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KSTP/SURVEY USA POLL SHOWS 57% OF MINNESOTANS DON’T SUPPORT A GAS TAX INCREASE
By Michael B. Brodkorb | August 7, 2007
According to a new KSTP/Survey USA Poll, 57% of Minnesotans do not support a gas tax increase for roads and bridges. 38% support an increase, while 5% are not sure. Of the 38% that support a gas tax increase, 47% think it should be raised less than 5 cents.
I will post more information on this poll later this evening/tomorrow morning on Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
UPDATE: Click here to view the poll results.
Topics: Uncategorized |
August 7th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Not terribly surprised at these results. You’ll typically get results like this when you talk about raising ANY tax. I wish whenever surveys were put out like this they’d follow up and ask how the responders think revenue should be raised (or a budget balanced). You’d probably get the response that spending should be cut. But then that leads the the question of WHAT should be cut. And thats the question no one asks.
Its easy to generically say we shouldn’t raise taxes and we should cut spending. But when it comes to specifics about what should be cut people aren’t so eager about budget cuts.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Congrats to KSTP for taking this poll. I am not sure it gave them the results it wanted but what the hay. I think the smartest move Pawlenty made was pushing this special session off until after labor day. Unlike the knee jerk Dems we need to slow down and consider all options. With over 75% of the state budget going into education and welfare it time to talk about re-prioritizing the states budget. We all ready pay high income, property, sales, capitol gains and gas taxes. The State economy for the first time in it’s history is starting to lag behind the rest of the nation’s. Raising more taxes now would be not only foolish but revenue negative. I love this state and have lived here all my life but have been considering a move for a few years now. I can’t be the only person contemplating a move to a more tax friendly state. I’ll still keep my summer home, I’ll just spend six months in a more weather and tax friendly environment.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Going through the poll results, it just amazes me how these dimcracts get elected. Only 189 of 500 want a gas tax increase and of those the majority want less then 5 cents. A nickel increase is only $169 million per year. The dims tried raising taxes by 5.5 billion last session alone, amazing.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:49 am
This is about the same margin of folks who generally disagree with most every plank of the DFL platform. So, yes, it is amazing that those lying, asshole cowards ever get elected.
2008 won’t be a picnic for Republicans, but I’d be surprised if we don’t pick up a few seats.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Meanwhile governor Taxey Spends a lot says he was ready to raise the gas tax prior to the bridge collapse, and now he wants more and more and more light rail, what a great Republican.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:59 am
[...] Leo Pusateri writes for all of us (or at least the 57% of Minnesotans who oppose raising the gas tax) in hoping that “the solution to the bridge and infrastructure issue is a prudent, effective measure, rather than a knee-jerk tax-and-spend reaction.” All the talk about special sessions and gas tax increase as sequelae to last week’s I-35W bridge collapse may turn out to be just that–talk. [...]
August 8th, 2007 at 7:55 am
How about we just spend smarter?
Both the Democrats and Republicans in Washington want to spend 10’s of billions on welfare for the middle class (oh wait, it’s “for the children”) with a gov’t insurance program.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Chestnut, never underestimate the Republican party’s ability to blow an election.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:18 am
If we are going to have a spending orgy then I think we need to give money to DeLaSalle High School to build a bigger football stadium!
August 8th, 2007 at 8:32 am
I’m pleasantly surprised at the numbers. I thought for sure the touchy-feely leftist Minnesotans would be screaming for a gas tax after the bridge went down. Glad I’m wrong.
A line I’m using in my e-mails to my state rep, senator and governor is “You can raise my taxes for infrastructure only after you have justified every single other state expenditure as being more important. It isn’t about taxes, it is about priorities”
It’s like a relative of mine telling me a sob story about not having enough money to fix his car while we’re watching football on his 60” plasma TV.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Dear Barrack Thompson:
I’m not surprised by your liberally clouded disbelief. I too get bent when I see polls that generically ask: “Should we get out of Iraq?” without asking if they like seeing millions die in a civil war or $5 per gallon gas due to market instability.
So you are getting a taste of your own medicine. Although, at least the poll said it was an increase for road and bridges…a bit more descriptive. Of course, they didn’t remind the polled boobs that, due to the Constitutional amendment that passed last November…only 60% of the money raise from the increase can GO to roads.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:28 am
[...] UPDATE: And just like that, the worm may have turned. 57% do not support a gas tax increase. That number may change (and contradicts reports and rumors I heard from within the caucuses about polling the increase) but nevertheless represents a potential sea change from the DFL and Star Tribune’s (sorry for the rendundancy) views for a special session. Not only that but 75% support Pawlenty’s handling of the crisis and 65% support what Bush has done. Is that even possible? One prays. [...]
