Letters to the Editor - We have a spending problem - We have a spending problem

                Representative Mullery's claim on the frugality of Minnesota Government in his May Camden News letter to the editor is based on a faulty premise. The equation that Mullery employs in citing Minnesota as "among the 17 lowest states in the amount of our state and local expenditures when compared to total personal income" is not only disingenuous, it is the antithesis to the great American experiment.

    Mullery views taxation as a percent of income. In so doing, what he is suggesting is that as one's income grows so too must their contribution to the state, i.e., government. Mullery would do well to recognize that Americans are not subservient to the State. What is more, suggesting as much contradicts assertions of being advocates for the middle class. Let's not forget, it is the divide between one's economic prosperity and the state's ability to squelch it that must grow if an individual in a free society is to "get ahead." As an example, let us suppose that your grocery bill consumes 5 percent of your income. Then, let us suppose you have an upcoming salary review and in turn receive a sizeable increase. The percentage of your income now consumed by your grocery bill goes down thus you now have more disposable income with which you may choose to invest, pay down debt, etc. Conversely, suppose that after receiving your salary increase, your grocer mandates that you pay more for your groceries on the premise that "you can afford to." How is this conducive to individual prosperity in a free society? It is only conducive to a growing and commanding political structure to which individuals make an often futile appeal for a return on their investment, i.e., whatever government-crafted program they find most beneficial to their needs, thus pitting man against man.

    What is more, contrary to the assertion that Minnesota is among the "17 lowest states in taxation," let me offer a factual rebuttal for Camden readers to consider. According to the Census Bureau which ranks states on a per capita tax basis (that is a state's total budget divided by its population), Minnesota ranked 5th in 2005 (the last year for which state-by-state rankings were available). Further still, in an article published by Forbes magazine regarding the highest taxed states, Minnesota now ranks 4th.

    We do not, as Mullery attests, have a revenue shortage problem in this state (in fact the November elections provided additional revenue). What we have is a spending problem, an accountability problem. There were those of us advocating cutting expenditures and preserving what surplus we had in the previous budget in an attempt to minimize whatever economic malaise may befall us.

Chris Hiatt,

Webber-Camden