Saturday, October 31, 2009

Larry Pogemiller to Exact Revenge--On The Backs of School Children

Part of Governor Pawlenty's effort to balance the Minnesota budget without raising taxes was to shift 27% of the funding to schools into the following year. Schools would have to borrow funds in the meantime, but they would get their money.

Not if Larry Pogemiller has anything to do with it.

According to a school administrator with whom I spoke recently, Pogemiller reportedly plans to refuse to verify Pawlenty's cost shifting measure, thus leaving the schools high and dry in 2011, just in time to harvest political hay for the 2012 election year.

Why? For one reason and one reason only. To exact revenge on Tim Pawlenty by blaming the lack of funding available to schools to him and to the Minnesota GOP.

So livid is the leadership of the Minnesota DFL that Pawlenty had to play the parent to balance the Minnesota budget, that they're willing to exact "scorched-earth"-style revenge on him and the MN GOP, even at the expense of much needed funding for Minnesota's schools.

But I know. Everything that Pogemiller, Margaret Kelliher, Tarryl Clark and the rest of the DFL leadership does is "for the chiiiiildren." Even if they have to shaft them in the process of helping them.