Gilbert Gutknecht: “I think sometimes we have to remind ourselves, and I know that my colleague was back in South Dakota and was probably…”

“I think sometimes we have to remind ourselves, and I know that my colleague was back in South Dakota and was probably watching some of the debates when we first got into this fight about balancing the budget and allowing families to keep more of their own money while we were trying to save Medicare and a lot of the critics and cynics on the other side said, first of all, you cannot do it. You cannot balance the budget. You certainly cannot balance the budget and provide tax relief. And, above all, you cannot balance the budget, provide tax relief, and save Medicare. Then sometimes the cynics said, well, if you give these tax cuts it will only benefit the wealthy and particularly as it relates to capital gains. I mean, that was the argument. I am sure my colleague heard it. There were ads run. There was almost hysteria around this town that if you provide capital gains tax relief, it will not do much for the economy but it will help the wealthy. Well, we did not pay attention to the cynics. We did not pay attention to the critics. We had to ignore them. And, ultimately, what happened? Well, we are balancing the budget. We have the healthiest economy we have seen in 30 years, the lowest unemployment rate. And perhaps the best news of all, partly because of our welfare reform, and I know the governor in Wisconsin has probably done more than almost any other governor, we have done a good job in Minnesota, and I think they have done a good job in South Dakota as well.”