Pawlenty and Sviggum sowing seeds of dysfunction

[katinmn]

This little weekly paper on the Range calls the governor and House majority leader "reckless" and "extremist." Good editorial.

http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=1674

Tuesday, May 31, 2001905 Volume 16, Issue 22

Finding fault at the Capitol? Consider the record
By Marshall Helmberger

State governance in Minnesota used to be considered a model for the nation. Now, it’s a basket case, more likely to get attention as a laughingstock than as a model for anything.

It’s easy to forget that just ten years ago the Legislature and the Governor were able to bridge their differences and work out compromises that continued to move the state forward. Just ten years ago, special sessions were a rarity, and were usually limited to single issues.

Now, special sessions are a way of life as the Legislature suddenly seems incapable of finding common ground. And you don’t have to look very far to find the problem here. Just consider the history.

Since Steve Sviggum and Tim Pawlenty took control of the House Republicans, as speaker and majority leader, the State Capitol hasn’t been the same. For the past seven years, Sviggum and Pawlenty have waged what one legislator referred to this week as a “tax cut jihad” that has strangled the state’s legislative process and sent school funding to levels more typical of Arkansas than the standards Minnesotans have set for years. Now Sviggum and Governor Pawlenty want to throw tens of thousands of hard-working Minnesotans off of MinnesotaCare and eliminate union rights for teachers in exchange for even the most paltry funding increase for schools. And once again they are willing to practice their reckless brinksmanship to force through their extremist agenda.

snip--
Pawlenty and Sviggum have sown the seeds of dysfunction in Minnesota government and we’re all reaping a bitter harvest as a result.

[CatholicEdHead]

1. All thanks to outside intrests

The outside funded state level Club of Growth, aka MN Taxpayer's League and the national Republican Party. Our political direction is being competly controlled by wealthy outsiders.

[MnFishhead]

2. More evidence of big money influence

For Immediate Release - May 31, 2005

Contact: Eva Young
612-588-2044 or 612-327-7325
[e-mail]
www.dumpbachmann.com


WEALTHY OUTSIDE INTERESTS BANKROLL BACHMANN'S CAMPAIGN

The biggest supporters of Sen. Michele Bachmann's bid for Minnesota's
6th congressional district seat aren't even residents of the 6th
congressional district. Nor do they live in her hometown of
Stillwater, or even the state senate district she currently
represents. Rather, according to an analysis of Bachmann's 2005
first-quarter campaign contributions by DumpBachmann.com, the largest
bloc of financiers bankrolling Bachmann's fledgling campaign live out
of state or in wealthy Lake Minnetonka enclaves.

In fact, 56 percent of Bachmann's congressional campaign contributions
through March 31, 2005, have come from individuals OUTSIDE the 6th
Congressional District, the district Bachmann hopes to represent.
That's $33,005 out of a total $59,032. Even more revealing, 27 percent
of Bachmann's money came from the Minnetonka-Wayzata-Long
Lake-Orono-Deephaven area.

"We found it rather odd that Sen. Bachmann's initial support would
come from wealthy people not even living in the district she wants to
represent in Congress,"� says Eva Young, founder of DumpBachmann.com.
"There's nothing very grassroots about that. And that leads us to
wonder to whom, exactly, will she owe her allegience to if
elected—monied interests outside of her district, or the constituents
she purports to represent?"

Young noted that Bachmann's campaign cash appears to flow from the
same deep well as the financial source for extremists like the
Taxpayer's League of Minnesota. In fact, Taxpayers League of Minnesota
founder and Chairman Michael Wigley and his wife are among Bachmann's
biggest supporters, with $1,500 in contributions so far.

"If I were Sen. Bachmann's constituents, I'd be wondering why my
senator is hanging around with a bunch of Lake Minnetonka fat cats
instead of tending to the needs of her district. But then, promoting
herself at the expense of her constituents' needs is nothing new for
Sen. Bachmann