Copy, Paste & Kiss the Ring: How the Superior Telegram Became Jim Paine’s PR Department

Mayor Jim Paine vowed to tax the rich and help homeowners. Instead, the math collapsed, local businesses got the cold shoulder, and the Telegram brought pom‑poms instead of questions.

Remember When Jim Said He’d Go After Big Business Taxes?

Ah, the nostalgia.
Mayor Paine once announced—hand on a stack of unpaid utility bills—that he was going to “make big business pay its fair share.”
That was his “Robin Hood” moment.

Except when the city chopped the mill rate to “offset” home values that exploded 60–70%, the real winners weren’t homeowners.
They were businesses whose assessments were already accurate.

So when the rate dropped?
Their taxes dropped too.

Paine’s “war on business” turned out to be more of a pillow fight followed by a ribbon‑cutting.

The Math Still Doesn’t Math—But Don’t Tell the Telegram

Every time Jim invents a new budget miracle, the Superior Telegram prints it like gospel.

Last year:

“Mayor: New Tax Plan Will Balance the Burden.”
This year:
“Levy Cut 1.55%—Proof of Fiscal Responsibility.”

No follow‑up, no fact‑check, no calculator—just uncritical reprints.
When tax bills arrived and homeowners screamed, the Telegram spent months publishing “Explainers” to prove it hadn’t been wrong, merely “optimistic.”

It’s not a newspaper anymore; it’s a press‑release recycling center.

Meanwhile, Superior’s Business Climate Could Freeze Coffee

Paine’s relationship with local business owners can best be described as frostbite with paperwork.
He’s jacked up fees, slowed permits, and—according to several folks brave enough to whisper about it—turned licensing into a loyalty program.

Want a liquor license? You’d better look enthusiastic at photo ops.
Challenge City Hall? Suddenly your paperwork “needs more review.”
No one’s accusing him of a straight up shakedown; we’re just saying it sure doesn’t feel like Cheers down at City Hall.

In a small city, that kind of atmosphere scares off investment faster than a January wind off the lake.

A Real Man Would Step Aside—But Jim’s Still at the Tap

Most people under this much political heat would take a graceful exit.
But Paine?

Now he’s deciding who’s “fiscally responsible” enough to run a bar.

That’s not irony; that’s performance art.
And the Telegram? They’re selling tickets.

What the Telegram Never Prints

• Businesses didn’t pay more—they paid less.

• Homeowners didn’t get relief—they got the bill.

• The “levy cut” doesn’t lower most tax bills—it just lowers expectations.

• The “reform agenda” mostly reforms the mayor’s image.

If the paper asked one hard question—just one—this would be a story about accountability.
Instead, it’s a story about stenography.

SoupNutz Mic Drop

Mayor Jim Paine is waging a war on business, he’s not fighting for fairness, and he’s fighting for political survival.
He’s juggling debt, spinning numbers, and counting on the local paper to clap on cue.

A real leader balances budgets and fosters growth.
A real newspaper checks a mayors math.
What we’ve got instead is a mayor who confuses borrowing with balancing—and a paper that confuses typing with truth.

#TelegramMoreAdsThanArticles

#JimPaineFortyAndForgotten