Well, I am positive that the way Michael lets the righties insult, cuss, swear, and belittle folks, but won’t allow a lefty like me, has been duly noted by a whole bunch of folks.

Some of ‘em call it hypocrisy. I just call it typical behavior of the right; “do as we say, not as we do.”

On a side note, I am having dinner with my Uncle tonight, 85 years old, combat wounded, was a Jap prioner of war for almost a year. He is a regular reader of MDE and wanted to know if tommy would like to tell him to lick his jump boots.

He has asked if I know who you are as I believe he would like to let that VFW know as well what you are up to and then drag the Hopkins VFW into the frey.

I am not positive tommy, but I think you have pissed off a few folks around here with your personal attacks.

Just one question since you take such honor in your service time, did you enlist or were you drafted? Just a question the old guy had.

Tommy does not argue facts or issues, he merely changes the subject or his famous personal attacks come out.

Pretty much an empty shell of a man.

What are “Business Subsidies”?? TAX DOLLARS (Tax Increment Financing) given to businesses to build in a specific area or City with the promise of employing and staying in that given area.

“You do understand that when the people elect someone they are supposed to represent the people that sent him, not The Taxpayers League of MN and David Strom. You do know that, ‘right’?”

“Senator, I need to see your driver’s license….say, Senator? Your DL is from DC…”

I really enjoyed bein’ a roadwarrior in SoDak; every town has a really nice golf course. I really enjoyed Brookings CC.

If you had capital to invest, would you put it into play in Wahpeton, ND, or a stone’s throw across the river in Brekenridge, MN?

Personally, I – and many, Many, MANY other democrats – believe we need to continually look at how this state treats it’s businesses, and make the adjustments necessary to keep our buisinesses here, healthy, and hiring.

Now, the gas tax is a red-herring; Wisconsin has rasied it’s gas tax repeatedly over the last 20 years; as we should have. Employees need to get to work; product needs to get to market.

I do know that Erik Paulsen was pooh-poohing windfarms, while promoting the coal gasification plant; I had the misfortune of listening to him one night two years ago at a civic group event.

Thanks for the information. You seem to know a lot about this.

I flew over that area on a nice clear day last week, and it’s impressive the number of those wind farms we have in Minn.

It’s always I hear this or I know this with you, show me a solid study that shows huge amounts of companies leaving Minnesota for SD, ND or WI? Companies move over the border back and forth all the time, most of which is not due to taxes.

The myth of thousands of businesses moving to SD is just an excuse for the Governor to seek tax reductions for his buddies.

-The program is unfocused because it lacks a budget constraint and meaningful policies for local governments to follow in deciding which businesses may participate in the program.

-The JOBZ program also has not been targeted to those parts of Greater Minnesota that are economically distressed and most in need of assistance.

-There are significant problems with program administration, particularly business subsidy agreements, which too frequently lack adequate job and wage requirements.

-The JOBZ program has not been targeted to economically distressed areas within Greater Minnesota

-The JOBZ program provides a useful economic development tool, but it has been used at times to provide unnecessary subsidies.

-Finally, the program sometimes provides subsidies to businesses that do not need the full array of JOBZ subsidies in order to expand. The program lacks any procedures to determine whether less generous subsidies than those offered by JOBZ would be sufficient to induce a business to expand in Greater Minnesota.

-The estimates published by the Department of Employment and Economic Development overstate the impact of the JOBZ program.

-The program’s effectiveness is reduced by the lack of a statewide perspective in the approval of JOBZ deals and the absence of any budgetary constraints.

http://www.cloquetmn.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12557&section=Opinion

Do any of you know if that’s the case?

Thanks.

Well, sure! There’s plenty o’ blame to go around; and plenty o’ credit, too.

No side is blameless; no side deserves all the blame.

I was a guest at a Contractor’s annual dinner two years ago; they’re Union contractors – and obviously, they’re in it to make a buck. God Bless ‘em – there’s nothin’ wrong with makin’ a buck.

And at that dinner, was the union employee’s Business Agent – and he gave a speech to the Contractors, talkin’ about how they’re both in it together; the workers to make an honest living; the contractors to make an honest buck.

