Does the MNGOP care about tax fairness? Don't bet on it.

The Republican party, as long as I can remember, has been the party of smear tactics and identity politics. But now it's becoming clear that they will say anything--even if they don't believe it--if they can score attack points.

In a letter to the California State Franchise Tax Board, the MNGOP's chairman/pit-bull Ron Carey writes:

I write this letter as a concerned citizen of the United States who believes that every American has an obligation to pay his or her fair share of taxes.

Excuse me? Since when does the Republican party give a lick about tax fairness? Let's review, shall we? They didn't care about tax fairness when they cut taxes for the rich and transferred the responsibility for important services to the middle class. They didn't care about tax fairness when they slashed Local Government Aid and forced up your property taxes. and they don't even care about tax fairness right now--they're trying to raid a dedicated fund for healthcare.

Bottom line: the MNGOP doesn't care about tax fairness and they never have. In fact, they would like nothing more than to turn the system upside down and give millionaires like Franken some more tax cuts at our expense. But that still hasn't stopped them from exploiting any opportunity for partisan attacks.

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm not a Franken supporter. I don't really care if the GOP wants to attack Franken--but how about having a bit of intellectual honesty?

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3rd district becoming more liberal--tough climate for Paulsen

As much as I am able, I plan to supplement my partisan screeds with actual data and research. To that end, I wanted to show just what sort of environment right-wing conservative Erik Paulsen will be dealing with this November.

The 3rd District has been great for a moderate like Jim Ramstad -- leaning Republican, but becoming more and more liberal in recent years, and with voters who are quite willing to cross party lines.

Especially over the past 6 years, 3rd district residents have been voting more Democratic; they are now above the 45% mark for the first time, and nearing 50%.



Even more importantly, they are more than willing to vote across party lines. Look at the spread of the votes in 2006:




In 2006, the votes ranged from a low of 35% Democratic in the congressional race--where Ramstad's moderate credentials carried him--to a high of almost 60% Democratic in the Senate race--in which an articulate Democratic with a message of change faced of against a right-wing lunatic. Sound like an omen to anyone else?

For those who are interested, I've posted some maps showing the slow dem-ification of CD3. These maps show the percentage of total votes in CD3 municipalities from 1998 to 2006.










Feel free to use these maps. They are available on Flickr. Please keep the caption at the bottom; I would also appreciate if you would provide a link to this diary.

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Republicans not lining up behind McCain

I know everyone is focused on the Democratic primary tonight, but there's some interesting news on the Republican side.

With 83% reporting:
McCain 72%
Paul 16%
Huckabee 12%

Even after McCain has clinched the nomination, fully one quarter of Republicans refuse to line up behind him. He's going to have a heck of a time motivating his base come November.

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Taking from the poor to give to the mall

Mike Kaszuba in the Star Tribune reports that Mall of America lobbyists are once again seeking public funding for the mall's phase 2. The new proposal, perhaps the most disgusting yet, would take money from the Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities program--a revolutionary tax-base sharing program that helps to diminish the gap between wealthy and poor cities in the Twin Cities metro. This is not a "gray" issue -- taking funds from this pool to fund a mall would be morally bankrupt and inexcusable.

Mall officials say that, without subsidies, the second phase of the mall won't happen. So what? It's too big as it is already. Why should the poorest cities in the region subsidize a giant mall that can't pay for itself?

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How Moderate is Erik Paulsen?

Erik Paulsen, the anointed Republican candidate for Congress in the 3rd District, has been walking a thin line, first claiming to be a "Tim Pawlenty Republican," and then trying to cast himself as a moderate. So how moderate is he?

Here's one measure: Paulsen has earned a lifetime score of 89 percent from those pinnacles of corporate greed, the Taxpayers' League, including a 91 percent score in 2007. In the one recent year when both were rated, Paulsen received an 87 percent, compared to 75 percent for Ramstad. Here's another comparison: uber-crazy Michele Bachmann had a lifetime score of 94 percent.

Here are some of the votes that earned Paulsen his badge as a right-wing extremist:

2005: Kill the Northstar Rail project. A refusal to adequately fund transportation seems to be a common theme among Republicans lately.

2005: Oppose a doubling of ethanol content in our gasoline from 10 to 20 percent. I certainly hope he won't be among those complaining about high has prices!

2005: Oppose raising the minimum wage. Way to support Minnesota's working families, Erik.

2006: Kill the Northstar Rail project. Again.

2006: Oppose dedicated funding for the environment. I guess this anti-environment vote makes sense when you consider his votes against alternative fuels.

2007: Restrict the 2007 bonding bill to $8 million in emergency spending only. This was a vote against $100 million for education, $35 million for transportation, and $20 million for the environment.

2007: Reject the transportation bill. At least he's consistent in his opposition to transportation funding.

Finally, he signed the Taxpayers' League "no new taxes" pledge, which he eventually broke. I'm sure conservative voters will be glad to know that, while they have a far-right candidate, he's also spineless.

