January 31, 2009
Jan 31 01:58 DFL Leadership Team Refuses to Lead Jan 31 13:57 Whitney Senior Center Townhall (Delayed) Liveblog Notes Jan 31 16:43 Should Democrats Hire H & R Block? Jan 31 18:02 The GOP Alternative to the Porkapalooza Jan 31 23:21 Revolutionary Concept
DFL Leadership Team Refuses to Lead
This afternoon, I participated in a blogger conference call with Sen. David Hann. King Banaian , Andy Aplikowski and Derek Brigham were the other invited bloggers. Sen. Hann spoke first. Initially, Sen. Hann focused on Gov. Pawlenty's budget. After focusing on that, Sen. Hann focused on the DFL's intention of not putting their own budget plan together. That's when we made aware of this YouTube video:
Here's a partial transcipt from the video:
Reporter: "But are you [Senate DFL Caucus] going to come out with an alternative budget?"One of the questions I asked Sen. Hann was whether the DFL's unwillingness to put their own budget proposal together proved that the DFL wasn't the party of priorities or prosperity. Sen. Hann immediately said that the DFL's not putting together their budget targets was proof that they didn't want to publish their priorities. Sen. Hann later released this official statement n the subject:
Clark: "No. We're going to work off the Governor's budget and go through the process..."
"The DFL majority has completely ducked their responsibility by pointedly refusing to produce a plan addressing Minnesota's budget deficit. They have instead chosen to offer a continuous chorus of complaints about the decisions Governor Tim Pawlenty has made, no doubt hoping the people of Minnesota will be lulled into giving the DFL a pass on the most important task they face; to govern."We won't accidently stumble into prosperity. People have to establish a path to prosperity. Establishing a pathway to prosperity means setting intelligent priorities.
Thus far, the DFL hasn't proven that they're interested in setting intelligent priorities that lead to prosperity. They seem disinterested in laying out their vision on acheiving prosperity. In fact, they're pinning alot of their hopes on the stimulus plan that's slowly stalling in Congress. That isn't govering. That's following. A cynical person might say that it's wishing and hoping that someone bails them out so they'll avoid making difficult decisions.
Followers come a dime a dozen. It isn't difficult to find followers. Finding a leader, though, is a time-consuming effort.
Posted Saturday, January 31, 2009 1:59 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 31-Jan-09 08:47 AM
With the federal porkulus bill now standing at 42% approval in the polls and dropping fast, maybe the DFL ought to face reality. Oops, I forgot. The DFL doesn't DO reality, just politics. Why do your job when you can just snipe at the way a Republican is doing his?
Whitney Senior Center Townhall (Delayed) Liveblog Notes
8:58 -- I'm getting set up at the townhall meeting at Whitney Senior Center. Thus far, Representatives Gottwalt & Severson, Sen. Clark & Mayor Kleis Are here. Sen. Clark said that Rep. Haws isn't here yet but should be here shortly.
9:04 -- Attendance appears to be good. I just talked with former legislator Bernie Omann, who asked me if I was live logging the event. I said that there isn't wireless internet so I was doing a "delayed live logging."
9:07 -- Rep. Haws just arrived. We should start soon.
9:09 -- Tarryl is getting things started. She's saying Rep. Hosch might be here soon. Tarryl: "The Governor's budget is just coming out."
9:11 -- Mayor Kleis is talking. "We're facing a number of challenges."Whether your tax dollars are going to the city or the state or the federal, we need to spend money wisely." Mayor Kleis is talking about the city website having a chart of the city's priorities. He's saying that enacting the budget early leaves us with more options.
9:15 -- Now Mayor Kleis is talking about do's, don't's & 'do differentlies'. It's part of his system of identifying needs vs. wants. He's also obviously interested in always making things run as efficiently as possible. "We feel pretty good about how we're situated. We think we'll rebound quickly once the economy recovers."
9:20 -- When Joe Perske, Sartell City Council, says that the LGA formula needs fixing, there's general agreement with legislators.
