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PAWLENTY VETOES HAVE DEMOCRATS IN RETREAT MODE
By Michael B. Brodkorb | May 8, 2007
"DFLers retreated on several fronts Tuesday, making concession after concession to persuade Gov. Tim Pawlenty to sign some of their big budget bills, to no avail.
Instead, Pawlenty roared back with stern language, a veto of the health and human services bill 'about five minutes after it reached my desk' and a promised veto of the higher education bill, which he dismissed on Tuesday as 'underwhelming, uninspiring and devoid of reforms.'
In both cases, DFLers had already removed offending provisions, including the Dream Act, which would have offered in-state tuition to illegal immigrants." Source: Star Tribune, May 8, 2007
Click here for complete story.
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"In what is rapidly becoming yet another staredown, Pawlenty served notice on Tuesday that he would not be maneuvered into bill-by-bill negotiations.
'The Legislature must articulate an overall plan for revenues and expenditures,' he said in his health and human services veto letter. 'A complete budget picture is vitally important to setting priorities and determining reasonable spending levels. We do not have such an agreement at this time.'
Without an overall budget agreement, Pawlenty could find himself backed into a corner in which DFLers present him with a needed K-12 education bill and a megasized tax increase to pay for it and no money left to negotiate with.
'They are charging ahead with bills that are unacceptable to us,' Pawlenty told reporters." Source: Star Tribune, May 8, 2007
Click here for complete story.
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20 Responses to “PAWLENTY VETOES HAVE DEMOCRATS IN RETREAT MODE”
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May 8th, 2007 at 11:32 PM
The Confederates did well early as well, but look where they ended up… broken and defeated.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:41 PM
Pawlenty doesnt show any signs of compromising which is such a tragedy. He barely won re-election, only because Hatch was not that great, and the DFL has near veto proof majorities. Both sides need to compromise and get this taken care of soon because a government shutdown would not be okay. I imagine Pawlenty will be the main hold up in any comprosing so when the government shutsodown because of him, I really hope the DFL adverstises this effectively.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:20 AM
Andrew then go ahead send those pork laden bills to Pawlenty. If the DFL wants to get into a game of Public perception I’ll take Tim over both Larry and Marge anyday, anytime and anywhere.
The shutdown will happen and the public will blame the DFL.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:43 AM
Andrew
It appears to me, and I admit I’m not very politically astute, that no one is giving in at the capitol. That being said, why do the liberals send budgets to the governor that he has said he would veto? It just seems like a waste of time.
I don’t know who bore the brunt of bad publicity during the last special session and govt shutdown, but I do believe that the governor will come out of this with nary a scratch.
While I lean to the right on most issues, many of my friends are more centrist. An elderly couple – friends of the family, and lifelong Democrats – told me the other day that they think Pawlenty is trying to protect taxpayers. And they get their news from the Strib and TV. If that’s how the average person views all this, the governor wins.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:39 AM
What issues has Pawlenty compromised on this session? He appears to me to be the one refusing to compromise.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:45 AM
Too bad there wern’t some of these veto’s last year when the Repub’s were spending like drunken DFLer’s. They might have saved a few seats if they he had. At least T Paw found his backbone and handy veto pen when the really big spenders came to St. Paul.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:46 AM
Screw compromise, you can’t compromise on principle.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:06 AM
For starting, the governor made the most significant compromise back in January by offering a 9 percent budget increase. That was huge, considering that he could have easily started at half that. But he didn’t and that pissed off a lot of his supporters.
Then, I bet in the context of his 34.5 billion recommendation he has made dozens of compromises on policy and funding issues. They just don’t make news. Don’t forget some budget bills have passed because the Democrats involved did work with the governor.
It should be clear when even the news media reports Democrats want to force Pawlenty to choose between raising taxes or school funding: Democrats are not doing the people’s business, they are doing their own political business. Every aspect of the budget and the legislature are political tools to them. What’s best for us is hardly a concern.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Hey Ty, thanks to a Republican majority in the MINNESOTA House, spending has been quite constrained the past several years. That’s why Minnesota is in such strong financial shape in the first place.
T-Paw compromised plenty this year. He offered up a 9.8 percent budget increase, proposed sound reforms to education and funded needed programs.
That liberals want to pile on top of that already generous increase is outlandish.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Andrew,
You can’t possibly be serious. Dean Johnson shut down government the last time after he walked out of negotiations (when Linda Berglin and Kevin Goodno were less than $100 million apart on the multi billion dollar Health and Human Services bill). With Democrats in charge of the entire legislative process in both Houses of the Legislature, they will most assuredly be blamed if they shut down government AGAIN.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:16 AM
Besides the 9.8 percent increase for the biennium (which I don’t believe is a compromise) what specific items has the Governor compromised on?
In all the stories I have read, the budget bills that passed did so because Democrats agreed to take out provisions the Governor opposed. I also fail to see “take this out or I will veto it” as truly working with Democrats.
So I ask again for specific examples where the Governor has compromised?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:34 AM
I just hope the Guv stands firm and continues to veto these idiotic spending measures. If a 9.8% increase in spending is not enough, i can’t imagine what is. The Dems simply cannot understand that it is not their money.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:28 PM
David – go find the budget the governor proposed in January and compare it to the budgets passed by the legislature. Whatever differences you find will be examples of the governor compromising. Your logic pretends that only a handful of issues exist, when in reality there are thousands.
Pawlenty himself said in January that we was offering the end of session compromise then. It may not be as big an increase as YOU want, but it is still a compromise.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:04 PM
David, you can believe what you want to. We don’t care. Conceding to a 9.8 percent increase is an enormous compromise on behalf of Pawlenty. I’d prefer he toed the line at a 6 percent increase for the biennium.
The Governor is the only party to have set a budget and spending guidelines. The DFL’s approach to spending with no consideration to the budget is irresponsible and reckless.
And it’s lucky we have a governor who is steadfast in his resolve.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:30 PM
I don’t follow state govt as closely as you folks do, but I just wonder – if the state has a surplus, why do they have to raise taxes? Why not just either refund the extra money to us or spend it on worthwhile program like roads and crime prevention? In the case of roads, if a new freeway is projected to last 25 years, why not issue bonds and pay it off over 25 years? Has anyone at the state thought of that.
The candidates I met last summer when they came to my door or we saw them at the block party promised to change the tone and end gridlock in Washington and in Saint Paul. I don’t think they have succeeded at that.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:40 PM
JGMPLS, you are far more intuitive and intelligent than you give yourself credit.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:22 PM
The surplus isn’t real. It’s full of one-time money, and no acknowledgment of inflation on the spending side.
What has happened, I think, is that the DFL majorities in both chambers lent their ear to all unions/lobbyists/interest groups with years of accumulated, unrealized pent up demand for spending. They held weeks and weeks of hearings, nodding their heads up and down, and tried to include everything the omnibus bills. That’s poor (well, no) planning, and no way to govern.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Mark
But it was my DFL legislator who, in a press release in our community newspaper, wrote about a budget surplus.
I’m back to being confused again.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:47 PM
The Governor is playing his annual “funny money” games, where he pretends one-time money is permanent money and where he raids the TANF funds to pay for other stuff. The Republican message usually works because it is simple and people are too lazy or don’t have the time to actually try to understand the mechanisms of government funding. Republicans love their smoke and mirrors.
May 10th, 2007 at 12:20 PM
LeRoy, are you dumb?