In yet another example of what happens if you allow hard working Minnesotans and businesses keep more of their money, we see that tax collections increase over projections.

Unpossible!

The Department of Minnesota Management and Budget says receipts from each of the three major taxes — income taxes, sales taxes and corporate taxes — exceeded expectations.

Governor Dayton and Democrats say that people have to pay their fair share or else tax collections will go down. Then how can the 2010 & 2011 Republican budgets that didn’t raise taxes end up resulting in more tax revenue for the state?

Strib: Gov. Dayton gets standing ovation from business group
PiPress: Dayton scolds business leaders for opposition to tax overhaul

Those stories are both about the very same event. Video of this Dayton tantrum would be amazing to see.

If you go on to read both stories, you’ll find out that Dayton went in angry and clinging to his principles and determined to lecture business leaders, not listen.

Mark Dayton is bad for business and jobs are created when businesses thrive. Mark Dayton only cares about Government thriving.

Democrats have unveiled another laundry list of taxes at the State Capital. This one is relates to transportation. Two words: Job killer. 

Its Rep. Erhardt’s bill HF931 (pdf) Emphasis mine)

• authorizing and appropriating $800.8 million in trunk highway bonds, provided at $100 million per year over fiscal years 2014-17;
• raising registration taxes by increasing the rate (from 1.25 percent to 1.375 percent of depreciated base value) as well as the flat fee (from $10 to $20);
• establishing a late payment penalty for some registration taxes;
• increasing taxes on motor fuels by a total of 9.5 cents per gallon for gasoline and diesel with proportional increases for other fuel types, which is phased in over fiscal years 2014-17;
• allocating all revenue from motor vehicle lease sales tax to transportation purposes;
• expanding the general sales tax to include motor vehicle repairs and service, with revenues allocated to transportation purposes;
• amending exemptions to the general sales tax to include purchases made with constitutionally dedicated transportation funds;
• eliminating some exemptions from the motor vehicle sales tax;
• raising the flat tax, from $90 to $150, imposed on sales of collector vehicles in lieu of the motor vehicle sales tax;
• modifying the county wheelage tax, to expand the authority to all counties and eliminate a $5 cap;
• raising the rate, from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, for the metropolitan area transportation sales tax and requiring allocation of a one-third of revenues to county highways;
• eliminating a referendum requirement on the local option transportation sales tax for counties in Greater Minnesota; and
• authorizing cities to establish municipal street improvement districts.

I’m sitting here adding up all the added costs that would result from this bill. Not just me personally, but also our business. And that is just the stated increases, this bill would remove multiple layers of accountability by removing referendums and caps that would allow local cities and counties to tax at will.

Two other words come to mind after reading that summary: Term Limits. Its time for term limits in Minnesota.

If this passes, this is yet another shining example of why you should not consider opening a business in Minnesota if Democrats are in charge. And newsflash folks, not everyone works for the Government, so if you want a good paying job, you need people that will want to run a business here.

Its interesting to me that whenever Government is projected to have a deficit, there are talks of spending cuts, or even reductions in the growth rate of it, Democrats trot out the Police, firefighters, old people, and school kids to use as a backdrop to force Republicans to increase taxes. Every single time there is not bipartisan support to increase taxes, the Democrats rattle off the same laundry list of services that will be cut or people that will lose their jobs. Its like clock work.

Now there is political motivation for why they do that, but the point it, they claim to understand some basic business principles. The idea is that if you restrict the amount of revenue Government has available to it, that things will have to change. They will have to find savings or cut spending. They always go for the jugular of schools, seniors, and first responders.

Perpetual and permanent government growth is the Democrats Alamo. They know that if Americans and Minnesotans remember/”figure out” that they can get a better deal, have better choices, and more freedom and liberty through the private sector that their quest for absolute power over the lives of us is over.Its why they oppose any education reforms empowering parents to do what is best for their kids. Unions remove the ability for localities to cater their pay and benefits to meet the local market supply and demand. Its one size fits all, let us make this decision for you.

A eerily plausible fictional interpretation of what Democrats truly envision is part of the Atlas Shrugged movies. Part 2 includes Directive 10-289.

You see evidence of that in DFL State Rep. Ryan Winkler’s minimum wage proposal which prohibits businesses from reacting to Government actions. Take a look at his latest amendment to the Minimum wage increase which shines a light on the scary similarities between modern day Democrats and the Wesley Mouch of Atlas Shrugged.

“Large employer” means an enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not less than $625,000…”

[...]

