Notes from "Realville"...

"Stay tuned to what is going on in St. Paul folks. In particular, listen very carefully to what people say - on both sides of the aisle. Listen past the code talk and 'dog whistles'. The truth is usually buried under a heap of talking points and trash talk. But it is in there." 

By now, most have heard the statist Governor of New York got punched in the gut by the reality of living in a very high SALT state. His counterpart on the Left Coast also had his comeuppance last week, when he needed to cancel his very expensive choo-choo train. Why? His state is broke. And New York is on the same path. Governor Cuomo just found out his state is a couple billion dollars shy due to people (along with their money) fleeing his state. Then - for frosting on the cake - Amazon pulled the plug on the HQ deal. Why? Ask AOC.

Now our new Governor, who is a Cuomo and Newsome wannabe, has just been given some similar news, although not quite as bad. This long, long laundry list of how he wants to spend the people's money for the next four to eight years, might have hit a couple of snags.

Snag One - Even though his cronies took the House, and now have a socialist as Speaker of the House, those dang Republicans still control the Senate. 

Snag Two - (And this is the big one), money - or lack thereof. Stuff happens when you too, are a high SALT state. Hello, tax conformity! Well, we can forget that one now! Can't afford it. Will people in this state get super hosed on their taxes this year? Yep. How about next year if tax conformity is not addressed this session. Yep, again. And our unfair in immoral taxation of seniors by taxing Social Security? Forget about it! Our almost 10% top rate on income tax? Not high enough. Stay tuned on this one. 

Is there anything working in our new Governor's favor? Well, there is always the RINO factor. Some (and seems to more every week), are beginning to wonder about our Senate Leader. Like, how resolute is he? Seems he already has hinted he might go along with growing state government (huh?). To make matters worse, he might also be getting some round heels on supporting new gun legislation. 

We do however, have our newly formed New Republican Caucus in the House. These are stalwarts who HATE the idea of growing government. They are strict Constitutionalists. But they are only five strong, and some of the other Republicans in the House have become (or have been for a while), establishment careerists. And that has been the problem in the past. Once every session is over, and Republican leaders in the House and Senate are asked why they allowed government to grow (again), their response is always the same. "Well, we didn't grow it as much as the Democrats wanted, so that is a win." Huh?

Stay tuned to what is going on in St. Paul folks. In particular, listen very carefully to what people say - on both sides of the aisle. Listen past the code talk and "dog whistles". The truth is usually buried under a heap of talking points and trash talk. But it is in there. 

This state does not have a fraction of the money to everything the statists want us to do. Just like in the people's republic of California and New York. Now we are on a path to become just as bad. And no Cuomo - this is not Trump's fault. Try looking in the mirror.