November 8-10, 2009
Nov 08 10:31 The Tim Walz Myth Is Exposed Nov 08 14:27 Tim Kaine's Inartful Spin Exposed Nov 09 10:30 Let's Rebuild the Right Way Nov 09 23:53 White House Pushing Senate Is Sign Of Desperation Nov 10 00:23 DNC Targets Paulsen Nov 10 09:49 The Wrong Battlefield, The Wrong Questions Nov 10 12:00 Rubio vs. Crist: The Battle Is Joined Nov 10 16:07 Pawlenty Acts; Berglin Whines, Refuses to Enact Important Reforms
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
The Tim Walz Myth Is Exposed
The myth that Tim Walz is an independent-thinking voice for southeastern Minnesota was laid to rest Saturday night when Tim Walz voted for the biggest expansion of government since LBJ's Great Society. In voting for the Pelosicare tax- and spend-fest, liberal Democrat Tim Walz scored a 'trifecta of infamy', voting for the failed stimulus bill, the job-killing Cap and Tax bill and now the government takeover of the American health care system.
Liberal Tim Walz has voted for Speaker Pelosi's anti-small business agenda, job-killing agenda. Voters in southeastern Minnesota need to ask themselves whether they're better off now than they were when they first elected liberal Democrat Tim Walz in 2006. It's time that southeastern Minnesota voters admitted that they made a mistake then. It's time that they corrected that by electing a Republican to represent them in 2010.Republican of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton tonight issued the following statement after Tim Walz voted for a government takeover of the health care system.
"With his vote for a massive $1.2 trillion government takeover of health care that would raise taxes, slash Medicare and explode the deficit, the myth of the moderate Tim Walz is shattered forever. With national unemployment now exceeding ten percent and our economy continuing to struggle, Walz has only added insult to injury for the small businesses, families and seniors of southern Minnesota he has just saddled with billions in new taxes.Instead of emulating the kind of world class treatment offered by the Mayo Clinic, Walz has backed an irresponsible, partisan bill which puts government bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. In 2010, the people of southern Minnesota will remember Tim Walz's betrayal when they go to the ballot box by voting for a new leader who won't be a rubber stamp for whatever Nancy Pelosi demands."
Southeastern Minnesota deserves someone who represents their priorities, not Speaker Pelosi's priorities.
By voting for Cap and Tax and Pelosicare, Tim Walz has voted for bills that, when fully implemented, will spend north of $3,500,000,000,000, that will increase taxes by $2,400,000,000,000 on small businesses, middle class families, fossil fuel-powered power plants and medical device makers. In other words, liberal Democrat Tim Walz voted to destroy the American economy.
If Pelosicare and Cap and Tax are enacted, gas prices will skyrocket, home heating bills will jump dramatically, the quality of health care will drop, health insurance premiums will continue going up at unsustainable rates and medical innovation will slow to a trickle. If that isn't bad enough, taxes will have to be raised to keep paying for the affordability credits.
In addition to voting for that trifecta, liberal Democrat Tim Walz voted for President Obama's budget even though it's projected to increase the debt by $9,300,000,000,000 over the next decade. Liberal Democrat Tim Walz also voted for the $410,000,000,000 omnibus bill that contributed mightily to last year's $1,400,000,000,000 deficit.
Rep. Walz, isn't it time you stopped this liberal madness? Rep. Walz, isn't it time you started acting like you gave a damn about the people you theoretically represent?
Southeastern Minnesota has a choice to make, too. If Liberal Democrat Tim Walz continues to represent Speaker Pelosi's priorities, which is likely, then they'll have to decide whether they'll settle for inadequate representation or whether they'll decide to elect someone who represents their priorities first.
2010 already figured to be a difficult year for Democrats. It's getting worse because they've ignored the American people's priorities. Democrats did nothing to fix the economy. House Democrats passed a job-killing national energy sales tax.
Tim Walz voted against his district's priorities by voting for additional restrictions on his district's most famous private employer and while raising taxes on everyone in his district. That isn't a recipe for re-election success in 2010; insteadm, it's a pathway to early retirement.
(Perhaps his special interest allies will pay for his U-Haul?)
Originally posted Sunday, November 8, 2009, revised 12-May 9:42 AM
Comment 1 by Chris at 08-Nov-09 05:19 PM
Are you kidding? There's no doubt that Tim Walz is the most liberal Congressman the First District has ever seen. But Brian Davis??? Davis spent almost $800,000 and got less than 33% of the vote in 2008. Hell, Leigh Pomeroy got almost 36% against Gil in 2004 and he barely raised $50,000 for the whole cycle.
If we're going to be competitive against Walz, we have got to recruit the finest candidate around. We can't beat Walz with bad candidates.