“No employer may take any action to displace an employee, including a partial displacement through a reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits, in order to hire an employee at the wage authorized in this paragraph.”

[...]

“EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.”

I’m no economist and we hire a bookkeeper, but chances are our modest 5 employee company fits Winkler’s “large employer” definition. Just as the SAFE Act and Wall Street bills were aimed at millionaires and billionaires, little mom and pop shops, doing good and honest work providing goods and services with nary a complaint, end up getting squashed under the same iron fist of bureaucrats and progressive do-gooders.

Case in point. Winkler’s law will prohibit companies from doing exactly what he says Government will be forced to do if taxes aren’t increased. People will be fired or as Obama says with Sequestration, government workers will be furloughed.

Somehow Government understands that it takes money for private employers to actually employ people, but it doesn’t care that higher taxes, mandates wage increases, and government red tape all make that harder to do. Just imagine if they had the self awareness to pretend that their sacred Government was a private business and they were the CEO. The roles reversed. They understand the economic of business, the problem is their business is Government.

I could go on, but the point is, isn’t it ironic that whenever spending cuts are mentioned, Democrats squeal like pigs, yet they call businesses and private citizens greedy and unpatriotic when they have a similar reaction to Government wanting to take more of their money away.

Another great bit of journalism from the Duluth News Tribune on the Mark Dayton sales tax plan and how it would actually affect Minnesota’s economy.

The trucking association, however, is focusing on the fact that — if Dayton’s proposed budget is passed — the 5.5 percent tax would be added every time a product is shipped by truck.

For example, if a truck is hauling lumber, there would be a tax for trucking the raw material out of the woods and to the mill, Hausladen said. It would be taxed again to haul it to a plant. It would be taxed yet again to haul it to the distributor, he said, and finally, it could be taxed if it’s trucked to the person purchasing the lumber to build something.

Why that almost sounds like a Value Added Tax. Problem is, we have the full slate of other taxes.

The point is, this Sales Tax plan of Mark Dayton will devastate the manufacturing industry in Minnesota by ratcheting up the cost of good and services which will lead to less jobs down the road by making Minnesota suppliers less competitive to out of state ones.

Yep. Senator Branden Petersen is my State Senator.

Nope, I do not agree with his decision to co-author the gay marriage bill being presented by the Democrats. I was in the area for a different reason and swung by his office at the Capital to provide Sen. Petersen the chance to do some constituent outreach. Let’s just say, neither of us were swayed. But I thank him for the time to present my opinion and what I think he should do as my State Senator.

I encourage everyone from Senator District 35 to call or visit Senator Petersen and ask him to reconsider. 

I would ask only people from SD35 call Petersen.

I know there was an email sent out from a certain someone, but that is not the productive way to change one’s mind. If you live in another District, call YOUR Senator and remind them how you feel on the issue.

Sen. Branden Petersen is in the State Office Building Office 127

Phone: 651-296-3733

Email: sen.branden.petersen@senate.mn

Please be respectful. While we disagreed on this issue, we did so with respect.

Sidenote: It was nice to see some of the other great Senators I’ve gotten to know over the years while I was there. To them I say keep up the good work and go have a talk with Petersen please. 

 Update:

Here’s the results on the amendment in SD35. (See all by HD here)

If President Obama spent half the time fixing the economy as he did campaigning….

Via the Emperor’s email:

So this Friday, February 22nd, Organizing for Action volunteers all around the country are participating in a Day of Action focused on one simple goal: get Congress to pass legislation to require universal background checks and remove loopholes.

There’s an event near you in Minneapolis – will you be there?

Here are the details:

What: Day of Action event in Minneapolis

Where: 300 Washington Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

When: Friday, February 22nd
2:00 pm

The President has already taken key steps, but Congress needs to act, and we need to demand it.

Requiring background checks for all gun sales is a common-sense solution that 92 percent of Americans, 89 percent of Republicans, and 74 percent of NRA members support. We’ve got to keep firearms from getting into the wrong hands — and this is a crucial first step.

Maybe some law abiding citizens should show up and infiltrate the movement to fundamentally transform America.

The underreported of and jaw dropping spin being applied to the DFL’s naked power grab and disrespect for nearly half of the Minnesota electorate, is going to continue to drive newspaper subscriptions and local TV news ratings down the drain.

