Some budgeting scuffles have more juice in them than others, and the current brawl over General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) is one of those. The affected group — including veterans — is about as vulnerable as anyone gets in modern America and the reek of political expediency is nearly overwhelming. Tom Scheck's MPR story on the GAMC fight includes pressure Pawlenty is now facing from religious groups. Says Grant Stevenson, a pastor at St. Matthew's Lutheran in St. Paul, "The governor is going around saying, 'God is in control.' We elected you to be making decisions for this state that will help everyone in this state. Things that will lift up the poorest in this state ... Don't pass this off on God. That's no God we've ever heard of. And please stop lecturing us about God. It's offensive."

Strib Op-Ed writer, Lori Sturdevant, is sounding hopeful (or is it "wishful"?) about a compromise on GAMC funding between Pawlenty and the DFL. She writes, "The possible accord is built around the strengthening of a feature of the bill Pawlenty vetoed. It would restructure General Assistance Medical Care's payment model from a fee-for-service system to a form of managed care. That feature was optional for hospitals and counties in the vetoed bill; it would become mandatory, at least for some parts of the state, in the proposal under consideration." But then she says, "A GAMC deal would also show that this crop of politicians can produce the bipartisan governance that Minnesotans expect. Up to now, that's been in doubt." Uh-oh. The old plea for bipartisanship. That's never good.

Good piece by MPR's Curtis Gilbert on Baldwin Township up in Sherburne County, near the heart of Michele Bachmann's 6th District. It's part of an ongoing series MPR is doing called "Ground Level", more or less an exploration of factors and conditions in 2010 exurbia. This edition looks at the strange-bedfellows mix of growth fueled by young(ish) families looking for a quiet place away from the city and the actual cost of providing basic services, infrastructure if nothing else, to people who aren't all that keen on paying the tab. "People in Baldwin like their taxes low. ... Baldwin already reduced its road and bridge budget for this year, and at a recent meeting the town board voted to recommend another decrease for next year. 'At some point, the township has to start recognizing the fact that we've got about $40 million tied up in our roads and we have to start protecting them,' said Terry Carlile, who heads up Baldwin's road maintenance department. 'We can't just let them go.' "

There's an unusual speckling of color in Stribber Mike Kaszuba's otherwise straightforward story on a sure-to-be-flattened bill to run background checks on buyers at gun shows. The bill is coming from DFL Rep. Michael Paymer and you don't get the feeling from the story that it has a liberal's chance at CPAC of making law. But Kaszuba stops by a gun show at the Armory in St. Paul and gets some good stuff, the kind of stuff the De-flavorizing Desk at newspapers usually makes a point of red-lining out of such stories. He writes, "The show was a red-white-and-blue homage to an American's right to bear arms. Men with rifles slung over their shoulder browsed tables crowded with firearms. One table was littered with bumper stickers aimed at liberals, including 'Piss Off A Liberal — Work Hard And Be Happy.' A sign on the front door read, 'You know the least you should do is belong to the NRA.' " He adds, "Heather Martens of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota, a lobbying group that helped Paymar draft the legislation, said she was stunned by what she saw at a gun show in Anoka last year. "I was offered, by one of these unlicensed sellers, an Uzi for cash without a background check," she said. "I was fairly shocked at the level of firepower that's available at these gun shows."

DennyWatch du jour. MaryJo Webster of the PiPress continues her book-worthy coverage of all things Hecker (ditto Stribber Dee DePass). Webster writes that the (over-worked) judge in the bankruptcy case (don't want to get all the cases confused, y'know) is ordering a sell-off of Denny's personal property at the Cross Lake "compound" with its 11,438-sqaure-foot "main house." "In October, Kressel denied Hecker's request to claim as exempt from bankruptcy $9,450 worth of personal property at the main Crosslake house. The list of items Hecker wanted to save from creditors included a $500 jukebox, $1,500 worth of fitness equipment,indoor outdoor furniture, artwork, sports equipment and kitchen accessories. The only exemptions Kressel allowed: $1,225 in equity from his wedding ring — which Hecker claimed was worth $24,000 — and $8,400 from an insurance policy after they are sold by the trustee."  How about that for a metaphor? Denny only really owns 5 percent of the value of his own wedding ring.

Meanwhile, Cheryl "C.J." Johnson, the Strib's gossip columnist, is talking about PETA, the animal rights group, petitioning the same (overworked) Hecker bankruptcy court judge for Denny's girlfriend's $60,000 fur coat. She writes, "PETA wants the fur to make a high-profile statement. 'PETA runs "fur kitchens" throughout the U.S. for homeless who can't afford to buy winter coats or be          choosey when it comes to their clothing,' PETA's senior veep Dan Mathews told me. Think of 'fur kitchens' as being like 'soup kitchens', only designed to outfit the needy."  But ask yourself: Would you give a buck to a homeless guy in a $60,000 fur coat?                                                                   

The Residual Forces blog (Andy Aplikowski) leaps from a luncheon speech by state demographer Tom Gillaspy to a jeremiad about "the single greatest risk to our society." Let's guess: Tyranny? Loss of our freedoms? Misspelled Tea Party placards? No. Entitlement programs. Or, more specifically, the whole dang "entitlement class," which would include just about every one of you goldbrickers out there expecting a big fat pay out from Big Government with that Social Security check and Medicare. Says Aplikowski, "The rubber is finally going to meet the road. One of the things that just chaps me the most when politicians thump their chest on the rubber chicken circuits or on TV is that no one is even trying to solve this problem. They are too afraid to stare down the baby boomer voting block and modify the promises made by future generations. Look, when social security was dreamt up, the age to receive benefits was the life expectancy age, and while we are now living longer, that age to start drawing off the government 'trust fund' has not kept up. Politicians of decades past wrote checks and made expensive promises their butts were never going to have to cash." Predictably, there is no mention of the impact of annual double-digit increases in health insurance on these outlandish entitlements.

The folks at Carlson Cos. see something improving, judging by their $1.5 billion bet on expanding and upgrading their hotel properties around the world. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal story reports, "Carlson will add 500 hotels to its portfolio of more than 1,000. The company now has 422 Radisson hotels and plans to have 600 up and running by 2015. Carlson also is planning to divide the Radisson brand into two concepts, according to Hotels magazine. One will be its existing upscale 'Radisson Blue' concept; the other will be a new and also upscale brand, 'Radisson Green.' Both brands will feature new room designs and a 'service culture' with a 'theme of travel empathy,' the magazine reported." "Travel empathy"?

This is intriguing. Hart von Denburg in City Pages writes about a section — a big section — of actual Minneapolis skyway for sale on craigslist. Writes von Denburg, "A cozy 1,380 square feet of glass, steel and concrete, it's being offered for $49,500 as is, cash only. Oh, and the buyer is responsible for all moving logistics and costs. But then what? What would you do with your very own piece of Minneapolis Skyway? Convert it to a cabin on the lake?"

Things you find down the rabbit hole. While checking The Heavy Table (foodie) website — dig the instructions for making your own spring rolls — they posted a link to a photographer's blog of a model floating in a Wisconsin cranberry bog. Becca Dilley — swear to God, I don't know her — has some very nice shots, including a few from the soon-to-open Haute Dish restaurant (the old Cafe Havana). Their idea of hot dish? " ... braised short ribs, potato croquette, a porcini mushroom béchamel and, of course, fresh green beans."