August 4-6, 2017
Aug 04 01:57 Trump: Polling vs. Trump's army Aug 04 09:06 Jett's sleight of hand proposal Aug 04 09:54 John Lesch, corrupt politician Aug 04 12:40 Progressive bigotry then & now Aug 05 00:10 National security megafailure Aug 06 01:05 Rahm Emanuel's welcoming city Aug 06 04:58 Street fight: Becky Rom vs. Tom Emmer Aug 06 23:32 Jim Newberger vs. Amy Klobuchar
Prior Months: Jan Feb ~ May Jun Jul
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Trump: Polling vs. Trump's army
Something that the MSM, aka the Agenda Media, doesn't understand is how detached the polling is from Trump's real life army. Last fall, I read every one of Salena Zito's articles from states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Michigan. (The first 2 states, like the last 2 states, were supposedly part of Hillary's blue firewall.)
Thursday night in Huntington, WVA, President Trump held a rally that was high on energy, predictable in content and troubling for the Democratic Party. Despite the spate of recent negative polling, President Trump's army hasn't wavered in their support of him. Here's why that should frighten Democrats. If Democrats can't reconnect with blue collar voters, they'll lose in 2020 by a bigger margin than Hillary lost by in 2016.
Tip O'Neill famously said that "all politics is local." That's definitely true. In the small towns in northern Pennsylvania, Ohio's Mahoning Valley, Michigan and Wisconsin, blue collar voters are seeing the Trump economic plan pay dividends. In Pennsylvania, they're creating tons of mining jobs. In Ohio, they're creating steel industry jobs. In Wisconsin, Foxconn is creating high-paying manufacturing jobs. It isn't likely that Democrats will flip those states back into their column anytime soon.
President Trump got lots of applause when, early in his speech, he said "We are putting our coal miners back to work. We've ended the war on beautiful clean coal. We've stopped the EPA intrusion. American coal exports are already up -- think of this -- American exports of coal are already up more than 60% this year."
While he said this to a packed auditorium in Huntington, WVA, rest assured that coal miners in Pennsylvania and Ohio heard President Trump's message and applauded. Watch President Trump's speech here:
Charles Krauthammer said that the speech wasn't particularly memorable but it was still important because it sent the message that he still commands a massive army of supporters. That's totally true.
Last year, faux reporters were appalled when then-candidate Trump said that "You know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's like incredible." While he said it rather inartfully, there's little doubt that he hasn't lost much support. President Trump has figured out something that most politicians haven't. He's figured out that keeping his biggest promises engenders steadfast loyalty.
Until something substantive happens to dramatically change the electorate's perspective, I'll continue believing that Democrats will have an uphill fight in 2020.
Posted Friday, August 4, 2017 1:57 AM
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Jett's sleight of hand proposal
Willie Jett, the superintendent of St. Cloud schools, " plans to present a draft of a plan to the school board at its Aug. 9 workshop." Everything you need to know about Jett's proposal is found late in the article. That's where it says "The proposed plan also recommends Jett and St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis form an advisory task force to work with the planner, city and school district. The advisory task force's meetings would be open to the public. Von Korff emphasized the task force's role would be to provide advice to the city and district but it would not be a decision-making power."
After I led the media portion of the Vote No campaign in 2015 and after the bonding referendum was soundly defeated , the St. Cloud Times wrote an editorial criticizing the School Board for not collecting enough public input. In that editorial, they insisted that more public input sessions be held. Shortly thereafter, the Board announced a listening tour, which actually turned into a presentation tour with limited input from the public and large PowerPoint presentations from the Board. (Surprising, right?)
Last week, after the Board announced that they wouldn't repurpose Tech to become the District offices and welcoming center, they announced the purchase of the Minnesota School of Business for $5,600,000. It isn't coincidence that the School Board is forming another advisory board. This advisory board will have little actual input into the School Board's final decision.
This is just the Board's latest dog-and-pony show. This Board isn't trustworthy. Willie Jett, Al Dahlgren and Jerry von Korff are hoping that we won't notice that they're playing the same game. They're hoping we'll be satisfied with more bureaucratic sleight-of-hand.
Dr. Jett, Messrs. Dahlgren and von Korff, you aren't trustworthy. This sham won't repair your reputations. It will only enhance your reputations as being untrustworthy.
Posted Friday, August 4, 2017 9:06 AM
Comment 1 by M at 04-Aug-17 10:37 AM
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
John Lesch, corrupt politician
It isn't difficult to picture a machine politician from St. Paul as being corrupt. It's rather easy, in fact. It isn't that corrupt politicians are particularly newsworthy. It's that a thoroughly corrupt politician wants to be Minnesota's Attorney General . That's where we'll start this sordid story.
