Minnesota DFL: On the losing side and out of touch. Again!

Bill Clinton himself once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.

When Governor Pawlenty vetoed the grossly-overblown transportation bill last year, he had the public behind him by a 60-40 margin against any increase in gas taxes.

This year is no different.

Results of the latest KSTP Poll:

1) Asked of 700 Adults:
Do you think the state gas tax should? Or should not? Be increased to pay for improving the condition of our roads and bridges?

36% Should
59% Should Not
5% Not Sure

2) Asked of 254 (36%) who say tax should be increased:
By how much do you think the tax should be increased?

64% 1-5 Cents
23% > 5 Cents
12% Not Sure


3) Asked of 700 Adults:
Would you support or oppose increasing license registration fees, or license tabs, in order to pay for transportation funding?

33% Support
62% Oppose
5% Not Sure


4) Asked of 700 Adults:
Would you support or oppose increasing the metro area sales tax in order to pay for transportation funding?

37% Support
54% Oppose
9% Not Sure

Even in the liberal bastion that is the University of Minnesota, in a separate recent poll, no fewer than 61 percent of students opposed raising the gas tax.

Not to mention that the KSTP poll makes no mention of the DFL plan to continue to raise the gas tax in the most cowardly way possible: by indexing the gas tax in perpetuity to the rate of inflation, so that future tax increases would become automatic without further need for votes. Said DFL MN Dist 28 Senator Steve Murphy:

"...here in Minnesota sometimes when it comes to raising taxes, it's a little difficult to do," Murphy said. "So we're just going to index the gas tax and let the CPI take care of adjusting that from one year to the next."

Did you get a load of that?? Being the out-and-out socialist that he is, Stephen Murphy thinks that raising taxes should be an easy thing to do. Being too cowardly to face the political repercussions of voting for future gas tax increases, the Minnesota DFL would set further increases on autopilot.

The dirty little secret is, the democrats do not actually expect different results from similar behavior. On the contrary, they are completely content to play political chicken with Governor Pawlenty on some much-needed projects, such as the rebuilding of the I-35W Bridge. As a matter of fact, by bringing up an even more pork-laden, tax-increase-heavy transportation bill with only one opportunity for a vote, and no opportunity for debate or compromise, they are counting on Governor Pawlenty to rightly utilize his veto power, and then blame him for the lack of progress. As MN 15-A Representative Steve Gottwalt said,

"They don't want a transportation bill. They are unwilling to moderate their tax-and-spend policies in the face of a recession. They have loaded up the bill beyond the one vetoed last year, signalling no willingness to cooperate or collaborate in moving forward transportation funding. They simply want a train wreck they can blame on the Governor. It is irresponsible."

As time goes by, the use of the words "irresponsible" and "DFL" in the same paragraph proves to be less and less of a stretch.