Dear Neighbor,
Our top economic priority should be to make Minnesota a better place to work and/or run a business. Democrats in our state do not seem to understand this.
Sure, Democrats on the campaign trail promised jobs would be their top priority as a new majority in Minnesota. It made for a good slogan, but the fact is their historic increases in spending and taxing are costing us well-paying jobs and driving out businesses. It is absurd Gov. Mark Dayton is taking secret recruiting trips and attempting to lure businesses to Minnesota while he and fellow Democrats are simultaneously chasing jobs out the back door.
Last spring, newspapers quoted Minnesota business owners who warned passage of the new warehouse tax, business-to-business tax and more would give them no choice but to consider moving their operations to a more business-friendly state. Dayton and Democrats turned a deaf ear, raised spending and taxes by billions, and now we are seeing the warnings become reality.
Did the tax-and-spend liberals think business owners were bluffing? Do they just not care to support our home teams?
Those of us who view successful businesses as the backbone of our economy understand the value of a strong business climate. We applaud Kansas, which recently reduced its income-tax rates, to 3.9 percent for top earners and to 2.3 percent for the lowest earners. Kansas’ business climate is one reason an operation in West Central Minnesota plans to expand in that state instead of Minnesota, where it is headquartered.
That is just one example – and 50 good small-town jobs – that shows people and businesses vote with their feet. We also are hearing stores on our borders are seeing a precipitous drop in sales since Dayton and the Democrats jacked up cigarette taxes by $1.60 per pack. It also is reducing revenue from the drinks and snacks people regularly purchase along with a pack of smokes.
We were heading in the right direction after Republicans in the Legislature set the budget in 2011. The state economy produced at least $3 billion in more-than-projected revenue in that time. Jobs were on the rise in Minnesota, with 55,000 more last year alone. We replenished previously drained state reserve accounts and not only paid off the entire K-12 education funding shift, but made a substantial dent in school debt the previous Democrat majority and Gov. Tim Pawlenty enacted.
But Democrats could not resist excessive, wasteful spending this year. They drove our All Funds budget up by 10 percent, the largest dollar-for-dollar increase in state history. They raised taxes and fees on hardworking Minnesotans by around $2.5 billion to pay for it.
We cannot afford to be so haughty as to think workers and businesses will remain in Minnesota just because “we like it here.” There are a lot of other nice places to live which promote economic freedom for hardworking taxpayers and entrepreneurs. People will find them and it already is happening.
MINNESOTA MAJORITY SCORECARD
Minnesota Majority recently issued its scorecard for the 2013 session. They graded all Minnesota legislators on how well they supported the traditional values position on 11 key issues. I received a score of 91 out of 100. Here’s a link to the report.
Sincerely,
Tom