May 1, 2007
May 01 01:29 They Don't Believe In Growing the Economy? May 01 04:10 Editorially Speaking May 01 04:48 KSTP Push Polling Results In May 01 06:02 al-Masri Dead? May 01 07:10 Bloated Bonding Bill Awaits Pawlenty Veto May 01 18:04 Good Riddance!!!
Prior Years: 2006
They Don't Believe In Growing the Economy?
I've written alot of articles by quoting Ann Lenczewski this session. That said, her quote today is my favorite. First, let's review Rep. Lenczewski's best previous quote:
However, that relief will not come if money is not available to fund it.Rep. Lenczewski said that in reference to the proposed property tax relief for the middle class. OOPS. Strike that. MAJOR OOPS!!! Here's Rep. Lenczewski's quote from today:
"We won't get property tax relief for free," said House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski of Bloomington. "We need to be responsible. This bill is responsible."Rep. Lenczewski obviously doesn't believe in Reaganomics. For that matter, she obviously hasn't learned that the cornerstone of JFK's economic policy was tax cuts. Reagan and JFK knew that cutting marginal tax rates increased revenues. The DFL thinks that that policy is heresy.
The best way to 'afford' permanent property tax relief is in growing outstate Minnesota's economy, not by growing government in St. Paul. You can't grow Minnesota's economy if Minnesota isn't business friendly. A cornerstone of the business friendly blueprint is a strong education system. Our opponents on the other side of the aisle would have you believe that that's all you need. I'll respectfully disagree. The other components to the 'business friendly blueprint' are lower marginal tax rates and sane government spending policies.
You can't possibly have low marginal tax rates if you're proposing a 17+ percent spending increase like the DFL is doing. It isn't possible when one of the biggest budgets (HHS) is growing by 24.4 percent this biennium and another 18 percent the next biennium. That isn't just what the DFL is proposing. That's what the House has passed.
It's worth noting that the DFL has said with their legislation that they're more interested in paying off their political allies than they're interested in making Minnesota business friendly. Similarly, they've shunned taking a bipartisan approach to the budget. In other words, the legislation that's passed is the DFL's budget blueprint in all its glory. They can't blame Republicans for it because the DFL rammed their special interest friendly budget through without GOP assistance.
Let's ask another question about the DFL's policies. How much higher can the DFL increase tax rates on the job creators before they move to South Dakota? Anyone that thinks that that won't happen is kidding themselves. The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce works on recruiting businesses to their state every day, with a special focus on recruiting Minnesota businesses because of our high tax rates.
After everything settles, it'll be apparent that the DFL is special interest friendly. It'll be equally apparent that the GOP's budget plan is people and business friendly.
Like my friend Steve Gottwalt says, the best social program in the world is a solid job.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 1:29 AM
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Editorially Speaking
If I posed a question to you about who liberals are, would you be more likely to say that they're (a) the gift that keeps on giving or (b) they condone deceiving the public? According to these comments to Steve Sviggum's Your Turn in Sunday's St. Cloud Times, the answer is C, all of the above. Here's a representative sampling of liberal thinking:
mattaudio from Collegeville[emphasis added]
Comment Posted: 4/30/2007 2:11:28 AM
The election is over, get over it. MN voters knew what they wanted and voted accordingly. Democrats have a mandate--they have political capital to work with. I guess Republicans can dish it but they can't take it when the tables turn. Sore losers.
Ty from St. Cloud
Comment Posted: 4/30/2007 6:44:46 AM
"I'll bet they didn't tell you about the radical changes they had in store, such as increased tax burdens"Anyone that didn't know that this would occur is a person that believes that you can get something for nothing.
This was no surprise to ANY thinking person. Therefore, the people got what they wanted - and what they deserve.
On the other hand, can Republicans say the same thing regarding the spending of the Republican party (in ALL areas - not just the war) during the tenure of President Bush?
Here's the most accurate statement I've read from a liberal in ages:
True Blue Liberal from OPMIt's a sad commentary when a political party can't run on its true intentions. That's where the DFL finds itself. It's sold its collective soul to special interest groups that won't settle for sane agendas. They're only satisfied if they get repaid with the most radical spending increases imaginable.
Comment Posted: 4/30/2007 8:47:42 AM
Remember, a lawyer's job is to
misrepresent the truth enough to win
without technically telling a lie.
