Governor Dayton's Scorched Earth Policy

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is fast surpassing former governor Rudy Perpich in the race for the title of, "Governor Goofy." There were reasons that he was voted as being one of the five "worst Senators" in the United States Senate, and those reasons are coming full circle in his dismal performance and abdication of his responsibilities as Governor. Gary Gross notes:

If this article is accurate, then Gov. Dayton has just brought upon himself a constitutional crisis. Here's what caught my attention:

Ramsey District Judge Kathleen Gearin will hear Dayton's request on June 23 -- just one week before state funds start to run out.

In her petition, Swanson asked the court to fund a broad expanse of state services and appoint a "special master" -- essentially a shutdown referee, to sort the details.

Dayton offered a different solution in his petition.

"Order the parties to mediate," Dayton asked the court. He suggested former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz or former Associate Justice James Gilbert to act as court-appointed mediators. Swanson had asked that Gilbert be appointed special master.

Only if mediation fails, Dayton's brief said, should the court infringe "on the constitutional powers of the legislative and executive departments."

It is quite clear that Governor Dayton (despite his initial bloviating) has had it in his feeble, twisted mind to shut down the government on purpose, from the get-go, as part of a planned, perverted game of chicken, seemingly using the resultant denial of state services to maximize the discomfort and to teach Minnesotans some kind of twisted lesson as to the "danger" of conservative principles of limited government and to instill the perceived need for un-checked, unbridled, unsustainable big brother government for generations to come.

At the outset of his election win, many people, including many conservatives, argued that since Dayton wasn't the endorsed DFL candidate, that he would not be beholden to the DFL, and would thus be 'less partisan', more 'level headed,' and 'easier to work with.'

Truth be told, I never bought that notion for a nanosecond. Dayton may not have been the endorsed DFL candidate for governor; but Dayton is, always has been, and always will be, a dyed-in-the-wool (albeit incompetent) socialist, with an indefatigable belief in the primacy of the State and its all-encompassing role in people's lives. And he's not above inconveniencing and/or making Minnesotans downright suffer to twistedly impose his ideology.