FACT CHECK ON TERRY BRANSTAD: HE WAS FOR BONDING BEFORE HE WAS AGAINST IT
December 15, 2009
When Taxin’ Terry comes to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, he'll have a great chance to explain why he's against I-JOBS, the state's effort to provide Iowa communities $46.5 million to rebuild after the devastating floods of 2008.The truth candidate Branstad doesn’t want the conservative Republicans who will decide his fate in the primary to know is that, as governor, Branstad used bonding to fund state projects, totaling nearly $1 billion in today’s dollars.1 One project Branstad used bonding for -- and put the state in debt over -- was the Iowa Communications Network, which is a drain on the state treasury to this day.
Despite his record, Branstad criticized I-Jobs saying at a November Republican Party fundraiser, “Too much debt is bad and those that create it should be thrown out of office.”2
“Here’s the general rule of thumb for Taxin’ Terry: He was for it before he was against it, and now no one knows what- if anything- he stands for," Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said Tuesday. "Branstad criticizing Governor Culver for using bonding to fund I-Jobs after bonding out nearly a billion dollars in state projects himself is hypocritical.”
Last week, Branstad attacked Governor Culver for making a proposal to pay for the state troopers out of the Road Use Tax Fund, which is how Governor Branstad paid for them for 13 years.
“He’s a hypocrite. Period.” Kiernan continued, “He’s looking at his own record with rose-colored glasses making calculated, political decisions that will, in his mind, distance himself from his own record and help him win the primary.”
Officials in Linn and Johnson Counties worked hard in conjunction with the Culver Administration to leverage federal funds and make the best use of state resources to speed recovery efforts. The I-JOBS program will bring more jobs, repair infrastructure throughout the state and help Iowans recover from the devastation of 2008 without raising taxes on hard-working Iowans.
Sources:
(1) http://www.iowaknowsbetter.com/news/branstad-s-words-contradict-his-borrowing-past
(2) http://okhenderson.com/2009/11/07/2010-iowa-gop-gubernatorial-candidates-take-stage/