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Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate
1. The David Strom Show presented by the Minnesota Free Market Institute.
2. Just what we need, more bike trails that “raise the aesthetic bar.”
3. Benton County ends its Northstar rail support.
4. “Give Tax Filers the Freedom to Choose.”
5. The Institute for Justice wins another round for economic freedom.
1. The David Strom Show presented by the Minnesota Free Market Institute.
Tune in this Saturday to AM 1280 The Patriot from 9 – 11 am when David will be joined by Michael Cannon and Erik Paulsen. Cannon is the Cato Institute’s Director of Health Policy Studies and co-author of Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It. During the second hour, Paulsen, State Representative from Eden Prairie, will talk about his recent trip to India with Governor Pawlenty. Also, be sure to tune in for an analysis of Tuesday’s school levy referenda results.
2. Just what we need, more bike trails that “raise the aesthetic bar.”
On Channel 9 News on Wednesday night, Fox Investigator Tom Lyden examined (with plenty of input from Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie) where our transportation tax dollars are being spent: relieving road congestion or building more bike paths. Click the link above and view the story. Once you've seen the story, click here and get your own copy of the Taxpayers League's Transportation I.Q. Quiz and find out for yourself which most recent boondoggle is siphoning off our transportation dollars.
3. Benton County ends its Northstar rail support.”
Copied and selectively edited from Wednesday’s St. Cloud Times:
“FOLEY — After more than a decade of advocating for a rail line to transport commuters from Central Minnesota to the Twin Cities, Benton County is ending its financial contribution to the project.
“The withdrawal becomes official in 90 days, although Benton County likely will be required to pay the $68,692 it already committed to Northstar for 2008. It's not yet clear what impact the move will have on efforts to extend the rail line north from its current planned end point of Big Lake.
“Benton commissioners have been struggling with whether to keep contributing money to Northstar since a feasibility study was released in September. The study showed that a second phase of the commuter rail line from Big Lake to Rice would not have enough riders to make it eligible for federal funding. The first phase of the rail line from Minneapolis to Big Lake is scheduled to begin operating in 2009.
“Benton County has spent more than $500,000 in the last 10 years on Northstar with ‘nothing to show for it,’ [County Commissioner Joe] Wollak said. ‘When is enough, enough?’ The county should be addressing larger problems, he said, such as the need for road improvements and building space.
“Wollak said many people are surprised to learn that there won't be trains running up and down the line all day, but only in the morning and evening. He noted that the feasibility study predicted that there would be just 20-30 riders getting on the train at Rice by 2030. ‘The ridership forecast has not changed in 10 years,’ he said.
“…longtime Commissioner Duane Walter, who has consistently voted against Northstar, said it worries him to commit future taxpayers to paying an unknown amount into ‘a never-ending hole.’ ‘We've wasted enough money on it,’ Walter said. ‘Let's not waste any more.’”
4. “Give Tax Filers the Freedom to Choose.”
From Tuesday’s OpinionJournal’s Political Diary by Stephen Moore:
“Voters want change, but Republicans seem bereft of new ideas. That's why a tax restructuring proposal by Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Jeb Hensarling of Texas suddenly seems to be gaining support on Capitol Hill.
“Called ‘The Taxpayer Choice Act,’ the bill provides a GOP counterproposal to Democratic House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel's trillion-dollar tax hike, itself offered as a solution to the runaway alternative minimum tax. As Mr. Ryan tells me, ‘We can't beat something with nothing, which is why we introduced the Choice Act.’ [emphasis added because there are some of you out there just skimming the eUpdate]
“It works like this: The AMT would be repealed, protecting 20 million middle-class Americans from paying it next year. An optional postcard tax return would be created with two rates: 10% on income up to $100,000 and 25% on income above. The first $40,000 of income for a family would be tax free, but most deductions would be eliminated.
“Presto. This solves the political problem of most flat-tax proposals -- the reluctance of voters to give up tax deductions they savor. Filers would have a choice of the postcard return or continuing to comply with the current code, and would be expected to figure out over time that they are better off with a flatter, simpler tax return.”
5. The Institute for Justice wins another round for economic freedom.
Two items from our intrepid friends at the Institute for Justice. First, an update on Luis Paucar’s suit against the Minneapolis cab cabal that was featured in the eUpdate earlier this year:
“Can an entrenched cartel of Minneapolis taxi drivers violate the civil rights of entrepreneurs and consumers?
“No, according to U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin L. Noel. In an opinion released today [October 29th], the judge recommended that a lawsuit brought by members of the taxi cartel to overturn the city’s free-market reforms be dismissed.
“‘This is a victory for both aspiring taxi entrepreneurs and for Minneapolis consumers,’ said Scott Bullock, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice who argued the case. ‘Established businesses should not be able to use the law to quash competition and close the marketplace.’ Today’s ruling ensures that does not happen.’” You can read more about the case here.
Second, international recognition for the good work IJ is doing in trying to free ranchers from the rancorous reach of the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
But so what, right? Who cares about cab service in Minnesota’s premier cesspool or whether the Republic of Texas forces some cowboys to take a few vet classes before they start pulling horse teeth? To paraphrase the words of Dark Helmet in Spaceballs, “evil (Government) will always triumph over good (us) because good is dumb.” Of course that doesn’t mean we’re stupid, we just have different priorities. While you and I spend our time doing valuable things like going to work, attending church and spending time with our families, government bureaucrats spend their time thinking up new and twistical ways to nonchalantly position themselves behind us to take advantage of the next time we accidentally drop our keys. No, allowing one man and his car the opportunity to offer cab service isn’t the panacea to all our problems with government. But IJ, one case at time (or, one horse molar at a time), is slowing reversing the march of liberalism and protecting Americans – kind of like a giant economic freedom-loving chastity belt.
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's eUpdate is written by Mark Giga
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