September 18-20, 2009
Sep 18 00:27 Entirely the Wrong Approach, Minnesota Style Sep 18 08:03 Pelosi's Paranoia Sep 19 01:26 Where's the Prosperity Tarryl??? Sep 19 10:19 ACORN Issues Empty Threat Sep 19 12:34 Astroturfers Gearing Up For Another Humiliating Defeat Sep 20 00:52 DNC 'Rips' TPaw
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Entirely the Wrong Approach, Minnesota Style
Two weeks ago, Sen. Pogemiller and Speaker Kelliher convened a Leadership Summit involving past governors, House Speakers and finance commissioners to talk about the budgetary difficulties that Minnesota is facing. That's the wrong approach. Getting people together to discuss whether budget deficits should be eliminated by cutting spending by three percent or by raising taxes by five percent or a combination of spending cuts and tax increases is missing it. BADLY!!!
The right approach would've been to call a series of meetings, starting with business leaders. The right approach would've meant talking with these leaders to get their opinions on regulatory reform, tax reform and health care reform. Another hearing should've been held with mayors, city councils and county commissioners to hear what specific unfunded mandates needed to be eliminated.
The reason these meetings would've been important to Minnesota's future success is because business leaders know what things should be given high priority in creating a business-friendly climate, which would lead to sustained economic growth and sustained prosperity.
Another meeting with county commissioners should be convened to talk about how Green Acres reform is a necessity if we want farmers to succeed. It's that simple.
The DFL's summit is the backwards approach because it doesn't address anything other than government's needs. It doesn't address how we move forward in rebuilding Minnesota's economy. More than anything else, we're facing an economic problem. That and the fact that past legislatures haven't consistently set the right priorities.
Alot of the budget's structural problems are solved by simply reorienting the economy to be growth oriented rather than make-the-rich-pay-their-fair-share oriented. Frankly, I don't care whether "the rich" are "paying their fair share" as long as they're investing their money and creating and sustaining jobs.
The biggest difference between the DFL and the GOP is this: the DFL is worried about making sure government gets what it 'needs' whereas the GOP is worried that Minnesota's families get what they need. What the DFL fails to comprehend is that the needs of the government are frequently at odds with the needs of the people.
There's another thing that's apparent from their approaches. The GOP is frequently interested in what's important for the future whereas the DFL is interested in reliving the supposed glory days of the past. Why else would the DFL invite a bunch of former somebodies to this summit?
Phil Krinkie put together a sarcasm-laced list of recommendations from these leaders from the past. Here's that list:
In the end, the list of revelations was mind numbing. Here is a sampling of some of the keen observations that were brought forth:How useful is it to hear this bunch of has beens put together this list? From my perspective, if that's the snarky version of the list, then it's worthless. Sen. Pogemiller and Speaker Kelliher need to know that they'll be harshly scrutinized until they work with people to make Minnesota prosperous.
- Minnesota is in a really bad recession.
- Economic recovery is going to be slower than previous recessions.
- Minnesota is facing significant long term budget problems.
- Minnesota has an aging population and aging workforce.
- The legislature has used all the short term budget solutions.
- Fundamental changes are necessary.
- Revenue growth will be slow.
- Spending pressures for health care and education will continue.
- Health care costs more as the population ages.
If they don't do that this session, then they'lljust have to suffer the electoral consequences for their arrogance.
Posted Friday, September 18, 2009 12:27 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 18-Sep-09 05:19 AM
One of the telltale signs that a government official is incompetent and/or corrupt is that they refer to their expenditures as "costs." They spend all their time trying to raise revenues, which they do not control, and none trying to control spending, which they are supposed to control. The State government does not have a revenue problem, they have a SPENDING problem, and there is a very, very simple solution. STOP IT!
