Override: A Teachable Moment

Busy today, so I will direct you to some sanity in the STRIB yesterday. A step by step cleansing of the MNGOP spin of the veto over ride. It can be found here. A favorite:

"Eliminated all the waste, fraud and abuse in state government."

As MnDOT commissioner, Carol Molnau consistently told lawmakers that there was no need to raise the gas tax because there would be plenty of money to spend on new roads and bridges once she rooted out all of the waste, fraud and abuse in her own agency. So far, the only thing that's been cut from the MnDOT budget is the maintenance of our roads and bridges.

Rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in state government is, in fact, the responsibility of the governing administration. We're now five years into the Pawlenty administration. If there are still billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse waiting to be rooted out, the governor should be able to tell us where it is and what he's doing to eliminate it -- and this would be a good week for him to be forthcoming with this information.

Can I shout it --> We're now five years into the Pawlenty administration. If there are still billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse waiting to be rooted out, the governor should be able to tell us where it is and what he's doing to eliminate it There, I feel better. One last piece:

Besides, transportation is a public utility that should be financed by its users. When I was a Republican, "user pays" was a guiding principle.

I can guess why he isn't a Republican anymore, common sense kicked in.

Read it all!