Sunday, November 29, 2009

“Hand wringing and mumbo jumbo”

That’s how one thoughtful and obviously intelligent commenter over at the Star Tribune described an op-ed piece in today’s paper by Vice President Walter Mondale and former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug. The subject of the commentary was the governor’s unallotment last spring before the new biennium began. Their point was that his action is unconstitutional under the Minnesota Constitution. The Minnesota Constitution, the commentary continued, contains an explicit separation of powers, and Governor Gutshot had arrogated to himself functions that belonged to the Legislature.

Here’s the mumbo jumbo that Mondale and Lillehaug referred to:

art three of const

You can look it up. And while you’re at the Minnesota Constitution site, you can look for the provision that says the governor adopts the budget. You won’t find it. That’s the job of the Legislature.

And while it’s very easy to splash around in the shallow end of the gene pool known as the Star Tribune op-ed comments section and insult a former Vice President of the United States and a former U.S. Attorney; it’s much harder apparently, to actually read their arguments and, heaven forfend, read the Minnesota Constitution.

Spot posted on the subject of the op-ed last week.

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