There may be nothing more predictable in politics than a liberal in a time of tragedy: they always use the tragedy as a reason to call for higher taxes. The Minneapolis bridge collapse is no different. Within hours of the bridge collapse, some on the Left were calling for higher gas taxes to fund bridge improvements.
Claire Celsi at The Demo Memo even notes that the bridge collapse seems to have caused Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, to have a change of heart and support the concept of a higher gas tax, something he not too long ago rejected.
Writes Claire:
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (and of course, he's a republican!) is scrambling to undo the political damage from his very public and very recent veto of a Minnesota Department of Transportation bill that would have increased his state's gas tax $.05 cents per gallon. The money would have been used for...drum roll please...INFRASTRUCTURE!
Mr. Pawlenty is changing his tune now, since his state was the unfortunate host of the worst bridge collapse in recent memory. He's miraculously reformed his position on the gas tax, recently stating:
Claire goes on to say, "I am predicting and Minnesota's experimentation with a non-democrat governor is over."
Perhaps. But not because of the bridge disaster or Pawlenty's previous rejection of a gas tax increase. More likely is Pawlenty's defeat if he raises the gas tax, based on the latest polling from Minneapolis TV station KTSP...
Minneapolis blogger Ed Morrissey has the details:
Fifty-seven percent of people surveyed say the state should not increase the state gas tax. Only 38 percent say it should go up.
As always, the internals are even more interesting. Large majorities credit Governor Tim Pawlenty for his handling of the disaster. Only among Hispanics does he get less than a majority of favorable opinion. Otherwise, he ranks high in every demographic, including 70% of Democrats and 63% of self-identified liberals on his way to 75% approval overall.
Interestingly, Minnesotans approve of George Bush's handling of the disaster as well. He gets a 65% rating overall, but less strength in the demographics. Forty-six percent of Democrats approve and 49% disapprove, but he gets 63% from independents, and 65% overall.
But the internals on a tax increase should make the state's political class take notice. As KSTP reported, 57% oppose new tax increases at all, compared to 38% who want some increase. That majority holds in every single demographic in the poll, except for people 55 and older. Eighty-nine percent of blacks and 90% of Hispanics oppose it. More Democrats and independents oppose it than Republicans. Liberals oppose it 60%-36%. More women than men oppose it. And every region opposes it as well, especially the more liberal northeast, where 71% said no to higher gas taxes.
And that's not the end of the surprises. KSTP asked whether any increase in taxes should be used solely for roads and bridges, or whether it should fund mass-transit options. Two-thirds of Minnesotans rejected the mass-transit option, with majorities in every demographic except among blacks. Democrats stood 57% opposed to funding mass transit, and self-described liberals opposed it 52%-46%.
If the government of Minnesota is listening, the message is no new taxes. Let's find out what caused the bridge collapse -- and then let's find out what Minnesota did with its $2.2 billion annual MnDOT budget instead of automatically assuming we need to demand even more money from taxpayers.
If Pawlenty listens to the people of his state, he will the liberals' attempt to leverage the bridge tragedy into more money for Big Government.
Why is it that every time there's a tragedy or disaster, the Left's first impulse is to raise taxes, and not to ask why the government, already funded with gazillions of billions of dollars, apparently squandered or wasted the money it already had for the very thing that the liberals now want to raise taxes to pay for?
Why not first eradicate the pork from the budget - I'm sure Minnesota has gotten its share of pork thanks to its various Democratic and GOP senators and representatives - and use that money to fix the bridges?
Why always go immediately to the taxpayers, who are already paying plenty of taxes? It's as if the Left, subconsciously, blames "the people" for the bridge collapse because "the people" aren't paying enough taxes.
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