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Taxpayers League of Minnesota eUpdate
SATURDAY, APRIL 12TH – HIGH NOON – STATE CAPITOL TAX RALLY
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW
April 4, 2008
1. David’s guests this week are Paul Kohls and King Banaian.
2. Balancing the budget one special interest group at a time.
3. The Legislature passed $925 million in bonding and all I got was another $160 million in transit spending.
4. What have you been doing for the last 3 ½ months?
5. Join 10,000 of your fellow peasants at the State Capitol on April 12th.
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 Paul Kohls.
Kohls, a third term State Representative from Victoria, will give us an update on the supplemental budget bill that was passed early this morning.
At 10 am, David’s guest will be St. Cloud State economics professor King Banaian, to talk about the economy and ongoing problems in the financial markets. As always, the studio line – (651) 289-4488 – is available for your raves, rants and concerns.
Also, be sure to tune in at 9:15 am for the Capitol report with Phil Krinkie.
2. Balancing the budget one special interest group at a time.
Unless you were up at 2 am this morning, you most likely missed the conclusion of debate on the House version of the supplemental budget bill. The bill, which aims to reconcile the state’s $938 million deficit, is a constitution-choking train wreck of accounting shifts, new spending and policy initiatives. While there is much to dislike about this version of the bill – like how exactly do you erase a budget deficit without cutting spending? – two parts of the bill should be especially singled-out and ridiculed. The first, and most destructive, are the new taxes being levied against Minnesota companies that do business overseas (which is exactly where Minnesota jobs will be heading shortly). The second, and most disappointing, is the language that repeals the statutory definition of what is a “fee” versus what is a “tax.” So much for liberals taking over and governing as a fiscally moderate caucus.
3. The Legislature passed $925 million in bonding and all I got was another $160 million in transit spending.
Earlier this week the House and Senate sent their conference report on the bonding bill to Governor Pawlenty. The bill, which required three legislative staffers and a wheel barrow to get it down the hall to the Governor’s office, rumbles in at a forehead-slapping $925 million; well over the 3% debt limit cap that has historically served as the last barrier between legislators and their shadier, more profligate selves.
The Governor, who has threatened to veto the entire bill rather than trim it down by the $100 million or so needed to get under the cap, has until Monday to decide what to do. While it may be easy enough to cut out the few millions for gorilla and polar bear cages at local zoos and tell Bemidji to take a hike and build their own hockey rink, the far better course of action would be to veto the entire bill and send a message to all the state legislators that have come to view biennial capital investment bills as their personal shopping sprees.
Just to make sure, if you’ve got a red pen lying around the house that you’re not really using, maybe you could mail it to the Governor’s office. Better yet, go out and buy one. An 89¢ investment today can save your kids thousands of dollars tomorrow.
Also make sure to read Craig Westover’s take on the bonding bill from today’s Pioneer Press: “‘Essential’ – or not, period.”
4. What have you been doing for the last 3 ½ months?
According to the Tax Foundation, you’ve been working for the federal government. This April 23rd marks 2008s “Tax Freedom Day” – the day you stop working for Uncle Sam and start working for yourself (though in Minnesota we don’t actually get let off the hook until April 27th).
“‘Government continues to dominate the American taxpayer’s budget,’ said Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge. ‘Americans will still spend more on taxes in 2008 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.’
“In 2008, Americans will work 74 days to afford their federal taxes and 39 more days to pay state and local taxes. Meanwhile, buying food requires 35 days of work, clothing 13 days, and housing 60 days. Other major categories are health and medical care (50 days), transportation (29 days), and recreation (21 days).”
5. Join 10,000 of your fellow peasants at the State Capitol on April 12th.
Despite $6.6 billion in transit taxes, a bonding bill as unhinged from reality as an Air America radio host and a supplemental budget bill that aims to drive our remaining Fortune 500 companies out of state, there’s more reason than ever to rally at the State Capitol on Saturday, April 12th at noon. Some of those reasons include hearing from Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie, picking up one of the new “Liberalism 202” lawn signs and the unveiling of a first-of-it’s-kind collectible from the Taxpayers League – though to find out what that is you’ll have to show up at the rally.
Noon, Saturday, April 12th at the State Capitol. Pitchfork optional.
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's eUpdate is written by Mark Giga
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