Letter: Finger pointing was in wrong direction

Talk about it

Sometimes fate is fickle. Sometimes it’s precious. The July 21 edition of the Globe was precious. The chief author of HF#5 in 2005 (Rep. Rod Hamilton), which authorized the largest per pupil spending (k-12) in 17 years, was blasted by Debra Hogenson for not helping the residents of his district. The other headline for the day was how much national testing scores for area students had improved. That’s precious.

While I will agree with Ms. Hogenson that there has been a “chronic cycle of budget deficits and cuts to rural communities during his term,” I think it may be worthwhile to point out that since his freshman term (with its $2 billion surplus) the Democrats have controlled both the House and the Senate. Possibly the “finger pointing” should be directed at one of the most senior members of the Senate who represents our district. Perhaps the finger should be pointed at the Democrats who wouldn’t even vote for the Democrat budget. I could even go out on a limb here and suggest the possibly that the finger should be pointed at the Democrat budget.

“The facts are Rep. Hamilton voted to allow Gov. Pawlenty to use unallotment ...” Ms. Hogenson, that is a lie. There is not/was not a vote to use unallotment. Conceivably you would do well to either improve your education (as students in local school districts did, thanks to Rep. Hamilton), or tone down your partisan rhetoric.

Tags: rod hamilton, tim pawlenty, opinion, letters, minnesota, legislature, unallotment