August 16-19, 2011
Aug 16 02:17 Who's behind Draw the Line Minnesota, Part I? Aug 16 06:52 Who's behind Draw the Line Minnesota, Part II Aug 17 03:53 Who's behind Redraw the Line MN, Part III? Aug 18 03:19 DFL Coalition Exposed Aug 18 07:30 "Luddite" schools Michele Bachmann on oil Aug 18 08:52 Buffett's Arrogance Exposed Aug 18 14:26 Redistricting 101 Aug 19 00:02 Minnesota Redistricting Meeting Notes Aug 19 16:57 President Obama, Let's Try Capitalism This Time
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Who's behind Draw the Line Minnesota, Part I?
Over the next 3 weeks, an organization called Draw the Line Minnesota will hold hearings on the topic of redistricting. Follow this link for a listing of all the meetings statewide.
According to the article, Draw the Line Minnesota is "a project of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and a network of nonprofit organizations." There's more to this organization than that. This website says that "Draw the Line Minnesota has created a true Citizen's Commission, initiated for and by the people. We are committed to being independent and nonpartisan, transparent, having a chosen body that reflects the diversity of the state."
That statement isn't credible. According to their website, Common Cause Minnesota, the League of Women Voters Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and TakeAction Minnesota are 'partners' with Draw the Line Minnesota. That's proof positive that this organization isn't nonpartisan.
Here are a few of TakeAction Minnesota's " member organizations ", along with a brief synopsis of the organization:
Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the leading advocate for public education in Minnesota. Members work in pre-K-12 schools and higher education institutions statewide, getting involved with issues that affect educators and their students, mentoring new teachers, and offering professional development.
Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE)
MAPE represents the professional and supervisory employees of Minnesota. Members work in all segments of state of Minnesota service, and they are significant contributors to the high quality of life that is enjoyed by all Minnesotans. MAPE core priorities include supporting efforts in fair treatment of employees, including equitable compesation, improved benefits, and the right to unionize and collective bargain, advocating for an improved health care systems, and calling for increased efficiency and transparency in state government.
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless aims to generate policies, community support, and local resources for housing and services to end homelessness in Minnesota. Member organizations shape the legislative priorities, training opportunities, and community education efforts as they work to ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing for everybody in our state.
Isn't it interesting that the poverty industry and public employee unions comprise this supposedly nonpartisan organization? I'd argue that these organizations comprise the heart of the DFL coalition.
That's only part of the coalition behind Draw the Line Minnesota. (Check back later today for Parts II and III of this series.) This coalition certainly has the right to form whatever coalition they'd like. They just won't get away with calling themselves a nonpartisan coalition.
Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2011 2:17 AM
No comments.
Who's behind Draw the Line Minnesota, Part II
The first part of this 3-part series talked about some of the organizations partnering with each other to form the coalition behind the Draw the Line Minnesota organization. In the first article, I said that "the poverty industry and several public employee unions comprise this supposedly nonpartisan organization."
There's more to the coalition than that. It turns out that environmentalists and the GLBT community are part of the coalition, too:
Clean Water Action Alliance
Through grassroots organizing, expert policy research, and political advocacy focused on holding elected officials accountable to the public, Clean Water Action is an organization working to protect America's waters, build healthy communities, and to make democracy work for all of us.
OutFront Minnesota
OutFront Minnesota is a leader in making our state a place where GLBT Minnesotans have the freedom, power, and confidence to make the best choices for their own lives. They deliver programs and services to the GLBT and allied community centered around public policy, anti-violence, education and training, and the law.
A coalition of GLBT activists, environmentalists, the poverty industry and public employee unions is the quintessential progressive/DFL coalition. Quintessential progressive/DFL coalitions must include, at least on the fringes, the Alliance for a Better Minnesota.
It's interesting that TakeAction Minnesota is an integral part of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota . One glimpse of their Board of Directors ties it all together:
ABM Board of Directors
Chair
Jon Grebner, AFSCME
Treasurer
Jessie Danielson, America Votes
Secretary
Ryan Greenwood, TakeAction MN
Members-at-Large
Luchelle Stevens, SEIU
Ken Martin, Win Minnesota
Connie Lewis, Planned Parenthood
ABM isn't a nonpartisan organization. They're the organization that financed the biggest smear campaign in Minnesota history. They're financed mostly by the Dayton family, including Gov. Dayton's ex-wife Alida Messinger, other Dayton family members as well as all of the influential public employee unions that comprise the DFL special interest ally coalition.