Pelosi's Paranoia
By now, most people have seen the video of Speaker Pelosi tearing up about the violence that visited San Francisco 30 years ago, then expressing her worries that TEA Partygoers would resort to violence. While I'm willing to believe that it's possible she still grieves over the City Hall slayings, I don't buy into her schtick that she's worried about TEA Partygoers committing acts of violence.
Jim Hoft suggests that, if Speaker Pelosi wants to curb violence at the rallies, Speaker Pelosi should put SEIU thugs on a shorter leash :
Although he was too weak to speak after his beating on Thursday, black conservative Kenneth Gladney attended the SEIU rally . Kenneth was beaten, kicked and called racist names by Russ Carnahan's SEIU supporters after a town hall meeting on Thursday.Speaker Pelosi's worries about violence are justified...if those worries were directed at the SEIU thugs that got their marching orders from President Obama's staff :
Top White House aides gave Senate Democrats a recess battle plan on Thursday, arming the lawmakers with tips for avoiding disastrous town hall meetings while showing them polling on popular aspects of the reform effort.There is a violence problem at the townhalls that problem doesn't exist at the TEA Parties. That's because, unlike Democratic politicians who don't like being challenged on the facts, TEA Party activists don't import SEIU thugs to intimidate people at their events.
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina told senators to focus on the insured and how they would benefit from "consumer protections" in the overhaul, such as ending the practice of denying insurance based on preexisting conditions and ensuring the continuity of coverage between jobs.
They showed video clips of the confrontational town halls that have dominated the media coverage, and told senators to do more prep work than usual for their public meetings by making sure their own supporters turn out, senators and aides said.
And they screened TV ads and reviewed the various campaigns by critics of the Democratic plan.
"If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard," Messina said, according to an official who attended the meeting.
Fortunately, Rep. Pete Sessions, chairman of the NRCC, is standing up to Speaker Pelosi's paranoid rantings:
Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Pelosi crossed the line when she related the rhetoric of anti-gay protesters in San Francisco in 1978, the year Harvey Milk, the first openly gay member of the city's board of supervisors, and his political ally, Mayor George Moscone, were killed by former supervisor Dan White, to that of contemporary conservatives while answering a question about the protests against President Obama's health-care proposals.That Speaker Pelosi can't or won't differentiate between passionate policy disagreements and acts of violence speaks more to her disengenuousness or his paranoia than it speaks to the nature of the TEA Party activists.
"The Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination. Such insulting rhetoric not only undermines the credibility of her office, but it underscores the desperate attempt by her party to divert attention away from a failing agenda," Sessions said in a statement. "During one of the most important policy debates of our time, the American people have been completely abandoned by those elected representatives under her control. Voters are justifiably frustrated with Washington, and the Speaker's verbal assault on voters accomplishes nothing other than furthering her reputation for being wildly out of touch with the American people."
Speaker Pelosi's reaction might be proof that a little paranoia often goes a long way.
Posted Friday, September 18, 2009 8:08 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 19-Sep-09 06:56 AM
We certainly do not hear Diane Feinstein critical of the city hall slayings. That was like a springy diving board so she could do her triple spin plunge into fat city.
Violence from the tea baggers?
Fat chance. You will never see Rush at the front of a mob saying "Follow me."
Inciting mischief, he can do that, but putting his out-of-shape self into an actual fray where he could get hurt, wait on that, will you.
The Teabaggers are dilettantes. Loud mouths. The Fox effort got fewer people in the streets than the anti-war protest during Bushco times - the difference being the media did not cover that.
Rush will stick to shooting his mouth off and enjoying his medicine cabinet. He's a rabble rouser. Not a leader of anything real beyond mouthing off for a paycheck.
Where's the Prosperity Tarryl???