Comment 2 by Mr Rivers at 08-Nov-09 06:49 PM
Yes, Tim Walz has now laid all the groundwork to be defeated next year. Brian Davis isn't the answer, none of the current candidates are the answer either. Who is the answer ? I'm not sure, but we need to find that person.
BTW - The 1st District covers all over southern MN from Wisconsin to South Dakota.
Tim Kaine's Inartful Spin Exposed
This video proves that DNC Chairman Tim Kaine didn't help Democrats by appearing on This Week With George Stephanopoulos:
Stephanopoulos: Alot of Republicans I've talked with say that this will be a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats, that what you have here is $400,000,000,000 in tax hikes, $400,000,000,000 in Medicare cuts and that's gonna spark a backlash against Democrats at the polls next year.That's spin of the vilest sort. The Democrats' bill piles hundreds of billions of dollars of new taxes on the middle class, on small businesses, including medical device manufacturers, and putting in place for the first time in history mandates on individual and small businesses. I'd dearly love to hear Gov. Kaine explain, without the outright fabrications, how those things will "break the unsustainable growth in health care costs."
KAINE: George, of course Republicans are saying that. They've been trying to block this all year. They've said that they want to beat health care to break the President but there's no denying that this was a historic passage last night on an issue that President Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, started a hundred years ago...What this bill does is it provides security for the four-fifths of Americans who have health insurance so that they can't get abused, really, by the predatory insurance company practices, provides a path to affordable for uninsured citizens for the first time in history of this country and it does significant work to start to break the unsustainable growth in health care costs that is breaking the bank for families and small businesses. We think this was a big and historic win, ending the week in a big way.
Does Gov. Kaine simply expect the device manufacturers to eat the cost of the manufacturers' tax? Do Democrats think that these mandates will lower health care costs? If they think that, why do they think that?
I won't suggest that you watch the video, especially if you have high blood pressure or if you demand that politicians tell the truth. If you do watch it, just be prepared for tons of outright fabrications and insults to your intelligence.
This interview isn't helping the Democrats' credibility. It's doing quite the opposite actually. I can't wait until the video is made using the CBO debunking each of Gov. Kaine's claims. I can't wait to see that video includ the CBO arguing on the Republicans' behalf that their legislation actually reduces insurance premiums, offers legitimate deficit reduction without gimmicks, doesn't raise taxes, doesn't cut Medicare and that doesn't impose unfunded mandates on states thorugh Medicaid.
Let's see Gov. Kaine argue those FACTS without lying through his teeth. Kaine is a mental midget. Gov. Kaine's lack of integrity isn't appealing, either. It won't do the Democrats much good to have a DNC chairman who's lacking in both gravitas and integrity. Democrats are stuck with this mental midget just like they're stuck with defending Pelosi's indefensible health desctruction legislation.
See you next November.
Posted Sunday, November 8, 2009 2:30 PM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 09-Nov-09 08:34 AM
gov. Kaine is doing as all liberals do: repeat the good intentions as if the mere mantra of them turned the laws of the universe upside down and made those intentions reality. One can be smart as a whip and still have absolutely no ability to reason.
Let's Rebuild the Right Way
Saturday night, Twitter went crazy when Joe Cao voted at the last minute for Pelosicare. People were outraged at his betrayal. I wasn't one of them. I remembered that he'd voted against Cap and Tax and that he's from an ultraliberal district. His district is as liberal as Pelosi's district. It isn't a matter of settling for a Dede Scozzafava in a red district. It's a matter of settling for someone who'll vote for John Boehner as Speaker in January, 2011.
Powerline's John Hinderaker reminds us that it's better to build the Republican Party by recruiting conservatives to be the core of the GOP rather than thinking about building a third party in this post :
In the meantime, let's leave it with this: we were often critical of President George W. Bush. When he left office, I gave him a B- grade overall. But President Bush would have vetoed Pelosicare. This is the stark difference between our political parties: the Democrats are hell-bent on dismantling free enterprise and advancing government power over every aspect of our lives; the Republicans are not. Conservatives cannot afford to be neutral or indifferent as between the parties, nor can they afford the narcissism of third-party vanity campaigns. Conservatives must work every day to strengthen the Republican Party--it's the only hope we have. And, yes, strengthening the party will sometimes mean drawing the line at a Dede Scozzafava. But purity is not our object here; victory is.That's the type of clear thinking that we need heading into 2010 and especially into 2012. There's a far bigger adversary that needs fighting:
Obama and congressional Democrats could frustrate the emerging coalition by changing course, seeking a "reset" in relations with Republicans, and agreeing to bipartisan (and far less costly) deals on health care and other domestic policies. But they're too stubbornly ideological for that. They've decided voters in Virginia and New Jersey were sending no message at all.Obama and congressional Democrats must be the GOP's targets in 2010, NOT Joe Cao. If all we do is rid the GOP of Joe Cao, then 2011 still starts with Speaker Pelosi getting elected to another 2 year term as Speaker. NO THANKS!!!
