A lot of Republican elected officials are quick to cite percentages rather than dollars when talking about taxes and how those rich people are so put upon by the government.  Our own Sen. David Hann is one of those who’s fast to toss out percentages, hoping people won’t have the background to respond.

Well, we found a great video that debunks the above. We posted a link on social media yesterday, but felt on this Tax Day, it was important to get the truth out there. Please take the 3 minutes to watch this:

David Hann · income inequality · regressive taxes · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48

With April 14, 2015 being the day the average working woman has to work to in order to match the 2014 earnings of the average man, here’s a post from the Center for American Progress that explains the gap:

The Center for American Progress has multiple articles on this topic that can give you the info you need to combat your Republican uncle who only gets his talking points from Fox News. (That mindset is, unfortunately, the same as our State Senator, David Hann, who’s stated on the Senate Floor that there is no such thing as a wage gap and has also said that income inequality isn’t a bad thing.)

Here’s a link to a post to multiple articles on this real topic.

David Hann · gender inequality · income inequality · pay inequality · SD48 Senate District 48 · Sen. Hann

At the Saturday, April 11, 2015 Minnesota Republican convention, SD48’s own Sen. David Hann spoke to the group. In his speech, he said the Senate DFL was levied the largest campaign finance fine in history. Rachel Stassen-Berger, the Capitol Bureau Chief and Reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press immediate responded with this:

Last month, it was reported that his party is in major arrears to vendors for the 2014 campaign. Here’s a post from the StarTribune detailing that situation.

Today (April 14, 2015), the StarTribune details the $26,000 fine the Minnesota GOP was given by the FEC for not disclosing receipts, payments and debts in 2009 and 2011. The FEC also fined the Minnesota GOP $170,000 for misrepresenting debts.

The StarTribune reports that the FEC has warned the party again that it must straighten out its paperwork for 2014 by May 15, 2015. The article also details the $1.40 million the party is still in debt.

Again, which organization is the party of fiscal responsibility and able to manage money better?  It might have been the GOP at one time.  Folks, it isn’t now.  And, when push comes to shove, there is prevarication at best.

David Hann · debt · FEC fines · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48

Our current SD48 State Senator, David Hann, called a press conference April 10, 2015, to dredge up his ethics complaint against Sen Hayden that he started in September of last year.

If you’ve spent time in any organization, you’ve seen how people continue to repeat behavior they’ve been rewarded for in the past. Why do we bring this up in this case?

Let’s look at how Sen. Hann became Senate Minority Leader. He got there through behind the scenes manipulation of a situation that wound up costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. He was part of the gang of 4 that ousted former Leader Amy Koch for her affair with Michael Brodkorb. You can read more about that situation here.

In addition to the above situation, he has his own ethics skeleton. You can read more about that here.

David Hann · ethics · Sen. Hann

Our current SD48 Senator and friends held a presser before the April 10 State of the State Address announcing a new “Family Surplus” tax cut. We know whenever we read and hear Republican Orwellian language, it’s important to check the facts.

During his remarks about how awful things have been under Democratic control. We’ve done multiple posts about how Minnesota has outperformed our neighbor to the East, which has been under the kind of Republican control Sen. Hann wants to impose.

But, back to this new tax cut bill.  Once again, it’s a percentage across the board on income taxes. Why is that an issue? It benefits those at the top yet again. The Uptake has done a great post on this that includes the video of the conference. Here’s their findings:

• only the progressive (affecting those who are more well off) income tax is included
• someone making $50,000 annually would save $250
• someone making $500,000 annually would save $2,500
• the top 1% of the economy has enjoyed substantially more robust economic recovery from the Republican Great Recession than the 99% of the economy
• more regressive taxes (affecting those who aren’t as well off) like property taxes and sales taxes are, for some reason, not included in the bill he’s carrying

Why are we pointing this out?   The Minnesota Tax incidence Study shows the poor and middle class pay 29.9% of their income in state taxes.  The highest income bracket?  Those folks pay 9.6% of their income.  That’s why Sen. Hann always wants to talk percentages and not real money.

You can see the full post here.

David Hann · GOP warn on the middle class · MN vs. WI · Orwellian language · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48 · top 1%