The night old sine die(d)

"What do I say to this session? Good riddance to bad rubbish. A lot of hard word by some very fine people resulted in a bunch of nothing burgers. Period. Sine die special session - and die quickly." 

Sine die. Man, what an odd term to still be using. It is an old Latin term which literally means "without day". Or there is no other day scheduled, so we are outta here! I have a better definition. Only the last word - die. Our hopes for a normal Social Security fix died this session. Oh, there is some relief for those seniors who are dirt poor. But those who are not rich, yet have a "normal" retirement, got screwed again. And who are those people? Most of the retired folks whom I know.

Trust me on this one. I have been fighting this issue for the good people in Minnesota long before I totally retired. And I have heard every excuse in the book from our elected officials. "It is too hard." Or, "We tried, but we are only one leg of a three legged stool" (of course, this year they had two legs). Then there is, "The state really can't afford it." Or my favorite of all time -  "We need the money for other things." 

What else died under sine die? My patience. Plus the patience of tens of thousands in Minnesota. Anything else die? The chances of me giving one dime or minute of time to candidates who were not TOTALLY committed to fix this travesty. 

I made this threat before the session came to an end. The war paint is going on before the next election. This was our golden opportunity to get this fixed for once and for all. We had a $1.6B surplus due to over taxation (part of that was from over taxing Social Security). We controlled the House and Senate. The issue just by itself is (or should be), bipartisan. The table was set. This should have been as easy as falling off a log.

Sine die(d). What a miserable session this was. Sunday liquor sales. Big whoop. Most who plan, never run to the liquor store on Sunday anyhow. Real ID. Another big whoop. Un-needed and un-wanted by many. If someone chooses not to get an enhanced licence, that is up to that person. There will be some doors which will be shut to that person, but that is a personal choice. 

What do I say to this session? Good riddance to bad rubbish. A lot of hard work by some very fine people resulted in a bunch of nothing burgers. Period. Sine die special session - and die quickly.