Instead, their response is: If you don't like what we're offering, we'll give you more of it. Far more Americans oppose Obamacare than support it. Yet Democratic representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia said he "concluded" from last week's election that "we've got to pass health care...[and] give Democrats something to be excited about." It's "a matter of tangibles being delivered," said Democratic representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
Democrats are putting themselves in the public's crosshairs with their irresponsible spending, this destructive Pelosicare bill and the job-killing Cap-And-Tax bill. Democorats have painted big red bullseyes on their chests. Contrary to conventional wisdom, though, those bullseyes aren't just painted on the Blue Dog Democrats' chests.
It's my belief that a surprising number of hyperpartisan liberal Democrats will be unemployed a year from now, too. It's my opinion because this year's legislation, pushed through by Pelosi and Obama, is a crystallizing moment in American politics. People are appalled with the irresponsible priorities and spending that they've seen this year.
It's my belief that 2010 will bring worse news for Democrats. That's got to be our focus. That's my belief because the focus will shift to the bad economy ant that the Democrats' policies have made a bad economy worse. It's one thing to be in charge of a sinking ship. It's another thing to be seen as the captain who's sinking the ship.
Let's rally, people, to defeat Democrats, not Republicans. Do we really want to take the chance that we aren't the majority party because we defeated Cao? If you want to defeat him, wait until we've got a sizable majority, not when we're bordering on statistical irrelevance.
John's idea of rebuilding the GOP with conservatives is a time-tested approach. As Fred Barnes points out, that's what happened in 1978-80. It worked great once. Let's follow that blueprint again. If we do, we'll have plenty of reasons to sing Happy Days Are Here Again.
Posted Monday, November 9, 2009 10:37 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 09-Nov-09 09:41 PM
Lets remember something. Cao is from a district (Al Jefferson's old district) which means the Democrats are going to target him to death anyway. This removes the biggest thing that the Democrats could've thrown at him.
Not to mention and I think this is very important Cao didn't cast his vote immediately. He cast it when he saw the votes were 219 for. I think Cao was taking the position that if his vote had been needed for the Republicans to defeat health care he would've given it.
Given he knew that it passed on this vote he gave a vote that shouldn't be harrassed by Republicans.
If you want to be angry how about how we messed up New York's 23rd district to elect the lying Democrat who helped Nancy Pelosi get 219 votes. One less guarenteed yes vote would've put Pelosi in the position that every person who voted for it was the all important 218th vote.
That's where our outrage should be.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
White House Pushing Senate Is Sign Of Desperation
President Obama's Sunday speech on the House passing Pelosicare provided proof positive that he knows the bill is in trouble. In exhorting the Senate to take up action, he's essentially telling the Senate to ignore the will of the American people:
Mr. Obama's remarks came just 14 hours after the House narrowly approved a landmark plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and extend insurance coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans; the president called it "a courageous vote." But the votes had barely been counted when the White House began turning its attention to an even bigger hurdle: getting legislation passed in the Senate.When a squishie like Lindsey Graham is quoted as saying that Pelosicare is DOA in the Senate, it's proof that the uphill climb just got steeper. Part of the reason it's in trouble before it starts is because, according to Redstate's Dan Perrin, the real spending number is closer to $3,000,000,000,000 :
In the Senate, where proposals differ substantially from the House-passed measure on issues like a government-run plan and how to pay for coverage, the bill is stalled while budget analysts assess its overall costs. The slim margin in the House, the bill passed with just two votes to spare, and 39 Democrats opposed it, suggests even greater challenges in the Senate, where the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, is struggling to hold on to all 58 Democrats and two independents in his caucus.
Senator Gregg stated, "The CBO estimate released last night finally sheds light on the smoke and mirrors game the majority has been playing with the cost of their health care reform proposal. Over the first 10 years, this legislation builds in gross new spending of $1.7 trillion, and most of the new spending doesn't even start until 2014. Once that spending is fully phased in, the House Democratic bill rings up at more than $3 trillion over ten years.the way that Democrats insult us in by saying that spending $3,000,000,000,000 over 10 years (once it's fully implemented), that passing massive unfunded mandates onto the states and rasiing taxes by $729,000,000,000 will reduce our health care costs. I'm betting that I'm not the only person that thinks that formula won't work in reducing health care costs. In fact, I'm betting that I'm just one person in a huge majority who thinks that Pelosicare will drive costs up, not down.
"Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation's health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense; we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit.
"If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed."
Only people guided solely by blind ideology could say that with a straight face. Honest people couldn't do that. There isn't a respectable economist who thinks that the legislation's mandated new costs won't add to the cost of health care.
