Billionaire Bruce: Channel billionaire Mark

There is nothing wrong with being a billionaire governor. To be a good one you just need a heart, a soul and a good dose of governing wisdom. Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota has all three. Gaining office in January, 2011, Dayton, billionaire heir to the Target fortune, inherited a $6.2 billion budget deficit and 7% unemployment rate from his predecessor, extreme fiscal conservative Tom Pawlenty. By never raising taxes Pawlenty impoverished Minnesota, adding a Pawlenty paltry 800 jobs yearly over eight years. Enter Billionaire Mark. He raised state income tax from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly – a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He's raising Minnesota's minimum wage to $9.50 and hour, guaranteed equal pay for women, and created an online voter registration system to increase the voter rolls of the little people being helped by this extraordinary uplifting of the entire Minnesota populous. How uplifting? In his first term Dayton added 172,000 jobs, 166,000 more than Pawlenty created in two terms. While Minnesota has the 4th highest income tax rate of 50 states, it now has the 5th lowest unemployment rate at 3.6% and is the 5th fastest growing state economy. And that $6.2 billion dollar budget deficit is now a $1 billion surplus, with a third of that earmarked for improving public education.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, our billionaire governor gave all the folks already well off a big tax cut to be paid for by all the people in need. He's clearly using the wisdom he possesses that made him a billionaire manipulating struggling companies and tax codes to further enrich himself and his wealthy base. Knowing how frugal Billionaire Bruce is, maybe if enough of us chip in a few bucks apiece, we can buy him a one way ticket to Minnesota. He can't do much damage to a state near the finish line of an astounding economic recovery. And Billionaire Mark needs a new challenge.