K-Dogg is Really Not That Smart

The Legislative Special Session for 2016 is dead, done in by the Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House, Kurt Daudt.

This was Daudt's mess.  With a lethal combination of attempting to double-cross the Democrats on the final day of regular session, and incompetence when it comes to proof reading tax bills, very little got done this session.

The mutilated Transportation/Bonding Bill, chock full of tax payer gravy for a handful of Republican Districts, including Speaker Daudt's, was derailed by Daudt's huge ego.  He had agreed with Democratic Leadership to allow giving the Hennepin County Rail Authority the option of finishing the funding of $135 million dollars needed to build the Southwest Light Rail Line, or SWLRT.  When the bill finally emerged for a vote in the Minnesota House, it was in the final moments of the legislative session, not giving House Democrats enough time to find out the Republicans had purposely left the Hennepin County Rail/SWLRT agreement out of the legislation.  In the Senate, Ron Latz caught the omission, amended the bill with SWLRT, got 18 Senate Republicans to vote for it without batting an eye, and sent it back to Speaker Daudt for a final vote.  Daudt decided to gavel the House out of session as opposed to allow the amended bill, which would've passed, to come up for a vote.

As far as the tax bill, the Republicans themselves didn't seem to even know they made a wording error.  This mistake would've led to taxes being raised, as opposed to them being cut.  Governor Mark Dayton wisely vetoed the bill, leading to discussion of a Special Session.  Initially, Daudt seemed to be willing to pass the tax bill and the transportation/bonding bill, with SWLRT, but then negotiations stalled.  Governor Dayton had his wish list for Special Session, and wanted a few items passed, including a guarantee on SWLRT.  At some point, Daudt decided SWLRT would not happen, and Dayton said enough with the games.

Mr. Speaker, Kurt, K-Dogg, you're a fool.  After Governor Dayton called your bluff today, you ran around throwing a temper tantrum, screaming SWLRT was dead.  You knew you had just lost, and you lost badly, so you tried guttural grandstanding, grunting your anger to the world.

Mr. Speaker, I have one question; do you know what your biggest mistake was in this process?

Kurt, it wasn't your buffoonery with your Special Session negotiations, even though you clearly thought you had FAR more power than you really had.  I'm not sure if you kept thinking the Democrats were going to cave, but your best case scenario from the minute the regular session ended was to get the same bills from the end of session signed into law, with SWLRT, and hope the Governor's demands didn't require too much sacrifice.  You went into this acting like you had all the power.  The Governor has all the power when it comes to Special Sessions.  You thinking you could create some sort of sweetheart deal for the GOP in return for passing SWLRT was foolish, a serious rookie mistake fueled by your bluster and arrogance.  I broke down the GOP's fight against SWRLT in this piece from the end of regular session -

http://progressivecitizenx.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-great-train-robbery.html

It also wasn't your ignorant bravado on the final day of the Legislative session.  When you got caught trying to sneak the bill through without SWLRT, you should've sat back for three seconds and realized you and Majority Leader Joyce Peppin still had a bill chock full of tax payer money for your districts.  These bills were designed to keep you in office for decades to come, allowing you to weather the Trump storm in November.  Instead, you decided to play a childish game, acting as if you had no idea the bill was returning back to the House from the Senate, even though it appears you clearly knew. You would've had to eat SWLRT, but in the long run, you, Peppin, and the handful of other GOPers, were set to ladle tax payer dollars all over your districts.  Now you have nothing; that's why you're really throwing your temper tantrum.

It also wasn't your backstabbing of the Democratic leadership, people who I've talked to, people who've said YOU, Kurt Daudt, had agreed to the Hennepin Country Rail Authority verbiage.  The Democratic leadership clearly was expecting you to try to double cross them.  That should tell you what they really think of you.

It also wasn't your insanely dim-witted decision to fight the unemployment benefit extension for Iron Range Workers at the beginning of the year, a decision which poisoned your relationship with the Senate Majority leader and Iron Range resident, Tom Bakk.  If you two were on the same page as you were last year, you might've had a chance.  Instead, you burned the bridge and blew up the foundations, as evident by the fact Bakk was one of the strongest voices in regards to SWLRT being in the Special Session bills.  I broke the GOP's Iron Range mistake down in this piece -

http://progressivecitizenx.blogspot.com/2016/03/17.html

No Mr. Speaker, your biggest mistake came at the beginning of the Special Session last year, in 2015.  It was a pretty bad sting for the Democrats, as you masterfully used your personal relationship with Bakk, and more last second shenanigans, to get sweetheart bills out of the Special Session negotiations.  At the beginning of the Legislative portion of the Special Session in 2015, you, Peppin, and the rest of the MNGOP got a great big laugh when you took a picture of Governor Dayton participating in the ALS ice bucket challenge, and passed it around, saying it was you pouring cold water over the Governor.  This petty chest thumping, this juvenile bragging was the MNGOP showing the world they were just a toolbox full of massive tools.  As you jackasses high fived and chuckled away, Governor Dayton watched.

That was your biggest mistake.  You thought your superficial antics and personal relationships meant you were smarter than the Governor.  Kurt Daudt, you're nowhere near as smart as Mark Dayton.

Governor Dayton just politically spanked you, taking you Kurt, an unruly brat, and giving you the beat down you deserved. Mark Dayton was always ten times smarter than you.  You got him once, and as all you GOP simpletons danced your victory dance in 2015, he remembered.  He studied how you did it and he planned his strategy to ensure it didn't happen again.  You were masterfully outmaneuvered this session, Kurt.  Thank goodness your term as Speaker will be over in November, but if it's any consequence, I'll start a petition to make sure you're the first rider of the SWLRT when it does finally get built, which it will.

Since Governor Dayton is above doing a victory dance over your beaten down zealotry and fake piety, let me do it.  Hey Speaker, why don't you run home and grab your shine box...