This paragraph should be hung around President Obama's neck in 2012:
Mr. Obama has staked his domestic agenda on passing comprehensive health legislation, a goal that has eluded presidents for decades.President Obama knew that the people's highest priority was solving the economic crisis he spoke about on a seemingly daily basis. He failed to address those concerns, not once but twice.
President Obama and the Democrats failed to end the recession when they pushed through a stimulus bill that had everything to do with ideology and nothing to do with economics. After passing the now-discredited stimulus bill, President Obama and the Democratic Congress turned their attention towards a health care bill that had everything to do with their ideology and nothing to do with fixing the problems that everyone had identified.
Not admitting that their stimulus plan failed to jumpstart the economy is predictable from a political standpoint. It's difficult admitting that your legislation didn't work. Ignoring the problem to seek the Democratic Party's Holy Grail accomplishment while main street suffered is indefensible.
What's worse is that the Democrats' health care legislation heeps cold water on the economy by piling excessive taxation on small businesses and middle class families. The reason why President Obama wants this passed ASAP is the same as always: he doesn't want people to read the bill and find out how destructive it is towards families and small businesses. He doesn't want people to know that it'll cripple the economy.
I pity the Democrats heading into the 2010 elections. They're walking into a buzzsaw. Last Tuesday was proof that the anger is pointed mostly at them and that that anger isn't just coming from conservatives but from independents and a few conservative Democrats. Tim Kaine, Speaker Pelosi and Chris van Hollen can yap all they want that last Tuesday's elections weren't a verdict on President Obama's and Speaker Pelosi's agenda all they want. They might even believe it, though I doubt it.
They know that they're facing a ton of defeats if this attitude persists through next November. That's especially true if this economy doesn't start creating jobs, something that experts are predicting won't happen until the middle of next year.
During Sunday morning's FNS Roundtable, Mara Liasson said that President Obama wouldn't follow Bill Clinton's path but would instead impress on people that he has a vision, much like Reagan did :
LIASSON: I actually think that the president's determined to be Reagan, not Clinton, and I think you're going to see them pivoting right after this health care bill passes to the economy, the economy, the economy. Next year you're not going to hear them talk about anything else but jobs and the economy. And I think their hope is to get, the first things that are going to happen to American people because of the health care bill are hopefully going to be the good things, not the bad things.That's wishful thinking on the Democrats' part. In fact, that's understatement. When Reagan talked about staying the course, people listened because they were being led down a proven productive path. The path that President Obama is taking America down is a path that's never been taken. People can't point to another time when this path has worked because this hasn't been tried before.
Another thing working against President Obama is that nobody's certain that he's competent. Prior to signing the stimulus bill, President Obama promised that not passing Speaker Pelosi's bill would lead us off a cliff. The bill passed, unemployment jumped from 7.5 percent to 10.2 percent and going higher. His bailouts of the banks were supposed to free up credit, which it has to an extent. Still, the credit isn't flowing at anything like what was expected.
Nothing that President Obama has tried has worked. That's why he's stayed personally popular but his job approval ratings have dropped. He's given the American people nothing to have confidence in him about. His signature 'accomplishments' have been failures.
That's why he's so desperate to get health care legislation signed into law.
Originally posted Monday, November 9, 2009, revised 10-Nov 12:01 AM
No comments.
DNC Targets Paulsen
It isn't surprising that the DNC is targeting Erik Paulsen . In fact, it's pretty predictable. The DNC's targeting of Paulsen, though, doesn't mean that he's in trouble. It just means that the DNC is challenging GOP freshmen.
Forget, for a moment, about Michele Bachmann. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has put Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen on their list of Republican targets in next year's elections, largely on the strength of Barack Obama's win in Paulsen's suburban Twin Cities district in 2008.With the Democrats needing to defend seats they won in 2006 and 2008, Democrats have to pick wisely which races they'll put money into. The fact that they aren't targeting Michele tells me that they'll have to see proof that the DFL challenger has a legitimate shot at defeating Michele. (It's quite possible that Tarryl runs a decent campaign but is still defeated by Michele.)
Paulsen, a freshman who took over the seat of former boss Jim Ramstad, generally doesn't get mentioned as Democratic cannon fodder. But he's the only one of three GOP House members from Minnesota on the DNC list, which was put out today, in the wake of the big health care vote in the House Saturday night.
At this point, I haven't seen anything that indicates that Rep. Paulsen is in trouble for re-election. Quite the opposite: I've seen indications only that he's doing a good job and that his constituents are happy with the job he's doing. combine that with this being a decidely pro-GOP cycle and it's easy picturing Rep. Paulsen getting re-elected.
It's difficult picturing Terry Bonoff winning, though it's possible she'll run a good campaign and put up a decent fight.
When the confetti and balloons settle on Election Night, expect Erik Paulsen, John Kline and Michele Bachmann to get another term in office.
Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 12:23 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 10-Nov-09 08:40 AM
Now, if we could just get 4 or 5 more Republicans in our Congressional delegation, we might make some progress in Washington, the opposite of Congress.
Comment 2 by Bob Carity at 10-Nov-09 09:33 AM
I think Representative Paulsen will have a problem getting reelected. I as a conservative will no longer accept people not doing anythng just to keep from making a mistake so that they can get elected again.
Coleman lost because the conservatives deserted him. We are looking for candidates that support our values not just behave like a nice Republican so he can get elected again.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 10-Nov-09 09:38 AM
You'd rather have a liberal democrat representing you in Congress than someone who's stood up against raising taxes, wasteful spending & Pelosicare? Get back to me when your brain is functioning.
Comment 3 by The Lady Logician at 10-Nov-09 06:17 PM
Personally I can't believe that they are really going to waste money going after Rep. Kline. Fer cryin' out loud they have not gained any traction against John in the last 2 campaigns and every back bench prospect that I have heard they talked to has said oh heck no!
LL
The Wrong Battlefield, The Wrong Questions
Democrats talking about health care keep touting the fact that their bill bends the cost curve down. They point to the CBO reports telling the world that their legislation is deficit neutral.
I've said it before and I'll repeat it again: Big whoop!!!
First off, the deficit neutrality wasn't achieved through good policy; it was achieved with accounting gimmicks, massive tax increases and the biggest unfunded mandate to the states in history.
Republicans have fallen for fighting on the Democrats' battlefield. NO MORE!!! The questions we need to ask Democrats have nothing to do with what they want to talk about because they're peripheral, not central, questions. Here are the questions that Democrats should be forced to answer:
1. Do health insurance premiums drop with your legislation? If yes, would they drop without a federal subsidy? If they don't drop, why not?
2. If health insurance premiums drop through a federal subsidy, is that drop sustainable without another tax increase?
3. Why do the Democrats' bills effectively eliminate HSAs by eliminating paying for them with pre-taxed dollars?
4. Aren't Democrats essentially saying that they don't want people becoming health care shoppers by eliminating the tax credit on HSAs and flex spending accounts?
5. Democrats say that they want people to have lots of choices. If that's true, why are Democrats eliminating one of the most popular choices consumers have?
6. Isn't the expansion of Medicaid really the biggest unfunded mandate in history?
7. Why aren't Democrats including that expansion in the cost of the bill? Just because it isn't a federal expense doesn't mean that it isn't costing the American people money.
8. Doesn't the fact that they're raising people's taxes mean that the Democrats' legislation is wildly expensive? If it isn't expensive, why do we need tax increases?
9. Why doesn't the Democrats' health care legislation include lawsuit abuse reform? Don't abusive lawsuits drive up defensive medicine costs?
10. Why are Democrats dismissive of the House GOP's plan? The House GOP plan solves the problem of ensuring people with pre-existing conditions, lowers insurance premiums in general, allows insurance companies to sell their policies across state lines, keeps HSAs intact, and that doesn't raise taxes to artificially lower health insurance premiums? Oh yeah, there's another thing worth noting: The House GOP plan doesn't include any unfunded mandates on the states, unlike the Democrats' plan.
Republicans, stop fighting on the Democrats' battlefield. Stop asking the wrong questions. Isn't it more likely that your constituents care more about whether their insurance premiums are going down than they are with deficit neutrality? Isn't it more likely that your constituents want lawsuit abuse reform more than they want a bigger tax burden to deal with?
If we play on the Democrats' battlefield, we've lost before we've started . It's time we asked the questions that the American people care MOST about. It's time we won this fight by letting the Democrats march on their battlefield rather than listening to the American people.
Finally, it's time that we established a website comparing their red ink legislation with our real life reforms. Perhaps a Rob Neppell, working with Keith Hennessey and Betsy McCaughey, could put such a website together.
If we start showing the dramatic differences between the Democrats' takeover of the health care industry and the Republicans' reform legislation, this fight will be over in a New York minute.
Let's get this together ASAP. We can't afford to lose this fight.
Originally posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009, revised 17-Nov 11:23 PM
Comment 1 by Liberty at 10-Nov-09 12:07 PM
The Democrat's playing field is that health care costs are rising too fast - THEY ARE NOT. We can only spend what we produce, so the costs are what they are because we are willing to pay them. Did we care about health care less 20 years ago? If not, why did we spend less of our GDP on it? We are spending less on other items, that's why we can spend more on health care.
Now, there are efficiencies that can be gained by removing government involvement with healthcare, but the cost shifting from Medicare/Medicaid to privately insured will continue to increase as baby boomers consume more services and Med/Med pay less than cost for those services. Just more wealth redistribution - same old, same old.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 10-Nov-09 12:13 PM
Liberty, Thanks for that compelling & coherent comment. You've nailed it perfectly.
