Governor Responds to Strib Ad

You may have seen or heard of the full page ad that was taken out in today's Star Tribune by some of Minnesota's privileged.  They state that they have the capacity to pay more for Minnesota's services and should be taxed higher as such.

Leave it to the Governor to respond and make a complete mockery of it!!

Every time I have seen one of those "Happy to pay for a better Minnesota" yard signs I want to walk up to the front door and ask the people if they took all of the deductions they were allowed or if they left some for the state or the country.  I am assuming the answer is they did take all deductions.  This is a total ploy for them to bring their partisan Liberal agenda to the forefront, which equals more spending for education without accountability, welfare increases, and government run health-care to name a few!!!

Here is the press release from the Governor's office:

Saint Paul – The following is a statement from Governor Tim Pawlenty regarding the full-page ad in today's Star Tribune from the "Growth & Justice" think tank calling for a $2 billion per year tax increase.

"After decades of struggle, we are proud to have moved Minnesota out of the top ten in taxes.  We now have budget surpluses and double digit revenue growth to the state.  We are not undertaxed and will be able to fund our key priorities like education without raising taxes.

"Having read the names of those who signed the full-page ad in today's Star Tribune , I want to issue them a friendly challenge.  I invite the people on the list to send in a voluntary contribution to the state, above and beyond the taxes they already pay, of $250,000 to $2 million each. 

"Since their contributions will be public information under our Data Practices Act, we will look into listing the names of these generous Minnesotans on a state website.  I will also personally pose with each of them for a commemorative photo in the Governor's Reception Room accepting their contribution and issue them a certificate of appreciation.  I look forward to the state receiving checks from each of these 203 individuals."

 

Under Minnesota Statutes 16A.013 and 16A.014, the Department of Finance is authorized to accept contributions of this type.  Checks should be made payable to "State of Minnesota" and sent to:

                                                Minnesota Department of Finance

                                                400 Centennial Office Building

                                                658 Cedar Street

                                                St. Paul , MN 55155

This is a great move!!

Jobs, Jobs, and more Jobs!!

New unemployment numbers are in!!!  It is extremely good news for the State of Minnesota.  It is also good news for the re-election campaign of TPaw!!!  The unemployment rate is at 3.7%, which is a FIVE YEAR LOW!!  The national average is 4.6%.

Here is a release from the Governor's campaign:

"Minnesota's job growth has gone from lukewarm to red hot. If Peter
Hutchinson, Mike Hatch, Ken Pentel or Becky Lourey had been Governor the
last four years, their tax-more, spend-more policies would have stunted job
growth across Minnesota."

- Michael Krueger, Campaign Manager

No word yet on what Hatch thinks of the numbers.  He will find some way to sue someone to make the numbers more favorable towards his campaign!!

This is Going to be Fun

So to no surprise, except maybe to Becky Lourey and Steve Kelley, Mike Hatch prevailed last night for the Gubernatorial endorsement.

Mike Hatch is a power hungry, angry man who has been running for governor as long as John Kerry has been running for president. 

Hatch claims to be the candidate who will talk about the meat and potato issues of the day.  Please Mike, will you?  When those issues such as health care, education reform, growing the economy, job creation, low taxes, less government spending, and immigration are talked about, we win every time.  Governor Pawlenty has a record second to none on every single one of those issues and this state leads the nation for the better in those categories!!!

Here is the statement from the MNGOP last night:

Republican Party Of Minnesota Statement On The Endorsement Of Mike Hatch For Governor

Rochester- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey today released the following statement regarding today's DFL endorsement of Mike Hatch.

"Mike Hatch has been running for governor for nearly 20 years and broke his word this year by running for governor a third time.  During that 20 years, his fellow DFLers have called him a 'chameleon,' an 'opportunist,' and 'a man willing to sell his soul just to get elected.'  No matter how extreme the makeover Hatch attempts, Minnesotans aren't going to trust someone with that kind of opportunistic and inconsistent record."

Bring on the fight Mike, we will make your angry self implode on the campaign trail!!

Good News for Taxpayers

When incumbents run for re-election, the election is more often than not a referendum on their leadership and accomplishments.  I say, in the case of Governor Pawlenty, bring on the fight!!!

Dane Smith from the Star Tribune ran a great article highlighting the fact that Minnesota has fallen to the 16th highest taxed state in the nation.  It is humbling to see we are finally out of the top 10!!

I personally think this will be a testament to Pawlenty's leadership in the past four years, especially regarding the $4.5 billion deficit he faced when taking office.  Dane seems to agree with that assesment:

"Minnesota for three decades has almost always been in the top 10 in most bottom-line measures of tax burden. The drop from eighth place in 2000 to 16th in 2004 is bound to make waves in a crucial election year."

Minnesota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and has had high job growth under the Pawlenty administration.  Just goes to show that lower taxes do spur job growth and help the economy.

DFL Crashes Pawlenty Announcement

MDE, has a great post with a picture of this clown that had nothing better to do with a beautiful Wednesday morning.  It is apparent to me that the DFL knows that these are the tactics that they must employ in order to make any sort of gain in this race.  When it is on the topic of the issues, Governor Pawlenty wins handily, be it the amazing job creation, taking a record deficit to a surplus, keeping the tax burden low on families, and performance based pay for teachers and politicians, we will beat you every time.