GOP lawmaker: The word ‘veto’ is ‘locked up in a safe,’ only Pawlenty can say it

The word “veto” used to roll gleefully off Republican tongues, particularly “Governor Veto” Tim Pawlenty’s. Now, according to Republican state Rep. Pat Garofalo, the word is verboten.

Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Scheck uncovers the new no-man’s-nomenclature at the Polinaut blog. Garofalo told him Tuesday: “I look forward to standing at the press conference where he vetoes this [K-12 education funding] bill.”

When Scheck asked whether the governor would veto the bill, Garofolo replied, “I’m technically not allowed to use that word. Only he has that word and it’s locked up in a safe and I just goofed up.”

But if Pawlenty is the only one in the GOP allowed to use the word “veto,” his doing so sparingly is rather sudden. The governor relished the word “veto” in his 2007 and 2008 State of the State Addresses, but not 2009.

2007 State of the State Address (pdf):

I’ll be more likely to reach for the signing pen, rather than the veto stamp, if the bill on my desk clearly defines expected results.

State of the State Address (pdf):

In the meantime, I still have an important tool to restrain taxes and spending. I call it the taxpayer protection pen, otherwise known as the veto pen.

Pawlenty did not utter the word “veto” during his Jan. 15, 2009 State of the State address.