True North

The House Republican Caucus has put together a huge interactive list of pork items proposed by the MN DFL totaling over $454 Million in spending. My own legislator, Shelley Madore, is responsible for about $35 million of it, more then her fair share to be sure.

Looking through the list varies from the incredibly absurd to the borderline useful. But the question should not be how worthwhile are these projects. Instead, tax payers should ask themselves two things:

1. Are these items that the Minnesota taxpayer should have to pay for??? Especially considering many are for private entities?
2. In a year where we can't even find money in the budget to pay for critical priority items such as transportation without raising taxes, should we really be funding very non-critical items like renovating a zoological garden??

So next time you fill up on gas remember, you're not only paying for transportation, but you're also helping our legislature divert funds to pay for a Polar Bear Exhibit in Duluth.

Now a DFL defender may rightly point out that most of these items are being paid for with bonding. However, when the GOP offered to pay for transportation with bonding, the DFL said it wasn’t fair to make our children pay for our spending. If our children shouldn’t help pay for long term critical infrastructure like roads, how is it that it is fair for them to pay for things like a $800,000 fish tank for the State Fair???

The MN DFL needs to be honest with the Minnesotan taxpayer, which is more important....roads or a canoe portage??

[Crossposted at EckerNet.Com, comments welcome]