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Come to Florida to stay, Minnesota snowbirds
St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 2/28/13 | Trey Radel

Posted on 03/01/2013 5:04:09 AM PST by rhema

Editor's note: Reacting to a proposed tax affecting Minnesota "snowbirds," U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, a Fort Myers, Fla., Republican, sent this letter to Gov. Mark Dayton. It was published recently in the Naples Daily News.

Dear Gov. Mark Dayton,

I'm writing today to thank you. As a Floridian, I am overjoyed to hear about your plan to raise taxes on Minnesotans, most especially the so-called "snowbirds."

Your proposal gives us a chance to shine here in the Sunshine State. We love to share southwest Florida with snowbirds from all over the country. We are proud to host or be home to entrepreneurs who invest in our economy and philanthropists who invest in our community.

It's my sincere hope your plan has just driven many Minnesotans to become year-round residents of our great state, which offers the following: No income tax; great public, charter and private schools; and excellent opportunities and incentives for investment, for both big and small business.

You make America great, governor. You show that in this blessed country of ours, each and every state is its own experiment in economic freedom and government overreach. You are illustrating why many of the states throughout our republic, which are keeping taxes low and spending money efficiently, have attracted manufacturing, financial institutions, as well other large and small business owners.

From what I understand, your plan will tax the income of individuals who spend at least 60 days in Minnesota, even if they are full-time residents of another state, like Florida. According to the state Revenue Department, this tax is expected to raise $30 million -- a drop in the bucket compared with the $37.9 billion of your proposed budget.

If Minnesotans want to get a heavy-handed, overtaxing government out of their pocket, I invite them to pack their bags and relocate right here where white sand beaches, cool blue water and low taxes await.

While here, I'd like to make a few other suggestions of what people can do: catch a Minnesota Twins or Boston Red Sox spring training game in Fort Myers; take a walk on Sanibel beach; buy a large and extremely affordable home in Cape Coral; enjoy the beaches, nightlife and shopping in Naples; head to Marco Island, with beautiful beaches (did I mention those?) and quick access to one of the world's most pristine and fascinating environments, the Everglades.

Again, governor, I thank you for your policy. It draws the contrast of what is happening not only in United States today, but the world. Your message makes the message of patriotic, liberty loving Americans shine: All we ask is for local, state and federal governments to spend our money efficiently and wisely. We want economic taxing decisions to be made based on what is fair and reasonable, not based on anger or emotion.

Economic freedom coupled with a limited, efficient government has made this country strong for generations and provided more opportunity than any place on Earth for more than 200 years. In Florida, we hope to carry on that tradition, and in southwest Florida, we look forward to seeing many more Minnesotans in the near future.

Sincerely,

Rep. Trey Radel


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; US: Florida; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: dayton; democrat; dfl; migration; minnesota; mn
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1 posted on 03/01/2013 5:04:22 AM PST by rhema
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To: MplsSteve

Congenital DFL class envy gets a proper smackdown.


2 posted on 03/01/2013 5:06:57 AM PST by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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To: rhema

Love it


3 posted on 03/01/2013 5:09:24 AM PST by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: rhema
Well I'm nearing the age where the Sunshine and Palm trees of Florida are starting to look better than 2ft of snow. Nice to know I would be welcome there.
4 posted on 03/01/2013 5:12:45 AM PST by McGruff (You are either with us or you are with the RINOs.)
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To: rhema

Would it be appropriate to mention the story of a sinkhole opening up in a guys bedroom? http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/01/florida-man-swallowed-by-massive-sinkhole-in-bedroom/?intcmp=trending

Come to Florida and the ground will open up beneath you.


5 posted on 03/01/2013 5:12:58 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: rhema

Dayton: come for the weather, stay for the taxes


6 posted on 03/01/2013 5:13:26 AM PST by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
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To: rhema

My neighbor called me a few weeks ago about this subject. He recently lost his wife and they have a place near Tampa and also a summer condo on the north shore of Lake Superior. He is a retired chiropractor. He was very angry with the DFL and Gov. Dayton.

