Comments on: Pawlenty’s budget hardball: how will it play politically?

By: Lazercat

Lazercat — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:43:54 +0000

I am so tired of Pawlenty’s Presidential posturings.

Listen Tim, you are never going to be President. They are probably going to change the law to keep President Obama in for life. The Republicans are going to lose another 15 seats in congress. Even if you got the nomination, which you won’t, you would still be the most thoroughly defeated candidate in the history of Presidential Races.
So quit holding our Senate seat hostage and sign the darn paper. You are doomed as Governor also, so take you place as an Exxon lobbyists or something.

By: Chris Walden

Chris Walden — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:31:12 +0000

If declared constitutional? That ship has sailed. This is good info on unallotment: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/unallot.pdf

For those who failed to notice, Pawlenty warned about what he would do to any tax increasing legislation. The DFL legislators should have worked with the governor to decide where inevitable cuts would be made, so their favorite programs would take as little damage as possible. Instead tried to override the veto, then bullied through two last minute revenue raisers at the expense of procedure with minutes to go in the session.

Pawlenty isn’t inventing new powers. He is using what is available to him, for better or worse. and in case you didn’t see KSTP news last night, Pawlenty is polling better than everyone in polls.

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:14:54 +0000

The unallotment, if it is declared constitutional, sets a dangerous precedent.

Will Minnesota turn to monarchy, with a powerless legislature and governor-king?

I don’t want to live in Minnesota if this is the future of our state government.

By: Eric Ferguson

Eric Ferguson — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:26:31 +0000

Unfortunately the 2010 elections are a year and a half away, so there’s no way to make Pawlenty feel the hurt he’s dishing out, and even the election won’t help if he doesn’t run again. A sad rule of negotiations is that when one side wants something but the other wants nothing, it’s hard to get the nothing side to negotiate, and Pawlenty wanted nothing except no tax increases, which his veto guaranteed. He had no initiatives he needed the legislature to pass, so the only incentive to negotiate was basic responsibility and a sense of the greater good, neither of which Pawlenty has.

My hope right now is that by the time the 2010 session comes along, Pawlenty will want something pretty bad. Of course, if he gets away with this quasi-legal unallotment, which he probably will, who knows what else he’ll decide to do unilaterally.

By: Phoenix Woman

Phoenix Woman — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:21:31 +0000

Smilin’ Tim figures he’ll get away with it yet again, as he always has up to now. As House Majority Leader in the 1990s and early 2000s, he rammed through the series of devastating tax cuts that set up the near-constant fiscal crises we’ve been plagued with ever since he became governor, yet nobody in the local corporate media connected the dots, much less held his feet to the fire over his role in these crises.

So long as the TradMed refuses to admit that their stainless boy is in fact a badly flawed human being, he’ll get away with being a jerk. At least until he loses his reelection battle next year.

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:14:51 +0000

Big Tim is reminding me a lot of George W. Bush. “My way or the highway.” Glee at whacking his opponents. No compromise or working with anybody on anything. Another Decider. And we all know how well that worked out the last time.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:54:04 +0000

I feel bad for the children that will not have any M-A ( Medical Assistance ). It is one thing for the adults, but what are the children going to do when they come down with something that they need to go to the doctors for and they cant.. I guess they are just going to suffer. I know some parents don’t care about the bills, but some do. The hospitals can only do so much with out medical. I feel bad for Tim Pawlenty, if this passes.