Minnesota Republicans get Religion on Taxes...

Not only did the Republican minority in the Minnesota Legislature slay the giant, they managed to simultaneously energize their base, and gave them a reason to get out the vote in '08.

The following is a press release prepared by Marty Seifert's office regarding a press conference held today:

TAX BILL VETO UNFORTUNATE BUT NECESSARY
Seifert Says: "We needed compromise, not a special session."

SAINT PAUL - (May 31, 2007) - Minnesota House Republican Leader Marty Seifert today said the veto of the tax bill was unfortunate but necessary.

"There were some good provisions in the tax bill that will not happen because an unacceptable controversial provision was inserted in the bill in the final hours of session," Representative Marty Seifert said. "In all of our negotiations, it was clearly communicated that government on autopilot would lead to a veto of the entire bill. The Democrats rolled the dice and the taxpayers lost."

Seifert said building inflation into the state's budget forecast removes a critical tool of fiscal management that is necessary to keep government spending under control.

"The state budget is built on taxpayer dollars. We owe it to the taxpayers to audit our government programs each year to determine if the dollars are being used effectively," Seifert said. "Government on autopilot is a gimmick directly connected to tax increases not fiscal responsibility."

Seifert said the greatest disappointment of the legislative session was the failure to provide direct property tax relief to homeowners.

"There were many solid proposals this session and we should spend the legislative interim reaching a compromise that provides immediate relief to property owners and long-term property tax reform. The property tax bill should be the first bill we vote on during the 2008 legislative
session," Seifert said.

Seifert said a costly special session should not be triggered by the veto of the tax bill or any other line item vetoes.

"We do not need a special session. It is unfortunate the Democrats failed to reach an agreement with the Governor and Republicans to deliver real results during the session. Their inability to compromise and failure to get the job done should not be rewarded with a special session," Seifert said.

The democrats gambled with a poison pill that Governor Pawlenty made clear he wouldn't swallow.

To put in an automatically-indexed raise in spending, regardless of need, is at once foolhardy as it is laziness to assess what the needs are before deciding the level of spending.

Long-term readers of this blog know that I haven't always been kind to our state legislators, nor to the governor.

The Minnesota Republican minority, including such stalwarts as Marty Seifert, Laura Brod, and Steve Gottwalt have held together against all odds to emerge as the true champions of the taxpayer. They deserve our congratulations, our thanks, and our support.

Left unchecked, the democrats would have conducted a drunken orgy, with "sky is the limit" spending levels that would have the net effect of tanking Minnesota's economy and killing job creation.

KUDOS to Minnesota's Republican "giant slayer" state legislators--and to Governor Pawlenty--they just gave me (and many, many others) a reason to vote FOR them in 2008!

****UPDATE****

King has more about why the veto was a good thing, Anti-Strib gives a good dressing-down of the critics.

Gary Gross thinks the Guv should be enshrined in Eveleth, MN. :-)