Doubting Daudt's Debt

            Speaker of the Minnesota House, Kurt Daudt (R), has been dealing with something many Minnesotans have had to deal with, debt.  It seems he had run up some credit card debt, debt that appears to have been forgiven or decreased.  Where most people’s credit and financial issues deserve privacy, Kurt Daudt’s position, actions and recent comments demand closer scrutiny of his.

            Speaker Daudt is not a regular Minnesotan.  He wields a tremendous amount of power in the state as the leader of the Republican controlled House.  With that position, he helps manage the state’s finances, a job that demands integrity and competency, something his personal issues call into question.  He helps write a lot of laws dealing with the day-to-day lives of Minnesota citizens; laws involving employment benefits, unemployment benefits, salary, debt collection, taxes, and bankruptcy.  We need to know the person helping to write these Minnesota House bills understands the consequences of their decisions.

            The State of Minnesota should have a full legal review of what happened with Speaker Daudt’s debt issues, and not just because the firm representing the Speaker’s creditors has a full contingent of lobbyists in St. Paul.  That alone should spark a very serious separate investigation.  The state should also ask what happened, as any debt reduction options available for the Speaker of the Minnesota House should be available to ALL Minnesotans.  Speaker Daudt’s debt being decreased and, in one case, abandoned, justifies there being options available to all Minnesotan’s going through similar fiscal tough times.

            Also warranting further scrutiny are Speaker Daudt’s comments, where he insists his financial troubles have made him a better leader for Minnesota working families struggling to make ends meet.  Quoting Speaker Daudt from an MPR article from 3/8, “It gives me a real appreciation for the struggle Minnesotans have gone through…”

            Speaker Daudt, if this is true, how come you haven’t followed through on your promise of passing an extension of unemployment benefits for Iron Range workers who have been laid off due to no fault of their own?  The Chinese have flooded the world markets with cheap steel, and not only did the MN House Republicans, under your leadership, shoot down a “Minnesota Steel for Minnesota Projects “ bill, designed to help our struggling industry, but you insisted there didn’t need to be a special session to deal for the unemployed, as the House could easily pass the benefits extension when the Legislature convened for it’s regular session, something you have not followed through with.  Instead Republicans are crafting tax breaks for businesses, which need to be approved before an unemployment assistance extension will be considered.  It doesn’t sound like you appreciate the struggles of those Minnesota families.

            Speaker Daudt also defended his debt issues by hiding behind the salary he makes as a legislator.  According to a Star Tribune Hot Dish Blog story from 3/8, a state legislator makes $31,140 a year, but they also get per diem expenses while the government is in session (in 2015, Daudt received $8,514 in per diem), and, since Speaker Daudt is in a leadership position, he also receives an additional $12,456 per year, making his total annual compensation over $50,000.  For a lot of Minnesotans, that’d be a pretty decent salary increase.

            Why Speaker Daudt feels $50,000 a year is beneath him is his own business.  For a politician who has built a career around personal responsibility, Kurt Daudt himself decided to campaign for a job whose $31,140 salary was publically known, and he himself has opted out of holding a second job when the legislature isn’t in session.  Any complaints about his personal circumstances should begin with him looking in the mirror.

            The $31,140 a year, a salary many politicians have insisted isn’t enough to live off of, caught my attention.  If a person makes $15 an hour, works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year, they make $31,200, pretty much the same amount, not including per diems.  But when Speaker Daudt, and other politicians, insist $31,140 isn’t enough compensation for them, while at the same time fighting against raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour ($19,760 per year, with no per diem) by labeling such an increase as unnecessary, exorbitant and lavish, explains why Speaker Daudt having some debt issues resolved questionably does not equate to him understanding the daily struggles of working Minnesota families.
            Considering his position, his actions and his recent comments, Minnesota Speaker Kurt Daudt needs to be investigated, not only to make sure his debt cleanse was legal and above board, but to also have him explain his inconsistent policies in regards to his understanding of “the struggle Minnesotans have gone through.”