Lower Tax Burden on Families and Businesses
Republicans support comprehensive tax reform, abolishing the current tax code and replacing it with a simpler, fairer tax system that:
• Favors a national sales tax or flat tax.
• Simplifies the state property tax system. Republicans seek to reduce the current burden of taxation by:
• Requiring a supermajority vote in Congress or the Minnesota Legislature to raise taxes.
• A state constitutional amendment limiting state spending growth to inflation plus population growth.
• Returning surpluses to the taxpayers in proportion to the taxes paid.
• Cutting or eliminating capital gains taxes, business taxes, wheelage taxes, taxes on marriage, sickness, death, inheritance, Social Security and veterans’ benefits and pensions.
• Eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Making purchases by local government exempt from Minnesota state sales tax.
• Not increasing state sales taxes on transportation fuel.
• Cutting property taxes on agricultural land.
We:
• Support phasing out Social Security by allowing younger Americans to invest part of their FICA taxes in personal accounts while continuing to fulfill our obligations to older Americans.
• Eliminate all "off budget" practices and accurately report all liabilities.
Exercise spending restraint
We favor reducing the size of the national debt by cutting federal spending. We support: • Adopting a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Replacing baseline budgeting with Zero-based budgeting for state and federal budgets.
• Setting State budgets within the first 30 days of each Legislative session and being the first order of business.
• Ending the use of omnibus spending bills.
We should dedicate all taxes, fees, and licenses from their revenue streams to their appropriate program funding. Specifically:
• Gas and motor vehicle taxes should not fund rail transit construction and operation.
• Road and bridge safety should take precedence over new light rail construction.
• Programs such as public broadcasting, sports stadiums and the arts, should be funded by users and voluntary donors.
• The use of ‘earmarks’ in appropriations bills should be ended.
• Public employee retirement fund deficits should not be bailed out by taxpayers.
• No mandate can be imposed by any branch of government on any other unless it includes the funds necessary to support that mandate.
We support the abolition of the Federal Reserve System. Until then we support open and transparent annual audits in strict compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP).
Create and Maintain a Fair, Honest and Competitive Business Environment We support a fair, honest and competitive business environment, and, therefore we should:
• Oppose corporate welfare.
• Reduce all corporate tax rates.
• Reject the Keynesian model of economics in federal policy.
• Maintain a sound and stable, backed currency.
• Oppose government wage and price controls.
• Let private enterprise expand high-speed Internet access.