And so it goes.
I actually agree with Ty saying that we should've expected the DFL to increase taxes. In fact, I predicted it. Here's what DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch said:
Hatch gave his task an initial shot in a rambling acceptance speech that punched some of the right buttons. He cast Pawlenty as too stingy with education, responsible for large class sizes and rising college tuition. He tagged him for an inadequate response to soaring health care costs and the emerging biosciences industry. He promised more state investment in those things. Significantly, he said, "we can do this without raising taxes."Here's my response to that:
I agree that restoring education funding can be done without raising taxes. That said, does anyone in their right mind think that Democrats won't raise taxes? I'll believe that the day I get photos of a leopard rearranging the spots on his fur. Believing that a Democrat won't raise taxes instinctively is like believing that making sudden movements towards a cobra won't get you bit. You can believe it all you want but reality is reality.As for Matt's claim that the DFL has a mandate & political capital, I'd agree that they used to have political capital. I'd argue, though, that they didn't have a mandate to increase taxes. I'd win the argument that they had a mandate to dramatically increase taxes.
What I will say is that the GOP will have a mandate to keep taxes low when they retake the House in November, 2008.
Finally, I couldn't agree more with True Blue's statement that "a lawyer's job is misrepresent the truth enough to win without technically telling a lie." That statement reminded me of something Jim Carville said after Clinton's 1992 victory. He was speaking at LSU as part of a panel when he said that "a man was once asked to testify at a trial. When he was called to testify, they asked "Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth?" The witness said "Well, which of them do you want?"
Liberals can't tell people the whole truth about their agenda because they wouldn't win many elections if they did.
And that's the truth.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 4:10 AM
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KSTP Push Polling Results In
KSTP's latest push poll is in & the results are exactly what they wanted. First, let's examine the questions. Clearly, they're intended to evoke a specific response:
Q1. A bill in the state legislature would increase income taxes on those making $226,000 of taxable income, and on couples with about twice that, in order to raise money to provide property tax relief. Do you support? Or do you oppose? This bill?It isn't until we get to the third question that we get a straight question:
Q2. Another bill would increase income taxes on those with more than $141,000, or on couples with about twice that, in order to raise money for education. Do you support? Or do you oppose? that bill?
Q3. Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposes to balance the budget by increasing spending by about 10 percent over two years using surplus revenues and no tax increases. Do you support? Or oppose? This bill?Even when they push-polled the first two questions, the best they could do was 64-31 in support of their push-polled questions. When they asked a straight answer, Q3, they found that got a 65-28 percent approval. What this says is that the DFL's priorities can't get the same support as Gov. Pawlenty's agenda. In fact, the only way they can artificially get it close is by saying that tax increases would be tied to funding education & property tax relief, two hot button issues.
This should scare the DFL if they're paying attention. It's obvious that they wouldn't have gotten 60 percent support had KSTP just asked if people would support increasing taxes.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 4:48 AM
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al-Masri Dead?
This article reports that the man who took over for AQI mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh reported the news. Here's what we know thus far:
Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq was killed by Sunni tribesmen but the information has not been confirmed, the chief government spokesman said Tuesday.That last sentence should provide reason enough to be cautious. Iraqi officials have reported the killing of various terrorists, only to have to retract the statements as inaccurate. That said, let's hope that they're right. Based on this statement, we should know fairly soon:
The statement by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh followed a welter of reports from other Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Iraqi officials have rushed out similar reports in the past, only to acknowledge later they were inaccurate.
U.S. officials said they could not confirm the reported death.
Al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiya that word of al-Masri's purported death was based on "intelligence information," adding that "DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body."If al-Masri is dead, this is just more proof that Iraqis are turning against AQI. That isn't the same as saying that they're willing to countenance foreign troops on Iraqi soil but it's at least a step in the right direction. Here's more information on al-Masri:
But he refused to say unequivocally whether Iraqi security forces have the body, citing security restrictions. Accounts were vague about when and where al-Masri supposedly died.
"We will make an official announcement when we confirm that this person is Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The Iraqi government will work to identify him," he said.
The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed on Tuesday in an internal fight between insurgents, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report. Spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told Reuters: "We have definite intelligence reports that al Masri was killed today". He said the battle happened near a bridge in the small town of al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad.Check back later for more updates as they become available.