9:22 -- Mayor Kleis is talking about how people ask to cut this or that thing. He said that state mandates limit their options, though he said they sometimes get waivers on those mandates.
9:25 -- Felix Schmiesing, Sherburne County Commissioner, is talking about how using stimulus dollars is risky. Then he talks about how they need clear direction from the legislature on what they want cities & counties to do.
9:29 -- SCSU President Potter is talking about the unallotment they experienced. MnSCU budget got cut pretty significantly.
9:31 -- Steve Jordahl talking about the need to introduce children to the school system earlier. He then talks about how they can't get make ends meet without more revenues. School levy that passed said that we need to keep class sizes down.
9:36 -- Jerry von Korff is talking about they've had to lay staff off in order to keep special-ed going.
9:41 -- Steve Broman of CentraCare is talking about the rising cost of health care. He's saying that we aren't doing enough to get the fed matching dollars.
9:45 -- Teresa Bohnen is talking now. Lots of the local companies are already trimming employees. She then asks that government doesn't raise taxes on small businesses.
Afterwards, I spoke with several local entrepreneurs. One of them told me that his contact in Washington said that the stimulus funds "don't come with strings attached. They come with CABLES attached." Another entrepreneur told me that they've heard that the stimulus bill is likely to get a major rewrite because (a) of the House vote and (b) Ben Nelson's statement that a number of Senate Democrats won't vote for this bill.
Afterthoughts: At times, the meeting felt like a DFL BPOU meeting, where person after person tells why we can't change and we can't cut funding. Though that was the dominant perspective, there was significant pushback from the people paying for these programs. One entrepreneur spoke up about how families and small businesses are sacrificing. He then asked why government workers aren't sharing in that sacrifice. This entrepreneur also asked why government wasn't doing more in terms of innovation, especially in terms of HSAs.
Posted Saturday, January 31, 2009 2:21 PM
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Should Democrats Hire H & R Block?
First, Tim Geithner either was too lazy, too incompetent or too crooked to pay his taxes . (Personally, I'm going with the too crooked option.) Now it's being learned that Tom Daschle didn't pay his taxes either :
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead the administration's health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in unpaid taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.President Obama said that there wouldn't be lobbyists in his administration. I wish he would've told us that he'd fill his cabinet with tax cheats instead. How does a person forget $88,333 in consulting income? Did the company that hired him forget to send out a 1099 that year? Even if they did, why didn't Sen. Daschle follow up with that organization to correct things?
The White House acknowledged Friday that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with the nomination, but a spokesman said the president is confident the former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed as the new health secretary.
Daschle filed amended tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 to reflect additional income for consulting work, the use of a car service and reductions in charitable contribution deductions. He filed the returns after the announcement that Obama intended to nominate him to head the Health and Human Services Department.
Most of the additional taxes resulted from unreported income from the use of a car service provided him by a close friend and business associate. The unreported income for that service totaled about $250,000 over the three years.
Daschle had unreported consulting income of $88,333, in 2007. He also had reductions to charitable contributions totaling about $15,000 over the three years covered, according to the Senate Finance Committee document. The document, marked "Confidential Draft," is a committee statement concerning Daschle's nomination.
Posted Saturday, January 31, 2009 4:44 PM
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The GOP Alternative to the Porkapalooza
My representative Michele Bachman has just posted about the GOP alternative to Ms. Pelosi's Porkapalooza bill. While Ms. Pelosi's Porkapalooza bill stalls, House Republicans offered this alternative :
The legislation will reduce the lowest individual tax rates from 15% to 10% and from 10% to 5%.Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is making these threatening noises regarding the dying stimulus bill:
As a result, every taxpaying-family in America will see an immediate increase in their income with an average benefit of $500 in tax relief from the drop in the 10% bracket and $1,200 for the drop in the 15% bracket. A married couple filing jointly could save up to $3,200 a year in taxes.
And according to research done by The Heritage Foundation, 272,306 filers in Minnesota's 6th District will benefit from the reduction in the 10% bracket and 228,926 filers will benefit from the reduction in the 15% and the 10% brackets.
