It’s nothing new. Governor Dayton hasn’t been shy about his desire for more state spending and higher taxes – even if neither is necessary. It almost seems like a programmed response, where higher taxes and more spending aren’t desired for any particular outcome, but rather, just for the sake of more spending and more taxes.
Just over a year ago, Minnesota Majority produced an ad to demonstrate the governor’s mechanical drive towards “More Spending, More Taxes,” even when economic and political realities flew in the face of that unjustified idea. If we lived in a perfect utopia where every family was prosperous and secure, and the insatiable state government was somehow content for a moment, Governor Dayton would likely still call for “More Spending, More Taxes.”
Flash forward two and a half years to some key items in the governor’s latest budget proposal:
Governor Dayton has proposed to “reduce” the sales tax rate to 5.5%, but extend the sales tax to clothing and numerous services that aren’t currently taxed, including business-to-business services.
The (perhaps) unintended consequences will be:
Everyone will pay more sales tax, even though the rate is reduced. The sales tax “restructuring” scheme will actually increase sales tax revenues by $2 billion dollars. That’s not a tax cut! The proposed lower rate is an illusion designed to make taxpayers think they’re getting a break, when in reality, we’ll all be paying more. The lowest income families will be hardest hit by this measure. Home owners get a $500 per year tax credit, though.
A tax on clothes could wind up backfiring. The Mall of America is an international tourist destination that attracts significant, taxable revenue from around the world. A lot of people come to Minnesota and spend a lot of money here, specifically because the mega-mall offers high-end retail clothing without sales tax. Taxing clothes will almost definately reduce corporate income tax returns, lead to more laid-off workers who are collecting unemployment instead of paying income taxes and reduce taxable revenues in other sectors – hotels, transportation, bars and restaurants and more.
Taxing business-to-business services is a stealth tax that most people won’t notice directly. When businesses raise their prices to cover the hike, the business will be blamed, but the real reason will be new, higher taxes that get built into the cost of goods and services.
Governor Dayton has proposed nearly a $1 per-pack tax hike for cigarettes – something he’d previously promised not to do, because it’s “regressive” and falls hardest on families with low incomes. On the campaign trail, Dayton said, “You raise the price of a pack of cigarettes…that’s money out of the pockets of working people and poorer people, and that means kids don’t have as much to eat or have the same quality of food.”
Dayton has been on a crusade to make the “rich pay their fair share,” but apparently governor Dayton thinks anyone who earns any money at all is rich. With cost and wage inflation, his proposal to tax individuals earning $150,000 a year or more at the highest rate in the nation, at 9.85%, he’s striking awful close to the middle class, and setting the stage for an exodus of both wealth and job-creators, to other states with lower income tax rates.
When the producers flee to more advantageous (and likely warmer) states, state government will have no choice to but to raise the tax burdens on lower-income, less mobile workers to keep funding the ever-expanding state budget. To see the results of these tried-and-failed policies, look to the bankrupt, hollow shell that Detroit has become. Do we want to import poverty and broken cities to Minnesota?
To make matters worse, the governor’s budget increases state spending by $5 billion, but only raises a little over $2 billion in revenue, setting the stage for continuous deficits, and government shut-downs.
Take Action:
Contact the governor and your legislators and tell them what you think of Governor Dayton’s irresponsible budget plan. Minnesota must live within its means. Deterring business, taxing basic services and hitting the poor is not a plan to improve Minnesota’s future. Raising government revenue without taking a serious look at cutting out waste and fraud during our current economic downturn is irresponsible and needless. Click here to quickly and easily send your messages.
Help Minnesota Majority oppose Governor Dayton’s regressive tax plan by making a contribution, today. Together, we can defend Minnesota’s future. Click here to make a secure online contribution.
Why let Dayton corrupt the state to pay off his debt to his corrupt union buds? He used to be a better man to pay his own debts. He’s got enough stashed over seas. If everyone has to sacrifice there would be no added costs to society or increased wages in government and their entities. No one in the private sector has gotten a cost of living raise for years! Simply taxing anything for more government revenue is not ethical. Taxing clothes when clothes are mandatory is low, underhanded and insensitive.
NO more taxes! They creep up by themselves as it is, so why add more! CUT PROGRAMS that need to be weeded out! Do you job, Mr. Dayton. That’s what you are there for!
