February 21-25, 2015
Feb 21 08:43 Democrats: the lawlessness party Feb 21 09:40 The DFL's environmental activism Feb 21 10:40 President Obama's anti-semitism Feb 23 07:44 Public sector incompetence Feb 23 16:02 Scott Walker's media strategy Feb 24 00:27 Demographics vs. right-sizing? Feb 24 10:50 The next Reagan? Seriously? Feb 25 02:00 Potter flunks (financial) math Feb 25 05:17 Gov. Walker goes on the record
Prior Months: Jan
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Democrats: the lawlessness party
This polling says everything in terms of the Democratic Party's utter disdain for the Constitution and their appreciation for anarchy:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 26% of Likely U.S. voters think the president should have the right to ignore federal court rulings if they are standing in the way of actions he feels are important for the country. Sixty percent (60%) disagree and say the president should not have the right to ignore the courts. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
But perhaps more unsettling to supporters of constitutional checks and balances is the finding that 43% of Democrats believe the president should have the right to ignore the courts . Only 35% of voters in President Obama's party disagree, compared to 81% of Republicans and 67% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
I'd bet the proverbial ranch that Rasmussen wouldn't have gotten these results if Scott Walker were president. Democrats, aka the 'ends-justifies-the-means-when-we're-in-power-party, only care about the rule of law when a Republican is in the White House.
Imagine what the Democrats' response would be if President Walker permanently suspended the ACA's major provisions, starting with the employer and individual mandates, then continuing with the collection of revenues from the medical device manufacturers' excise tax before finally writing a regulation that eliminates the requirements for the qualified health plans.
I'm betting that less than 10% of Democrats would think that Gov. Walker "should have the right to ignore the courts " if he tried gutting the ACA. It's all about whose ox is getting gored, isn't it? Thinking that the laws apply to others but not to you is as anti-American as it gets. Either the law applies to everyone or there's chaos and division.
President Obama and his supporters support splitting America. He's worked on that since his inauguration. His divisiveness showed early. Rather than accepting suggestions from Republicans on his stimulus bill, he shafted them, saying that "I won." President Obama's my-way-or-the-highway style of governance took hit after hit in the courts on issues of presidential overreach. No other president has had 13 straight unanimous rulings go against him in the Supreme Court.
Even judges he appointed rejected his arguments in these cases.
Days before his election, President Obama said that he and his supporters were just days away from transforming America. While it's true he changed the Democratic Party, he, thankfully, failed in changing America. The Democrats went from being the evil party to the party of lawlessness.
Posted Saturday, February 21, 2015 8:43 AM
No comments.
The DFL's environmental activism
There's little doubt that the environmental activist wing of the DFL isn't concerned about protecting the environment as much as they're concerned with killing industries. That point is illustrated perfectly in this LTE :
The proposed Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Superior National Forest because of copper/nickel/precious metals mining projects was an incredible waste of time brought to everyone by extreme environmentalists.
While we are pleased that U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials finally put a stamp of common sense on this issue by saying there is no need for such a far-reaching environmental impact study, here's what they should have also said to the environmentalists who sought it: 'Why are you wasting our time and money to even have to consider this. It's a frivolous request.'
The PEIS would have been a duplication of what is already being done as far as an environmental impact statement for the PolyMet project near Hoyt Lakes and what will be done for the nonferrous Twin Metals project near Ely and Babbitt.
And the environmentalists who sought the PEIS know that. But they don't care. They just want to harass and try to delay good projects, which will get the toughest and most stringent review of any mining venture ever in Minnesota.
This isn't surprising. It's part of the environmental activists' tactics. The goal isn't to win cases. The goal is to keep bringing lawsuits until the company surrenders. Don't take my word for it. Take it from Gov. Dayton's first MPCA commissioner. Here's what he wrote after wearing the investors down:
Along with our allies at the Izaak Walton League of America, the Union of Concerned Scientists and Wind on the Wires, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Fresh Energy argued, first in South Dakota, then before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), that the new plant was a bad idea. Our message was simple: The utilities had not proven the need for the energy, and what energy they did need could be acquired less expensively through energy efficiency and wind.
We kept losing, but a funny thing happened. With each passing year, it became clearer that we were right. In 2007, two of the Minnesota utilities dropped out, citing some of the same points we had been making. The remaining utilities had to go through the process again with a scaled-down 580-megawatt plant.
I titled that post "Attrition, not litigation." Time has moved on but the environmental activist wing of the DFL remains the same. They still trust in the tactic of wearing companies down until they surrender. They still oppose the miners' way of life. They still want the miners' votes. They just don't want the miners' agenda.
Posted Saturday, February 21, 2015 9:40 AM
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President Obama's anti-semitism
This ABC article highlights just how much the Obama administration's disgust with Israel has grown. Relations between Israel and the US have never been this frosty. President Obama apparently intends on giving Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder treatment when he visits DC:
In what is becoming an increasingly nasty grudge match, the White House is mulling ways to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington and blunt his message that a potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad for Israel and the world.
There are limits. Administration officials have discarded the idea of President Barack Obama himself giving an Iran-related address to rebut the two speeches Netanyahu is to deliver during his early March visit. But other options remain on the table.
Among them: a presidential interview with a prominent journalist known for coverage of the rift between Obama and Netanyahu, multiple Sunday show television appearances by senior national security aides and a pointed snub of America's leading pro-Israel lobby, which is holding its annual meeting while Netanyahu is in Washington, according to the officials.
The administration has already ruled out meetings between Netanyahu and Obama, saying it would be inappropriate for the two to meet so close to Israel's March 17 elections. But the White House is now doubling down on a cold-shoulder strategy, including dispatching Cabinet members out of the country and sending a lower-ranking official than normal to represent the administration at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the officials said.
It's apparent that President Obama's disgust with Israel isn't going away anytime soon. It isn't surprising that he's got the chilliest relationship with Israel of all the US presidents since Israel became a nation in 1948.
Vice President Joe Biden will be away, his absence behind Netanyahu conspicuous in coverage of the speech to Congress. Other options were described by officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
President Obama's childishness has never been more on display than right now. He's acting like a petulant little child who's throwing a hissy fit because he isn't getting his way.
U.S. officials believe Netanyahu's trip to Washington is aimed primarily at derailing a nuclear deal with Iran, Obama's signature foreign policy objective. While Netanyahu has long been skeptical of the negotiations, his opposition has increased over what he sees as Obama's willingness to make concessions that would leave Iran on the brink of being able to build a nuclear weapon. His opposition has intensified as negotiations go into overdrive with an end-of-March deadline for a framework deal.
It's frightening that the Obama administration thinks that letting Iran become a nuclear power is an "accomplishment." I'd consider it a failure of historic proportions. Giving the leading terrorist nation nuclear weapons is stupid. Prime Minister Netanyahu is right in being worried about Iran going nuclear.
A true ally, which the Obama administration and most Democrats aren't, wouldn't let Iran get a nuclear weapon. This is just further proof that this administration doesn't see the world that exists. It sees the world it wants to exist.
Posted Saturday, February 21, 2015 10:40 AM
Comment 1 by MtkaMoose at 22-Feb-15 12:31 AM
Having Biden gone is a positive - at least he won't be groping any of Netanyahu's staff!
Public sector incompetence
Much ink has been spilled writing about the Dayton-DFL pay increases for commissioners. Little of that ink has been used to show how productive and competent these commissioners are. This article repeats the usual talking points on the subject, albeit in a personalized way:
I have always favored public officials being paid what their time and talent are worth. Why should their time in government be worth less than their time in private enterprise where they could earn more? Typically, public officials, including mayors, city councilors, county commissioners and even legislators, are underpaid for the time they spend serving their constituents. They have to spend their own time and money in costly and stressful campaigns just to get elected to serve. Once elected, they are expected to spend their time away from their families attending meetings, listening to constituents and answering phone calls and emails.
My Bloomington council member gets a salary of $12,396. He hasn't had a raise since 2003, and he deserves one. Private enterprise, which will probably oppose the pay raises, has to pay higher salaries to attract good talent. Look what top executives and middle management earn in private enterprise. Why not pay good salaries to those who work for the government? Public service is honorable, but it doesn't put food on the table.
All the Republican howling is about increased salaries ranging from $119,517 to mostly $150,000, to a high of $154,992 in five cases. Most of the commissioners haven't had a pay raise in 10 years. Dayton in a letter to the legislators said that not one commissioner asked for a raise. He also has offered to meet with the Republican caucus to give his side of the story.
First, if Bloomington wants to raise the pay for its city councilmembers, that's their decision. That isn't something I'm concerned with. On a scale of 1 to 2,000, how much Bloomington city councilmembers make ranks in the range of 1,950-1,999 for me. That's if I'm feeling charitable.
As for Mr. Heinzman's question about why "not pay good salaries to those who work for the government?", the answer is simple. Most of the commissioners are political hacks. They aren't hired because they're productive or competent. I've frequently cited Myron Frans as the poster child of commissioner incompetence . I could've cited Lucinda Jesson as incompetent just as easily. I cited Heather Carlson's reporting in this post . Here's what Ms. Carlson reported:
The recent revelation that the state failed to send out letters to 16,000 low-income Minnesotans seeking medical assistance to let them know their applications had not been processed and they were not covered does not surprise Olmsted County Community Services Director Paul Fleissner.
'Every county has been screaming that we didn't think notices were going out, and the state kept saying yes, yes, yes, people are just forgetting this. We had a really strong sense that they weren't and finally it's been confirmed that they weren't going to our people,' Fleissner said.
What part of that indicates Jesson is competent?
When progressives talk about people making more in the private sector, are they talking about NPOs that get government funding? Nonprofits technically aren't part of government in that their CEOs aren't appointed by the governor. In every other meaningful way, though, they're part of the public sector.
Republicans could make this a major campaign issue in 2016 if they emphasize the commissioners' incompetence, not just the outlandish-sized raises
Posted Monday, February 23, 2015 7:45 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 23-Feb-15 02:45 PM
I thought that there was a way they can ask for that pay raise. Go and get a job in the private sector! Wait a minute that means since they haven't found a job(s) they might not be qualified for that higher paying private sector job.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 23-Feb-15 03:09 PM
I want to know where is the evidence that better-qualified candidates turned down the job because it only pays a measly 100 grand? How many other lucrative job offers did these folks have, that they gave up to take this "public service" gig? Remember, these folks accepted the pay when they took the job, and after that pay raises should be conditioned on performance. Better yet, give them base pay plus a small percentage of the amount they come in UNDER budget for the year.
Frankly, I think all of them fit the old hiring adage of looking for someone "smart enough to do the job and dumb enough to take the pay."
Comment 3 by Rex Newman at 24-Feb-15 06:54 PM
You've made a great point that should stand alone in its own post: these high paid Commissioners (and the Met Council and the MnSure Board and the ....) are hired for who they know, not what they know. There is no better example than Ellen Anderson that the GOP Senate had to remove for her deer in the headlights grasp of her PUC post.
Compare this to when a school board hires a superintendent or a city council hires a city manager. Mistakes are financially and politically expensive and obvious here so there's at least some due diligence expended.
Scott Walker's media strategy
Scott Walker's media strategy has confounded the Gotcha Media thus far. Gov. Walker's unconventional answers have exposed these Gotcha Bandits' political agenda. Recently, Gov. Walker threw the Gotcha Media into a hissy fit with this answer :
Walker notably delivered a critique of the media over the weekend, after being asked whether he believed President Obama is a Christian.
'I've never asked him that,' Walker told the Washington Post. 'You've asked me to make statements about people that I haven't had a conversation with about that. How [could] I say if I know either of you are a Christian? To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and, increasingly, they dislike the press,' he said. 'The things they care about don't even remotely come close to what you're asking about.'
The Gotcha Media immediately flew into faux outrage mode, hinting that Gov. Walker thought President Obama was a Muslim. That isn't what Gov. Walker said. He simply said that he didn't know because he'd never talked with President Obama about the subject.
It wouldn't be difficult to call members of the Gotcha Media and other progressives the 'Dog Whistle Media' because they're experts at hearing things that other people haven't said.
This is an important point. When the Gotcha Media asks a question about President Obama's religious beliefs or about the candidate's theory on evolution or other questions, there's just one goal in mind: to try and entice the candidate into sounding like a Neanderthal. The best way to deflect those types of questions is with a reply of "I don't answer gotcha questions. Next."
UPDATE: This Hill article shows how adept the Walker campaign is:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is fundraising off what he describes as "gotcha" questions from the media.
Then there's this:
Some are questioning whether Walker's moves have been beneficial - but his campaign is looking to frame it as a moral stand.
"He refuses to be drawn into the sideshow of answering pointless questions about whether and how much President Obama loves our country. To Governor Walker, what matters are ideas, issues, his record, and results," the email from Friends of Scott Walker continued. "Now is the time to stand up against the publicity hounds and the journalistic pack, and help Governor Walker fight back. Your support will show the clueless and mindless journalistic herd that you know what matters most and that it is not the pointless minutiae that they are pushing."
It's outstanding that Gov. Walker is setting the terms of his coverage:
"To Governor Walker, what matters are ideas, issues, his record, and results."
That's the battlefield Gov. Walker will fight on. If journalists are upset that he isn't playing their gotcha games, he's saying, that's their problem. The American people, I'm betting, are looking for a positive, upbeat, politician who focuses on them instead of the Gotcha Media's games. Further, I'm betting they'll find Scott Walker's rules refreshing.
Posted Monday, February 23, 2015 4:02 PM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 24-Feb-15 07:55 AM
Can you imagine the joy we would have if every Republican followed that lead? Of course, 90% of our major media mavens would suffer apoplectic fits or become blathering idiots, but that just adds to the fun. }:->
Demographics vs. right-sizing?
Spring Semester Is Wasting Away! Part 2
by Silence Dogood
The enrollment decline at SCSU for the past five years has been well documented. From the website of the Office of Strategy, Planning and Research you can find the following figure:
For Summer 2014, the enrollment was 918 FYE. For Fall 2014, the enrollment was 5,815 FYE. For Spring 2015, the enrollment is currently 5,025 FYE. That gives a total of 11,758 FYE for FY 2015. There is some enrollment still to occur from high schools students, which may bring the enrollment to the administration's spring projection of 5,033 or even slightly higher. Being charitable, I expect the final FY15 enrollment to settle just under 11,800 FYE. Using a final enrollment of 11,800 FYE for FY15, the enrollment drop from FY10 is 3,296 FYE and represents a five-year decline of 21.8%.
When you look at the enrollment change from Fall Semester to Spring Semester, there has always been a drop off. The following plot shows the percent change in FYE enrollment from Fall to the following Spring Semester:
Overall enrollment has been dropping but this plot shows that even when SCSU enrolls a student in the fall, the rate at which students are not retuning for Spring semester is increasing substantially more than doubling in five years. As a result, bringing in more students in the fall won't necessarily solve the enrollment problem unless SCSU can't retain higher percentages of them in future semesters.
