Gary tries to parse Tiny Tarryl's words:

I think people have been led to believe that we�re awash in new money and that we can do many good things. I think it�s definitely the wake-up call that we can�t do many good things; not with these kinds of dollars,� according to Clark.

Let me offer this suggestion to the DFL: If you want to do �good things�, why not start with cutting our taxes, especially property taxes? Better yet, why not eliminate wasteful spending? Or perhaps adopt a family-friendly budget that tells the lobbyists that they don�t get everything on their wish lists? If you did that, they�d have working families on their side.

I actually think there's a more base statement to be made here to Senator Clark. It comes from Ronald Reagan, who understood that governments are not places that can "do many good things."

[T]he United States is unique because we are an empire of ideals. For two hundred years we have been set apart by our faith in the ideals of democracy, of free men and free markets, and of the extraordinary possibilities that lie within seemingly ordinary men and women. We believe that no power of government is as formidable a force for good as the creativity and entrepreneurial drive of the American people.

And with the fall of communism that ideal was known to all, but then as now, there are those who try to pretend they've learned the lesson but haven't. Reagan, talking about the Democratic Convention that year that had been in New York,

Over and over they told us they are not the party they were. They kept telling us with straight faces that they're for family values, they're for a strong America, they're for less intrusive government.

...What they truly don't understand is the principle so eloquently stated by Abraham Lincoln: "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."

If we ever hear the Democrats quoting that passage by Lincoln and acting like they mean it, then, my friends, we will know that the opposition has really changed.

Until then, we see all that rhetorical smoke, billowing out from the Democrats, well ladies and gentlemen, I'd follow the example of their nominee. Don't inhale.

And don't buy the bilge that Little Larry and the Larriettes are selling that they could do good with a few more dollars. That logic might work for their per diems, but not with your money.

UPDATE: Speaking of per diems, we realize that with the weekend comes laundry and other things that the per diem has to pay, so we thought we better save the poor babies an extra $20. So off they go to Fabulous Fern's, which will take care of their needs for dinner on a very tight $40 budget (total bill includes 25% markup for tax and service.)

Caesar Salad $6.50
Cajun Meatloaf $10.95
Bowl of soup of the moment $3.50
Black Opal Shiraz (one glass) $6.25
Vanilla bread pudding with whiskey sauce $4.95

Labels: legislature, Minnesota, taxes