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MAJOR PARTY DEBATE
By Luke Hellier | January 28, 2010
Last night I went to the Major Parties Debate sponsored by the News Council and League of Women Voter’s.
However, I lost most of my information towards the end of the night.
For a more general re-cap here is information from the News Council:
Gubernatorial candidates differentiate themselves from each other at first bipartisan debate of long election season
By Forrest Adams, Mathias Baden, and Shannon Fiecke
In one of the first bipartisan debates of the gubernatorial election season, 20 candidates tried to differentiate themselves from other Republican, Democratic-Farmer-Labor, and Independence party candidates.
On Wednesday, Jan. 27, the Minnesota News Council and the League of Women Voters Minnesota Education Fund sponsored, in cooperation with the Minnesota Newspaper Association and its 143rd convention, a debate between 20 of the 22 gubernatorial candidates who have filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.
The field of candidates will dwindle after the Feb. 2 party caucuses, grassroots gatherings during which eligible voters can cast ballots for their top choices for governor. Delegates will select their parties’ nominees at state conventions during coming months, and 12 of the candidates in the debate said they would abide by the party nominations.
BUDGET
Days before the Minnesota Legislature reconvenes to face a budget deficit, ideas for addressing the state’s budget woes were as varied as the political philosophies of the candidates.
Asked if as governor they would use unallotment to balance the budget in the way Gov. Tim Pawlenty did in 2009, responses fell along party lines. Solutions offered by the candidates to address budget issues ranged from raising taxes to trimming state spending.
Change was in the air, and nobody advocated maintaining the status quo.
Cutting state spending was high on Republican state Sen. David Hann’s mind.
“I do not think we need additional revenue,” he said. “We have a spending issue that we need to deal with.”
Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and former DFL state Sen. Steve Kelley offered different perspectives from Hann.
“Raise taxes in the short term on the wealthiest Minnesotans,” said Dayton. “They’re not paying their fair share. It’s not fair. It’s costing our state billions of dollars. In the longer term, … economic growth is critical.”
Read the rest here.
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