Tomorrow, Minnesota Governor Dayton will be releasing his budget proposal, the first since his DFL Party regained control of the Legislature after the 2012 election.  And then, as always, there will be strongly worded interest group reactions.  Oh yes, there WILL be reactions.

Rather than have to wait another moment for the reactions, Wry Wing’s political prophesier has drunk the special brew that allows him to see the future.  Here is what Professor Prophesier sees in the mist:

• LIBERALS LUST.  Liberal interest groups who have seen their spending programs cut deeply over the last decade will praise Dayton’s proposed modest spending increases, but will stress that we need to find more rich people to tax so we can restore the L’Etoile du nord to Wendy Anderson-era Minnesota Miracleness.

• CONSERVATIVES CARICATURE.  Conservative interest groups will call the Dayton proposal the biggest proposed tax increase in Minnesota history, nay, in the history of the universe, and, of course, a “job killer.”

• BUSINESSES BLUSTER.  Business groups will claim that if taxes go up a penny, Job Creators will be in such a snit that they will spend millions to move their operations to race-to-the-bottom low-tax states, where they can treat their families to inferior schools, entertainment amenties, infrastructure and health care.

• MERCHANTS MOAN.  Retail groups will claim that tourists who spend small fortunes to schlep their families to the Mall of America will immediately stop coming if they discover they will have to pay a buck more for their Hooters T-shirt.

• MUSHY MIDDLE MUSHES.  Above-the-fray moderates will stress that Minnesota’s budget woes are both major parties’ fault, and that the DFL is now overreaching just like the Republicans did.  But they will offer no specific budget solutions of their own.

Truth be told, this is not Professor Prophesier’s most challenging assignment.  The ending of the budget reaction story is roughly as difficult to divine as the ending of a Scooby Doo Mystery.

– Loveland

Note:  This post was also featured in Politics in Minnesota’s Best of the Blogs.