Koenen, Gimse differ on taxes, but share views in other areas
October 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm in West Central Tribune
WILLMAR Joe Gimse and Lyle Koenen have differing views about property tax relief and the future of the local government aid program to Minnesota cities, but on other issues the two legislators agreed more than they disagreed at an hour-long candidate forum Wednesday in Willmar.
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Koenen is spot on with his comment about tax breaks for the job creaters. Businesses do not create jobs, consumer demand creates jobs. I own a small business. If the government gives me a tax break, that money goes into my personal account. I will not hire a new employee simply because I got a tax break. I will only hire a new employee if demand is such that I can’t keep up. Income tax refunds and earned income credits do more for my business than tax breaks ever could because they put money in the hands of my potential customers.
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Of course tax breaks are money in my pocket, why do you think I like them so much. All I’m saying is they don’t create jobs, whether handed out by a democrat or a republican. On the otherhand, welfare, tax refunds, unemployment benefits, EIC, all are good for small business because they put money into the hands of people who are likely to spend it on my products, not save or invest it.
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dman, welfare and unemployment benefits are money out of your pocket! We pay for them, they are not free. You are looking at those things short term, in the long run they are basicly a drain on buisiness. People, stop looking for the short term fix and look at what will do good in the long run. Many times what looks good to “fix” something in the short term, does many times more damage for the future.
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Tax money spent on roads, tax money spent on defense, tax money spent on public schools, tax money spent on the Vikings are all money out of my pocket, however, they also give back to me far more than I contribute. On my own, I could never afford to pave a road, equip an army, educate my children or field a professional sports team. However, thanks to the taxes I pay I get to enjoy all of these things. I just dont understand the Tea Party, we all get far more from this country than we could ever give.
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Carl, did you ever think that your bitterness could have deprived you of potetial business. I know I have quit going to certain places as I can not stand their constant whining about how bad things are for them.
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dman, of course customer demand drives hiring, I don’t think that is the point that Gimse was getting at. He said taxes and regulation. Depending on the kind of buisness you are in, will dictate how much impact you see from both. If you are talking strictly in the sense of retail you are not going to see as much impact from regulation. As for regulation, if you are in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and others, you will, and have seen many ridiculous regulations, that are nothing more than someone not having enough brains to realize how unworkable they are. A perfect example is the EPA wanting to regulate how much dust a farmer could produce when doing farm work. Obviously those that came up with that have NO clue. How would a farmer till the land and not create dust, and the only way to not have dust is not till or harvest. Dirt is NOT a pollutant! My guess is that people who want the experience of rural living, but not the things that go with it are behind it. If you live in the country you need to expect dust, odors, and all that goes with agriculture. If you can’t handle that live in town.
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As to regulations, I couldn’t agree more. They are a balancing act.
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dman, you are spot on. Tax credits or breaks have never created jobs. Consumer demand does. Also I admire you for saying where tax breaks for you go. Most people think that this can create jobs, but is it ever enough to cover the additional cost of hiring one employee?
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honestly, there is very little difference between the two candidates …. not even sure why Koenen runs as a Democrat in reading most of his literature, he certainly leans more Republican than Democrat! and speaking of literature … I received a piece from a South Dakota politician asking me to vote for her … this politician just happened to be a Republican … I have NO CLUE why I would get her literature … I have never registered to vote in South Dakota … do they want me to vote in 2 states??
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I hope the Democrats gain control of the MN Legislature, hold on the US Senate, regain the House of Representatives, and President Obama gets reelected for only one reason, so Carl can continue to blame EVERYTHING on the Democratic Party!!!!!!!!
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Maybe if President Obama gets re-elected, he can realize the mess he inherited. ;<)
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Well, Bob, losing almost 800,000 jobs a month is a pretty big mess, wouldn’t you agree?
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Oh and that both Constiutional amendments fail especially, the voter suppression one. Oh I mean voter ID amendment to fix all the voter fraud in this country.
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