Rachel Stassen-Berger wrote that "Longtime St. Paul Rep. John Lesch long used campaign cash from donors to line his personal coffers, a state investigative report found." This isn't speculation. It's a legal finding of fact. It's just the beginning of the story, though. The story continues, noting that "After working with Lesch, his treasurers, one of whom is the representative's wife , and investigating the situation for more than three years, the campaign finance board fined the lawmaker $20,000 for the violations."
That's more of the iceberg but there's more. For instance, "The board concluded that Lesch, a Democrat, transferred money from his campaign account to his personal account at times when there otherwise would have been 'insufficient funds' without the campaign cash."
This is the face of public corruption in St. Paul:
As sordid as this is, there's another twist that makes this interesting. Harold Hamilton wrote in his weekly commentary:
During that time, one of Lesch's campaign treasures was - get ready for it - his wife. His wife also happens to be a full-time lobbyist, employed by Mayor Hodges over at the City of Minneapolis.
Melissa Lesch admitted to investigators that she signed campaign finance reports as "accurate and true" even though she knew the reports were not accurate and true. In other words, she lied about the campaign finance reports for which she was responsible.
This makes Rep. Lesch the perfect DFL-endorsed candidate for Attorney General.
Posted Friday, August 4, 2017 9:54 AM
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Progressive bigotry then & now
Then-Candidate Obama once infamously said "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
In Obama's thinking, coal miners who had lost their jobs thanks to overregulation were just bitter people because they were bigots or religious zealots. Notice the part where he said that these coal miners had "antipathy toward people who aren't like them." That's a smooth way of accusing them of bigotry.
That article was written in April, 2008. Progressive bigotry hasn't changed much in that time. Last night, during President Trump's rally in Huntington, WVA, political analyst Stuart Rothenberg let his bigotry slip when he tweeted "Lots of people in West Virginia can't support themselves or speak English." It didn't take long for Rothenberg to become a pinata. Townhall's Kurt Schlichter tweeted a sharp reply, saying "They hate you. Remember that." Salena Zito jumped in, tweeting "Respectfully as someone who comes from the region that is incredibly bigoted -- people from West Virginia are incredible hard-working folks."
Rothenberg made the mistake of replying to Ms. Zito, saying "Of course they are hard-working. They mean well. Just close-minded, provincial, angry & easily misled. My wife's dad was a coal miner in PA." TRANSLATION: They're nice, hard-working people. They just aren't citizens of the world like I am.
Ms. Zito finished Mr. Rothenberg with dignity, saying "I would never consider making fun of an entire state of people who might be different than me-you need to come to West Virginia with me sir." Ms. Zito is exceptionally gracious. If Mr. Rothenberg is wise, which is still in question, he'd take Ms. Zito up on her offer.
Posted Friday, August 4, 2017 12:40 PM
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National security megafailure
If there's anything that comes through clear in Kim Strassel's latest article , it's that Democrats have returned to being national security appeasers. The Awan family is living proof that Democrats don't take national security seriously.
One of the first points from Ms. Strassel's article that's disturbing comes when she wrote "Mr. Awan, 37, began working for House Democrats as an IT staffer in 2004. By the next year, he was working for future Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Over time he would add his wife, two brothers, a brother's wife and a friend to the payroll - and at handsome sums. One brother, Jamal, hired in 2014 reportedly at age 20, was paid $160,000. That's in line with what a chief of staff makes - about four times the average Capitol Hill staffer. No Democrat appears to have investigated these huge numbers or been asked to account for them."
For the Awan family to get hired by 38 Democrats is outrageous enough. That the Awan family got hired at high salaries is more outrageous. That that isn't the worst that the Awan family did is what's most frightening. Ms. Strassel's article continues, saying "The family was plenty busy elsewhere. A litany of court documents accuse them of bankruptcy fraud, life-insurance fraud, tax fraud and extortion. Abid Awan, a brother, ran up more than $1 million in debts on a failed car dealership he somehow operated while supposedly working full time on the Hill. One document ties the family to a loan from a man stripped of his Maryland medical license after false billing. Capitol Police are investigating allegations of procurement fraud and theft. The brothers filed false financial-disclosure forms, with Imran Awan claiming his wife had no income, even as she worked as a fellow House IT staffer."
What's cute is what Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said in defending her decision to keep Imran Awan on her staff:
Ms. Wasserman-Schultz made this foolish statement:
If there's one thing that I'm going to make sure and maintain, it's maintain my integrity.
