Earful? - Governor-elect Pawlenty spent

Earful? - Governor-elect Pawlenty spent two days on a "listening tour" of southern Minnesota. Here's what the Strib had to say about it.

All the media coverage has centered on this incident: A group of schol parents in Winona trying to shame Pawlenty into ditching his "no new taxes" pledge:

In Winona, about 30 parents of students at Bluffview Montessori, the first charter school in the nation, met Pawlenty outside as he arrived for a visit. Bearing signs that said, "Pawlenty: Please be everybody's governor" and "Taxes teach children," the parents said they were concerned that his no-tax-increase campaign pledge would hamstring his ability to solve the budget problem and still deliver quality education.

"We don't see why he has to adhere to an ideology like that," said parent Steve Leonhardi. "He should be more pragmatic about solving the problem."

But Pawlenty, a Republican, said he would not budge on his pledge, pointing to the disparities between government spending and revenues.

"It's a principle that is at the heart of the debate in Minnesota."

"We can't continue on that path," he said. "In government it takes a crisis to get things done. Well, we now have the crisis."

In 1980, Reagan inherited double-digit inflation and unemployment, a stagnant-yet-inflationary economy, and full-blown national malaise. He plotted a course that made the weak-kneed blanche, but was directed toward an overarching vision of what he wanted for America. And for two solid years, he followed that vision through incredible difficulty and intense criticism - and the results were spectacular.

Pawlenty needs to take a big hit from the Reaganbong, and keep that in mind. As Dick Armey says, "Freedom Works". So does tenacity.

And so, in fact, does the economic cycle.

In the Meantime - A number of Winona high school students took a shot at balancing the budget, and presented their results to Pawlenty.

Outside Bluffview, Winona high schoolers waited for a chance to put in their two cents' worth. It took them only two days, they said, to solve the budget crisis. Among their recommendations:

• Increase taxes on cigarettes and liquor.

• Take $500,000 from the tobacco settlement proceeds.

• Extend the sales tax to clothing (which they said would generate $300 million a year).

• Create a new tax bracket for those who earn $100,000 or more.

• Give the working poor a tax credit.

"We did it by the skin of our teeth, but it can be done," said Sarah Merchlewitz, a student at Winona High School who was elected governor of the Winona Model Legislature.

Two things:

• No, Ms. Merchiewitz, you didn't "do it" by the skin of your teeth. You did it by the skin of the teeth of smokers, drinkers, and people who earned more money than you've been trained to believe is acceptable.
• And what happens when the leglislature spends all of the money you raised via your "solution" and the special interests you're appeasing come back for more next year? And the year after that? More new tax brackets? Punish "sins" some more? Rescind the "working poor" tax credit?

And just how did the students get the idea to "solve" the deficit problem by raising taxes and attacking upper-middle-income earners?

Her government teacher, state Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona...

Ah, that would explain it.

...ran the numbers by the state Finance Department, and officials there said the students' plan worked.

So, I bet, would confiscating all income above $50,000.

In An Alternate Universe - this is how the story above would read, in part:

Outside Reaganview, St. Paul high schoolers waited for a chance to put in their two cents' worth. It took them only two days, they said, to solve the budget crisis. Among their recommendations:

• Retroactively cut every appropriation that had started as expenditures of budget surpluses in the past five years. .

• Give every dime of the tobacco settlement proceeds to the insurers that were the alleged reasons for the suit in the first place.

• Extend the sales tax to clothing, but cut sales taxes across the board by a percentage point.

• Mercilessly ridicule the dorks who proposed a new tax bracket for those who earn $100,000 or more.

• Start making the "working poor" pay more of their share for state government. Most people who make less than $30,000 pay virtually nothing to the state. If they did, perhaps they'd be less enthusiastic about the efforts made to tax them and everyone else.

"We did it - hell, we knocked it out of the park," said Raheem Jinkins, a student at Reagan High School who was elected governor of the St. Paul Model Legislature.

His government teacher, state Rep. Mitch Berg, GOP-Da Midway!, ran the numbers by the state Finance Department, and officials there tried to destroy all existing copies.

A guy can dream.

Posted by Mitch at December 13, 2002 06:53 AM