Fix the Minnesota Deficit

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

http://www.minnpost.com/fix_minnesota_deficit

Easy. Here's what I did:

Increase tobacco tax
Adopt a corporate “throwback” rule
Allow a racino or some other state-sponsored gambling
Close "Snowbird" loophole
Tax mansions
Close corporate loopholes
Increase Medical Assistance surcharges
Create a new 10.95 percent bracket for taxable income above $150,000 a year for married couples
Eliminate home-mortgage interest deduction
Eliminate property-tax deduction

[bullmoose88]

-Increase Tobacco Tax
-Allow state-sponsored gambling
-Close Corporate Loopholes
-Tax the “income” some workers get in the form of employer contributions to their health insurance and pension plans
-Extend shifts in state aid to K-12 schools

Surplus 122M

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

-Tax the “income” some workers get in the form of employer contributions to their health insurance and pension plans

I tried to avoid this one even though it covered more than half and it's not really a horrible idea.

[bullmoose88]

-Tax the “income” some workers get in the form of employer contributions to their health insurance and pension plans

I tried to avoid this one even though it covered more than half and it's not really a horrible idea.

Regardless if you like "free market" healthcare or state managed...the fact this type of income (and it is income) isnt taxed...keeps the current crappy system going.

[tpfkaw]

Allow a racino or some other state-sponsored gambling
Extend shifts in state aid to K-12 schools
Extend cuts to higher education
Create health-care networks and insurance exchanges
Reduce state workforce by 15 percent
Scale back health and human services
Revamp school transportation
Pool health-insurance purchasing for school districts
Coordinate state purchasing
Freeze state employees' pay
Cut spending for prisons
Squeeze health-care costs
Deliver human services on a regional level
Reduce need for special education
Free counties to focus on results
Extend cuts to local government aids and credits
Replace health-care services and payments with insurance subsidies
Cut the corporate income tax
Cut the state general levy for commercial-industrial property

$2.2 billion surplus.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

-Tax the “income” some workers get in the form of employer contributions to their health insurance and pension plans

I tried to avoid this one even though it covered more than half and it's not really a horrible idea.

Regardless if you like "free market" healthcare or state managed...the fact this type of income (and it is income) isnt taxed...keeps the current crappy system going.

Of course. And Obama toyed with doing this. The problem is that there too many Democratic constituencies (many union workers and former union retirees) who benefit too much from it for the Democrats to be able to push for it and the Republicans won't because "OMG TAX INCREASE!"

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Taxes:

- Extend sales tax to services such as car repair, hair styling, accounting and legal work
- Increase taxes on alcoholic beverages
- Increase tobacco tax
- Allow a racino or some other state-sponsored gambling
- Close corporate loopholes
- Create a new 9 percent bracket for income over $250,000 for a married couple

Ending tax breaks:

- Eliminate home-mortgage interest deduction
- Eliminate property-tax deduction
- Eliminate JOBZ program

Cut spending:

- Create health-care networks and insurance exchanges
- Revamp school transportation
- Pool health-insurance purchasing for school districts
- Coordinate state purchasing

Cut or eliminate local government aid:

- Neither.

Reduce medical-assistance costs:

- Adopt medical-assistance changes proposed by a health industry consortium

Cut business taxes

- Neither.

$3.9 million surplus. Time to go shopping!

[bullmoose88]

Of course, these deficit calculators never address the other important issues...positive/negative effects of a cut or increase...social benefits or harms by a cut or increase...the deficit in a vacuum is a bit tricky to handle...let alone with the other issues.

[opebo]

Increased various taxes.  Obviously the two worth mentioning are 1) Extra tap on top earners for three years, and 2) Create a new 10.95 percent bracket for taxable income above $150,000 a year for married couples.

My surplus is about 1.8 billion - which I would like to see spent immediately.

It is funny how easy it is to eliminate both the Federal deficit and the state deficits simply by raising taxes to more reasonable levels.

[Napoleon]

No one wants to live in Minnesota in the first place, but feel free to give them an excuse to leave.

Instead I did the 9% bracket for couples making $250k or more.
Closed corporate loopholes.
Eliminated home mortgage interest deduction.
Taxed employer contributions.
Cut spending for prisons and reduced need for special education.

Ended up with a Surplus: $333,000,000

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

End certain tax breaks
Eliminate home-mortgage interest deduction
Eliminate property-tax deduction
Tax the “income” some workers get in the form of employer contributions to their health insurance and pension plans
Cut spending
Create health-care networks and insurance exchanges
Revamp school transportation
Pool health-insurance purchasing for school districts
Freeze state employees' pay
Cut spending for prisons
Deliver human services on a regional level
Reduce need for special education
Free counties to focus on results
Reduce medical assistance costs
Replace health-care services and payments with insurance subsidies
Cut business taxes
Cut the corporate income tax
Cut the state general levy for commercial-industrial property

surplus: 3.84B
a lot of these just seem like decent ideas anyways. 

[King]

-Eliminate income taxes
-Break up unions
-War with North Dakota

Deficit: $28.9 billion

Damn, this budget stuffs is hard.

[dead0man]

These are always amazingly easy to do.

[King]

These are always amazingly easy to do.

The problem lies with everyone coming up with a completely different list.