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Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

A New Direction

The Driving Boom—a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States—is over.  Americans drive fewer total miles today than we did eight years ago, and fewer per person than we did at the end of Bill Clinton’s first term. The unique combina­tion of conditions that fueled the Driving Boom—from cheap gas prices to the rapid expansion of the workforce during the Baby Boom generation—no longer exists.

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News Release | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

New Report: Reduction in Driving Likely to Continue

As the average number of miles driven by Americans heads into its eighth year of decline, a new report from the WISPIRG Foundation finds that the slowdown in driving is likely to continue. Baby Boomers are moving out of the phase in their life when they do the most commuting, while driving-averse Millennials move into that phase. These demographic changes will likely keep driving down for decades, according to the report, “A New Direction: Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future.”
 

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Media Hit | Transportation

State needs to build better transportation budget

The state needs a better transportation budget.  . . . .  One promising idea is a proposal from 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, WISPIRG and the state chapter of the Sierra Club to cut 10% from highway spending. The money would be used "to reduce bonding by $200 million, increase local road reimbursements by $82 million, and increase transit funding $21 million (a 10% increase in local road reimbursement and transit funding)," according to a news release the group issued last week.
 

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Media Hit | Transportation

Environmentalists, Municipal Leaders: Let's Fix Roads, Not Build New Ones

Some municipal leaders and environmentalists say Governor Scott Walker's proposed transportation budget is out of sync.
 

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News Release | WISPIRG | Tax

Offshore Tax Havens Cost Average Wisconsin Taxpayer $773 a Year, Wisconsin Small Businesses $2,746

With Tax Day approaching, it’s a good time to be reminded of where our tax dollars are going. Today WISPIRG released a new study which revealed that the average Wisconsin taxpayer in 2012 would have to shoulder an extra $773 in taxes to make up for the revenue lost due to the use of offshore tax havens by corporations and wealthy individuals.  To make up the burden of revenue lost due to corporate tax haven abuse, Wisconsin small businesses would have to pay an extra $2,746 every year. Closing these loopholes is a common sense solution that every lawmaker should support.

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News Release | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

New Report: Reduction in Driving Likely to Continue

As the average number of miles driven by Americans heads into its eighth year of decline, a new report from the WISPIRG Foundation finds that the slowdown in driving is likely to continue. Baby Boomers are moving out of the phase in their life when they do the most commuting, while driving-averse Millennials move into that phase. These demographic changes will likely keep driving down for decades, according to the report, “A New Direction: Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future.”
 

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Transportation

State needs to build better transportation budget

The state needs a better transportation budget.  . . . .  One promising idea is a proposal from 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, WISPIRG and the state chapter of the Sierra Club to cut 10% from highway spending. The money would be used "to reduce bonding by $200 million, increase local road reimbursements by $82 million, and increase transit funding $21 million (a 10% increase in local road reimbursement and transit funding)," according to a news release the group issued last week.
 

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Transportation

Environmentalists, Municipal Leaders: Let's Fix Roads, Not Build New Ones

Some municipal leaders and environmentalists say Governor Scott Walker's proposed transportation budget is out of sync.
 

> Keep Reading
News Release | WISPIRG | Tax

Offshore Tax Havens Cost Average Wisconsin Taxpayer $773 a Year, Wisconsin Small Businesses $2,746

With Tax Day approaching, it’s a good time to be reminded of where our tax dollars are going. Today WISPIRG released a new study which revealed that the average Wisconsin taxpayer in 2012 would have to shoulder an extra $773 in taxes to make up for the revenue lost due to the use of offshore tax havens by corporations and wealthy individuals.  To make up the burden of revenue lost due to corporate tax haven abuse, Wisconsin small businesses would have to pay an extra $2,746 every year. Closing these loopholes is a common sense solution that every lawmaker should support.

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Media Hit | Budget

Wisconsin's Government Receives "F" for Financial Transparency Online

Wisconsin is one of five states that received an "F" Tuesday for how it makes government spending available online.
 

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Result | Financial Reform

One Year Anniversary of CFPB

 

 

 

For the first time, a federal financial agency has placed consumers at the center of its work. That agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), turns one year old on July 21, 2012. The CFPB, established as a centerpiece of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, is the first federal financial agency with only one job: protecting consumers. It has special responsibilities to protect seniors, military servicemembers and students. The CFPB is also tasked with ensuring fair lending and promoting financial education and literacy. The CFPB protects you no matter where you buy financial products—at a bank, at a credit union, at a mortgage company or a payday lender.

 

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Result | Democracy

Registering Young Voters

During the past four election cycles, WISPIRG’s New Voters Project has registered more than 160,000 18- to 24-year-olds and increased voter participation among young voters.

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Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

A New Direction

The Driving Boom—a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States—is over.  Americans drive fewer total miles today than we did eight years ago, and fewer per person than we did at the end of Bill Clinton’s first term. The unique combina­tion of conditions that fueled the Driving Boom—from cheap gas prices to the rapid expansion of the workforce during the Baby Boom generation—no longer exists.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG | Tax

Picking Up the Tab 2013

Many multinational corporations and wealthy Americans use accounting tricks and offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes on profits and income that they earned in the U.S. Right now these practices are perfectly legal - and that's the problem. Revenues that are earned from sales and work here in the United States are hidden overseas and it costs the U.S. up to $150 billion in lost tax revenue every single year.

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Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Budget

Following the Money 2013

Wisconsin received an “F” for government spending transparency, according to “Following the Money 2013: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the fourth annual report of its kind by the WISPIRG Foundation. 
 

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Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Budget, Tax

The Hidden Cost of Offshore Tax Havens

This report reveals how abuse of tax loopholes hurts taxpayers not just once, but twice, as the state of Wisconsin lost an estimated $814 million in revenue in 2012 due to offshore tax dodging

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Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

Highway Boom, Budget Bust

This report questions whether the state of Wisconsin might be wasting huge sums of taxpayer money on unnecessary projects by planning to invest heavily in new roads and highway expansions that are out of sync with population and travel behavior trends in the state.  On the one hand, Wisconsin’s population and its volume of driving grow at a relatively slow pace that has slowed over time.

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Blog Post | Democracy

Call on the WI Legislature to Put it to the People on Citizens United | Joe Rasmussen

Citizens United is undermining the very principals of our democracy.

Click Here to demand a people's referendum so that the people of WI can vote on this issue.

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Blog Post | Democracy

Voters Reject Big Money in Politics, Now It’s Time for Reform | Joe Rasmussen

Voters sent a message last Tuesday, showing resounding support for our leaders to take steps to deal with the outsized influence of big money in our elections, including a resolution passed in Eau Claire County, WI endorsing a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

These are 10 of many reasons we need the CFPB! | Bruce Speight

For the first time, a federal financial agency has placed consumers at the center of its work. That agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), turns one year old on July 21, 2012.  Here are 10 of many reasons we need the CFPB.

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  • How YOUR Taxes Become Twinkies
    Find out how government subsidies disproportionately benefit junk food over fresh fruit and vegetables.
    Get the Report
  • Bigger Banks Have Bigger Fees
    Our survey found that more than half of banks are not entirely upfront about their fees. Some even broke the law.
    Get the report
  • OUR UNSAFE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
    Our report, “Unacceptable Risk,” examines two decades worth of “close calls,” leaks and other problems at our country’s 104 nuclear reactors.
    Get the report
  • Making The Grade
    Find out how our state stacks up in reforming our health care system and learn more about health insurance exchanges.
    Get the report

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