This guy wants to be your next Governor:
Category: State Issues
Minnesota House Republicans Bringing “Trump Agenda” to Minnesota
House DFL representatives are calling out House Republicans for bringing Donald Trump’s extreme agenda to Minnesota. This session House Republicans have taken votes that put them squarely in line with the Republican Party’s presumptive Presidential nominee, including efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to basic health care for women. And despite the economic challenges facing Minnesota families, they have blocked progress on things like paid family leave and efforts to reduce the cost of child care.
“House Democrats have been working for two years to increase access for basic health care for women and to support Minnesota families who are being squeezed, but this House Republican Majority has shut us down and instead pushed a divisive agenda that puts women and Minnesota families at risk,” said House Deputy DFL Leader Erin Murphy. “House Republicans may want to distance themselves from Donald Trump, but the reality is they can’t distance themselves from the Trump agenda they are trying to force on Minnesotans.”
Donald Trump has laid out an extreme agenda that would take health care access away from women and make children and families less safe. He said, “Planned Parenthood should absolutely be de-funded.” Trump has refused to support paid family leave. Trump opposes universal background checks, even saying he will ban gun free zones at schools on his first day in office. And Trump’s tax plan includes massive tax breaks for the ultra-rich. On each of these issues, House Republicans have closely aligned with Donald Trump’s extreme and divisive agenda. Continue reading “Minnesota House Republicans Bringing “Trump Agenda” to Minnesota”
There’s no evidence that ultrarich are fleeing Minnesota
The following article by Adam Belz and J. Patrick Coolican appeared in the May 7, 2016, StarTribune:
The ranks of the very rich are growing in Minnesota, despite a controversial tax increase that singles out the biggest earners to pay more.
Critics predicted that the ultra-affluent would flee after Gov. Mark Dayton secured 2013 passage of a new income tax tier of 9.85 percent on individuals who make more than $156,000 a year. But the latest data show that the number of people who filed tax returns with over $1 million in income grew by 15.3 percent in the year after the tax passed, while the new top tier of taxpayers grew by 6 percent.
No doubt wealthy Minnesotans have changed their residency since 2012, but either more have moved in or more who were already here gained enough income to reach the top bracket.
Dayton argues taxes are not the driving force behind migration into or out of Minnesota. A change in residency is a decision involving weather, jobs and family, he said. Even if taxes figure in, they were already high in Minnesota before 2013, when the rate on top incomes was 7.85 percent. Continue reading “There’s no evidence that ultrarich are fleeing Minnesota”
Darth Daudt: Starve the General Fund
State Legislators taking direction from RNC on right to discriminate laws
Last week, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed an extreme new law that blocks local governments from expanding protections for members of the LGBT community. Unfortunately, North Carolina isn’t the only state where “Right to Discriminate” laws are being enacted. While these discriminatory measures against members of the LGBT community are being passed in legislatures across the country, it is important to remember that they are officially supported and furthered by the national Republican Party.
Just a month ago, a resolution was passed and approved by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus condemning “government overreach” of the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination against transgender students. It said:
“The Republican National Committee calls on the Department of Education to rescind its interpretation of Title IX that wrongly includes facility use issues by transgender students. Continue reading “State Legislators taking direction from RNC on right to discriminate laws”
Speaker Daudt’s Sweetheart Deal
This morning, DFL State Chair Ken Martin, held a press conference on House Speaker Kurt Daudt’s debt situation. Here’s his remarks:
Thank you for joining us here today.
Last week we learned that debt collectors have sued Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt three times in the past year over thousands of dollars in credit card charges, and that he also was late paying taxes for land he owns.
First, before I begin, let me tell you what this press conference is NOT about. It is not about someone dealing with credit card debt or financial difficulties, many Minnesotans face similar challenges. This is also not about someone facing legal challenges, which again too many Minnesotans coming out of the Great Recession have to endure.
This is about a powerful person using their powerful friends and influence to get out of their trouble. While ordinary Minnesotans deal with issue like these daily without help from powerful friends, Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt used his connections and influence to get out of his financial difficulties. If only other Minnesotans had the same opportunity.
Real Minnesotans don’t have a lobbying firm in their corner to get them out of trouble. Real Minnesotans pay their bills or face the consequences. Real Minnesotans facing financial troubles are focused on feeding their families and keeping the lights on, not taking trips around the world, or driving a fancy Lexus like Kurt Daudt. Continue reading “Speaker Daudt’s Sweetheart Deal”
No, raising the local minimum wage doesn’t hurt local businesses
The following article by Jared Bernstein and Ben Spielberg appeared on the Washington Post website on February 26, 2016:
Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist to Vice President Biden, is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the author of “The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity.” Ben Spielberg works on issues related to inequality, economic opportunity and full employment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the nation’s first minimum-wage law. It set the wage at $0.25 an hour and covered only a fifth of the workforce. Speaking to the country the night before he signed the bill, Roosevelt told listeners to “not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day” tell them “that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.”
Last August, almost 80 years later, the city council of Birmingham, Ala., voted 7 to 0 (with one abstention) to become the first city in the Deep South to enact a minimum wage above today’s federal level of $7.25. The ordinance planned an increase to $8.50 per hour by July 2016, with a second increase to $10.10 set for July 2017.
In response, state lawmakers leapt from “calamity-howling” to obstructionism. The Alabama legislature this past week passed a bill designed to block Birmingham and other cities not just from raising the local wage floor but also from mandating benefits such as paid sick leave. Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R) insists that the bill isn’t about the policies themselves but about preventing “all sorts of problems” that arise when cities are allowed to set their own minimum wages, presumably because there’s nothing preventing local businesses from relocating to avoid the higher labor costs engendered by an increase. Continue reading “No, raising the local minimum wage doesn’t hurt local businesses”
Follow the line: Does raising the minimum wage hurt the economy?
Great video from ThinkProgress:
GOP Racist Messaging
“Yesterday the Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party posted the following statement on their Facebook page: “MN #DFL now propose a “special session” to deal with their self-created “#Negroproblem”.
You don’t have to look far to find ignorant hate speech masquerading as acceptable party messaging. However, this is not the first time the Minnesota Republican Party and their affiliates have posted racially insensitive material.
“The GOP is clearly out of touch on issues of race here in Minnesota and around the country. Regrettably these comments have become commonplace in the Republican Party and it should be no surprise that they are now an accepted and normal part of their conversation.
While our community is still struggling with the death of a young man and trying to find answers for his family, the Republican Party of Minnesota decided to chime in with racist and bigoted comments. There is absolutely no place for this kind of ugly language in our state and we call on Chairman Downey to apologize to the people of Minnesota for the racist and bigoted comment from the Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party.”
Rep. Daudt’s Flip Flop on Remodeling Money
Patrick Condon with the StarTribune published an article in the August 25, 2015 issue of that paper titled “Speaker says additional Capitol restoration money he sought should be spent where it’s most needed”. In it, Mr. Condon details Rep. Daudt’s comments at the State Capitol Preservation Commission meeting. Even with a written e-mail chain showing the money request for the House Majority Caucus space upgrades came from his office.
Sounds like a pretty visual and loud flip flop to us.
You can read the original article here.