Well, all of us conservatives and GOPers in MN think he/they are nuts too. They seem hell bent on destroying our economies, and it does indeed seem that it is all a bit of out-of-control class envy.

The people of Minnesota are very hard-working, northern European types. Unfortunately many are infected with a Scandinavian attitude of collectivism.

I hope this letter gets reprinted all over Minnesota so everyone can see it.


7 posted on 03/01/2013 5:15:18 AM PST by Gumdrop
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To: rhema

Democrats forget that: (a) business people are smarter than politicians, and, (b) wealthy people seek to protect their money just like everyone else. Minnesota is hugely in debt. Wisconsin, thanks to shared sacrifice and a governor who doesn’t kiss the rear-end of unions, has a surplus.


8 posted on 03/01/2013 5:15:42 AM PST by From The Deer Stand
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To: rhema

Too bad the Yankees bring their socialist voting habits with them when they move south. Like locusts they leave one area barren only to migrate and infest/defoliate another.


9 posted on 03/01/2013 5:23:16 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Gumdrop

A summer condo on the north shore could be used two months of the year.


10 posted on 03/01/2013 5:33:35 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (NRA Life Member)
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To: central_va

As a native Tampanian, I know this all too well. We tend to get the Mid-western, ex-union retires on the west coast (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin). The east coast gets the Northeasterners (New York, New Joisey, Mass-holes).

That’s why Florida went for Bammy in 2012.


11 posted on 03/01/2013 5:41:51 AM PST by representativerepublic (...loose lips, sink ships)
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To: rhema

Minnesota may tax you, but it won’t swallow you:
TAMPA AREA MAN SWALLOWED BY SINKHOLE
BRANDON, Fla. (AP) — A man was missing early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa and his brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared.
“The entire house is on the sinkhole”


12 posted on 03/01/2013 5:45:00 AM PST by sockhead
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To: Gumdrop

As bad as Dayton is, and I realize he’s really bad, it’s hard for me to imagine he’s any worse than the mighty Quinn we’re stuck with in the People’s Democratic Socialist Republic of Illinois.


13 posted on 03/01/2013 5:46:35 AM PST by Marathoner (What are we waiting for? Where are the Articles of Impeachment!)
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To: driftdiver
Would it be appropriate to mention the story of a sinkhole opening up in a guys bedroom?

That's just Florida spreading her proverbial legs for the guy.

14 posted on 03/01/2013 5:46:35 AM PST by TangoLimaSierra (To the left the truth looks like Right-Wing extremism.)
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To: rhema

But are these “snowbirds” Rats themselves? If so having them settle in Florida will only make matters worse.It would be like a cancerous tumor metastasizing.


15 posted on 03/01/2013 5:54:32 AM PST by Gay State Conservative ("Progressives" toss the word "racist" around like chimps toss their feces)
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To: sockhead

Sounds like a 1950s horror movie.


16 posted on 03/01/2013 6:00:00 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia (Truth/Lies; Liberty/Tyranny--WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE??)
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To: rhema

I made the mistake of moving to Broward county. We will be looking to W. Florida when we return to Florida.

Advice for all is to ignore S Florida.


17 posted on 03/01/2013 6:07:26 AM PST by rrrod (at home in Medellin Colombia)
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To: sockhead
You think only FL has sinkholes?

Fair or not, there is no disputing Ackerman's passion for discovering and preserving caves. Since the early 1990s, Ackerman, 51, has been buying up property in Fillmore County, where one small town, Fountain, Minnesota, bills itself as the "sinkhole capital of the world."

sinkholes in minnesota
18 posted on 03/01/2013 6:20:19 AM PST by Cheerio (Barry Hussein Soetoro-0bama=The Complete Destruction of American Capitalism)
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To: driftdiver
Many more people are killed, more homes destroyed, when roofs collapse because of snow accumulation...Also, since Columbus discovered America, not ONE Floridian has died of a heart attack while shoveling snow...

So there...

19 posted on 03/01/2013 6:22:54 AM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: ken5050

The earth will open up and swallow you alive, think about it...

This happened within a few miles of where I sit at this moment.


20 posted on 03/01/2013 6:31:33 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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