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Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
2. “A 48-cents-a-gallon gas tax by 2018?” It could happen today on the Senate floor.
3. Who spent the most lobbying Minnesota legislators in 2006?
4. Some of you people talk a big game about taxes and spending…
5. Tax time at the Capitol. Who’s protecting yourwallet?
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 Steve Sviggum and Andy Cilek. Sviggum, State Representative from Kenyon and former Speaker of the House, will join us live from a rare March floor session at the legislature to talk about the yin and yang of legislative proposals: surplus rebate checks to taxpayers and the Omnibus Transportation bill with a new tax for every day of the week (and two on Sunday). Cilek, from the Minnesota Voters Alliance, will stop by during the second hour to talk about the evils of instant runoff voting and why it is championed by communists (Minneapolis city government) and the Irish (St. Paul city government and the Ireland Irish).
Also, be sure to tune in at 10:05 am for the Capitol report with Phil Krinkie live from the Capitol as the House debates the aforementioned transportation bill with the giant, HONKING tax increases.
2. Forget about a bumper to bumper warranty, how about bumper to bumper tax increases?
Don’t be surprised if you wake up on Sunday and see this headline on the front page of the paper, “House and Senate pass !#@&% huge tax increase,” because folks, it’s coming. Today on the Senate floor (to watch it live, click here) and tomorrow on the House floor, legislators will debate the largest tax increase for transportation this state has ever seen. The bill, which is magically purported to reduce congestion in the Metro area, will most likely add to your tax burden much more quickly than it will ease your commute. At least one of the bill’s sponsors isn’t fooling himself:
“‘I'm not trying to fool anybody,’ said Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, sponsor of the measure that would increase funding for roads and transit by $1.5 billion a year once it was fully implemented in the next decade. ‘There's a lot of taxes in this bill.’”
At least you’ve got to appreciate the guy’s honesty, right?
3. Not “Big Oil,” “Big Business,” or “Big anything-having-to-do-with-Dick Cheney.”
It’s “Big Education.” With a string of victories nearly as impressive as Richard Daley’s twistical political machine, Education Minnesota screams to the top of lobbying list for another year. Coming in at a cool$1.52 million spent in 2006, Education Minnesota has once again proven that no amount of arm twisting or fear mongering is enough when it comes to making sure that rank and file teachers are left out in the cold while union bosses are left with fat wallets.
Maybe if Education Minnesota didn’t take so much out of teachers’ paychecks in the first place, they wouldn’t need all 55 of their lobbyists roaming the halls of the Capitol running their million dollar extortion racket?
Looking for some more information on what the real union agenda is, reply to this email with your mailing address and we’ll send you a copy of the latest brochure from the Minnesota Education League Foundation, Schools First vs. Kids First.
4. So take 20 minutes and see if you can handle $34 billion.
“The debate over the state budget is heating up at the Capitol and around the state. The stakes, as always, are high. The budget decisions legislators will make over the next few months will, in one way or another, affect you and every other Minnesotan. In just 20 minutes, you can add your voice to this critical exercise in setting the state’s priorities by using the Minnesota Public Radio Budget Balancer. At the same time, you’ll help guide Minnesota Public Radio’s coverage of the state budget and its effects by sharing your priorities and insights with our newsroom. The balancer gives you nearly 100 options for cutting or raising spending and taxes. Every time you make a choice, we provide you with professionally researched information telling you the potential consequences. When you’re done balancing, you can email your budget to the governor, your legislators, the MPR newsroom, and your friends and family. You can also see how your budget stacks up against the governor’s and those of others who have played the Balancer.”
5. Sharpen the pitchforks and ready the torches!
Join Jason Lewis and thousands of your fellow Minnesotans for a rally at the Capitol on Saturday, April 14th at noon as the “Tax Cut Coalition” prepares to storm the barricades. For more information, or to sign up as a member of the Tax Cut Coalition, go to www.ktlkfm.com and sign up. 14,000 Minnesotans have already done so – add your name, drink the Kool-Aid and help restore some sanity to the legislative process.
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's E Update is written by Mark Giga
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