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| Post Number: 11
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TameThaTane 
Group: Members
Posts: 6300
Joined: May 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 02 2007,12:53 pm |
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1/3 of the people work in government. It's always that third wanting to extract more from the other 2/3's. Government should be no more than 15% of the total.
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My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.
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| Post Number: 12
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 02 2007,1:00 pm |
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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| Post Number: 13
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MADDOG
Group: Moderator
Posts: 7821
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2008,2:45 pm |
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QUOTE Bridges or Boondoggles?
The State bonds for zoos, arenas and trails. Why not bond for something important?
ST. PAUL – As it did in 2007, the 2008 legislative session will most likely come down to a showdown over how to pay for road and bridge projects. Like last year, Minnesotans will again see proposals to raise any tax that has even the slightest connection to transportation funding such as an increase in the gas tax, new wheelage taxes, dedicated sales tax increases and higher license tab fees.
As was clearly demonstrated last year, Governor Pawlenty and Minnesotans had no appetite for tax increases. 2008 should be no different.
Minnesota State Legislators should look to a source of funding that is routinely misspent on government boondoggles and has gone largely untapped when it comes to long-term capital projects that are clearly of statewide significance: Minnesota needs to start using state G.O. bonds for road and bridge projects.
Why aren’t we already doing this? “It’s simple,” says Phil Krinkie, President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, “legislators want to pay cash for highway projects in order to use the credit card for local pork barrel projects. If bonding bills were primarily made up of necessary road and bridge projects, there would be little room left for the “pork” that legislators bring home to their districts to help with their re-election efforts.”
Because the legislature has a self-imposed guideline to limit state debt payments to 3% of the State’s general fund, the 2008 bonding bill should come in at a maximum of $965 million. Of that number, state legislators should allocate a major portion of the bonding bill to road and bridge projects.
Krinkie concluded: “If increased transportation spending is really as much of a priority for state legislators as they say it is, then sacrificing Faribault’s Paradise Center for the Arts, the Hyland K70 Ski Jump in Bloomington or the St. Louis County Equestrian Facility, just to name a few, shouldn’t be a problem.”
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At the Taxpayers League's press conference on January 11th, a copies of a Minnesota Free Market Institute analysis were distributed that made the case as to why Government Obligation (G.O.) bonds should be used for road and bridge projects.
Also at the press conference Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie pointed to a number of road and bridge projects that should be included in future bonding bills and also projects that state legislators have historically used the bonding bill to fund.
Local Pork Projects
v Hyland K70 Ski Jump – Bloomington
v St. Paul RiverCentre Loan Repayment
v Duluth Zoo Polar Bear Exhibit
v Spicer Historic Military Plane Enclosure
v Target Center Bond Repayment
v State Fair Fish Habitat Display
v Anoka County Bike and Pedestrian Trail
v Rochester National Volleyball Center
v St. Louis County Equestrian Facility
v Austin Area Success Center
Roads and Bridges
v I-35 from Proctor to Duluth
v Highway 61 Hastings bridge
v Highway 71/197 in Bemidji
v Highway 52 Lafayette bridge
v Highway 52 Cannon Falls interchange
v I-35E Cayuga bridge over the Mississippi
v Highway 14 Waseca bypass
v Highway 36 Stillwater Lift bridge
v Highway 19 in Redwood Falls
v Highway 610 between I-94 and 169
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Actually my wife is especially happy when my google check arrives each month. Thanks to douchbags like you, I get paid just for getting you worked up. -Liberal
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| Post Number: 14
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MADDOG
Group: Moderator
Posts: 7821
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2008,2:46 pm |
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QUOTE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 14, 2008 Contact: Phil Krinkie (651) 294-3590 ext 202 Governor’s bonding proposal a good start But doesn’t go far enough to fund state highways ST. PAUL – Governor Pawlenty today released his 2008 capital investment proposal and with it came one step closer to slowing the annual crush of wasteful pork projects that state legislators use to buy their re-elections. The last two major bonding bills (in 2005 and 2006) topped out at nearly $1 billion with little money designated for transportation projects. This year, Governor Pawlenty is aiming to spend $255 million of his total billion dollar proposal to fund road and bridge projects – more than any other bonding bill in the history of Minnesota. “This is certainly a good start for the 2008 capital investment bill,” said Phil Krinkie, President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and former chairman of the House Capital Investment Committee. “We absolutely agree with the Governor’s proposal that the bonding bill should focus on road and bridge projects. However, it’s unfortunate that the Governor doesn’t suggest using Government Obligation (G.O.) bonds for state highway projects. But anything that sets out to trim the amount of fat that is usually spent on local pork projects is a welcomed start.” At a Capitol press conference last Friday, Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie laid out a similarly-themed bonding proposal that would use G.O. bonds for Minnesota road and bridge projects. Another disagreement that the Taxpayers League has with the Governor’s proposal is the suggestion that Trunk Highway Bonds be used to pay for repairs at various state facilities including the office building at 395 John Ireland Boulevard. “The public shouldn’t be told that there isn’t enough revenue for state road and bridge projects when over $50 million in gas tax dollars are going to build or repair state buildings. These projects should be funded with state general fund dollars.” Krinkie concluded: “All state infrastructure projects should be judged based on their public benefit. Higher Education and Environmental projects should compete equally with state highway projects for funding. http://www.taxpayersleague.org/
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Actually my wife is especially happy when my google check arrives each month. Thanks to douchbags like you, I get paid just for getting you worked up. -Liberal
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| Post Number: 15
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| Post Number: 16
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Madd Max
Group: Members
Posts: 1345
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Feb. 19 2008,2:12 pm |
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State hasn't invested enough in its roads, report says
Describing a lack of money to maintain and fix Minnesota highways, the Legislative Auditor said today that the state has relied on borrowing millions of dollars to finance highway expansion projects "but has not invested adequately to maintain many existing highways."
