Now comes the spin

Posted at 7:53 AM on May 22, 2007 by Mike Mulcahy (3 Comments)

Despite getting very little sleep over the past few days DFL legislative leaders are travelling the state Tuesday to talk about how much they achieved during the session. After starting in St. Paul they'll hit Duluth, Bemidji, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester. Whew.

Not to be outdone, Gov. Pawlenty will also hit Rochester, Mankato, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Moorhead and Duluth.

House Republican leader Marty Seifert either doesn't have the money to rent a plane or is wise enough to want to sleep in. He's just holding a press conference at his office in St. Paul.

Who do you think has the most to brag about?

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Comments (3)

In a political sense, whoever cooked up the "9.8%" budget figure has bragging rights to a creative accounting of the state surplus that was repeated over and over in the House and Senate, and indeed in the Star Tribune again this morning.

In reality, the Dept. of Finance February forecast indicated that the "two billion dollar surplus" was $1.00 billion of cash on hand and reserves and $1.2 billion of funds needed to fund inflation in the state budget. One-time funding is of use but not the stuff to plan innovation or long-term property tax reform around.

In terms of policy, the author of the 9.8% mirage has bragging rights only to misleading the public, but this notion sure did move the discussion in committees and on the floor.

Posted by Jon | May 22, 2007 9:16 AM

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Pawlenty, Seifert, and those of that ilk are the winners. They came in to defend the interests of the rich at the expense of the middle class and the working people--and they did so successfully.

The DFL went "cave city." If this is the best they can do for the voters, they are already in deep trouble during the next election cycle. They have managed to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | May 22, 2007 1:24 PM

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I saw people of all stripes, reasonable and unreasonable, spin their own version of what needs to be done to fund government in Minnesota. When I learned that the governor is running for Vice President of the United States, I considered progressive taxation and funding of public education D.O.A.

I think funding new MNDOT buildings through bonding instead of a gas tax is a good idea, but I'd also like the Leave No Child Behind promoters fund preK-12 education like responsible people should. We're not even close to pre-Pawlenty levels!

I never once had the privilege of reading a Democratic budget proposal in dollars and cents in the major print media during the budget debate. I never once had the privilege of reading a Republican budget proposal in dollars and cents in the major print media during the budget debate. And, surprise! I never saw the D & R budget proposals in comparative terms (in $0.00 terms) in the major print media. Some big time Republican wrote an editorial going on and on about a 300 percent increase in some tax or fee. Geez, that sounds really bad! I said. Well, 300 percent of a penny is three pennies -- not such terrible news really. It would have been so instructive if our elected official had used real dollars and real cents to tell us what the fee or TAX INCREASE would actually mean to us.

What do I want to see happen? First, the legislature should hold a special session called "Writing Definitions of Terms We Can All Agree On." Get on the same page, you idiots! And call each other on all the spin -- don't let spin take the place of facts. Second, in order to have co-equal branches of government, we actually need the co-equals to ACT like co-equals. Where in heaven were the six votes on the Republican side to override the wannabee Vice President's veto? The acts of cowardice I've witnessed over this budget have been astounding! Pox on all of you!

Posted by Julie | May 22, 2007 2:34 PM

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