A momentary lapse of reason? or the shape of things to come?

The Republican Controlled House of Representatives voted yesterday to increase the Minnesota State gas tax by 10 cents over the next three years. The RINOs who voted for this measure are:

Jim Abeler, District 48
Ray Cox, District 29B
Ron Erhardt, District 41A
Pat Garofolo, District 36B
Denny McNamara, District 57B
Doug Meslow, District 53B
Dennis Ozment, District 37B
Neil W. Peterson, District 41B
Char Samuelson, District 50B
Kathy Tingelstad, District 49B

Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum, who said he was surprised by the vote, vowed that it would never get to the Governor's desk in its current form.

Now seeing this actually pass a Republican controlled body of the state legislature, one only has to wonder... just what were they smoking? Why pass a law that they know will be vetoed by a governor who has done-very-well-thank-you by sticking with his "no new taxes" pledge?

As Dan Ochsner so aptly said, "They will have the distinct honor of sharing the fate of John Kerry, when they tell their constituents, "I actually voted for the bill, before I voted against it." If this keeps up, it would appear that the Minnesota state Republican party will share the fate of their national party counterparts.