Comment 3 by J. Ewing at 10-Nov-09 11:19 PM
I would boil most of it down to one question: How can you reduce the cost of health care by spending another TRILLION dollars on it?
Rubio vs. Crist: The Battle Is Joined
Following the NRSC's annointing Charlie Crist as the next senator from Florida, the conventional wisdom was that it was a fait accompli that Crist would win the primary going away and be Mel Martinez' replacement in the Senate. This is why I frequently reject conventional wisdom.
I understand why the conventional wisdom picked Crist as their odds-on-favorite to replace Sen. Martinez. He had proven fundraising ability and high name recognition. That's alot to conventional thinkers. It's immaterial, though, to TEA Party activists and 21st Century campaigners.
Another thing that the CW didn't take into account was that Crist is more liberal than Olympia Snowe and Dede Scozzafava combined. This article does a good job highlighting Crist's biggest problem:
Six months on, however, Crist looks vulnerable. His poll numbers are down , though he still has a sizable, if shrinking, lead over Rubio. What he does not have is the enthusiasm of the state's Republican activists , who have repeatedly indicated their preference for Rubio in straw polls.What Crist is lacking is support within the Florida GOP, which is everything in determining who wins the GOP primary. Rubio's supporters will run through walls for him. Crist's supporters will sip lattes and bemoan the lack of civility and moderation within the Republican Party.
The only thing that'll matter at the end of August, 2010, is that Marco Rubio will be the odds-on-favorite to be the next senator from Florida.
If Rubio can convince enough of those voters that he deserves their vote, and raise enough money to put a dent in Crist's six-to-one fundraising advantage, Rubio could effectively steal the nomination out from under Crist, and in the process help put the GOP on a path that some fear will lead to its marginalization.I can't say that Crist's fundraising advantage isn't meaningless. What I will say, though, is that Jon Corzine outspent Chris Christie by a huge margin and still lost. Crist's problem isn't corruption like Corzine's was. his problem is even worse: He's a liberal running when GOP activists are insisting on fiscal conservatives.
The Washington strategists and party bosses haven't figured out that moderation is what caused Republicans to become Democrat lites. The DC strategists still haven't figured out that the American people are worried that the debt will cripple this nation and destroy our economy.
There's a reason why Republicans have led in the Generic Ballot polling since June 28. There's a reason why TEA Party rally attendance is getting the news media's attention. While it's true that independents and conservatives attend the TEA Parties, it's equally true that they're looking for people who don't believe in government controlling more and more of our lives. They're looking for principled leaders, not triangulation specialists like Crist.
Rubio has aggressively hammered Crist (left) for supporting the president's $787 billion stimulus package, offering up a photo on his Web site of the two at a February rally in support of the bill. (The two literally hugged at the event.) In an interview Monday, Rubio said he was "disturbed" by Crist's recent claim that he didn't actually endorse the legislation .There's another thing that the American people, TEA Party activists included, don't like and that's politicians who'll say anything to get themselves out of a tight spot. That won't work in this TEA Party, YouTube world.
"I think it's part of a broader problem in American politics, and that is people who will say or do anything in order to win an election,including lie about their record," Rubio said.
The final analysis of Charlie Crist is that he's liberal, that he doesn't have a set of core principles and that he'll say anything to get out of a difficult position. I might be wrong but I'm betting that that isn't the way to win a conservative primary.
Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 12:11 PM
Comment 1 by PGrett at 10-Nov-09 12:21 PM
What didnt they get the memo, this is going to hurt crist...
Comment 2 by Chris at 11-Nov-09 12:51 AM
What evidence do you have that Charlie Crist is a liberal? That's a joke. Charlie Crist is as conservative as Tim Pawlenty. And Florida is one of the better run states in our country.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 11-Nov-09 04:10 PM
Chris:
Crist is against drilling off Florida's shore for oil. Cuba is allowing for drilling closer to Florida's shore than Crist will allow US oil companies to drill even though there are billions of barrells that can be safely drilled and produced in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.
He hugged Obama and supported the stimlus package.
He is your classic RHINO! That's why this party is in so much trouble because people like you want to embrace him.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Pawlenty Acts; Berglin Whines, Refuses to Enact Important Reforms
This morning, DHS Commissioner Cal Ludeman announced that people currently on GAMC will be automatically transferred to MinnesotaCare . In transitioning people from GAMC to MinnesotaCare, Gov. Pawlenty's administration has laid to rest one of the DFL's accusations, that his unallotments would create thousands of new uninsured people.