The legislation allows small business to take a tax deduction equal to 20% of their income.
In fact, small businesses (those employing less than 500 individuals) employ about half of all Americans, yet they can be subject to tax rates that siphon away one-third or more of their income. This legislation will immediately free up funds for small businesses to retain and hire new employees.
In Minnesota, there are 498,606 small businesses with 500 or fewer employees and according to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, they represent 98.0% of the state's employers while having created 78.4% of the state's net new jobs from 2004 to 2005. It's vital that we lower the tax burden on these small businesses.
The legislation also includes a home-buyers credit of $7,500 for those buyers who can make a minimum down-payment of 5%.
This credit will go a long way in giving potential buyers the incentive they need to purchase homes now to help turn around our stagnant real estate market.
In a Thursday afternoon news conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged Senate Republicans not to line up against the bill, and says Republicans will be blamed for any delay in the landmark economic legislation. "If we don't [pass the bill], it's not our fault, we're trying," Reid said. "The president has done a remarkable job covering all the bases on Capitol Hill."This morning, I heard from several St. Cloud businesspeople that the less-than-stimulating stimulus bill is likely heading for a major rewrite :
Afterwards, I spoke with several local entrepreneurs. One of them told me that his contact in Washington said that the stimulus funds "don't come with strings attached. They come with CABLES attached." Another entrepreneur told me that they've heard that the stimulus bill is likely to get a major rewrite because (a) of the House vote and (b) Ben Nelson's statement that a number of Senate Democrats won't vote for this bill.Harry Reid can threaten all he wants. If that bill isn't significantly changed, Reid will have significant Democratic defections on the bill. Doing his best Harry Reid impression, Dick Durbin asked this:
"For those in the House that voted against this package, their alternative is what?" asked Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin.I'd direct Sen. Durbin to look at the alternative that the House GOP offered earlier in the day before Pelosi and her lemmings passed the $819,000,000,000 less-than-stimulating stimulus package. Chuck Schumer also got in this threatening sounding noise:
Schumer piled on the tough talk, accusing House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, an outspoken opponent of the package, of "leading his members off the cliff."Little Chuckie is pretending not to notice that Leader Boehner 'led' 11 Blue Dogs over the cliff with the House GOP Caucus.
I know Reid's caught in the difficult position of defending the indefensible but you'd think he'd do a better job picking his fights. This fight isn't over but I'm thinking that this proverbial train left the station.
Posted Saturday, January 31, 2009 6:03 PM
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Revolutionary Concept
This article talks about how the state legislature is asking for our suggestions on how to balance the budget. How pathetic.
Through Tuesday, the hyperlink added to the Minnesota House page attracted 1,200 suggestions, said Andrew Wittenborg, director of public affairs for the House DFL Caucus.I like the idea of legislators listening to their constituents. That's all I like about this idea. All summer long, DFL committee chairs held hearing after hearing. They got reports saying that the economy was getting worse. As far back as prior to the national conventions, legislators were being told that the deficit could hit $4,000,000,000.
"It's just been crazy," said Wittenborg, referring to the number of e-mails generated by the link, which he credited House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, for originating.
Ideally, he said, Anderson Kelliher and other state lawmakers would like to incorporate some e-mailed suggestions into legislation during the lengthy budget session to help pare costs or streamline operations.
"She feels strongly (that voters should) be able to actively engage their legislators and have some input," said Wittenborg, who likened the voter input box to a property tax suggestion mechanism used in 2007. "This is the whole new level of input that we've seen with the Obama administration and increased use of the Internet," he said.
Instead of working on putting together a budget that would deal with the deficit, Democrats just ran up big per diem bills. According to this chart , DFL senators worked lots of overtime outside the 2008 session. According to this chart, Sandy Pappas collected $7,104 of tax-free per diem when the Senate wasn't in session. Calculated at $96/day, that's 74 days worth of meetings/hearings. That's nearly 15 full weeks when the legislature was in session.
