July 29-30, 2010
Jul 30 09:16 ABM: A History of Smears, Fabrications Jul 29 11:20 Tarryl Opposes Obamacare? Jul 29 11:58 UpTake Productions In Context
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009
ABM: A History of Smears, Fabrications
Since ABM, aka Dayton Family Inc., started their smear campaign, the lies and the accusations have flied fast. KSTP reporter Tom Hauser is the subject this post . They don't say flattering things about him:
It's no surprise that when Republican leaning reporter Tom Hauser looked at our recent ad highlighing Tom Emmer's legislative record that he repeated the same accusations of the Minnesota Republican Party.Here's the transcript from ABM's attack against Tom Hauser:
What is surprising, though,is that he did so even after these claims had been proven false, and that a simple glance at the ad's accompanying fact-check would reveal a simple typo, not some grand conspiracy.
Ordinary Minnesotans are facing tough times. We need a leader who will fight for us. But Tom Emmer has sided with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and opposed a plan that would have forced CEOs and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. The Emmer-Pawlenty plan created a huge deficit and cut things that Minnesotans rely on. They cut funding on education, job training and health care, making it harder to get our economy back on track again. Minnesotans can't afford another 4 years of Tim Pawlenty's and Tom Emmer's failed agenda.Here's what KSTP posted explaining why they gave ABM's ad an F, their lowest grade possible:
The ad tries to link Emmer by tying him to Governor Tim Pawlenty. It claims Emmer sided with Pawlenty and opposed a plan that would force CEOs and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.It's accurate to say that the tax bill Tom Emmer voted against had bipartisan support for defeating the bill. According to the legislative log, John Benson, Julie Bunn, Denise Dittrich, Gail Kulick-Jackson, Kory Kath, Sandy Masin, Will Morgan, Kim Norton, Mike Obermueller, Gene Pelowski, Paul Rosenthal, Maria Ruud, Bev Scalze, Philip Sterner, Marsha Swails and Andy Welti were DFL legislators that voted against the bill.
This claim is false, at least according to the date of a house vote cited in the ad. On May 10th, Emmer did vote against a bill that would have increased income taxes by $443 million through the creation of one of the highest tax rates in the nation. But it makes no mention of CEO or corporate taxes. Every house Republican voted against it, along with 16 Democrats.
As to the assertion that Gov. Pawlenty and Tom Emmer "cut funding for items such as health care, education, and job training", that's nonsense. Here's KSTP's explanation for why that statement isn't true:
The ad also claims the two supported a plan that created a huge deficit and cut funding for items such as health care, education, and job training. This claim is also false. It's a reference to the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Pawlenty's 2009 unallotment plan the legislature did not vote on. The ruling did have the effect of reinstating nearly $3 billion from the previous year's deficit, but it didn't create a new deficit.ABM hates being called out on their smear campaign. I'm sure they didn't like it when Mitch and I posted about the propagandist blog site UpTake filming gay rights activist Randi Reitan while she returned $226.32 worth of products that she purchased at Target.
Clearly, ABM's goal was to make it look like the start of a groundswell of anger from ordinary folks against Target. In fact, it was a planned production aimed at creating a false image of consumer outrage.
Finally, it says that education funding was cut during the Pawlenty administration. The per student funding was $4,601 in 2004. It's $5,124 per student in 2010.
We know that businesses are leaving Minnesota. We know that the 5 most likely landing spots for those businesses are Texas, North and South Dakota, Utah and Arizona. Those states have one thing in common: They have lower tax rates than Minnesota.
Further, we know that the DFL has tried raising taxes multiple times while Minnesota was in recession. We know that they ignored the GOP's warning in 2007 that we shouldn't raise spending because the economy was slowing. I remember talking with Laura Brod about the worst hidden thing that most Minnesotans didn't know about as a result of that year's legislation.
Laura's response was that few Minnesotans understood the ramifications of the tails on the omnibus spending bills, that the spending increases called for in the out years were outrageous. She said in May, 2007 that the tails to the DFL's bills would create monstrous structural deficits. She was right. Which leads to my final point of contention to ABM's deceitful video.
