by Steve Timmer

Dec 23, 2013, 10:00 PM

Ben Golnik’s special Christmas vapors

We’ve heard little of Ben since he piloted Mike Parry’s blimp into the side of Mt. Quist. But he always bounces back, finding some new mark to hire him. Now, he “heads” the Minnesota Jobs Coalition. It hasn’t filed any finance report — it was formed in January of this year; none is due yet — so little in known about who Ben is fronting for.

But we’re pretty sure that the only job collated so far is Ben’s.

The strategy of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition is to build jobs — well, in addition to Ben’s — by reading DFL campaign finance reports. This passes for economic activity, at least among Republicans.

Which is why Ben was brimming with the not news that a Dayton campaign staffer rode with the governor in the governor’s state-provided airplane and paid for it.

Admittedly, it is a slow news week, even for Ben, maybe especially for Ben. But tucked away at the foot of the linked Hot Dish Politics post is this:

The 2012 flights have already been examined by one agency watchdog. In September, in response to a complaint from the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board found that Dayton violated the law by not disclosing his campaign debt for his campaign’s use of the state plane on several occasions.

In part because the media, including the Star Tribune, had reported on Dayton’s plan to repay the state for use of the plane, the board decided that the lack of disclosure on campaign forms was inadvertent. Because the omissions were not made knowingly, the board decided the violation did not merit a fine.

Ben was at the back of the line when the good arguments were handed out, it’s true, but this is laughable.

Update: At least Ben seems to be staying away from campaigns, which is probably a good career move for him.