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GOP can't do math; can drive SUVs

MPR reports that Republicans are planning targeted ads at gas stations:

The House GOP caucus plans to buy advertising at
locations with gas pump video monitors. The message will criticize
Democrats for supporting a transportation funding plan that raises
Minnesota's gas tax.

Too bad the math here doesn't work. Maybe if we had spent a little more money on our schools...

On April 1st, the gas tax went up by 2 cents. Don't you miss the days of affordable $3.43/gallon gas?

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What to do about high gas prices

AAA is reporting today that gas prices are at record highs, with the average price at $3.357 per gallon. Gas at the station just down the block from me was going for $3.459 this morning, and we haven't even reached the summer travel season. It's starting to look like predictions of $4/gallon gas may actually come true this summer.

Unfortunately, there's no quick and easy short-term solution. High gas prices are here to stay, and Ethanol, while better than gas, is not the answer.

The long-term answer lies in rethinking our style of living and our built environment. It no longer makes any sense for us to live in places where we need to drive 5 miles to get a gallon of milk; where the average commute takes over 20 minutes each way; or where more land is devoted to parking than living.

For me, living in the city is a lifestyle choice. I'm able to live without a car, walk to the grocery store, and spend my commute reading the newspaper instead of fending off crazy drivers. But it is increasingly an economic choice as well, as every increase in the price of gas increases the value of living in a neighborhood with transportation alternatives.

What will it take to improve our built environment? Well, the first step would be an administration that had any interest in transit whatsoever. The second step would be a Metropolitan Council that was not full of people who want to abolish it.

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Kersten's Economic Plan: Lower Your Expectations

Are you looking for further proof that the conservative right in Minnesota has run out of ideas? Well, look no further than the Star Tribune's wacko columnist, Katherine Kersten. Kersten has a plan for how to fix the housing crisis and get our economy out of recession. Does it involve investing in our decaying infrastructure? Fixing our educational system? Reducing the gap between the haves and have-nots?

Well, not quite. The trick is just to lower our standards by comparing our economy to the depression. Kersten writes:

Minnesotans with memories such as [the depression] remind us that hardship is relative. After all our struggles are tallied up, we still enjoy a prosperity that would dazzle those who came before us. Above all, we're reminded that our greatest resource is a "glass half full" perspective that says that a garage is a mansion.

That makes everything seem so much better! Just put our situation in a bit of perspective. Sure, our transportation system is falling apart, but at least we have paved roads. And maybe access to affordable higher education keeps getting worse, but at least our students can count to ten. So what if wealthy Americans are the only ones who are getting ahead? At least the economy is working for someone.

What is the point of this defeatist mindset? It seems like Kersten is trying to convince us that the best thing for our country is complete and total inaction:

...before we declare an economic emergency and demand a "New Deal" for the new millennium, let's remember a classic American resource that was in ample supply 75 years ago, when unemployment was not 5.1 percent, but 25 percent.... It was an attitude, a set of expectations -- the "glass half full" view of life.

But she's got it all wrong. Their "glass half full" attitude wasn't about looking at the positives and ignoring the negatives, as Kersten asks us to do. It was a "can do" attitude that made FDR and other great Democrats say "we can fix this." They recognized problems, put together a bold solution, and got results. The irony here is that Kersten is looking at one of the most idealistic eras in our nation's history, and asking us to learn a lesson of complacence and inertia.

Under the Kersten plan, there would never have been a New Deal. We would have just had a "glass half full" attitude, and thanked God that we were better off than Americans during the Civil War.

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Pawlenty says NO to transit

Who ever thought a governor could be against transportation? First, Tim Pawlenty gave us Carol Molnau. Then, after years of starving our infrastructure, he tried to veto the transportation bill which will provide much-needed revenue for our roads and transit. Lately, he has been threatening to take the funding from the new transit sales tax--which he tried to veto--so he can cut funding for transit.

And now the onslaught continues. Pawlenty's line-item vetoes (PDF) include $70 million taken from Central Corridor, which put LRT's federal funding, and its very existence, on the line. All told, he cut nearly $103 million in transportation funding.

To me, Pawlenty's refusal to properly fund transportation is the epitome of the conservative politics that have been dismantling our state. Over the past six years, conservatives have been telling us that we're overtaxed, that we don't need to invest in our infrastructure, and that we should just put it on the credit card. They don't seem to understand that investment in our infrastructure is what has made Minnesota successful. People don't move here for the weather; they move here for our quality of life. If low taxes are all that's important, why don't more people live in Mississippi?

Without making the investments we need to stay competitive, we can't compete for new jobs and new residents. But cutting taxes is all that's important to Pawlenty. Unfortunately, he can't have it all. Remember when MnDOT asked contractors to loan them the money to complete construction projects? A fiscally healthy state just doesn't do things like that!.

While Pawlenty continues to pander to group like the Taxpayers' League, we are going from The State That Works to a state that is rapidly running out of safe bridges. Every infrastructure investment we don't make is another firm that starts looking at moving to the Sun Belt. After all, if we're going to be stuck in traffic, why not do it while it's warm?

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