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%

By Ken Martin, Chairman, Minnesota DFL

There is an old saying that a hypocrite is someone who conveniently forgets their faults to point out someone else’s. Republican Minority Leader Sen. David Hann’s editorial last week exposed his blind spot when it comes to the behaviors of his own GOP Senators.

If Sen. Hann believes it necessary to review the actions of parties and individuals when discussing legislative matters then it is just as fair to review the record of the Republicans in Minnesota:

• This past year, Republican Sen. Sean Nienow defaulted on a $613,000 federal government loan and was relieved of $840,000 of debt by the taxpayers when he filed for bankruptcy.  Ironically—at the same time—the senator from Cambridge was attacking government for spending too much money and not living within its means.
• The Republican Party of Minnesota is now in a public spat with some of its vendors, as detailed by a Star Tribune article, for not paying its bills from the 2014 campaign. This is a party that is still over $1,500,000 in debt—but just this week announced a $150,000 advertising campaign telling legislators how to do their job. So much for the party of fiscal responsibility.  (more…)

David Hann · ethics · hypocrite · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48

Sen. Hann gave the above statements at a May 19, 2014, press conference.  There, he states that there had been no new sign ups through MNsure.

In June of 2014, MPR published an article on Minnesota’s rate of people without insurance dropped substantially due to the new health care law. Here’s a link to this article.

And, here’s a chart from that article:

Looks to us like reality shows that people without insurance got insurance in 2014.

David Hann · MNsure · number of uninsured · Sen. Hann · uninsured

Fellow elected officials, let’s keep it clean. Let’s focus on our ideas.

I recently read with interest state Senate Minority Leader David Hann’s March 7 commentary regarding political cronyism. For as long as the article was, I failed to see one positive suggestion about what he or his party would do differently. And while I disagree with most of his criticisms, he did manage to accentuate one critical point, although I doubt it was his intention. Minnesotans are generally tired of this sort of rhetoric.

Hann went to great lengths to portray the party opposite as nothing less than crooked. I am certain that the average Minnesotan sees through this and that he is playing only to his own base. And I say this because my conversations with folks across our state prove to me that the repeated negative politics is driving people further and further away.

All of us, as elected public officials, need to take a step back and re-evaluate. And I am well aware that it is happening at every level, from local to state to federal offices. The constant bombardment from politicians about how abysmal the “other guy” or the “other party” is has destroyed people’s confidence in government. Not every politician does this, but it is certainly happening enough to generate feelings of disgust.

What has happened to the days when we tried to sell something based on its merit? As a consumer, I want to hear about the positive features of your product, and why it will work best for me. I really don’t care what your opinion is of a competitor’s product. Can we not apply this principle to politics? (more…)

David Hann · Erik Simonson · Rep. Simonson · Sen. Hann

Paul Gale Comedy recently posted the video below in support of National Women’s Day. It’s a great, tongue-in-cheek parody of something 51% of the population faces. Something our State Senator, David Hann, doesn’t believe exists.  (Or, if it does, it’s because women have babies.)

Enjoy!

income inequality · National Women's Day · Paul Gale Comedy · war on women