Mark Dayton: “The people who watch us debate must wonder about the mathematics of the Congress. The Senator from Nevada, who is a…”

“The people who watch us debate must wonder about the mathematics of the Congress. The Senator from Nevada, who is a champion of the concurrent receipts legislation, sees it passed by the Senate and then by over 400 votes in the House. And then it does seem strange that these matters just can't quite make it through the rest of the process to become law. This Senator holds out hope that the administration, which is going to be visiting my home State of Minnesota--we have not seen such an interest by an administration in our State, in my own recollection-- will come in and seize the opportunity to support two things that would be of great benefit to my State. One would be disaster assistance for our farmers who have now suffered the second year in a row, and another would be the support for concurrent receipt for our veterans. It would seem a fitting way to recognize the kind of suffering some are still going through and also the kind of contributions that have been made, once again, to see that there would be the same enthusiasm for fitting within this budget framework some of the benefits we would like to provide for our citizens, the same as we provide for the very wealthiest corporate executives who seem to be doing very well despite the difficult economic times.”