What with all the talk of kings lately, here are two guys who are kings in their own very special ways.
One claims not to be "the king of Minnesota", but he most definitely is the King of Word Salad. The other is an insecure twerp whose grasp of matters is so tenuous he has to resort to skeevy procedural tricks that shame even many of his fellow Republicans.
Ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of Bluestem Prairie, I give you that not-so-lovable lunkhead Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg), freshman state representative in the Minnesota House, and a person emblematic of newly-installed and wet-behind-the-ears House Majority Leader Kurt "Dictator" Daudt's Boehner-like inability to project real power or control his own Republican caucus.
Follow me past the orange cheese-seasoned crouton for more.
Let Bluestem's Sally Jo Sorensen set the table:
[House Minority Leader Paul] Thissen] had asked Miller a question about HF564, a bill to fund long-term care for disabled Minnesotans after suburban Democrat Jerry Newton had moved to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
Prefaced by a fingerpointing brag about how "how when I beat one of your best friends" by 10 1/2 points " even after you went out and door knocked with him," Miller asserted he was not voted "King of Minnesota."
Go to BSP to watch the whole thing in all its gory glory. I am beginning to think Tim Miller is constitutionally incapable of giving a straight answer to anything, including queries as to what he had for breakfast this morning.
But as weirdly and pathetically incoherent as Rep. Miller's wildly wobbling word salad was, it was exceeded in strangeness by Kurt Daudt's effort to shut down the session rather than allow a vote on HF564:
It's estimated that the measure--which would give workers caring for the disabled a 5 percent raise--will cost over $300 million; as we wrote in When GOP catchphrases go wrong: Dahms, nursing homes and "one size fits all", the bill to improve funding for nursing homes, HF316, will require $200 million in additional funding.
The goal? To get Republicans, who are talking publicly about improving HHS care in Greater Minnesota, to commit to funding increases for workers and facilities for the disabled-- or to look like fools next week when the majority caucus leadership sets budget targets that would not begin to fund the Republican wishlist.
A very frightened Kurt Daudt was so desperate to avoid a vote on this bill that when a fellow Republican made a suspiciously-timed motion to adjourn, Daudt ignored the requests for a roll call and moved unilaterally to end the session, sending the House into
an uproar the likes of which I haven't heard since the last time the Republicans held the chamber and thought
bringing in Bradlee Dean for an opening prayer would be a good idea.