With a coalition like this, there's only one question left: what's their real agenda? I'll have more of that in the final part of this series.
Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2011 6:52 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 16-Aug-11 09:03 AM
Solid research piece, Gary. Congrats.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 16-Aug-11 10:31 AM
Thanks Bob. There's more coming so check back later.
Who's behind Redraw the Line MN, Part III?
In the first post of this series , Draw the Line Minnesota was exposed. They said that they were "a project of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and a network of nonprofit organizations":
This website says that "Draw the Line Minnesota has created a true Citizen's Commission, initiated for and by the people. We are committed to being independent and nonpartisan, transparent, having a chosen body that reflects the diversity of the state."
Another important part of Part I highlighted some of the DFL special interest groups as part of the DTLM coalition:
Here are a few of TakeAction Minnesota's " member organizations ", along with a brief synopsis of the organization:
Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the leading advocate for public education in Minnesota. Members work in pre-K-12 schools and higher education institutions statewide, getting involved with issues that affect educators and their students, mentoring new teachers, and offering professional development.
Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE)
MAPE represents the professional and supervisory employees of Minnesota. Members work in all segments of state of Minnesota service, and they are significant contributors to the high quality of life that is enjoyed by all Minnesotans. MAPE core priorities include supporting efforts in fair treatment of employees, including equitable compesation, improved benefits, and the right to unionize and collective bargain, advocating for an improved health care systems, and calling for increased efficiency and transparency in state government.
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless aims to generate policies, community support, and local resources for housing and services to end homelessness in Minnesota. Member organizations shape the legislative priorities, training opportunities, and community education efforts as they work to ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing for everybody in our state.
In Part II of this series , more of Draw the Line Minnesota's ultrapartisan allies were highlighted:
Clean Water Action Alliance
Through grassroots organizing, expert policy research, and political advocacy focused on holding elected officials accountable to the public, Clean Water Action is an organization working to protect America's waters, build healthy communities, and to make democracy work for all of us.
OutFront Minnesota
OutFront Minnesota is a leader in making our state a place where GLBT Minnesotans have the freedom, power, and confidence to make the best choices for their own lives. They deliver programs and services to the GLBT and allied community centered around public policy, anti-violence, education and training, and the law.
In Part III, we'll pull all these pieces together in an attempt to figure out this deceptive organization's motives and goals. It isn't a stretch to think their ultimate goal isn't creating 67 competitive Senate districts and 134 competitive House districts.
The first thing that's apparent is that this coalition is supported by the DFL. DTLM is to nonpartisanship what ACORN is to election integrity.
DTLM knows that the population shifts within the state make it almost impossible to get a redistricting map that's favorable to them. Since they can't get a redistricting outcome that favors them, it isn't a stretch to think that the DFL's next goal is to not get beaten up too badly.
That's why their new euphemism is to advocate for 'competitive districts'. Based on where the population shifts happened, it's clear that they moved away from areas with a combination of crazy liberal mayors, far left state legislators and progressive U.S. congresscritters.
First, each congressional district must be within 1% of having 662,991 people. Next, each state House seat must have 39,582 people in it while each state senate seat must have 79,163 people in it.
Put within that context, then using the official state demographer's chart by district , MN-5, Keith Ellison's district, is 46,509 people short of the 662,991 person mandate. Meanwhile, MN-4, Betty McCollum's district, is 48,367 people short of requirement.
That's a stark contrast with MN-2, represented by John Kline, which has 69,524 people more than the 662,991 people that they're allowed to have after redistricting. What's stunning is that MN-2 isn't the district that needs to shrink the most.
That honor goes to MN-6, represented by Michele Bachmann. MN-6 needs to shrink by 96,487 people.
In short, people 'voted' with their mortgages. They fled bastions of the far left and settled into conservative districts.
That's why the DFL is worried about the possible outcome of redistricting. That, in turn, is why the DFL's special interest allies from the GLBT community, the environmental movement, the poverty industry and the public employee unions threw this 'nonpartisan' coalition together.
This unholy alliance is a desperation ploy. If this strategy doesn't work, the Minnesota delegation will have a GOP majority. That's something the DFL will do to anything to prevent. That's why redistricting is a must-survive thing with the DFL.
Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2011 11:03 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 17-Aug-11 06:59 AM
OMG. My god, my god. They are doing what the Koch brothers do. What Tea Party puppeteers do. What Grover Norquist does. The sky is falling.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Aug-11 03:28 PM
Eric, there's a night & day difference. The TEA Party is straightforward. The people that support it don't hide their identities. (It's worth noting that the original TEA Party movement is organic.) The Koch brothers disclose who they're supporting. Grover Norquist, the Democrats' latest boogeyman, is anything but bashful about his agenda.
DTLM? They're still pretending to be "nonpartisan". They're still attempting to be a group organized by & for the citizens. What's most infuriating is that many of the organizations in this coalition are the most corrupt organizations in the DFL's coalition.
The only similarity between the TEA Party & the Koch brothers as opposed to DTLM's coalition is that they're both political activists. After that, there isn't another similarity.
Comment 2 by Bob J. at 17-Aug-11 09:00 AM
Congratulations on passing "Missing The Point 101", Eric. It isn't the group's advocacy that is the issue here. It's the group's claim to non-partisanship.
I could care less what George Soros, moveon.org, the SEIU and all the liberal thug groups do provided they're at least honest about their goals. This group clearly isn't, and Gary has pointed that out in a clear and concise fashion.
Comment 3 by eric z at 17-Aug-11 04:17 PM
The tea party thing is nonpartisan? Citizens United is NOT a misnomer? It's corporations united. If a corporation is a person, go marry one.
Comment 4 by eric z at 17-Aug-11 04:21 PM
Those MN6 voting mortgages are leading the state in their foreclosure rates. A brightness deficit, overreaching, or the bankers in cahoots?
Comment 5 by eric z at 17-Aug-11 04:27 PM
Bob J - You confuse "partisanship" with belief sets. Republicans can join those organizations. That they choose not to is no indication that only members of the DFL are welcome. You don't like the ideas they stand for, that is separate from saying they are exclusionary based on political party affiliation.
They think differently than you. If you want someone thinking identically, use a mirror.
Comment 6 by Gary Gross at 17-Aug-11 06:42 PM
Eric, Saying that Republicans are welcome in TakeAction Minnesota's coalition is BS. They're welcome only if they're willing to follow the unions' rules.
Comment 7 by eric z at 18-Aug-11 02:50 PM
Well, at least they can ask, just as with the tax exempt and somewhat disarmingly named, "Council for National Policy."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/02/22/94465/-Sith-Lords-of-the-Ultra-Right
I bet Gary, that some of your readers would give a left body part to be able to hob-nob with that crew.
DFL Coalition Exposed
For years, people across the nation have thought of the League of Women Voters and Common Cause as nonpartisan civic groups. (Informed conservative bloggers knew better.) When they joined forces with TakeAction Minnesota's coalition, that facade disappeared.
The truth is that LWV and Common Cause were inextricably linked with the most corrupt DFL special interest allies. Their pure-as-the-driven-snow reputations disappeared in a nanosecond. Their political stripes are now there for the world to see.
The people that they're 'partnering' with aren't just garden variety liberals either. Their partners are corrupt, far left lefties who contributed enthusiastically to the biggest smear campaign in Minnesota history.
Common Cause MN and the League of Women Voters market themselves as good government organizations dedicated to transparency. The fact that they're partnering with an umbrella organization like TakeAction Minnesota undercuts their credibility.
The organizations under TakeAction Minnesota's umbrella comprise the DFL's smear campaign infrastructure. Here's a few organizations under TakeAction Minnesota's umbrella:
Education Minnesota
EdMinn is the teachers' union. Tom Dooher, EdMinn's president, is also a lobbyist.
Dooher's primary responsibility as EdMinn's lobbyist is to ride herd on DFL legislators :
Buesgens: Lobbyists do not belong at the head of the table
ST. PAUL "The head of a committee table in the Minnesota Legislature is no place for a registered lobbyist," according to State Representative Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan. Buesgens, who formerly chaired the House Education Policy and Reform Committee, criticized Democrat legislators for allowing Education Minnesota President and registered lobbyist Tom Dooher to sit at the table with legislators during Tuesday's hearing on Minnesota's 'Race to the Top' application.
