May 31, 2007
May 31 00:34 WHAT A GOALIE!!! May 31 01:15 Does Anyone Believe Them?, Part II May 31 11:41 More on the Gov's Veto May 31 14:11 Gov. Pawlenty Veto Notice May 31 15:53 The Impossible Happens
Prior Years: 2006
WHAT A GOALIE!!!
All spring long, MOBsters were wondering what type of goaltender Gov. Pawlenty would be. Today, we got our answer. Borrowing a hockey metaphor, I think it's time to award Gov. Pawlenty with this year's Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender in Minnesota this session. Here's why he's earned that 'trophy':
Capping a regular legislative session defined by his vetoes, Gov. Tim Pawlenty fulfilled a threat and vetoed a tax bill on Wednesday, taking down with it more than $70 million in local government aids and $33 million in direct homeowner property tax relief.Frankly, vetoing the tax bill is the best gift Gov. Pawlenty could give Minnesota's taxpayers. Had he signed it, inflation would've been factored into the budget forecast, meaning that the DFL could've said that the surplus had disappeared & that we needed to increase taxes.
Also falling to Pawlenty's veto pen were public subsidies for expansion of the Mall of America and Thomson-West publishing, as well as a state guarantee of costs associated with next year's Republican National Convention.
Earlier tonight, I talked with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis about why I thought this was important. I said that a big reason why the DFL couldn't gain any traction for their tax-raising insanity is because the official budget report stated that we had a $2.16 billion surplus. I said that the average taxpayer would hear the words "official report" & take their word on it. Mayor Kleis agreed that it's difficult to win an argument 'against' an official government document.
The main poison pill in this legislation was an 'inflation accelerator' that would've given the DFL a stronger position to raise taxes. It also would've assumed that once something is appropriated, it's always appropriated plus inflation. It essentially eliminates legislative oversight of the budgets. That isn't being the taxpayers' ally. That's being fiscally irresponsible & that won't cut it with GOP activists.
Gov. Pawlenty, I'm proud to have you as an ally in our fight against the DFL's irresponsible fiscal behavior. I'm glad we had you as our goalie.
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:34 AM
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Does Anyone Believe Them?, Part II
I've gotten alot of mileage from Mike Hatch's acceptance speech from last June's DFL State Convention. I titled that post Does Anyone Believe Them? Now I have reason for a 'sequel to that post. This article provides the quotes needed for the sequel. Let's first set this up with Hatch's infamous words:
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."I said then that I'd believe that a Democrat won't instinctively raise taxes the day that making sudden movements towards a cobra wouldn't get you bit. Especially after this session, I'll stand fast on that belief.
Now let's look at the basis for the sequel, courtesy of Sen. Pogemiller:
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller , DFL-Minneapolis, said estimating inflation doesn't require lawmakers to actually give those increases to every program. But he said government shouldn't be able to hide rising costs. "You just can't wish away inflation and act like it doesn't exist," he said earlier Wednesday on a Minnesota Public Radio program.I agree with Sen. Pogemiller that estimating inflation doesn't require lawmakers to increase next year's budget. Based on this session's voting record, no objective, clear-thinking individual would trust the DFL not to spend that money & then some. There's no way that the DFL wouldn't jump on that opportunity like Justin Morneau jumps on belt-high hanging sliders.
Gov. Pawlenty's response was swift & to the point:
"We need to examine every taxpayer dollar that will be spent and ensure that we are streamlining and keeping government efficient and effective," Pawlenty wrote in his veto letter to legislators.Those are fighting words with a typical DFLer. The thought of keeping government efficient is anathema to a liberal. In fact, it's a liberal's worst nightmare. If there was transparency in government & efficiency in budgeting, they couldn't pay off their political allies properly. (Paying off their political allies is something that you can take to the bank.)
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 1:15 AM
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More on the Gov's Veto
The SC Times has a nice article summarizing Gov. Pawlenty's veto of the tax bill. This Larry Hosch quote can't be ignored:
"If the governor wants property tax relief, he needs to call a special session," said Rep. Larry Hosch, DFL-St. Joseph. "To veto a bill that has so many good things in it and is so important, because he's afraid of using an accurate description of our budget situation, is disappointing."Mr. Hosch's statement is utterly disingenuous. Let's start with his saying that the Tax Bill had "many good things in it." By that, Rep. Hosch means that it had lots of LGA for St. Cloud & Rockville in it. Why was LGA in the Tax Bill? Why wasn't LGA in the Government Operations bill where it was supposed to be? Had it been in that bill, I'd bet the ranch that Gov. Pawlenty would've signed it within minutes. The DFL included it into this bill in the hopes that they'd either force Gov. Pawlenty into signing the bill or that they'd gain a campaign issue in 2008.
Why shouldn't taxpayers blame the DFL for playing a 'My way or the highway' game with property tax relief during the regular session instead of blaming Gov. Pawlenty for not calling a special session to get property tax relief done? Had they worked with Gov. Pawlenty & the GOP legislature instead of trying to jam this bill down his & the GOP legislature's throat, there likely would've been a bill signing ceremony celebrating real property tax relief.
The DFL painted a target on small businesses backs with this legislation. They did that while repeatedly chanting their tax fairness mantra. They knew that that was their only way of selling this legislation. I'd bet that they'd tell you off the record that they knew this bill was an uphill fight at best. I'd also bet that their goal wasn't permanent property tax relief. I'd bet that the goal behind this bill was to get a campaign issue for 2008.