August 8th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Why should we believe a poll from KSTP? Stanley Hubbard can’t seem to give enough to Republicans and Cyndy Brucato was a famous spokesperson for many Republican candidates including Horny Normy.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Hey, noodle for brain (or is it sh-t?)…look at the graphic. SurveyUSA was the SOURCE. Which means…KSTP DIDN’T DO THE SURVEY.
Go put your tinfoil hat back on and keep telling us that the Sviggum seat will be lost again. I like that one…it had me laughing all yesterday.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Minnesota is not nearly as socialistic as the DFL would like them to be.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Dave of the VRWC,
Yeah, I know… it’s almost as epic as the Vikings ability to blow games they’re favored to win…
August 8th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Still you know there were a lot of liberals who saw this and were upset that their tax raising party could come to an abrupt stop.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Minnesota voters are done putting up with taxes, we simply don’t vote Democrats for Governor. Minnesotans won’t put up with a taxer in St Paul be it any Democrat or Tim Pawlenty, we are without a doubt liberal on issues that don’t have to do with dollars and cents but we refuse to put up with taxes.
I also think the bridge collapse has made us less willing to pay more taxes, the voters don’t think they’re the ones that failed, and aren’t willing to be the ones that are held accountable
August 8th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
You know the question will be okay if we call for a special session will we:
one, list the projects being voted on.
two, if we’re doing bridge repairs can we bond them or at least a large majority of them now to order them
three, since we know how much extra we will be spending on bridges and roads now compared with May what pile of bills will be repealed before serious spent to pay for it.
Or is that being unreasonable to ask?
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
August 8th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Insufferable Keilor Rant
Now that MN’s own “Will Rogers laureate” has weighed in (recycling the predictably nauseating Nickboy dreck) about our need for collective
guilt for being unwilling to be bled dry in
the 5th most taxed state in the nation,
http://archive.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/08/08/keillor/index.html
will the attack on the “selfish right wing” soon
begin in all-out frontal attack? Are there any
in the MN GOP who will intelligently counter the folly of the “conventional wisdom” of
meek acquiescence to DFL tax-hike proposals?
August 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Only 13 people dead (as long as they don’t know any of them personally) seems to be an acceptable risk every few years if it means conservatives don’t have to pay more in taxes.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Hey Sesame Street- When WAS the last time
a bridge collapsed in MN? We all take
“acceptable risks” in every aspect of
life, every day- meaning we ALL pay
less in taxes and we ALL have the
opportunity to put those dollars into
more productive uses. It would be incumbent
upon you to wait for an investigation to
find causality ascribing undertaxation to be
“the source” of the bridge collapse. Not that
you would understand any of this with your
Sesame Street level of education.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:32 am
Good morning here all. I still wish they would follow up and ask how they think revenue should be raised. Or if you don’t think it should be raised, what do you think should be cut. Its easy to say we need to prioritize are spending better, but what would you SPECIFICALLY change? If you say welfare needs to be cut, state what part of welfare you think should be cut. Be specific. I’m personally open to ideas. I have a long commute myself and I’m not made of money, so I’d love to know of ways we should raise money for transportation without raising the gas tax.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Also, I’d wonder that among the 57% that don’t approve of the gas tax increase, how many of those think revenue should be raised in other ways? Such as raising income taxes on the wealthy (not saying I agree with that, but I think a fair amount of people would favor that).
And to the person who made the war analogy, fair enough if you want to add to the war questions how many people would die in a civil war in Iraq if we left. Just as long as they include that more Americans will die if we stay. And while they’re at it maybe they should ask if they personally would be willing to die or their children in the war in Iraq.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Such as raising income taxes on the wealthy (not saying I agree with that, but I think a fair amount of people would favor that).
Spoken like a true liberal.
Yes, the DFL hopes every year that many will be for taxing “the rich” as they like to play the class warfare game year after year.
I just hope no democrat ever expects to get rich with that attitude. I also fully expect all democRats to stop taking any tax breaks as they should just pay the full amount no matter what! After all they claim they are willing to pay more to live in MN.
Of course what the DFL really wants to do is create an angry base of poor voters that they will tell they will give money and tax breaks to to gain votes.
August 9th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
You must have trouble reading.
I never said I supported raising the income taxes. How about we take the money thats going to stadiums and use it for our roads. There’s a start.