"Special interests have absolutely no place at the committee table, no matter who they represent," Buesgens said. "This one in particular has consistently stood in the way of education reform and spent millions upon millions of dollars over the years to elect reform-averse legislators. Putting him at the head of the table for all to see sent a clear message, like having Vito Corleone watching over his foot soldiers."
Here's more of the organizations under the TakeAction Minnesota's umbrella:
Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE)
If there's any union that's opposed to the redistricting map that Gov. Dayton vetoed, it's MAPE. The last thing they'd want are more legislators like Keith Downey and King Banaian. The more reform-minded legislators in the legislature, the more MAPE is threatened.
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
This coalition wouldn't be complete without someone representing the poverty industry. The poverty industry relies on DFL legislatures. That explains why MCH is interested in the redistricting outcome.
Minnesota Nurses Association
MNA was President Obama's staunchest ally in Minnesota for Obamacare. They're heavily invested in the DFL retaking the legislature.
As much emphasis as these organizations are putting on these hearings, the hearings that will matter will happen in October. Those hearings will take actual testimony that will be used by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
If the Minnesota Supreme Court rules that the map passed by the GOP legislature follows the precedents set by previous Supreme Courts, the DFL will have a lost decade in the Minnesota legislature. That's why this shadow DFL coalition is working hard to alter the redistricting map.
They see this redistricting decision as an existential threat.
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2011 3:19 AM
Comment 1 by A.K. Sarvis at 18-Aug-11 08:57 AM
this is one of the dumbest things I've ever read
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 18-Aug-11 12:55 PM
Sorry that you're that liberal. If you weren't so wedded to defending the DFL's failed ideology, you'd see how corrupt DTLM is.
Comment 2 by Morgan Mathews at 18-Aug-11 08:07 PM
"far left lefties?" Are you sure? I mean, it's pretty amazing to think that groups with a generally similar world view would come together in an umbrella group to oppose partisan efforts that tend against their interests. And I have to disagree with you; teachers, nurses, professionals and people opposed to homelessness are, in fact, the very definition of "just garden variety liberals." And please elucidate: What exactly was "the biggest smear campaign in Minnesota history?" It's kind of a crowded field.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 18-Aug-11 09:53 PM
The biggest smear campaign was the smear campaign organized by TakeAction Minnesota, SEIU, AFSCME (they're the union that told Wisconsin small businessess that they had to post a sign supporting AFSCME or risk getting boycotted), the MNA (they were the most vocal supporters of Obamacare, which is certainly radical) & UpFront Minnesota, which is a FAR FAR LEFT GLBT organization.
They did this under the guise of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, which was funded by Alida Messinger, Gov. Dayton's ex-wife, SEIU (they're the guys that scare kids in the kids' homes) & a few other far left organizations.
"Luddite" schools Michele Bachmann on oil
In this article , the author attempts to school presidential candidate Michele Bachmann on oil prices:
This shouldn't really be something that has to be said, given that oil market is global and immensely complex, but Bachmann told a group of prospective South Carolina voters she could determine the price of gas. "The day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. Look at what it is today," she said. "Under President Bachmann, you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen."
This ignores the geological and geopolitical realities of the world oil market. It's just impossible to promise the price of gasoline at some future date several years from now. Well, actually, I shouldn't say that. Perhaps President Bachmann would institute price controls or spend massive sums to subsidize gasoline in an effort to drive gas prices down. The Chinese kept gasoline prices down for a while with heavy-handed efforts. But it's hard to see how that squares with her small government posture. (To say nothing about whether that would be a good way to spend public money.)
Politico notes that she mentioned shale development and is a long time proponent of more Arctic drilling, but let's look at the numbers. The United States Geological Survey estimates that there is a 50 percent chance of finding seven billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sounds like a lot, no? But Americans use about 20 million barrels a day, so if we sucked out all of those billions of barrels, we'd use it up in less than a year . The shale guys are talking big, too, for sure. But we've already had one shale bust in this country. And most of the big successes have been with gas. And environmental tradeoffs still cloud shale's future. And the USGS pegged the oft-cited Bakken formation as having a few billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. And shale oil production in 2010 was a mere 275,000 barrels a day .
It's ironic that this person would cite the "oft-cited Bakken formation" article. Here's what that says:
Reston, VA - North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.
A U.S. Geological Survey assessment , released April 10, shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil.
Technically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices. USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources.
New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007.
