Eating Dessert First

Everyone has heard the old joke, “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.”  Well, I was at a luncheon this week and actually saw it happen.  Dessert had already been set out at each place setting.  The wait for the entrée grew long, so my seatmate made due with his dessert.

So it is with our Minnesota State Legislature.  The newly-elected Democrat majority (or as we style it, DFL—Democrat, Farmer, Labor) ran in 2012 on the theme of “better priorities," that the Republicans had taken their eye off the ball—pursuing divisive social issues at the expense of jobs and the economy.

In my neck of the woods, local Democrats ran as “pro-business” moderates:  focused on paying back the school shift, streamlining taxes and regulation, and cutting wasteful spending.

Now, in perhaps the biggest bait and switch in Minnesota political history, the Democrats are focused on anything but their “better priorities.”  Minnesota's unemployment rate, which had fallen steadily from the early-2009 peak, has been essentially unchanged for the past year.  Rather than working on the stalled economy, these are the priorities of the DFL legislature:

• divisive social issues
• gun-control weeks
• puppy mills
• bike lanes
• endless hearings on the unnecessary state healthcare exchange

And those pro-business moderate 2012 campaign promises?  The DFL is working to shut down through more regulations one of the state’s few industrial bright spots: sand mining.  They are working to repeal hard fought education reforms.  And paying back the school shift?  "Not a top priority."  Wow.  In October 2012, the school funding shift was the greatest crime ever perpetrated within the state’s borders.  In February 2013 it no longer matters.  What changed?

We are now five weeks into the legislative session.  More than 500 bills have been introduced.  This is it.  No entrée is coming.  There is no big plan for jobs and the economy on the way.  There is no big reform for education and government operations coming.  From here on out it will be higher taxes, more wasteful spending, and more progressive hot buttons.

Enjoy the dessert; it’s all you’re going to get.