TO THE EDITOR:

Governor Pawlenty bragged that he balanced the budget without raising taxes. This is true, but what the cost?

1. Due to higher real estate taxes which resulted in higher rent for apartments for low-income people, more people than ever before have gone to the food shelf for help.

2. Much higher tuition rates for the university make it much harder for young people to attend these places of high learning.

3. Yes, we have the promise of new stadiums for the Gophers and Twins, but he is doing it on the cheap. No retractable roof for the Twins will result in several postponed games. It is also a poor method of funding. Sales taxes hurt the low and middle class the hardest. A 10 percent surcharge on the state income tax which would cause no hardship on anyone would provide enough funds to properly build a Twins stadium. Also enough to build a Vikings stadium which would have resulted in many jobs and a greater tax base. But Gov. Pawlenty canít see any further than the end of his nose.

4. No contractors bid on the crosstown project because there was no money to pay for it. The mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis have stated they would like to see light rail connect the two cities. But it takes money to build. We need a 10 cent increase in the gas tax.

Recently 200 wealthy people said that the wealthy should pay more state taxes. That should be an embarrassment to Gov. Pawlenty. What the state of Minnesota needs is a new governor who is concerned about all the people in Minnesota.

Carl Hasselquist
Lindstrom