Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate

1. David's guests this week are Charles Territo and Chip Mellor.
2. A tax increase for 69% of Minnesota homeowners.
3. There's a place for corporate welfare in your life: Mall of America.
4. "Demagoguery + economic illiteracy = higher gasoline prices."
5. Do you happen to have a spare stimulus check lying around?

1. The David Strom Show presented by the Minnesota Free Market Institute.
Tune in this Saturday to AM 1280 The Patriot at 9 am when David will be joined by Charles Territo, Director of Communications for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, who will talk about the MN Clean Air Act – a bill that will impose higher costs on truck and SUV owners by making cars sold in Minnesota subject to California air quality standards.
At 10 am, David's guest will be Chip Mellor, President and General Counsel at the Institute for Justice and co-author of The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom.
Also, be sure to tune in at 9:15 am for the Capitol report with Phil Krinkie.

2. A tax increase for 69% of Minnesota homeowners.
The DFLs property tax proposal seems to confuse even its own authors
"House DFLers yesterday introduced this year's version of the Omnibus Tax bill and with it their attempt at property tax reform. Among the highlights of their Tax bill is an overhaul of the state's property tax relief programs that they claim would make 95% of Minnesotans eligible for some form of property tax relief.
"The intent of the legislation, introduced by Representatives Ann Lenczewski [DFL-Bloomington] and Paul Marquardt [DFL-Dillworth], is to tie Minnesotans' property tax payments directly to their income. Trumpeted as a simplification of the current system and a way to force wealthy Minnesotans to pay their fair share, under the new system any family earning more than $200,000 a year – the DFLs definition of "rich" – would see a tax increase.
"But according to calculations made by the Department of Revenue and released today during a committee hearing, when the new property tax system is fully phased-in, nearly 69% of Minnesota homeowners will see a tax increase."
To read the rest, click here.

3. There's a place for corporate welfare in your life: Mall of America.
Since fiscal responsibility packed up and left the Capitol a little earlier than usual this year, all manner of special interest pandering and economic malfeasance has been bouncing around the halls of the Marble Kingdom. Vikings stadiums, light rail boondoggles, socialism disguised as property tax reform, and now, one more go 'round for taxpayer funding of a parking ramp at the Mall of America.
Last week I linked to (and posted on the Taxpayers League website) a great piece by State Sen. John Marty [DFL-Roseville] that explained why MoA backers should take a long walk off a short pier. Unfortunately, House and Senate leaders [ALL OF THEM, by the way] can't quite see through the Mall developer's "if we don't get $200 million for a parking ramp we're going to pull our entire $2 billion expansion plan" b.s.
Where's the partisan bickering when you need it?

4. "Demagoguery + economic illiteracy = higher gasoline prices."
In Washington this week, Senate Democrats unveiled their plan to combat rising gas prices by attacking…well, everyone. While details of the plan are still a little sketchy, any legislation that comes out of this conniption fit will most assuredly increase the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The favorite whipping boy of the Senators, Big Oil and their excessive profits, was, of course, the subject of much teeth-gnashing. But a recent study by the Tax Foundation has found:
"…that those 'excessive' profits are net profits: that is, profits earned after taxes are paid to government. And while the oil companies have enjoyed a few good years, history shows that government has profited more from the domestic oil industry than has its shareholders."
To read the rest of the study, click here.

5. Do you happen to have a spare stimulus check lying around?
Speaking of economic malfeasance, President Bush… was downright giddy last week when he announced that Americans' stimulus checks would be hitting mailboxes and bank accounts this week. And like the good little taxpayer I am, I signed my check directly over to Hennepin County because I'm happy to pay for a better Minnesota!
For the rest of you, why not give Hennepin County (and just about everyone else with a government job) a real headache and sign part of (or all of) your stimulus check over to the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. What better way to show your disdain for government bureaucrats than to give a few bucks to the one group that spends every waking minute thinking of ways to make their lives harder and yours easier.
Think that's an impolitic way to describe it? Think of it this way. Government bureaucrats are like freedom-sucking Harlem Globetrotters while the rest of us play the role of the hapless Washington Generals. We might get close to getting some individual liberty back once and awhile, but the bureaucrats are always there to bounce the ball off our forehead, stuff popcorn down our shorts and then tie our shoelaces together when we aren't looking.
To donate to the Taxpayers League, click here and find the "Donate" tab in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's eUpdate is written by Mark Giga