Minnesota House GOP leader says anger over rule changes won’t threaten bonding bill

This was the most divisive rule change ever in Minnesota politics. It brings Washingtonian style partisanship to St. Paul. You see Dayton and the Democrat special interests bought the Legislature, but they only managed to win that by 2050 or so properly placed votes. They got lucky in other words and know that with a little hard work, smart moves on data improvements, and the right plan, Republicans could easily take back the Minnesota House and expose Dayton as the fringe left socialist that he really is.

The fact that I know how the left wing special interests have to limit Dayton’s negotiating meetings in order to prevent him from being reasonable and compromising means that the reporters also know this.

This rule change was another firewall to prevent compromise and bi-partisanship in Minnesota state government.

The DFL is now effectively killing the amendment process. They did so to avoid their members being on the record against common sense revisions to their radical laws they plan to pass. And that’s the key, Democrats can pass anything they want to with out Republican help, except the bonding bill which requires 2/3rds to pass or 90 votes. Hence the media’s desire to put Republicans firmly on the record of willing to play nice despite being silenced by the majority.

The fact is the DFL’s laws, mostly crafted by left wing special interest groups (Odd the media isn’t all over this since they were all over the GOP’s affection for ALEC laws last year). The gun restriction laws are a great example. They were written by Bloomberg’s group which is why the lobbyist had to present the bill, Alice Hausman didn’t know what it even said.

The power grab of the rule change erasing the ability to amendment a bill on the floor is going to come back and bight the DFL. Because one of their copy and past bills will have a mistake, it will be on deadline, and they will have to kill it or pass it and allow the mistake to become law.

While both sides have abused the amendment  process over the years, yes BOTH SIDES, it is still a good process to allow transparency and equal representation. Dare I say taxation with out representation? Regardless, the fact is one party and all their powerful special interests are going to get something wrong and when that happens, the egg will be on their face.

The question is, will the press bother to point the blame in the right direction? Lord knows they didn’t bother to cover many facts yet in this session.

RF Flashback circa 2007: Lunacracy In Action – Absence Matters – Destructive Energy Bill Stalled, “Less” Destructive One Passes

Lunacracy – A form of Government where reality and common sense are excluded from the debate, where special interest groups have more clout than the average citizens being governed. The Constitution is not to be considered a binding blueprint for the role and powers of such Government.

Lunacrat – An elected official who is more concerned with special interest support than doing what is right for the people they were elected to represent.

Oh look, unelected bureaucrat demands more of your money to be used against your best interests.

Met Council chairwoman supports proposed transit sales tax hike during State of Region

Metropolitan Council Chair Sue Haigh reiterated her support for Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposed transit tax on Monday, Feb. 11 during her “State of the Region” address at the St. Paul Union Depot on Kellogg Boulevard.

Appearing before hundreds of onlookers,

And there were just a dozen or so who showed up to defend their 2nd Amendment rights from Dayton’s allies in the Legislature, but hey, they are professional journalists, they just count differently. When its a liberal action item, they count fingers and toes.

Haigh said that the recently-renovated train depot, first completed in 1923, represented the kind of long-term commitment to transportation infrastructure that the region is once again contemplating.

The “region” Dayton and his minions in the shadow government of Met Council focus on is downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. Their only plans for the broader Metro area is taxation….. OK fine, and to make it nearly impossible to drive your own car so you will finally surrender to their 19th century plan of trains trains trains.

“The generation that invested in this building did us a great favor in constructing this kind of lasting investment,” she said.

It probably cost a few hundred thousand dollars to build, and these lunatics just dumped over $250 million into it in order to explain why they needed to tear up a main thoroughfare between Minneapolis and St. Paul and disrupt thousands of peoples’ lives and put a bunch of business out of business. Ribbon cutting ceremony trumps jobs and the economy.

But hey, let’s scrape off the lipstick ad get to the hog suckling at the teet of the Twin City taxpayers.

Dayton has said he will push for a .25 percent sales tax, equivalent to a nickel on every $20 purchase, within the seven county metro. If approved by the state Legislature, the funds could help launch up to 15 passenger rail and Bus Rapid Transit lines within the next 20 years.

Record high gas prices. Stagnant economic growth. Tax increases hitting every Minnesotan. Uncertain cost of health insurance and the looming possibility of employers cutting hours to avoid the Government overreach in Dayton’s dream of Obamacare.

And here we have Dayton’s unelected shadow government trying to dig into our wallets for even more money to spend on their social engineering.

Maybe in heaven the news media will inform voters just how much disdain these bureaucrats have for free will and free markets.

While rome is burning, this lady is building a taj ma hall to rekindle that love affair Americans gladly made obsolete a century ago.

The locomotive.

Lunacrats: