Bachmann: T-Paw left 'a multi-billion-dollar budget mess' plus more . .

http://www.minnpost.com/dailyglean/2011/07/25/30276/bachmann_t-paw_left_a_multi-billion-dollar_budget_mess

By Brian Lambert | Monday, July 25, 2011

Well, after taking digs from T-Paw for most of the last couple weeks, Our Favorite Congresswoman has dropped all pretense of observing the Republican 11th Commandment and blasted away. L.A. Holmes of FoxNews reports: “In a campaign email to supporters Sunday afternoon, Bachmann defended her ‘real world’ successes and excoriated Pawlenty for ‘leaving a multi-billion-dollar budget mess’ in Minnesota, which led to a government shutdown in the state early July. ‘Real world actions speak louder than the words of career politicians,’ the statement concludes. ... In the middle of it she also says, “I bring a record of success in the real world in business, the law, and in fighting for our principles. I am self-made. I worked my way through school. I have a post-doctorate degree in federal tax law from William and Mary. I worked in the US Federal Tax Court as a federal tax litigation attorney. I am a job creator. My husband and I built a successful private company from scratch. In Minnesota, I led an unprecedented effort to reform education —repealing intrusive regulations that hampered the ability of parents and educators to provide a quality education for their children.” As woozy as I always get when she starts talking about “the real world,” I have to wonder, given Pawlenty’s poll numbers, why she’s even mentioning him in public?

For his part, T-Paw, reports the AP, fired back: “Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant said, "The difference is that when Governor Pawlenty was scoring conservative victories ... Congresswoman Bachmann was giving speeches and offering failed amendments, all while struggling mightily to hold onto the most Republican house seat in the state."

T-Paw’s real high point of the weekend, though, was going on CNN and, according to the AP, saying: “If you're the leader of the free world, would you please come to microphone and quit hiding in the basement about your proposals, and come on up and address the American people? Is he chicken?" Why am I thinking of Albert Brooks in “Broadcast News”?

A note on the other downside of selling bonds backed by tobacco revenue to resolve the budget stand-off. The AP’s Scott Karnowski writes: “The budget deal that ended Minnesota's government shutdown relies heavily on $640 million borrowed against money from the 1998 tobacco settlement. The strategy allows Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders to avoid the same amount in spending cuts or tax increases. But it could cost as much as $640 million in interest — plus a substantial annual revenue loss for years to come.” Hey, better to blow $640 million than cripple a “job provider.”

Way over in Poughkeepsie, Chuck Raasch at the Poughkeepsie Journal writes about driving through Minnesota during The Shutdown. Eventually he says: “In a vigorous democracy people argue about the amount of taxes they are willing to pay to build and maintain roads that get them to the lakes. But in the protracted, nasty budget and deficit fights here and nationwide, some have shorthanded ‘the government’ into the enemy of the people. Some always seem to wish for shutdowns to show government is unneeded. Real reasons exist to think government at all levels has gotten too big. But equally destructive is this idea of government inherently as enemy. It makes the people the foes of their own commonwealth. Such positions make it that much tougher to decide what is essential, and how to do it the best. It lets politicians dig in on campaign pledges [that] are not practical to solving issues in a diverse country. While we try to bury debts and deficits, maybe such absolutes can be buried with them.” Hmmm, “equally destructive”?