1. A Double Whammy

2. Selling Out for the Liberals

3. Five Years of Fleecing Taxpayers

4. Too Late to Stop the Play

5. Help Distribute the 2009 Scorecard

1. A Double Whammy

Congratulations Minnesota taxpayers; your taxes are about to take a double hit on July 1st. The gas tax increase will increase 1.6 cents per gallon as part of the transportation funding package that Governor Pawlenty vetoed and the legislature voted to override in 2008. Also taking effect July 1st will be the 3/8 of a cent increase in the statewide sales tax for the arts and outdoor entertainment special interests. This constitutional amendment was on the ballot last fall and was passed by voters. So as you buy supplies and travel for the Fourth of July weekend, feel good about the fact that you are contributing to one of the highest tax burdens in the United States.

Check out some of the wasteful spending projects in the bill here.

2. Selling Out for the Liberals

After much politicking, the cap and trade bill was narrowly approved in the U.S. House last Friday evening. The vote was 219-212, with 8 Republicans voting "yes" and 44 Democrats voting "no." Although voters across the country were calling their representatives in opposition throughout the day on Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the liberals were able to finagle just enough votes to move the bill onto the U.S. Senate.

One of those key votes was Minnesota's own Rep. Collin Peterson (D) from the 7th district. Rep. Peterson has a reputation for being a "blue dog democrat." But his vote on cap and trade shows that he'll sacrifice his constituents' jobs and hard earned money as a lap dog for the liberal left.

The cap and trade legislation now moves to the Senate, where the vote could be even closer. Call Senator Klobuchar's office at 202-224-3244 today and ask her to vote "no" on the cap and trade legislation.

3. Five Years of Fleecing Taxpayers

Last week marked the five year anniversary of the Hiawatha light rail system. Liberals heralded the anniversary as a great accomplishment, saying ridership levels are above what was expected and therefore touting the line a success.

The Hiawatha line will never be a success because it costs taxpayers over $15 million a year in operating subsidies. State taxpayers foot the bill for two thirds of the cost to operate the line and that doesn't include the $775 million taxpayers paid to build the line in the first place.

If this is how the liberal spell "success," don't build anymore.

Even Metro Transit spokesperson Bob Gibbons said that the more ridership increases, the more it costs to operate, because more ridership mean more wear and tear on the system. Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin also pointed out that if the light rail system is going to expand they are "going to have to identify additional funding." Both of those facts mean more of your money going into the funding hole that is light rail transit.

To build Hiawatha, Northstar, and the Central Corridor, the liberals will spend more than $2 billion of taxpayer money with annual operating subsidies approaching $50 million a year.

4. Too Late to Stop the Play

The city of Burnsville is taking a big hit on an unecessary project the city council decided to publicly fund: the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. If a private company decided not risk $20 million to develop the Performing Arts Center, you would think the city council would be smart enough not to risk taxpayer dollars, but they weren't.

Four months after it opened, the publicly financed Burnsville Performing Arts Center has lost $266,000 and is expected to lose $1 million by the end of the year.

Why would the city council be so quick to purchase an unnecessary attraction, especially when private business interests decided they didn't want to fund the Arts Center?

With the state's sales tax increasing on July 1st in order to hand over more of your money to the arts, we're sure Burnsville will be in line. If you live in Burnsville you may want to become a Local Taxpayer Watchdog. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information on becoming a Local Watchdog no matter where you live.

5. Help Distribute the 2009 Scorecard

Will your local political group be at a county fair this summer? If so, maybe you would like to hand out the 2009 Taxpayers League Scorecard. We have thousands to distribute, so This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with you name, mailing address, and how many you can hand out. As always, donations are much appreciated to offset printing and mailing costs, and can be made at www.taxpayersleague.org/donate.

If you would like to receive these once weekly email updates, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with "subscribe" in the subject line.