Sparring starts before the session does

Woo hoo! It must be session time. The 2010 session hadn't even started Wednesday and the sparring had already begun. At a committee meeting about the state's cash flow problems, Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a DFLer, appeared to take a thinly-veiled swipe at Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. She compared the state's plan to borrow $422 million from schools to a "Ponzi scheme," a term the governor often uses to describe the federal budget. Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, cut her off. Let's not go there, he said. "Please." Kelliher went on to say that Pawlenty was punishing schools which demostrated the fiscal prudence to build healthy reserves. Later in the day, Pawlenty took a swipe at Kelliher, a leading DFL candidate for governor. He talked with reporters about the pressure a candidate might face balancing the ugy business of cutting the budget while running for higher office. "It will be difficult," Pawlenty said. "You can imagine, hypothetically, if you are a candidate running for governor and your endorsing convention is in late April and you have to toe the party line perfectly otherwise you won't get endorsed. That puts extraordinary pressure on the individuals who have to go through that." The governor, who ran for his first term in 2002, while serving as state House Majority Leader, added that he has "felt extraordinary pressure for a long time." Rachel E. Stassen-Berger contributed to this report.