[Speed Gibson,
Thursday August 18, 2005 at 3:10pm]
Equal Time
I've devoted several posts to State Senator Dean Johnson, architect of the partial shutdown, and to Governor Tim Pawlenty, the faux conservative. But there's another that has, however mildly, disappointed me for many years now, State Representative and Speaker of the Minnesota House, Steve Sviggum. What prompted this now is this all-too-typical posturing as reported by Dane Smith in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Get going on what? The Maple Grove hospital question can easily wait for 2006. Much more time is clearly required on the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement fund bailout, to insure that it doesn't happen again. It should wait until 2006. But these are just opening acts for the stadium show.
Remember the recent Minnesota Poll which showed that Minnesotans oppose any and all publicly funded stadium proposals? Even though this poll typically skews 5-10 percentage points toward the Tribune's editorial positions, it could find no demographic favoring these bills. But there is Steve Sviggum saying we need to pass them now, so that the anger will die down in time for the November 2006 elections, including his.
I attended all five of the Jason Lewis April tax rallies on the State Capitol steps. We whooped and hollered for Jason, Phil, Gen, Dan, even Jesse, but Steve Sviggum got booed. "You don't know what it's like in there," he would say, "and what you're up against." But the real truth is that Sviggum is talks more coservative than he votes. He's a decent guy, not really trying to deceive, but he's not very good at communications.
I think it's time that Steve Sviggum pass the Speaker's gavel.
"Waiting till next spring would cause some problems with all four of those issues," Sviggum said. "Whether you're for it or against it, you should be willing to vote and show that opinion to the citizens."
Stadium proposals stand a worse chance in the regular session in 2006, an election year, Sviggum said, and construction projects also will increase in cost with further delay. [Emphasis mine.]
"I agree with the governor about not calling a session unless we have prior agreement for a one-day session," he said. "But from a timing standpoint, it's important to get going."
Get going on what? The Maple Grove hospital question can easily wait for 2006. Much more time is clearly required on the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement fund bailout, to insure that it doesn't happen again. It should wait until 2006. But these are just opening acts for the stadium show.
Remember the recent Minnesota Poll which showed that Minnesotans oppose any and all publicly funded stadium proposals? Even though this poll typically skews 5-10 percentage points toward the Tribune's editorial positions, it could find no demographic favoring these bills. But there is Steve Sviggum saying we need to pass them now, so that the anger will die down in time for the November 2006 elections, including his.
I attended all five of the Jason Lewis April tax rallies on the State Capitol steps. We whooped and hollered for Jason, Phil, Gen, Dan, even Jesse, but Steve Sviggum got booed. "You don't know what it's like in there," he would say, "and what you're up against." But the real truth is that Sviggum is talks more coservative than he votes. He's a decent guy, not really trying to deceive, but he's not very good at communications.
I think it's time that Steve Sviggum pass the Speaker's gavel.