Kowabunga

Lefties Tap Emotions To Push Tax Increases

It comes as no surprise to me that once again the Red Star Tribune is publishing an opinion piece pushing for a tax increase. This time it is blaming Republicans and conservatives for not wanting to increase taxes to pay for roads and infrastructure. That’s what we already pay taxes for. Let’s keep in mind that this year Minnesota had a $2 Billion surplus that the Democrats used for a spree of new spending rather than returning it to the tax payers. More on that later as we get into the opinion piece.

Conservatives are exceptionally good at politicizing emotion. From the headlong rush toward a half-trillion-dollar misadventure in Iraq to attacks on immigrants, gays and abortion rights, emotional appeals have brought to power conservatives whose bedrock ideology is no new taxes, no matter what, and shrinking government.

Actually, it is the Liberal/Progressive/Whatever Democrats who are the real experts at manipulating the emotions of voters by using lines like “it’s for the kids” when it comes to huge increases in education spending while refusing taxpayers the option of “school choice” via a voucher system. They play on emotions where health care is concerned by claiming millions of Americans cannot afford insurance and thus getting health care, yet there isn’t a hospital emergency room in the country that would refuse to treat an uninsured person for illness or injuries. They call the liberation of Iraq a “misadventure” yet millions Iraqis have been able to vote in a democracy for the first time, and live in a free society, albeit one that has to deal with terrorists and sectarian death squads. The right to kill your children is another hot button issue for Liberal/Progressive Democrats as they claim it is “reproductive rights,” rather than pushing for personal responsibility and ensuring that all Americans, even those in the womb, will be able to enjoy our unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Conservatives have never “attacked” immigrants, but rather have pushed for enforcing our immigration laws, including the deportation of illegal aliens and securing our nations borders. Nor have conservatives “attacked” gays; there is a call to pass the Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as being between one woman and one man, which is what has been the norm throughout human history (with the exception of some cultures that have practiced polygamy, but that was still between man and woman, not man and man or woman and woman).

On the flip side of the coin Progressive/Liberal Democrats keep trying to change society through judicial fiat as with gay “marriage” in Massachusetts, or “royal” decree as was done in San Francisco. The claim that illegal aliens are just immigrant trying to make a living, yet these people have and do break our laws by violating immigration law, using forged documents and stealing the identities (and social security numbers) of working Americans. I could go on (and on), but you get the point.

But now that Minnesotans’ tears are being shed and their fears heightened over the deadly collapse of the Interstate 35W river bridge, state Rep. Mark Buesgens tells us in his Aug. 10 commentary that this is no time to let emotions rule our collective response. It’s a hypocritical ploy from a conservative legislator who has long prospered in the political marketplace of emotions.

Not even 24 hours had passed since the bridge collapse before the Lefties began calling for tax increases and blaming tax cuts for the disaster, yet it isn’t transportation taxes that had been cut, but other taxes, and Minnesota ended up with a $2 Billion surplus, not a shortfall due to tax cuts. Who’s playing with people’s emotions? The Progressive/Liberal left.

Along with strong emotions, however, an unexpected bridge collapse legitimately and reasonably raises concrete questions about safety, maintenance, design, construction and political funding. Elected officials, after all, propose, authorize and administer transportation funds. And the public has a right to know about those decisions and to judge the results. That’s democracy’s ultimate check and balance.

Yep, here he is right, and with a $2 Billion surplus that COULD have been used for infrastructure, the Democrats went “whoohoo” and went on a spending spree like a bunch of drunken Liberals.

If the government has a surplus, we must cut taxes. If there is an ensuing deficit, we can’t raise taxes back up, because that would hurt an already weakened economy. If pressing needs arise and public safety is at stake, we must reprioritize government spending, robbing health care or education to fill the gap.

Yep, and as has been shown, the tax cuts helped the economy and revenues grew, and Minnesota had a $2 Billion surplus, because people have more money to spend thus stimulating economic growth and job creation . Raising taxes has an inverse result, depressing tax revenues as people do not have as much to spend which causes economic stagnation and increased unemployment.

As for reprioritizing government spending, Liberals have been very good at robbing tax payers to support Liberal ideas rather than taking care of existing infrastructure. Instead of encouraging those in need to seek a helping hand up, they give them hand outs, thus keeping them on the public dole and encouraging bad behavior.

This is nonsense when pump prices often fluctuate daily by far more than the nickel or dime by which bipartisan legislators proposed hiking the gas tax. There’s another difference: When drivers dig deeper for those market increases in the price of fuel, not a penny goes to easing traffic congestion that costs Twin Cities commuters hundreds of dollars a year or to maintaining bridges whose structural integrity is a matter of life and death.

Yep, and the price of a gasoline includes sales tax, so as the price of gas increases, people are paying more in taxes. That does not go towards infrastructure but into the general fund.

Facts, although they are stubborn things, haven’t persuaded us to fix Minnesota’s neglected transportation infrastructure, even as the funding shortfall approaches $2 billion a year. Maybe it’s time to inject some good old-fashioned emotion into the debate.

Yep, facts are stubborn things, like a $2 Billion surplus squandered on new spending rather than used to cover the transportation infrastructure shortfall that deFiebre points out. Minnesota has spent a heckuva lot of money on light rail rather than on roads and bridges where we need to use it. And that $2 Billion surplus, as part of the State’s general fund, could, and should, have been shifted to transportation uses.

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