So another Republican office holder is a hypocrite. This is news?
Jon Tevlin's yesterday column:
http://www.startribune.com/local/241391931.html
(snip)
That’s what Nienow (R-Cambridge) wants us to believe. A suit was filed against him, his wife and his former company, National Camp Association Inc., on Friday. He has not seen it. And he told reporters Monday he saw the newspaper headlines but didn’t read the stories about how the federal government is asking him to pay back nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
Right.
In case his interest is piquing and he’s now reading this column, however, I should start with this: Sen. Nienow, would a legislator who routinely alleges widespread “welfare fraud” and decries government interference and handouts to business, then gets caught defaulting on a large government loan qualify for your “stinky diaper award”? Nienow gives the “award” to bills and actions in government that just don’t pass the smell test. Nienow’s mysterious loan seems like a strong contender.
(snip)
Nienow, who once worked for like-minded U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, talks tough when it comes to government bailouts of companies, and he has worked tirelessly to reduce programs, such as food stamps, that aid the poorest among us. Now we learn that not only did Nienow himself turn to a government-guaranteed program to start a business, but about 18 months later, he simply stopped making the payments. Mike Ryan, director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of St. Thomas, had not read the suit. But he said the SBA loan process is “pretty straightforward.”
(snip)
Nienow’s business was as a consultant who helped families find summer camps, and it was run out of his house. Doesn’t sound like a high-finance, heavy-equipment business. I know nothing about how difficult it is to find the right summer camp because I always went to the Boys Club’s Camp Voyager, where we rode horses and sang canoeing songs. I didn’t need a consultant. “The first question is what did he use the funds for,” said Ryan. “The other interesting thing is the timing. In January 2009 it was very difficult to get business loans. Banks had just tanked six months before that.”
(snip)
He says his suit has no connection to his legislative job. He’s wrong. Voters care about character, especially of a guy who makes a big deal out of accountability, transparency and his favorite, “personal responsibility.”
“I’ve said for years, big business loves big government,” Nienow once said. Apparently some small businesses do, too.
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