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Antitax rally draws hundreds to State Capitol

While the turnout was similar to that of past years, some participants said the event was particularly important this year.

By Kelly Smith

April 27, 2013 at 11:24PM

Marjorie Holsten of Maple Grove brought Taylor Swine, her pet potbelly pig, to deliver a message at the 2013 Taxpayers Freedom Rally Saturday at the State Capitol in St. Paul. The event has been likened to a conservative state fair and included more than 30 booths of groups and organizations. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Taxes and the Minnesota's DFL-dominated Legislature were on the hot seat Saturday as more than 600 people attended the annual Taxpayers Freedom Rally.

The conservative event was particularly important this year after a disappointing election for Republicans last fall, said Phil Krinkie, president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.

"This is a great opportunity to get people remotivated," added Dan McGrath, president of Minnesota Majority, which organized the event with Krinkie's group. "There are a lot of dejected people. And I think it helps re-energize them."

The event, which has been likened to a conservative state fair, drew more than 30 booths of political groups and other organizations to the State Capitol grounds. Hundreds of people from across the region listened to state legislators, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, talk-show host Jason Lewis and national antitax activist Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform.

"We just want to be left alone," Norquist said. "The left is like a teenage boy on a prom date; they keep asking for the same thing in different ways."

Although 2014 is still a ways off, the election was referenced by both Bachmann, who is headed for a rematch with St. Cloud businessman Jim Graves, and Lewis, who's been mentioned as a potential challenger to U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

"The recovery begins in Washington when Al Franken loses his job," Lewis said to cheers from the crowd.

The antitax message drew many of the attendees, from a Stillwater man threatening to move to Wisconsin to Cindy Yager of Dayton, who said many of her friends are planning to move to states like Florida, Arizona or Texas if the tax climate in Minnesota doesn't change.

"I'm waking up to what is really happening out there, and I don't like it," she said.

Parking a chair in the Capitol lawn on the sunny Saturday, Karleen Bushard of Crystal said she hasn't missed the rally in more than a decade. The software developer said that, as she and her husband approach retirement, they're more concerned about the impact taxes will have on their futures.

"It seems they're [politicians] encroaching more and more in places they don't have any business," she said.

To show the "wasteful government" in Minnesota, Senate Minority Leader David Hann started off his speech listing potential new state taxes.

"Hardworking taxpayers cannot afford [Gov.] Mark Dayton and the DFL majorities in the Legislature," said Hann, R-Eden Prairie. "They're going to be serving up the biggest taxapalooza in the state, and we're going to pay for it."

DFL Chairman Ken Martin, however, said most Minnesotans support Dayton's proposal to increase taxes for the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans.

"While Grover and his wealthy friends are saying 'No,' " he said in a statement, "Minnesotans are saying 'Yes.' "

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann referenced the 2014 election during her appearance Saturday at the 2013 Taxpayers Freedom Rally. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

about the writer

Kelly Smith

News team leader

Kelly Smith is a news editor, supervising a team of reporters covering Minnesota social services, transportation issues and higher education. She previously worked as a news reporter for 16 years.