Adam writes:
>I'm really tempted to vent on these admitted liberals writing in to
>complain about the property tax increases. Your votes and your support
>have served to amplify an ongoing problem - I would say crisis. As
>Steve Minn pointed out, we haven't even seen the bill for the new
>library.
Actually, it was this admitted liberal who pointed that out.
It's good to restrain one's gloating - for I think that lust to gloat is
what has kept city Republicans an (electorally) endangered species. As I
admitted in my original post, I'd always love my tax bill to be lower - that
doesn't make me a hypocrite, just human. But unlike most Republicans whose
rhetoric I hear/read, I consider what we get with taxes - you don't always
go with the low bidder and you don't always prosper in a low-tax climate.
(Sorry, I don't equate my tax level with "freedom," as many GOPers do.)
That's not to say there isn't much stupid spending I wish my DFL council
hadn't done - you all know about those silly TIF deals. However, I have yet
to see conservatives such as Adam make a convincing case that they could
both restrain spending and intelligently encourage city development through
reasonable public investments. Simply put, the city GOP hasn't even come
close to offering a palatable alternative - instead, we get mini-Rod Gramses
clearly not in tune with city voters. It's no fun having to vote for
reckless spenders, but the GOP in the last several years has only offered
the alternative of feckless social conservatives and fiscal unsophisticates
even more out of touch with the city public than the institutional DFL is.
There's a reason the last two non-DFL council members have been
independents, not Republicans.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
