Ungracious Tim Walz delivers partisan state of the state speech

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Gov. Tim Walz used his fifth state of the state speech Wednesday night to audition for the role of national Democrat attack dog, sounding unnecessarily concerned about things happening 1,370 miles away in the state of Florida. He promised to show “the entire American people just how much promise is held in that progressive vision.”

Instead of talking about Minnesotans, Walz used his 30 minute address to invoke several characterizations of the people of Florida and their Governor Ron Desantis:

• They’re on a march of hatred and bigotry
• They’re banning books in their schools
• They look at our most vulnerable people and see scapegoats
• They’re afraid of facing up to this great nation’s history
• They’re complaining about companies going woke

By the way, no one is banning any books. Will anyone in the press call him on this repeated lie?

Saying Democrats have “a new mandate for action, a moment we’ve been building for a long time and we will not let it go to waste,” Walz ticked off each of his early accomplishments and priorities still to come

Already passed:

• Early tax cut
• Infrastructure funding from the federal government
• Emergency funding for food shelves
• Assistance for Iron ranger miners who are idle
• The Blackout bill — that “will help our state win the race to create new jobs and new industry.”
• Free school lunch
• Protected access to gender affirming healthcare
• An iron clad right to reproductive freedom

Yet to pass:

• Funding for childcare, raises for childcare workers
• Universal paid leave
• Tie school aid to inflation and invest in heroic teachers
• Address mental health needs with more school counselors and nurses
• Keep families safe with $500 million for cities and counties to fight car thefts and the opioid epidemic
• Universal background checks
• Red flag laws

When Walz was done obsessing over Florida, he pledged to make Minnesota the best place to raise children. But his solutions only last as long as the budget surplus allows. Walz touted the Federal pandemic spending programs that lifted families out of poverty through direct payments. Walz would pick up where the Federal money left off with child tax credits for poor families. The problem is when the pandemic funding ended, those families dropped immediately back into poverty, and the same will happen with Walz’s tax credits once the surplus is gone.

Walz also mentioned giving some of the surplus “back” to the people who need it most, even though they weren’t the ones who created the surplus. A more honest approach would be to admit his tax plan amounts to a massive redistribution of wealth. Just say it — you’re taking money from one group and giving to another. And you believe the givers will stay in Minnesota and continue to pay taxes indefinitely.

Tim Walz proved once again he lacks the ability to bring people together. He offered nothing in this speech for the 1,198,312 people who voted against him but still want the state to succeed. Tonight’s speech was better suited for a DFL convention, where he could rally the partisans and demonize the enemy.

The state of the state is that we are governed by an ungracious partisan hack.

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