Dem Gov. Dayton (MN) Caves in Budget Impasse

Apparently his bluff was called (from Beltway Confidential):

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton sent a letter Thursday to Republican state legislative leaders saying that he “reluctantly” agrees to accept their budget proposal to end the government shutdown. Dayton, like President Obama, had been insisting that higher tax rates on the rich must be part of any budget deal.


“During the past two weeks, I have been listening carefully to people throughout Minnesota,” the governor’s letter reads. “They are telling me that, overwhelmingly, they want this budget dispute resolved.”

Republicans in Washington should be emboldened by Dayton’s capitulation. When any government shuts down, the natural first response is to blame the man at the top. For the U.S. government, that is Obama. Even before the debt limit crisis became the story in Washington, Obama had a terrible approval rating on the budget deficit.

Especially if the House manages to put together a short-term debt hike paired with small cuts, how could Obama not get blamed for a veto that cuts government spending by 44%?

Hang tough, Boehner, Cantor and McConnell. We can win the impasse in Washington too.