The report this 'expert' cites says that "a U.S. Geological Survey assessment...shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil." That's rather significant. Saying that the USGS report is off by 2500% tells me that the USGS report, indeed the USGS, shouldn't be taken seriously in predicting oil reserves.
It's stunning that the author would addmit that "[t]echnically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices", then admit "[n]ew geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes."
I've paid attention to environmentalist groups' predictions since the days of building the Alaskan Pipeline. In the late 70's, Outdoor Life published an op-ed by the president of the Sierra Club. In the op-ed, he argued that the pipeline would affect "the migration route of the Barrows caribou" herd, "and for what? A few years of oil."
Thirty years later, they're still pumping oil from the Prudhoe Bay/North Slope oil fields. With increasing technological advances, it's entirely possible that the pipeline will be pumping oil long after I die. That's without starting pumping oil from ANWR.
Environmental groups are always underestimating oil reserves.
That's one thing. In 2008, gas prices shot up over $4 a gallon. It was at that time that Michele Bachmann predicted that lifting the moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf would drop prices in half. I remember seeing that prediction and cringing, not because I disagreed with the prediction but because Michele could've said that lifting the moratorium would drop gas prices significantly.
Either way, Michele's prediction came true less than 2 months later. While Michele isn't an expert on oil drilling technology, she's definitely an expert on capitalism and free markets.
That's why I'm totally comfortable trusting Michele's South Carolina prediction. The reality is that her track record of predicting oil prices is substantially better than the USGS.
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2011 7:30 AM
Comment 1 by GS at 18-Aug-11 01:05 PM
Gary,
Oil prices plunged in 2008 because a the massive econmic collapse and the corresponding drop in demand.
I agree with you and the inference from Bachmann that (relatively) small increases in production can have dramatic effects on the price at the pump. So would loosening regulation on the increase in refining capacity.
Promising $2/gallon gasoline is just an unforced error. There are far too many factors influencing the price at the pump and throwing a number out there like that is just setting yourself up for failure.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 18-Aug-11 01:39 PM
Actually, the economic collapse happened 2 months after gas prices dropped. I remember because I was monitoring the gas price debate all summer. The economic collapse didn't happen until late September.
Comment 2 by GS at 18-Aug-11 04:28 PM
Yes, prices eased a bit in mid-summer off the $4/gallon high. But the really crashed along with the market. See below.
Weekly U.S. Regular Conventional Retail Gasoline Prices (Dollars per Gallon)
Jan 07, 2008 3.088
Jan 14, 2008 3.041
Jan 21, 2008 2.991
Jan 28, 2008 2.953
Feb 04, 2008 2.966
Feb 11, 2008 2.947
Feb 18, 2008 3.035
Feb 25, 2008 3.115
Mar 03, 2008 3.137
Mar 10, 2008 3.2
Mar 17, 2008 3.257
Mar 24, 2008 3.224
Mar 31, 2008 3.259
Apr 07, 2008 3.299
Apr 14, 2008 3.35
Apr 21, 2008 3.467
Apr 28, 2008 3.566
May 05, 2008 3.571
May 12, 2008 3.694
May 19, 2008 3.762
May 26, 2008 3.913
Jun 02, 2008 3.932
Jun 09, 2008 3.979
Jun 16, 2008 4.007
Jun 23, 2008 4.002
Jun 30, 2008 4.027
Jul 07, 2008 4.051
Jul 14, 2008 4.054
Jul 21, 2008 4.005
Jul 28, 2008 3.896
Aug 04, 2008 3.828
Aug 11, 2008 3.764
Aug 18, 2008 3.706
Aug 25, 2008 3.66
Sep 01, 2008 3.667
Sep 08, 2008 3.637
Sep 15, 2008 3.867
Sep 22, 2008 3.732
Sep 29, 2008 3.644
Oct 06, 2008 3.485
Oct 13, 2008 3.109
Oct 20, 2008 2.855
Oct 27, 2008 2.589
Nov 03, 2008 2.34
Nov 10, 2008 2.17
Nov 17, 2008 2.027
Nov 24, 2008 1.857
Dec 01, 2008 1.79
Dec 08, 2008 1.681
Dec 15, 2008 1.648
Dec 22, 2008 1.635
Dec 29, 2008 1.59
Source: http://www.eia.gov
Buffett's Arrogance Exposed
This WSJ article does a fantastic job of exposing Warren Buffett as a hypocrite and of being exceptionally arrogant:
Barney Kilgore, the man who made the Wall Street Journal into a national publication, was once asked why so many rich people favored higher taxes. That's easy, he replied. They already have their money.
