What they do

They smile in your face/all the time they want to take your place -- the Bakk-stabbers:

The two most powerful DFLers in Minnesota government had a bitter and public falling out Thursday, as Gov. Mark Dayton alleged that Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk “stabbed me in the back” amid ongoing controversy over the governor’s decision to grant pay raises to state agency commissioners.

Dayton’s rebuke of Bakk at a late afternoon news conference was unusually harsh even for the rough-and-tumble politics of the State Capitol. It raised immediate questions about how a splintered relationship between the two men could affect Dayton’s agenda and the DFL’s fortunes in the legislative session. It came after Bakk, of Cook, led a successful charge on the Senate floor earlier in the day to delay the pay raises until July 1. The raises total $800,000 in additional pay per year to 23 cabinet officers.

Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist
Aimin' straight at your back
And I don't think they'll miss

Bakk did not directly respond to a request for comment after Dayton’s criticisms, which were lengthy and pointed. Through his spokeswoman, Bakk provided only this statement: “I will not comment on private conversations except to say if he feels that way, he was not listening when we had a conversation about the potential options to be considered relative to floor action on the bill.”

I keep gettin' all these visits
From my friends, yeah, what they doin to me
They come to my house
Again and again and again and again, yeah

Shortly after the Senate vote, Dayton said he wanted to talk with “other DFL senators” in a private caucus meeting.

“He was not happy,” said Sen. Jim Carlson of Eagan, who attended with five other senators. Carlson said DFL senators were not warned that Dayton would oppose the pay raise delays, although he stressed that Bakk did not try to make senators think otherwise.

Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things
Do things, do bad things with it

The amendment Bakk passed Thursday would strip Dayton of his pay raise authority until July 1, when his authority would be restored.

“Might he do it differently? That’s yet to be seen,” Bakk said of Dayton in a Senate floor speech. Bakk said he would have preferred Dayton take a more incremental approach to raising the salaries, perhaps staggered over several years. The pay raises “most likely are warranted,” Bakk said, but added that “the Legislature and the public haven’t had the opportunity to have a discussion about how pay has lagged for these department heads.”

I know money is the root of all evil
Do funny things to some people
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime
Money can drive some people out of their minds

By Dayton’s account, his relationship with Bakk is permanently altered. He said he now trusts Kurt Daudt, the Republican House speaker, more than Bakk and he set new ground rules for how he will deal with Bakk going forward.

“I’m not going to meet with Sen. Bakk anymore without others present because I don’t trust his word,” Dayton said.

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