Brian Thiel, LeRoy

Letter to the editor

I applaud your editorial about the governor and all parties in the Legislature needing to start right away with all cards face up.

My only caveat is this: All major project-area budgets within every department of Minnesota government must also be face-up and undergo scrutiny about their relative merit vis a vis all other targets for scarce resources.

Simply assuming that DNR or MnDOT or Education, etc. can bring an overall budget to the “faces up” table and have that played against other department’s summary budgets would not be productive.

It is tempting to suggest that, now that the party majority in the Legislature has been completely reversed, maybe today’s minority should be limited to 25 words or less. At least that is more than they gave the previous minority. Vindication is tempting, but must be avoided. People did not vote for more of the same, but gave the hand to new people to provide a better way forward.

Let’s be sanguine about what has been going on in St. Paul. Elections do have consequences.

What is best for 2011 is not just a continuation of partisan political bullying but a reversal in the method of governing… one which respects that a significant minority of people did vote for the losing candidate and therefore those ideas deserve a fair hearing in the caucus rooms and the committee meetings, not an obstinate shut-out.

I call on the GOP Legislature to govern more graciously than the DFL has been doing.