King smacks Tarryl Clark:

“The impact of ‘No New Taxes’ is clear,” said Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud. “Someone else has to pick up the tab. That’s not honest and not fair, particularly to the middle class.”

Pick up what tab? Sure, if you assume all spending must be done, somebody has to pay. But you don’t have to spend. Spending is a choice, be it your eating out budget ($96/day) or the higher education budget. YOU ORDERED THE SPENDING, IT’S YOUR TAB. You have misstated this case ever since your inflation dishonesty.

That’s a huge bit of baggage in Minnesota’s public life; this notion, set in motion during the “Minnesota Miracle” (the 30-year stretch in Minnesota when Republicans acted like Democrats) that whatever someone can attach to “public good” is instantly and permanently “worth” whatever its promoters want to spend, damn the consequences and opportunity costs.