In her latest e-letter update , Tarryl Clark talked about it being a privilege to participate in the recent Leadership Summit. Tarryl made a point of highlighting this statement from former Gov. Arne Carlson:
Former Governor Arne Carlson said the state is facing an "economic tsunami." He said the defict is twice as large as any we have lived through and said, "all of the temporary gimmicks are gone." Governor Carlson said the Legislature and the Governor should start work now on finding ways to repair the state's long term structural budget problems. "Postponement is not leadership," he said.Gov. Carlson is right. All of the temporary fixes have been used. Where he's wrong isn't in figuring out how "to repair the state's long term structural budget problems" via tax increases or spending cuts. The secret is in putting together policies that actually increase entrepreneurial activities.
In 1992, the cliche at the top of the chalkboard in the Clinton War Room wasn't "It's the tax increases, Stupid." The cliche read "It's the economy, Stupid." The thing that the DFL hasn't talked about since taking control of the House of Representatives is the issue of prosperity.
In 2007, the DFL passed a set of spending bills that were vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty and sustained by the House GOP that would've increased spending by 17+ percent. That would've spent an extra $3,000,000,000 during the 2008-2009 biennium. In fact, the DFL was so fiscally irresponsible that they focused on raising spending and increasing taxes even though we had a $2.2 billion surplus at the time.
That's the biggest reason why I don't buy into the DFL's assertions that we've got a revenue problem. What we've got here is a failure to...SAY NO TO SPECIAL INTERESTS!!! If there's anything that the DFL does worse on than holding the line on increasing taxes, it's in saying no to their special interest allies.
That's why the DFL asked for testimony during their 'listening tour' that gave them the political cover to not cut their political allies' spending.
Early in the 2007 session, Laura Brod tried offering amendments to cut taxes during the tax conformity bill debate. Speaker Kelliher ruled that Rep. Brod's amendments weren't germane. This year, Steve Gottwalt crafted legislation that would've reformed health care throughout the state. Had the DFL been serious about improving Minnesota's business climate, they would've passed the tax cuts and the health care reform bills passed.
They didn't because they didn't want to give Republicans any political victories. What's sad about that is that they didn't bother thinking that passing Laura Brod's bill and Steve Gottwalt's bill would've helped Minnesota families.
The DFL, including Tarryl Clark, hasn't shown a willingness to improve Minnesotans' lives if it means giving Republicans a political victory . Their top priority the last 3 years has been to give government the money it needs instead of helping families keep what they've earned.
Unfortunately, Governor Pawlenty declined to participate in the summit and prohibited his administration from participating (including former Speaker Steve Sviggum who accepted the invitation, but had to then decline it because he also serves as the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry).I'm thankful that Gov. Pawlenty didn't waste his time at that summit. Instead of whining with has beens, Gov. Pawlenty participated in a meeting with business leaders :
According to a release from the GOP, the event in EP was the first of a series of roundtable discussion set with business leaders around the state. Other communities set to have such roundtable events include St. Cloud, Apple Valley, Red Wing, Sauk Centre, Minnetonka, Rochester, Blaine, New Ulm, Faribault, Shoreview, Bemidji, Eagan, Woodbury, Princeton, La Crescent, Monticello, Chisago City, Fergus Falls and Willmar.I won't attempt to defend Gov. Pawlenty's not attending the (Failed) Leadership Summit because his actions don't need defending. Instead, I'd like to hear the DFL's failed leadership team justify spending time with a bunch of government first types instead of meeting with business leaders.
" This group gathered here is about trying to provide ideas to solve the problem ," said Pawlenty.
In attendance for the meeting were State Sen. David Hann (R-42), who is exploring a gubernatorial run, and State. Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-42B). Also in attendance were representatives from a number of Eden Prairie businesses, all who offered a snapshot of the many issues plaguing the regional economy.
Are the DFL's leaders afraid that they'd get criticized for not doing what's needed to get Minnesota's economy headed in the right direction? Are the DFL's leaders worried that they'd get asked why they're intent on raising taxes on small businesses? Are the DFL's leaders unwilling to show up at these events because their actions have added to Minnesota's already oppressive regulatory burden?
