More political shenanigans from the MN GOP ..

GOP senator asks Dayton for 'lights on' bill to keep government open

By James Nord | Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 2:26 pm

Sen. Sean Nienow, one of four GOP senators whose court petition to force Gov. Mark Dayton to call a special legislative session failed Thursday, urged the governor in a letter Friday to consider a “lights on” measure that would prevent a state government shutdown July 1.

The plan, which would go into effect if Dayton and lawmakers can’t reach a deal by the end of the fiscal year, would come in the form of legislation continuing public safety funding at current levels and extending 90 percent of appropriations for all other budget areas.

“Even without a final budget agreement on July 1st, a government shutdown is not necessary,” Nienow wrote.

Dayton, however, opposes such a measure. He said Tuesday that time isn’t the issue in solving Minnesota’s $5 billion budget deficit and dodging a shutdown. It’s the ideological divide between himself and the GOP majority that is the problem, he said.

Nienow used the letter as another opportunity to “implore” Dayton to call a special session to ease the effects of a shutdown.

He also included a veiled barb, writing that he tells state employees in danger of losing their jobs: “The only reason for Governor Dayton to not call a special session would be to use state services and state employees as political leverage. I choose to believe he won’t do that.”

Roughly 36,000 state employees could get pink slips if a shutdown can’t be avoided. Dayton and lawmakers have two-days of planned talks this weekend in an attempt to reach a budget deal before the fiscal year ends June 30.

Nienow urged Dayton to discuss the proposal during his talks with the GOP leaders, whom the senator says have shown “strong interest” in the measure.

In addition to continuing state services at near-current levels over the next biennium, Nienow’s legislation would block the courts from determining essential services, as happened during the 2005 government shutdown.

CAPITOL | FRI, JUN 24 2011 2:26 PM | 1 COMMENT

A comment by will lynott:  A lights on" bill makes no sense unless they're close to an agreement, or have one, but there is no time to go through the required processes before the fiscal year ends. That's not the case here. Aside from that, Nienow's bill "continu[es] public safety funding at current levels and extend[s] 90 percent of appropriations for all other budget areas...over the next biennium?"

Is he nuts? The R's would then have zero incentive to deal. Does he seriously think the Governor would sign something like that?
The Governor is right--it's not a matter of necessary time to get a deal done, it's republican obstinacy. That can't be fixed by a "lights on" bill.

Nice try, Nienow, but no banana.

Minnesota State Spending as a Percent of GDP:

Monday, December 06, 2010

http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2010/12/minnesota-state-spending-as-percent-of.html
 A bit right wing, but interesting stats - VAS

Minnesota State Spending as a Percent of GDP

This shall be short.

This last election cycle the democrats in Minnesota had one (of several) main talking points when it came to the local elections;

"Tim Pawlenty was evil and gutted the government of necessary and precious spending."

So I decided to see just how much the state has spent as a percent of gross STATE product which gives you the overall tax rate local Minnesotans pay at the state level;



Yeah, what a cheapskate!

On a side note I love how Minnesota had an overall tax rate of just 6% back in 1963 and now we have an estimated 11% (depending on how 2010's GSP comes in).

Just remember how "evil" Tim Pawlenty and all those nasty Republicans were when they "cut" the budget.

Dick Cheney: 'I worship the ground Paul Ryan walks on'

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55749.html#ixzz1NZzPDdQM

By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 5/26/11 8:32 AM EDT

Former Vice President Dick Cheney doesn’t want Paul Ryan to run for president — he likes the House Budget chairman too much.

“I worship the ground the Paul Ryan walks on,” Cheney said Wednesday during a rare public appearance, the Houston Chronicle reported. “I hope he doesn’t run for president because that would ruin a good man who has a lot of work to do.”

VIDEO LINK BELOW.

POLITICO 44

Support for Ryan’s budget plan, which includes an overhaul of Medicare, has become an early litmus test for the GOP presidential field. The plan was also a definitive issue in the special election in New York on Tuesday, where Democrat Kathy Hochul won one of the most Republican-friendly congressional seats in the country. Democrats have heralded that victory as a sign that Americans oppose Ryan’s plan.

But as the field of potential contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination has narrowed, some members of the GOP have begun to call for him to run. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said earlier this week that he would welcome a White House run, saying of his colleague, “What Paul Ryan is about is real leadership.”

Ryan said Sunday on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” that he is “not running for president,” but didn’t completely close the door to being drafted or getting on the ticket as a running mate.

“You never know what opportunities present themselves way down the road,” he told host David Gregory.

Video posted at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55749.html#ixzz1NZzfSnGK