"We are a very fiscally moderate caucus."
MARGARET ANDERSON-KELLIHER, NOV. 9, 2006
Those seven words from then soon-to-be House Speaker Margaret
Anderson-Kelliher came two days after Election Day 2006. Echoing the
professed sentiments of more than two dozen newly elected rural and
suburban Democrats, Kelliher's statement no doubt felt reassuring to
the Minnesotans who took Minnesota Democrats at their word when they
claimed, throughout the 2006 election season, to carry the mantle of
fiscal responsibility and balanced priorities.
Minnesotans wanted change; Democrats wanted their votes. On Nov. 9, 2006, each seemed to have gotten what it wanted.
But here we are on April Fools' Day 2008, and clearly the joke is on
us. Starting today, hard-working Minnesotans trying to get through
tough times will pay the first in a series of tax increases imposed by
Minnesota Democrats who tossed aside their pledges of moderation and
common-sense priorities like Election Day's smelly laundry.
First they'll pay at the gas pump; soon they'll pay at the cash
register. When it comes time to buy a new car, they'll pay higher taxes
again, all courtesy of those "fiscally moderate" Democrats.
Drivers aren't the only ones who will pay the price of electing the
bait-and-switch Democrats of 2006. Just ask the senior citizens or the
property taxpayers who watched a $2.2 billion surplus disappear in the
blink of an eye. They were left holding the short straw after Democrats
"got the job done" in 2007 without lifting a finger to help two of
government's core responsibilities. Never mind that rural nursing homes
are on the brink of financial ruin and that near-record numbers of
schools are asking property taxpayers for more money, the Democrats
finished the session on time!
As is evident today in our higher taxes and neglected needs,
Minnesota Democrats are not fiscally moderate and they do not share the
priorities of most Minnesotans. They are adept at hiding their
tax-and-spend agenda behind an unpopular president, but even that
curtain is about to be pulled away. When it is, they will do their best
to hide or pin the blame on someone else. It won't work now that they
have commanding majorities in both houses of the Legislature.
Minnesotans may have been fooled in 2006, but they won't be fooled
again.