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‘Bad policy’: Minnesota lawmaker says Walz gas tax increase will hurt lower-income residents the most

‘Bad policy’: Minnesota lawmaker says Walz gas tax increase will hurt lower-income residents the most

The top Republican lawmaker on the Minnesota legislature’s tax committee is slamming Gov. Tim Walz, over “bad” and “lazy” tax policy pertaining to the state’s excise tax on gasoline, which the lawmaker indicated hurts lower-income residents in his state the most.  “There’s generally some pretty strong resistance to putting anything on inflators, because that – I call it the ‘lazy man’s tax increase’ – because what you do then is you never have to come back through the legislature to justify another tax increase,” said Rep. Greg Davids, the top Republican guiding tax policy in the state. “Some rich person, if [the excise tax] is on an inflator and it goes up 10 cents a gallon, they say, so what? But for the person in the district I represent, that drives 35 miles to work at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, or different jobs in Rochester, that’s a lot of money, and now it goes up every year, no matter what.” Davids has been on the state legislature’s tax committee for nine terms, including three as chair and four as Republican lead, and he argued Friday that the decision to tie the state’s gas tax to an index was “very poor tax policy,” citing its regressive nature and the fact that it is “hurting the poorest of the poor” the hardest. WALZ FACES BACKLASH AFTER DEFENDING OBAMA-ERA MANDATE REPEALED BY TRUMP: ‘MASSIVE TAX PENALTY’ “I try to stay away from regressive taxes. I try to stay away from inflators,” Davids said. “Because if your cause is good enough, you’ll get your increase. But to put something out there, where it just happens with no representation of the people, that’s bad tax policy in my estimation.” In 2019, Walz’s first budget proposal as governor intended to increase the state’s gas tax 70%, which would have made the state among those with the highest gasoline excise tax in the nation, behind California, Pennsylvania, Washington and Illinois. The proposal was passed by the Democrat-controlled House but stalled once it made it to the Senate.  Later, during an election year in 2022, Walz called on the federal government to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline. Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann called the move a “laughable political stunt” at the time, considering that Walz and his Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) colleagues have “always supported” increasing the gas tax.  Currently, Minnesota’s gas tax ranking is on the lower end of the spectrum, but that will change after next year’s index increase. Such an increase will move Minnesota up the list 11 spots, making it the 21st-highest in the nation. BLUE STATE REGULATORS COULD HIKE PRICE AT PUMP JUST DAYS AFTER ELECTION, GOP LAWMAKERS WARN Under Walz, the state of Minnesota did see tax cuts for the middle class, such as an increased child tax credit and reducing the Social Security tax rate. However, Davids questioned what Walz and his fellow DFL members did to squander a record high nearly $18 billion budget surplus in 2023. Meanwhile, by 2026, the state of Minnesota is expected to see a roughly $1.5 billion deficit, Davids said. VANCE RIPS WALZ ON ECONOMY, SAYS HE’S FORCED TO ‘PRETEND’ TRUMP DIDN’T LOWER INFLATION Other measures under Walz included efforts to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy, such as a new “surtax” on long-term investment income. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit in the nation’s capital, called Walz an “outlier” when it comes to his tax policy, compared to those of Harris’ other potential running mates, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.  “Governors bring executive experience. They also bring policy records that are more concrete than those of legislators, in the sense that a governor’s signature or veto makes (or prevents) law in a way that one vote in Congress rarely does,” the Foundation wrote in a report published several weeks ago outlining Walz’s tax policy as the governor of Minnesota. “Observers will doubtless scrutinize Walz’s record as governor to get a sense of what policies he may favor at the federal level and what that may say about the Harris-Walz ticket.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP  Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s press office and the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive an on-the-record response.

Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien: Ukraine’s NATO bid risks ‘World War III’

Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien: Ukraine’s NATO bid risks ‘World War III’

