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Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
2. What better way to serve taxpayers than by creating mini-Met Councils all over the state?
3. Ground control to Speaker Pelosi.
4. “Sign this or we break your kneecaps.”
5. One of the (few) things President Bush has gotten right.
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
Tune in this Saturday to AM 1280 The Patriot from 9 – 11am when David will be joined by Grover Norquist and Paul Marquart. Norquist, African freedom fighter and President of Americans for Tax Reform, will give us an update from Washington and tell us how taxpayers fared during Speaker Pelosi’s first 100 hours. Marquart, State Representative from Dilworth and chair of the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee, will talk about this year’s chances for property tax relief and the website he set up to take your ideas on how to solve the problem.
And in case you haven’t heard, former State Representative and Lifetime Best Friend of the Taxpayer Phil Krinkie has joined the Taxpayers League of Minnesota as its new President. Of course this is great for the Taxpayers League, but it’ll be even better for Minnesota taxpayers and the ongoing struggle for economic liberty.
2. Who knew fleecing taxpayers could be this much fun?
Just in case you didn’t think there were enough unelected bureaucrats telling you where you could or couldn’t build a house, plant a garden or develop a business, a handful of state legislators are ready to extend to Greater Minnesota all the benefits us folks in the Metro have been grateful for lo these many years; regional development commissions. Imagine, if House File 281 passes, a half-crazed wave of City Managers, Deputy Associate Planners for Transportation, Special Liaisons for Sustainable Growth and Regional Coordinators for Trying Your Last Ounce of Patience will wash across dozens of cities and counties all over the state with their briefing books, feasibility studies and color-coded pie charts ready to turn your once unique burg, dale or hamlet into a stultifying clone of the latest rage in multi-modal, high-density, urban villagery. As Ronald Reagan once said, “the nine scariest words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
By the way, Happy Birthday, Gipper.
3. “I have said that I am happy to ride commercial if the plane they have doesn't go coast to coast.''
As you may have heard, Speaker Nancy Pelosi recentlypressed the Department of Defenseto provide her with a military aircraft for flights, including trips back to San Francisco. Pelosi requested an Air Force C-32 – a plane from a fleet that that typically carries the vice president, the first lady, and Cabinet officials – that comes with operating costs of approximately $15,000 an hour. Of course Speaker Pelosi isn’t responsible for paying for the use of her “personal” Department of Defense jet – which will be used to transport not just herself, but staff, family, other members and friends. That bill is paid for by taxpayer dollars allotted to the Department of Defense.
“…For one of those planes to fly the speaker home to San Francisco, drop her off, and fly back and get her, would cost taxpayers around $300,000 – while round-trip commercial fares start at $233.” (DC Examiner, 2/5/2007)
“The larger plane requested by Speaker Pelosi would include 42 business class seats, a fully-enclosed state room, an entertainment center, a private bed, state-of-the-art communications system and a crew of 16.” (CNN, 2/5/07)
Of course, Speaker Denny Hastert had his own plane (though it was a much smaller jet with a third of the crew), but then again Republicans don’t normally campaign as God’s exclusive messenger to the working man, the poor and the downtrodden either.
4. Big Labor introduces “card check” bill in U.S. House.
“Democrat lawmakers have introduced HR 800, ironically known as the Employee Free Choice Act. ‘This legislation, which makes it easier for big labor to organize workers, would also do irreparable harm to workers and their families,’ said Ryan Ellis, executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom.” Under HR 800:
> The individual worker’s private ballot would be eliminated, opening the door to rampant voter intimidation. Instead, undemocratic “card checks” would be utilized.
> The National Labor Relations Board would be bypassed during efforts to unionize workers, make this federal referee unable to ensure that the unionization process is conducted in a free and fair manner.
> Workers who reject unionization would be unfairly penalized by union officials for their non-compliance.
> Small businesses would be forced to succumb to union demands or face mandatory contracts enforced by federal bureaucrats.
“These provisions would surely lead to heavy-handed coercion on the part of Big Labor. As Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform said in Investor’s Business Daily, ‘It would allow them to get guys with baseball bats to follow workers home and say, 'Sign this or we break your kneecaps.’”
5. And some are even trying to take that away from him.
As mentioned last week, a bill has been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature that would reduce the tax we pay on capital gains. The reduction of that tax, which as been partly responsible for the explosion in federal tax receipts over the last few years, is currently under increasing scrutiny from Congressional Democrats. Thankfully, Brian Riedl at the Heritage Foundation has published a piece titled, “Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts.” Take a look, learn yourself something about economic incentives and then call your member of Congress and tell then to make the extension of the tax cuts their first priority.
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's E Update is written by Mark Giga
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