"All that is old and already formed can continue to live only if it allows within itself the conditions of a new beginning."
Penny's Thoughts on Moe, Pawlenty
Posted 9:24 p.m., July 11, 2004
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I recently joined the Minnesota Politics Discussion Forum, and since there was a thread there about the best political blogs in Minnesota, I decided to introduce list members to Featherly's Kevblog. (Whether it's "best" or even any good, I'll leave to others to judge.)
In doing so, I described it as "neither liberal nor conservative, but 'sensibly centrist,' as Tim Penny put it during his gubernatorial campaign. "
That precipitated this reply:
One comment in your message made me remember a question from a couple of years ago. Tim Penny portrayed himself as a centrist. On what major issues was his viewpoint different than [Democrat] Roger Moe's?
-- Tom Searles,
Waconia Township, Minn.
Apparently Tom's query found its way -- via an Independence Party member who I gather is a member of the MN-politics-discuss list -- directly to Tim Penny. He then wrote out the following response, which he forwarded to me. So, rather than have me define Penny's positions, let's just let him do it himself. (He has given me permission to post it here.)
Note that Tim's response goes beyond Tom Searles' question and also draws some contrasts to some of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's postions. Here goes.
Penny writes as follows:
There is a long list of issues on which my positions were clearly different than candidate Moe. Here are a few:
I could go on -- but this should suffice.
- I favored tort reform with caps on punitive damages -- Moe opposed tort reform.
- I opposed increases in the income tax stating that Minnesota's income tax was already sufficiently progressive -- Moe proposed income tax increases to fix the budget.
- I proposed consolidation of several state agencies and the elimination of the Planning Agency -- Moe did not propose any such restructuring in state government.
- I candidly told voters that state aid for schools would not likely be increased -- Moe promised a three percent increase.
- I insisted that the education "Profiles of Learning" needed to be fixed -- Moe defended the status quo.
- I opposed gimmicks and shifts as part of a budget balancing plan - Moe was the architect of many dishonest gimmicks and shifts.
- I acknowledged that college tuition would need to rise (and offered to offset those costs for low income students with enhanced financial aid) -- Moe unrealistically promised no tuition increases.
- I told local government officials that local government aid would be decreased and needed reform -- Moe promised no change in local government aid.
- I emphasized pregnancy prevention (including abstinence education) and refused to satisfy the litmus tests of either the so-called "prolife" or "prochoice" interest groups - Moe took positions in lock-step with the "pro-choice" activists.
- I insisted on adequate background checks as part of any "conceal carry" gun law - Moe flatly opposed any "conceal carry" legislation.
Now let's look at Pawlenty.
- He promised a three percent increase in K-12 education -- once elected he froze K-12 funding.
- He promised to support the ethanol industry -- once elected he cut ethanol subsidies.
- He promised to "protect and preserve" local government aid -- once elected he cut local government aid by twenty percent.
- He promised to support financial aid for college students -- once elected he increased tuition without a commensurate increase in student financial aid.
- He ridiculed the Hiawatha light rail system - once elected he happily presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony for the train.
- He consistently opposed the North Star Corridor train -- once elected he reversed himself and proposed funding for the system.
- He opposed state involvement in the stadium issue -- once elected he reversed himself by proposing Twins and Viking stadiums.
- He promised to balance the budget without tax increases -- but despite raising various fees by a total of $500 million has left the state with a structural deficit of somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion.
I could go on -- but this should suffice.
The bottom line is this:
There were clearly many differences between myself and Mr. Moe on the issues. There were clearly differences between myself and Mr. Pawlenty in terms of honesty.
Thanks for the inquiry.
-- Tim PennyEnd post.
Pretty interesting stuff, to which I will add no further comment.
-- Kevin Featherly
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Copyright 2004, by Kevin Featherly
