Unallotments: ‘bad math,’ ‘lousy government’ and ’slavish adherence to the same failed philosophy’

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment announcement today created a run on thesauruses, as his political opponents rushed to find ways to describe his plan.

"The governor’s action is in line with his recent veto of the anti-bullying bill," state Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), who’s hoping to be the DFL candidate for Pawlenty’s job next year, said in a statement. "Tim Pawlenty has become the schoolyard bully; he is picking on the sickest, most vulnerable people in our state.

"While the governor tried to minimize the impact of his cuts on cities, schools and hospitals, those cuts will cause real harm to real people."

Marty implied that Pawlenty was himself employing a thesaurus in using a "long string of adjectives" to "decry the rapid growth of general assistance medical care — even though this growth is cause by more adults losing their jobs and their health care, and in desperation turning to GAMC."

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, another DFLer pondering an ascensionto the governor’s office next year, also checked in.

"I deeply disagree with the governor, because his choices will hurt many people," Rybak said. "The governor has offered no plan for putting people to work, only for cutting jobs during a tough economy, and has offered no strategy for fixing a broken state budget that continues to lurch from deficit to deficit."

Rybak’s sentiments were echoed by Barb Johnson, president of the Minneapolis City Council. "Unlike the state, the city of Minneapolis has addressed its financial challenges head on by paying down debt, doing long-term financial planning and delivering services more efficiently," Johnson said. "If the state had been as disciplined about managing its finances as we have been, they wouldn’t be in this situation."

"It is important for everyone to understand that cuts made by the governor are massive and will be felt by every Minnesotan, and unfortunately those cuts will not solve the state’s budget problem."

Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, called the unallotment plan a "huge setback to our economy, which is starting to show a few signs of recovery."

"The governor and his hopeful Republican successors are practicing bad math and lousy government," Hunter charged. "The governor and his allies have shown us that they’re determined to protect the wealthiest Minnesotans by taking jobs and vital services away from working people."

And the state DFL Party flung a few well-placed adjectives of its own.

"In slavish adherence to the same failed philosophy that drove America into recession — not to mention his own ambition — Pawlenty and the Republicans have embarked on the arrogant, reckless and potentially illegal path of unallotment that will hurt hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, and drive Minnesota’s economy even further into a hole," Donna Cassutt, the party’s associate chairwoman, said.

"The Republicans’ actions today, which will lead to higher property taxes, fewer hospitals and worse health care, will push Minnesota’s families off the economic cliff."

Even the state’s dentists are unhappy with Pawlenty this afternoon, registering "profound disappointment" with the governor’s unallotment of $6.2 million to the Critical Access Dental Provider Program, which helps clinics that treat low-income, special-needs and rural patients.

"Poor people don’t have lobbyists," Dr. John Flor of Main Street Dental in Blooming Prairie said in a press release from the Minnesota Dental Association, "the voice of dentistry in Minnesota." "We see 16,000 medical assistance patients per year, and some come from up to 200 miles away to get access to our care. But we can’t accept new patients without adequate funding. While our clinic may survive these cuts, others may not."

5 Responses to “Unallotments: ‘bad math,’ ‘lousy government’ and ’slavish adherence to the same failed philosophy’”

1. Anonymous Says:
   June 16th, 2009 at 7:09 pm

   We need the visionary, bold leadership of John Marty in the Governor’s Office!!

2. Anonymous Says:
   June 17th, 2009 at 10:20 am

   I agree John Marty is the only solution to fixing this health care disaster!!

3. Anonymous Says:
   June 17th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

   “In slavish adherence to the same failed philosophy that drove America into recession ” Really? But certainly not the insane and irresponsible DFL philosophy of SPEND and TAX, unrestrained growth in intrusive Government, onorous anti-business and free market regulations and impediments, Sarbannes-Oxley, idiotic, irrational and unconstitutional economic policies, Un-needed and un asked for infra-structure boondoggles, nanny government, and more.

   Believe me, MN taxpayers are not that stupid to buy into idiotic assertion. Blame Barney Frank, the Federal Reserve, and BOTH the elephant and and the Jackass equally!

4. Anonymous Says:
   June 17th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

   Clearly, the governor is unconcerned about solving the deficits facing our state by addressing our state’s greatest problems, like the skyrocketing costs of healthcare. Rather, our governor decided months ago to make his budget someone else’s problem by pressing for long term bonds, cutting local government aid, passing property tax caps on those local governments, and then shifting E-12 education costs so that the schools are forced to take out loans in order to covertly run an unbalanced state budget. Our governor is meeting his “no new taxes” pledge by raising taxes on our grandchildren. He has higher concerns than Minnesota’s future.

   However, the most disgusting part about yesterday’s festivities was the elimination of the state’s Political Contribution Refund Program. Costing a mere $10M that won’t even buy a school nowadays, this bill was the last vestigial piece of decency that helped keep the state legislature attentive to the needs of normal Minnesotans. By guaranteeing that state taxpayers would have a potential impact on campaign fundraising, this pithy sum was just about the only program counterbalancing the overwhelming influence of Minnesota’s record number of lobbyists per capita. Any money that this tiny nick saved taxpayers will be reimbursed a thousand times over with lavish favors and subsidies to Minnesota’s special interests.

5. Anonymous Says:
   June 17th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

   We need a legislator, like John Marty, to lead Minnesota! Marty understands that we need to spend money on prevention and supportive social services in order to save us money in the future. Just as Marty has said before, a family sitting around the dinner table trying to establish a budget in hard times would not decide to abandon their sickest family members in order to cut costs- so neither should the Minnesota government!