Mark Dayton, Chief Incompetant

As we near a government shutdown here in Minnesota the news coming out of the capital is getting me spitting mad.  Of course, you won't hear any of this from the mainstream, you have to be tuned in to talk radio to get the facts.  Let us not forget that our beloved governor was rated as the WORST senator by Time magazine in 2006.  There was a reason for that.

• There is evidence coming out that Mark Dayton never intended to pass a budget for this next biennium.  He apparently had several vetoes written up even before the Republicans had put a bill in place for the budget.
• The Republicans did put a balanced budget bill on the governor's desk.  It was a $32B budget that increased spending by 6% over the last budget.  Governor Dayton wanted a $36B budget that required raising taxes on "the rich."  After weeks of debate the Republicans finally agreed to Dayton's $36B budget.  Note that Dayton has been blaming the Republicans the entire time of being unwilling to compromise and meet him on his budget, and the media eats it up.  However, after the Republican's caved completely on this budget, he pulls the offer and wants a $37.8B budget instead.
• There is technically no reason why the legislature couldn't pass a 30/60/90 day continuing resolution to keep the government open at the last year's budget levels.  However, since this legislative session is over it would require Governor Dayton call the elected officials back for a special session.  The problem, he refuses to do it.  Making Dayton the first Minnesota governor in over 70 years who has refused to bring the legislature back when a budget was not passed.

So you tell me, in light of of this, is Governor Dayton upholding his fiduciary duty?  Hardly, in fact, the evidence shows that he never wanted a budget in the first place.  He's wanted to shut the government down since the day he walked into office because he knows he can blame it all on the Republicans and the media won't bother to challenge him on it.

Oh, and don't forget his asinine response to the 21st Century voter ID bill, which would require every Minnesotan to have a valid ID in order to vote in the elections.  Dayton's veto of the bill was due to "lack of bipartisan support and overall support from the general public."  Mind you, in a recent poll it was determined that 80% of Minnesotan's support 21st Century ID.

But don't worry, only his "essential" staff is still working.

UPDATE:  Check my previous comments.  The Star Tribune just published this article detailing exactly what Dayton is up to.  There is hope yet if even the Star Tribune is publishing this stuff.

Other articles trickling out:

• Taxing the Rich isn't Enough - Pioneer Press