The Blame Game
My friend Gary Gross has a post up at LFR this weekend about House Speaker Kelliher's unfortunate claim that they have only "had a few days" to deal with the realities of the Minnesota budget deficit and why the DFL does not have a proposal on the table while they take pot shots at the Governor's proposal.
Speaker Kelliher's words are disingenuous at best. We knew, in January of 2008, that we would be facing a huge budget deficit in 2009. In spite of that, they went on a spending spree of epic proportions last session - making the deficit even larger than anyone could have imagined.
Some had an inkling as far back as 2007 that this could be coming...a warning that was repeated again in March of last year.
Where the Speaker's claims really fall flat is when you think back to the last time Minnesota faced a budget deficit. That was back in 2003 and the House Leadership (comprised of Rep. Steve Sviggum and Rep. Erik Paulsen) came to St. Paul in January ready to tackle the pending deficit. They didn't wait for the Governor's plan to be hand delivered to them as some today are doing....
The "leadership" of this Legislature has never been shy about blaming others for their shortcomings, so you really can't be surprised that they continue to blame others for their lack of commitment to fixing the problems that the state is facing. While other Minnesotans are doing the adult thing and making the hard choices, the Legislative leadership fiddles around with trivialities like bike trails and parks and trails...and spending lots, lots, lots, LOTS more money that they do not have.
Emperor Nero has nothing on the DFL leadership in Minnesota.
Kelliher notes that the governor had all of the state's commissioners and finance experts working on the budget for months. The Legislature does not have those resources.
"He's had 7½ months. It's unrealistic to expect us to respond in just a few days,'' she said.
Speaker Kelliher's words are disingenuous at best. We knew, in January of 2008, that we would be facing a huge budget deficit in 2009. In spite of that, they went on a spending spree of epic proportions last session - making the deficit even larger than anyone could have imagined.
Some had an inkling as far back as 2007 that this could be coming...a warning that was repeated again in March of last year.
Where the Speaker's claims really fall flat is when you think back to the last time Minnesota faced a budget deficit. That was back in 2003 and the House Leadership (comprised of Rep. Steve Sviggum and Rep. Erik Paulsen) came to St. Paul in January ready to tackle the pending deficit. They didn't wait for the Governor's plan to be hand delivered to them as some today are doing....
(Larry) Pogemiller said the Legislature ALWAYS works from the governor's budget proposal. "We don't even have complete drafts of his bill yet,'' he said. "When we get the full proposal, we will work off what he has. You see what's doable and where there might be disagreement.''
The "leadership" of this Legislature has never been shy about blaming others for their shortcomings, so you really can't be surprised that they continue to blame others for their lack of commitment to fixing the problems that the state is facing. While other Minnesotans are doing the adult thing and making the hard choices, the Legislative leadership fiddles around with trivialities like bike trails and parks and trails...and spending lots, lots, lots, LOTS more money that they do not have.
Emperor Nero has nothing on the DFL leadership in Minnesota.
Labels: MN Legislature, MNDFL
posted by The Lady Logician at
9:25 PM
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