Gov. Dayton at Society of Professional Journalists banquet

A few quick observations from Gov. Mark Dayton's talk to the Society of Professional Journalists awards banquet in St. Paul Tuesday.

I talked to Dayton a month or so ago in Mankato. At that time, he said there was a 50-50 chance of coming to an agreement on the budget with Republicans.

Asked for an update Tuesday, Dayton said the odds are "less than 50-50."

That's alarming. It appears a government shutdown is imminent.

The other item of interest that drew the attention of other journalists at the event was the elimination of the early childhood funding bill (supported by both Democrats and Republicans and big money players like the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce).

Dayton said the bill was killed by a "tangential" fringe group, and Republicans bought the groups ideas.

Those ideas have been reported elsewhere as ones where the group feels all moms should stay at home to teach their children, and that government shouldn't do what parents should do.