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1. Massachusetts– The Time is Now!
2. Taxpayers Don’t Want a Bailout for Zygi - Despite the Vikings Winning Season
3. Inside Track for Taxpayer Funds
4. Loose Purse Strings for Central Corridor
5. Property Taxes Up 102% Over 10 Years
1. Massachusetts– The Time is Now!
On Tuesday, January 19, a special election will be held in the state of Massachusetts to choose a new US Senator to replace Ted Kennedy. The results of this election could impact our nation's future.
Until now, Democrats have had filibuster-proof majorities in both the House and Senate, thus allowing them to ram through their socialist agenda, in spite of what the American people want. But the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts could give Republicans the critical 41st vote needed to stop the Democratic supermajority in the Senate.
Brown opposes the government takeover of our health care system. He opposes giving terrorists constitutional rights and cap-and-trade legislation. Brown's election would not only derail the terrible health 'reform' bill, but much of the rest of Obama's agenda.
Up until this week, Brown's election was not even considered to be a remote possibility. The seat has been in Democrat hands for nearly 60 years. But recent polls show that Brown has closed the gap and appears to now be in a statistical tie with his opponent.
It does not matter in which state you reside; the outcome of this election will affect every American citizen.
I urge you to watch an inspiring 90-second video and decide what you can do to make a difference in this critical election:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nEoW-P81-0
Time is short so please act quickly. Please forward this message to others you know that are concerned about our nation's future.
2. Taxpayers Don’t Want a Bailout for Zygi - Despite the Vikings Winning Season
Minnesotans strongly oppose using tax dollars to fund for a new Vikings stadium, by a 2-to-1 ratio. In a survey conducted earlier this month, 65 percent of people said they oppose public funding for a pro football team, while only 31 percent favored it.
Rather than acknowledge the glaring fact that taxpayers don’t want to subsidize a new billion dollar stadium, Vikings spokesperson Lester Bagley blamed the unfavorable results on the survey itself saying, “The poll asked the wrong question.”
In support of his position, Bagley went on to say that, “If you were to poll the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Guthrie Theater, the Twins ballpark, light rail and a myriad of other projects, you’d get the same result.”
Under Bagley’s flawed logic, the legislature should override public opinion and build a Vikings stadium because the state already funded a bunch of other projects that taxpayers didn’t want.
To read more click here.
3. Inside Track for Taxpayer Funds
After many special interest arts organizations spent millions to pass a constitutional dedicated sales tax for the arts, they now occupy key positions on the board that determines the distribution of funds. More than half of the organizations represented on an arts panel, that create guidelines for who will share in more than $1 billion from the Legacy Amendment sales tax, have profited under a nepotistic scheme.
There are 13 non-elected representatives from organizations such as Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and the Science Museum of Minnesota on the panel. Ironically, organizations linked to four of the panel’s representatives have received a total of $5 million – even before the funding guidelines have been released.
MPRalready has a contract for $2.6 million in Legacy money over the next two years to help expand its news, arts and cultural reporting.
No conflict-of-interest rules govern the panel, allowing for the nepotism on the panel.
SOME RECIPIENTS:
• Science Museum of Minnesota, $900,000 over two years, for arts, education and preserving history, cultural heritage.
• Minnesota Public Radio,$2.6 million over two years, to expand radio and Web programming, digitize archives.
• Minnesota Humanities Center, $1 million in 2010 for projects celebrating ethnic identities.
• Duluth Children's Museum, $500,000 over two years, for arts, education and preserving history, cultural heritage.
To read more click here.
3. Loose Purse Strings for Central Corridor
An abrupt change in federal rules may open the flood gates for even less fiscal discipline when it comes to St. Paul’s construction of the Central Corridor light rail. After years of forcing light-rail planners to follow narrow guidelines on construction costs, ridership and travel times, the Federal Transit Administration threw caution to the wind last week when it eased up on a formula called the “cost-effectiveness index.”
Peter Bell, chairman of the Metropolitan Council, acknowledged that the index, “did provide some measure of financial discipline.”
Without measures in place to force fiscal discipline upon light rail proponents, some involved in planning the $941 million line are now plotting to drive up the already bloated price tag by adding additional stops. Planners must be overlooking the fact that adding additional elements to the line would require more federal money and more matching funds from state and local governments, none of which are exactly flush with cash.
To read more click here.
5. Property Taxes Up 102% Over 10 Years
Unsurprising to taxpayers, the State Auditor's 2008 City Finances Report, released last week, showed that between 1999 and 2008, the property-tax revenue cities collected grew by 102 percent.
While the State Auditor claims that the problem isn't that cities are spending more, here at the Taxpayers League, we beg to differ. We’d be remiss if we failed to point out these recent city spending projects:
- In December, the Saint Paul City Council approved an $18.8 million plan to pay for a prettier Central Corridor light-rail line.
- This fall, taxpayers picked up the tab for a one-block stretch of Goodrich Avenue that was repaved in expensive brick rather than asphalt. The city could have paved the street in asphalt for about $46,000. Instead, brick pavers cost a whopping $304,000.
- In 2008, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously endorsed 10 designer drinking fountains at a cost of $50,000 each.
Just look up your city’s growth in spending.
To read more click here.
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