The Minnesota GOP's new Chairman, Pat Shortridge, has proposed a revolutionary solution to solving the party's disastrous debt problem.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune the party is $1.3 million in debt -- much of which has gone unreported -- and owes another $719,000 in legal fees from the 2010 gubernatorial recount.
Shortridge, who lobbied for Enron for six months about the time the company was collapsing, replaces Tony Sutton, who retired Dec. 2 as reviews of the party's finances were underway.
Shortridge said fixing the debt is "pretty simple -- raise more, spend less."
This suggestion is likely to get Shortridge in serious trouble with the national party bosses, as it is a blatant violation of the GOP's approach to budgetary problems -- applied to the national debt problem his solution translates into "raising more [contributions, aka taxes]" in addition to spending cuts.
Shortridge will undoubtedly, for the sake of consistency, as one Strib reader noted, be asked to "further slash GOP expenses, ask contributors for less" (maybe even return some money -- to improve the party's debt problem [economy] and "increase the party's debt further, leaving the solution to future Republicans."
GOP: Fornication And Fiscal Mess
In addition to Sutton's resignation and the party's fiscal crisis, another bombshell hit the Minnesota GOP last month. Sen. Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) stepped down on Dec. 14 and subsequently admitted to a an affair with a staffer, Michael Brodkorb. Koch is married and has a young daughter. Brodkorb, the GOP caucus' communications chief, is also married and has three children. He left the Senate on Dec. 16.
According to the Strib, Sen. David Senjem, R-Rochester, who succeeded Koch as majority leader, praised Koch's work in fighting tax hikes [contributions] at the Legislature. He added, "To err is human [if you are a Republican; if your last name begins with O or if you're a Democrat, it's a sin for which you'll burn in hell for eternity]; forgiveness [toward fellow Republicans] is what God taught us."