pharaoh-pawlenty.jpgPharaoh Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota governor and would-be Republican presidential candidate, has made it clear that he values the good opinion of Grover Norquist and Republican primary voters more than he values his own state.  David Brauer of MinnPost notes the upcoming damage to be piled onto six years of prior Pawlenty cuts:

DFLers failed to override two gubernatorial vetoes on the penultimate legislative day. Republicans upheld a $381 million health care cut for 35,000 of the poorest of the poor; tearful DFLers said people would die on the streets, Forum’s Don Davis writes; the GOP hopes charity will work — just as it does in low-tax states, right?

More non-override: According to AP, Republicans say DFLers should’ve prioritized; they did, putting poor folks over upper-income tax protection. The Strib’s Lori Sturdevant quotes a DFL economist claiming cuts will produce bigger job losses than taxes; guess we’ll see at least half of that equation. WCCO’s Pat Kessler has good video and analysis of anguished demonstrators and the legislative tears.

Still more non-override: The PiPress’ Bill Salisbury says the guv hopes for comprehensive reform in the 2010 session. But even though the cuts don’t kick in until 2011, hospitals will begin cutting right away to save money — just like the governor will unallot right away even though we’re at the start of a biennium. Duluth hospitals face a $20 million cut, Davis notes; the St. Cloud Times’ Lawrence Schumacher says St. Cloud Hospital faces a $12.3 million bite. Hennepin County Medical Center is staring at a whopping $108 million loss, Sturdevant notes.

If Smilin’ Tim’s willing to continue the long-term destruction of a formerly first-rank state just to get a spot on the GOP’s 2012 presidential ticket, then he may well be willing to blow off a Minnesota Supreme Court order to sign Senator Franken’s election certificate.  Hell, this is a guy who, after the 35-W bridge collapsed because the state’s transportation department didn’t have the money to replace it and was trying a desperate quick-fix instead, opposed any sort of tax increases to replenish MnDOT’s depleted coffers, falsely arguing (along with GOP House Leader Marty Seifert) that the state was running a nonexistent surplus and thus didn’t need to roll back the GOP tax cuts of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He’s doing this because he’s never had to pay any sort of lasting penalty for the things he’s done.   But that’s about to change.   It’s going to be hard for him to get onto the ticket in 2012 when he won’t be a sitting governor after 2010.   Maybe then Pharaoh’s hard heart will finally soften, but by then it’ll be too late.