To Gov. Pawlenty, the choice was clear: he could spend time with people whose first goal was to increase government's footprint or he could spend time finding out what the men and women who make Minnesota's economy run were thinking. That's a no-brainer in my estimation.
Notice the focus of Larry Pogemiller's statement:
According to a release from Democratic State Sen. Larry Pogemiller's office, the purpose of the leadership summit would be to " lay out a roadmap towards long-term balance in the state budget and sustainable growth in Minnesota's economy." He also projects that the state could face a $7 billion deficit in 2011.The first thing mentioned pertained to the state budget. The first thing didn't pertain to creating a vibrant economy or improving Minnesotans' lives.
You'll notice, too, that Tarryl didn't focus on improving Minnesota's economy. That isn't coincidence. That's just an indication of Tarryl's priorities.
Posted Saturday, September 19, 2009 1:26 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 19-Sep-09 06:47 AM
Pawlenty held office for how long?
And things kept getting worse.
Is he still Governor?
Being out of state so much it is hard to recall.
But, I believe despite the absences he is. And things get worse.
You don't blame him.
Things are bad all over.
How long was it the the GOP held the White House before this partial year under Obama?
Who, really, put things into a mess.
I will go along with continuity there. Reagan/Bush, then Clinton who was GOP-lite, then Rumsfeld-Cheney-Bush and invasions of other nations, on borrowing and not taxing to fund the invasions.
Get real. Bipartisan ineptness, yes, Gary I will buy into that.
But where was your criticism of the Bush policies, the deficits Reagan and Bush ran, that Clinton paid down?
All that time jobs left. Wages stagnated. People bought more house than they coud afford and credit card firms prospered greatly.
Now there's a credit crunch?
I suppose all those Dem bankers and Wall Street manipulators are to blame. Who controls credit but the private sector? Who's screwed things up to disadvantage people? The private sector finance folks.
Tarryl has little control over their irrational exuberance and their subsequent overreactive retrenchments. And, no doubt, Clinton played along 100%, and the GOP harped against him for doing what the GOP before and after his terms did. Go figure.
Comment 2 by R-Five at 19-Sep-09 10:27 AM
This is a DFL problem, not a state problem. Democrat largess has reached critical mass, where they finally must now prioritize, where more spending in one area must largely come from another. The level of tax increase required to avoid making these hard choices is political suicide, for in taxation as well, all the gimmicks are gone.
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 19-Sep-09 10:38 AM
Eric, Most of Minnesota's economic problems stem from the DFL's refusal to say no to special interest groups. That's caused unsustainable spending rates, which forces a litany of tax increases.
Businesses have identified that trend & have started moving out of the state. VitalMedix is just one we've heard about.
What's worse is that the DFL has refused to reform government, which tells taxpayers that eventually, they'll have a tax increase headed in their direction.
People & businesses are moving to North & South Dakota, Utah & Colorado to escape this disgusting trend.
That's before we talk about the DFL's ignoring the economy & focusing solely on job-killing tax increases, on wasteful spending & increased regulations that tie the hands of mayors & private citizens.
Couple that with idiots like Chris Coleman & R.T. Rybak pissing money away, then whining that their LGA amounts aren't big enough. Then they use that as an excuse to raise property & sales taxes, which drive more people out of Minnesota.
You want to blame those things on TPaw? Not here. Not now.
BTW, the DFL held dozens & dozens of meetings last summer (2008). They didn't put a budget together but they made certain that they collected their per diem for doing nothing of import.
The DFL didn't offer a single reform proposal. The DFL didn't think of anything that actually improved people's lives.
Last year, a few DFL legislators finally started telling Speaker Kelliher, Leader Pogemiller & Tarryl to take a hike. The problem isn't as much about rank & file DFL legislators as it is about the DFL's leadership (or lack thereof.)
Compare that with Gov. Pawlenty offering a number of reforms that would've improved people's lives each of the last 3 sessions. But it's his fault that the DFL legislature refused to even give those initiatives serious consideration? That's one helluva stretch of the imagination.