ABM says that the fiscal sanity approved of by Tom Emmer and Tim Pawlenty caused the huge deficits. That's utter nonsense. The DFL's reckless spending caused it. The DFL's unwillingness to adopt any of the House GOP's reforms, especially on MinnesotaCare, caused the huge deficits. The DFL's overall hostility towards capitalism and entrepreneurship caused the historic deficits.
The simple fact is that ABM's mission this election cycle is to say outrageous things in the hope that Minnesotans forget about the DFL's distressing record of governing the past 4 years and their anti-capitalist, anti-growth policies. They know that their candidates can't win without smearing Tom Emmer with lie after lie after lie.
The real question facing Minnesotans is whether the DFL should be given the keys to the kingdom, especially given the fact that their record as the legislative majority is riddled with foolish spending priorities and tax increase proposals that would've driven businesses to other states.
Had Mike Hatch defeated Tim Pawlenty (I shudder just thinking about that) in 2006, he would've signed the tax increases that the DFL-dominated legislature passed. He would've also signed the 17+ percent spending increase they passed in 2007. Had that happened, Minnesota's economy would've resembled California's or Michigan's.
The DFL's thirst for spending beyond Minnesota's means and their thirst for higher taxes hasn't diminished one iota since 2007. That's why they need ABM. The DFL knows that if their election hinges on defending their policies, they're sunk. Their only hope for election success is by running a smear campaign that hides their terrible financial record and their unwillingness to deviate from what's failed the past 4 years.
Noteworthy commitments: The DFL is committed to funding an outdated form of government. The MNGOP is the party committed to reforming government and creating a 21st Century economy. ABM is committed to doing whatever it takes to see that the DFL gets to shove their radical agenda down our throats.
If that means smearing Tom Emmer, then that's what ABM will do.
Posted Friday, July 30, 2010 9:16 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 30-Jul-10 01:10 PM
Hey, have a little compassion. Lies and smears is all they've got! :-)
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 03:29 AM
I know that's all they've got. I don't have compassion for hate-filled people who'll say or do anything to attain power. Look what that's got us in the White House.
Comment 2 by eric z at 31-Jul-10 07:33 AM
This constant GOP "businesses leaving" rhetoric is disturbing beyond, if they will not pay fair taxes they're not needed.
Can you name five businesses of any significance that have left Minnesota over the last four years - when the DFL has controlled both legislative chambers - because of tax policy and not as a result of merger-acquisition?
If they are leaving in droves, please name the five most significant ones, in your view.
My thought is they should watch the doorknob on the way out if they really exist, and are not just some GOP mental fiction being propagandized as a scare tactic.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 11:30 AM
I can't name 5 off the top of my head but 3M expanded in TX rather than Minnesota & Marvin Windows expanded in North Dakota rather than in Minnesota. I'd call them rather significant businesses.
Further, it's wrong to think in your terms. EVERY BUSINESS that doesn't start here as a result of the DFL's overindulgent policies cripples Minnesota's prosperity AND Minnesota's ability to sustain our quality of life.
Please get it into your head that the vast majority of clear-thinking people think in terms of whether their employer is helping them live the American dream rather than thinking whether their employer is 'paying their fair share'.
Finally, the IRS has identified North & South Dakota, Texas, Colorado & Utah as the places where Minnesota businesses have relocated to most frequently.
The DFL's focus since regaining the majority in the House has been on paying off their political allies rather than doing what's right for Minnesota. That's why Minnesota's economy stinks. The DFL has rejected reforms that would've improved Minnesota's education system & Linda Berglin rejected a health care reform plan that would've saved Minnesota taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars per biennium while providing better coverage, all for ideological reasons. That's unconcienable & unforgiveable.
Comment 3 by eric z at 31-Jul-10 07:36 AM
These bills you say Laura Brod criticized, were they signed by Pawlenty or vetoed?
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 11:16 AM
Signed. Vetoing them would've meant a special session & a possible gov't shutdown. Pawlenty got the money for the 2008 biennium down to a responsible level, then signed the bills. Then he negotiated the 2010 biennium numbers down during the 2009 session.
