If you want a glimpse of what Minnesota would have been like if conservative gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer had defeated Mark Dayton in 2010, our neighbor to the west, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, is showing us.  Since it’s the Christmas season, think of Daugaard as akin to Jacob Marley’s ghost from Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, introducing us to the Ghost of Minnesota Past.

To prove to his Republican base just how much he hates Obamacare, Governor Daugaard has refused to accept $11 billion in federal money to extend health care coverage to about 48,000 uninsured South Dakotans.   Daugaard is taking the same position championed by Minnesota’s former Governor Tim Pawlenty, Emmer, and Dickens’ character Ebenezeer Scrooge, who turned a blind eye to Tiny Tim’s medical plight. Continue reading →