Guest Commentary: Raising taxes is the answer

jon m.
02/26/2010 12:09 PM

Sorry Mike!

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Mike C.
Two Harbors, MN     02/26/2010 10:53 AM

Just a reminder to keep things civil and not personal. We'd like to keep the comments option on the Web site. Thanks, Mike Creger, Editor

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nunofurbusiness n.
02/26/2010 9:48 AM

You guys make me laugh. I'm hoping you'll join that anti-taxation group and get tossed in prison with the rest of the idiots that feel entitled to safety and services without paying for it. How do you think the military that you rave so much about is financed? Do you really think there is more waste and abuse anywhere in the system than in the military?

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jon m.
02/26/2010 7:15 AM

A person who is a self-proclaimed Socialist, should really look for a Country that HAS a Socialist Government! We here in The United States, are set up as a Democratic Republic! THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE! You see, those of us that are Patriots will fight to the very last breath and will spare no life or shy away from shedding BLOOD to defend that! The "Tea Party" you loosely refer to, will change Politics at the upcoming Elections, like you've never seen before! The current "President" has no clue as to what the people at our level are going through! He seems instead of being more like Lincoln, to act more like Jeff Davis, and want to divide the Country! (As in yesterdays so-called "Health Summit") HE WILL NOT SUCCEED!! EVER!!

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Ben D.
Duluth, MN     02/26/2010 1:11 AM

THE GOP will NEVER learn that SOMEBODY EVEN has to PAY for their services. The GOP is out of touch with reality! Tax and spend should be a privilege now that they're so p*ssed off about the poor getting in their way of fraud, untaxed wealth and other ethically questionable business dealings. As a socialist I love the idea of TAX and SPEND the incomes of those who have FRAUDED the IRS for so long! Somebody has to pay for police fire and medical services. SO you GOP tea bagger heads start forking it over...otherwise we may have to watch all that wealth of yours burn to the ground or get stolen away and do nothing because we have no professionals who protect and serve. What a bunch of snapperheads!

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DR Z.
02/25/2010 9:02 PM

Tax...Tax...Tax. You would think the liberals would have come up with something new by now. This piece failed to mention that the DFL sent the Gov. an UNBALANCED ($22 billion increase) budget 20 minutes before the session ended. Pawlenty warned the DFL not to do that without a way to pay for it. The liberal, DFL controlled legislature did it anyway.

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Mark B.
02/25/2010 7:50 PM

I continue to be amazed by the serious convictions of folks who write articles such as this one. First, conservative or liberal, each of us should be focused upon demanding our elected representatives focus on the best use of the tax and fee dollars we currently have available to us. This will entail setting priorities for the general good, not the specific needs of certain narrow interests. Second, when economic conditions demand, government should conduct its business in the same manner the majority of its citizens are forced to conduct theirs: set priorities which truly reflect the fundamentals of maintaining a self-supporting, safe and common sense living environment. This talk of what is good for business in general is good for the people has its limitations, and most of its proponents are really a very narrow range of benefactors who profit from the promotion of this over-used sound bite. It should be the other way around: what is good for the people will turn out to be what is good for business...not all business, but certainly the businesses which provide useful, necessary, fair and needed services to the public. I am not sure what other types of business the general citizenry should even be worried about. Now, the business of government is the people...and their safety, well-being, quality of life and appropriate return on the taxes those people pay. The ridiculousness of this idea now circulating to cut corporate taxes, effectively shifting the resultant burden to the citizenry, is beyond the realm of any rational assessment of common sense. Just consider the fact the corporate revenues the state taxes from most of the big companies located here comes from sources outside the state...not from the pockets of our citizens. What better situation could our politicians ask for than to have someone else's money help pay for our state services? The bottom line with most of the problems confronting our state budget, is primarily prioritization of focus and being realistic with the money available to spend. In most cases, in today's world, it just makes sense to cut back, but there may truly be situations where it might pay to re-examine priorities and shift funds, or look for other sources of revenue which do not adversely affect the common citizen. Whatever the facts may point to, we are now faced with an economic circumstance which requires citizens and their elected representatives to proceed with caution, prudence, and respect for basic needs, and to have the strength of character to say no when it is appropriate.

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jon m.
02/25/2010 4:35 PM

You forget that BOTH California AND Minnesota are run by LIBERALS that know nothing but Tax and Spend! I for 1 could care less what Government does. They are already taxing us to death. Thank GOD that we have Mid-Term Elections this year.

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Thomas V. K.
Two Harbors, MN     02/25/2010 3:02 PM

Funny that you should include California in your anti-tax attitude. Governor Schwartzenegger, like our own governor, has been a champiion of cutting taxes and cutting services, bringing California down to the sorry level it is now, just like us. Taxes pay for the things we expect from government. When the costs of those things goes up, it is necessary to raise taxes to pay for them, or do without. We have tried governor P's way, holding taxes down so that business could hire more workers and thus bring in more tax revenue from the increased workforce. It has not worked. In fact, this method of raising tax revenue has been such a spectacular failure, it is time to recognize that if we want something, we have to pay cash for it, rather than keep on borrowing. To tax and spend is a far better policy than to tax and borrow, hoping for a miracle in our children's generation. There is no pie in the sky. I defy anyone to show me a case where cuts and decreases in taxes has resulted in sufficient increase in tax base to make up for the loss in tax revenue plus the continual rise in prices of things that our taxes pay for. tom koehler

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jon m.
02/25/2010 1:54 PM

That's right! Raise Taxes so we look like the FAILING States of New York, New Jersey, and California!!! They did the exact thing you are talking about and are BLEEDING people and Businesses that are needed for the Tax Base. This is same old Liberal Democratic Tax and Spend. Some people NEVER learn!

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