Over at the We Party's blog, E.M. Ployd (or a ghostwriter) posted a interesting tidbit in Minnesota GOP Using “Enron-Style Accounting” to Draft Budget Based on Secret Data Source:
In a second post, MNPublius notes the source of the budget numbers. Rather, the lack of source:
In a letter to Speaker Kurt Zellers, Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) decried the practice:
During your March 25th press briefing you made a surprising revelation about the fiscal projections House and Senate leaders are using to create the ominbus budget bills. Specifically, you acknowledged that fiscal chairs are “depending on figures from private business and from other states” to create the budget rather than using the non-partisan fiscal notes from Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB)
Okay, Mr. Ployd swiped that from the homies at MNPublius, but the We Party post and headline got me wondering where those made-up, Enron-style numbers came from.
Not just House but Senate leaders are given credit for being real Republican men of genius on that. But where did those numbers come from?
Suddenly, I remembered something. The Republican Majority caucus comm director makes no secret about the esteem with which he holds Waseca's Senator Mike Parry. And that might be the Enron connection.
In December 2006, the Mankato Free Press reported in Waseca set to welcome infamous inmate; Convicted Enron exec causing buzz in community:
A new resident scheduled to arrive in Waseca Tuesday has brought national attention to the town, prompting more than a few citizens to mess with the city’s slogan.
The phrase “For an hour . . . for a lifetime” has been tweaked to add, in one variation or another, “. . . maybe 24 years of confinement.” The new twists are making light of the federal prison sentence Jeff Skilling, former Enron chief executive officer, has been ordered to serve at the Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca.
Skilling was one of the masterminds behind a complicated scam that manipulated the energy company’s financial statements, which eventually led to Enron’s collapse in 2002. . .
Could Skilling's mad financial skillz have entered the collective consciousness of Waseca? Such a theory might also explain why Parry told public employees at a recent town hall meeting that his bill to cut the state's contribution to their pensions would result in . . .wait for it...bigger pensions!
Related post: Mike Parry tells public employees they'll get bigger pensions, suggests new tax on services
Photo: Former ENRON CEO and one-time Waseca resident, Jeff Skilling. Image from the (I kid you not) Business Insider Law Review.
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