In "12-Step Programs," the first step is to admit there is a problem. For years, as the enrollment was in a nosedive, the administration kept saying that they were "right sizing" the university. After that failed, next came the need to "innovate and grow our programs." Without saying so, this was an admission that SCSU must have overshot the "right size" whatever it was. The third stage has been to try to blame demographics, part-time students, the economy, the wrong kind of housing or anything that might be used to try to deflect responsibility for the staggering decline relative to the other MnSCU universities.
Unfortunately, the cash that was stashed as a result of the cuts during reorganization is almost gone and without substantial cuts for FY16 (10-12 million) and FY 17 (5-8 million) totaling something between $15,000,000-$20,000,000, SCSU will be going to MnSCU for a loan that must be repaid in FY18 and beyond with excess revenue to expense. Perhaps when the cuts start piling up and it turns out that even more cuts have to be made, people will recognize that there really is trouble in 'River City' and that trouble is not pool but it might rhyme with 'P'. Apologies to Robert Preston.
Posted Tuesday, February 24, 2015 12:27 AM
Comment 1 by Crimson Trace at 24-Feb-15 08:50 AM
What good is recruitment when retention is ignored?
Comment 2 by Rex Newman at 24-Feb-15 06:44 PM
I know something of the boiler room ("steak knives") recruiting that goes on throughout higher ed these days. No doubt the pressure is on in view of these charts, which no doubt brings in some tentative, academically marginal, financially strapped students in the fall. It proves harder than high school - why, they might have to read an entire book. Disappointed grades are posted, even with grade inflation (Does SCSU do this, too?). Money gets tighter still. And they're done or off to a cheaper, easier alternative.
The problem is not Spring retention. It is poor Fall recruiting - both the gross and the net.
Comment 3 by Rex Newman at 24-Feb-15 06:46 PM
Or - said another way - the Fall numbers are much softer than the Spring numbers. Year to year comparisons should really be on the basis of adequate yearly progress at the end of each academic year.
The next Reagan? Seriously?
Brian Beutler's article is a testimony to how warped hardline progressives' thinking is. Check this out:
At every step, we were told our goals were misguided or too ambitious; that we would crush jobs and explode deficits. Instead, we've seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years. So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works.
As a theme, this riff should have struck a chord with the conservative movement's myriad Reaganologists.
This, supposedly, is Beutler's attempt to prove that Barack Obama is the next Reagan. Let's check that comparison. The 'Obama Recovery' is still the slowest recovery in history. It's created few full-time jobs. Most of the jobs it's created are part-time jobs. Economic growth has stagnated because a) regulation has skyrocketed and b) Obamacare became the law of the land.
Most of the full-time jobs that've been created were created in spite of Obama's policies. Think Texas, which is pretty much putting anti-Obama policies in place, and North Dakota, where the Bakken Boom is happening because they didn't have to deal with Obama's oppressive, stifling regulations.
Any comparison with Reagan is foolish. In September, 1983, the economy created 1,100,000 jobs. For 6 straight quarters, GDP topped 5%. Thus far, the economy hasn't grown by 4% two quarters in a row. It hasn't had back-to-back quarters topping 3.5%.
Comparing Obamanomics with Reaganomics is like comparing a small plate of tofu with a thick, juicy steak with a side of hash browns. They're both food but that's where the similarity ends.
The economy's rapid growth in recent quarters has scrambled these assumptions, and now the White House is pitching the Reagan comparison to political reporters in Washington.
What rapid growth? Seriously? Economists will slap down Beutler's claims in a New York minute.
'All historical analogies are imperfect,' Obama's senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told me recently, but 'people connected the economic success of the '80s to Reagan's policies and Democrats also became convinced that the only way to win was to move to the middle. ... We want to make sure people understand the policies we put in place, how they work, how they've improved their situation, so when Republicans get back into it we'll have shifted the four corners of the political debate to the left.'
First, there's no question that President Obama's policies are definitely to the left of where people are at. Further, there's no question that it'll take time to fix the myriad of messes President Obama has created.
Finally, here are the biggest ways to show Obama isn't like Reagan:
- Economic growth was robust during the last 6 years of Reagan's time in office.
