Tax Policy

"Appalling" NoDak billboard takes shot at MN's business climate on MN soil [IMAGE]

A billboard recently erected in Moorhead has left some Chamber of Commerce officials with bunched panties.SEE ALSO: North Dakota tries to market itself as hookup haven, fails The plain-looking billboard (visible above), bought and paid for by the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, simply says ... More >>

DFL Rep. Karen Clark wants to raise taxes on barrels of beer from $4.60 to $16.17

Rep. Karen Clark, D-Minneapolis, is one half of the tandem leading the push for marriage equality. She's also leading the push to increase taxes on beer, wine, and liquor.SEE ALSO: Sunday liquor sales seem to be dead on arrival yet againYesterday, Clark's proposal to increase taxes on 31-gallon barr ... More >>

Smoking is slowly becoming illegal in Minnesota

One day after Gov. Dayton proposed a 94-cent increase in the state's cigarette tax, State Fair officials announced that smokers will be huddled into pens starting with this year's Great Minnesota Get-Together.FROM OCTOBER: State smoking ban turns five today In other words, smoking continues down the ... More >>

Gov. Dayton's deputy chief of staff wants Mary Franson to read the damn budget proposal

Today, Gov. Dayton unveiled his state budget proposal for the next biennium. SEE ALSO: Mary Franson wins recount in belated MNGOP election night success storyIt's a complicated, multifaceted document. But you won't be surprised to learn that before Dayton's budget press conference had even concluded ... More >>

Keith Ellison: GOP fiscal cliff offer makes path to deal "more opaque"

A day after Republicans proposed a fiscal cliff counteroffer, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison says a path to striking a deal before the end-of-year deadline is "more opaque." "I think there should be a deal," Ellison told City Pages earlier today. "I think we do need a deal. But we're not going ... More >>

Bachmann posts absurdly question-begging "Conservative Priorities Survey" to her website

Michele Bachmann is really concerned about where her supporters stand on the important issues. She's so concerned, in fact, that she recently posted a "Conservative Priorities Survey" to her website in order to get a clearer idea of what her backers think.But let's just put it this way -- Bachmann h ... More >>

MNGOP, DFL Reps. argue heatedly about who's sticking it to middle class [VIDEO]

​State Rep. Tom Rukavina, D-Virginia, may be a small guy, but he was prepared to "take it outside" yesterday in response to a GOP Representative's claim that the DFL "stuck it to the middle class."After Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, made that comment, a heated argument with Rukavina ensued that ... More >>

Dayton offers plan to end shutdown

Dayton wants to end the shutdown, but he's making demands.​After months holding out for a tax increase of some kind, Mark Dayton is telling Republican legislators that he'll accept their budget plan with no new taxes. In a letter to Republican leadership, Dayton says he still doesn't like the plan ... More >>

Dayton complains about GOP using shutdown to raise money

Minnesota's shut down, but the state GOP isn't.​Mark Dayton says Minnesota Republicans are trying to mine the state shutdown for campaign money. The governor criticized the GOP for hitting up contributors while Minnesota can't pay for highway repairs and state parks. In a response to City Pages th ... More >>

Bachmann's comparison of Holocaust to taxes brings Anti-Defamation League scorn

​Incredibly, Rep. Michele Bachmann compared the Nazi Holocaust with the American tax code over the weekend. Today, the Anti-Defamation League scorned her twisted moral equivalency, as well as a similar statement by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Michele Bachmann compares taxes to Holocaust

Michele Bachmann: Time invoke the corollary to Godwin's Rule.​In New Hampshire over the weekend, Michele Bachmann declared that the American tax code creates "a similar death and a similar taking away" as Hitler's extermination of six million Jews during the Holocaust. To suggest that there i ... More >>

Michele Bachmann calls on Glenn Beck to solve the debt crisis

Glenn Beck explains the world.​Down in South Carolina over the weekend, Michele Bachmann declared to a gathering of a few hundred Republicans that the tax code is a "weapon of mass destruction," and asserted in all seriousness that we ought to put Glenn Beck in charge of solving the debt crisi ... More >>

Minneapolis property taxes opposed by strange computerized cartoon

This guy's well versed in tax policy.​The big tax debate and vote ended last night at City Hall with Minneapolis homeowners facing a 4.7 percent increase this coming year. It could have been worse. The original proposed increase was about 6.5 percent.

