In an op-ed for The Daily Caller, ATR State Affairs Manager Joshua Culling writes: “Last week, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) opted to shut down state government rather than accept a Republican budget that cuts spending and avoids tax increases. It appears the governor is taking a page out of the Obama playbook by insisting on massive tax increases while ignoring the fact that a Republican legislature refuses to budge on the issue. With the continued leadership of the Republican House and Senate in Minnesota, Mark Dayton’s billions of dollars in tax increases will go the way of Barack Obama’s trillions.”
Brian Faler and Heidi Przybyla for Bloomberg: “President Barack Obama and lawmakers are considering cutting Social Security and increasing revenue by changing the way the government measures inflation. Grover Norquist, head of the anti-tax Americans for Tax Reform, called the idea ‘effort number 27’ to dress up a tax increase in the guise of good government. ‘This is one of those things invented by people who are trying to raise taxes and pretend they’re not,’ he said. ‘If you change the law to get more money, that’s a tax increase — doesn’t matter how you do it or what you call it.’”
Richard Rubin and Steven Sloan for Bloomberg: “For years, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist’s definition of a tax increase has dominated Republican circles in Washington, and it remains the primary approach, backed with a pledge that Norquist enforces. Norquist…views the elimination of a tax break as a tax increase unless accompanied by a tax cut, regardless of what the tax break is or who it affects.