Comments on: Better late than never

By: Kerosene Hat

Kerosene Hat — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:46:09 +0000

Is that your way of saying that you don't see any legal alternative either? I would think that if you possessed an actual idea you might have tried posting it.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:34:52 +0000

Spin away, cleftor. That's you right-wingers' raison d'etre, after all.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:22:06 +0000

The Legislature's actions or inactions don't affect the constitutionality of the unallotment here. The more legal alternative would have been for the Governor to call a special session, and to continue to do so until a balanced budget is passed.

If the Governor refuses to call a special session, I suppose he could be recalled for dereliction of duty. There does not appear to be any constitutional remedy for obstinance, as there is no constitutional duty to concur.

By: Jack Handy

Jack Handy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:58:20 +0000

It is an open secret that the November forecast will show another deficit. I look forward to the Democrats asking the Gov. to call a special session to they can present their own plan to address the deficit….

By: DJZ

DJZ — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:44:35 +0000

This is good for Minnesota AND good for Pawlenty. The good or bad for Minnesota is already being discussed. No one has addressed Pawlenty's good fortune handed to him by the DFL. Tim Pawlenty is going to spend the next year fighting the tax and spend hungry liberals, and a liberal court, defending his conservative principles. That's how it will be spun nationally and he may finally climb up to Palin status in his quest for the White House. He's already backtracked on Climate Change. The guy is a midget Mitt Romney. There is no position that he won't backtrack on to pander to the Wingers.

By: Kerosene Hat

Kerosene Hat — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:14:11 +0000

Again, what is the legal alternative to unallotment to balance the budget if the executive and legislative branches refuse to agree to bills that create the constitutionally mandated balanced budget. A special session only prolongs the negotiations and is in no way a resolution in itself. On top of that the constitution only allows the governor to call a special session. So far nobody has provided a better (more legal) alternative to what happened. The fact that the set up to unallotment was provided to the governor when the legislature provided bills that spent more than the state had in revenue means that the legislature did play a vital role in the process.

By: AC in MPLS

AC in MPLS — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:11:05 +0000

What job didn't they do? They passed balanced bills (albeit at the last minute) and sent them to the governor. He played games with what he signed, didn't sign, and later vetoed.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:32 +0000

Again with the "blame the Legislature" talking point. It's not worth arguing that one again.

I will, however, point out that the Governor's cleaning up of the mess in this situation seems to be limited largely to calling a special session. Unallotment (which is not a constitutional power of the Governor, but a statutory creation) is limited to unforeseen situations.

By: cleftor

cleftor — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:52:38 +0000

None of this would have happened if the legislature would have done their jobs in the first place! Why can't the DFLers in the legislature understand they had the power to legislate this matter and squandered it? Now according to the MN state constitution, the Governor has to clean up their mess.