1-12-10 State of the State
January 12th, 2010
Governor Culver gave his State of the State address today. He sent most of his speech defending the past policies and reassuring Iowa that these past policies worked. He seemed like a man that was trying to keep his job. I applaud him for the effort, it was very passionate. However, in politics, it’s always good to tell the truth. Below are a few his comments in bold and my remarks challenging his comments.
“I didn’t raise taxes last year and will not raise taxes again this year.”
I reject this political rhetoric. Governor Culver and the majority party raised taxes last year and will do it again this year by; creating higher property taxes by reduced funding to schools and local governments, eliminating tax credits, and raising government fees on many items. These are tax increases.
“Let’s end the confusion! Here are the facts. Today, the budget is balanced. And it has been balanced every single day since I’ve been Governor.” “I’m proud of the fact that on my watch we’ve earned the highest possible bond rating for good fiscal management. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve balanced the budget three years in a row, without raising taxes!”
Well, a balance budget is a mandated law. We will always have a balance budget. However, you can bond all the money want, the $180 million bond from last year will be paid for over 25-years. This is not balancing the budget when you spend more than you take in.
“Additionally, because of our cost savings initiatives, the budget today is “smaller” than it was on the day I took office. But this didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we made tough choices. We managed the budget responsibly and effectively.”
This current budget is the second largest budget ever in the history of Iowa. Even after the Governor’s across the board reduction this is the 2nd largest budget ever. FY 09 was the only one larger.
-SFY08 is 5.856 billion
-FY09 was 6.1 billion
-FY10 after 10% ATB is 5.867 billion
“In the short term, I-JOBS is creating jobs.”
Governor Culver claims that a yes vote for his I-Jobs program was a vote for rebuilding Iowa’s economy. It was actually a vote to double the state’s debt that has temporarily employed less than 5,000 people. Frankly, if you ask any local or county governments, you will find that they used the money on projects that were already planned to be completed. (no long-term full-time jobs were created)
Government gets a bad name when a politician uses rhetoric to make themselves look good. If I ever do this, call me out on it. You are the judge!
