Yapping little dogs . . .

The reaction to the Senate's passage of a bill to raise income taxes brought out the standard reaction from the Republicans.

It's the same reaction we got when the increase in the minimum wage was proposed: It's a job killer! It's a job killer! Spot for one is tired of all the yapping. As if these people cared a lick (no pun intended) about the people at the bottom end of the economy. Any effort to improve the quality of serfdom or reduce the number of serfs is jeered by the Republicans. Receiving more livable wages would probably reduce the number of gardeners, pizza delivery boys, and nannies; I suppose that is a fate too sinister for the wealthy to contemplate.

Ok, where were we? Oh, yeah, taxes. The Republicans are currently running radio commercials all over the state shrieking that the sky is falling, and that Minnesotans already pay 22 percent more in taxes than the median. Spot intends to audit that statistic when he gets a chance, but in the meantime consider this:

For the most recent accounting period available, Minnesotans had a median annual income for a family of four of $72,379. The national median for the same period was $62,732. (These figures are both down slightly from the previous accounting period, by the way, showing how well the Bush tax cut strategy is working for the national economy.) So, our tax environment hasn't been exactly killing us. This is a pattern that has persisted for many years, long before the Republicans attained ascendancy.

A large piece of the higher taxation in Minnesota can be explained simply by the higher median income, which means not only more income, by more consumption (think sales tax), and higher value residences and other properties subject to the property tax.

How does Minnesota stack up with surrounding states? Pretty well, thanks.

Wisconsin 66,998
Iowa 61,238
N. Dakota 57,070
S. Dakota 55,359

Don't believe Spot? You can check these figures yourself; they came from the Bureau of the Census.

You might ask Senator G if he is aware of these statistics. Failing to fund education and transportation, just to mention a couple of issues, adequately is inexcusable neglect. It is eating the metaphorical seed corn. Maybe the Senator needs to spend less time polishing apples for the governor in the governor's bid to make the big time and give some serious consideration to the district and the state's business.