NOW AND THEN: CANDIDATE BRANSTAD VERSUS GOVERNOR BRANSTAD ON THE BUDGET
Candidate Branstad is always unfairly ready to criticize Governor Culver's handling of the state budget, but Candidate Branstad needs to remember what happened under his watch.Candidate Branstad Now: Branstad claims that the first thing he would do if given a fifth term is get our "fiscal house in order."(1)
“It’s shocking every time I hear Terry Branstad pretend that his administration was the pillar of fiscal responsibility,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan.
“I have one thing to say to Terry Branstad: don’t throw stones from your glass house. Candidate Branstad is still the same guy who raised taxes. He kept two sets of books to hide the massive budget deficit he ran up from Iowans.”
Here is the real record of Governor Branstad:
Governor Branstad THEN: “1992: The budget crisis haunts the rest of his tenure, triggers a second sales tax increase and prompts a Republican challenger to wage a bruising primary campaign.”(2)
Governor Branstad THEN: “State Auditor Richard Johnson wants a legal opinion on his conclusion that ‘a rational basis has not been used’ to keep track of the state budget deficit.”(3)
Governor Branstad THEN: Branstad “has come under fire from (Richard) Johnson, the state auditor, for allegedly keeping ‘two sets of books’ to conceal a state budget deficit.”(4)
Sources:
- www.iowapolitics.com 1/19/2010
- Des Moines Register, August 7, 2009
- Cedar Rapids Gazette, January 4, 1992
- Houston Chronicle, June 6, 1994