Misleading words of the Mark Daytons shows dangerously amazing witness to how government liars in control destroy all peoples potential well being.
Every person believing the words of the Constitution are “expired” are people wrongly taught by distortion of facts, the ones given authority to teach and the ones with authority and intent to give. All government controlled! At extreme costs the government, against the will of the majority if not all, wants to make distortions of facts standard in education when educating distortions is criminal! The truth is there! Why manipulate the minds with untruths unless sinister? Every parent of a school child has every right to civilly sue the teacher and all accomplice teaching fiction! Government education system has no right or consent to charge us taxes to spend our money teaching anyway or anything government wants to indoctrinate. Social engineering limits thinking and mental capabilities at extreme costs in multiple ways.
The ones misinterpreting the Constitution isn’t helping anyone but the conduct of government to unconstitutionally and uncivilly narrow the minds of society for government control reasons only. Every person teaching society to oppose the constitution is dumbing down society to think government Datons rules in society is better than leaving society free to rule their own by common reasoning and sense through the words of empowerment the constitution gives people to sustain freedom and protection from the abuses of those in government. All people elected are given the trust to protect our constitution. Party irrelevant. Democrats decided to abuse their power to disregard the laws of the people, disrespect principle and the trust people put in democrats to protect the Constitution. But the democrats raped it in use against us to control everywhere free people once lived and people never free would’ve lived.
Government doesn’t belong in societies’ individual livelihoods and lifestyles like the constitutional oath and principles were upheld when they grew up. Think about it!! ALL people that oppose the Constitution are the same ones that respected it freely to have control of their own. Ask Mr. Dayton how much government dependency he needed growing up then ask why Minnesotans should be controlled by government today? Especially the minority who’s self esteem is influenced by force to depend on him/government?
This collective ideology the government forces, limits every aspect of everybody’s “individual” minds’ potential. The Constitution doesn’t limit the mind or potential because the mind and potential are ones own.
Government Dayton control makes nothing great. Free Minnesotans that live on common principle and accountability like the Mayo Clinic once stood proud on, is what makes Minnesota great. Minnesotans learn to know “equal rights” aren’t defined by government rule because we’re all equal. Allowing government the power to define any rights “gay” or by race, creed or culture makes us unequal and gives government lots of unconstitutional power and jobs of belittlement when we can handle our own identities with respect for each others.
Race is the only thing we don’t have a choice in (maybe those that had us, did?) but in America we can handle that, seeing we’re all human we have to stop government from discriminating people by race. How against all America stands for tax dollars are spent on that!
Government oppression does nothing to make this state or us great. The ideology of this governed mentality is a disgrace to everyone with a brain. They’re failing people and grown adults can’t bring themselves to the level of a person to admit it. Highly paid with only collective thought and reasoning? Lets legislate “money back guarantees.” Minnesotans have to take their power back. Too much government drives businesses and good people out building corruption with government designed crises by democratic collective reasoning, all around us. So much could be solved and prevented through logic and common sense that the collective democratic thinking is holding Minnesota back!
… by the way, since you and mom want to punish by discrimination, people who have done well for themselves through the equal opportunity anyone could choose by personal independence and motivation (that government dependency holds people back from) AND punish people that smoke so you can force them to quit, what can we take away from you to make you all healthier? What’s fair is fair right? and (just because you’re not overweight doesn’t mean you’re healthy.) I know, your jobs! Now there’s balance! Gosh, Mr. Dayton, can you and your other bright bulbs think who you’re going to punish next when smokers (bringing government a thieving amount now) quit and where that puts employment in the tobacco industries? And honorable people of wealth in Minnesota move out? What a direct failure in leadership. You decided a path against the will of the people without allowing all people a sincere will to have according to the proper interpretation of the peoples Constitution where the people draw the line! Collective thinkers decide the collective thought in the last 5 years is stick to what doesn’t work, more spending, more taxes and not another thought…that would be outside their collective. Except it’s George Bush’s fault and their minds aint goin’ anywhere else! Isn’t there a democrat left that hasn’t lost or given their brain to the collective? We pray republicans that give into the weaker, regain their sense of common reasoning to lead by example according to the proper context of the peoples constitution that doesn’t reflect government dependency. We the people with those we know we can trust and those that show us they can be trusted, can make it happen! yeah!