Finally some honesty. Sounds like Ms. Anderson actually read the results of the "blue ribbon" tax panel consisting of business and corporate leaders that Governor Pawlenty convened in 2009.

snip//"A blue-ribbon panel on business tax reform wants to repeal Minnesota's corporate income tax while expanding the sales tax to more consumer goods and services, including increasing cigarette taxes by $1 a pack.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 21st Century Tax Reform Commission said in a report issued Friday that scrapping the corporate tax and providing a series of other business tax breaks would help employers create jobs and make Minnesota more competitive in a rapidly changing global economy.

Minnesota must modernize its approach to taxing business in order to lay a foundation for growth in the 21st century and beyond," Commission Chairman Mike Vekich wrote in the report.

Although Pawlenty wants to cut business taxes, he quickly rejected expanding the sales tax.//snip

We now have a GOP candidate that dares to mention the word "increased tax revenue". Along with budget cuts and this proposed revenue we could be actually be back to some fiscal responsibility again in MN. Instead of the creative "cash management" techniques that the current administration has gotten quite comfortable using in order to balance the budget.

I can't see the state republican party actually endorsing Ms. Anderson because of her proposal, but I sure do admire her honesty and business like approach to our budget problems.

What I can imagine though, is the "new conservative" branch of the republican party riding into town to announce that she is too liberal and not conservative enough to deserve the mantle of the endorsed candidate. Ala the conservative coup in upstate New York with conservatives’ role in forcing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of the special election in New York’s 23rd District.

Not so sure her idea is a great thing, because it moves the tax to a more regressive structure so that yes, the working stiffs, again, get stiffed.

The lower of a decile one is in income in Minnesota, the greater of a share of their income they pay even with EIC's from the Federal government, and credits from Minnesota, those things apply to income rather than the purchase of necessities. Instead of extending the sales tax to necessities, how about extending them to the people that get the best income tax breaks in order to level this thing out a bit? Or is it truely to become the official state position to make sure that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?

Don't Tax Me, Don't Tax Thee, Tax That Man Behind the Tree