That insight is worth recalling amid the latest political duet from President Obama and Warren Buffett demanding higher taxes on "millionaires and billionaires." Mr. Buffett is repeating his now familiar argument this week, coinciding with Mr. Obama's Midwestern road trip on the economy. Since the media are treating Mr. Buffett as a tax oracle, let's take a closer look at some of the billionaire's intellectual tax dodges.
The double tax oversight. The Berkshire Hathaway magnate makes much of the fact that he paid only 17.4% of his income in taxes, which he considers unfair when salaried workers often pay more. But Mr. Buffett makes most of his income from his investments, in particular from dividends and capital gains that are taxed at a rate of 15%.
What he doesn't say is that much of his income was already taxed once as corporate income, which is assessed at a 35% rate (less deductions). The 15% levy on capital gains and dividends to individuals is thus a double tax that takes the overall tax rate on that corporate income closer to 45%.
Apparently, Mr. Buffett thought people wouldn't notice that he's omitting quite a few important facts, starting with the fact that his earnings are taxed once as corporate income, once as personal income. That's before talking about his income mostly coming from dividends and capital gains.
Mr. Buffett apparently thinks that people with computers can find out what's really happening to him in terms of taxation. He apparently thinks that financial experts will stay silent when he makes these absurd claims.
Shame on Mr. Buffett for making such a dishonest argument.
We've seen what happened when Maryland instituted a millionaires tax. What happened is that northern Virginia inherited alot of erstwhile Maryland millionaires.
Mr. Buffett's disdain for the poor unwashed masses is insulting. Does he really think that we haven't noticed that capital and labor are mobile? Does he think that millionaires will just take it when their taxes get raised?
He can't think that because he's tried reducing his tax bill by making his money on things that are taxed at the capital gains rate.
What Mr. Buffett is doing is advocating something for political reasons, not for economic reasons. This is worth mentioning because his political insight isn't nearly as impressive as his insight into investments.
That isn't the only thing Mr. Buffett isn't squaring with the American people on:
The middle-class bait-and-switch. Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Buffett speaks about raising taxes only on the rich. But somehow he ignores that the President's tax increase starts at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Mr. Obama ought to call them "thousandaires," but that probably doesn't poll as well.
The President needs to levy his tax increase at such a lower income level because that's where the money is. In 2009, 237,000 taxpayers reported income above $1 million and they paid $178 billion in taxes. A mere 8,274 filers reported income above $10 million, and they paid only $54 billion in taxes.
But 3.92 million reported income above $200,000 in 2009, and they paid $434 billion in taxes. To put it another way, roughly 90% of the tax filers who would pay more under Mr. Obama's plan aren't millionaires, and 99.99% aren't billionaires.
Mr. Buffett might be a great investor but he isn't an accomplished spinmeister on President Obama's behalf. Because he's pushing a failed political agenda, I'll ignore Mr. Buffett's advice.
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2011 8:52 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 18-Aug-11 02:46 PM
Trump says he'd pay higher taxes. But some who are not patriotic, but business machines, might leave the country in a large exodus. Those mythological "job creators."
Oh my. With them all being in North Dakota now after having left Minnesota, there'd be a giant sucking sound, out of Bismark, out of Fargo, statewide.
www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20093600-503544.html
Redistricting 101
With tonight's redistricting forum hours away, it's time to talk about redistricting principles. This pdf does a good job of laying out statutory principles and judicial precedents regarding redistricting. First, here are the judicial precedents listed:
Minnesota Districting Principles
Equal population
Congressional districts: mathematically equal
Legislative districts: plus or minus 2%
Increase minority representation, when possible
Preserve communities of interest
Not protect or defeat incumbents
What's most likely to happen is that Draw the Line Minnesota will argue that the redistricting map that Republicans passed reduces minority representation and that it doesn't protect communities of interest.
The right counterargument to the minority representation argument is to say that it isn't possible to keep these districts intact because of the dramatic population shift to exurban and rural Minnesota.
The best argument against the communities of interest arguments is that urban communities of interest shouldn't have priority over rural and exurban communities of interest.
