Letter: Downey's Extremism Part of Problem, Not Solution

Editor's Note: The following was submitted by Carrie Lucking, executive director at the Alliance for a Better Minnesota. The views expressed are solely hers and do not reflect those of Patch.

Representative Keith Downey asks his Edina constituents to “” at the end of his recent Edina Patch article. I am hard-pressed to think of a single reason why Edina residents should accept politician Downey’s request.

Staying the course means four more years of extremism taken so far that state government shut down. Downey, after all, was a proud member of the “Not a Penny More” legislative group that dug in their heels so deeply that they rejected seven common sense, balanced budgets in favor of shutting down our state.  

Staying the course means continuing to borrow billions from our children’s schools at a time when they need be prepared to compete in a worldwide economy.

Staying the course means four more years of skyrocketing college tuitions that make college unaffordable, even for families fortunate enough to do well in this economy.

Staying the course means asking hard-pressed middle class families to pay more and more—in property taxes, fees for school activities, and the list goes on—at a time when they are earning less and less.

And staying the course means protecting the corporate bottom line even when corporations are getting too many breaks, at the expense of Edina families’ bottom lines.

These are the choices that Rep. Downey made in the legislature so far: prioritizing corporations over hard-working Edina families. Holding Downey accountable for those choices is not “muck-raking” as he claims. It’s responsibility. It’s easy to call those who oppose your views or hold you responsible names. It’s easy to attack the person, and not the argument.

But the fact remains that over the past four years, Representative Downey’s extremism has been part of the problem at the Capitol, not part of the solution. That’s what Edina voters should keep in mind when they go to the polls this November.

Carrie Lucking
Executive Director
Alliance for a Better Minnesota 

Have something of your own to say? Send us a letter by emailing ryan.gauthier@patch.com.

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