And I think you’re missing the point, don’t you think there are a lot of people among that 57% that think revenue should be raised in other ways? Money doesn’t grow on magical trees as so many republicans seem to think. Yes, you actually do have to pay for things.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
No, silly Kahuna. Tax breaks only go to the rich. That’s what the REPUBLICANS use to gain votes.
And silly Barack. REPUBLICANS know money doesn’t grow on magical trees. They know it comes from bonding so they don’t have to pay it back, their kids get to. Now that you mention it, it IS kind of magic!
August 10th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hey Sesame Street- 1) Gas tax increases will
hit the lowest SES folks the hardest– why have
your favorite politicians been pushing it
so hard, for so long? We already have one
of the highest combined gas tax rates in
the country with much of those funds
diverted to ill-advised, wasteful lefty pet projects.
2) Tax breaks only for the rich to gain votes?
Your PBS education is showing through– how
would a party “gain votes” from a very tiny
voting block (in MN, I bet half of whom are Dems). Of course we can turn your “logic”
around quite easily and state: welfare, free
health care, food stamps, housing vouchers, etc.
only go to the poor, that’s what the DEMOCRATS
use to gain votes; but in this case the
argument would have far more validity.
2) Bonding is by far the most sensible way
to fund large projects– as the “project” is
then paid for by ALL who use it over the life
of the project. Plus, it keeps the politicians
from diverting big lump sums of up-front money to even MORE ill-advised, wasteful lefty pet projects (instead of what they were intended
for).
Humming……”Sunny days, sweeping the clouds
away………….”
August 10th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Let’s see you say the Republicans give tax breaks to the ultra rich that make up 1-2% of the population and that adds up to how many votes? Now we look at the liberal democRats and they like to play games and offer free programs and actually GIVE money to some who pay no taxes at all and play class warefar games so you feel like you “sticking” to the rich. Now how much of the population do you think the democRats are trying to play to?
Barack we pay plenty already the problem is what our govenment choses to spend it on. As I have said many times the game your side plays is to give the money to your pet projects first and then claim you are short for the basic needs. You also play the game of dedicated funds so you can just excuse yourself for wasting tons of money on pet programs.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Ahh, it’s just too easy to bait you guys…
Sunny days… hummming along.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
[...] Mr. Krueger is under the illusion that taxpayers will turn on anyone that doesn’t support increasing the state gas tax. Based on this KSTP-SurveyUSA poll, there’s no reason to believe that there will be hell to pay for not increasing the gas tax. In fact, it’s more likely that those that support increasing the gas tax will be hurt politically. [...]
August 17th, 2007 at 9:23 am
[...] Casselman sees a “very smart guy” in Governor Pawlenty who - bolstered by public opinion - will resist DFL calls for increased taxes. Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a conservative Republican who had previously and, I think, gutsily resisted tax increases and prevailed, suddenly announced that he might call a special session of the state legislature to raise the gasoline tax, even though Congress had speedily approved and President Bush signed a bill for $250 million to pay for a new bridge. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 11:58 pm
[...] Ms. Ranum’s inference that Gov. Pawlenty is in danger of plummeting to President Bush levels is downright silly. The truth is that public opinion in Minnesota, like much of the nation, is tipping in the opposite direction. It’s heading in the direction of setting priorities rather than higher taxes. This poll bears that out. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 11:59 pm
[...] Ms. Ranum’s inference that Gov. Pawlenty is in danger of plummeting to President Bush levels is downright silly. The truth is that public opinion in Minnesota, like much of the nation, is tipping in the opposite direction. It’s heading in the direction of setting priorities rather than higher taxes. This poll bears that out. [...]
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:13 am
[...] Ms. Ranum’s inference that Gov. Pawlenty is in danger of plummeting to President Bush levels is downright silly. The truth is that public opinion in Minnesota, like much of the nation, is tipping in the opposite direction. It’s heading in the direction of setting priorities rather than higher taxes. This poll bears that out. [...]
August 26th, 2007 at 4:32 am
[...] As for taxes, that’s winning issue for the GOP, both at the federal and state levels. Vetoing tax increases isn’t a “politically risky choice”, as the Strib suggests, especially if it’s a gas tax increase. As Michael so aptly pointed out here, Minnesotans don’t take kindly to a gas tax increase: According to new KSTP/Survey USA Poll, 57% of Minnesotans do not support a gas tax increase for roads and bridges. 38% support an increase, while 5% are not sure. Of the 38% that support a gas tax increase, 47% think it should be raised less than 5 cents. [...]
March 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Who was responsible for moving the money from the dedicated tranportation fund(before we had to vote it back into it)