Arlington - The McLeod County Chronicle

Arlington Enterprise, Thursday, April 25, 2013, page 4www.arlingtonmnnews.comOpinionsMinnesota Democrats can’tagree on which taxes toraise and by how muchOur View: Tax increasesare usually permanentThere is a new fight at the State Capitol in St. Paul these days.Democrats in both the Senate and House, along with DFL GovernorMark Dayton, cannot agree on which taxes to raise and by howmuch.Governor Dayton, who dropped his first tax plan and now has arevised tax proposal, wants to increase income taxes on the highest-paidtwo percent of Minnesotans. He also proposes to increasethe cigarette tax by 94 cents a pack, close a corporate tax loopholethat will save a few companies $323 million a biennium for havingcertain overseas holdings, and establish a snowbird tax on formerMinnesotans who live outside the state for more than half the yearto avoid paying state income taxes.The DFL controlled Senate, meanwhile, is also pushing for anincome tax increase, but one that some would reach down intowhat many consider the middle class. The DFL Senate membersalso want a dramatic increase in the tobacco tax, the first sales taxon clothing and taxes on other things like tattoos and dating services.The DFL-controlled House, on the other hand, wants to tap highearners, smokers and drinkers. The alcohol tax, which has not risenin more than 20 years, would increase by seven cents a beer, 47cents per bottle of wine and $1.58 per bottle of hard liquor. In addition,the proposed plan also includes a sales tax on sports memorabilia.There will be a political showdown late in this year’s session,but it will not be the annual Democrat and Republican clash asusual. The showdown will be between politicians in the DFL Party.It is unfortunate that the Democrats believe the solution to everyproblem is to raise taxes. Some of these proposals do reach downinto the middle and lower classes. In addition, tax increases areusually permanent.This year and every year should be about cutting wasteful governmentspending and reform.-K.M.Too Tall’s TidbitsHappy Birthday and Happy Anniversaryto the following local andarea residents compliments of theArlington Lions Club CommunityCalendar.April 26Amanda Rischmiller, Tony Overson,Audrey Ziegler, Jamie Dotolo, MaryHennies and Shaena Godwin.April 27Amy Hickler, Ella Schmidt, HannahKranz, Nate Watson, Nevaeh Maki,Rich Soberski, and Mr. and Mrs.Corky Von Eschen.April 28Bradyn Kube, Corey Diekmann,David Kreft, Jacquelyn Wibstad,Kirsten Nienaber and Krista (Lamb)Santillana.April 29Ethan Schuetz, Karissa Ann Vos,Kristin McCarthy, Leon Dose,Logan Kistner, Mackenzie Timm,Matthew Maki, Nancy Battcher,Scott Luepke, Mr. and Mrs. FazelKhan, and Mr. and Mrs. LarryDuenow.April 30Lincoln James Schneider, MadisonKistner, Mary Tollefson, QuentinLieske, Renae Dose and TuckerHendrycks.May 1Amy Pautsch, Brody Curtiss, BryanPasek, Frank Kolander, Harris Dose,Micah Schoeder, and Mr. and Mrs.Chad Hildebrandt.May 2Ella Lundstrom, Jacob Scharpe,Lacey Scharping, and Mr. and Mrs.Len Vos.*****During the wedding rehearsal, thegroom approached the priest with anunusual offer. “Look, I’ll give you$200 if you’ll change the weddingvows. When you get to me and thepart where I’m to promise to ‘love,honor and obey’ and ‘forsaking allothers, be faithful to her forever,’ I’dappreciate it if you’d just leave thatpart out.” He passed the clergymanthe cash and walked away satisfied.It is now the day of the wedding,and the bride and groom havemoved to that part of the ceremonywhere the vows are exchanged.When it comes time for the groom’svows, the vicar looks the young manin the eye and says: “Will you promiseto love her always monetariallyand physically, obey her every commandand wish, serve her breakfastin bed every morning of your lifeand swear eternally before God andyour lovely wife that you will notever even look at another woman, aslong as you both shall live?”The groom gulped and lookedaround, and said in a tiny voice,“Yes.”The groom leaned toward thepriest and said under his breath, “Ithought we had a deal.”The priest put the $200 backinto his hand and whispered back,“She made me a much betteroffer.”*****A husband desperate to keep hiswife happy offers to buy his wife anew car.She cutely declines his offer bysaying, “That's not quite what I hadin mind.”Frantically he offers her a newhouse.Again she rejects his offer, “That'snot quite what I had in mind.”Curious, he asks, “What did youhave in mind?”She retorts, “I'd like a divorce.”He answers, “I hadn't plannedon spending quite that much.”*****A famous scientist was on his wayto a lecture in yet another universitywhen his chauffeur offered an idea.“Hey, boss, I've heard your speechso many times I bet I could deliver itand give you the night off.”