A nice gig...

 

 

"Mr. Bakk has become good, very good at spending other people's money. That makes him a damn good DEMOCRAT..."

There is an old saying in the business world. It is what you say when you come across someone who has an especially cushy job. "It sure is a nice gig if you can find it." I thought about that today when finding out Tom Bakk (DEMOCRAT Senate Majority Leader) would like to spend another $7+M on an underground parking ramp built for 3,000 cars. Or was it 300 cars. No, I guess it was only 30 cars.

Before I go into a rant about this not so gentle giant from the north country, a quick aside. As a diversion when I am on the internet, I play an gambling game. I actually have become quite good at it. I have won billions and lost billions. No harm, no foul. I have learned how to amass huge amounts of money without having to "buy" chips with real money. It is a fantasy game as the money does not mean much. It is not real. If I lose a bunch, or win a bunch, life goes on as usual.

Mr. Bakk and others of his ilk, seem to think the same of our tax dollars. Spending them becomes like a fantasy game. They are not real. During the last legislation session, when the clock was about to strike midnight, Bakk and his fellow DEMOCRATS snuck in a $90M project into a 300+ page bill. For what you might ask? For a new "Taj Mahal" Senate office building. To house a bunch of part time workers. But who cares? The money does not matter. It is there to spend.

The question I have is what is next? Is Bakk going to cave in and side with our statist Governor on Pre-K? How about the gas tax? How about more money for light rail so the SWLRT does not have to be cut back? How about some more money for welfare so we can continue to draw people to Minnesota from all over the country - and also the world. Because we eschew "zero based budgeting", we simply don't care about accountability. Nope. We have given up on it. As we used to say in the Navy, "smoke em' it you got em'."

So life is good in "Moneyapolis". And in the rest of "Moneysota". And St. Paul is the epicenter for the endless river of money which feeds both "Moneyapolis" as well as the rest of "Moneysota". Next session, we need to find funding for the soccer stadium. Trendy you know. And now there are (believe it or not) people who want to build a stadium up in Duluth for a second pro football team. No - this is not a joke.

So the beat goes on. Well played Mr. Bakk! Just keep the pork coming! Many of us would love to have your job. It is better than internet gaming. You do have a great gig sir! And your job is a nice gig, it you can find it...