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8-28-06 For Immediate Release
Jim Moore, State Party Chair - (612) 306-6563
Laura Knudsen, Public Relations Chair - (651) 283-1166

PRESS RELEASE

Governor Pawlenty needs a Compass ...and a Few Debates

“Today, Governor Pawlenty stole Peter Hutchinson’s slogan of ‘Moving Minnesota Forward’”, said Jim Moore, Chair of the Independence Party of Minnesota, when referring to the Governor’s new communication strategy. Apparently, the Governor took notice that this slogan resonated extremely well with the over 1,000 people who attended Peter Hutchinson’s campaign announcement in January. While snatching Peter Hutchinson’s campaign slogan is an ultimate sign of respect, albeit a shameful one for Pawlenty, it remains clear that the Governor does not know which direction forward is. For the benefit of all Minnesotans, we offer the following compass calibration:

“Forward is having credible ideas on how to fix our roads, improve education, lower the cost of healthcare, improve our environment, and nurture our economy without raising the overall Price of Government*”, said Jim Moore who continued, “Peter Hutchinson has outlined a detailed vision on each of these issues that will truly ‘Move Minnesota Forward.’”

For further compass calibration purposes, forward is not:
  1. Expanding government by raising fees and inventing weasel words like “health impact fee” to worm out on a campaign promise you made to Minnesotan voters.
  2. Botching one of the most important road improvements in the state, the Crosstown project, and bumbling many others (Highway 12 Orono/Long Lake, Highway 7 Silver Lake, Highway 19 Marshall, etc.).
  3. Making campaign promises to protect and preserve Local Government Aid to our cities and towns and then cutting it by 20-30%;
  4. Coercing school districts into raising local property taxes in order to get state funding after making a campaign promise to fully fund K-12 needs with state revenues;
  5. Shifting human service program costs from the state budget onto county budgets so you could hide the tax implications (further insulting local officials by telling the public that they couldn’t live within their means);
  6. Dismantling landmark property tax reform to address the $4.5 Billion dollar deficit you created as House Majority Leader (overriding Gov. Ventura’s passionate veto in the process);
  7. Addressing your budget mess by forcing local governments to make the tough decisions you did not have the political courage to make.
“Peter Hutchinson would love to talk with the Governor and explain precisely which direction forward is, but Governor Pawlenty keeps backing out of debates.” said Moore. By canceling 7 debates, including the traditional one at the Minnesota State Fair, Governor Pawlenty is depriving Minnesota voters of the opportunity to evaluate their gubernatorial choices. Moore concluded, “Governor Pawlenty would rather take the cowardly path of hiding behind his paid ads than defend his miserable record in a competitive debate.”

* Price of Government: The sum of all taxes, fees and charges collected directly by a given locality, state or nation, divided by that jurisdiction’s total economic resources. The Price of Government, p 43, by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson.