Budget
As I recall, when Ventura wanted to make a big political point, the DFL told him that he was putting Minnesota at risk. But all Ventura could see was endless surpluses, so he pushed for the maximum return of the surplus. How anyone can twist that into "overspending" is beyond me. But then politics is more noted for vivid imagination than practically any other sport.
Let's get the record completely straight: the DFL wanted to return zero of the surplus initially, and the Republicans wanted to return all of it. Ventura's position and what ultimately came about was that about half of the surplus was returned. That is, Ventura's position was a mid-point compromise.
If Sviggum and Pawlenty had had their way instead, we would be in far deeper weeds financially than we are now. They wanted to return more and cut tax rates more than what actually resulted from legislative and gubernatorial compromises.
Someone remarked earlier along the lines that Pawlenty and company did not pass a law directed solely at Minneapolis and to imagine they were picking on Minneapolis was ridiculous. This sort of thinking conveniently ignores a number of facts, not the least of which is that Minneapolis is the primary bastion of the DFL in the state, and the Republicans would like nothing better than to stamp out the DFL completely.
Former Republican, never a Democrat, Chris Johnson Fulton
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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