Governor To Enforce Some Discipline

Minnesota Governor Pawlenty has been forced to step in to the fray following the now widely-exposed failure of Minneapolis city leaders, including Mayor Rybak, to keep the citizenry safe from the plethora of armed thugs.

KSTP News reports:

Recent high-profile murders in Minneapolis have prompted an exchange of blame between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Minneapolis lawmakers.

Pawlenty appeared on Minnesota Public Radio, and said Minneapolis was not best using it’s financial resources to fight crime.

"When you have people shooting each other on the streets and you got all that money sitting in neighborhood revitalization programs, those resources should be re-deployed,” Pawlenty said.

We've been saying this for years, Mr. Governor. Liberals don't know a darn thing about keeping the people safe from criminals, but they do know about spending money. I'm glad you pointed out the misallocations and misplaced priorities of the Minneapolis budget.

By the way, the city won't allow cops to check the immigration status of suspected criminals. Should any federal funding be restricted for a city that condones lawlessness? Just a thought.

The city leaders will try to shift the blame:

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and members of the city’s state congressional delegation say Pawlenty’s budget cuts to local governments reduced the number of Minneapolis police officers.

"The best thing the Governor could do would be restore some of the cuts that he made to local government aid, which led to a direct cut in the number of police officers that we can put on the street,” said Rybak.

That dog don't hunt, Mayor Rybak. It's easy to cast blame elsewhere, but at some point you have to take responsibility for failing to do what was essentially within your power. The Governor didn't choose where you spent your money.

Besides, I've already pointed out that more cops are not going to solve the long-term deficiencies; your problems are "woven into the fabric" of the city.

I'm not sure what Pawlenty means here by state reinforcements, but I hope he's not planning to throw money at the problem.

Pawlenty says he is considering sending in state reinforcements to the city, but declined to elaborate on any details.

"I think we want to talk to him and see, get their perspective on what's going on and what additional help they might need and how it might be effective,” Pawlenty said.

Rybak said he welcomed any help.

It doesn't surprise me that Mayor Rybak would welcome help; he needs it.

KARE 11 News reports further details: "Recent violence in Minneapolis gets poltical"

Elected officials from Minneapolis are not too happy with Governor Pawlenty [Ed. - As opposed to when?] after his radio comments about crime in the state's largest city.
...
The two [State Senators Dibble and Higgins] issued a joint statement that read, in part, "These events have called us together to not only grieve, but to look forward and seek solutions that will prevent future tragedies.

Unfortunately, our Governor does not seem to feel the same sense of cooperation. Rather than taking this opportunity to work with Minneapolis leaders to solve a problem, he has resorted to playing the blame-game. In a recent interview, he cited city leaders' budget priorities for the recent violence, failing to note any of the consequences his Administration's decisions have had on our community."

The two senators went on to point out that LGA money wasn't the only cuts Minneapolis has gotten from the Governor's administration, "He has even gone so far as to line-item veto Minneapolis summer youth-employment programs and some job-training programs."

Both of the recent victims have been innocent bystanders who didn't even live in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis leaders ought not to blame the governor. The last two paragraphs of the article show how quick the urban socialists are to cast blame elsewhere. Until they admit to themselves that they are helpless to solve the city's problems and that they need help from conservatives, I hold little hope for reform.