The Power of Six

04/12/2008

Paul Munnis


All across our State there is a positive buzz concerning the fortitude of the six Republicans who voted their conscience over Minnesota Transportation.

The retaliation by the GOP Party Bosses was swift and severe and it has harmed the GOP image a lot. People are now saying the Party has become more important than the State and loyalty to the governor more important than loyalty to the electorate. Supporting Party Bosses is more important than supporting the good of our State is the terrible message that the GOP has sent out for all to witness.

The DFL had been saying as much about the GOP for a long time before this happened but the message was discounted for after all, the DFL is the opposition Party. But now there is no more obscurity – it is clear that the MN State GOP is run by a group of poor leaders who have only their own interests in mind.

We are seeing it in the economy where once again “Trickle-Down Economics,” called by some: “The Economics of Greed,” has once again failed as it has every other time that we have tried it.

The Iraq War that the public has been saying for a long time needs to be ended continues and it is sinking us economically, forcing us to devalue our dollar and to lose our world position in international trade.

A banking crisis caused more by greed than anything else is crippling our economy and forcing us into massive levels of debt to try to rescue the sinking economy from full scale world depression.

An oil based carbon economy is being politically supported when we desperately need to shift to an alternative energy based economy and do it smoothly and in a cooperative political manner.

Tim Walz made it clear to the Rochester Chamber of Commerce when he spoke to these businessmen about today’s awful business conditions. The business people get it, they see it in their bankbooks each week as they tally the results of investing in a bad economy. Tim said that bad decisions put us in this mess and that good decisions can get us out of it. His was not a partisan message. Both Republicans and Democrats need to work together to get the economy straightened out.

We have seen precious little of this idea of working together in the last eight years. Politics has become so combative that we have reached a level of mutual contempt. Yet both Parties bring important concepts to the table. Democrats seek to create a strong middle class able to fully participate in our economy. Republicans bring a desire for individual wealth to the table. The bi-partisan key to both of the party’s realizing their goal is called “co-operation.” We did that once upon a time but not now.

Then along comes these six Republicans who looked at our transportation needs and voted their conscience to over-ride the Governor’s veto. Presto, a bill that will move the State forward while creating 33,000 badly needed jobs became enabled. An angry GOP leadership took immediate disciplinary action against the six legislators by removing them from key Party positions and refusing to fund their re-election campaigns. The reward of conscience has been political retaliation.

It didn’t end there either. This week the Governor struck transportation funds from commuter rail using his line item veto power and thus setting the State backwards for years to come. We have lost access to needed Federal funds and that scuttles the efforts to expand. We went from a win-win situation to a lose-lose situation overnight because of a bad performance from the GOP and their ego-mania inspired Party Bosses.

Democrats have just crafted and passed in the House a modest Health Bill that move our State forward. You can expect to see the GOP veto it. How sad is that? Thousands will go without healthcare and the State faces a financial crisis because of a Governor with no sense of public responsibility.

It is disgusting but the DFL feels a positive sense for future possibilities. If the public is as turned-off by the GOP as we think they are then they will vote against the GOP candidates and vote for DFL candidates in November of this year. Just by picking up six seats in the House we will be able to make our House legislative action veto proof by being able to override the Governor’s veto. We can already do that in the Senate. It will allow our State government to move forward with one big exception. The Governor still has a line item veto and he can still use it to poison the well. We will just have to take that risk and continue to move ahead even though it is getting discouraging.

One thing is for sure, our Governor is demonstrating that he would make a lousy Vice President and Minnesotans can bear witness to the nation if he goes into VP nomination. Our witness will have plenty of real world examples too.

As Tim Walz said – “good decisions can fix our problems.” Yes, they can if they are given a chance to succeed.