EXCLUSIVE: As Ukraine renews its call for an invitation into the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, a former top Trump official warned that such a move “risks World War III.” Reflecting on a variety of geopolitical threats in an interview with Fox News Digital, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the U.S. could offer security guarantees for Ukraine and more biting sanctions on Russia, but could not fulfill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for an invitation into NATO without serious escalation. “To bring a country into NATO and the alliance that’s in a war with Russia is very provocative to the Russians, and could lead to escalation, even nuclear war,” he said. “We can certainly give Ukraine security guarantees … put eastern European troops [in Ukraine] to help secure peace after a peace deal gets done. But NATO is too provocative at this point.” O’Brien’s point of view serves as a glimpse into how a future Trump administration could approach dueling global crises in the Middle East, Russia and the Far East. O’Brien, who was former President Donald Trump’s top adviser on national security issues from 2019 to 2021, has been floated as a possible pick for secretary of state or another national security-focused role.  “Of course” he would accept a job in the White House if Trump is successful in November and offers him one, he said.  “It’s always an honor to serve the country and to serve the president. But I’m not campaigning for a job,” he said. “There are a lot of really great people who’d like to work for the president.” The way out of the war, according to O’Brien, is through the negotiating table, and steeper sanctions are needed to cripple Russia’s economy and bring them to the table.  “The sanctions have been relatively minor,” O’Brien said. “They haven’t sanctioned the Russian Federation Central Bank. They haven’t kicked folks out of SWIFT. They’ve taken a few oligarchs’ yachts.”  SAUDIA ARABIA AND IRAN SQUASH DECADES OF HOSTILITY WITH UNPRECEDENTED JOINT MILITARY DRILLS Last week, a growing band of nations looking to break away from the U.S. dollar and challenge western hegemony met at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, as a way to evade western sanctions.  “I think we have got to use sanctions less. But when we do use them, we should use them comprehensively. I think slap on the wrist sanctions are the worst of all worlds. It encourages people to leave the dollar as a trading mechanism, but it doesn’t achieve any goal of truly punishing the target country,” the former adviser said. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that the U.S. is expected to announce fresh sanctions aimed at curbing the Russian war effort in the coming days. The restrictions will be aimed at secondary entities that are supplying Russia with critical supplies.  “Ukraine is going to be in real demographic trouble if it doesn’t stop the war,” O’Brien mused. “We’re going to leave it to Ukrainians to decide what they’re willing to trade for peace.”  In the Middle East, O’Brien said, President Joe Biden has tried to “constrain Israel’s actions.”  “Everything from negotiating with the Hamas terrorists, to not sending our Special Forces to rescue Americans who were taken hostage, to failing to punish Hamas for killing 30 Americans on Oct. 7, up to today, with Biden and Harris trying to dictate to Israel what targets they can hit in Iran — all projects weakness.” IRANIAN ARMED FORCES PLAN TO TRIPLE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD BUDGET, THANKS TO OIL EXPORTS From the left, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have lost support for not taking a strong enough stance against Israel’s offensive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon — campaigns that have soured Israel’s standing among its neighbors. It’s begged the question whether Israel would normalize relations with Saudi Arabia – a deal that had been on the precipice of completion when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. O’Brien said he is not worried about Israel’s standing in the Middle East. “I’m actually surprised at how durable the Abraham Accords have been,” referring to the deals between Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco that he helped broker under Trump.  “I think absolutely Saudi Arabia will join the accords. It may take Donald Trump winning the election for that to happen,” O’Brien said.  But that would likely depend on the makeup of Congress. Two-thirds of the Senate would have to approve the deal — a high bar for Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of human rights violations and involvement in the 9/11 attacks. To add to the contention, the deal would likely include the U.S. agreeing to allow the Saudis to work on nuclear projects for energy purposes. Such a deal would amount to a pivotal realignment of the Middle East and further isolate Iran. But this week, Saudi Arabia and Iran conducted unprecedented joint military drills in the gulf of Oman.  But O’Brien shrugged off the threat of the potential realignment of a U.S. ally, as Iran awaits Israel’s counter-attack for the 200 missiles it fired on Tel Aviv on Oct. 1. “Iran’s been exposed for being a lot of bark and less bite,” he said. “They have no air force to speak of. They’ve got a couple old F 14 Tom Cats that can’t make it to Israel. They’ve got no real Navy to speak of. And their missile attacks have been blunted with very little damage or loss of life in Israel. There’s not a lot Iran can do right now. They’re wide open to Israeli attack.”  And while Harris asserted Iran is the U.S.’s biggest geopolitical threat, O’Brien insists it’s China. “If Iran is such a big threat to our freedom, why have we stood by and not enforced the sanctions?” he asked. “China is the biggest threat to America. China has the demographics, the number of people, they’re hard-working, they’ve got a massive economy. China is an existential threat to America because they could beat us in a

Appeals court rules against Virginia’s effort to block re-instatement of suspected noncitizens to voter rolls

Appeals court rules against Virginia’s effort to block re-instatement of suspected noncitizens to voter rolls

A federal appeals court on Sunday ruled that a lower court was correct to re-instate some 1,600 Virginia voters who have questionable citizenship status to the rolls. The ruling came after immigrants and women’s rights groups sued the state and its Board of Elections after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in August directing state officials to identify noncitizens, who were given two weeks to dispute being disqualified before being removed from voter rolls. Youngkin’s attorneys argued that the law applies to actual voters and that removing non-citizens isn’t covered. The appeals court for the Fourth Circuit said the state was mixing various parts of the law together. YOUNGKIN VOWS TO APPEAL ‘TO SCOTUS’ AFTER US JUDGE ORDERS 1,600 VOTERS BACK ON BALLOT “That is not how courts interpret statutes,” the appeals court said in its ruling.  On Sunday, he vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  “It’s commonsense: noncitizens shouldn’t be on our voter rolls,” he wrote on X.  “Thank you @JasonMiyaresVA for filing immediately with the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency appeal of the order for Virginia to put over 1,500 people who self-identified as non-citizens back on the voter rolls,” the governor said to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.  On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters who had been removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days. The judge found that the removals had been “systematic,” not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law. Her ruling came after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections on Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, the state had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). YOUNGKIN HITS BACK AT DOJ SUIT OVER ‘COMMON SENSE’ LAW THAT CULLS NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLL “Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls,” Youngkin said in a statement Friday.  “Almost all these individuals had previously presented immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a fact recently verified by federal authorities,” he added.  Should the case be picked up by the high court, it would come within days of the election.