Instead of looking at their feet and mumbling about a 6% increase in government, every GOP legislator should proudly proclaim their opposition to the kind of increased government spending that has bankrupted our future and put us on a fiscal footing one step above Greece.
Editorials across the state recognize that Governor Dayton is reneging on his pledge to avoid a government shutdown.
Citizens recognize that Dayton is playing shutdown politics by not calling a special session and by refusing to close out budget program areas that are agreed upon.
It seems some Republicans are snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.
We have principled leaders who are squared off against a weak, erratic governor who was a failure as a U.S. Senator and who won his seat by a margin of only 8,000 votes.
And we have GOP legislators out there talking about new revenues!?
So what happens if a budget deal comes together that includes hundreds of millions or even a billion in new revenues?
Those who exhorted the GOP to compromise by larding another billion on to the budget will go out and do what they did in 2010 - work and vote for DFL candidates.
Independents, who swung hard to the GOP in 2010 for fiscal reasons, will once again be up for grabs because the GOP failed to deliver on their central promise, feeding
the cynicism so many independents feel regarding the state of our politics.
And the GOP base will be left demoralized, disappointed, and dispirited. After being forced to swallow the turd of double digit spending increases, we’ll be given a
small breath mint entitled, “well, at least we didn’t raise income taxes.”
Taking away tax deductions is a tax increase for those who lose it. Expanding the sales tax in a way that generates more revenue is a tax increase. Minnesota doesn’t
need tax increases, no matter the form. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
The state has enjoyed an average spending growth rate of 21% percent since 1960. It is time for government to yield to the reality of our dire fiscal situation.
This is the best opportunity Republicans have had in the modern era to craft the kind of limited, efficient, and transparent government that defines the essence
of our collective conservative values.
To lose this opportunity to Governor Dayton and the Democrats would be an infamy almost beyond comprehension.
This is a defining moment in the career of all 109 Republican legislators.
Stand and deliver.