Let's ask Mr. Hosch why he voted for job-killing tax increases that would've killed Minnesota's economy. Let's ask Mr. Hosch why he thought that the phony principle of tax fairness was more important than keeping Minnesota's economy strong. Let's ask Rep. Hosch why he doesn't acknowledge that the property tax 'relief' bill that was passed was almost identical to the Senate bill, which was all about increasing LGA in the hopes that cities wouldn't increase property taxes. Let's ask him why it wasn't closer to the House plan which provided real reform of the property tax system. Finally, let's ask Rep. Hosch why he won't acknowledge Gov. Pawlenty's property tax relief plan? Might it be that he doesn't want to talk about it because Gov. Pawlenty's plan didn't rely on job-killing tax increases?
Rep. Hosch expresses concerns with the state budget forecasters not "using an accurate description of our budget situation" but he isn't the least bit concerned about not painting an accurate picture of who played games with property tax relief & who was serious about it. That's the height of hypocrisy, Rep. Hosch. You should be ashamed for playing that game.
Local Republicans said they sympathized with the plight of local officials, but they supported Pawlenty's veto and said there was no need for a special session. "I think we can wait until February," said Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud. "Had we brought legislation forward earlier and had a more cooperative effort, we might've been able to avoid this."I know from a brief conversation with Rep. Gottwalt last night that he saw the importance of the LGA for Rockville & St. Cloud but he also saw the importance of vetoing legislation with that many poison pills, too.
The inflation provision was a "poison pill" added by DFLers in the last hours of the session, said Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids. "They tried to force (Pawlenty) into passing a law that he said he wouldn't sign, and now they've got to live with the consequences," he said.The DFL fought hard to get that inflation provision included because it would've provided instant justification for increasing taxes. That would've been a liberal's dream. Unfortunately, it would've been a taxpayer's nightmare. Thank God for our great goalie.
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:41 AM
Comment 1 by Spec Bowers at 31-May-07 07:28 PM
Okay, what is LGA?
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 31-May-07 10:50 PM
LGA = Local Government Aid
Gov. Pawlenty Veto Notice
Here's Gov. Pawlenty's press release on the final four bills of the session. Gov. Pawlenty's statement on the Tax Bill is the most noteworthy:
In his veto letter regarding the tax bill, Governor Pawlenty said there were many positive items in the bill, but that legislative leaders were aware of his opposition to including a measure that would automatically incorporate inflation into the budget forecasting process.During the 1990's, Bill Clinton's mantra was about setting priorities. The DFL's actions this session were dictated by their wish to avoid setting priorities. Proof of that was their failing to set budget targets. They did that to avoid criticism for spending such outrageous amounts of money.
"When legislators and the Governor assemble the state budget, we shouldn't assume that every program should grow on autopilot. We need to examine every taxpayer dollar that will be spent and ensure that we are streamlining and keeping government efficient and effective," Governor Pawlenty said. "When complaints come about provisions lost as a result of this veto, I would encourage people to contact DFL leaders who chose to keep controversial policy language in rather than passing a clean bill."
Thank God that Gov. Pawlenty & most GOP legislators still believes in setting priorities that are both beneficial to taxpayers & sustainable for the long haul. That's something that they should benefit from during the 2008 campaign.
Follow this link to read Gov. Pawlenty's veto notice. It's really must reading.
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 7:54 PM
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The Impossible Happens
Based on this article, I'd say that the impossible just happened in Baghdad. Here's what I'm talking about:
U.S. forces backed by helicopter gunships clashed with suspected al-Qaida gunmen in western Baghdad's primarily Sunni Muslim Amariyah neighbourhood in an engagement that lasted several hours, said a district councilman, who would not allow use of his name for fear of al-Qaida retribution.Rep. Murtha has repeatedly told us that huge majorities of Iraqis want us out of Iraq ASAP. Obviously, that claim isn't accurate. In fact, Murtha's claim is laughable. Let's also remember the ridicule that Michele Bachmann got for talking about the Islamic State of Iraq during her podcast with St. Cloud Times reporter Larry Schumacher. This is the second time I've posted about that name being used. Here's the first time:
Casualty figures were not available and there was no immediate word from the U.S. military on the engagement. But the councilman said the al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, had been killed and 45 other fighters detained.
Members of al-Qaida, who consider the district part of their Islamic State of Iraq , were preventing students from attending final exams, shooting randomly and forcing residents to stay in their homes, the councilman said.
Across the walls of the villas they seized in the name of their shadow government, black-masked al-Qaida militants spray-painted the words: "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq"In other words, al-Qaida is in Iraq, they're fighting hard to establish a shadow government and they think of Iraq as the Islamic State of Iraq. What part of this doesn't Rep. Murtha understand? Or is the better question why he won't admit that he's wrong?
For months, al-Qaida turned a part of one Baqouba neighborhood into an insurgent fiefdom that American and Iraqi forces were too undermanned to tackle, a startling example of the terror group's ability to thrive openly in some places outside Baghdad even as U.S.-led forces struggle to regain control in the capital.
U.S. forces took back the entire Tahrir neighborhood during a weeklong operation that wrapped up Sunday in Baqouba, a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that al-Qaida declared last year the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
Though the operation was a success, it forced the guerrillas to either flee or melt into the population, soldiers say the extremists are likely to pop up anywhere else that's short on American firepower.
Most importantly, it appears as though we've cornered AQI in west Baghdad and we're killing lots of terrorists, including AQI's leader in that district.
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:53 PM
Comment 1 by Billie R. Paxton at 01-Jun-07 10:15 AM
Is there anyway to get a count of the number of enemy killed? The major media is very carefull not to allow this information come out.
