Pawlenty, gubernatorial candidates highlight tax and spending issues

URBANDALE –Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty appeared at a tax forum Saturday in Iowa pushing an economic bill of rights that would require the federal government balance to its budget.

Pawlenty, a Republican mentioned as a possible 2012 presidential contender, cited concerns over federal spending along with a growing national debt.

“Wall Street gets a bailout, the poor understandably get a hand out, and the rest of us, we get our wallet out,” said Pawlenty, who keynoted the event.

Pawlenty said that a bill of rights should give the president line-item veto power and require a supermajority in Congress to raise taxes or raise the debt-ceiling limit.

Organizers of Saturday's forum, sponsored by Muscatine-based Iowans for Tax Relief, said more than 550 people attended.

The group's president, Ed Failor Jr., thinks their message of lower taxes will resonate this election year.

“People all across the board understand they're getting overburdened right now and that change needs to happen,” Failor said.

Candidates for governor also got a chance to address the attendees.

Sioux City businessman and Republican Bob Vander Plaats called himself the fiscal conservative in the governor's race.

“I have plenty of bold, specific and tested ideas to improve our tax structure, reduce state spending and turn our state into an economic engine that helps move our country forward,” Vander Plaats said.

Former governor Terry Branstad, who is running a comeback bid for the office, announced he would release his tax returns Monday as he highlighted the need for transparency in government.

He said one of his first actions as governor would be to establish a Web site to track state spending.

“I've always believed that we need to have an open and honest government, and I think we've had a tradition and history of that in Iowa, but in recent times, it's not been that way,” Branstad said.

GOP candidate and State Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll proposed shifting payment for mental health services from property taxes to the state.

“That would be a significant boost in providing relief to local property taxpayers,” Roberts said.

Independent candidate for governor Jonathan Narcisse vowed to veto any nonessential spending measure if he is elected.

“Iowa does not have a fiscal crisis; we have a spending and a leadership crisis,” Narcisse said to applause.

Libertarian Party candidate Eric Cooper said the government has piled up so much debt that people who haven't even been born yet will spend their lives paying it off.

“Now that's taxation without representation in its purest form,” Cooper said.

Ed Wright, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, believes the imminent threat of tax increases has put tax issues at the forefront this year.

“The utterly irresponsible spending that we've seen, both at the state level and at the federal level, has to come in higher taxes for many, many, many generations to come,” said Wright, who attended Saturday's event.