I find it strange when Republicans such as Peggy Bennett present themselves as the ones to trust with balancing budgets. Why?

Well,

1. The last time the Republicans in Minnesota “balanced the budget” three years ago, they borrowed the money from the schools. It was the Democrats who, when they gained control of the Legislature, actually balanced the budget by raising taxes on the top 2 percent of taxpayers, and then the Democrats paid back the schools.

2. In April 2012, the Minnesota Republican Party was nearly evicted from its headquarters for nonpayment of more than $111,000 in rent, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune news article. The party, in fact, was at that time $2 million in arrears on bills and debt. The reason, according to the news article, was failure to pay its bills and sloppy bookkeeping. Republican officials at the time, such as Jeff Johnson, expressed “surprise.”

While the Republicans would have you believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility, the facts show they are not. How can we trust them when they can’t balance the state budget or even their own party budget? All their talk of balanced budgets is baloney.

Vote for Rep. Shannon Savick and Gov. Mark Dayton, the Democrats who actually balanced the budget.

 

Miles Pechacek

Albert Lea