Walz can’t believe it. He’s received the worst news at the worst time.
And Tim Walz turned white as a ghost after these troubling test results hit his desk.
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) received the lowest rating in the Cato Institute’s latest report card on governors’ fiscal management of taxes and spending.
Walz, who is currently running as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 election, has been leading Minnesota since 2019. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that advocates for limited government intervention, fewer regulations, and lower taxes, recently released its biennial report, evaluating the fiscal policies of all 50 governors over the past two years.
In this year’s report, Walz scored a 19 out of 100, the lowest rating in the nation, and was given an “F” grade. The next-lowest score went to Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who received a 29.
“He has overseen substantial spending increases and pushed many tax hikes,” the report stated. “Minnesota’s general fund budget increased from $51.9 billion in the 2022–2023 biennium to $70.5 billion in the 2024–2025 biennium, a 36 percent increase.”
The Cato Institute pointed to several tax and spending measures enacted under Walz’s administration that it viewed as fiscally irresponsible. These policies, it warned, could lead to a greater outflow of residents from Minnesota.
“That state will likely continue losing business investment and high earners to warmer and lower-tax states until it adopts a leaner government and reduced tax rates,” the report added.
One specific example the report cited was legislation that raised taxes and fees on transportation, including indexing the gas tax to inflation and increasing vehicle registration fees. Another was Walz’s approval of a tax increase on wages to fund a new mandatory paid family leave program.
In contrast, six Republican governors earned “A” ratings. Leading the pack was Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds, with a score of 81. She was followed by Governors Jim Pillen (R-NE), Jim Justice (R-WV), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR), Kristi Noem (R-SD), and Greg Gianforte (R-MT).
This report arrives as Walz’s record as governor and Harris’s tenure in national office are under heightened scrutiny ahead of the 2024 election. The focus on fiscal responsibility is particularly timely, given the federal government’s ballooning debt and deficits.
Just last week, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the federal budget deficit for fiscal 2024 had risen to $1.8 trillion, the highest level in three years.
Kamala Harris Kicking Herself For Choosing Tim Walz
Kamala Harris’s decision to pick Tim Walz as her running mate was a puzzling one.
He hasn’t been able to help convince men to vote for the Harris/Walz ticket like Democrats were hoping he could. He also was picked over other VP candidates that would arguably have helped Harris way more than Walz has.
For example, many Leftists thought Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) would have made an excellent running mate for Harris. He’s a popular governor in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, which would likely help Harris’s polling in that state.
But it’s alleged that she passed him over for Walz in part because of his Jewish ethnicity, something that could potentially hurt her standing with supporters who oppose Israel in their conflict with Hamas.
And because of Harris’s ultimate decision to pick Tim Walz as her running mate, she now has to defend not only her poor economic record, but his as well.
It’s safe to say that the Trump campaign is not envying her right now.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
