Owatonna People's Press blames Dayton
The editorial board at the Owatonna People's Press, normally a little bit right of center, pens a scathing critcism of Governor Dayton today. They take exception not only with his notion of 'compromise', but also with his penchant for blaming everyone but himself in the budget battle.
When it comes to pointing fingers and passing blame for the budget stalemate in St. Paul, Gov. Mark Dayton has done well. In fact, it has become for him almost an art form. But the truth of the matter is that if anyone is digging in his heels and not budging in the budget negotiations, it is the governor himself.
Not falling for the DFL's attempt to re-write history, the OPP recalls correctly that the GOP started with a 30 billion dollar budget proposal, and moved to 34 as the money became available.
For all of his posturing about the Republicans being unwilling to compromise, the governor misses the point that his loyal opposition has compromised — several times, in fact. The governor started with a $38 billion budget proposal while the Republicans countered by saying they wanted to keep spending at the current level of $30 billion. In the time since those initial salvos, the GOP-controlled Legislature has presented the governor with a $34 billion budget.
The best line refers to Dayton's response to yet another GOP offer to compromise, which Dayton dismissed out of hand-
The governor’s reaction? No deal.
In fact, the governor went so far as to call it a “non-proposal” and compared the Republican’s actions to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Well, if the GOP leaders are rearranging the chairs, then surely Gov. Dayton must be the iceberg itself — frozen to a proposal and not willing to change.
In the end, the OPP makes the point that conservatives need to stress when the state shutdown becomes a hard painful reality-it could have easily been avoided but Dayton refused.
We doubt that the governor — who has taken a “my way or the highway” approach — will change his tune. And if he doesn’t, he will only have himself to blame.
Comments welcome at the Steele County GOP blog, or better yet add a comment to the People's Press story (registration required).
Share this post
