Editor’s note: 2011 was the last time a Democrat was governor of Iowa. What was Iowa’s fiscal situation at that time? Patty Alexander reminds us what is at stake if history repeats itself.
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Heading into fiscal 2011, Iowa faced a projected $1.071 billion spending gap.
State Auditor Richard Vaudt found Democrat Governor Chet Culver’s budget up to $400 million out of balance. Democrats blew past the 99% spending limit, underfunded K-12 education by $270 million, ignored collective-bargaining costs, and shoveled nearly $450 million in general-fund obligations onto other accounts. That is not good governing. That is fiscal malpractice.
From 2007 to 2011, Democrats had total control of the House, Senate, and governorship. One of their first bright ideas? Handing out film tax credits to Hollywood. Twenty-five years later we are still paying for it: $2 million to settle the lawsuit and $26 million in improperly issued credits. Democrats are counting on you forgetting.
I was an educator then. I lived it. Public education was slashed 10%. Across-the-board cuts of 10% hit every corner of the State. Teachers feared for their jobs, their families’ budgets, and their homes. Ordinary Iowans paid the price for unqualified, radical Democrats who could not manage a lemonade stand, let alone a state budget.
Iowa is still digging out from under that wreckage. Yet Democrats now ask us to “trust them,” to “rotate the crops,” to treat healthcare as an unlimited “human right,” and to elect a “governor for all.” Ask most of them what they actually stand for and you get two answers: “vote blue” and seething hatred of Donald Trump.
Republicans delivered the opposite: Real tax relief. Strong economic growth. The belief that you keep more of what you earn. The freedom for parents to choose the education that fits their children. The dignity of every human life, including the unborn. Free enterprise and individual initiative. Election integrity. The right to protect your family. Secure borders that keep America strong, free, and one nation under God.
Democrats produced a billion-dollar hole, broken promises, and pain. Republicans produced results.
Do not give Democrats another chance to wreck Iowa.
Vote Republican on November 3rd.
Patty Alexander lives in Indianola
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