Reality Check: MN Forward Ad On Dayton Tax Plan
ST. PAUL (WCCO) The corporate political fund MN Forward is in the news again for airing a commercial in the governor's race that is an aggressive attack on Democrat Mark Dayton's tax-hike plan.
One problem: The politics and the arithmetic don't add up. In fact, when it comes to the truth, this ad from Minnesota Forward goes "backward".
"Are you still sad? Scared? You should be," said the ad, which features babies crying. "Mark Dayton's plan. It's enough to make you cry."
But the only ones who should be crying are Minnesota voters. MN Forward uses outdated information and questionable claims; computing a tax that Dayton is not proposing.
"Dayton will raise job-killing taxes by $5 billion," the ad says. "That's more than $2,300 in new taxes per Minnesota family.
That's deceptive and it's FALSE.
Dayton's proposing tax hikes on 10 percent of the highest income Minnesotans: from mega-millionaires down to families with taxable incomes of $150,000.
It raises $1.9 billion, not $5 billion.
In fact, in September, Dayton went back to the drawing board because the Minnesota Revenue Department estimates came in at amounts far less than Dayton had counted on to balance the budget.
The MN Forward ad uses tax figures from June, during the DFL primary for governor between Dayton, House Speaker Margaret Kelliher and former DFL Minority Leader Matt Entenza.
And remember the purported tax hike of $2300 per family?
"That's more than $2,300 in new taxes per Minnesota family," according to the ad.
That's a serious DISTORTION.
MN Forward takes the faulty tax-hike-on-the-rich numbers and divides by 2.1 million Minnesota families.
All of them.
The group reports it's not "saying" Dayton's going to raise taxes on your family: just that it would look like this if he did.
"We very specifically said the amount would be 'per' family. We did not say that Dayton proposes to raise taxes $2,300 on certain families," said Brian McClung, a spokesman for MN Forward.
"We took his overall $5 billion tax increase and divided it by a little over 2.1 million households, the number the State Demographer says we have. We also did not say 'Dayton would raise taxes $2,300 per family'. We said overall his plan would equal "more than $2,300 in new taxes per Minnesota family," according to McClung.
The ad also raises questions about Dayton's inheritance and his wealth, which Republicans are attempting to make a campaign issue.
"Funny thing is some of Dayton's family money is in South Dakota, where there's no income tax," says the ad.
That's MISLEADING.
Dayton's department store ancestors set up a South Dakota trust -- in 1934.
He said he has no control over the trust, and pays Minnesota and federal taxes on whatever income he derives.
A spokeswoman for the Dayton campaign, Katharine Tinucci, issued a written statement:
"Their claims are not true; Mark is the only candidate who has said he will protect the middle class from a heavier tax burden. Part of his budget plan is to raise taxes in a fair, progressive way; mainly through raising the income tax on the top earners in the state."
That's REALITY CHECK.
To check the resources for Pat Kessler's Reality Check, click on the links below.
- Minnesota Forward
- Mark Dayton for Governor
- Finance & Commerce: It's hard to make Dayton's tax plan add up to $4 billion
- Star Tribune: Casino, tax hike in Dayton's new plan
- State Demographic Center
- Forbes: GOP, Dayton trade shots over Minn. hopeful's taxes
