People don’t get the fact that trucking companies have to pay IFTA taxes for every mile run in every state.
PD you talk a big game but you don’t have a clue who really pays the highway taxes in this country.
Spout off all you want that it’s the Republicans fault but ask any truck driver or company owner and you will hear who is to blame… Minnesota DEMs and the democratic controlled congress.

I am sure it is, but then why doest downtown St. Paul need an anchor dragging it down?

“Coleman said that the Excel center brings in $23 million of new revenue into the city each year.”

That may be case what is that a good deal for the portion of the community the 23 million dollars comes from.

I know, politicians like big buildings. They live in hope that some day one will be named after them. But in reality, they are monuments to misplaced public priorities. We are quite literally building stadiums while our bridges are collapsing.

Norm, for some reason known only to Norm, wants to remind of us in his role in perpetrating this boondoggle, and he chose peculiarly well suited to drive the point home. When the issue is pork barrel spending, Norm has ;roven he is able to waste money with the best of them.

Well, now your changing your numbers. Let’s say your controller is taking into account the entire gas tax hike: 9 cents (which doesn’t come into effect for years).

You still have ~90 cents of increases that have NOTHING to do with the gas tax which account for approximately 8 Million in expenses to your company. What’s the bigger problem here?

“The cost of the Crude oil is pushed up by speculators.”

Exactly. Why are you not outraged that the Republicans stopped efforts to curtail speculation ?

You might have missed the news, but Democrat Saint Paul mayor Chris Coleman said in a press release that the Excel center is the anchor to downtown.

Coleman said that the Excel center brings in $23 million of new revenue into the city each year.

You might not know it, Hiram, but Democrat mayor Coleman has also been trotting up to the legislature to shake a tin cup for the past couple of years. He’s also raised taxes 23% in two years.

Kind of ironic, isn’t it?

Former Republican mayor, Norm Coleman, left a legacy which brings in $23 million in new revenue each year and current Democrat mayor Chris Coleman raised taxes on citizens by 23%.

When Pawlenty’s former campaign spokesman files for office as a Republican, let us know won’t you?

We’ll be all over it.

The Minnesota Gas tax it the Fault of the DEM controlled House. And I checked with our controller and our Minnesota Fuel tax will go up a minimum of 850,000.00 due to the increase in the Minnesota tax pushed threw by the Dems. Are you with me!!! NEW Minnesota fuel tax imposed on Minnesota Business and anyone who purchases Fuel in Minnesota.

The cost of the Crude oil is pushed up by speculators. This is a Global market problem. Our oil comes from Canada and my point was that the Canadians are getting richer.

You concede that speculation is a large chunk of the problem with gas prices. How you link that to the fault of MN Dems I don’t know, but, surely you should be furious that the GOP refused to rein in oil speculation today:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/25/news/economy/congress_energy.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008072512

You say joking about rape and degrading sex is bad, and I provide an example of how republicans say one thing and do anther. When Tim Pawlenty’s former spokesperson gets picked up for prostitution, I think that is terribly relevant to the debate of where republicans stand on the issues.

1. He does not pay workers compensation insurance for his employees so we can deduce he does not care about their welfare on the job.
2. He does not pay income taxes to a whole bunch of states so we can deduce he believes the “rule of law” does not apply to him until caught.
3. He has hired 1 black person out of 121 hires so we can deduce he does not believe in giving minorities an opportunity.
4. He blames his accountant for his tax problems, but does not allow the press to talk to the accountant so we can deduce he does not believe in accepting responsibility for his actions.
5. He believes in tax increases so we can deduce he thinks the government can make better decisions to spend your money better than you can.
6. He has hired mostly out-of-state campaign advisors so we can deduce he thinks minnesotans are incompetent.
7. He believes using satire is the most important qualification for a senator so we can deduce he believes the senate is made up of a bunch of clowns–actually, he is correct about this issue.

It isn’t your money I am concerned about, it’s your customer’s money, or more precisely, the stockholder’s money which has been entrusted to him.

Again, of your 1.2M / mo. increase in cost, as you said, only 37k / mo. is because of the gas tax. How again is the other nearly 1M / mo. the result of Minnesota DFL?

As for standardization of fuel mixtures, you have to be willing to accept Federal authority over fuel standards which Republicans have long railed against. You can’t be pro federalism and then complain that all of the states are doing it differently.

The Minnesota House passed a new gas tax and my extra tax cost it solely due to the New Minnesota fuel tax not Bush or the Feds.
So the 1.2 mil is directly the fault and caused by the Minnesota elected.

Do your customer’s bosses and stockholders know that you are giving them tickets to Wild games?
Same response as above.

An honor I can only hope to deserve.

“Sporting events is were Business gets done. I take customers all the time to events and my company is rewarded.”

I would prefer that business on a business-like basis, not through a form of stockholder financed, and taxpayer subsidized bribery taking the form of tickets to sports events.

Do your customers bosses and stockholders know that you are giving them tickets to Wild games?

This is somewhat shocking from a Republican. As someone who lived in California, the price of gas was significantly higher because of the lower emission blends and the impact that rotating the winter/summer blends caused. But, I guess I really have no great argument against increased nationalization of the blends, especially if we apply the California environmental standards

“he extra 1.2 million we spend is the fault of the Dems in Minnesota”

How do “Dems in Minnesota” have any impact on any of the issues you stated above (speculation, state by state blends, choice of biofuels, etc.?). Speculation now is not being driven by Katrina. It is being driven by middle east instability. Anytime Bush rattles his sword in the Middle east or anytime something bad happens in Iraq oil spikes. Bush adopts the Democratic policy of engaging Iran and suddenly the price of oil drops off its highs.