“Sounds great,” the scientist said.When they got to the auditorium,the scientist put on the chauffeur'shat and settled into the back row.The chauffeur walked to the lecternand delivered the speech.Afterward he asked if there wereany questions. “Yes,” said one professor.Then he launched into a highlytechnical question.The chauffeur was panic strickenfor a moment but quickly recovered.“That's an easy one,” hereplied. “In fact, it's so easy, I'mgoing to let my chauffeur answerit!”*****By Senator John MartyD-RosevilleWith the growing concentration ofgreenhouse gases in the atmosphere,and virtually the entire scientificcommunity expressing deep concernsabout human-caused climatechange, our energy policies appearto be racing towards a climate cliff,driven by those who profit from ourconsumption of fossil fuels.Bill McKibben, the author andjournalist who has done as much asanyone to educate the public aboutthe consequences of climate changesays, “So far, we've raised the averagetemperature of the planet justunder 0.8 degrees Celsius, and thathas caused far more damage thanmost scientists expected. A third ofsummer sea ice in the Arctic is gone,the oceans are 30 percent moreacidic, and since warm air holdsmore water vapor than cold, the atmosphereover the oceans is ashocking five percent wetter, loadingthe dice for devastating floods.”McKibben suggests we are headedfor a “global catastrophe” unless wechange course.While some still doubt the climatescientists, people are looking out thewindow and seeing that things arechanging. Recently the lobbyist forthe Minnesota Insurance Federationtestified before our Senate Environmentand Energy Committee thathomeowner insurance premiumshave more than doubled in the lastdecade primarily due to an increasein tornadoes, floods, and other catastrophicweather events.Minnesota's Will Steger, who hasspent over four decades exploringthe earth's polar regions, is an eyewitnessto the impact of climatechange. He points out that polar icehas melted so much that “you can noGuest ColumnClimate change requires bold responselonger sled to the North Pole. That'shistory.” Steger explains, “the effectsof global warming are pervasive.We humans continue to burnfossil fuels. The burning creates ablanket and the blanket forms agreenhouse over our earth. We cannotdelay in slowing and reversingthis trend. Our health, economy, nationalsecurity and the environmentdemand it.”In the Minnesota legislature, thereis a push for a transition to a sustainableenergy economy. RepresentativeMelissa Hortman and I, aschairs of the House and Senate EnergyCommittees, are working withenvironmental advocates and theDayton administration on an OmnibusEnergy bill (Senate File 901 /House File 956) that would beef upMinnesota's energy conservationand efficiency efforts, jump start thesolar energy industry in Minnesota,and develop a framework to makeMinnesota the first state in the nationto transition to a 100 percent renewableenergy economy that nolonger uses fossil fuels as an energysource.Moving to a fossil-fuel free energyeconomy won't be easy and maytake a few decades. Opponentsoften argue that such a transitionwould be too costly. But it is ourcurrent system that is too costly tocontinue - Minnesota families andbusinesses currently spend $13 billionto import fossil fuels from otherstates and countries.At a legislative hearing on energy,Marty Kushler, Senior Fellow at theAmerican Council for an Energy-EfficientEconomy, told legislators thatwhile Minnesotans regularly debatethe impact on the economy of the$18 billion in taxes that pay for thestate general fund budget, they areEnergy - Stop using foreign oilBy Glenn MolletteWe have everything we need inAmerica. We have natural gas, oil,coal, solar and wind energy. Weshould utilize everything at our disposalto end our dependence on foreignoil. It is time to stop floodingthe Middle East with money. Thesepeople hate us. Why do we buy theiroil?America has enough oil. It is estimatedNorth Dakota has as much as500 billion gallons of oil that is inthe process of being drilled. TheMarcellus shale fields of Pennsylvania,Ohio, New York and West Virginiapromises more natural gas thanSaudi Arabia has oil.We can run automobiles and thelarge trucks of America on naturalgas. It's time to start using it. Automobilecompanies are convertingsome of their vehicles to operate onnatural gas. Service stations acrossthe nation must move forward withnatural gas pumps.I like coal. My father was a coalminer for 30 years. He raised fivekids on a coal miner's salary. Wemust continue to work toward burningcoal cleaner, more efficientlyand environmentally safer. It is apowerful source of energy and weshould use it. We hear reports thatpower plants are moving closer toburning cleaner energy. We hearother reports that power plants aremoving to natural gas.We are learning more each yearon how to better use solar and windenergy. We should utilize both ofthese to meet our heating and coolingneeds. The windmills are dottinga lot of