I want to thank everyone who came to
our BPOU office tonight. I got some nice compliments on my remarks. I had written something down before giving this, and thought for those who missed it I would put my prepared remarks here. (If you were there, it was a fair bit shorter.)
Tempus fugit. The time is short.
The people behind me know the time is short. Many of them have been working for a year to get to this place. They are counting the days. I am counting them. We have 39 days to get where we want to go.
And of course we need your help. We need you to call all your friends. Even those who you know are strong DFLers. We need you to come here and make calls to turn out our voters. We have envelopes to stuff, doors to knock, signs to put up and repair, people to deliver to polls, polls to watch, absentee ballot counting to observe.
We need you.
We need you to help us today. “Tomorrow” is often an answer we get. But there are only 39 tomorrows until election day. Time is flying.
But time is flying for more than an election. Last weekend Peggy Noonan noted that one thing we believe is that time is short. Something profound is happening in our state and in our country. “If we don't get the size and cost of government in line now, we won't be able to. “ And in Minnesota we have a budget that is on autopilot to take us from spending $31 billion to $39 billion. This is not a matter for green eyeshade-types, or even economists. This is ruinous to the future we promised our children and grandchildren. Once you get to $39 billion, they will not let you turn back.
The time is short. You know it; that’s why you’re here.
And we don’t need “balanced approaches.” We can’t call stalling ruin a victory. We know we are on our way there now. We fear it may be too late. We know in two more years if nothing changes, it probably will be.
What Minnesotans want is an accountable government that supports our aspirations to become better persons, to leave something for our families and for our communities. That has always been there for us; the Minnesota Miracle was always about free enterprise given a chance to grow in places that did not always have critical mass.
Small businesses create jobs, but who creates more? New ones. That idea, those dreams in each of our heads right now. One that, if brought to fruition and successful, the new federal and Dayton tax rates would take 55% of, or more.
We are the ones who know, government can’t be a majority partner in our dreams.
The people here know, the time is short.
You have the chance to change this. You have 39 tomorrows. What will you do with them?
Thank you for being here, for knowing what time it is. I look forward to working with each and every one of you, and watching together the wonderful Minnesota in which our families will thrive.
