A Dialog with an ardent Mark Dayton Supporter

The rational discussion about what is best for Minnesota, and all of her citizens, has been submerged as the Governor ignores three offers from the legislature while he insists on raising taxes and spending.  As an example, a friend of mine sent me a dialog he had on Saturday with a door knocker supporting Governor Dayton's agenda.  It is instructive in the way the public dialog has evolved.  The real events have disappeared in an unwavering zeal of  "tax the richest 2%". 

Today (6/25) I had a chance to talk with a SEIU Person in her mid 20’s who was canvassing a neighborhood.  Her start off pitch was the extreme high pay/bonuses the top CEO’s receive and the large stockpiles of money companies are holding onto. It would really help the economy and the Union people if that money was spent.

Of which was a segway into the Top 2% need to pay more taxes in Minnesota.

My questions to her were and her Answers:

Why are Companies Stockpiling their money and not spending it?    Her Answer  – Don’t Know.

What percent of the total money made in Minnesota a year goes to the top 2%?    Her Answer  --  Don’t Know.

What percent of the income tax dollars Collected by the State of Minnesota
comes from the top 2%  -    Her Answer  -- Don’t Know.

What was Minnesota’s last two year General Dollar budget?   Her Ans. --  Don’t Know.

What is the next two year General Dollar Budget that has been approved by the legislators, that Mark Dayton vetoed?    Her Answer  --  Don’t Know.

By this time she (SEIU person) asked me why I was asking so many questions.
My Answer was: that I wanted to educate myself, as to what you knew about the topic at hand and since you cannot answer a single question that I have asked . . . it must be really embarrassing for you to be promoting “Minnesotans for a Fair Economy / SEIU” and you know absolutely nothing about the topic.

Do I need to mention that by this time she had climbed into a Van with her SEIU Paid friends and was driving away?

As I always say. . . What Country.

The answers she didn't know make all the difference in the debate:

Companies are standing on the sidelines for a number of reasons.  The most significant being the uncertainty of what an employee will cost in health care and taxes.  

The top 1% in the US pay 38% and the top 5% pay 48.72% of the total income tax bill already.  In Minnesota the top 10% pay 57% of the state income tax.  The fragility and failure of the argument to simply increase taxes is shown in two reports:

"If just one of Minnesota’s roughly 6,000 households earning $1 million or more leaves the state, Minnesota has to attract 65 households earning between $48,000 and $66,000 to replace the lost tax revenue."

To recover the taxes paid by one household in the top 1 percent of income, Minnesota would have to attract 280 households earning $81,000 to $100,000, or 449 new households earning $53,000 to $67,000.
Source: Minnesota Business Partnership analysis of 2005 Tax Incidence Study

The 2009-2010 budget was $30 billion dollars with some additional from the federal stimulus.

The legislature has increased the 2011-2012 balanced budget to $34 billion and has made three overtures to the Governor to try to avert a shutdown, but Governor Dayton continues to demand even more increased spending to $39 billion, that has some unspecified reductions to $37 billion, and increased taxes. 

Only Governor Dayton can avert a government shutdown, because only he stands in the way of a bi-partisan balanced budget increase that has been produced by the legislature.
For a humorous exposition of Governor Dayton's desire to shutdown the state watch this iMovie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXxp8mfw2eU