At the Capitol, on Wednesday, legislators sent Governor Pawlenty a bonding bill with upwards of $925 million in projects. Over at the St. Cloud Times, Larry Schumacher has a good examination of the bill and its contents. I would add, however, that Tom Stinson who is the Minnesota State Economist advocated for a quick bonding bill that would be focused primarily on upkeep of buildings rather than the creation of new buildings which is precisely what this bill attempts to accomplish.
Immediately following this development the right wing blogosphere in Minnesota decried the bill as unnecessary and filled with too much pork. Amongst the most vocal is my good friend Gary Gross over at Let Freedom Ring.
However, it appears as though Mr. Gross has a bit of a sticky wicket on his hands given that his "adopted representative", Steve Gottwalt, voted FOR the bill. Gary makes this statement at the end of his post:
Immediately following this development the right wing blogosphere in Minnesota decried the bill as unnecessary and filled with too much pork. Amongst the most vocal is my good friend Gary Gross over at Let Freedom Ring.
However, it appears as though Mr. Gross has a bit of a sticky wicket on his hands given that his "adopted representative", Steve Gottwalt, voted FOR the bill. Gary makes this statement at the end of his post:
Either way, one thing should be clear. This November, it’s time that voters told the DFL that they reject their unsustainable spending habits and their outrageous tax increases.
I offer a revision to his outrage: "Either way, one should be clear. This November, it's time that voters told Steve Gottwalt that they reject his unsustainable spending habits and his outrageous alliance with the evil DFL."
The outrage expressed by Mr. Gross and others on the right might be a bit more effective if they directed that outrage in a little more bipartisan manner. Perhaps with some more Seifert style demotions.
One has to wonder if voting against the party on this bill will garner a similar action as the actions taken after the Transportation Bill. Can you take away power from a Freshman Representative in the minority party?
The outrage expressed by Mr. Gross and others on the right might be a bit more effective if they directed that outrage in a little more bipartisan manner. Perhaps with some more Seifert style demotions.
One has to wonder if voting against the party on this bill will garner a similar action as the actions taken after the Transportation Bill. Can you take away power from a Freshman Representative in the minority party?
