Jobs, Jobs, Jobs?

If the voters of Minnesota meant to send a message about focusing on jobs and the economy, the new crop of Republicans who were elected to the legislature seem to be doing a good job of ignoring that message.

The Star Tribune's cartoonist Steve Sack captured the legislative session so far:


Jay Weiner provided an excellent analysis of the problems with the proposed Voter I.D. law. It's not just a problem in search of a solution, as our new governor put it -- it's a financial boondoggle for small towns and an invitation to hackers to game our elections. Not to mention a barely veiled attempt to keep populations who tend to vote for Democrats away from the voting booth.

And now they're considering a bill to allow the state to try kids as young as 10 years old as adults. Yes, it's a tragedy that one toddler was killed by a 13-year-old, but does that provide a basis for public policy?

The only good thing about all of this is that it practically guarantees they'll be voted out in the next election, if they don't manage to gerrymander the state first.