At the public policy forum I hosted here in Aberdeen last night, one of the Kessler’s Morning Coffee Think Tank members in attendance asked me if I’m for “more taxes and bigger government”… “like most Democrats.”
Democrats? Heavens no—bigger government is Republican Paul TenHaken’s gig. My stubble brother and new Sioux Falls mayor just proposed the biggest city budget in Sioux Falls history:
$498 million dollars to keep Sioux Falls humming. That’s a 9.0% increase over this year, because, among other things, Mayor TenHaken thinks police need riot gear for all the violent protests threatening Sioux Falls.
The only violent protest I can imagine is the Republican partisans who backed TenHaken for his Republican credentials wondering how they ended up with a liberal big spender in charge of their city.
TenHaken, of course, spins his bigger budget by saying, “There’s a stark difference between excessive government spending and necessary government spending.” Sure—in TenHaken’s Republican world, Democrats’ spending is excessive, but his own spending is necessary. Roger that, Paul.
TenHaken proves who the real fiscal conservatives are. Want biggest budgets ever? Vote for Republicans.
Update 17:53 CDT: Mayor TenHaken cleverly omits a comparison with past budgets’ tax amounts, but the $221.7 million TenHaken proposes to exact from residents and visitors is $12.1 million dollars more—a 5.8% increase—over what Dem/Indy Mayor Mike Huether asked for in his last year at the helm.
In general and over any extended period of time, budgets go up. I bet if you looked at the budget of any city in the state and slap-graphed it all together they would all generally go up. Cities that grow faster probably go up faster.
Fake Noize programmed wingnuts to repeat tax and spend Dems as gospel.
So when a wingnut taxes and spends their supporters blame Dems.
Grudzie, you butt sucking phony. One year at 9% increase is an”extended period of time”?Let’s extrapolate your tolerance of spending to Pierre, huh? States that grow faster probably invest more in the state.
Slap-graph it all, Mr. Lansing. I already know the answers.
Your goat is mine for the night.
Whatever makes you feel worthwhile is best for all of us.
Oh, great, Grudz, so you’re telling me Republicans give us higher taxes, bigger government, and more fancy-pants urban dwellers? All three are anathema to everything Republicans tell us they hold dear when they ask for our votes.
TenHaken’s big budget is part of the same faux-publicanism practiced by his pal Mike Rounds that pushed me to switch from Republican to Democrat: Republicans keep lying about what will happen when they take power. TenHaken and his backers (including Michelle Lavallee, don’t forget) didn’t say, “Elect Paul so we can collect more tax dollars and make Sioux Falls government bigger!” They promised the opposite and now have to offer excuses like Grudz’s. If they had just offered Grudz’s sage wisdom during the campaign—”Yup, Sioux Falls is going to get bigger, and Paul tax and spend in 2019 more than any previous SF mayor has”—I’d have no beef right now.
Cory,
Bigger Government depends on what the money is spent on.
Sioux Falls has a crime problem compared to the rest of the State.
I really don’t care what Sioux Falls spends their money on and nobody that doesn’t live there should.
Let’s not forget this is “proposed”.
From what I have read and heard, the last mayor was a real piece of work.
I think the point, Jason, is that Republicans talk about fiscal responsibility during campaigns, but deliver about the same city budgets as anyone else would. That was true in Sioux Falls going back to the 1970s, when the fiscal conservatives got behind Rick Knobe and all the way forward to today.
This is what is known as running the city as a business. There are times when budgets constrict, due to things like recessions and near depressions. There are times when they expand to take care of things citizens need or want, or things that reflect a mayor’s priorities.
I think riot gear is waste, but, like you say, I don’t live there. That will be up to the citizens of Sioux Falls. If it were me, I’d rather have better community relations between police and the higher crime areas. That would be my priority.
Sioux Falls is one of the safest cities in America.
Does Belle Fourche have a crime problem, Jason?
Notice that Jason can’t refute my clear explanation of the emptiness of Republican slogans, so he has to resort to the same excuse-making and spin as TenHaken marginalizing my commentary. People outside Sioux Falls have every right to view and comment on the Sioux Falls mayor’s actions as an example of the emptiness of Republican rhetoric.
Actually, Jason is endorsing the sensible rebuttal we Democrats give every time Republicans try to box us into their absurd slogans. We do not support big government or higher taxes as ends in themselves. Our ends are the public good. Sometimes we serve that good by collecting more taxes to support more government efforts. Sometimes we serve that good by collecting less money from taxpayers, stimulating the economy, and reducing regulatory burdens. It all depends on the situation, not the slogan. Republicans want thoughtless voting on slogans, image and emotion; Democrats want thoughtful voting on evidence and policy.