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Morbidly rich are different — they don’t pay taxes

Local Editorials

It’s one week until tax day. For most Americans it’s time to pay the piper for the income they’ve well-earned making a living for basic expenses like housing and food. Except for the ultrawealthy. Megabillionaires and their ilk pay...nothing. There are many ways to evade taxes, but last year ProPublica revealed the go-to tactic, which is so simple, you don’t have to be a certified public accountant to understand it. The first step for them is to buy an asset. Something big. Something worth enough in value to cover a rich family’s personal expenses for the year — $50 ...

Et. Cetera

Local Editorials

Area support ensures project success Last weekend, members of the Fairmont Baseball Association, Fairmont Rotary Club and Martin County Area Foundation came together to put up several batting cages at the Winnebago Avenue Sports Complex in Fairmont. The project was made possible with funding from all three organizations. This was a good example of entities coming together to make something positive happen in the community. We’re sure the batting cages will be put to great use. County moves on funding request This week the Martin County Commissioners moved forward with a letter of ...

Give Minnesotans some tax relief

Local Editorials

The Republicans in the Minnesota Senate are pushing for a big tax cut for taxpayers, but members of DFL in the Legislature are not buying it. The Senate passed an $8.4 billion tax cut bill Thursday. Legislative leaders, however, realize that tax plan could look very different when the final version emerges. But Republicans such as Sen. Gary Dahms of Redwood Falls are not giving up. “After years of over taxation, Minnesotans deserve permanent ongoing tax relief,” he said in a statement. “We eliminate the unfair double tax on Social Security and cut income taxes for all Minnesota ...

Action needed over rising fertilizer costs

Local Editorials

On Tuesday, Rep. Michelle Fischbach joined 96 of her U.S. House colleagues on signing a letter to President Joe Biden demanding action on fertilizer prices. Fertilizer prices have soared 300% since last year. Some of that increase is due to supply chain issues. But now the Russia-Ukraine is boosting that increase. Of course, this is all bad news for farmers everywhere, including southwest Minnesota. “Last month, fertilizer reached the highest price ever recorded, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these prices are only going to get worse. I hear from farmers across my ...

Biden needs new advisers, help from Congress

Local Editorials

More or less the whole world—including his own advisers on background—has criticized President Biden for his latest gaffe in saying in his Warsaw speech on Saturday that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” There’s no need to pile on. And someone should say that Mr. Biden’s unscripted remark did have the virtue of telling the truth that the problem in Russia won’t end even if Mr. Putin orders his troops out of Ukraine. Mr. Biden’s remark, even after its repudiation on Sunday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may well make it harder to negotiate with Mr. Putin over ...

Baseless election claims threaten integrity

Local Editorials

Republican officials and other bad actors across the country continue to threaten the integrity of elections with Orwellian rhetoric fueling hostile takeover attempts of nonpartisan fair elections. Dozens of bills have been introduced in 11 states this year calling for reviews of election results by partisan groups, following the lead of Arizona and Wisconsin last year. In Arizona, a company whose leader was a GOP election conspiracy theorist was allowed to review all the ballots in the 2020 presidential election without having any experience in election audits. In Wisconsin, a former ...