Another source in the ministry said Masri had been killed in what he described as "probably score-settling within al Qaeda itself".
UPDATE: Here's an interesting bit of information:
Reports of al-Masri's death came amid increasing friction between Sunni al-Qaida militants and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups in Iraq, particularly over al-Qaida's policy of targeting civilians through suicide bombings at mosques and markets.As I said earlier, this doesn't mean that these insurgent groups like US military forces on Iraqi soil. What it does mean is that Iraqi insurgent groups hate AQI terrorists more than they dislike MNF-I troops. This can't help AQI in the short- or long-term. These insurgents are telling AQI that they aren't welcome there.
UPDATE II: Here's what the Boston Globe is reporting:
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told The Associated Press that al-Masri was believed to have been killed Monday in the Taji area north of Baghdad.This just adds more credibility to the first update, which said that there is considerable friction between Iraqi insurgents and AQI terrorists.
"Preliminary reports said he was killed yesterday in Taji area in a battle involving a couple of insurgent groups, possibly some tribal people who have problems with al-Qaida. These reports have to be confirmed."
Tribesmen in the western Anbar province have been fighting al-Qaida for weeks and claim to have killed dozens of them.
Another thing about this fighting between AQI and Iraqi insurgents is that this news isn't bolstering Democrats' arguments that the war in Iraq is lost. Sectarian violence has dropped by 66 percent. AQI terrorists have been producing most of the violence that TV shows. If AQI's capabilities are being reduced and they're having to defend themselves and their sanctuary, they're being put into a bad position.
UPDATE III: FNC reporter Anita McNaught is now reporting that al-Masri's body has been given to US military forces & that the identification process is underway. Let's hope it's confirmed.
UPDATE IV: Here's some background information on al-Masri:
"His real name is Yussef al-Dardiri, he is around 38 years old and he comes from Upper Egypt," Montasser al-Zayat, an Egyptian lawyer and former member of the Islamist group Gamaa Islamiya, told AFP last year. According to Zayat, who says he does not know him personally, Masri lived in the Cairo slum of Zawiya Hamra before going to Afghanistan in the late 1980s and then on to Iraq via Iran.Here's what we know about Gamaa Islamiya:
Egypt's largest militant group, active since the late 1970s, appears to be loosely organized. Has an external wing with supporters in several countries worldwide. The group issued a cease-fire in March 1999, but its spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, sentenced to life in prison in January 1996 for his involvement in the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and incarcerated in the United States, rescinded his support for the cease-fire in June 2000. The IG has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since August 1998. Senior member signed Usama Bin Ladin's fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks against the United States.In other words, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, aka the Blind Sheikh, was the spiritual leader of Gemaa Islamiya. That makes them one of the most militant Islamic groups in existence. If al-Masri has indeed been killed, we will have killed a very militant Islamic fundamentalist.
UPDATE V: It was inevitable, even predictable. I just visited the Fever Swamp to see if they were spinning conspiracy theories about al-Masri's death in Iraq, which they are. Here's what they're saying:
Right On Time, Mr. Big Is DeadThey're seething that the delivery of the Democrats' Defeatist Act isn't getting the attention they hoped it would have. They're seething because they think that FNC and other right wing media outlets are running the al-Masri story as part of a hoax. The theory is that they're running al-Masri's story to eat up all of the airtime so the "Mission Accomplished" story can't get told.
by rjmac
Tue May 01, 2007 at 06:50:35 AM PDT
I wanted to see how the Republican infomercial channel was observing the fourth anniversary of Bush's notorious Mission Accomplished speech, and I wasn't disappointed. At 8:30 eastern time their top story was...wow, who could guess this one...a thrilling announcement that Mr. Big was dead.
Which Mr. Big? Why Hamza al-Masri, who is said to be the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. I checked the Al Jazeera web site, and they also had the story, but it seemed pretty confused. Their report said Mr. Big was killed "in a battle within his own group." Al Jazeera was also saying the Iraqi government wasn't involved and didn't have his body, but they were announcing the news.
