Featured candidates include Belle Plaine’s own Greg Wersal and Tim Tingelstad, candidates for the Minnesota Supreme Court, Dan Griffith, candidate for the Appellate Court, Belle Plaine’s own Kelby Woodard, candidate for Minnesota House District 25B, Al DeKruif, candidate for Senate District 25, Glenn Gruenhagen, candidate for House District 25A, Senator Claire Robling, candidate for Senate District 35, and Representative Mark Buesgens, candidate for House District 35B.

Volunteer this weekend for our “Get Out The Vote” efforts in Senate District 26.  Send your name and contact information to Joe Schomacker at jrs@mngop.com or call 651-222-0022.

Voter Information

Polls are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Click Here To Find Your Polling Place In Waseca, Steele & Rice Counties

Make sure you bring your friends and neighbors to the polls on January 26!

Governor Tim Pawlenty Backs Mike Parry

Governor Tim Pawlenty held a small business round table with Mike Parry in Owatonna on Wednesday night.

Click Here To Read About The Event

Congressman John Kline Endorses Mike Parry

Click Here To Learn More About Mike Parry

On January 21, 2010 at 7:00 PM there will be a Republican Meet and Greet at Kingsway Retirement Center in Belle Plaine.  This is open to the public and there is no charge for the event.  Each candidate will be given a short time to speak about themselves, but the purpose of this event is to get the candidates to personally meet the individuals who attend the event.  This will be a great opportunity to personally meet the potential new governor as well as meet many or all of the candidates for Minnesota House and Senate seats (SD25, SD26, HD26B).   This will be a great event and we encourage you to come.  Also, please invite others who you believe would enjoy the event or forward this information to them.  Come early and meet the candidates before the presentations or stay afterwards.  If you have any questions please contact us through our Contact us form.

Bookmark this page and watch for updates as we get confirmations on who will be attending.

Details:

What: Candidates Meet and Greet
Where: Kingsway Retirement Center in Belle Plaine. (Google Maps: )
Date: 21 January 2010
Time: 7PM-10PM

Who will be there?

Announced for Governor:

• Tom Emmer
• David Hann
• Marty Siefert
• Leslie Davis
• Bill Haas
• Phil Hertwig

Announced for MN Senate 25

• Jack Baker
• Al DeKruif
• Bill Paulsen

Announced for MN House 25B

• Mike Piper

Announced for MN Senate 26

• Mike Parry

]]> http://ricecountyrepublicans.com/articles/476/feed 0 http://ricecountyrepublicans.com/articles/330 http://ricecountyrepublicans.com/articles/330#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:10:43 +0000 Bruce Morlan http://ricecountyrepublicans.com/?p=330 A reporter at the StarTribune has caught the attention of one of our thoughtful, respected and respectful readers, he forwarded to us the content of his letter sent to the reporter in an effort to give her the benefit of another way of looking at things. We believe that too often our journalists only preach to the choir and never learn the whole story because the feedback from their peers and readers is self-perpetuating of the myths that inform their writing.  This excellent letter is a valiantly shows “the rest of the story”.

*From:* Bron J. Scherer [mailto:brons@charter.net]
*Sent:* Friday, April 10, 2009 2:20 PM
*To:* ‘plopez@startribune.com’
*Subject:* Your question regarding “small business” people making $200,000 plus annually to Rep. Seifert at Easter break newsconference

Ms. Lopez, You may remember the aforementioned question you asked Rep. Mary Seifert this week as to why these individuals are any different than salaried people making $200,000 and why this group is of particular concern to the GOP caucus.  As someone in this taxpayer category, I will take the time to enlighten you beyond Rep. Seifert’s remarks which were also valid. Here a few reasons why high income tax rates matter to this group (small business owners):

1.        Reported income does not always represent cash earnings.  Many businesses are accrual basis taxpayers that in essence pay income taxes on receivables from customers, inventories held for sale or manufacture and other working capital items.  Passed through earnings from an S corporation, LLC, LLP or sole proprietorship are not the same as cash earnings for a regular payroll person.  Further, often business owners may not be able to extract the necessary cash from the business to pay federal and state income taxes (not to mention payroll taxes/self employment taxes at 15.3% alone) due to business banking line of credit covenants and the like.  This obviously can result in taxable income without the related cash to pay the tax.  The higher the tax, the greater the burden on the business owner to increase prices, reduce costs (resulting in possible employee layoffs), increase borrowings or a combination to pay this bill.

2.       A business owner earning $200,000 in your question, probably had to generate millions in revenue to earn that amount.  Most businesses (large and small) would struggle and consider it a major accomplishment to achieve a 10% pre-tax earnings rate meaning the hypothetical individual referred in your question probably grossed $2,000,000 plus in annual business revenues to achieve that amount of pre-tax earnings.  When viewed in this context, $200,000 does not seem very large, particularly when that business owner needs to reinvest profits to continue to grow the business.  That $200,000 cannot be extracted from the business in cash without extreme negative, long-term consequences.  Again, this net residual income is not individual or family spending money we’re talking about.