Meanwhile, Sen. Linda Berglin is already whining about the Pawlenty administration's decision:
Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, who chairs the Health and Human Services Budget Committee, said MinnesotaCare is already stretched because the economy has resulted in a surge of new enrollees. Add the General Assistance enrollees and the program is likely to run out of funding in 2011 instead of 2012, she said.Sen. Berglin acts as though the only choice is to raise taxes and refill the account from which MinnesotaCare is paid out of. Sen. Berglin knows that that isn't the only option because she's been briefed on Rep. Steve Gottwalt's Healthy Minnesota Plan, which would save tens of millions of dollars if implemented.
This is why we need a new majority party in the legislature. Reps. Tom Huntley and Paul Thissen have both been impressed with Rep. Gottwalt's plan. According to the committee minutes for March 25, Rep. Gottwalt's bill passed . In fact, the bill passed unanimously :
REP. GOTTWALT'S HEALTH CARE REFORM INITIATIVE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES COMMITTEEAccording to the meeting's minutes, here are the DFL legislators who voted for HF1865:
ST. PAUL - State Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, today presented a health care reform bill (HF1865) that would improve how Minnesota provides health care coverage to low-income adults, while saving the state an estimated $100 million per year.
Gottwalt presented the Healthy Minnesota Plan (HMP) to the Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee, which unanimously approved the bill, moving it on to the Health and Human Services Finance Division.
The HMP would cover 84,000 Minnesota adults currently on MinnesotaCare with a more generous private market benefit package, and a deductible covered mostly by the state. The plan would pay providers market rates for the health care they deliver, eliminating cost-shifting, and opening more health care access to those enrolled in the plan.
The HMP would save state administrative costs, provide greater flexibility for the enrollee, tap into savings of large private insurance pools, and fit well with other health care reform initiatives. Gottwalt described the bill as a "demonstration project that will improve care for 84,000 Minnesotans, and save the state about $200 million in the coming biennium."
"The plan benefits consumers, providers and the state," Gottwalt said. "Even if Minnesota were not facing a huge budget deficit, we need to explore better ways of covering more Minnesotans in a manner that is financially sustainable and engages consumers more directly. The private market can deliver better access to high quality, cost-effective health care."
Gottwalt said Minnesota currently spends about $7,000 per year for every adult enrollee on MinnesotaCare. He said conservative estimates show the HMP will save the state more than $1,000 per adult enrollee, or about $100 million per year ($200 million per biennium).
"The savings actually grow over time," Gottwalt said. "We think this approach could be used to provide coverage to other public enrollees, saving even more." Given the current state budget deficit, this is seen as a sustainable way to provide coverage to people in need while saving the state significant money.
Gottwalt said the HMP generates state savings several ways, starting with tapping into larger, private insurance pools to capitalize on more efficient administrative, education and enrollee services now provided by the state.
Also, the cost to the state for covering most of the deductible under the HMP is based on actual expenditures, not a per-member-per-month capitation payment. The Healthy Minnesota Plan Account (structured as a Health Reimbursement Account or HRA) requires the state to maintain a reserve, but not full funding up front. HF1865 does not include copays, but it is structured to be flexible in addressing cost sharing issues.
The HMP offers an even greater level of benefits than currently available under MinnesotaCare, including dental, vision and pregnancy coverages. The plan provides first-dollar coverage of primary and preventive care, all the covered benefits of MinnesotaCare, and a $5 million lifetime maximum (much stronger than MinnesotaCare's $10,000 inpatient maximum).
"Instead of being denied access to care by providers who do not get paid enough from existing Minnesota public programs, these enrollees will now be considered on par with other privately insured people," Gottwalt said. "Also, these enrollees will have a debit card with which to pay eligible expenses within the deductible. No more being shunned for lack of a cash co-payment or deductible payment. And, unlike
MinnesotaCare, the Healthy Minnesota Plan major medical coverage is completely portable; it belongs to the enrollee."
Paul Thissen, Tina Liebling, Julie Bunn, Patti Fritz, Paul Gardner, Jeff Hayden, Tom Huntley, Carolyn Laine, Diane Loeffler, Erin Murphy, Kim Norton, Maria Ruud and Cy ThaoIt's time that people asked Sen. Berglin why she hasn't scheduled a hearing on Rep. Gottwalt's legislation . For that matter, why didn't the Health Care and Human Services Finance Division didn't give Rep. Gottwalt's bill a hearing and an up-or-down vote.
The Health Care Access Fund is quickly drying up, which means that people are kicked off the state plan as required by state law when health care programs run out of money . Sen. Berglin is insisting that we raise taxes so they can keep doing things the same way.
For Minnesota's taxpayers, I demand to know why Sen. Berglin refuses to reform this important programs and save Minnesota's taxpayers millions of dollars annually.
Based on her obstructionism, it's accurate to say that Sen. Berglin needs a lesson in 'You Work For Us' public servantship. If she continues resisting money-saving reforms on one of the state's biggest ticket items, then we have the right to ask why.