Back on Fox News, Colonel Hunt, the resident hardass, was growling he'd "made a few calls" and they're just waiting for confirmation from DNA. From a body no one has. Okay.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 9:36 AM
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Bloated Bonding Bill Awaits Pawlenty Veto
The House & Senate passed a bloated bonding bill that's almost certain to be greeted with a veto or that will be trimmed down from its current $334 million price tag:
The $334 million bonding bill, bigger than original House and Senate proposals, would use cash and state borrowing authority to move forward with arena expansions in Duluth and St. Cloud, a Minneapolis-to-St. Paul light-rail line and roof repairs for public college buildings.I'd expect Gov. Pawlenty to exercise his line item veto powers on the bonding bill because it's $250+ million more than his proposed bonding bill. If he were to sign this bill, there's no guarantee that the DFL wouldn't pass another bloated bonding bill again next year, which would wipe out the state surplus.
The bill passed the House on an 84-49 vote; the Senate followed with a 45-18 vote.
Pawlenty has the power to strike down the whole bill or wipe away individual projects. He has raised concern with the bill because it is several times larger than a $71 million package he proposed and because it comes ahead of a negotiated blueprint for the rest of the budget.
I'd say that the DFL spends like a bunch of drunken sailors but I wouldn't want to impugn the good reputation of drunken sailors.
It's part of a DFL strategy to make Pawlenty consider budget bills in isolation rather than as part of a broad package.Whether the DFL sent him a big bill including all of the budget or whether they send him the appropriations bills one at a time is irrelevant. What people will remember is that the DFL tried spending reckless amounts of money. Of course, they'll say that Gov. Pawlenty was too stingy in funding Minnesota's priorities. That won't fly, though, because people won't agree that a 10 percent spending increase is being stingy.
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller , DFL-Minneapolis, said legislative negotiators aren't trying to be confrontational with Pawlenty. The decision to pass smaller budget bills before obtaining a global agreement is meant to prevent the usual wait-until-the-end backlog.If anybody thinks that Pogie's telling the truth when he says that he isn't trying to be confrontational, contact me because I've got a great investment opportunity on a bridge in Brooklyn. If there's anything more certain than the DFL raising taxes, it's that Pogie's every move is dedicated to causing friction between Republicans & the DFL.
House Majority Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said delaying the work does more harm than good. "If we put them off until next year it would cost more in inflation," he said.Sertich's statement just proves that the DFL plans on blaming Gov. Pawlenty for an over-sized bonding bill next year.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 7:10 AM
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Good Riddance!!!
Wherever Mike Hatch went, there was a stir of trouble. That was as predictable as Democrats raising taxes. For the first time in forever,Mike Hatch did the honorable thing. Today, Mike Hatch resigned. He leaves with troubles stirring within the Attorney General's office.
Hatch said he was leaving to help relieve a cloud over current Attorney General Lori Swanson, who has experienced about three-dozen staff departures since taking over in January. She has defended the turnover as natural but a union trying to organize lawyers has complained of a tense work environment.What is it about DFL women prosecutors & hostile work environments? Lawyers in Amy Klobuchar's office complained about a hostile work environment, too. To be fair, it isn't just women prosecutors. Hatch wasn't exactly known for his tact & diplomacy while running the AG's office, either.
Some current and former staff members have said that Hatch contributed to the unrest. Swanson served as a top litigator during Hatch's eight years as attorney general. Both are Democrats.Here's how I'd rewrite that last paragraph:
Swanson threw many in Minnesota's political community for a loop in January when she persuaded Hatch to join her staff. He was charged with leading a team looking into complex cases.
Nobody thought Swanson would be stupid enough to hire the pushy Hatch when she took office, especially considering her need to establish herself in her new position.
As for Hatch contributing "to the unrest", I simply ask why that wasn't utterly predictable? It seems to me that that should've been anticipated. It wasn't that long ago that Hatch tried bullying a judge, even getting investigated by Minnesota's Supreme Court for that.
Ms. Swanson shouldn't escape scrutiny for her hiring Hatch, either. The fact is that the hiring tells us what her agenda is. People said that the AG's office under Hatch should've been known as the Department of Class Action Lawsuits. It was common knowledge that the AG's office didn't place a priority on criminal prosecutions. With her hiring Hatch, Ms. Swanson essentially said that she'd have the same agenda.
To say that she's gotten off to a rocky start is vast understatement. The only questions left are whether Ms. Swanson is utterly incompetent or if she's just utterly corrupt.
I suspect that we'll know that soon.
Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007 6:04 PM
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