Jim Abeler

Were he elected president, Gov. Pawlenty would micromanage just like Jimmy Carter did, says Republican state Rep. Jim Abeler. That prediction is based on Abeler’s observation of Pawlenty laboriously tweaking inconsequential text in legislation. The question voters will want to consider is whether T-Paw would insist on writing his own jokes.
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty intends to fix the state’s nearly $3 billion budget hole unilaterally. Democrats accuse him of pandering to fiscal conservatives in order to further his national political ambitions. How the budgetary endgame plays out will have consequences for politicians on both sides of the aisle.

The Minnesota House passed a $1 billion tax bill this evening by a 86-45 margin. All Democrats backed the measure, while every Republican opposed it. The bill would increase revenues in three ways: a new top income tax bracket for Minnesota’s wealthiest citizens, an increase in taxes on alcohol and a surcharge applied to credit card companies that levy interest rates higher than 15 percent. The $1 billion package was hashed out by legislators in a conference committee late last night.

Across the country, Republican politicians glommed onto yesterday’s Tax Day Tea Party movement — much to the consternation of grassroots organizers. But in Minnesota, only one elected official put her name on the events: Rep. Michele Bachmann.

A politician handing out wooden nickels in the midst of a historic economic recession is odd enough, but what State Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, suggests the worthless coin be used for — plugging gunshot wounds — is even stranger.

What happened to the “override six” on election day? The half-dozen Republican legislators who crossed party lines to overturn Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill last February were immediately vilified within their own caucus. The Republican apostates were stripped of leadership positions and warned of vengeance at the ballot box.

Al Franken will comfortably advance from today’s primary election to take on Norm Coleman in the U. S. Senate race. With more than 80 percent of the results in, Franken is carrying 67 percent of the vote in the seven-candidate field. His most credible challenger, attorney Priscilla Lord Faris, is currently garnering support from 29 percent of voters.