Overall I love the public affairs/government consulting work that I do for a career but today was a dark day indeed -- not just for me professionally but for the future of my adopted/beloved State of Minnesota.
This morning I watched our state senators debate and ultimately approve a bill to create a new 4th state income tax bracket of 9.7% of personal income. Such a rate would set Minnesota above and beyond the other 49 states with the highest income tax rate in the USA. The state senate Leadership stressed that they needed these new revenues so they could make "investments" in programs such as education.
Now I want everyone to receive a good education in Minnesota but since our K-12 system already consumes nearly 60% of our state budget we simply have to tell our legislators and education establishment that -- "you receive enough money already so quit asking for more!!!" We need school choice, tuition tax credits, performance pay for teachers, charter schools, private school scholarships, vouchers, and any other free market reforms my friends at -- www.spn.org and www.ij.org advocate NOT legislation that simply hands more money over to our schools.
As I noted earlier our state Senate approved a bill to create a 9.7% personal income tax rate and our House is considering a 9% rate so it is likely there will be a conference committee that will agree to create a new, higher income tax rate at some level near 9%. The only good thing we can count on is that Governor Tim Pawlenty has consistently said he will veto such legislation. He is the only hope we have for preventing this legal form of theft known as personal income taxes.
Let me ask the big government advocates and the entrepreneurs out there in the blogosphere -- if Minnesota does create this new, higher, number one personal income tax in the USA will it inspire you to move to Minnesota to create jobs and raise a family OR would you rather move to one of the following eights (8) states since they do not have personal incomes ?? --
http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/ind_inc.html
Alaska
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wyoming
If the Minnesota housing market wasn't as flat/declining as it is today (will a new, higher income tax rate improve the housing market by the way you big government advocates???) I would beg my wife to agree to sell our home so we can leave the state in search of greater control of our personal incomes.
Remember -- if you steal a purse you go to jail but if you raise income taxes you host a press conference to say you are "doing it for the kids............" We parents should raise our children not the state.
Todd
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2 comments:
I don't like paying taxes either! And I think governments should come up with creative ways of increasing their revenue rather than just cutting it out of citizen's paychecks. Don't ask me how!
But there is something to be said about the contribution of tax revenues in the past toward making America the great power that it is.
The IRS is very efficient in collecting. So if the rest of the government was as efficient in spending, we would have glory!
SpaceBeagle Todd,
you tax blog is RIGHT ON !!!
What are those politicins thinking !!
let's cut expenses not simply always raise taxes !!!
sorry -- got ot go now and change a tire--hit a pothole this morning!
Tom H
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