It's equally clear that Sen. Berglin needs her status changed from Chairlady to Ranking Member starting in 2011. Minnesota simply can't afford Sen. Berlin's obstructionism and pig-headedness. It's costing Minnesota taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. It's providing an inferior product.
It's time we dragged Sen. Berglin kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. We don't work for her. She works for us. If she won't do what's best for Minnesota, then we'll find someone who will. We can't afford 2 more years of status quo 'leadership', It's too expensive.
It's time to change from a one-size-fits-all leadership to an innovative, reform-minded leadership. Sen. Berglin, unfortunately, represents the expensive status quo DFL leadership. What we need is the type of reform-minded leadership that Rep. Gottwalt embodies.
To do otherwise is foolish and expensive.
Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 4:07 PM
Comment 1 by eric z. at 11-Nov-09 06:11 AM
Is it cost shifting by Pawlenty to the counties? I do not recall the source, but I did see that characterization online. Without knowing how that dimension would play out, I could only speculate.
Gary, do you know an answer?
Comment 2 by eric z. at 11-Nov-09 06:17 AM
PiPress, reported, this link [quoted between the dotted lines]:
http://www.twincities.com/health/ci_13733270
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But Democrats reacted swiftly to the move, arguing that it may not be a long-term solution for about 35,000 patients currently on General Assistance Medical Care, a $381 million program for those who make less than $7,800 annually that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty axed earlier this year in a cost-cutting move.
"This one-time action provides the greatest benefit to enrollees and maintains their health care coverage," Department of Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman said.
The GAMC program is expected to end around March 1, 2010. The program serves many people, often homeless and suffering from mental illness or chemical dependency, who show up at hospitals for care. Hospitals have warned that losing the program could have devastating effects on their balance sheets.
The loss of the program is especially troublesome to urban hospitals such as Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, which together provide a quarter of the charity care in the state. During the last week, for example, Regions saw 73 GAMC patients in the emergency room, treated 131 on an outpatient basis, saw 40 people with serious mental illness and performed emergency, same-day surgery on eight.
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It looks like Pawlenty being Pawlenty, and as such is no news to those disliking Pawlenty and the way the man operates.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Nov-09 06:31 AM
Eric, transferring these people into MinnesotaCare gives the legislature time to pass Rep. Gottwalt's Healthy Minnesota Plan, which would save state taxpayers a huge amount of money while improving MinnesotaCare & that would give people a private insurance policy. In other words, those least able to pay get taken care of & those who return to the workforce would have a low-cost insurance policy that is portable.
In fact, the insurance company that wrote this policy would likely market the policy if Pelosicare wouldn't ban it because it didn't meet their mandates.
BTW, if Pelosicare passes, expect a whole group of states to band together & file a lawsuit rejecting the constitutionality of imposing a mandate to buy insurance. The states are getting tired of the government making policy where it doesn't have the constitutional authority to set state policy. They're especially tired of having the Obama administration set state policy through the stimulus bill.
Comment 3 by JPL at 11-Nov-09 09:17 AM
Pawlenty wimped out again. Remember the "people" on GMAC are non-citizen HOBOS that don't get GMAC in ANY state in the U.S.A. That's why you see these "homeless" everywhere here and nowhere else in this country. Their coming here for the WELFARE!!!
Comment 4 by Kurt Neider at 12-Nov-09 08:40 AM
Sen. Berglin can't take any action on the bill since 1) it's not session 2)it's not in her committee.
As to GAMC it's just the Governor continuing to pass the buck and ignore the long-term problems our state faces. He reminds me of the 70's rock star who trashes the hotel room and then runs away while others have to clean it up.
Leadership and responsibility are two things he does not possess.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Nov-09 11:01 AM
Kurt, You'd be better off if you had the facts right. Gov. Pawlenty likes the Healthy Minnesota Plan so much that it's been part of his reform agenda since it was proposed. Adopting HMP would've saved a ton of money. That, in turn, would've been used to provide people on GAMC with health care.
THAT'S CALLED LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION!!!
It's also something that the DFL frowns on. Time after time after time, I've watched Gov. Pawlenty or GOP legislators propose reforms, only to watch the DFL defeat the reforms on party line votes.
Sen. Berglin can't take any action on the bill since 1) it's not session 2)it's not in her committee.1) She ignored it when they were in session. 2) She was briefed by Steve about the bill last year. She had the opportunity to co-sponsor the bill. Obviously, she didn't co-sponsor the bill. Had she co-sponsored it, she could've given it a hearing in the Health and Human Services Budget Division THAT SHE CHAIRS!!!
If you have any other flimsy excuses you want to offer for Sen. Berglin's obstructionism, lert me know. I'll be happy to demolish them like I demolished these flimsy excuses.
