Phillips - Paulsen 46-42 percent? [View all]

From Sturdevant column, lamenting that the Franken story broke the same day as the "tax reform" was announced.

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How’s an editorial writer supposed to summon readers to think high-minded tax policy thoughts when the day’s news is about other body parts?

That’s not a plea for pity — not entirely, anyway. It’s also a lament on behalf of the 250 people who crammed into the Minnetonka City Council chamber Wednesday night to hear from three DFLers who want to replace one of the architects of the House’s tax bill, five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota’s Third Congressional District.

The big crowd groaned at the mention of the tax bill that Paulsen insists will “work for them rather than against them.” They cheered as DFL candidates Dean Phillips, Adam Jennings and Brian Santa Maria each vowed that he would vote “no” should such a bill come to him as a member of Congress.

That audience seemed aware that among its many flaws, the House bill’s elimination of the 104-year-old deduction for state and local taxes is a particular blow to Minnesota. And within Minnesota, it’s a body slam to the west-suburban Third District, where median household income in 2016 approached $85,000 and half of filers claimed that deduction.

(snip)

It’s also shortsighted on the part of the feds. Minnesota and other high-tax states tend to be strong-economy states that contribute more to the feds than they get back each year. By one analysis, Minnesota is second only to Delaware as a net contributor to federal coffers. Asking Minnesotans to pay still more in federal taxes could damage Minnesota’s economy in a way that lessens that money flow over time.

Eleven Republican House members from New York, New Jersey or California saw how badly this bill would serve their high-tax/high-services home states and voted no on Thursday. Paulsen and Minnesota’s other two Republican members of Congress, Jason Lewis from the Second District and Tom Emmer from the Sixth, voted yes.

(snip)

Phillips is running strongly in one other respect. According to a poll earlier this month released by his campaign, he’s 4 percentage points ahead of Paulsen, 46-42 percent, in a hypothetical matchup. What’s more, 52 percent of those polled said they’d be less likely to vote for Paulsen if he voted for the Republican tax plan.

More..

http://www.startribune.com/minnesotans-don-t-forget-about-the-tax-bill/458344403/