Mark Dayton, like Arne Carlson before him, believes that any economic activity is an excuse to raise “revenues” – and revenues are there to be spent.

And for those who didn’t get the point in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain, perhaps the example of Stockton, California – which followed the Arne Carlson model of governance, “Spend it when you got it!”:

There is a sparkling marina, high-rise hotel and promenade financed by credit in the mid-2000s, mere blocks from where mothers won’t let their children play in the yard because of violence.

During the economic boom, this working-class city with pockets of entrenched poverty tried to reinvent itself as a draw to Bay Area refugees and a popular site for conventions. It offered generous city employee pension plans and benefits.

Like Carlson, and the DFLers he aped, Stockton spent like a grifter with a stolen platinum card when the times were good.

And now that the times aren’t so good?:

The city has the second-highest rate of foreclosures in the country and the second-highest rate of violent crime in the state.

The city made $90 million in drastic cuts from the general fund in the last three years, including reducing the police department by 25%, the fire department by 30%, and cutting pay and benefits to all employees.

And those union employees who were suckered to Stockton with the free healthcare and incredible benefits?

Very likely cut off!

The lesson – which Mark Dayton and his fanboy Arne Carlson never, ever had to learn – is that the good times just don’t last forever.

And if you’re one of those DFLers who’s ignoring Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy because it’s all just too complicated, pay attention to Stockton. And all of California, for that matter; Stockton is a microcosm of all of California’s problems.

And you can smell a little bit of Minneapolis and Saint Paul there, too.