Rants: Judge giveth, Culver taketh

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Chri Rants of Sioux City says he can't participate in a visit to his district by Lt. Gov. Patty Judge who will announced a $250,000 grant for the renovation nof the Sgt. Bluff city hall.

The grzant iks through Gov. Chet Culver's I-JOBS program to create jobs and build Iowa's infrastructure.

Rants finds the timing ironic coming a few weeks after the Sgt. Bluff school district learnied it would lose more than $655,011 in state funding because of Culver's 10 percent across-the-board budget cut. 

To the Sgt. Bluff taxpayers it nets out as a $405,011 loss, Rants said. 

"Let's be honest about that.  The city may get the grant, and the school district may take the cut, but regardless of the local government entity it is still the same taxpayers who will end up paying more," Rants said. "Not to mention that those kindergartners whose classroom funding is being cut, will be out of college and may have children of their own, before the bonds that financed that $250,000 grant are paid off by them."

"To me this is insanity," Rants said. "It shows just how mixed up Culver has his priorities.  To give a $250,000 grant that will take 20 years to pay off, meanwhile cutting $655,011 in school aid to the same community which will have to be made up by the property-taxpayers.

"It's the whole budget-bonding fiasco demonstrated in one community," he said.

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