People who’ve read this blog know that I’ve highlighted the sniping coming from the Alliance for a Better Minnesota towards Tom Emmer. This article is a perfect illustration of ABM’s petty sniping and Tom’s vision. Tom’s vision for Minnesota is to streamline government and “to have government work for the people”:

“If bigger government, higher taxes and more regulation were the answer, then Greece should be the biggest winner in the world and California would be the number one state in the country,” gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer told a crowd of 50 Republican activists.

Progressives have accused conservatives of wanting to turn Minnesota “into a cold Mississippi”, suggesting that streamlining government necessarily leads to cutting important services. Here’s Emmer’s reply to that characterization:

“If bigger government and higher taxes and more regulation were the answer, then Greece should be leading the world and California should be No. 1,” Emmer said.

“The debate is over; there is no debate any longer (because) big government doesn’t work,” he added.

Years ago, Mississippi was an easy target. These days, they’re adding car manufacturers like Minnesota used to develop Fortune 500 companies:

“Toyota appreciates the patience of Governor [Haley] Barbour and all Mississippians, but we first need to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed,” said Yoshimi Inaba, president and CEO of Toyota Motors North America. “Now it’s time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi. Toyota remains committed to making vehicles where we sell them and to maintaining a substantial manufacturing presence in North America.”

The decision to move Corolla production to its new Mississippi manufacturing facility will allow the facility to come online faster than with any other model. With the move, Toyota will add around 2000 jobs to northeastern Mississippi where the plant is located.

Here’s a question for my progressive friends: When was the last time a major manufacturer expanded in Minnesota?

Emmer, standing with his wife, Jacqui, told the audience, many of who sported Emmer for governor stickers, that it’s time for a new Minnesota Miracle not based on the 1970s model.

“This is what Jacqui and I believe the Minnesota miracle of the 21st century should be Marvin Windows expanding in Minnesota and not in North Dakota. A miracle would be 3M expanding in Minnesota, not in Texas,” he said.

Minnesota isn’t a business friendly state. It hasn’t been one in ages. Businesses that were once Minnesota manufacturing powerhouses now are other states’ manufacturing powerhouses. This isn’t happening by accident.

Meanwhile, ABM’s only reply is its partisan sniping:

In a written statement, the group’s executive director, Denise Cardinal, said Emmer has “voted against bringing broadband access to these communities and against ethanol and biofuel support as well as wanting to severely cut state aid to towns for the services they provide like road and repair and snow plowing. How can he now say that he’s for prosperity in greater Minnesota?”

How is voting for ethanol and biofuel subsidies creating prosperity? By its definition, government subsidies only make an inferior business reliant on ever-expanding government, which leads to higher taxes.

I’d further ask Ms. Cardinal if she thinks it’s government’s responsibilities to pick economic winners and losers. Who made government the arbiter of which industry is a preferred winner and which industries are left to deal with unreasonable taxes and regulations?

If there’s anything that we know without doubt, it’s that bureaucrats are pathetic at picking economic winners and losers. Why would we trust ABM, which is nothing more than a front group for a myriad of anti-capitalist special interest groups, to tell us how to get Minnesota’s economy going when their real goal is just to expand government?

In summary, I’ll trust in Tom Emmer’s vision and I’ll ignore ABM’s partisan tit-for-tat sniping because I prefer prosperity over government-mandated mediocrity.

Technorati: Prosperity, Manufacturing, Tom Emmer, Economy, Capitalism, Reform, Taxes, Regulations, Permitting, Conservatism, MNGOP, Toyota, Mississippi, 3M, Texas, Marvin Windows, North Dakota, Subsidies, ABM, Special Interests, Anti-Capitalists, DFL, Election 2010