Carney/McGaughey Campaign Agenda for 2010
(original version)
Bob Carney, Jr. and Bill McGaughey, candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor respectively in Minnesota’s 2010 Republican primary, have decided to focus primarily on issues related to the state budget.
Political Background
The last session of the Minnesota legislature ended without a reasonable solution to the state’s budget crisis. The post-session agreement between the DFL-controlled legislature and the Republican governor merely pushed costs into the next biennium. Rep. Tom Emmer, the Republican-endorsed candidate for Governor, proposes to reduce taxes by 20% while making unspecified cuts in state spending. Until Rep. Emmer discloses where the spending cuts will be made, we do not consider this an adequate proposal. Bob Carney, his moderate Republican opponent in the primary, hereby discloses the approach to the state budget that he would take if elected Governor.
Some Principles and Assumptions
(1) The U.S. economy will likely recover quite slowly and, because of our chronic trade imbalance and soaring deficit, may never again reach the prosperous conditions achieved in the 20th Century. Therefore, suggestions that we can “grow our way” out of our current budget crisis are ill-conceived. While we would be happy to be proven wrong on that point, the most prudent strategy now is to “hunker down” and bring state government to a level of growth that can be sustained in hard times.
(2) Being Republicans, we are philosophically opposed to allowing the public sector to remain unscathed while people working in productive enterprise are suffering. There will be no “public affluence/private squalor” on our watch. We expect persons working for government in Minnesota to bear their fair share of the financial sacrifices that will be required in these difficult times.
How to balance the budget
The State of Minnesota must balance its budget with borrowing permitted only to cover expenditures that will benefit a longer period of time. If there is a budget deficit, it may be overcome either by increased taxes (including fees) or by reduced spending, or by a combination of the two. We consider it dishonest to borrow for purposes of short-term spending or to push current costs into future biennial budgets.
The revenue side (taxes)
Bob Carney does not pledge never to increase taxes if elected Governor of Minnesota. All options should be kept open. On the other hand, it is not responsible to propose tax reductions when the budget is out of balance. Carney supports the “Sites plan”, proposed by an associate of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Bill Simon, to reinstate higher federal income-tax rates for high-income Americans (to 39.6% and higher still for persons earning more than $1 million a year) and to increase federal taxes on dividends (to the same rate as for earned income). As a Republican, he would lobby Minnesota’s Congressional delegation to support higher federal taxes for upper-bracket taxpayers according to this plan and to give state governments part of the increased revenues through a revenue-sharing program. Because of competitive pressures, this approach is preferable to raising the rate for state taxpayers.
The spending side
It is appropriate to consider further spending cuts in the state budget during hard times. We do not favor cuts in the social “safety net” for low-income Minnesotans except where abused. Rather, we believe that cost savings can be achieved most fairly by targeting the salaries and benefits of the most highly paid public-sector officials, administrators, and employees.
Bob Carney’s budget pledge
Bob Carney believes that the state legislature, not the Governor, is the proper body to be making specific decisions about taxing and spending. If elected Governor, Carney pledges not to exercise his veto power (or do so sparingly) if the legislature presents a budget package which increases annually less than the cost-of-living plus 2 percent. If the legislature proposes a budget increase larger than this, Carney would call the legislature back into special session to try to meet the percentage target. Only if that effort failed would Governor Carney use his veto power directly to meet budgetary objectives.
Specific spending-cut proposals
The hard part is to identify particular areas where spending cuts might be made. While decisions should be made by the legislature, Bob Carney and Bill McGaughey suggest that cuts might be targeted to the following areas:
Sports stadiums: We need a moratorium on taxpayer-supported construction of new stadiums for sports teams including the Minnesota Vikings and Gopher baseball team. We might support bonding for a modest upgrade of the Humphrey Metrodome to try to keep the Vikings.
Higher education: The University of Minnesota has a bloated budget. There are too many highly paid administrators and professors at this taxpayer-supported institution. (See list of positions.) We propose a “Plain Jane” university focused on teaching our students at a reasonable cost. We would also end the University’s north Minneapolis health initiative.
Corrections: The penal system should not be a growth industry in Minnesota. Archaic law plus a demagogic “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” philosophy directed against certain types of offenders keeps too many people in prison for long periods of time. We favor certain, but not necessarily prolonged, punishment of persons who have committed crimes and would put the emphasis on spending for rehabilitation and successful reentry into society. If an inmate can demonstrate probable innocence of a crime for which he or she was convicted in court, we propose that an alternative review board, independent of the courts, be established to help expedite that person’s release. We are prepared to identity at least one long-term inmate of the Stillwater prison, Jermaine Stansberry, who likely falls in that category.
Salaries in state and local government
Hard times require tough measures to control costs. We propose the creation of a state board, accountable jointly to the legislature and the governor, which would review the salaries and benefits of public-sector employees in Minnesota and also consulting contracts of state and local governments. This board would be charged with recommending salary caps for public-sector employees. While units of local governments (including school boards) are free to make their own decisions regarding levels of compensation, those which failed to conform to the board’s recommendations might face a reduction in state aid.
Local inspections
Some Minnesota cities are improperly using inspections fines and fees to generate revenues in lieu of taxes. They are also routinely violating a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision (Morris v. Sax) that forbids municipalities to set inspections standards higher than the state building code. We favor the creation of a state inspections review board, empowered to issue fines to municipalities, that would receive public complaints of inspections abuse by units of local government.
Bill McGaughey's email 2wmc@earthlink.net
Bob Carney’s email bobcarneyjr@msn.com
McGaughey for Lieutenant Governor
1702 Glenwood Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 5540
to: main page (Lt. Governor's race)
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