It's gotta be tough to be Republican Party and caucus leaders Michael Brodkorb and Tony Sutton.
Though I can imagine them gloating in the privacy of their Eagan and Inver Grove Heights boudoirs over Sutton's boorish behavior, the editorial headline over a recent Star Tribune editorial, it stretches even the educated imagination to fancy that they're pleased with the reviews coming in from rural Minnesota.
Love is hard to find on the editorial pages.
Take this headline from the Winona Daily News, where Darrell Ehrlick writes Our view: This GOP solution is worthless. The accompanying text matches the harsh tone; a sampling:
The logic of the Republicans isn’t worth a dime.
Literally.
The stalemate at the Capitol boils down to an argument about taxes.
True to his word, Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton originally proposed to raise income taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans when he was elected. He wanted to raise the tax rate 5 percent on these rarefied earners.
But, also true to his word that he would compromise and work with the Republican-dominated Legislature, he shifted, now seeking around 2 percent from the wealthiest.
Republicans — padding the budget bills they passed with numbers from their own partisan staff — sent him budgets that preserved tax breaks for the superwealthy, but increased property taxes and gave cuts to places like Winona Health to the tune of $2.2 million.
The Dayton-backed plan would have required a dime more for the top wage earners on income made in the highest bracket.
Those dimes then add up to serious dollars. About $1.8 billion to be exact.
Let’s forget for a moment that state income taxes are already at a low.
Republicans have conveniently forgotten to mention how low income taxes are from a historical perspective.
It’s not lying, but it’s certainly not telling the entire truth.
Instead, GOP politicians have trotted out the same tired red herring: If you tax the rich, the jobs will disappear. . .
Oh my. Just down the road in Austin, the Herald lets Governor Dayton off with a gentle reprimand in Minn. lawmakers fail constituents, while reserving its full wrath for the legislature:
. . . Most of the blame, or course, lies with the Republican majority that controls both houses of the Legislature. This is a majority which, despite months to prepare, began the session with no coherent plan for addressing Minnesota’s massive budget deficit, not even a plan that matched its stated intention of avoiding new taxes. It is also a majority which frittered away countless days, weeks and months on issues unrelated to surmounting the huge budget challenge. Stadiums, social engineering and trivial legislation seemed to be more important.
The governor, who also must bear responsibility, at least offered a complete budget plan and made notable attempts to compromise – although from a position so far afield that success was unlikely.
The Albert Lea Tribune is equally scathing toward the Republican strategy in Amendment proposal is just a strategy move:
. . .We don’t really believe Republicans who pushed the legislation feel deep down this is a pressing issue for Minnesota. Instead, it’s the same old story of fiscally conservative Republicans who run the party using socially conservative issues in an attempt to distract the public from fiscal issues — such as the floundering economy and the woeful state budget.
They put this on the ballot as a strategic move. They want voters in 2012 to be polarized on the issue of same-sex marriage rather than focusing on the issue of jobs. In the 2010 election, these same Republicans had campaigned on the issue of jobs, yet no jobs bill was produced in the recent session.
The GOP strategy almost reminds us of the line from the movie “The Wizard of Oz”: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” . . .
Photo: Michael Brodkorb working at messaging. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
The same buyer's remorse that's hitting the rest of the nation is now hitting Minnesota as its residents look at their brand-new GOP lege and want to dump it before the warranty period ends.
But of course Broddie, just like his counterpart in Oz, doesn't want to admit just how weak his position really is, so he goes into Full Metal Blowhard mode: http://my.firedoglake.com/phoenix/?p=78537
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Jun 01, 2011 at 07:48 AM