ACORN Issues Empty Threat
A few days back, ACORN issued an empty threat: they said that they would sue James O'Keefe, Hannah Giles, Andrew Breitbart and FNC for their secretly taping ACORN employees offering their help in putting a sex slave/prostitution business together . The first time I heard that story, I knew it was pure bluster. Here's why:
If ACORN sues, it would have to sue alleging some variation of defamation or fraud. The problem is that for either allegation, truth is an absolute defense. Nothing could be more relevant to Fox establishing its defense of truth in the lawsuit than having access to ACORN's office memos, emails, phone records, and bank statements. All of these would have a reasonable chance of providing evidence as to whether ACORN workers had knowledge of any of the topics seen on the videotapes.I'm not a lawyer but I think what they're talking about here is called discovery. That's why I'm fairly certain that Andrew Breitbart's first reaction was either one of "Yeah, whatever" or one of licking his proverbial chops.
In short, it would blow the doors off ACORN's vault of secrets. Fox would learn which organizations collaborate with ACORN, how they spend taxpayer money and what ACORN's leaders say to each other behind closed doors. It would be a treasure trove for a media organization.
I suspect that this was part of ACORN's PR campaign but that they had no intention of filing a lawsuit. ACORN has been extremely secretive throughout the years. The last thing they want is to give their enemies a free opportunity to examine their internal documents.
Posted Saturday, September 19, 2009 10:20 AM
No comments.
Astroturfers Gearing Up For Another Humiliating Defeat
With the various health care bills taking serious hits amongst Capitol Hill Democrats, it was inevitable that HCAN would organize another astroturf campaign aimed at changing politicians' minds. Not surprisingly, their tactics isn't aimed at changing the minds of We The People. It's aimed solely at changing the minds of politicians:
But Health Care for America Now (HCAN), which is backed by a coalition of labor unions and liberal groups including ACORN and MoveOn.org, organized the protests to target insurance companies and drafted the plan, which describes the demonstrations as part of its "insurance enemies project."What a bunch of idiots. HCAN's playing on heartstrings will certainly evoke some empathy for those individuals highlighted but it won't move public opinion. After all these events, the American people will still oppose the Democrats' plans for a multitude of reasons.
The document , a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, details specific talking points, tactics, props and strategies to stage the protests . It lists goals that include action that "mobilizes our base by animating existing anger about private insurers."
The HCAN field plan dictates that each protest will include a minimum of 30 participants, target only health care insurers CIGNA, WellPoint and United Health Care and showcase what it calls "victims," or people who have either lost insurance, can't afford it or were denied coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions.
People will still oppose the Democrats' health care plans because they're too expensive, they'll trigger a host of tax increases, because the plans won't guarantee that there won't be rationing and because each bill would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare.
What part of those plans will appeal to the American people?
HCAN insists on repeating its August mistakes. During August, HCAN, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats insisted on villainizing the insurance companies. It failed miserably, not because people loved their insurance but because they didn't trust government. Now they're back for another bite of that rotten apple. I suspect that the taste of that apple will be just as sour as the first time.
HCAN's astroturf campaign won't talk about the Medicare cuts. Without addressing that, seniors will still be steadfastly opposed to the Democrats' health care plans. Enough Democratic lawmakers understand that seniors are expected to comprise one-third of the voters in 2010. Upsetting them wouldn't just end a few Democrats' careers; it might turn Speaker Pelosi into Rep. Pelosi, too.