landscape in the western partof the United States. They are notthe complete answer for power butthey are a welcome part of the formula.As long as we are dependent onforeign energy there will be wars inlargely unaware of the $13 billionthat Minnesotans spend to importcoal, oil, natural gas, and other fossilfuels. Yet, he points out, the statebudget dollars are spent in Minnesota,by Minnesotans, and are recycledin Minnesota's economy. In contrast,virtually all of the $13 billionused for fossil fuel purchases goesout of state, causing a huge drain onour state economy.Replacing those lost energy dollarswith investments in solar, wind,and other renewable energy sourcesis, in essence, replacing the ongoingcost of importing fuels, with paychecksfor Minnesota workers atMinnesota businesses, installing, operating,and maintaining these electricalgeneration facilities - whichdon't have to pay for fuel becausethe wind and sun are free. Replacingfossil fuel import spending withfunding for Minnesota businessesand jobs boosts Minnesota's economyeven if you don't calculate thevery real health and environmentalsavings.Our children and their children,and the entire human race, are dependentupon the earth for our survival.There is no other planet thatwe could move to if this planet cannotsustain human life. We need todramatically reduce our consumptionof fossil fuels very quickly, orour children and their children willface catastrophic changes in the environment.No matter how bold we are in respondingthis year to the problem,20 years from now people will wonderhow we could have been sotimid. It's time to take thoughtful,yet bold action to develop a frameworkthat will bring Minnesota to asustainable energy system.the Middle East. We need to stop thesenseless wars that are ongoing overMiddle Eastern oil. Once we becomean energy independent nationgasoline prices will decrease. Pluswe will not be burning our money infighting senseless wars to protectour oil interests. Thousands of liveswill be spared from wars in placeslike Iraq and Afghanistan.The goal of every Americanshould be to utilize American energy.This will create more jobs andwealth for Americans instead ofsending our wealth overseas.An energy independent Americawill be a happier America. Cuttingour entanglements with MiddleEastern oil insures a brighter futurefor America.Glenn Mollette is the author ofAmerican Issues: Every AmericanHas An Opinion.He is the author ofother books and hundreds of articles.SHARE YOUR OPINION THROUGHA LETTER TO THE EDITOR.EMAIL YOUR LETTER TOKURTM@ARLINGTONMNNEWS.COMArlington ENTERPRISEEstablished in 1884.Postmaster send address changes to:Arlington Enterprise.402 West Alden Street, P.O. Box 388,Arlington, MN 55307.Phone 507-964-5547 FAX 507-964-2423.Hours: Monday-Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.;Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Friday closed.Entered as Periodicals postal matter at Arlington,MN post office. Postage paid at Arlington USPS No.031-980.Subscription Rates: Minnesota – $33.00 per year. Outsideof state – $38.00 per year.StaffBill and Joyce Ramige, Publishers;Kurt Menk, Editor; KarinRamige, Manager; Marvin Bulau,Production Manager; Barb Mathwig,Office; Ashley Reetz, Sales;and Jean Olson, Proof Reading.LettersThis page is devoted to opinionsand commentary. Articles appearingon this page are the opinionsof the writer. Views expressedhere are not necessarily those ofthe Arlington Enterprise, unless sodesignated. The Arlington Enterprisestrongly encourages othersto express opinions on this page.Letters from our readers arestrongly encouraged. Letters forpublication must bear the writer’ssignature and address. The ArlingtonEnterprise reserves the right toedit letters for purpose of clarityand space.EthicsThe editorial staff of the ArlingtonEnterprise strives to present thenews in a fair and accurate manner.We appreciate errors being broughtto our attention. Please bring anygrievances against the Arlington Enterpriseto the attention of the editor.Should differences continue, readersare encouraged to take their grievancesto the Minnesota News Council,an organization dedicated to protectingthe public from press inaccuracyand unfairness. The NewsCouncil can be contacted at 12South Sixth St., Suite 940, Minneapolis,MN 55402, or (612) 341-9357.Press FreedomFreedom of the press is guaranteedunder the First Amendmentto the U.S. Constitution:“Congress shall make no lawrespecting an establishment of religion,or prohibiting the free exercisethereof; or abridging the freedomof speech, or the press…”Ben Franklin wrote in the PennsylvaniaGazette in 1731: “If printerswere determined not to printanything till they were sure it wouldoffend nobody there would be verylittle printed.”Deadline for the Arlington Enterprisenews is 4 p.m., Monday,and advertising is noon, Tuesday.Deadline for The Galaxy advertisingis noon Wednesday.