Any politician pushing bacon flavored lip balm on national TV deserves a second look.
Sandy (our resident Minnesota commenter) will soon explain why he's a disaster of a governor… but l'll still love the idea of the sweet taste of bacon on the lips all day long.
Well, I don't have time to say much (we're on our way to the pool) but Pawlenty didn't even win a majority in the state of Minnesota either time he was elected (there were 3 candidates in each election). How he thinks he can be elected president when it is extremely unlikely that his own state would have a majority for him is beyond me!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the mess he inherited from Jesse Ventura was quite extensive. However, what he has done to the schools is atrocious. And VERY misleading. He talks about not cutting education. Well, I would very much like to understand how schools are supposed to pay their bills and close out their year when the state delays 20% of their funding until AFTER the fiscal year is closed? And he flat-funded schools for 3 years in the early part of the decade and is doing it again this year and next. He has placed more of a burden on the local taxpayers - which makes it particularly difficult for smaller school districts (which is over half the districts in MN). There are some schools where there was some excess that could have been cut - and trust me, for the most part, it has been cut. Our district is pretty much on bare bones - and we don't have an operating levy/referendum. Other districts may have had more to start and been better able to cut - we have pretty much nothing left to cut except for teachers (which has already been done and our class sizes have drastically increased - for instance 28 kids in a 1st grade class which is the year they learn how to read).
Pawlenty hasn't raised "taxes" but fees have shot up, including tuition at MN universities. And local taxes have soared as well as sales taxes so that cities and counties can try to recoup the losses from lack of state tax revenue. MN used to be a great place to live but many great things have been eliminated or reduced so drastically that they are largely ineffective.
Okay I said a lot - but not as much substance as I would like to have. There are MANY more things that Pawlenty has messed up, but education is the top of my list (probably something to do with that referendum I'm trying to pass and me running for school board!).