The protesters are instructed to confront top officials at the insurance companies and demand they sign a declaration titled, "Stop Denying Our Care." The declaration pledges the company will not meddle in patients' medical decisions, deny or drop coverage based on a pre-existing medical conditions, terminate any policy or reward employees for denying care or rejecting claims.Doesn't that sound like a tightly scripted plan? If it doesn't, this does:
Tactics listed in the field plan include "large-scale rally or march to insurance company with victims leading delegation in to speak to CEO or other spokesperson." It suggests materials or props including signs, pictures and "good stories that embody our key message."Despite these instuctions being included in the activists' field manual, organizers still said this, presumably with a straight face:
"We built a campaign to win health care reform and that is exactly what we are working on," said HCAN national spokeswoman Jacki Schechner, who authenticated the documents. But she asserted: " There is nothing top-down about this ."Let's see. There's a list of HCAN-provided talking points. There's a list of tactics that HCAN put together for these protests. The script is supposed to be used at every event across the country. The targets of these 'spontaneous' events have been picked out in advance of the events by HCAN. Depsite all these 'coincidences', we're told that this is a bottom-up, spontaneous uprising?
Forgive me if I don't believe that. These events sound too much like a control freak's version of grassroots activism which, of course, isn't the definition of grassroots activism. Typical astroturf campaigns have a specific set of talking points generated by a central organization aimed at achieving a specific set of goals.
By contrast, true grassroots activism is spontaneous and unscripted. By putting out their list of talking points and their tactics, HCAN is admitting that its events aren't based on grassroots activism, that it's putting together an astroturf campaign aimed at persuading a tiny group of people.
At this point, it's difficult picturing HCAN's campaign working, mostly because it's focused on issues that are peripheral at best. The Shiny Object Media might cover the events but their ability to move votes, either in House or Senate, is limited.
At the end of the day, HCAN will be taught that it's difficult to sell a product that people don't want and that it's more difficult to sell something being sold by an organization that the American people don't trust.
Posted Saturday, September 19, 2009 12:37 PM
No comments.
DNC 'Rips' TPaw
I've been critical of the Republicans' communications over the past 3 years but I'm not displeased after reading the DNC's reaction to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's speech at the Values Voters Conference in Washington, DC. The DNC's response is predictable and totally unpersuasive. Calling it background noise is to discredit background noise.
Here's what the NYTimes quoted the DNC's spokesman as saying:
The Democratic National Committee quickly responded to Mr. Pawlenty's speech: " It looks like Tim Pawlenty isn't even going to offer the pretense of being anything but an extreme right wing radical anymore . At least it's honest, and if you've seen what he's said on health care lately you know that's a rare feat," said Hari Sevugan, a D.N.C. spokesman.This is typical boilerplate stuff that John Q. Public just tunes out. It's a waste of time. In this instance, it's a mischaracterization of Gov. Pawlenty's speech . Here's a sample of Tim Pawlenty's 'radicalism':
Now, I know some in the audience or in the press, they always say, "Oh, isn't this hard? I mean, my goodness, you're facing a lot of challenges as conservatives and people who embrace traditional values." I can tell you about hard. I grew up in a town of South St. Paul, Minnesota. I was the only Republican in my family. Back then it was the world's largest meat packing plants and the world's largest stockyards in South St. Paul, Minnesota. For a good chunk of their lives my one brother worked for a grocery store for 40 years as part of the United Food and Commercial Workers. My other brother worked at an oil refinery as part of the Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, and for times they were union stewards. My other sister is a one-on-one special ed aide in public schools and my other sisters worked for 40-some years for a company as a secretary or administrative assistant. And they're all Democrats.WOW!!! Accountability is an extremist policy? I guess that doesn't sound that unreasonable considering how in bed the Democrats are with the teachers' unions. Here's another portion of Gov. Pawlenty's speech where his 'extremism' shines through:
And my mom died when I was young, age 16, and not too long after that my dad lost his job for a while, and so we had a lot of discussions in our family about hardship and values and oftentimes politics, and they'd get pretty heated. And so I...you know, do you really want your taxes raised in a place like Minnesota? Oh, no, they're high enough, I'm with you on that. Well, what about education, do you think we should plow more money into the schools or do you think we should them hold them accountable for results? No, darn right, let's hold them accountable for results. Well, what about health care? Do you want the federal government taking the thing over or do you think you and your doctor should make those decisions? No, we're with you on that. What about even some of the more controversial issues like second amendment rights? No, we love to hunt and fish, don't mess with our guns. And on down the list. And so they'd agree with us on, you know, seven, eight, nine, ten of the top issues. You know, how come you're not with us then as a conservative or my party, a Republican? Well, because you guys aren't always for the working person. You've heard that before? So that's a stereotype we need to overcome.