It was quite refreshing, to see folk reaching across the aisle to accomplish goals that benefitted each other.

Of course, then there’s here, MDE: the reality that so many are living in the past, and wouldn’t give the other guy a nickel even if it netted him a dime – because the other guy is “the enemy.”

There’s a reason Twin City Fan & Blower has corporate HQ in plymouth, but plants everywhere else but Minn – like in Brookings.

Personally, I’d rather see that Brookings plant on THIS side o’ the border.

Rather, the state doesn’t rob those businesses of certain taxes… So, I guess the cost is revenue neutral, since the state wouldn’t have seen a dime of corporate tax if those businesses didn’t grow here.

Instead, the state sees the benefit of increased payroll taxes.

It’s really not that difficult.

The Redwood Falls example I cited was due to two manufacturing outfits that left the city for Brookings, S.D. where they wouldn’t be taxed to death. JOBZ helped incent another manufacturer to grow in to the space… Without JOBZ, that company would have gone to Sioux Falls instead.

Suggest you fools spend some time outside the 94 loop.

While making sales calls in SoDak in the late ’80’s, I frequently heard that “Rudy Perpich was the best governor SoDak ever had.”

Typical was Lyle Signs, which has it’s corporate HQ right here, in Eden Prairie, but it’s plant in deSmet, SoDak.

I asked one transplanted Minnesotan how he liked living in SoDak; he said in Minn he got to shoot one bambi; in SoDak he got to shoot an east river mulie, a west river mulie, plus a white tail. Not to mention the pheasants….

But, that was then; this is now, and DFL Legislators are much more cognizant about business environment.

After all, it’s not rocket science: if you tax an employer out of state, most – if not all – jobs go with. Nobody wins. Well, the other state does…

If JOBZ was so great, why has there been no disclosure as to how much Tax Dollars are going to businesses to create and keep jobs, when Minnesota saw a loss of 23,000 jobs in the last quarter to 6 months of 2007???

It has a lot to do with Minnesotans not spending enough on Taxable items, which reflects the Economy as a whole in Minnesota and throughout the country.

One of the issues before the Minnesota Legislature is calling on Gov. Pawlenty to get to release Carol Molnau as Transportation. She can’t be Lt. Gov. and run a Department she has no busines running.

One thing though that is a major problem for business is our transportation congestion, that’s why the Chamber, unlike our loser Governor, supports the gas tax. Although the Republicans love to preach free lunches for everyone, if we want better roads we have to find new money to pay for them.

In Gov. Pawlenty’s first term, didn’t he have a republican-controlled house?

Didn’t he use the voto rarely?

Wasn’t one of those vetoes, a veto of the dime/gallon gas increase?

Wasn’t increase passed by a republican-controlled House?

Here’s a hint, J – the answers are all the same, and the answer starts with a “y” and ends with a “s”…

There’s a reason why tens of thousands of jobs have walked across the border to North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Anti-business bullshit from the Democrats in St. Paul is a big part of the problem.

If you want to have a job (that isn’t propped up by the state through the JOBZ program) maybe you should actually live where the jobs are? Choices Chester, choices.

Sean

Now lets talk about how some of our transportatin dollars are wasted by the Democrats. For example, millions of dollars to bike trails in northern Minnesota. A nice perk, but definately not transporation when they are located in the middle of nowhere, and definately not necessary.

Cletus, if you want to drive less… live closer to work. Choices, friend… choices.

I’d be interested in the Auditor’s report… particularly since it describes an completely converse situation than the Strib — a liberal paper — described in its investigation of the effectiveness of the program.

Anecdotally, I know of hundreds of people whose jobs were saved or who found new work thanks to the JOBZ program. Half the city of Redwood Falls has JOBZ to thank.

Thank God we have a Governor that spends our money on JOBZ to give those companies that already plan on staying here and expanding a big subsidy! That Molnau’s doing a heck of a job too, if she can throw a keg she sure as hell knows how to run a department of transportation!

Stand tough Governor and let’s play hockey!

???