Happy Tax Day — a Day to Notice What Tax Money Does for You
Monday, April 16, 2007 at 10:24 am
- 26 Comments
The usual group of surly curmudgeons gathered on the Capitol steps Saturday demanding an end to taxation. Jason Lewis and the entire listenership of KTLK (charitably estimated by the station itself at 7,000) gathered to demand an end to this onerous government thing once and for all.
The fact that they’ve not seen a tax increase at the state level since 2000 seemed to float idly by as they worked hard to demonize Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, and all other DFLers as tax-and-spend liberals.
Now, that line never has made much sense to me as an attack. Unless you want your government to resemble Somalia’s, you’re going to have to spend money on something. And if you’re going to have your government spending money, it’s going to need to tax people.
The people calling for an end to all taxes Saturday drove to the Capitol on public roads in cars whose safety was verified by the federal government. (I was going to note that some may have bused in, but I think we all know that didn’t happen.) Undoubtedly, many of them have children who are students in the public schools; undoubtedly most of them attended public schools themselves. Many of them have probably attended a Wild game at the publicly financed Xcel Energy Center, and many will probably be attending a Twins game at the new publicly financed Twins stadium. All of them eat U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food, many of them at city-inspected restaurants. Certainly all of them expect the police to show up promptly if they’re robbed, the fire department to put out any conflagrations at their homes, ambulances to whisk them to the hospital if they’re sick and courts to provide justice if they need it.Most of us have enough reason to recognize that those things cost money. And money doesn’t grow on trees, not even for the government.
The anti-tax gripers have had a fair amount of success over the past decade in this state. From 1999 through the start of this year, they had a sympathetic group in the House. Former Gov. Jesse Ventura could best be described as a fiscal pragmatist, Gov. Tim Pawlenty a fiscal conservative. Neither man was a free-wheeling spender, and neither man had much love for tax hikes.
This has led to flat state revenue and spending, and that’s led to unsurprising results. High school graduation rates are on the decline. Minnesota ranks 37th among the states in access to early childhood education. Congestion on the roads is up severely. And up to 90,000 children lack health care.
Well, at least low tax rates lead to rampant economic growth, right? Wrong. An Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy study showed that “the 10 states with the highest personal income tax burdens had higher average annual growth in per capita personal income than the 10 states with the lowest personal income tax burdens.” The 10 “high-tax” states outperformed the national average; the 10 “low-tax” states underperformed it. Another study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed that states that cut taxes most in the 1990s created fewer jobs, had a larger increase in unemployment and had slower economic growth than other states.
And Minnesota has borne out these trends. Our growth rate is slipping relative to the national average. We’re behind Mississippi in income growth. Unemployment, which has traditionally been lower in Minnesota than the overall federal rate, is now higher, a soaring 5.1 percent — up sharply from the 2.8 percent average in 1999, the year the GOP took control of Minnesota’s lower house.
You see, while the surly curmudgeons whine and cry about having to pay their fair share for what they get, a simple fact remains: For all its faults, the government provides a number of good and vital services. Without good schools, there are not enough good workers to drive the economy. Without good roads, shipping becomes difficult. Without adequate health care, productivity drops as parents have to care for sick children. And without an adequate safety net, people who might be able to recover from a bad spot and become productive members of society instead find themselves slipping inexorably through the cracks.
Minnesota built its reputation and its economy on spending tax dollars when they needed to be spent. That spending by our parents secured a stable and prosperous state for us. The curmudgeons want to take what prosperity they’ve enjoyed and hoard it for themselves. And that leaves everyone all the poorer.
26 Comments
Comment posted April 16, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
Huh? “The people calling for an end to all taxes”
All taxes? Really?
Comment posted April 16, 2007 @ 10:30 pm
Some did take public transportation to go I was reading this on conservative blogs.
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 8:50 am
So What? No one at the Tax Ralley is advocating ending ALL Taxes.
And who cares if they take public transportation? They paid for it right?
Come on…..the hypocracy in the story is overwhelming!
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
— “The point is, Jeff, anyone who thinks taxes aren’t necessary is not worth arguing with. “
Neither is it worth arguing with somebody who disingenuously misrepresents your position.
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
Re: Public transit not a public good In your comment you made the claim that “Public transit is not a public good
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 9:04 am
No Taxes? How do you live with yourself? End All Taxes? Where did you hear that? I was there to protest out-of-control tax increases as was everyone else on the capital steps. I never heard one person or see one sign that even hinted at Ending All Taxes. If wasteful out-of-control tax and spending isn’t something you can comment on then just don’t comment. Don’t make up a baseless lie and run with it.
The fact that they’ve not seen a tax increase at the state level since 2000… Oh, so we have to raise tax rates. Why? If the economy keeps growing, as it has, then revenue keeps going up, and it has, then there is no need to raise taxes. That is why the budget is increased by almost 9.5% with cash left over. There is no, none, zero, zip reasons or need to increase any taxes in this situation. If the MN government can’t function on that then the MN government is the problem.
That is what the protest was about. Young children understood. How did you miss it?
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 1:13 pm
Nice Ethics “New Journalist Fellows should be honest, tireless, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information for the public.”
Sound familiar? It is your own CODE OF ETHICS! Violated with wanton disregard for any truth by “reporting” that Saturday’s tax protesters were “calling for an end to all taxes.”
You might get some respect for your position from the other side if you told the truth.
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
“Interpreting Information for the public” Well, for one, I’ve never heard of these pitch-fork carrying never-ending-tax-cutters say anything about investing in their communities. Year after year, after year it’s all about tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. “It’s yur muney, u’shld do wit it what’cha want” Like any of the money has anyones name on it.
It is an easy interpretation to be made for the never-ending call for more and more tax-cuts to conclude that those Anarchists League types want nothing more than the end to all taxes.
We’ve had years of deferred maintenance and our infrastructure is crumbling, and are education system is in trouble, and our people have a failed health-care system, and we have a failed war of choice with no calls for a higher sacrifice by anyone other than the military.
It is way past time to call out those anarchists for what they are.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 7:22 am
Dumping more money into an education system that fails taxpayers I agree that ” ‘are’ education system is in trouble..” (you must be a product of our fine public academic environment), but throwing more money at it with no accountability for results is not the answer. I would bet every last one of the people on my side of the aisle would be willing to fund an education system that actually teaches our kids, re-tracks those with no desire to learn in a formal environment, and gives taxpayers a return on their investment. Your use of “are” in place of “our” indicates to me that we are currently wasting money.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 7:39 am
your grammar attack of Ag indicates to me that you don’t usually read this site and “our” only here because you followed the KAR link.
I liked it better that way.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 8:18 am
New Reader That I do not usually read the site seems to me to be irrelevant; everyone has to come across something new somehow and in some fashion. I did follow the KAR link, and I thik you have some good things to say but I really would like to see a sharpening of the discourse. Why was there a statement about the rally that implied we “want to see all taxes eliminated”? That is simply false, and it divides those of us with differing views into warring camps instead of parties looking to find some common ground. I do understand, as do most of like mind with me that certain things government provides have to be paid for, and that to do that, we need to collect taxes. But we also have to watch the other side of the ledger and make sure money is used wisely and that those people striving to grow businesses and employ folks are not so burdened with taxes that they cannot make a go of it.
Sorry about the shot for grammar…I pretty much thought it was a typo but I was on a roll and decided to keep going. I will be a regular reader now that I have come to the site through KAR, as long as you “report” truthfully, as per your code of ethics.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Health Care AG:
I would not necessarily say it is a “failed” health care system: I do think it is broken, and a big reason for that is governmental subsidies. Anything that is subsidized usually ends up seeing an increase in prices because the market has a disproportionate ability to bear the cost increases by virtue of the subsidies. Those of us not on the subsidized track see increases in insurance costs, etc. Also, MD’s are working under a virtual “sword of Damaclese” with the constant threat from trial attorneys looking for a malpractice suit. That drives up costs, which are passed to the consumer.
The health care provided is still top notch in spite of all this. Please don’t suggest going to the socialist Canadian model…just ask them how that is working for them.
Comment posted April 16, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Huh? “The people calling for an end to all taxes”
All taxes? Really?
Comment posted April 16, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
Some did take public transportation to go I was reading this on conservative blogs.
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 3:50 am
So What? No one at the Tax Ralley is advocating ending ALL Taxes.
And who cares if they take public transportation? They paid for it right?
Come on…..the hypocracy in the story is overwhelming!
