Gross Expenditures
By Mitch Berg
Gary Gross at Let Freedom Ring looks at the Minnesota Budget Deficit – six billion and counting – on the one hand, and the zooming cost of DFL legislators’ per diems on the other, and notes:
it’s come to the public’s attention that DFL members of the legislature were paid a substantial amount of per diem for out-of-session hearings and meetings.On the Senate side, the top 16 DFL legislators were paid a grand total of $99,648 for out-of-session hearings and meetings. With senators getting paid $96 per day in per diem, that’s a total of 1,038 days of out-of-session per diem paid.
On the House side, the 14 biggest amounts of out-of-session per diem were paid to DFL representatives. The total amount of out-of-session per diem paid to these representatives is $65,142. Dividing the $65,142 by the $77 per day per diem payment gives you a total of 846 days of out-of-session hearings and meetings.
He’s got some questions:
There are several reasons why I’m highlighting these per diem payments, the most important of which is to ask these questions:
* What work product did these DFL legislators produce during these hearings and meetings?
* Did the DFL give a high priority to gathering important budgetary information during these meetings?
* Did the DFL give a high priority to finding solutions to the budget deficit the highest priority of these hearings? If the DFL didn’t put a high priority on that, why didn’t they?
* Did the DFL give a high priority to identifying spending that was spent on wants, not needs? If the DFL didn’t put a high priority on that, why didn’t they?
* Did the DFL put a high priority on finding ways to save money without reducing service levels? If the DFL didn’t put a high priority on that, why didn’t they?
* How many hours did these legislators work, on average, each of these 1,884 work days? Less than 4 hours on average? Was it 4-8 hours? Was it more than 8 hours a day?The reason why your answers to these questions are so important to me is to know that the legislature is doing its fair share of work in finding solutions to Minnesota’s budget deficit. If you aren’t part of the solution, then you’re really just putting up an unneeded, and unwanted, roadblock in the solution process.
Yeah, that’d be a shock, wouldn’t it?
Still, Gary notes that he’d like the legislators – especially the cash-guzzling DFL majority – to hear those questions. Over, and over, and over again.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch. If our DFL legislature thought things out like you outline above, they’d be in private business instead of milking the taxpayers for excess per diem charges.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Yeah, because GOD knows the Republicans work more hours Chuck, and more than that, this is SUCH a huge part of the budget.
Smoke, meet mirror.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Principle, meet DFL.
What was the old maxim of effective leadership? Never ask someone to do what you won’t do yourself?
February 24th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Agreed Mitch, that’s a great maxim.
Let’s try this one out then
1. Balance a budget federally
2. Be responsible for your own ineffective and budget busting tax cuts that NOT ONE TIME in the past 30 years lead to a greater number of higher paying jogs
3. Live to the principles aspoused in the Constitution
and then there’s the REALLY big one…
4. Work in a bipartisan way, acknowledging your own flaws, misteps, offenses and miscues – while asking only the same from others. Mitch, if anyone, anyone has a bit to learn from that maxim, it’s bloggers who openly advocate for unfairness and bias – promoting acceptance of a flaw, hiding their own complicity or responsibility, while asking the OTHER side to answer for their complicities and responsibilities.
Yep, that’s a maxim I like
February 24th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
BTW Mitch, I mean no offesnse, but that particular maxim is one I’ve been saying on this blog for going on 5 years, maybe more. Lead by example – speak in civil tones, acknowledge the value of both sides, etc..and you will find common ground. If not, don’t expect ANYTHING from others you won’t do yourself – including putting country first.
February 24th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
“speak in civil tones,”
You forgot to call us all “neo-kooks” or something along those lines.
February 24th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Bipartisan: Of, consisting of, or supported by members of two parties, especially two major political parties.
Bipartisan is not a “way of acting”. If you mean “play nice together” or “be humble”, please use those words and don’t try to stuff your meaning into words that already have one.
February 24th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
“don’t expect ANYTHING from others you won’t do yourself”
“many neo-cons I know who’ve been unemployed and taken unemployment insurance payment. Those people are absolute base hypocrites.”
“put another nail in the coffin of the idea of Isreal”
Just. Plain. Ugly.
Respect is earned and you have a long way to go, baby.
February 24th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
“don’t expect ANYTHING from others you won’t do yourself”
Giving birth?
February 24th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Funny how Penguin talks about “budget busting tax cuts” but somehow forgets “budget busting spending.”
February 24th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Smoke, meet mirror.
When I look into that smokey mirror all I can see is fingers . . . fingers . . .