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Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
2. The Legislative Session ends and taxpayers breathe a sigh of relief.
3. He vetoed the first one. He’s got to veto the second.
4. What color is the sky in your world?
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
Tune in this Saturday to AM 1280 The Patriot from 9 – 11 am when David will be joined by Tim Pawlenty and Kathy Kersten.
Pawlenty, Minnesota’s 39th Governor, will tell us what he did to make the DFL blink first in their legislative game of chicken and what the status might be for the five remaining bills sitting on his desk.
Kersten, a columnist at the Star Tribune, has been following the Minnesota side of the United States attorney non-story. Listen in and get her thoughts on Rachel Paulose and the sorry state of partisan fishing expeditions.
Also, be sure to tune in at 9:35 am for the Capitol Report with Phil Krinkie. Up this week, an extended Capitol Report on the subject, “How Minnesota Taxpayers Won in 2007.”
2. Taxpayers win, big spenders lose.
Despite many apocalyptic predictions back in January of what a worst-case scenario May 22 was going to look like, the nearly finished [see below] 2007 legislative session was nothing short of a miracle for Minnesota taxpayers. Only six short weeks ago Minnesotans were looking at more than $5 billion in proposed taxes and fees. $5 billion! But thanks to a Governor and his trusty veto pen and a House Minority caucus that turned last fall’s election trouncing into a “Remember the Alamo”-like rallying cry, we can all rest a little easier knowing that a few more of our personal freedoms and a whole lot of our disposable income is safe until next February. So to all of you out there who called, emailed or wrote your legislator and told them to keep a lid on taxes and spending, thank you.
3. I’ve got a fever. And the only prescription is one more veto.
As mentioned above, the legislative session isn’t quite over. As of noon today, there are still five bills sitting on Governor Pawlenty’s desk awaiting action: health and human services, state government finance (with the “Google Government” provision in it), higher ed finance, E-12 finance and the tax bill. The first four, while certainly important, can’t quite match the “egregious mismanagement of taxitudes” and fiscal shenanigans contained in the tax bill. While the Governor won’t be officially presented with the tax bill until next Tuesday, May 29th (with the deadline for action falling on June 1), here are a couple of reasons why Governor Pawlenty should veto the whole thing.
Corporate welfare: For as often as liberals gnash their teeth about taxpayer money going to Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Big X, Big Y, Big Z, strangely enough they look the other way when the welfare recipient happens to be in their tax committee chair’s backyard. In this case, about $180 million worth of looking the other way for the Mall of America. As Art Rolnick (director of research at the Minneapolis Fed and a guest on David’s show a couple of weeks back) said of the subsidy for the mall; “If they want to tax their own shoppers, that's not really a subsidy. But there are some serious equity problems with forcing competitors to subsidize the Mall of America.”
Counting inflation for state expenditures: In late 1990s the Department of Finance removed inflation from their budget forecasts. That was a good thing. This tax bill wants to bring it back. That’s bad. Here’s why: when you figure in inflation on the spending side, you are automatically growing government with zero oversight. “In the last biennial budget, state spending increased 12.4 percent, more than twice the rate of inflation. What would have happened if the inflation was already included at the start of the budgeting process?” – Phil Krinkie, “Just say no to putting budget on inflationary auto-pilot”, St. Paul Legal Ledger, 2/5/07.
Increased tax compliance: Not sure what that may mean for you? Ask any small business owner and I’m sure they can help you out. Just think, the state’s Revenue Department needs to collect “x” million more dollars and they ain’t stopping until they get it. Every last cent. So whether you sell Cogswell’s Cogs or Spacley’s Sprockets, start getting your paperwork in order because here comes the tax man.
Of course none of this needs to be a problem, right Guvna?
4. Looks like someone is operating in the Bizarro world again.
Being in the business that we here at the Taxpayers League are in, I completely understand the need for, and uses of political spin. Because when it comes down to it you can’t win all the time – though you can try to make it sound like you do. That being said, political spin has to have some basis in reality if it’s ever going to have a chance at shaping public opinion. Unless, that is, you’re writing the end of session press release for the DFL asking folks to “continue the conversation in their community.” From the DFLs May 23 email [with editorial comment]:
“The 2007 Minnesota Legislative Session has come to a close and we have much to celebrate [like your other 43 Senators that weren’t arrested for DWI?]. Our DFL majorities in both the Minnesota House and Senate stood firm [“I dare you to cross this line. Ok, fine. I dare you to cross this line. Oh yeah, then I…] on providing property tax relief, increasing necessary school funding, making health care more accessible, slowing college tuition increases and delivered a budget, on time [you only needed to silence the minority to do it, but bang up job anyway]! Please consider writing a letter to your local newspaper, to highlight the successes of our elected officials.
“Take the opportunity to continue the conversation in your community about how our DFL leadership fought hard [by slap-fighting] this session for what Minnesotans collectively value… Feel free to name your DFL elected official, particularly if he or she is a first-termer [because most of them won’t be around much longer], to convey support and gratitude for their efforts [and sympathy for their lack of results].
“Our leaders successfully closed corporate tax loopholes [not unless Gov. Pawlenty lets you], requiring that they pay their fair share of taxes like the rest of us [You foolish, foolish person. For the last time, businesses don’t pay taxes. Why can’t you understand this?].
“The House and Senate sought [but didn’t find any] bipartisan solutions and passed budget bills they felt the Governor would sign [maybe New Jersey’s Governor, but not ours]. Property taxes will still be too high [because your cronies in local government are asleep at the switch] and so will college tuition. More Minnesotans will still need health care, and we need a greater commitment to funding our schools from our Governor. We will continue to fight for common-sense priorities that benefit all Minnesotans [who pay union dues].”
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's E Update is written by Mark Giga
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