State Senator Satveer Chaudhary's recent press release attempts a tone of fiscal tough-mindeness, but it's amusingly short on any plan. He acknowledges that the "experts" have all said "structural" changes in spending and revenue must be made to Minnesota's budget process and calls on Governor Pawlenty to "come to the table" and eschew "budget trickery and gimmicks."
Okay, Senator Chaudhary -- how's this for transparency? I'll be happy to acquiesce in your thinly-veiled call for tax increases if you and your DFL partners implement an across the board 30% redution in spending.
No? Well, I for one am not willing to trust the DFL by giving them the tax increases first. Last year, they opposed every effort Governor Pawlenty made to cut spending, thinking it more politically expedient to push the blame onto him for unallotting spending through the executive budget process. If you look at Senator Chaudhary's "chief author list" of bills in last year's session, one sees mainly a pathetic docket of opaque do-nothing special-exception backroom deals (e.g. SF871 "Columbia-Heights tax increment financing district duration extension") and money contributions, mostly to the environmental special interests (e.g. SF883 "Lets go fishing promotion grant appropriation").
The State of Minnesota is in desperate straits. These times call for a budget visionary with a backbone of steel. It was blazingly obvious during last year's session that now is not the time for fishing promotion grants funded by the State, but all Senator Chaudhary has to offer us is marshmallow cliches to cover his intention to keep up the political pandering to the last.
Dennis M. Flahave
New Brighton Resident