Had he not been the voice of sanity, we would've faced a $10 billion deficit in 2009 instead of a $6.4 billion deficit.
Comment 4 by eric z at 31-Jul-10 07:38 AM
Bush sure did a bang-up job on creating a twenty first century economy; GOP deluxe.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 11:12 AM
Eric, Just because BWB cut taxes didn't make him a conservative. He was a progressive just like his father. The ideas that Paul Ryan, Tom Price & Thad McCotter have put together are dramatically different than the bills that Ted Kennedy wrote for education, health care & immigration.
In fact, the Ryan blueprint for prosperity will make the Obama administration's economic policies look positively foolish in terms of history.
Comment 5 by eric z at 31-Jul-10 07:46 AM
Gary, in my adulthood, hate-filled people have gotten into the White House:
Lyndon Johnson.
Richard Nixon.
Gerald Ford.
Ronald Reagan.
Both Bushes.
The Clintons.
Obama [Rahm Emanuel [sp?] does seem to fit that term]
I left Carter out. He was not hate-filled, but he started the ball rolling on the movement Reagan termed the "holy warriors" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and those chickens are roosting, and roosting, and roosting, as a twenty-first century situation.
Richard Nixon was the paradigm of hate-filled. Put Kennedy into the list, Papa Joe was brass-knuckle, not bare-knuckle.
"Hate-filled" certainly seems to be a bipartisan thing - while little else does, on public rhetorical levels.
Response 5.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 11:08 AM
Eric, Saying that either Bush or Gerald Ford was hate-filled is ridiculous beyond belief. Nixon, LBJ & Obama didn't/don't think twice about cutting their political opponents off at the knees. They were totally ruthless.
Comment 6 by walter hanson at 31-Jul-10 09:12 AM
Eric:
Only in your world of imagination can you say that Ronald Reagan and the Bushs were filled with hate. Reagan had a great time meeting with Gorb even though they disagreed.
What you're mistaking is that standing up to evil and protecting the United States which is what Reagan and the Bushs did is not hate.
You want to talk about hate how about the mayor of New Orleans going around and blaming George Bush for not helping the people of New Orleans when the mayor was failing to do his job?
If you want hate how about accusing President Bush of not caring for justice just because he didn't believe that adding a hate crime to a convicted murderers sentence made no difference like the NAACP wanted.
That's real hate Eric! You're just pretending Republicans hate because that is what the democrats tell no mind zombies like you to believe.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 7 by walter hanson at 31-Jul-10 09:15 AM
You know two simple retorts to these false claims:
One, can they name a state where brilliant Democratic leadership is working. California has a deficit over $20 billion and has businesses fleeing the state. New York has a several billion dollar deficit.
And two, I thought this stimulus plan that Obama and the Democrats supportered was going to keep unemployment under 8%. It shows that they don't have a solution that works.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 8 by walter hanson at 31-Jul-10 06:22 PM
Gary:
Lets not forget Polaris has decided to relocate to Mexico. I didn't know Mexico got lots of snow and cold weather. No wonder why those people flee Mexico for the warmer climate of Arizona.
That's a perfect example businesses being driven away by the taxes and regulations.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Response 8.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Jul-10 10:12 PM
Walter, I didn't know about Polaris but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised.
Tarryl Opposes Obamacare?
The first reaction I had after reading this post was Does Tarryl really expect us to believe this"? My second reaction was Obamacare collapses without an individual mandate.
While meeting liberal activists at this year's Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas, Tarryl Clark said she opposes individual health care mandates like those included in the federal health care legislation.TRANSLATION: Tarryl knows that the individual mandate isn't popular so saying that she's against it is her best hope of earning her some brownie points.
"I'm against individual mandates," she told Talking Points Memo while discussing the health care bill. "Minnesota's been a leader in health care. We've shown that you can get just about everybody covered without having mandates."
Clark also said the bill did not do enough "on cost containment."
Clark spokeswoman Carrie Lucking said the state senator still would have voted for the health care bill had she been in Congress.
