Mark Dayton's Disengagement from the Budget Process
We all know "I'm just a bill" from Schoolhouse Rock and understand how a bill becomes a law....it's a pretty simple process and it's a time-tested process. The exact same things need to happen in the exact same way in order for legislation to pass through the Legislative branch and be signed into law by the Executive branch. (Nevermind the aberration of Obamacare.)
In St. Paul, the Republicans control the House and the Senate....each legislative body has passed all of the necessary Omnibus spending bills in each of the budget areas that make up a full and complete biennial budget for the State of Minnesota.
Governor Dayton has put forth a budget....and it's his job and his party's job to put forth the bills that comprise HIS budget. Yet instead of doing this in a timely manner (the session started January 4th,) they decided to skip the deadlines for this task and so far, only one bill (his tax bill) has had hearings.....and a vote in the House. Not a single member -- of either party-- supported the Governor's tax bill. So, isn't it fair to ask: Why introduce the bill at all if it had no support?
As for the other spending bills that comprise the rest of the budget...the DFL is just holding onto the ball right now.
So, while the Republican legislature is AT LEAST ONE MONTH ahead of schedule, they now have to sit back and wait for the DFL to put forth the Governor's bills.
WHY? Why are we wasting taxpayer time and money?
I understand politics, I understand political theater. For the last few sessions under Governor Pawlenty it has always come down the dramatic end-of-session floor speeches and saber rattling.
It's so old! Can we PLEASE for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary....Grow up? Debate! Have hearings! Duke it out! Get mad, get busy and then get-together and get-er-done!
I had the opportunity to speak with Mary Liz Holberg, the Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, the other day. Mary Liz has been in St. Paul through Ventura and both Pawlenty terms and she said that they've "never" had wait this long. Mary Liz shared her frustration that goes back to mid-February when she was sent a letter by the Governor's office that said "go to our website" when Republicans were requesting the Governor's budget.
Go to their website? This is the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee...and the Governor we're talking about. It's unacceptable.
Why is it that Republicans always have to be the adults in the room and do really crazy things like PUT TOGETHER BUDGET BILLS!
What's going on in Minnesota is exactly what's going on in Washington. The reason we're facing the dramatics of "a government shutdown" is because the DEMOCRATS (who had The White House, House AND Senate at the time,) FAILED to produce a budget bill in 2010. Remember in December? They punted. They decided that they'd rather wait until the new GOP House came in (where the spending bills must originate) so that they'd be the ones doing the work, crafting the solutions, and taking the blame. Is it any wonder that the last time we were talking about government shutdowns Bill Clinton was in office?
This is exactly what we're seeing with Obama now...Paul Ryan crafts a long-term serious budget and the President acts like a child with grandiose campaign speeches attacking the merits of something he couldn't create in his wildest dreams-- a comprehensive long-term budget proposal. (Well, he could...but it would require that he put all his cards on the table and show all marginal tax rates going up by 20%.)
Seems to me that Mark Dayton learned some tricks of his own from his unsuccessful term as a U.S. Senator.
It must be nice to be a Democrat. All emotion. "Tax the rich".....Don't offer any thoughtful solutions to problems other than SPEND MORE MONEY! Offering garbage like "You're poor because this person is oppressing you....if we could just take more of their money, your life would be better."
In fairness, it's true that the Executive in charge (President/Governor) GETS to be the "big dog" they get to be "visionaries"-- but it is their STAFF and their PARTY who are obligated to take that vision and craft it into a budget so that it can be properly debated and voted on. So, how does Governor Dayton get away with this exactly? I mean- it's mid April now. Tick tock.
Well, when you see this fluff story this week on Mark Dayton's "First 100 Days" from WCCO's political reporter Pat Kessler, you start to understand a big part of the problem: The lightweight Minnesota Media establishment. They should offer to trim the Governor's cuticles and buff his nails while they're at it.....
It's not campaign time-- we just had a campaign, Pat. Tom Emmer lost and yet he's featured in this report. Tom Emmer has no part to play in this budget negotiation. Of course this is the same media who gave Dayton a hall pass during the campaign as he never produced a vetted budget in the first place.
And YES we know Mark Dayton was inspired by Robert Kennedy, Pat. I mean, COME ON! Kessler also covers that Dayton moved his desk into a closet in the Governor's office-- because he "likes things simple." Uh, how about asking this question: If you moved into a closet, and moved all your staff into your office to be more comfortable....then can you get within kicking distance of said staff and boot their butts over to the Capitol to work on some legislation with YOUR party, Governor?
Just like Obama- the media is obsessed with campaigns....they're all about winning/losing/keeping score because it's more "fun" to report. Hey- I'm with you. But I'm a stay-at-home mom and casual blogger, you're the professional journalists. Can we please stop with the silly "human-interest" pieces and explain to the people of Minnesota what's going on in St. Paul?
Because we're worried. We're really worried. The uncertainty is what's hurting people and businesses the most. While Governor Dayton may enjoy telling the (half) story-of-his-life over and over again...frankly, we don't care.
Look, I can't get overly excited about the concept of "government reform"....I'll take out my pom-poms when there are real budget cuts on the table. There are not. There are very modest tax cuts for the 1st and 2nd tier state income tax brackets (they left the top "rich" tier alone which actually makes the tax code more progressive which is not my cup of tea.)
There are, however, some great ideas like the opportunity scholarships to help kids in failing schools in the Education bill. I also really like the 15X15 plan of Representative Keith Downey's to reduce the size of the state workforce by 15% by 2015 through attrition and retirement in state agencies, (rather than automatically filling spots that are duplicative or redundant.)
This is a budget that any Moderate or Independent Minnesota voter would consider fair and reasonable that looks to bring spending to '08-'09 levels. Of course, this is called "extreme" if you're a liberal. It's called "compromise" if you're a Republican.
Get moving on the budget Governor Dayton. I understand that you've never had a real job in your life. I understand that little things like "deadlines" don't mean much and that you're used to skipping out of work for more enjoyable endeavors. Hard work-- with people who are not paid to tell you what you want to hear-- is indeed difficult. But, it is a job requirement and you're needed on the job.