Minnesota Districting Principles
Constitution - Article IV
Equal population - § 2
Convenient, contiguous territory - § 3
Senate districts single-member - § 3
House districts nested within senate districts - § 3
Numbered in a regular series - § 3
It's important to keep the facts of life in view:
Facts of Life
Equal Population
Absolute Numbers are Less Important than Relative Numbers
Growth Slower than Average - Area Will Grow
Growth Faster than Average - Area Will Shrink
According to Tom Gillaspy, the state demographer, senate districts 58-67 need to grow by 64,725 people. According to the state demographer's office, each state senate district must be 79,163 people.
That means that these districts shrunk so much that a full senate district should 'migrate' from the urban Twin Cities to the outer ring suburbs or possibly into central Minnesota.
The northern tier of counties shrunk substantially, too, to the point that they're in line to lose a senate district or two. Meanwhile, population growth in central Minnesota exploded, as did the population in the South Metro, especially in Scott and Dakota Counties.
A reduction in the number of urban districts poses an existential threat to the DFL and many of its allies . Having 2-3 votes moving from urban districts to exurban districts means it's less likely that the K-12 funding disparity between rural and urban districts will shrink. Ditto with funding for the Met Council. It's likely to mean that the LGA funding formula will change , taking money away from Minneapolis and St. Paul and sending more to St. Cloud.
That's why the DFL's shadow infrastructure, aka Draw the Line Minnesota, jumped into existence. Losing urban clout and votes could potentially mean a substantial change to the DFL's domination of the state legislature.
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2011 2:26 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 18-Aug-11 03:25 PM
Off point for this post, and not an attempt to misdirect comments of others. Just news. Andy Birkey at Minn Independent is reporting Pawlenty has declined a run against Klobuchar.
That said, back on point for others, for this post.
Minnesota Redistricting Meeting Notes
Thursday night at the St. Cloud Public Library, the League of Women Voters invited David Wheeler of Draw the Line Minnesota to facilitate a meeting on redistricting.
During the introduction, Mr. Wheeler said that the League of Women Voters and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits were the chief sponsors of a group of meetings being conducted around the state.
Wheeler then said that 2 other organizations identified on DTLM's website as partners were n't actively participating in the meetings. Wheeler said that TakeAction Minnesota and Common Cause MN chose not to actively participate in the meetings because of political differences.
TakeAction Minnesota, he said, disagreed with the ideological diversity of the organization. Wheeler said that the group was both "multi-partisan and nonpartisan" in nature.
Wheeler identified Common Cause as a partisan organization in comments after the meeting.
DFL state legislative candidate Carol Lewis testified, saying that she commended Rep. Sarah Anderson's committee for keeping St. Cloud intact in terms of for the state legislature. She then said she didn't like the map for congressional districts, though she didn't cite what she didn't like about the congressional districts.
Approximately 25 people attended Thursday night's meeting. Wheeler said he expects there to be a bigger turnout when the official hearings return to St. Cloud this October.
Mr. Wheeler said that things will speed up this fall, with testimony being taken in October. He said that he expected most of the official commission's work to be done sometime in November.
The deadline for having the districts in place in Feb. 21, 2012.
The courts are involved because Gov. Dayton vetoed the bill passed by the legislature. In Gov. Dayton's veto letter , Gov. Dayton cited 2 major reasons for vetoing the redistricting bill. Gov. Dayton wouldn't support a bill that paired too many incumbents against each other. The other reason Gov. Dayton cited was that the bill had to pass "with strong bipartisan support."
Minnesota is a caucus state. Each election year, the first step in picking the party's candidates is the precinct caucuses. The 2012 precinct caucuses are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 7.
Posted Friday, August 19, 2011 12:02 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 19-Aug-11 09:04 AM
Accepting there will be individual differences, I am unfamiliar with the campaign ramp up time normal in State House and Senate elections. In a way, politicians are always campaigning, while in session, what bills they sponsor or sign onto.
Gary, do you have any greater insight into how the autumn thing, perhaps dragging longer, will effect campaigns where lines are uncertain?
I guess it is work the base as usual, but sniff on the other side of a current boundary if change is likely, or if part of a district may be cut to another, focus upon what you know will stay yours, if an incumbent.
Beyond that Gary, any thoughts about how individual campaigns will be affected, in general, or for specific individuals?
