When Republicans Attack!

Those vicious, vicious bastards:

Republicans on Friday stepped up their attack on Gov. Mark Dayton for giving significant raises to his agency commissioners, with Rep. Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth, saying she was blindsided by the pay hikes and promising hearings on the issue next week.

Attack! Attack! The Star Tribune is aghast. Here's the banner headline:

Sarah "Miss Scarlet" Anderson in the conservatory with  the knife

Do you believe the nerve of that Sarah Anderson? Attacking the poor governor this way? He's just trying to reward these dedicated public servants and keep them out of the nefarious hands of the private sector.

Of course there is a legislative history, which dedicated Star Tribune reporter and public citizen J. Patrick Coolican shares with us:

The raises are the result of a measure passed by the DFL-controlled Legislature in 2013. Legislators passed the recommendations of the bipartisan Compensation Council, which gives guidance to lawmakers about the pay of judges, legislators, constitutional officers and, in this case, the governor’s cabinet. The legislation included a provision that allowed pay to increase to 133 percent of the governor’s salary, up from the previous cap of 85 or 95 percent. The 2013 measure also allowed the governor to raise the pay of the commissioners without legislative approval.

Emphasis mine. You might think, wait, so what this is saying is that the DFL legislature handed a blank check to a DFL governor. If you drew this conclusion, really, you must be as vicious as that Anderson woman. Just look at the pure bile evident in her official photo:

Cleverly cropped to hide the shiv she's holding behind her back

Get your mind right. You need to understand that the raises are perfectly justified, because there is no need for legislative oversight in a fully operational Better Minnesota. And since this sort of thing is by definition above board, there's simply no justification for outrage concerning the primary beneficiary of the largesse, a DFL fundraiser:

Republicans are particularly irked by the increase for Dayton’s choice to be the new Metropolitan Council chairman, Adam Duininck. The chairman’s salary will jump from $58,000 to $145,000, with the job going from part time to full time. Duininck, who had been a Met Council member, also has been a top DFL fundraiser and is married to Dayton’s chief of staff.

I'm sure there's absolutely no conflict of interest in giving the husband of the governor's chief of staff an $87,000 salary bump. That sort of thing happens all the time. And if you object to this sort of thing, really, it's about time that you examine your own priorities.

For his part, Gov. Dayton explained his rationale by going back into party history:

Hope that cleared things up, haters.