Michele Bachmann fears Walter Mondale's bull's-eye on her back

​It's not as if Michele Bachmann actually needs anymore cash; she sits on mountains of greenbacks ready for the good spendin' to keep her congressional seat and personalized studio chair at Fox News. But by golly that Walter Mondale guy has a bull's-eye on her back now. Pelosi too! And don't f ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty casts Legislature in "Friday the 13th"

Welcome to the Legislature​So here we are, with the clock ticking down on the legislative session and the state's books facing a monster budget shortfall. The Republican governor characterizes the conundrum as a horror movie franchise. A leading Democrat says Republicans have devolved into a c ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty's unallotment appeal tossed by state Supreme Court

​In a ruling that could suddenly pitch Minnesota into the uncharted territory of a $3.4 billion deficit, the Minnesota Supreme Court today said that Gov. Tim Pawlenty went above his authority by trying to use unallotment to unilaterally cut $5.3 million from a state program. Pawlenty's reacti ... More >>

Reaganite: Pawlenty's "transparently phony" on balanced budget

He may think he has found a clever way of appealing to the right wing tea party/Fox News crowd, Bruce Bartlett says.

The most drunk for your buck

They might not offer the most pleasant aftereffects, but these are the beverages with the highest ratio of alcohol content per dollar.

Twisdom: Response to Pawlenty's cuts, in tweets

It was Unallotment Day here in Minnesota, which means the twats were ready for their live and unedited responses to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed cuts to balance out a $2.7 billion deficit.

Pawlenty economics: Little hope for success

Why did we give this guy the keys?

Minn. DFL proposes increasing taxes on all things that matter

DFL legislators have come up with the genius idea of taxing all things that really matter in life: booze, cigarettes, and rich people.

Happy Teabagging Day!

We've really been tingling with excitement for the big day of Republican teabagging all across this great nation. Where everyone can put their sexual prejudice aside and teabag together.

Station 19 owner: City trying to tax us out

Tim Pawlenty: Governor No

Tim Pawlenty racked up more vetoes this year than any governor in Minnesota's history. Is this the man we want to be vice president?

Pawlenty more popular than ever(?!)

Former MN State Transportation Commissioner: "A sobering reminder that our system is aging"

It Ain't Easy Being Green

Xcel asks customers to pick up the tab for global warming

The McClatchy Strib: RIP. WTF?

Pruitt's Folly, big-daily blues, and the invasion of the stripper-flippers

3Q: Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher

The Republican Nightmare

Meet the top enlisted soldier—and top lunchroom monitor—who's battling to dislodge Gil Gutknecht

Twins Stadium, Chapter 83462398

Spotted

Vital Mn House debate on cigarette tax rages

Heel Sviggy! Now, Go Fetch!

Pawlenty for President FAQ

See Tim run

Greenspan: toady or hypocrite

Minneapolis: city of average taxes

The Incredible Vanishing Deficit

A new state law proves that figures don't lie, but liars figure

School Districts of the Rich and Famous

With money tight, west metro schools are accruing wealthy endowments and paying for teachers

Who Is Kerry Edwards, and What Is He Running For?

Q: Are the Democrats really as stupid as they look?
A: No one is really as stupid as the Democrats look.

Dead Set on Destruction

Even Republicans are alarmed by the governor's fiscal mismanagement

The Invisible Recovery

Author and economist Doug Henwood on jobless recoveries, the two Americas, and the "Wal-Mart effect"

Pawlenty's Shell Game

Off Beat

The Earlier the Better in Setting Our Children on the Right Course

Why do we wait for families to fail before we offer services, before we offer needed assistance, before we offer a safe haven for children?

Billion Dollar Guesswork

Gov. Arne Carlson is crowing over a $1.3 billion budget surplus. But his own state economist, Thomas Stinson, acknowledges that the money hasn't come in yet--and perhaps never will.

The Pretenders

You'd think that Clinton's decision amounting to a death sentence for thousands of HIV-positive Americans might generate a public outcry. Instead, the chattering classes were obsessed with Dick Gephardt's speech at Harvard.

(Un)Fare Wars

Should the House bill pass, prices will go up at smaller airlines while large airlines such as Northwest will shoulder a smaller tax burden.

The Myth of Progressive Taxes

Steve Forbes: the story of a boy and his dogma.

Malcolm Eccchh