The political winds are certainly blowing. In today’s world it is very difficult to determine fact from political gamesmanship. Most recently, I was surprised to see Robin Brown tout her support of the JOBZ legislation at the State Capitol. In fact, the complete opposite is true — Brown barely provided any support for the JOBZ legislation.

In St. Paul, the party in power has the ability to give a managed vote to their vulnerable members. When a bill is going down anyway, vulnerable members are given the green light to take certain votes that they use during the election cycle. The JOBZ bill is a classic example.

Brown voted for the amendment to modify and extend JOBZ when she knew the votes were not there to pass it. Most embarrassing for Brown is the fact that she was not even a co-sponsor of the JOBZ bill until days before this vote. After her leadership let her off the hook with a token vote, Brown quickly voted with her metro counterparts to kill the JOBZ program in the final tax bill.

Brown’s attack dogs will argue that the pork-heavy tax bill was too important to not vote yes. Yet, a no vote is exactly the type of leadership we have become accustomed to in our district. A program such as JOBZ — which has provided tremendous results for our community — deserves more than a token vote. Brown has shown that she will not stand up to her party leadership. In stark contrast to Brown, Erik Larsen is not afraid to make waves if it is in the best interest of our district. Erik Larsen will fight for JOBZ and jobs. Erik Larsen deserves your vote.

Matt Benda

Albert Lea