That's hilarious, especially coming from the woman who rigged the Democratic primaries to guarantee that Hillary Clinton won the nomination. The thought that Ms. Wasserman-Schultz thinks she's got an ounce of integrity left is gut-busting laughable. This isn't laughable:
Yes, it is weird that Ms. Wasserman Schultz continued to shield Imran Awan to the end. Yes, the amounts of money, and the ties to Pakistan, are strange. Yes, it is alarming that emails show Imran Awan knew Ms. Wasserman Schultz's iPad password, and that the family might have had wider access to the accounts of lawmakers on the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees.
It's sad that people elected to represent us chose to protect fraudsters.
Posted Saturday, August 5, 2017 12:11 AM
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Rahm Emanuel's welcoming city
According to this article , Chicago's Democrat Mayor Rahm Emanuel will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday.
According to the article, Mayor Emanuel said "We are not going to be put in a position of choosing who we are as a welcoming city and strengthening our police dept. These are exactly the kind of training and technology you want to be investing in right now and also do it in a way that the community's involved." While it's possible to find sympathetic judges who will side with Mayor Emanuel, it isn't possible to a constitutional footing that permits cities to set immigration law.
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution lists that one of the federal government's responsibilities is to "establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Nowhere in the Constitution does it give mayors of U.S. cities the authority to establish immigration or naturalization policy. Notice that the clause says its goal is to "establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States."
Financially, Emanuel can't afford to lose these federal grants. Politically, Emanuel can't afford to upset Chicago's Hispanic population. Emanuel's problem is that he doesn't control the federal budget. If he wants that money, he'll have to follow the federal government's rules.
Emanuel is hoping for a favorable ruling by the Supreme Court or, short of that, to appear to have fought the good fight. At least then, he can spin it that 'Hey, I tried maintaining law and order but the federal government, especially the Trump administration, wouldn't give us any grants.'
Emanuel is essentially caught in a Catch-22 situation. If he doesn't bring street violence under control, he'll lose the support of peace-loving Chicagoans. If he doesn't appease Chicago's immigration activists, though, he'll lose their support. It's essentially a lose-lose situation for Emanuel. Having surrogates like Todd Schulte isn't helping Emanuel's fight:
Todd Schulte's dishonest replies suggests that he's as willing to spin immigration issues as Jim Acosta. He's right in saying that the term 'sanctuary cities' is a political term. After that, Schulte's claims are mostly dishonest. Schulte wasn't being honest when he said that police chiefs aren't choosing to not enforce federal immigration laws. That's precisely what they're doing. The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to establish a " uniform Rule of Naturalization." Sanctuary cities make it impossible to establish a uniform rule of naturalization across the nation.
Posted Sunday, August 6, 2017 1:05 AM
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Street fight: Becky Rom vs. Tom Emmer
Predictably, Becky Rom's op-ed in this morning's St. Cloud Times is as misleading as she is.
She started the op-ed by saying "Every Minnesotan should be alarmed at the recent actions by Congressman Tom Emmer, which are intended to turn the Superior National Forest into an industrial copper mining district.
Pollution of the clean waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would be one of the devastating consequences." Ms. Rom continued, saying "Copper mining in the watershed, upstream and next door to the Wilderness, would cause harm that cannot be prevented or remedied."
Notice that Ms. Rom said that copper mining in the BWCAW " would cause harm that cannot be prevented or remedied." She didn't say copper mining might cause hard that can't be remedied. At this point, it's important to give people a little background on Ms. Rom. The definitive word on Ms. Rom's untrustworthiness is found in the Ely Echo's excellent reporting . In their article, they wrote:
What's strange is no group or individual has had the intestinal fortitude to stand up and say that they requested that a PEIS be conducted. There have been plenty of fingers pointed at groups like Friends of the Boundary Waters, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, Sustainable Ely along with one person who has connections to those groups and who has consistently spoken against copper-nickel mining in northeast Minnesota. That person is Becky Rom of Ely.
So we called Rom and asked her if she or any of the groups she is affiliated with formally requested a PEIS from the Forest Service. As a former attorney, Rom is skilled at not answering questions. So we pressed and pressed some more.
Here's the best of answers we could get:
'I've encouraged the agencies to do what's required under the law and using the best science.'
'Nobody is pushing for an extra layer or extra delays or costs or more money. I'm just saying this is really important and doing right is following the law and basing decisions on the best science.'
'I did not pen any letter but I've had these discussions.'
'As far as I know there's no formal process for a request like a petition.'
We specifically asked if Rom had approached U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Robert Bonnie (who oversees the USFS).
'I never talked about this to Mr. Bonnie.'
We put a phone call into the USFS office in Duluth but weren't able to get any answers prior to deadline on the Thursday prior to Memorial Day weekend.
We checked the news releases of the various groups who have been accused of asking for the PEIS and found nothing. Nobody wants to claim they asked for this.
