By vetoing the bonding bill in toto, Governor Tim Pawlenty is sending a strong message to the Legislature. He could have instead produced a line-item veto for many of the projects and kept some of the ones he preferred. The newspaper and perhaps the governor's office claims this was to prevent spending the Legislature's time on trying to override each line item veto, but it is more likely a strategic play that keeps projects in play for the negotiation over the budget that is to continue. In short, he is saying nothing is off the table.

It appears, by the way, that Senator Tarryl Clark has been hanging around Pogie a little too much. She is getting a nasty tongue:

But Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, said the veto will engender "a lot of disappointment, frustration and maybe anger" from communities around the state that would have benefitted from building projects in the bill. She likened the governor to "a 2-year-old just saying 'no, no, no.' "

So at what age in the Clark household do the children say "gimme, gimme, gimme"? And when they don't get that new toy, what do we call their "disappointment, frustration and maybe anger"? Around my house, it's known as a temper tantrum.

It appears Sen. Steve Murphy had one.

Labels: legislature, Minnesota, Pawlenty