Thank God For Governor Mark Dayton

Things have been coming at me so fast and furious the last 36 hours, with the close of the 2015 Legislative session, I have a headache.

It all boils down to this; the Minnesota House Republicans, led by Speaker Kurt Daudt, went into negotiations with the Democratic lead Minnesota Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Bakk, with a few goals in mind.  They waited until the very end to make their 'compromises,' so bills would get rammed through without anyone really seeing what was in them.  They snuck Republican wish list items into the bills, like dismantling the power of the Auditors office, legalized gun silencers, and weakening clean up rules for polluters, but the end goal was simply to bide their time.  The MN GOP want the massive budget surplus the state has, 1.9 Billion, to go to the wealthiest 1000 in the state, for their 'implied quid pro quo dance.'  They never intended to use the surplus for the betterment of Minnesotans, but when they realized most Minnesotans weren't on board with their plan, they decided to wait it out.  Their hope is through the current tax system that created the surplus in the first place, and through cuts they are making in programs, just because they are mean spirited Republicans, the surplus will be a lot bigger next year, making their insistence of handing the surplus over to the wealthiest 1000 easier for their voting base to swallow.

I'm not quite sure what Senator Bakk was thinking.  It seems he was either incompetent and allowed this to happen, or, even worse, was opportunistic and got enough direct political hand outs for himself to make him forgo sanity.

Today, the GOP, and the state media which panders to them unabashedly, started to make it seem like the GOP was more than willing to work with the Governor, even though the bills the GOP passed tell a completely different story.

Then came Governor Dayton, who did the equivalent of putting Speaker Daudt over his knee and spanking him. He immediately vetoed the Education bill, releasing the very clear e-mails he had sent Speaker Daudt and Senator Bakk last week about what had to be in the bills for his signature.  He also laid out potentially more vetoes, something he knows has teeth because the House DFL, after being completely disrespected by Speaker Daudt, is not about to help him override the Governor's vetoes.

Governor Dayton knows the Executive branch of the state is the strongest elected position in Minnesota, he knows he has a mandate from the people with his large re-election margin, he's not afraid of the Republican party, especially not a jackass like Speaker Daudt and he has nothing to lose.  He will get his way on these bills and he'll make you cry if you try to stop him.