But in Minnesota, I'm here to tell you as the governor of, to put it charitably a left-leaning state (laughter), if we can do it there...now, this is the land of Eugene McCarthy. It's the land of Hubert Humphrey. It's the land of Walter Mondale. It's the land of Paul Wellstone. And it's the land of United States Senator Al Franken. If we...if I and the Republicans in Minnesota and the conservatives can govern Minnesota and make a difference and make progress with conservative goals and values and principles in mind, as Frank Sinatra said, "If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere." And we can do it across this great land.
We also need to remember the value of individuals and families deciding their health care decisions for themselves. (Applause). This issue is a case study for all that's taking place in Washington, D.C. You heard it all. But I want to just highlight for you the Democrats' plan is an absolute financial monstrosity. This is a plan that if you count it from full, full implementation ten years out, it's not a $1 trillion plan, it's approaching a $2 trillion or more plan. The president of the United States has said, you know, "We don't have any more money ." He said that in a recent interview. "We're out of money."Gov. Pawlenty's extremism is really shining through there. How dare those people that earn wages or provide jobs insist on keeping their own money rather than having this Democratic Congress and this Democrat in the White House spend money like there's a contest to see how irresponsible they can be with We The People's money.
Well, with all due respect, Mr. President, if we're out of money, stop spending it.
Simply put, President Obama has been the most fiscally irresponsible president in our nation's history. BY FAR!!! What's exceptionally galling is that the DNC doesn't flinch thinking about President Obama's extremism but has a hair trigger in criticizing Gov. Pawlenty's common sense solutions. That type of partisanship shouldn't have a place in American politics.
It's also a plan that features taxes on employers, taxes on individuals, taxes on manufacturers of life-saving medical devices and technology and down the list. It's a bucket load of tax increases. Even with that, it doesn't even begin to pay for itself , and the question we should be asking amongst others is, "What happens when the money runs out? What happens when the money runs out?" And it will. Two states or so have tried essentially this same thing. It doesn't work. It is nowhere close to containing costs. It has gone the other direction. And when the money runs out they've got two basic choices after we've already given up our rights to the federal government.Is the DNC hinting that being fiscally responsible is a form of extremism? Or is the DNC hinting that criticizing legislation that includes a whole host of major tax increases and individual mandates is a form of extremism? That wouldn't surprise me considering how much the DNC is praising and/or defending a man who's committee to spending unprecedented amounts of money and who's committed himself to raising taxes by some of the biggest amounts in our nation's history.
Why isn't the DNC railing against the unprecedented spending and the unprecedented deficits? Do they think that isn't extremism? I'm not naive. I expect the DNC to criticize Republicans, especially those they think are running to unseat President Obama. I'm just questioning their wisdom in attacking as extremist a man who is the embodiment of common sense.
Frankly, the DNC's statement is a portrait of old-fashioned gotcha messaging. Here's a hint about that technique: that technique is worthless. Voters tune that messaging out. They pay attention to communications that communicate a vision for the future or that contrasts the candidates' beliefs.
Posted Sunday, September 20, 2009 12:57 AM
Comment 1 by The Lady Logician at 21-Sep-09 07:44 AM
In other "news" the sun rose in the east today...
I mean isn't that what the DFL does? Granted if they had any criticisms of substance they might make some headway against Governor Pawlenty which is what makes it all the more fun.
LL
