An editor couldn't possibly plan the symmetry of a pair of letters to the editor published Friday by the Morris Sun Tribune.
In Jeff Backer is off to a good start in the House, Allen Wold, a farmer from Wheaton, writes in part:
. . . I’m also pleased with Jeff’s focus on prioritizing our transportation dollars on roads and bridges. Instead of putting money into light rail projects that only serve the metro, Jeff understands the importance of enhancing our roads and repairing our bridges so that we can get from one destination to another in a safe and timely manner. The proposal put forward by House Republicans allows for over $750 million in additional spending for roads and bridges over the next four years. It also requires the Minnesota Department of Transportation to find and implement 15 percent in savings to fund road and bridge projects instead of asking us to pay even more in taxes.
Unfortunately for Mr. Wold's claims, state representative Paul Marquart breaks it down in Is Rep. Jeff Backer waving the white flag on transportation?:
The 2015 Legislative Session has just started and it appears Rep. Jeff Backer is giving up when it comes to fixing our state’s transportation infrastructure. As a rural legislator, I know how important our roads and bridges are to our residents and farmers.
During the campaign, Rep. Backer and his Republican allies committed to fixing our state’s crumbling roads and bridges. But Rep. Backer’s new leader, Speaker Kurt Daudt, has already admitted that Republicans “may not be able to solve this on the long-term basis.” And the so called plan that Republicans offered certainly isn’t a fix – it’s not even a band-aid!
HF 4 would spend just $200 million in new, one-time money on transportation over the next two years. That might sound like a lot, but it would only allow us to build about 130 miles of rural two-lane highways, or 40 miles of four-lane highways. To put that in context, Minnesota has 140,000 miles of roadways.
Projections have shown that our state needs $6 billion over the next 10 years just to maintain our state roads and bridges and reduce congestion. For comparison, the DFL-led legislature invested $743 million in transportation over the past two years – an amount that Republicans called inadequate.
To make matters worse, the House GOP’s top legislative priority is to cut taxes for corporations. Rather than truly fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, Republicans want to send hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to corporations — the same tired, failed policies of the past.
Cutting businesses taxes won’t boost Greater Minnesota’s economy or provide greater economic security for Minnesota families. Will Rep. Backer stick with his party boss’s plans that favor corporate special interests over rural roads and bridges or will he make good on his promise to fix our state’s transportation system?
Only time will tell.
There's that.
Photo: A white flag is the universal sign for surrender.
I was wondering about Mr. Wold's remarkable fluency at delivering incorrect RPM talking points crafted by Minneapolis-area urban rich folk, so I did a little poking around and look what I found:
http://jeffbacker.com/index.php/meet-the-team
Of the forty-four couples and persons listed, the Wolds are eighth.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Jan 24, 2015 at 01:07 PM