For months, Gov. Pawlenty had stated that Minnesota was not an "undertaxed state" and proudly vetoed the gas tax. After the unfortunate incident where the 35-W bridge collapsed, some legislators have sunk to new lows and have already politicized the tragedy.
Critics of the Governor have made statements that he vetoed a tax that would've brought more money in for roads, and under this new pressure, Pawlenty is contemplating passing the gas tax.
Is Minnesota undertaxed now?
After governing from the center during this term, he finds himself in a difficult place. The obvious answer is that money for roads should come from the 2.1 billion dollar surplus. The obvious scapegoat is the financial black hole that is light rail and the transportation amendment that was supposed to boost road funding.
But Pawlenty can't criticize these things- he supported them. Now he finds himself almost forced to accept a gas tax he knows is bad for Minnesotans.
He can still dig himself out of it if he just makes it clear that funding for the road will be provided-just not through an unnecessary tax. Such a move would energize the unenthusiastic conservative base and would have little ramifications on him from moderates if he were to run for a third term. After all, by 2010 the funding situation likely will have been resolved- gas tax or no gas tax.
We as conservatives need to reassure our Governor that we will defend him against the media- as long as he defends the money in our wallets.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Gas taxes are already high enough, plus its a federal highway. Don't do it pawlenty!!
So how do we pay for road repairs? Take money away from the schools? At least a dedicated fund for roads, somewhat related to use, is a source of funds that won't be used for other purposes (except maybe light rail and bike trails!).
Please read the fact sheet on light rail which is a win win for Minneostans and one of Pawlenty smartest moves. Follow this link:
www.metrotransit.org
Check the Fact Sheet under light rail. Look at the ridership, the new commercial development aropund light rail, the County funding and the last thing you have is a blackhole. All republicans should be prodevelopment and pro projects that create this type of low cost funding with ample rewards to developers and profiteers. Check the facts before you write!!! Roads to no where, polytical pork trading a road in the metro for one in Virginai (MN) and massive infrastaructure trade offs are killers to road funding. We need to spend the smarter and create a new way of prioritizing projects (but LRT should be at the top of the list).
First, there are lots of areas of the state budget to cut funding, so we don't necessarily need to cut directly from the schools. And if we can't bare to cut other areas, then we can make cuts within transportation, namely light rail.
Second, I agree we need to prioritize our funding, but light rail should be nowhere near the top of that list. Check out taxpayersleague.org , which is more credible than metrotransit.org, and see how poorly light rail has performed. You can always point to the amount of things that have sprung up because of pet projects, but I can't point at the lost development because of the high taxes that light rail requires. Republicans are pro-development, but only when it's at the hands of the free-market, not a coercive government.
Post a Comment