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 19-Aug-11 09:26 AM
Eric, I'd bet that finishing the state legislative district map before the start of December will mean campaigns will work as smoothly as they've worked in the past 2-3 cycles.
Comment 3 by David Wheeler at 19-Aug-11 10:35 AM
Gary, thank you for coming to our meeting. Let me clarify one important point, Take Action MN, a partner in Draw the Line Minnesota, has stepped back because they do not have the time to participate in the Commission, and Common Cause, also a partner, has decided to focus on their Map Drawing contest. Both organizations have applauded the multi-partisan nature of the Citizen's Commission and are glad it is being carried forward by the League of Women Voters, Minnesota Council of Non-Profits, and the Midwest Democracy Network.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 19-Aug-11 12:55 PM
David, Thanks for coming to St. Cloud & conducting the meeting. This is the first I'd heard that Midwest Democracy Network was part of this project.
Comment 4 by #6 at 19-Aug-11 04:24 PM
Thanks for reporting on this meeting. I wanted to go to it last night, but had a previous engagement (running the VFW poker tournament).
My guess that Carol Lewis didn't like the US House map because St. Cloud was split between 2 districts, but that's just a guess on my part.
I think that the plan that passed the Legislature will be pretty close to what finally comes out. It was a pretty fair plan. The Republicans could have really made things tough for the DFL, but they didn't. They didn't combine St. Paul and Minneapolis into one district (which would be easy to do based on their population). They gave every US Rep. a safer district (they could have really made things tough on Waltz).
All in all, with minor tweeks, I think it will be the final plan.
If you want to play with redistricting there's a website that has a redistricting tool where you can create your own districts. I've spent a lot of hours designing districts.
http://gardow.com/davebradlee/redistricting/launchapp.html
Comment 5 by eric z at 21-Aug-11 03:16 PM
Thanks for the timeframe info.
President Obama, Let's Try Capitalism This Time
When President Obama said that he'd have a new plan to create jobs during his Midwest campaign tour this week, many people groaned. Alot of them likely rolled their eyes and thought that they'd heard that line before. Based on Gallup's latest polling, people don't trust President Obama's handling of the economy :
President Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy has sunk to a new, very low 26 percent, according to a Gallup poll out Wednesday, 11 points lower than the same poll recorded in mid-May.
President Obama has already given us the outline of his latest jobs plan. It's more of the same things that've prevented us from growing already.
I have a suggestion for President Obama, one that he's certain to ignore. I'd suggest that he'd try old-fashioned unadulterated capitalism a try. Shame on him for ignoring what works. Shame on President Obama for trusting an economic system that's failed each time it's been tried.
First, we can't afford to spend money that we're borrowing from foreign nations. Following that path will likely cause our bond rating to sink from AA+. The bond rating people said that we're accumulating too much debt. President Obama's solution to creating jobs is additional accumulating debt?
Next, spending money without adding value to our economy, whether it's improving our nation's transportation infrastructure or building an oil pipeline from the Bakken oil field to Texas refineries, is foolish. That's just spending foolishly.
It's time to reform our tax system, eliminate the corporate welfare from the tax code while lowering marginal tax rates. It's time that we repeal Dodd-Frank. It's hurting the banks that weren't the problem while protecting the banks that caused the financial meltdown. Let's repeal Obamacare, too.
Then it's imperative for us to start building nuclear power plants while starting a robust domestic oil drilling program.
By doing these things, construction workers would get immediate employment. Revenues would jump dramatically. The unemployment rate would drop. The deficit would shrink significantly.
Unfortunately, President Obama won't propose anything remotely resembling this. The economy will continue floundering. His ego won't allow him to propose policies that run contrary to the stimulus. That'd be admitting his policies have failed.
For poor or worst, we're stuck with President Obama's failed policies for the time being. The best news is that it's only for the next 16 months.
Posted Friday, August 19, 2011 4:57 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 20-Aug-11 12:22 PM
I have some ideas which Obama will ignore:
* repeal Obamacare. at least two business have moved to china to avoid the tax on the sales of medical device companies.
* Lift the ban on drilling for oil in the gulf. at the cost of $0 that will instantly create thousands of jobs.
* encourage the growth of coal and nuclear power in the United states.
Oh wait a minute these are common sense ideas which go against the liberal. I guess I have to wait until 2013 for these simple solutions to take place.
walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