You also are forgetting you are paying more in gas because of the dropping dollar under the Bush administration’s fiscal policies. Oil, being pegged to the dollar, means everyone else is getting cheaper oil (driving up supply) while the U.S. suffers. I don’t see how you possibly blame Democrats for either executive foreign policy or fiscal policy.

Also if the country went to one blend of fuel (gas) the price would plummet. The California standard is the way to go.
There are many different fuel blends state by state get congress to accept one standard and get rid of ethanol all together.
I do agree with Bio diesel we have used it and it works. But ethanol is not cost effective with the repair cost on the injection systems.

Oil spiked after Katrina and the oil companies smelled blood and the speculators have taken over the market.

The extra 1.2 million we spend is the fault of the Dems in Minnesota not Bush. Everyone that works for our company knows why there are no raises in pay this year.

Please address the fact that if we had drilled those areas 20 years ago they would be long gone.

Please address the fact that if we drill those areas now they’d provide little relief and only years from now.

“.3 cents a gallon equates to about 37000.00 extra a month my company pays in taxes for fuel.”

Then why aren’t you flipping angry at Republicans for jacking up the price of gas the last 18 months because of instability in the middle east? The price of oil didn’t shoot up because people suddenly realized, “shit, we should have drilled ANWR.” It went up because of our foreign policy. Bush gambled that he could secure oil in the middle east by creating a tranquil iraq. He lost that bet and now your company is paying 1.2 million more (based on your calculation).

.3 cents a gallon equates to about 37000.00 extra a month my company pays in taxes for fuel.

Everyone thinks the gas tax only costs each person 5-10 dollars a month… Think again.

The Dems of Minnesota are anti business. When the fuel tax rate is raised in states across the country over the road carrier limit the amount of miles they will travel in these state due to the high cost of doing business there. Minnesota, Oregon. Vermont, Massachusetts, New York to name a few have the highest transportation costs in the country.

Jeff
In your statement 2. please provide Proof of this?

Also questions to you know it alls? Were do we get the majority of our Oil from in the midwest?

It’s Canada. The Canadians are raking in the money and there transportation cost to move the oil into the US in Peanuts compared to bringing it in from the Middle East.

1. The 2-cent increase in the gas tax is somehow responsible for the entire $2.50 increase over the last five years.

2. By drilling every last square inch of available land, we can reduce gas prices back to $2/gal.

It’s been a while since I was in math class, so, you’re going to have to go ahead and tell me how again the 3 cent increase the gas tax to date has resulted in ~$1+ increase in gas YTD?

Experience in getting taxpayer financed boondoggles mostly benefitting expense account financed downtown St. Paul businessmen

Sporting events is were Business gets done. I take customers all the time to events and my company is rewarded.
Typical DEM no one is aloud to have fun.

AARON
Your supposed to be the smart blogger from the DEM side… you are a buffoon!! Don’t spout off about 4.00 gas or 4.65 diesel when the Dem controlled house and senate passed the gas tax. Yes there were six defectors and they were dealt with swiftly. Than there is the Sierra club ( DEM CONTROLLED) blocking energy exploration at every turn. You all call Norm a boot licker and say he is a lap dog for BUSH… HA .. The DEMS from Minnesota will do what ever Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean cry’s for. Aaron you a one sided HACK.

Get a clue Al Franken could give two shits about Minnesota he is running to be the third senator from California because that’s were all the campaign money is coming from.

It’s good training because as a satirist, and a political commentator, he’s been exposed to and has thought extensively about issues that are important at a policy level and he’s spoken extensively about those issues (whether you agree with him or not). That doesn’t mean he’s saying ALL of his work as a satirist prepared him for being a senator.

It’s no different than saying, being a lawyer has helped prepare me to be a senator. That doesn’t mean filling out timesheets or answering discovery requests necessarily prepared someone to be a senator (all part of being an attorney). There are components of the job that help prepare you for a position (ie, arguing a motion, writing an argument, etc.). You can insert any previous job experience into the same argument.

I get that the objective of MnGOP and their lapboys like MDE are trying to wave their hands and confuse the less intelligent voters, but, to anyone with a brain you clearly lack any concept of a logically sound argument.

Chris Coleman, the current far left Democrat mayor of St. Paul calls the Excel center downtown’s anchor hiram. Chris Coleman says that the Excel is responsible for bringing $23 million in non-resident income to the city each year.

Yes, Hiram, I think Norm would love to talk about the Excel center.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece

The first two paragraphs will give you the gist.

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

That may be the most singularly stupid comment ever posted here.

How, exactly, has Al ever “dealt with” anything of national importance? Al can’t even deal with his own issues. Unless you define “dealing with” as “blaming someone else”.

Oh snap.

Do you think any of those bowlers in the commercial can afford to take his family to a Wild game in the arena he paid for?

Do you really want to talk about the fact that Democrats HAVE NO PLAN for improving our energy supplies? That it will be more than 50 years before any of the “alternatives” that Democrats support will make a dent in our needs?

Do you really want to talk about the mass poverty, starvation and degradation of our lives that Democrat energy fantasies will cause?

Do you really want Al Franken to talk about his plan to cut off funding for our military, hang our allies out to dry, and take America back to the Clinton years of terrorist attacks on our homeland and interests with increasing violence and frequency.

If that’s what you want to talk about, o.k., game on.

i think he went home, took a bong hit, and talked about protesting the war with his smoking buddies (but didn’t, cause he got high)

Wanna talk about our troops? $4 gas? Nah. Minnesotans need to spend the time to analyze every joke Al Franken has ever told. That’s what Minnesotans care about!