Then, late Thursday a Freedom of Information Act request by Twin Metals-Minnesota was granted. Upon request, they shared those documents with us. If anyone would like a copy, just send us an email.
In the documents provided by the Bureau of Land Management was a letter asking for the PEIS. The agency requesting the PEIS? Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. And who is the vice-chair of NEMW? Becky Rom.
Look at how Ms. Rom attempted to tap-dance around the Ely Echo's questions. Ms. Rom's character is totally in question. Put more bluntly, Ms. Rom's history is that of a dishonest, deceitful progressive activist who got caught being dishonest. That undercuts her statements in her op-ed. She came an inch away from lying to the Ely Echo. Why should we trust her statements in the SC Times op-ed? It's pretty obvious that Ms. Rom isn't a person of integrity.
The final point I'll make is that the DFL will say whatever it needs to say to stop mining in Minnesota. We've seen what they've said before. This isn't a prediction. It's reminding people of what the DFL, including Ms. Rom, have said in the recent past.
Posted Sunday, August 6, 2017 4:58 AM
Comment 1 by Barb Fultz at 07-Aug-17 10:01 PM
Becky Rom needs to stop. I am a proud wife, mother and friend to miners. I was here when things were really moving and people were out all the time. To quote someone " Tourism is like dessert, it looks good, smells good and tastes good but you can not live on it alone"
I love this area as much as anyone else but can see the bigger picture. We need mining in the are and Twin Metals can help bring the area some life.
Thank you ,
Mining of all kinds backer.
Barb Fultz
Jim Newberger vs. Amy Klobuchar
It's official. Jim Newberger made it official by announcing his candidacy for the US Senate seat currently held by Amy Klobuchar. There's no doubt that the media wing of the DFL, aka the Twin Cities Media, will do their best to a) ignore Rep. Newberger and b)promote Sen. Klobuchar's 'bipartisan' accomplishments.
I'll cut to the chase on this. Sen. Klobuchar's bipartisan accomplishments are virtually non-existent in terms of major legislation. When it comes to major legislation, Ms. Klobuchar is as partisan as Sen. Franken. Not that she'll answer this question but I'll ask it anyway. What has Sen. Klobuchar done to create new, high-paying mining jobs? Here's another question: Has Sen. Klobuchar fought to increase Minnesota's pipeline capacity?
The point behind these questions is that Sen. Klobuchar is typical cookie-cutter Metrocrat. She's never disagreed with Twin Cities environmental activists. The other point behind this is that she'll never do anything substantive to create lots of high-paying jobs.
Since the start of the Trump administration, she's voted with Chuck Schumer 100% of the time. She's voted against every pro-growth economic policy that Republicans have proposed. Before Harry Reid retired, she voted with him 95+ % of the time on major legislation. When Sen. Reid took to the Senate floor to lie about Mitt Romney, a flawed candidate but a thoroughly decent man, Sen. Klobuchar didn't do a thing to hold Sen. Reid accountable.
Isn't it interesting that Sen. Klobuchar brags about holding big businesses accountable but she won't utter a peep when the biggest hitters in her own party lie while disparaging others? There's no doubt that the Twin Cities Media will protect Sen. Klobuchar from these charges. The question is whether the people will pretend not to notice that Sen. Klobuchar isn't the moderate she claims to be.
The good news for Minnesotans is that Jim Newberger is a serious legislator that isn't afraid to tackle the biggest issues. When the North Star Sierra Club announced it would attempt to shut down the Sherco power plants, Jim Newberger didn't just complain about the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission's decision to shut those power plants without a plan to replace them. Jim Newberger got a bill signed into law . Newberger "partnered with Democrats and Gov. Mark Dayton's administration to give legislative permission for Xcel Energy to convert a coal plant in Sherburne County into a natural gas and renewable energy plant. Dayton, a Democrat, signed the measure into law this year."
The Sierra Club wanted to shut the Sherco power plants down, which would've crippled energy production for Minnesota. Jim Newberger went to work to find a substantive solution. Meanwhile, Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Franken won the Sierra Club's support:
Sierra Club has launched a statewide advertising campaign in Minnesota thanking Senators Franken and Klobuchar for sponsoring the 'American Energy Innovation Act,' a bill which makes ambitious yet achievable reductions in carbon pollution, repeals centuries-old oil subsidies, and begins to level the playing field for renewable sources of energy. Senators Franken and Klobuchar were key sponsors of the bill, and were joined by many of their Independent and Democratic colleagues in championing the legislation.
In short, Jim Newberger fought for his constituents and energy independence. Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Franken fought for their special interest contributors.
Posted Sunday, August 6, 2017 11:32 PM
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