Rybak targeted for recovering tax-payer money!
A shadowy smear campaign evidently intended to convince Minnesotans to stay home on caucus night, February 2, 2010 is underway — especially if they’re thinking of supporting Minneapolis Mayor Raymond “R.T.” Rybak in his bid to secure the party endorsement to run for Governor of Minnesota in November.
The facts are chasing the lies. The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a column headlined “Rybak Good Deed for Taxpayers Gets Punished” that counters much of the information presented in the mail that’s targeted likely caucus-goers. It remains to be seen who the originator is, but in the wake of the Supreme Court decision freeing up corporations to spend freely on political advertising campaigns one can only imagine the slander, innuendo, and deliberate misinformation will be getting worse — more diverse and numerous — right through Election Day in November.
For years Minneapolis taxpayers had been overcharged by two pension funds that have been closed to new members for almost 30 years. No police officer or firefighter hired since 1980 draws any benefit from these funds — but all Minneapolis taxpayers contribute to it.
Mayor Rybak and other city leaders stepped up to put a stop to the overcharging by the pension funds after the State Auditor alerted them to the problem. They approached the fund managers and the MN Legislature, but the overcharging continued. $50 million in overcharges, by some estimates, placing a huge burden on city taxpayers.
Ultimately the Minneapolis City Council unanimously backed Rybak in taking the pension funds to court — and they won. A Hennepin County judge ruled that the pension fund management illegally overcharged Minneapolis taxpayers. The lawsuit won back $10 million of the $50 million that property owners had overpaid, which has been promptly applied as property-tax relief.
One can only infer that high-priced lawyers and lobbyists who represent those who’ve been overcharging Minneapolis taxpayers are trying to get revenge for the money they lost by misrepresenting the facts and smear-mongering. With 10 other Democrats seeking the DFL endorsement every vote matters even though Rybak is clearly one of the front-runners.
There may have been some abuse of the DFL voter lists on the part of those who sent this letter as well. I don’t know how they possibly could have gotten my name and address, and frankly, I was insulted. The letter was incredibly deceptive and recipients who don’t do their homework might eat it up without having all the facts.
In my opinion, there should be repercussions.