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House GOP ads blame Democrats for raising gas tax
Minnesota's Republicans are hoping to turn your pain at the pump into their gain at the ballot box. The House GOP Caucus is launching a series of 15-second TV ads, blaming gas tax hikes on DFL lawmakers who are up for re-election in November. "You pay, they pump," says the female voice on the commercial's soundtrack, "Who's to blame for higher gas prices? Minnesota Democrats." House Speaker Marty Seifert told reporters Monday that Republican candidates campaigning to win back house seats lost to the DFL in 2004 and 2006 are going to drive that point home. "I don't remember Democrats campaigning in 2006 that 'We're going to raise everybody's taxes' and not just on gas, but on sales which will kick in this summer in five metro counties." "The reality is they were very proud to vote for this," Seifert argued, "And so we're just gonna remind the people." The ads were originally designed to run in gasoline pump video monitors, but the only major chain with those TV screens rejected those advertising dollars citing a policy of keeping the pump videos free of politics. Democrats point out that only two pennies of the $3.50 per gallon people are pumping this week are the result of the transportation bill passed by overriding Governor Pawlenty's veto. That will grow to as much as eight and a half cents per gallon by 2013, but DFL leaders will do all they can to remind voters that all of that money is going to roads and bridges. "We're closing bridges around this state on almost a weekly basis," House Majority Leader Tony Sertich told KARE 11. "This money is being put to good use making highways and bridges in the state safer." As for prices at the pump, Sertich points out that regular unleaded was going for $2.17 per gallon the day in 2005 when Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed the highways bill with the gas tax hike in it. Sertich believes voters will see that even without a "DFL tax" prices still mushroomed to 2008 levels. "If you really want to do something about gas prices you got to go after the oil companies," Sertich argued, "They're the ones that made last year $123 billion in profits, the largest profits in US history. Washington DC should be doing something about that." Forty-two percent? The GOP ads say Democrats raised the fuel tax 42 percent. That is true, if you consider that 8.5 cents is 42 percent of 20 cents, which was the state's gas tax from 1988 until April 1, 2008. But to those who are accustomed to thinking in terms of sales tax, and reading the sales tax as a percent on the dollar, 42 percent could translate mentally to a "42 cent" hike. In reality the fuel tax user fee assessed per gallon, not per dollar. In other words, it's constant rate per gallon regardless of the price of fuel. Right now it's 22 cents per gallon, whether that gallon goes for $2.50 or $3.50. And it will grow, if fully implemented, to 28.5 cents per gallon regardless of the price. Either way Seifert says Republicans are hoping to grab voters' attention when they're more focused than ever on gas prices. And he's hoping they'll decide the voting booth is a chance to do something about it. "I think the Democrats have just lost touch with the average person out there and we're doing a little reminder."
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