The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 1, 2012

Your View: Shunkwiler is the right choice for 19B

By Sadredin Moosavi, Mankato

— I appreciate living in a community that has achieved consensus on its priorities.

This harmony has persisted through strong and weak economic times because of community willingness to support leaders working to seek tax rates that prioritize public spending for community needs over special interest wants, while leaving families and small businesses enough money to meet their own needs.

District 19B voters face a choice between meeting the needs of working families and increasing taxes to support more government spending to pay for special interest wants.

I am supporting Thad Shunkwiler in this election because his day-to-day existence as a breadwinner in a young family where both parents work to pay their bills and mortgage will be a constant reminder that the family budget from which taxes are taken cannot be ignored when deciding how much government spending should occur.

Light rail for the Twin Cities and civic center expansion in Mankato are wonderful projects, but not if they require tax increases that endanger working families’ ability to pay their mortgages or small business’s ability to pay their workers.

District 19B must not be represented by well-meaning individuals who have forgotten the tragedy of the commons, in which overuse of a common resource destroys its ability to provide for all. Raising taxes so we can get our “fair share” of state money is futile if we cannot afford the bill, especially if we aren’t spending that money on true priorities like health care for returning veterans should be.

Shunkwiler’s position opposing the marriage amendment demonstrates he will think for himself and work across party lines for all residents of District 19B.

 

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