Election, tax reform must be MN Republicans' top priorities

Anyone who objectively watched Minnesota's elections this year knows that we were a laughingstock to the nation. Only Arizona and California were bigger laughingstocks. California counted its last vote right before Pearl Harbor Day. That's more than a month after Election Day. Yikes!

In Minnesota, we finished counting our votes much sooner than that. That said, California didn't lose 20 of their ballots like Minnesota. How can you lose 20 day-of ballots? That should be impossible! These things shouldn't ever happen. Period.

While we're reforming things, let's reform Minnesota's tax code. It's time to drop the Walz-Dayton saying that the rich must pay their fair share. The biggest reason why 'the rich' don't pay their fair share is because of the special packages that are given to companies to attract them to Minnesota. 

That's foolish because those companies leave for other states the minute the special packages expire. The only time they don't leave is when the special package is extended. A legitimate pro-growth tax system is one that lowers their taxes and keeps them there.

The late Harold Hamilton once wrote in his weekly column that 23 states had top income tax brackets that were lower than Minnesota's lowest income tax bracket. Throw in Minnesota's habit for overregulation and you've got the recipe for chasing businesses away.

Tax, Regulation Reform

Forcing businesses to spend money on things like paid family medical leave is hurting businesses. That act alone is forcing businesses to leave Minnesota. Paying that tax, then losing an employee to take care of a family member for up to 3 months, is a gut-punch by itself. That tax cuts into the business's profits. That's before thinking about paying 2 salaries for 1 person's work. What part of that sounds productive or fair?

Minnesota's marginal income tax rates are punitive. Couple that with the high cost of complying with the regulations that come with things like the Paid Family Medical Leave Act make it virtually prohibitive to do business in Minnesota.

UPDATE: Whoa! According to this Reality Check from WCCO's Pat Kessler, employees are eligible "for up to 20 weeks off..." Further, the program costs "25% more than" it was budgeted for. That sounds like a rip-off on steriods.:

Election Reform

In a House district, 20 ballots that were cast on Election Day went missing. How's that possible? It's possible because, according to HD-54A, they likely got tossed in the trash can. Further, each time there's an irregularity or abnormality, it benefits the DFL. After talking with election officials, it's obvious that election workers' responsibilities are too complicated. Between ballots cast on Election Day, early mail-in voting and early in-person voting, you've already got 3 piles of ballots, making virtually impossible to maintain chain-of-custody on each set of ballots in each of Minnesota's 4,131 precincts. The more complicated the system, the more training that's required to be proficient.

Election Reform Recommendations

To simplify elections, it's essential to eliminate, to the largest extent possible, early mail-in voting. Maintaining chain-of-custody of early in-person ballots is essential, too.