A proper slap to R.T.

Last update: November 7, 2009 - 5:37 PM

A PROPER SLAP TO R.T.

No fooling Campaign Finance Board

Minneapolis Mayor R.T.Rybak made an honest gubernatorial candidate of himself on Thursday, filing the requisite candidacy paperwork with the state Campaign Finance Board. But that wasn't fast enough for the board, which rapped him Friday for charging his mayoral reelection campaign $26,500 for a poll that looked, walked and quacked like a gubernatorial campaign tool.

Bully for the board, whose thankless job it is to uphold and enforce campaign laws that politicians often find inconvenient. The campaign filing requirement that Rybak ran afoul of is fundamentally about openness and transparency in government.

Rybak should have played it straight, and filed as a candidate for governor before last week.

LORI STURDEVANT

THE SENATOR IS STEAMED

Grassley finds little to like in bills

Minnesota Congressional Rep. Michele Bachmann wasn't the only regional politician to rip health care reform bills this week. Iowa's Republican Sen. Charles Grassley also sent out a long, long screed warning that the bills amount to an "unprecedented government take-over of our nation's health care system."

Drawing most of the senator's ire is the list of new responsibilities delegated to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in the current Senate HELP committee bill. I'm in the same boat as Grassley, still plowing through these massive pieces of legislation. But my initial take is that this has more to do with the practicalities of implementing reforms. Grassley, who raged against nonexistent death panels last summer, sees something far more sinister: "If it isn't a government takeover of our health care system, why does the word "Secretary" appear 982 times in this bill? Maybe the other side needs a reminder that the Secretary of HHS is an agent of the federal government."

To read the Senate HELP committee bill and make your own assessment, go to tinyurl.com/m6ez6x.

JILL BURCUM

Recent Commentary stories

Tim Pawlenty: Finally -- see spending match with revenue - November 7, 2009

Tim Pawlenty: Finally -- see spending match with revenue - Minnesota has a lot of great traditions. Unfortunately, limiting the growth of state government spending isn't one of them. From 1960 to 2003, state general fund spending increased by an average of more than 21 percent per two-year budget cycle. More

Katherine Kersten: The perilous, slippery slope of gay marriage - November 7, 2009

Katherine Kersten: The perilous, slippery slope of gay marriage - Your own marriage may still thrive. But society most certainly will not. More

Comment on this story | Be the first to comment | Hide reader comments

New ideas for the public sector

THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME to create a more efficient Minnesota. Facing large budget deficits at the state, county and local levels, Minnesotans are seeing with new clarity that the public sector must adapt to new economic realities. Only the smartest, most strategic reinvention will ensure that our tax dollars are spent on the best programs and services. Read more

About Opinion Exchange

Opinion Exchange is produced by the Editorial Department, which is dedicated to hosting the discussion on a range of issues of interest to Star Tribune readers online and in print. In its new format, it's our hope that Opinion Exhange will create a more dynamic dialogue between Star Tribune readers and the Editorial Board. Many individual posts will be written and signed by members of the Editorial Board and will reflect their own opinions. Daily editorials will continue to represent the institutional voice of the newspaper and be researched and written by the Editorial Department, which is independent of the newsroom.

Subscribe to RSS|Learn more about RSS