"Just because you have concerns about parts of the bill doesn't mean that overall you don't think it's a step in the right direction," Lucking said, noting that Clark is particularly supportive of the provision barring discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.
Tarryl hasn't figured it out that people don't care whether you oppose the individual mandate if you'd vote for legislation that includes the individual mandate. People pay attention to a person's actions, not their words.
Let's look at the totality of Tarryl's statement. First, Obamacare crumples without the individual and corporate mandates. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.
Second, according to her spokester, Tarryl didn't like the individual mandate but she would've voted for the bill anyway. Tarryl didn't think the legislation did enough to control costs but she would've voted for the bill anyway.
Given the fact that it wouldn't have controlled costs and given the fact that health care legislation would've fined people if they didn't buy a health insurance policy that wouldn't help control cost, what's the reason for voting for it? Voting for it because Speaker Pelosi tells her to vote for something isn't a legitimate reason.
Tarryl is a rubberstamp, pure and simple. She isn't a policy wonk she doesn't think in terms of doing what's right for her constituents. Her votes are paybacks to the special interests that support her.
I'd take Tarryl seriously if she'd consistently said that she wouldn't have voted for Obamacare because it didn't do enough to lower health care costs or health insurance premiums. That would've should've proven that she's got a spine. Because she didn't show a spine, it's appropriate to call her just another spineless politician.
That's why I won't take her statements seriously.
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:20 AM
No comments.
UpTake Productions In Context
Yesterday, I wrote this post about how the UpTake just happened to be at the right Target outlet store with their camera at the exact right time to film an aggrieved mother making a purchase costing $226.32, then returning the goods and getting a refund for her purchas.
This morning, a commenter said that the woman described in my post sounds alot like a gay rights activist named Randy Reitan. When I googled her name and clicked on the images tab, it was clear to me that my commenter had the right insight.
Let me be clear about this: I don't have a quarrel with someone being an activist for a cause, even if it's a cause I don't totally agree with. The First Amendment gives each of us the right to make statements of this nature.
This post is dedicated to putting yesterday's chance meeting in the proper context. It's equally important that UpTake's and Mrs. Reitan's actions are totally transparent and seen from the right perspective.
When I googled Randi Reitan's name, it said that there were "About 210,000 results (0.16 seconds)" for the web for her name. Here's a telling link about Randi Reitan:
Randi Reitan, Minnesota's favorite, and I must say sweetest, PFLAG mom has a great editorial in the Star Tribune about the struggles her family have gone through with religion and love. Here's a great excerpt:Let me repeat this: I don't have a problem with Mrs. Reitan being an advocate on issues she feels strongly about. I'm writing this post because I want everyone to know, to borrow an old Paul Harvey phrase, the rest of the story."To leave this church, which was at the core of our family, is one of the most painful things we have done. But we can no longer worship in a church that treats God's beloved gay children as sick and sinful based on their sexual orientation. We can no longer sing songs of justice on Sunday morning, knowing the injustice this church lives each and every day with its policies against God's beloved gay community. We can no longer hear pastors preach of God's love for all people when the church policy treats its beloved gay members as lesser children of God. We can no longer hear words of love and concern spoken to us in private but never hear them spoken from the pulpit or never see the hierarchy of the church lead with justice."If you ever get the chance to meet her, or see her speak, please go. You won't be disappointed.
Yesterday, this is what I said about UpTake's filming of the shopping spree:
What I question is whether customers are leaving Target en masse. I'm betting they aren't. I'm betting that UpTake was there to film this to give the impression that people are boycotting Target en masse.Given this information and the fact that UpTake cameras were in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time to film this tells me that my initial instincts were right.
Readers of this blog are free to draw whichever conclusions they want. I'm just doing the best I can to put the video in the proper context.
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:58 AM
Comment 1 by GarandFan at 31-Jul-10 10:49 AM
Just some more of that "honest grassroots" that the leftists are noted for.
Everyone else calls it what it is; ASTROTURF!
Comment 2 by Mara Harris at 31-Jul-10 04:31 PM
Dude?
Stop apologizing for setting the record straight.
It makes you appear weak.