By MIKE KASZUBA and PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune
Last update: February 19, 2008 - 12:37 PM
Describing a lack of money to maintain and fix Minnesota highways, the Legislative Auditor said today that the state has relied on borrowing millions of dollars to finance highway expansion projects "but has not invested adequately to maintain many existing highways."
The report is likely to lend support to calls this legislative session by DFLers to raise gasoline taxes to finance road and highway repairs.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has threatened to veto the legislation, has instead used the state's bonding authority to borrow money to pay for the work. A $7.7 billion transportation spending proposal being pushed by DFLers is scheduled for House and Senate floor votes Thursday. Pawlenty and the DFLers, who control both the House and Senate, have battled over transportation spending in recent years, with the governor vetoing previous attempts to pass the first gas tax hikes since the 1980s.
Adjusted for inflation, revenues from Minnesota motor vehicle and fuel taxes have declined since 2003, and the state made substantial use of debt financing to support the state trunk highway system, the report said. While the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has a policy of spending money first to preserve the existing highway system, in practice over half of trunk highway construction spending since 2002 has gone toward expanding the system while important preservation needs have not been met. Since 2002, the quality of state trunk highways has generally declined, the report said.
MnDOT commissioner Carol Molnau, in a letter accompanying the report, said the findings were "helpful" and "will contribute to enhanced discussions among all parties on how to cost-effectively preserve our critical transportation infrastructure." She said that federal highway officials had regularly found the state's bridge inspection program to be in compliance with federal standards.
Pawlenty's office did not respond immediately to the report. Although much attention has been focused on bridges in the aftermath of the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge, the structural condition of bridges has generally improved, the report said. But it said the state lacks money to deal with both preserving and expanding its highway system. For preservation alone, the report said, MnDOT estimates it will need about $672 million a year between 2012 and 2018 - an amount equal to the forecasted revenues available for all trunk highway construction.
Much of the report focused on a decline in revenue for road, highway and bridge work over the years, which it attributed to motor vehicle and fuel taxes not keeping pace with inflation. It noted that those taxes accounted for about two-thirds of highway money in 1998, but dropped to about half of the revenue last year.
Staffing at MnDOT dropped from a peak of 5,649 in 2001, just before Pawlenty took office, to 4,555 in 2007 - a 19 percent decline.
The report comes six months after bridge's collapse on Aug. 1, the highest-profile tragedy in MnDOT's historythat left 13 dead and injured more than a hundred. MnDOT, Pawlenty and Molnau have been under intense criticism since the collapse, and some critics have attempted to link the governor's refusal to authorize new taxes for transportation spending to the tragedy.
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board said that while the exact cause of the collapse was still under investigation it was focused on whether a series of steel plates -- known as gussets -- may have been improperly designed when the bridge was built in the 1960s. The NTSB, in a comment that drew criticism and later led federal investigators to soften their initial findings, said there was no evidence that MnDOT's maintenance of the bridge played a role in the tragedy.
Though the report was muted in its criticisms of MnDOT's bridge work, the legislative auditor said that the agency appeared to be completing high-priority bridge repairs but was falling behind on routine maintenance. In addition, the report said, MnDOT "does not adequately document its follow-up on inspectors' maintenance recommendations."
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Heck, if crazy were a pre-existing condition, the GOP wouldn't be able to get insurance. James Carville
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| Post Number: 17
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stitch0852
Group: Members
Posts: 84
Joined: Feb. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 23 2008,9:04 pm |
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Seems to me I remember reading in some form of media (online or printed document) that there were several projects proposed this past year and they were trying to get the funding from the transportation fund, yet none of those projects were transportation related.
I think the government show stop, take a deep breath, stop all funds from going out. Make a list, project vs where funding comes from. Any that come from the transportation funds should have a closer look. If it is not a transportation related project, funding stops from that rice bowl for the project.
I bet if they did this, there would be plenty of money to fund the roads.
Rising property values
Increased gas prices
Increased food prices
Higher cost of living overall
Higher taxes (let's not forget the referendum plus any more they will try to shove through in the future "for the children")
Higher interest if credit cards are used
Higher taxes for licensing and drivers licensing (if passed)
Why would those in government even consider taxpayers would be open to more taxes?
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ENC(SW) USN
Retired
" 'Smart' bombs find stupid people, too."
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| Post Number: 18
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Wolfie
Group: Members
Posts: 1040
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 24 2008,12:29 am |
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I remember when I received the memo about taxing labor in the mail from the dept of revenue, I called for clarification and this is how it was explained to me. If item A is broken and you repair it back to the specifications it had when it left the factory, ie factory original, then the labor was NOT taxable. But if item A is broken or not and you repair it or modify it so it is BETTER than factory original then the labor is taxable. After getting that clarification, which I saw as two names for the same shade of gray, I just started charging tax on all labor. Customers don't really care, its usually a few pennies, and its easier to collect more tax then needed then not enough.
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Many good men have died to guarantee your freedoms, live your life like it was worth dying for.
I have the ability to make the 1200 meter shot, but some targets deserve the up close kill, where you can watch the life leave the eyes while the blood ebbs from the body.
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