Those damn liberal tax.....errrr....fee and spenders

A LTE in the SC Times takes the DFL to task on its tax raising principles.

Mr. Gross takes 6 taxes proposed in legislation and comments about the unjust increases in taxes by the DFL. Furthermore, he extends his comments by adding proposals by Rep Brod on tax cuts for Minnesotans and the DFL's halting of her proposal.

Raising the state gas tax by a dime a gallon.
Raising license tab fees on newly purchased vehicles.
Allowing counties to charge up to $20 annually for every car.
Raising the sales tax by three-eighths of a cent.
Raising the cigarette tax $1 to $1.20 per pack.
Increasing property taxes by allowing school districts to levy local property owners
for the full cost of running ice arenas, instead of the current limit of 90 percent of the cost.

Was the cigarette tax called a fee by Governor Pawlenty? It is not a user fee? Regardless, you do not pay the tax unless you use it.

Gas tax, user based.
Tab fees, user based.
Car charge for the county, the more cars you own, the more you are charged.
Sales tax, user based.

Seems like 5 of the 6 taxes or fees Mr. Gross discussed are in fact user based. The user decides by purchasing said product, whether to pay taxes or not.

When it comes to his support of Rep Brod's plan:

Cut income taxes by a half percent on the lowest tier.
Provide tax deductions to ethanol producers.
Adjust the deduction for classroom expenses for inflation.
Extend the overall deductions for another year to match the bill
passed by Congress.
Provide tax deductions to small businesses statewide.

I think we will see those areas addressed later in the session. Gross lays blame to DFL'ers for faliing to pass this plan because...

Democrats blocked debate of her tax bill because voting against tax cuts would threaten the political careers of the large freshman class of House Democrats.

BS. Straight up BS Mr. Gross. Perhaps you got this from Mr. Gottwalt? Who knows. I watched the debate on the floor on this one, it failed because it was not germane to a bill putting Minnesota in compliance with Federal Tax law.

The proposals by Rep Brod, while probably beneficial to most Minnesotans, were not vetted through the committee process. The people and other experts were not allowed to testify as to their impact. There are fiscal notes attached to her legislation and "tails" that will be felt in future years.

Since the Governor had not even set his budget priorities before the Brod tax plan, it would have been irresponsible to pass said legislation. Furthermore, it was not germane to the Federal compliance bill.