by Sally Jo Sorensen
Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) got a little Minnesota Nice the other day when talking about MNSure with Brainerd Dispatch associate editor Mike O'Rourke.
O'Rourke reports in GOP lawmakers still wary of MNsure:
Daudt said he wants the program to succeed and he’ll wait and see what happens.
“I don’t want to pass the judgment that this thing is absolutely doomed to fail,” Daudt said. “If this thing doesn’t work we need to be honest about it.”
Isn't that church nice for you? Bluestem is especially encouraged to read of Daudt's good will toward MNsure, an important part of implementing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) by the state of Minnesota.
It also marks true growth as a leader on Daudt's part, since the Isanti County Republican was a co-sponsor of HF 1351 in 2011. The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, based on an ALEC model bill, would have, according to the language submitted by Representative Chris Swedzinski, dictated:
policy related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; prohibiting the state of Minnesota and political subdivisions from enforcing, implementing, or funding provisions of the act. . .
PR Watch called it a nullification bill, based on the "legal theory supported by conservatives that asserts any state has the right to nullify or invalidate a federal law the state deems unconstitutional.
Health insurance exchanges? Part of the ACA. Are we seeing a more charitable Daudt? Has the ruthless political operative who managed the Seifert gubernatorial campaign and the welfare slashing freshman been replaced by a statesman?
That would be nice.
Photo: Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt who so wants MNSure to work.
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Kurt Daudt reminds me of his Tea Party colleagues in the US House. He really does.
Many if not most of the members of the GOP House's "Suicide Caucus", like Daudt back when he worked for Marty Seifert, have limited political experience -- which is a problem as Republicans tend to be authoritarian types who have difficulty with abstract thinking; it's not enough to be told they mustn't touch that third rail, they have to experience the pain of it at first hand before they understand that touching that rail is to be avoided.
If you look at the persons behind the shutdown-to-defund-Obamacare, you'll find that none of them were in Congress or the Senate back in 1996, which was the last time House Republicans forced a government shutdown. (This includes Jim DeMint, the former-senator-turned-Heritage-Foundation-head; he didn't become a Representative until 1999 and didn't become a senator until 2005.)
Daudt seems to have burned his hand a few times and thus learned something approaching wisdom. The members of the House GOP's anti-Obamacare Caucus are all having their own scorched-hand moments right now, though some of them haven't realized this yet. But soon, within a week or so, they will understand why their forebears stopped forcing shutdowns after 1996.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Oct 06, 2013 at 12:24 AM