Tell me why I should bother voting Republican
While other states are enjoying new tax breaks today, here are a few new laws going into effect in Minnesota, taken from the Star Tribune:
And a couple billion dollars worth of other reasons not to vote for "It's not a tax; it's a fee" Republicans. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did we not just squander one billion in a bonding bill and another billion on sports stadiums?
Where's mine? Everyone is getting something except me. Meanwhile, property taxes continue to rise at 12% a year so high school football teams can play in heated domes. (Domed stadiums are sooooo last-century. Look for referenda for open-air high school stadiums in a year or two.)
My Representative, Barb Sykora, resigned in disgrace after voting for the stadium bill (leaving us all wonder what she was promised for her vote). Pawlenty should consider that option.
[L]aws passed by the 2006 Minnesota Legislature mean more money to help immigrants and children . . .
It will be easier for American Indians to use tribal identification cards to register for voting on election day . . . If the identification card fails to show the bearer's address, it still will be accepted . . .
Early childhood education and child care provider assistance will benefit from $15 million in allocations . . . Child care assistance for eligible families on the basic sliding-fee waiting list is increased by $3.8 million for 2006, with $4 million more coming next year.
And a couple billion dollars worth of other reasons not to vote for "It's not a tax; it's a fee" Republicans. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did we not just squander one billion in a bonding bill and another billion on sports stadiums?
Where's mine? Everyone is getting something except me. Meanwhile, property taxes continue to rise at 12% a year so high school football teams can play in heated domes. (Domed stadiums are sooooo last-century. Look for referenda for open-air high school stadiums in a year or two.)
My Representative, Barb Sykora, resigned in disgrace after voting for the stadium bill (leaving us all wonder what she was promised for her vote). Pawlenty should consider that option.
posted by Scribbler de Stebbing | 7/01/2006 09:23:00 AM
I get the feeling that something was left out. The star tribune despises conservatives, thus one would imagine that they would try to demoralize conservatives at every opportunity. For example, if you have a compromise bill, the Trib may only publish the part of the compromise that was favorable to liberals hoping to get a reaction from conservatives that you just espoused.
Of course I am just guessing here...
Perhaps. But I pondered the bonding and stadium bills all on my own. Sometimes I have that capacity. And I'm still mad.
The new laws mentioned in the Strib were peanuts, but juxtapose those laws with other states where new tax cuts are going into effect (Fox News).
Scribbler, you needn't wonder too long about why Sykora was willing to support taxing her Hennepin County constituents w/o a referendum.
On June 21, she joined the ranks of careerist pols who have landed plum appointed jobs after carrying water in the legislature for a powerful special interest. (See also Leroy Koppendrayer, Harry Mares, etc.) Ms. Sykora was appointed by the Hennepin County Board to serve on the newly-created ballpark authority being entrusted to oversee the development of the new baseball stadium.
BTW, in case Sue Jeffers was having second thoughts about continuing her fight against Gov. Pawlenty, he named the head of MPAAT to serve as one of his appointees to the new ballpark authority. "Pawlenty for '02 or Pawlenty for '06?" seems a very legitimate question, at least when it comes to sending a message in a primary.
As for other Republicans, it's probably best to judge them on a case-by-case basis. The bad ones in the MN House includes Ray Cox, Pat Garofalo, Neil Peterson, and Jim Abeler. In the Senate, the shorter list is the good list, which not so coincidentally includes JAS member Le Clair and Sometime Chairman Gerlach.
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The plum appointment is no suprise. I knew she sold out for something, just not for what.
I would also argue that Pawlenty '02 turned out not to be such a great idea: increased fees/taxes, a growing arm of socialism, the People's Stadium, anti-smoking laws (he supports a state-wide ban), ad nauseum. I don't think Hatch do be much worse.
"Do be?" as in "Hatch do be much worse?" Ah well, one can't edit one's comments, so the "do be" must live on.
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