senate, for example. Their idea of “job creation” included the biggest tax increase in U.S. history – an increase thankfully tanked by...well, I thought it was Assembly Republicans, but maybe it was LTG Lawton after all.

If so, she’s not done yet. Senate Democrats intend to bring back their so-called “Healthy Wisconsin,” which will increase taxes on business and the self-employed by at least nine percent. They want to further raise taxes on employers by shifting property taxes, heaping on more reporting requirements, and yes, by increasing other taxes, too.

They haven’t given up on making Wisconsin the single highest taxed state in the nation. Nor will they.

Not that it isn’t good to have goals. Goals are good. Just, you know, maybe they could try jogging? Needlepoint? Something like that?

No matter. Barbara Lawton, conservative champion, is no doubt on the case. Listen up, she’ll bark, with a loud “thwap” as her palm hits a random Senate Democrat in the back of the head. If lowering taxes attracts more business, then the reverse is also true. Raising taxes – increasing the cost of doing business – scares businesses away. At the very least, it’ll prevent new business from locating in the state.

Just like we – actual conservatives – have been saying all along.

Now, it’s possible that LTG Lawton didn’t really mean the things she said. If pressed, I’m sure she’ll have some reasonable explanation for her shockingly anti-liberal fiscal comments.

Could be she was caught by surprise. Could be she was taken out of context. Could be that taxes on moviemaking were just unusually high, and lowering them was simple “fairness.”

More likely, she and her fellow Democrats simply wanted to help liberal Hollywood stars and starlets spend some extra time in Wisconsin, and maybe attend a fundraiser while they’re here.

That’ll be interesting to watch.

Still, it’s a pleasure to see someone as liberal as Barbara Lawton espouse an anti-socialistic truism like that. Welcome to the fold, Barbara! Here, sit by me. Have a beer?

Or wine. We’ve got wine, too.

Now, let’s talk about that Senate…