According to this article at the Quad City Times, former Governor Branstad took part in a fundraiser for Representative Jeff Kauffman on a farm outside of Wilton, IA. As I was reading the article I was amazed at some of the criticisms that Branstad leveled at Governor Culver. All this criticism got me to thinking, really what is the difference between Branstad and Culver, shall we find out.
One of the chief accusations that Branstad has aimed at Governor Culver is that Culver has severely mismanaged the state budget. And while I agree with this sentiment I wanted to see where Branstad was on the issue. And after reading some the articles on Branstad when he was in office it appears that his tenure was not as rosy as his admirers would like us to think. Did you know that every year that Branstad was in office he increased the state budget in much the same fashion as Governor Culver? This revelation sort of nullifies his attacks on Culver on his overspending, kind of like the pot calling the kettle black.
And do you remember that battle for federal deductibility that we won back during the legislative session. Apparently just like Culver, Terry Branstad wanted to remove it from Iowa law. This revelation makes me wonder if we would have to fight this battle all over again if Branstad were to win another term in Terrace Hill. I wonder if he has changed his tune on this issue.
This in turn brings us to taxes; both Culver and Branstad have raised taxes. The perversion here is that Branstad raised taxes more than Culver; however that can be attributed to Branstad being in office much, much longer. But in the fact of the matter is that in the 80’s/90’s Branstad raised the sales tax multiple times to pay for his overspending.
When you get right down to it, their records are much too alike. Both have increased spending and both have increased the size of the state government. And for someone attempting to run as a conservative, that is not a record to have. As I stated above I wanted to see the difference between Culver’s record and Branstad’s. Now that I have looked at them both, I really see no difference.
Filed under: Abregar, Politics | Tagged: Chet Culver, Federal Deductibility, Jeff Kauffman, Overspending, Sales Tax, State Budget, Terrace Hill, Terry Branstad
Overspending is in the eye of the beholder. As I remember it, Branstad cut income taxes when the state was flush, but then raised sales taxes when the state needed money. Thus he shifted the tax burden from people with good incomes who could afford the income tax to people who needed new shoes and could not afford the sales tax.
Al,
Who said Branstad was running ‘as a conservative?’
David,
It was Branstad himself that attempted to connect himself to conservatism. In the article that I linked Branstad himself made the following comment.
“I am a conservative. I’m a genuine conservative. I think I’ve got a conservative record,”
Way to crack another one off, Al. Too bad TB doesn’t really know what he is running as, except on the platform of “I was a good Governor in the 80s.” The truth of the matter is that I thought I had good hair in the 80s also. Not so much when I look back at pics today.
First of all, Jeff Kauffman who was supposidly the champion of property rights has no business rubbing butts with Mr. Project Destiny himself, Doug Gross. What a sell-out.
Secondly, Branstad is no different than Culver fiscally or on social issues:
-let the pervs and ISEA into the public schools
-liberal judges
-Planned Parenthood/Joy Corning cheerleader
I could go on………..
I suppose if we elect Branstad we will be on the hook for his new electric wheel chair as gramps is getting up there. Hope he gets a large teleprompter so he can have large letters as his eyes are probably going to as well as his memory. With his record he would be better to run on the Democrat ticket.
For a good analysis of the difference between Branstad and Culver visit http://www.aniowaworthfightingfor.com