Reality Check: Ads Claiming Dayton 'E-Mail Tax'
Are you a computer user who's never heard of an "e-mail tax?" It's part of Minnesota's campaign for governor, even though there's not a single candidate who supports it.
So why are there ads saying Mark Dayton does?
It's because of two anti-Dayton ads from legally separate, independent political funds called Minnesota's Future and Minnesota Forward.
Both ads use the same words in the same sentence.
"Higher income taxes, higher property taxes, even an e-mail tax," says the ad from Minnesota's Future.
"Higher income taxes. Higher property taxes. He even supported a tax on e-mail," says the ad from Minnesota Forward.
They're both MISLEADING.
The ads are correct that Dayton has proposed income and property tax hikes -- on the wealthy. Dayton has made it a centerpiece of his campaign.
But it's a distortion to suggest he supports an e-mail tax. In fact, he says he opposes one, and it's not part of this campaign.
So where did it come from?
Here's what you NEED TO KNOW.
In 2003, then-U.S. Sen. Dayton suggested the idea of a micro-tax on e-mail in a hearing looking for ways to stop the billions of scam and spam e-mails.
He sponsored a Computer Owners' Bill Of Rights that year, which did not include an e-mail tax, which Dayton said he opposed.
That's Reality Check.
To check the resources for this Reality Check, click on the links below.
Minnesota's Future
Minnesota Forward
PC World: Will Taxing E-Mail Stop Spam?
GovTrack.us: S. 563: Computer Owners' Bill of Rights
Trupela Tok: Spam statistics for 2009
