More Property Tax Relief

Picking up from the previous post, we shall consider another point about the 2007 Property Tax Relief Bill that Governor Pawlenty vetoed, which Kalin bemoans in his recent letter to the editor. We have already noted that the bill would have raised $452 million in income taxes to pay for the proposed property tax relief.

Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the bill because it would have created a new 4th tier of individual income taxes at a 9% rate. This would have given Minnesota the third highest tax rate in the nation.

In a rare moment of honest explanation, back on April 30, 2007, Kalin wrote:

"I promised in the campaign to put people before politics. As you may have read, our property tax cuts are financed by a 4th tier income tax at $431,000 for married couples filing jointly."

How can anyone put those two sentences adjacent to each other?!! He actually revealed that the touted property tax relief for the many would be funded by a new income tax on the few. As he thought about it before he voted for this tax increase, he says,

". . . I kept returning to this simple fact: only 61 households in Chisago County would be affected by the top tier income tax rate and nearly every homeowner and Main Street business owner in Chisago County will see real property tax cuts from the Property Tax Relief bill."

Kalin’s belief in socialistic redistribution of wealth genuinely shines through his honesty. It was not too much to ask those making $431,000 to pay extra for the vast majority of us who make less, so our property taxes could be reduced.

He was willing to sacrifice 61 households to a heavier tax load ". . . to put people before politics." I guess those people in the 61 households aren’t people.

As a typical socialist, Kalin desperately wants to be the Sugar Daddy to his constituents by spending someone else’s money. Oh those liberals are generous——with the money of others, not their own.

Kalin, being a poor economist, failed to recognize that those with this income level are a major driving force in the development of jobs in the state. The higher tax rate would put the state at a competitive disadvantage, which are some of the reasons why the Governor vetoed the bill.

In this case, Kalin’s tax relief for us was tax intensification for relatively few—$452 million worth. See our comments on this issue one year ago. When a rookie legislator tells us the above, it is wise to make sure he never becomes a veteran legislator. He is a danger to all of us economically.

Property Tax Relief

In Rep. Jeremy Kalin’s (D-17B) recent letter to the editor at the Post Review (considered here), he wrote about one of his favorite subjects—property tax reform and relief. He wrote,

"I campaigned on property tax reform in 2006. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed the 2007 Property Tax Relief Bill that would have meant an actual cut in property taxes for more than 90% of Chisago County."

That one sentence, without any details, sounds generous on Kalin’s part and stingy on the Governor’s. Probably few who read it now remember much, if anything, about that vetoed bill. Kalin is counting on that lack of recollection to sound magnanimous.

Notice he doesn’t provide any web links to the bill he voted for or the Governor’s veto so we can conveniently refresh our memories about the details.

It sounds grand that 90% of Chisago County property taxpayers would have an actual cut in property taxes. How would that happen? The money needed to reduce the property tax load must come from somewhere. If that 2007 bill would cut property taxes, that same 2007 bill also provided the money to pay for those cuts. It’s funny how that works!

So the 2007 Property Tax Relief Bill could also be known as the 2007 Offsetting Tax Increase Bill. But that title just doesn’t sound good because the state that giveth also taketh away. It is so much better to emphasize the giveth part and ignore the taketh part.

What Kalin refused to write is that the bill raised state income taxes by $452 million to pay for the property tax relief and that’s why the Governor vetoed it. Put this figure in perspective. In the 2008 LGA bill, local government aid is increased for 2009 by $42 million (with a pittance for cities in Chisago County). The 2007 bill would have increased income taxes by ten times that amount to pay for property tax relief in 2008, a very significant amount.

Kalin wants to be known as the Giver and not the Taker, but he can’t be the Giver without being the Taker. And he did not want you to know how much he was going to take from taxpayers’ left pockets to slip it into their right pockets and make everyone feel wonderful.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Correcting the [Accurate] Record

In an August 20 letter to the editor in the Post Review, Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D-17B) wrote a loser of an editorial. A response from Flambeau correctly identifies that columnist Pat Tepoorten had nailed it in his column.

Kalin agreed Tepoorten was accurate, but wrote, "However, I feel compelled to correct the record on a couple of items," which as stated, implies he is correcting Tepoorten’s record. He didn’t correct Tepoorten’s record. Rather, Kalin used Tepoorten as a springboard to talk more about tax relief.

Kalin has every right to write about tax relief. In fact, I want him to write more. What I don’t like is he used Tepoorten to try to "correct the record" as if Tepoorten were wrong. That is being dishonest and damaging to an accurate columnist. Tepoorten addressed one point in his column, that is, who should be credited/blamed for the property tax cap of 3.9%, showing that Kalin and Olseen were taking credit for it and blaming the Governor, depending on who their audience was.

So often when Kalin writes (and Wade Vitalis, for example, these comments at the end of Tepoorten's column) he muddies the water. Little is stated clearly. Nothing is documented so it can be checked. And it is stated in such brief fashion that important points that would make it understandable are left out.

Most importantly, when a legislator frequently takes to writing letters to the editor (for example two recent ones, here and here), he is on the defensive. Explaining legislation in a defensive mode is a losing battle.

A legislator has the bully pulpit from which to expound whatever he wishes. Local papers give weekly column space for legislators. He has his own web page to explain everything in detail. He has state legislative web space available to him as well. He doesn’t need space in letters to the editor. That should be reserved for the citizens who do not have a bully pulpit.

But Kalin has a problem no matter what he writes. The more he writes, the more he tries to explains things, the worse it gets. So we won’t get detailed explanations. He will continue his hit and run communications, fashioned after the model of the leftist drive-by media that Rush Limbaugh loves.

___________________________________________

Update

Columnist Pat Tepoorten takes Kalin to task for Kalin's abuse of Tepoorten.

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh, What a Relief It Is

In the Post Review, Kalin’s campaign chair, Wade Vitalis, declares he has relief! Let’s celebrate with him!

He doesn’t like his property taxes going up. He likes state gas tax increases and increased LGA payments from the state because they offset his property tax increases.

Let’s not tell him since he has relief, but the rest of us know he is paying for his property tax and his gas tax and kicking into LGA as well (to keep his property tax down). It must feel good to him that his left pocket book pays to reduce the taxes his right pocket book pays.

This is an example of the Dem’s propensity to support statism. Keep the local government decisions funded by local tax dollars and we will actually reduce taxes in many cases, because there will be far more accountability.