When Minnesota DFLers talk “bipartisanship” and “getting beyond politics”, you have to remember – it’s just talk.
The DFL is stalling on a budget deal, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk is already talking about a special session – with a high likelihood of no agreement, followed by the shutdown that, many think, the DFL has been angling for all along:
Bakk signaled Tuesday that he’s already given some thought to a special session scenario, mentioning in an interview that he’d seen polling data indicating that Republicans would bear a greater share of the shutdown blame. “It’s not good for the institution, and I would certainly rather that it not happen,” he said. “There’s no reason this can’t get done.”
Other than “Tom Bakk would rather benefit the DFL than “the institution”, of course.
The budget battle was lost when Dayton was re-elected Governor. Your expectations are not in line with the reality of the GOP owning only one of the three legs of MN state government. The conservatives ability to win the budget battle was lost with the last election. If we want to control the budget process, conservatives need to sell a better product during the election.
If the GOP expects to settle for “Paying Back the ‘Surplus’,” then they need to start with a lower opening bid. “First, Last, & Best Offer” rarely is.
No pain inflicted on the populace is too great as long as the DFL knows they have the MSM in the palm of their hand.