Live: Gov. Dayton's budget

Posted at 10:45 AM on February 15, 2011 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The governor released his budget plan today and, as you can probably figure out, I'm live blogging it. Feel free to comment in the app below. MPR's Tom Scheck is also "tweeting" the event and you can find them below as well. After the news conference, the regular "comments" section will open. Throughout the day on MPR, you'll hear analysis (the Republicans react at noon).

Here's the thing. The airwaves and Web sites are going to thick with politicians. I'm looking for REAL people who have a story to tell about the impact of this budget. Contact me at bcollins@mpr.org please.

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Comments (6)

Looks like a nice budget proposal. Gives the GOP some ground rules from where in the budget Gov. Dayton will allow cuts.

Posted by BJ | February 15, 2011 1:54 PM

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"That's why we lack vision. We don't talk about what we want and where we're heading. We want to focus on who's winning and losing a political game." - Mr. Newscut

I don't get that sense from Dayton. He HAS talked about his vision, and his budget proposal reflects that. I don't hear from him anything that says he is just playing a game here. Most of the reporting by the news media, however, does make it sound like a game (not your reporting, Bob).

Even if we do approach budgeting from a discussion of visions, Republicans and Democrats have such very different visions that I don't know how successful that would be.

Posted by Jamie | February 15, 2011 2:42 PM

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Yes, I was talking about the 4th estate.

Posted by Bob Collins | February 15, 2011 2:50 PM

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I asked a question in the livechat about high income earners being "job creators," and it is addressed at least a very small amount in this MinnPost piece. The short answer is that it's basically impossible to tell, and it's really hard to tell how many small businesses would actually be affected by a tax increase. In addition, there is a big debate about whether small businesses are really the "job creators" that they always get credit for.

Posted by MR | February 15, 2011 3:56 PM

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We don't use the word "job creators" in news copy. We use the term employers. It's a new word that appears designed to elevate someone to a higher status. Employers (usually) don't hire people unless there's some significant self-interest involved, like making money. That doesn't make employers bad or make them good. It makes them people who are in business to sell stuff, not create jobs.

Posted by Bob Collins | February 15, 2011 5:23 PM

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I always wonder about how conservatives can associate increases in tax rates for income tax with lost jobs, and tax cuts with job creation. I I'm a business owner and I choose to 'create' a job by spending some of my business revenue on an additional employee instead of on myself, it will be a legitimate business expense, resulting in a deduction from my taxable income. I only pay tax on the money I spend on myself. Implying that a cut in my tax will result in my using the money to "create" a job is just a myth.

Posted by Glenn Anderson | February 15, 2011 7:46 PM

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