University of St. Thomas finance professor John Spry asks whether Minnesota should follow Rhode Island's "bold" tax reform.Perhaps the real question is whether a bill that unanimously passes both houses is as bold as it looks.The reforms include cutting the state's top marginal income tax rate from 9.9 percent to 5.99 percent, reducing the number of tax brackets from 5 to 3, and raising the personal income tax standard deduction while... Read More
The 66th anniversary of D-Day got me to ruminating on the tremendous sacrifice and the high tax rates that we imposed on ourselves during arguably our finest hours as a nation. It also got me to thinking about the funny numbers flying around these days about our governmental costs and obligations.The way Gov. Tim Pawlenty and other government-bashing politicos would do the math, our nation now has spent between two and three times more on our war... Read More
One of the most startling and perceptive quotes uttered by conservatives in recent days _ amid all the reckless talk about taking a nine-iron to our public institutions and the absurd assertion that we can eliminate as much as a third of our public sector budget _ was Rep. Marty Seifert's frustration over some radicals in his party who "just say they want to burn the capitol to the ground.'' He was speaki... Read More
The Tea Party movement fancies itself a populist uprising. The basic theme is that working stiffs and ALL Americans are overtaxed and that ordinary Americans can't possiby pay another penny without becoming slaves to a socialist government. Sarah Palin herself articulated the message for the umpteenth time at a rally in Boston on April 15, clearly implying that taxes were a big burden on all ... Read More
"Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities,'' is an impressive new policy textbook, hot off the University of Minnesota Press, that surveys the state of the metropolitan area and offers prescriptions for smarter growth and reducing racial and economic segregation. The book, co-authored by metropolitan governance experts Myron Orfield and Thomas F. Luce, Jr., belongs on the desks of Minnesota policy enth... Read More