Heineman Gets a "C"

In a Fiscal Policy Analysis, 'Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors: 2010' by Chris Edwards, Nebraska's Governor Dave Heineman gets only a 'C' for his efforts on tax cuts and spending reduction since 2008.

We thought we would share this information before the Boyle-Meister Team, oops Mister Mike Meister/Anne Boyle team starts telling Nebraskans how bad Governor Dave is. They are, after all, charged by Judas Ben Nelson with the task of softening Dave up for 2012. That is their only reason for their moribund candidacy.

Actually, Governor Dave has some difficult issues to address. Chief among them is finding some $700 million in savings over the next two years. And we will bet he will get it done without any tax increases. Would that the incompetent mayor of Omaha had the same degree of discipline.

Here' what the Cato Institute generated report said specifically about Nebraska and Governor Dave (the complete report can be found at http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA668.pdf) :

"Nebraska

Dave Heineman, Republican Legislature: Nonpartisan

Grade: C Took Office: January 2005

In his first few years in office, Governor Heineman was an outstanding tax cutter. In 2006,
he signed into law substantial personal income tax cuts. In 2007, he approved further income
tax cuts and a repeal of the estate tax. He has also supported property tax relief. In recent years,Heineman has proposed neither substantial tax cuts nor tax increases. His grade was draggeddown because he has proposed increases in general fund spending in recent years, while general fund spending in many states has fallen."