Larry Pogemiller collected $7,008 of tax free per diem , or 73 days worth of out-of-session per diem expenses. Linda Scheid collected $6,816 of tax free per diem , or 71 days worth of out-of-session per diem. Linda Berglin and Ann Rest each collected $6,624 in tax free out-of-session per diem , or 69 days worth of per diem.
On the House side, where representatives 'only' get $77/day in per diem, Al Juhnke collected $7,007 worth of tax free out-of-session per diem , or 91 days worth of per diem. Speaker Kelliher collected $6,776 worth of tax free out-of-session per diem , or 88 days worth of per diem.
Despite putting in all that time, the DFL told reporters that they wouldn't be putting out their own budget, that they'll be working off of Gov. Pawlenty's budget. After holding 70-90 days worth of hearings while the legislature wasn't in session, the only thing the DFL produced was bills.
NOT LEGISLATION!!!
BILLS!!!
Then they have the audacity to tell us that, despite having gotten paid all that tax-free per diem, they don't have a budget plan? After all those hearings and meetings, what did their constituents get out of it besides thousands of dollars worth of wasted per diem payments?
Did we get any reform-minded legislation from these hearings? If yes, what were the reform-minded legislation that those hearings produced? If these hearings didn't produce any reform-minded legislation, why did Democrats charge Minnesota's taxpayers thousands of dollars of per diem for doing nothing?
I said here that the DFL leadership team has refused to lead. At this point, I'd be satisfied if they simply didn't cause harm to Minnesota's taxpayers. If these legislators aren't producing important work product, why are they getting paid for these out-of-session hearings?
That's before I start asking why senators need $96/day in per diem or representatives need $77/day in per diem. Remember that out-state legislators get paid for their travelling expenses and are eligible for a housing allowance.
That's a major reason why my blood boils when I hear Larry Pogemiller talk about shared sacrifice. I'm not often into giving advice. I'd rather offer suggestions or persuade people into agreeing with me. This time, dispensing advice is what's called for.
Sen. Pogemiller, cut the Senate's per diem, eliminate the wasted out-of-session committee hearings and put out your own budget. Share in Minnesota's sacrifice. You're the majority leader. Lead . If you don't start sharing in the sacrifice, we'll find a new majority that takes its responsibilities seriously, that will lead and that will provide solutions to Minnesota's biggest problems in a timely fashion.
BTW, speaking on behalf of We The People , that isn't a suggestion. If you don't remember that you work for us, we'll remind you in 2010.
Originally posted Saturday, January 31, 2009, revised 26-May 2:19 AM
Comment 1 by Chad A Quigley at 01-Feb-09 09:49 AM
My Senator, Ellen Anderson says she "needs" the nearly $16k in per diem she received last year so she can be a "full-time" politician while the remainder of the politicians go back to their regular jobs.
She claims she pays taxes on the per diem and Sara Linert at the Taxpayers League said it depends on how they do their taxes whether or not they are taxable. Taxable or not, they are supposed to be part-time legislators.
Comment 2 by DP at 01-Feb-09 10:41 AM
If you add up all of the senators expenses it comes to roughly 1.45 million dollars that seems like a heck of a lot of money to spend of part time legislators. If we were to cut that in half we would be saving nearly 750k which would sure save a lot of people on public roles which the DFL seems hell bent on saving. Or if Steve Murphy were to give up half of his nearly 40k that would be a lot of pot holes we could fix, but oh no they couldn't do that that would require too much from them. If the senates is that high imagine what we are paying in expenses for the house!
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 01-Feb-09 01:06 PM
Chad, Per diem isn't taxed because it's considered a reimbursement for expenses. Your point about this supposing to be a part-time legislature is spot on.
What's most upsetting to me is that wer'e getting nothing out of their extra hearings except extra expenditures. That's a pretty lousy deal if you ask me.
DP, it bothers me thinking about all the money that's spent because legislators & bureaucrats haven't bothered thinking about whether there's a better way of doing things.
Suddenly, there's a crisis & people start thinking about efficiency? From this instant onward, finding new efficiencies should be part of the legislature's job.
