Plenty of backlash against the city of Rochester and the Mayo Clinic today for their request for 500 million dollars in public finding to assist in their expansion plans for the city.  But conservatives cannot in good conscience blame the Mayo or the city of Rochester-we should blame ourselves.

After the legislature gave the green light to a Vikings stadium that uses more public dollars than private, why shouldn't the Mayo ask for the same deal?  They would bring in a lot more jobs and tax revenue than the MN Vikings, and they are asking for a 10% contribution for the state, versus the 60-70% stake that we put up for the Vikings stadium.

Don't blame the Mayo clinic-they are pursuing a smart business policy of taking advantage of available tax benefits.  Show me a business in Minnesota that does their taxes and says "that tax break is just too generous, we should stand on principle and not take it".  Then I'll show you a business leader that needs to be fired.

The Mayo request is, of course, incredibly non-conservative and not in the best interests of the state or the taxpayers in the long run.  But the decision that started this mess was the vote by the legislature to buy the Vikings a stadium.  That is where we went wrong, and that is where the blame lies.

Any legislator who voted for the Vikings stadium deal and does not support the Mayo request for public assistance in Rochester is a hypocrite.

Voting yes in the house on the Vikings stadium-