Originally posted by: brandonb
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
LOL, are you from MN?
That "tax surplus" was from bullshit budget projections during a time when the economy was doing OK due to the tech boom. After that, when things collapsed, the state ran into massive budget problems. Schools in MN are getting hammered, HS and college. As a result of his mismanagement, the UofMN has experienced double digit tuition increases, most HS' have seen huge cutbacks, resulting in larger kids/classroom ratios. Overall, MN was worse off after he left.
He may be a "straight talker", but what he actually does isn't well thought out.
I'm from MN, and it was really simple, actually. If the government has a suplus in taxes, give it back to the citizens. As far as schools and colleges getting hammered. Yes, its true, but whos fault is that? Jesse's from a decade ago, or those who manage the budgets today? Jesse's philsophy was really simple, the lawmakers make the budget, they have to give back to the tax payers if there is an overage, and if there is a deficit, then the lawmakers have to balance the budget before it goes into effect. Its up to the lawmakers to do that, not cross their fingers and hope they get more money this time around. In other words, give themselves some wiggle room in case of an "oh shit" happening, like the 35W bridge collapsing.
MN is not worse off because of Jesse.
Government isn't a cash business whereby your outflows are matched by your inflows. Project finance, schools, public works, infrastructure, *ALL* need to be based upon realistic and sound projections that allow you to accrue cash (or assume debt) during good and bad times to ensure proper funding for the future. To simply say that at T you have $1BN left over so you rebate it, then in T+1 have no cash, is a very simplistic and quite honestly, ignorant, point of view.
Ventura's budgetary people projected a windfall of revenue because of the "booming" economy of the .bomb era. Those projections were so rosy that they thought a T+n "surplus" would carry them through. Thus, they rebated the money.
What's insanely stupid about that situation is that, just like now, they depended on those taxes. Look at the Guvernator in CA, he thought property and income taxes during the housing bubble would carry his spending plans through (spending is the same as a rebate, it's a contra against revenue). Now CA is fucked.
Ventura was a simple minded bufoon who had no long-term planning skills. As a result he undermined the public education system, the MN infrastructure, and various other works. I saw the initial effects while I was still at the UofMN, when they raised my Sr. year tuition by more than 12%. In the long run that stupid decision of his HURT the state.
What's funny is that even the most "small government" of our Presidents (Jefferson IMHO) was a massive proponent of public education, especially higher education.
I agree with GenX87 that his viewpoint on the media was spot on.
I lived in MN for 22 years, paid plenty of taxes there myself. My whole family still lives there. My brother, who is the same fiscally conservative socially liberal voter as I am thinks Ventura was a disaster of epic proportions.