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 9:24 am
— “The point is, Jeff, anyone who thinks taxes aren’t necessary is not worth arguing with. “
Neither is it worth arguing with somebody who disingenuously misrepresents your position.
Comment posted April 17, 2007 @ 12:48 pm
Re: Public transit not a public good In your comment you made the claim that “Public transit is not a public good
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 4:04 am
No Taxes? How do you live with yourself? End All Taxes? Where did you hear that? I was there to protest out-of-control tax increases as was everyone else on the capital steps. I never heard one person or see one sign that even hinted at Ending All Taxes. If wasteful out-of-control tax and spending isn’t something you can comment on then just don’t comment. Don’t make up a baseless lie and run with it.
The fact that they've not seen a tax increase at the state level since 2000… Oh, so we have to raise tax rates. Why? If the economy keeps growing, as it has, then revenue keeps going up, and it has, then there is no need to raise taxes. That is why the budget is increased by almost 9.5% with cash left over. There is no, none, zero, zip reasons or need to increase any taxes in this situation. If the MN government can’t function on that then the MN government is the problem.
That is what the protest was about. Young children understood. How did you miss it?
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 8:13 am
Nice Ethics “New Journalist Fellows should be honest, tireless, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information for the public.”
Sound familiar? It is your own CODE OF ETHICS! Violated with wanton disregard for any truth by “reporting” that Saturday's tax protesters were “calling for an end to all taxes.”
You might get some respect for your position from the other side if you told the truth.
Comment posted April 18, 2007 @ 8:36 am
“Interpreting Information for the public” Well, for one, I've never heard of these pitch-fork carrying never-ending-tax-cutters say anything about investing in their communities. Year after year, after year it's all about tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. “It's yur muney, u'shld do wit it what'cha want” Like any of the money has anyones name on it.
It is an easy interpretation to be made for the never-ending call for more and more tax-cuts to conclude that those Anarchists League types want nothing more than the end to all taxes.
We've had years of deferred maintenance and our infrastructure is crumbling, and are education system is in trouble, and our people have a failed health-care system, and we have a failed war of choice with no calls for a higher sacrifice by anyone other than the military.
It is way past time to call out those anarchists for what they are.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 2:22 am
Dumping more money into an education system that fails taxpayers I agree that ” 'are' education system is in trouble..” (you must be a product of our fine public academic environment), but throwing more money at it with no accountability for results is not the answer. I would bet every last one of the people on my side of the aisle would be willing to fund an education system that actually teaches our kids, re-tracks those with no desire to learn in a formal environment, and gives taxpayers a return on their investment. Your use of “are” in place of “our” indicates to me that we are currently wasting money.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 2:39 am
your grammar attack of Ag indicates to me that you don't usually read this site and “our” only here because you followed the KAR link.
I liked it better that way.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 3:18 am
New Reader That I do not usually read the site seems to me to be irrelevant; everyone has to come across something new somehow and in some fashion. I did follow the KAR link, and I thik you have some good things to say but I really would like to see a sharpening of the discourse. Why was there a statement about the rally that implied we “want to see all taxes eliminated”? That is simply false, and it divides those of us with differing views into warring camps instead of parties looking to find some common ground. I do understand, as do most of like mind with me that certain things government provides have to be paid for, and that to do that, we need to collect taxes. But we also have to watch the other side of the ledger and make sure money is used wisely and that those people striving to grow businesses and employ folks are not so burdened with taxes that they cannot make a go of it.
Sorry about the shot for grammar…I pretty much thought it was a typo but I was on a roll and decided to keep going. I will be a regular reader now that I have come to the site through KAR, as long as you “report” truthfully, as per your code of ethics.
Comment posted April 19, 2007 @ 3:48 am
Health Care AG:
I would not necessarily say it is a “failed” health care system: I do think it is broken, and a big reason for that is governmental subsidies. Anything that is subsidized usually ends up seeing an increase in prices because the market has a disproportionate ability to bear the cost increases by virtue of the subsidies. Those of us not on the subsidized track see increases in insurance costs, etc. Also, MD's are working under a virtual “sword of Damaclese” with the constant threat from trial attorneys looking for a malpractice suit. That drives up costs, which are passed to the consumer.
The health care provided is still top notch in spite of all this. Please don't suggest going to the socialist Canadian model…just ask them how that is working for them.
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