Is a person an independent when he votes 60, 70 or 80 percent of the time for one party? I don’t think so. I think it is a stretch to call yourself an independent in those circumstances.

We are in a period of massive government growth and creating huge government debt. Never has the state of Minnesota or our country been in this precarious economic position, which threatens our way of life and standard of living. Will we be able to maintain health care for our senior citizens? Will Social Security be able to sustain itself when the trust fund is filled with IOUs issued by the U.S. government? Will our children be saddled with government debt that exceeds our total gross domestic product? Will the private sector be able to produce enough jobs and income to support government and all the public employee pension and health plans?

Now is the time for sensible government and sensible answers. You get those answers when you speak with Randy Demmer, Rich Murray and Kathy Green. First, you stop the wasteful spending. You don’t vote for a health bill that will add between $1 trillion and $2.5 trillion more debt on its citizens. You don’t add an energy tax on the people that do little or no good for the environment and you don’t vote for a stimulus bill that adds 200,000 more people on the government payroll. Tim Walz did.

It is sad for this old Republican to say, but, “Once we have cut out wasteful spending and we have gotten our people back to work, then it may be time to increase taxes because we cannot leave a legacy of debt for our children and grandchildren.” You don’t add taxes on your best producers and then expect them to produce more. It is like taking a shovel away from a man who is to dig a hole. He doesn’t get very far when digging with his hands. Keep the tools of production in the hands of the producers.

That is why we need to elect people with sound economic backgrounds. That is why we must elect Randy Demmer, Rich Murray and Kathy Green, because others have failed.

Alan Arends

chairman

Freeborn County Republican Party

Albert Lea