If he could take time away from his obsessive global warming demagoguery, and his ill-timed and time wasting resolution aimed at activities of the UN, (i.e., things well outside of the borders of Minnesota and its direct and present needs), to worry a moment about other perhaps less appealing topics to his mind such as the economic state of the State; (and rising property taxes on homes as the State is denying local government aid that was instituted to lessen the upward spiral of local property taxation need and the overall burden of property taxes); if he could do that; I would like the Senator to explain why the rich should not be paying a fairer share of tax - especially since he's not one of them (so it is beyond any gain-loss personal interest for him to be opposed to taxing rich people, as an idea whose time has come).
This for context, as covered today online by Strib; the governor's budget proposals; roadway plight (presumably Jungbauer is not in favor of bumpy pot-holed roads); and the State aid programs aimed to lessen local property tax impositions.
The excerpting is from here:
Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled a budget that would raise taxes on wealthier Minnesotans by $4 billion while requiring relatively modest spending trims.
Dayton said that under his proposal, nearly 95 percent of Minnesotans would pay no additional tax. Instead, only the top 5 percent of earners — about 138,000 filers — would see an increase in income and property taxes.
“This is about restoring tax fairness in Minnesota and asking our most affluent residents to help us out,” Dayton said, noting that in previous years, high earners have paid a smaller share of their income in taxes than the middle class.
But the proposal runs headlong into a Legislature dominated by Republicans, who have vowed to block any tax increase to wrestle down the state’s $6.2 billion shortfall. “I don’t want to say it’s dead on arrival, but it doesn’t have much of a heartbeat,” said Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina. He called Dayton’s proposed income tax — which includes a higher permanent top rate and a temporary 3 percent surtax on the super-wealthy “just breathtaking in its scope.”
Dayton said that after scouring every nook of the budget, he could not find additional cuts he found acceptable. “I refuse to make barbaric cuts,” he said.
In proposing his $37 billion, two-year budget, Dayton attempted to crush any notion that the budget-balancing task could not be resolved by the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment of May 23. A special session or government shutdown, he said plainly, “is not an option.”
The proposal would impose a top-tier tax rate on high earners of 10.95 percent, which would include single filers with taxable income above $85,000 or couples with taxable earnings above roughly $150,000. Dayton would add a 3 percent temporary surcharge on taxable incomes higher than $500,000. The resulting tax rate of 13.95 percent would be the highest income tax rate in the nation.
But Dayton said of the surcharge, “I give my word that it’s temporary.”
Dayton said he would keep local government aid intact, which he said would protect most homeowners from property tax increases on their homes. But he also called for a higher property tax rate on the 9,400 homes worth more than $1 million.
Dayton would also close the “snowbird” loophole that allows Minnesotans to shift their residency to their winter homes in states with lower taxes, even though they spend the remainder of the year in Minnesota. That move, Dayton said, could bring in about $15 million a year.
Asked if he believed some Minnesotans really do this, Dayton quipped: “I know some of them.”
[emphasis added] I could understand the Anoka County Watchdog barking up other trees than treeing the rich for not paying their fair share of taxes to keep the State running decently; after all, the Watchdog's one of the rich, and has that meat in the fire. So expect him to be more of a flounder on this one than a watchdog - you know - a fish with both eyes on one side of the head so he can only see things from one point of view.
But the Watchdog was not elected to represent the normal, non-rich. Jungbauer was, (although, don't blame me - I voted for Perovich).
And then there's this hogwash.
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But wait. There's more. Strib, here, expands on helping the little guy, like Ben:
The Dayton budget actually would increase city and county aid levels compared with current levels because of a temporary cut last year.
The GOP majorities in the House and Senate have made local government aid a target as the state attempts to cope with a $6.2 billion projected budget deficit. Meanwhile, cash-strapped cities and counties have seen local taxpayers in revolt as residents cope with higher property taxes and fewer services.
"Dayton's commitment to [local government aid] shows that he isn't going to stand for it anymore," said Nancy Carroll, president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and mayor of Park Rapids, Minn.
Dayton makes that point in a page of the budget proposal to be released Tuesday.
"The state has exported part of its budget problems to local taxpayers," the page says.
So, Senator - put global warming and the UN aside for a moment or two and work with the Governor to take undue burdens off the little guys, off Ben Dover the Ramsey taxpayer, and shift them to those more able and better positioned to pay with less pain.