MILWAUKEE - To kick off our 2nd annual Taxpayer Tailgate, AFP-WI will be hosting a stop of the nationwide Hot Air Balloon Tour! The location has been changed for this portion of the event to the AFP-WI office parking lot (1126 S. 70th St., West Allis).We had planned to hold the hot air tour stop at Miller Park, but Brewers officials have pulled our previously approved permits and said that we are no longer allowed to tether our hot air balloon there. The Taxpayer Tailgate will still occur at Miller Park - only the Hot Air Tour portion of this event has been moved.

MILWAUKEE — With the Milwaukee Area Technical College Board voting Tuesday night to increase the property tax levy 4.9 percent, Americans for Prosperity is making sure residents are aware of the tax increase and spending by the MATC Board. The proposed increase is part of the $333 million spending plan, and includes increases in wages, salaries, and health care to name a few. Germantown has been attempting to secede from the technical colleges' district for about a year now, with this newest proposed increase fueling the discussion.

The economic outlook in the state of Wisconsin continues to look bleak, despite the cheerful press release issued yesterday by the State Department of Workforce Development. The report claims that the unemployment rate was down .2 percent from April 2008 and .5 percent from May 2007. The federally collected data, released today from the United States Department of Labor, shows that Wisconsin had the 4th largest over-the-year percentage decrease from May 2007 to May 2008. That amounts to 16,100 jobs lost over the past year. Meanwhile, government jobs continue to grow even though the economy is suppressed. Americans for Prosperity is hoping to show Madison that type of economic growth is not sustainable.

Free-market, pro-growth policies needed to turn around lackluster trends, says Americans for Prosperity.