Posted at 8:29 AM on June 17, 2009
by Tom Scheck
(1 Comments)
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and officials respresenting the state's hospital system will be on MPR's Midmorning at 9 AM. Yours truly will also be on the show for a bit but don't let that stop you from listening.
MPR's Midday will also feature several DFL lawmakers and MMB Commissioner Tom Hanson at 11 AM.
Governor Pawlenty had a once in a lifetime opportunity to make systemic cuts in the state budget to excise old, unneeded or wasteful programs that could not otherwise be gotten at in the legislative process but I am afraid he did not rise to the opportunity. The bulk of his solution is to use the budget gimmick of borrowing most of the savings from the school districts for one year.
This just delays the structural budget issue and does not actually solve it.
On the other hand, he may have tried to make such cuts but not found any programs that meet the test of uselessness. If that is the case, then his rhetoric about wasteful government is hollow and just political posturing as he burnishes his credentials for a national office run.
In my heart I think that the state budget and bureacracy could use such a systemic curry combing but I regret that this opportunity has been lost.
| June 2009 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||