Don’t you dare feel sorry for 2010 Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner.  Yes, because of his electoral set-back Horner doesn’t have the Governor’s bully pulpit to promote his center right ideas, though he does have his new non-profit, NextMinnesota.  And of course, he isn’t able to exercise the gubernatorial power to pardon turkeys.  That still has to sting a little.

But according to this weekend’s Star Tribune, the tax reform agenda that will be put forth by Horner’s DFL opponent Mark Dayton in 2013 may look a whole lot like the platform that Horner ran on in 2010.

In 2010, Horner said:

“We need to reduce the taxes that Minnesota imposes on job creation, so that we can grow the good, well-paying jobs that Minnesotans need.”

In 2012, the Dayton Administration is saying:

 “Dayton’s team is looking at lowering the state’s corporate income tax rate.”

In 2010, Horner said:

“We need a thoughtful, comprehensive overhaul of a tax reform system that largely was created in the 1960s and 70s, and doesn’t serve us very well today.”

In 2012, the Dayton administration is saying:

“The last time the state embarked on such an (tax reform) endeavor (similar to what Dayton is planning) was in the late 1980s, years before the first Internet purchase and long before income tax rate reductions siphoned $11 billion from state coffers.”

In 2010, Horner said:

“First we need to look at the sales tax.  It’s a much more stable source of income.  We need to lower the rate, broaden the base, then put in protections for low-income people.”

In 2012, the Dayton administration is saying:

“Dayton’s staff also is looking at reviving an old idea: Lowering the state’s overall sales tax rate but broadening it to include more goods and services.”

In 2010, Horner said:

“We ought to look into increasing the tobacco tax.  There is no good public policy that supports cheap cigarettes.”

In 2011, the Dayton Administration said:

“During Wednesday’s budget negotiations with legislative leaders, Governor Mark Dayton offered two new budget proposals, both featuring substantial tax hikes. Dayton’s options included…a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase.”

In 2010, Horner said:

“And we need to look at the $11 billion in tax expenditures – breaks, credits, deductions – that some taxpayers get at the expense of other taxpayers.”

In 2012, the Dayton administration is saying:

“One of the things we think is fair is that if you are lowering any rate, like the corporate income tax, and say OK, what kind of deductions can be eliminated that can level the playing field so that everyone is paying the same lower rate?” (Dayton Administration Finance Commissioner Myron) Frans said.

If Horner sought royalties from Dayton for pilfering his ideas, he might just have a case.

It’s worth noting that Dayton and Horner haven’t always been so conjoined.  For instance, during the 2010 campaign, Dayton criticized Horner for not offering enough specifics about his sales tax reform, and questioned Horner’s proposed cigarette tax increase, because of its regressive effect.  But those differences have largely disappeared.

I don’t point this out to be critical of Governor Dayton.  To his credit, Governor Dayton is taking on one of the more difficult policy challenges facing Minnesota — reforming an unstable, unfair tax system that consistently leads to budget shortfalls.  To do that, he needs the best available ideas, even those that come from a past political opponent.  That’s what President Obama did in adopting a health reform approach championed in the past by Obama opponents such as Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich, the Heritage Foundation and Mitt Romney, and that’s what Governor Dayton apparently will be doing on tax reform in the upcoming legislative session.

So it’s true that Tom Horner doesn’t get to live in the nice house on Summit Avenue or pardon turkeys.  But many days when you look at how Governor Dayton is leading, it feels like Tom Horner, with just 12% of the vote, won after all.

– Loveland

Note:  This post was also featured in Politics in Minnesota’s Best of the Blogs.