Pawlenty wants to ship all Legislative Leaders to Camp Ripley

In a closed door "session" without outside contact. It sounds like he wants to get the DFL to submit behind closed doors.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5477334.html

"Expressing frustration over a budget logjam that has put the state on the verge of a partial government shutdown, Gov. Tim Pawlenty late Sunday proposed flying to Camp Ripley Monday morning with all legislative leaders and locking the door to a cabin until an agreement is reached.

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Pawlenty ordered the state plane fueled and sent letters to four legislative leaders, instructing them to have their bags and toothbrushes packed.

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He described Camp Ripley, an Army base between Brainerd and Little Falls, "as a nice controlled setting" where only the five leaders will be ensconced, without lobbyists, staffers, or the media.

Senate DFL leaders reacted without enthusiasm to the proposal, saying the public would not appreciate the cloistered "College of Cardinals" approach to conducting negotiations.
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and that the "leadership" is controlling the process, as heard on the TPT politics program this AM.

Timmy, I am tired of your games; get your act together and pass a respectable budget. Both my wife and me are state employees, by proxy, and we are concerned about our family's fiscal well-being as well as the physical and mental health of those we serve.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1557/5477285.html

"But the consensus in his part of Minnesota, a DFL stronghold, is that it's worth it, and they don't want him to give up fighting for the party's agenda. He says he's gotten about 3,500 e-mails, letters and phone calls in the past six weeks.

Another myth, Dill said, is that rank-and-file legislators are out of the loop and unaware of what's going on in negotiations, and don't have any influence. Even as part of a minority caucus, Dill said he feels like he's getting all the information he needs, and he thinks both sides are responding to what legislators and their constituents are telling them."

the republican leaders can visit some of the soldiers who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan.

I can't remember what the limit is for a closed door meeting of elected officials. And, just what is this stunt going to cost us?

i think its called the ...um Catiple...cappletip....Capitol, thats right... a capitol building.

Pawlenty of Nothing is a fruitloop.

"Let's go for a ride, boys...."

Thankfully they decided that the perfectly good Governor's Mansion in St Paul will do the trick.

Looks like I made the "essential" list, so I get to keep my job for a few more weeks. There's only two other people in my area out of 20 that will be here though, so it will be pretty quiet.

Now I can finally crank up my Loverboy CDs and nobody will complain! :P

"Everybody's working for the weekend..."

Of course, I'm sure Millionaire Matt carefully weighed what's in it for Matt before agreeing to go to Camp Ripley.