2011 was supposed to be the year the Minnesota legislature deals with the budget. The odd years are always budget years. But a new breed of teabagger legislators swept out many DFL (Democratic Farmer/Labor Party, MN's version of Democratic Party) legislators. Many committee chairs were 2nd termers.
Republican party leaders promised to focus on the budget and creating jobs.
You all can probably guess in what direction this post is headed ...
I counted 32 bills they tried to pass instead of working on the budget. One of them was a marriage discrimination constitutional amendment.
We are building the Vote No campaign to stop this amendment and one of the first fundraisers took place last night...
Gov. Mark Dayton attended a fundraiser to help launch the Vote No campaign to stop the marriage discrimination constitutional amendment last night. Instead of working on passing a budget, one of the many things Republican legislators did was to pass a bill so that a constitutional amendment would appear on the 2012 ballot defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Gov. Mark Dayton made a brief appearance at the fundraiser, and he repeated what he's said in the past, that he believes the measure is un-American and un-Minnesotan.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should certainly include the right of any American citizen to marry the man or woman that he or she loves," Dayton said.
It's important that Dayton take a strong stand on this. He has the bully pulpit of the Governor's office. Defeating this amendment is going to be a tough fight.
Twenty-nine states have passed constitutional amendments defining marriage between one man and one woman. Minnesotans United for All Families president Donald McFarland said given that history, defeating the amendment will be tough.
"A lot of people I know have spent their whole lives here, and they've never seen anything like this before," said McFarland. "This is just not like Minnesota. In Minnesota we treat people like we want to be treated."
McFarland said the campaign against the amendment began as soon as lawmakers approved the ballot measure. He said organizers hope to raise at least $4.7 million.
It's not too early to give or volunteer:
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