3.       Finally, I believe there are many who believe this group of business owners automatically generates $200,000 plus in annual income year after year.  Again, this is obviously not true.  Businesses have good and bad years, some of which may result in net losses due to the thin margins referred to in item 2 above.  Contrary to the many other “beleaguered groups” in this country, the business owner funds these losses out of previously earned profits and possibly future profits and/or debt.  Those achieving “success” at this level more often than not have everything they own at risk including personal assets, residence and retirement accounts and there were probably years during the early stages of the business when the owner was unable to take any funds for personal family needs and incurred significant debt to get started.

Rep Seifert and the Republican caucus recognize that these type of business owners employ the majority of Americans with good paying jobs and benefits. We care about our employees and their ability to take care of their families and we do everything possible to assure we retain good employees.  However, the business owner is only able to do so effectively in a lower tax and regulatory environment.  The facts speak for themselves for those who choose to do the background work.

From my perspective, every day the state legislature is in session represents a significant and growing risk to the success of my businesses and my family’s well being as well as the state as a whole.  Regulation and high taxes are huge problems in this state.  Growth of federal and state government is out of control.  In reviewing pending legislation, I always hope for equality of *opportunities* for all Minnesotans, not equality of *outcomes*.

Thank you in advance for your time and fair treatment of this issue and others as you cover the Minnesota State Legislature.

Very truly yours,
Bron J. Scherer, CPA

Dear Constituent,

My name is Tim Rud and I am seeking the District 25B State Representative seat. Thank you to all the delegates and alternates for their support. It was an exciting, enthusiastic convention!

There are a number of reasons I seek this office. First and foremost, I am an advocate for small business in our district. I believe we need to create a much more friendly business environment in our area. As a 3rd term Mayor and 14-year city councilman in the City of Lonsdale, the promotion of our existing business and recruitment of new business have been successful. I understand city budgets, local government aid issues, and the interworkings of county and state agencies. Small business owners, whether family, friends or neighboring farmers, are the hardest working people in Minnesota. They provide employment opportunities, invest in their business and community and provide goods and services, which make a community vibrant. I attribute the successes in Lonsdale to new and expanded business. With the benefits of all the new and improved structures in Lonsdale our tax capacity has increased. This is important because, in conjunction with the city freezing the tax levy, we have reduced the city portion of a resident’s property tax. We need to expand this philosophy to the state level. I believe government needs to eliminate obstacles for a small business to succeed.

Second, I do not believe that Minnesota should greatly expand taxation on the working families and businesses in the state. Instead, Minnesota needs to focus on creating more efficient government, resulting in less wasteful spending. We need to keep education as a top priority as it fuels much of Minnesota’s job development. We need, however, to be cognizant of the funding. Minnesota has allocated substantial funding for our K-12 education programs. The problem is that current legislators are directing far too many of these dollars to metropolitan school districts. I will fight to see that New Prague, Montgomery/Lonsdale, Belle Plaine, Northfield and all our smaller, greater Minnesota school districts receive proper state funding. Our children are just as important as metro children!

Protection of family values is important to me. I want to do all I can to protect the lives of all Minnesotans, from the unborn to the fragile elderly populations. My wife Debbie and I have been married 28 years. We have 3 children, Daniel a construction project manager, Jennifer a radiological technologist at HCMC and Brian a junior at Montgomery/Lonsdale High School. We have two small grandchildren Brody and Ava. I was born and raised in New Prague and graduated from New Prague High School. Debbie (Schmitz) was born and raised on the family farm in the Union Hill / Belle Plaine area. She also graduated from New Prague High School. Debbie and I work together at a 3rd generation grading company in Webster, Minn. I believe my small town upbringing and business experience will provide a common sense approach to issues.

Another concern of mine has been general representation in our district. I believe your representative should be active in the entire district and have a wide range of business, family and life experience. That person should be someone you see on a regular basis and can discuss concerns anytime. I am that person. I have worked diligently in Lonsdale in this area. I am the current Lions President, active in the Chamber of Commerce and the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. I have coached little league baseball for 19 years and I am the current manager of Post 586 Lonsdale Legion Baseball. I have always believed that a representative’s job is to be available to address your concerns and to bring them to the table.

I feel our District 25B is one of the best areas in Minnesota to live. It deserves better representation than we presently have. This district has such a diverse group of people. People from all walks of life from farmers to construction workers to small business owners to students and teachers. This diversity is what makes the quality of life in our area so wonderful.

In closing, I ask for your support. If you should have any questions please feel free to call me at 507-744-5234 or my e-mail timrud@integra.net. House District 25B is a difficult district for a Republican to win. However I know that with your help and support, I will be victorious in November. Working together we can take back this seat, create good government for us all, and work toward the goals that are so important to the citizens of our district.

Respectfully,

Tim Rud