Taxes

Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a tax bill Wednesday night over language that would have required the state to take inflation into account when preparing a budget, as it had before 2002.

“When legislators and the Governor assemble the state budget, we shouldn’t assume that every program should grow on autopilot. We need to examine every taxpayer [...]

Editor’s Note:  Matt Martin writes a column twice monthly on the 1st and 15th (he’s 2 days early).  This article is cross-posted at MNpublius.

With this session’s most politically tenuous piece of major legislation finally hitting the Governor’s desk, political observers are waiting with bated breath to see how blindly loyal Pawlenty is to his ideological [...]

Because absent a critical media, they can get away with it

Like war, taxes are a hot-button issue. Any discussion of them seems to get the blood boiling, and when that happens logical discussion often takes a flier. Too bad.

It often seems that people who don’t want to pay taxes either A) want to be self-sufficient, [...]

Editor’s Note:  Matt Martin writes a column twice monthly on the first and 15th.  This article is cross-posted at MNpublius.

As I wrote in my previous column in this space, I think that the DFL leadership in the Senate and, to a lesser degree, the House has made a strategical error in the formulation of their [...]

And it’s called TAXES!

One of my kids’ favorite books when they were small was Mercer Mayer’s “There’s a Nightmare in My Closet.” I think many people know the story:

There’s a little boy who believes a monster lives in his closet. As it turns out, the monster, who is big and ugly and creepy, is just [...]

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 [...]

Editor’s Note: Minnesota Monitor is happy to welcome back Matt Martin of MNpublius, who will be writing twice monthly columns on the first and 15th.  This article is cross-posted at MNpublius

If you’ve opened a newspaper in the last 2 weeks you’ve no doubt heard the news: the DFL controlled state legislature has voted to change [...]

Nobody likes seeing the big property tax assessment.

The IronGate Mall in Hibbing and its 15 tenants’ leases were in question Tuesday at the Minnesota Supreme Court. IronGate Enterprises, the mall’s owners and taxpayers on the property, filed a petition for review of the taxes assessed on its property. Within the first 60 days of the [...]

“House approves gas tax increase despite Pawlenty veto threat“

“Tim Pawlenty has threatened to veto any income tax increase“

“…a license tab fee increase and a metro sales tax for transit will face his veto pen, Pawlenty said“

“Minnesota Gov. Threatens Veto Over Gay Partner Benefits“

“Pawlenty has threatened to veto any bill that raises state taxes“

“Pawlenty is willing [...]

On Tuesday, Secretary of State candidate Mark Ritchie called on his opponent, Republican incumbent Mary Kiffmeyer, to reduce fees he calls “hidden taxes that make it harder for small businesses and non-profits to survive.” Within hours, Kiffmeyer did just that, sending out a fax to news organizations at 10 pm that announced the elimination of [...]