In 2010, the GOP has a great opportunity to regain the majority in the legislature. Let's contrast what the DFL has done and look to our solutions.
Looking back on the three legislative sessions since Democrats took control of the Minnesota House, one observation eclipses all the rest: They cannot lead. In 2007, after Republicans handed them a $2.2 billion budget surplus, they somehow spent it without providing tax relief or adequate funding for schools and nursing homes. One year later, with the economy approaching its freefall, they took a knee on solving a relatively small deficit by relying mostly on budget reserves to push the problem past the next election.
Republicans advocated fiscal discipline. We wanted to focus on a job-creating strategy, right-sizing government service delivery top to bottom and the opportunity to reform. Unfortunately, we were ignored in all three sessions.
The remarkable failure of this past session was the wasted opportunities. It was a "do-nothing legislature" in every sense of the term. They wasted away three months out of fear of discussing the tax increases they desperately desired, couldn't balance the budget and spent the waning days of the session in breathless shock after Gov. Pawlenty decided to be the adult in the room and do their job for them.
Should the GOP gain control, we will not mark up billion-dollar tax increases in the dark of night, without public testimony and with little idea of how our constituents would fare under the plan. However, that is exactly what DFLers did on the last night of session.
As the governor cleans up the Democrats' fiscal mess, expect to see them revert to what they know best: blaming Pawlenty. Democrats (locally and nationally) have mastered the art of being "not the other guy" and used it to their electoral advantage. Once in control of the legislature, DFLers found themselves in over their heads without the slightest knowledge of how to prepare our state for the future and navigate through difficult times.
Perhaps the reason Democrats haven't been able to effectively address Minnesota's challenges is that those challenges required solutions that don't come naturally to the liberal mindset. Fiscal responsibility, private-sector growth and government reform are not exactly the forte of politicians schooled in the ways of tax-and-spend liberalism. Lacking the skills to lead, they let our state down.
Therein is the opportunity for Republicans: The conservative principles of a limited and efficient government offer a much more effective vision for emerging from the recession as a stronger state. The liberal orthodoxy is simply at odds with what ails our state and nation. We don't suffer from too little government; too much of it is weighing us down. We aren't plagued by low taxes; high taxes are pricing us out of economic expansion. We aren't drowning in a sea of reform; we are starving for it.
We will push for reform, pure and simple: we stand for the tradition of counties, but know full well that service delivery can be performed across those lines and in full cooperation with partner cities. Clinics deliver health care much cheaper than emergency rooms. Let's reform government to realize that fact. We also know that in most cases, private-sector choices can render out waste and give better options for our citizens in health care.
There is no page in the playbook of liberalism for the problems we face. Democrats can point their fingers at Tim Pawlenty to their hearts' content (and they will), but eventually their inability to provide positive results will show through. When it does, Minnesotans will have a clear choice between politicians who tap dance around challenges and leaders willing to tackle them head on. I am confident that Minnesotans will choose the emerging leaders and positive ideas of the Minnesota House Republican Caucus over the do-nothing Democrat legislators who chose to squander five months of precious time to just raise taxes and resist reform. Next year, choices will be clear.
—Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, is the former House minority leader who is currently running for governor.
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