Quie on TPaw

On Sunday's, I do it the old fashioned way, I sort through the dead tree and go through it from cover to cover. What I found in today's 'Opinion' section was intriguing:

"I would wish for Tim a time at the end of his governorship when he would not be running again," said the state's 35th governor about the 39th. "That way, you can totally divorce yourself from politics" and focus on the good of the state.

Hmmmm, do you think TPaw may even be leaning this way. Is there a chance he may declare, soon after November, his own lame duckness and strive for repairing the damage he has done without the burden of a Right wing base pulling his puppet strings?

Quie understood those realities back in the 80's:

By the start of 1982, state revenues had dropped roughly 15 percent. School, city, county and state agency budgets were in tatters because of repeated cuts.

Quie, a fiscal conservative (though not of the no-new-taxes variety) had already swallowed a sales-tax increase.

The bleeding wouldn't stop. So in January 1982, Quie allowed a temporary income-tax surcharge to become law without his signature. And, on Jan. 25, he announced that he would not run again.

Recall the last time a Republican in this state . . . actually put the state first instead of their own political future. Now THAT's leadership!

Then he lays out the simple math that those of us that truly understand how things work, knew all along:

Before Quie left office a year later, more spending was cut and the income-tax surcharge grew. The economy improved. ("Don't wait until completely out of recession to increase taxes," Quie advises his successors. "People start thinking you can get along without that money. That's not good. The state has a responsibility to carry out the work society has given it. The longer you delay, the more damage you do to that work.")

By the time Gov. Rudy Perpich closed the books on fiscal 1983, the state was $500 million in the black. The surcharge disappeared, and government was stable until the next recession struck.

Now, you can't tax your way out of a recession, but a vulnerable state (and especially Federal) treasury can be as damaging, if not more so, to the fundamentals of the economy, than an increase in investment from those who can sustain the hit the best.

Look, I don't propose we raise taxes, and I don't propose we extend the tax gifts to the rich, but I am one of the many realists that believe everything should be on the table when entering good faith negotiations. Those that feel it is acceptable to immediately declare non negotiable revenue enhancements or decreases are not acting in good faith. And I will not vote for someone who has shown they will not act in good faith. That pretty much rules out anyone carrying the Republican brand, along with a handful of Democratic candidates as well.

Flash