- Economic growth during President Obama's time in office has been pathetic.
- Reagan's national security policies brought the Soviet empire to its knees.
- President Obama's policies of appeasement has helped terrorism expand its control while threatening most of the civilized world.
Other than that, Obama's accomplishments are virtually identical with Reagan's.
Posted Tuesday, February 24, 2015 10:50 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 24-Feb-15 12:04 PM
Gary:
Lets not forget two other areas. When President Reagan found out that a government agency wasn't performing as good as possible he demanded improvement. Has Obama really pushed for improvement such as VA, Obamacare, and probably a couple of others I can name?
The second area is that President Reagan wanted the government obeying the law. What was his reaction when Iran Contra broke out? Lets begin with the fact that the story really started when Ed Messe after he conducted an investigation which President Reagan asked for into the arm sales where money was diverted to the Contras the people involved were out the door that day! A special prosecutor was appointed that day. Obama pretends that Eric Holder did nothing wrong and let him stay on the job. Obama pretends that the IRS really did nothing wrong. Obama pretends that fast and furious really didn't happen. Obama pretends that energy spending in the stimulus bill was good. Reagan on the other hand would've exploded in anger on all of those and people would've been out the door immediately!
There are probably a couple of other things we can add if we take time, but this story is spin that Obama has been a great President when he has been a very bad President.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Potter flunks (financial) math
Spring Semester Falloff - A Comparison Of SCSU With Mankato
by Silence Dogood
Spring Semester FYE enrollment is always lower than the preceding Fall semester FYE enrollment. The following plot shows the percent change in FYE enrollment from Fall to the following Spring Semester for SCSU.
Unfortunately, as shown in the figure, for SCSU, the decline from Fall Semester to Spring Semester is increasing.
Frequently, I have compared the performance of SCSU and MSUM - Mankato. These two MnSCU universities have very similar histories, are the two largest universities in MnSCU, and are both of similar size. Recently, it seems that SCSU has come up short in most comparisons.
Just out of curiosity, I wondered what kind of falloff of FYE enrollment from Fall Semester to Spring Semester that Mankato experienced. The following figure shows the data for FY15 as of February 15, 2015 for both SCSU and Mankato.
The data clearly shows that Mankato shows a falloff in FYE enrollment from Fall Semester to Spring Semester. However, while the two were within 1% in FY10, Mankato has been relatively stable while SCSU has gone into a significant decline.
If SCSU's falloff in FYE enrollment for FY11 through FY15 had been the same as that at MSU - Mankato, SCSU would have a larger FYE enrollment in Spring Semester. The following figure shows the number of additional FYE by fiscal year.
FYE translates into revenue. There is a two-year lag in the state appropriation so while enrollment is going down, the funding does not go down as fast as the enrollment. The idea behind this is that, as enrollment is going down, you have some time to adjust before the appropriation is cut. Based on $11,500 per student, this additional FYE enrollment would generate additional revenue shown in the following figure:
In FY15, the figure shows that if SCSU had the same percentage falloff in FYE enrollment as Mankato, it would bring in an additional $3,700,000 in revenue (tuition and state appropriation) in just that year. Considering that for FY16 SCSU is looking at a deficit of $12,000,000 - $16,000,000, this might not seem to be enough to solve the budget crisis. However, you need to recognize that each student retained means that the following term you start with a higher number, which directly translates into additional revenue. As a result, the additional revenue from FY11 would actually compound and grow. Certainly, not all of those 301 FYE in Spring 2011 would have been back for Fall 2011 but if 75% of them came back, it would an additional $2,590,000 in revenue in Fall 2011. Additionally, this then gives you a higher starting number for retention for the following semester as well, which means even more revenue going forward and so on.
Using SCSU's own spring to fall historical retention numbers, I'm pretty confident that the additional revenue in FY11 would have grown substantially - perhaps even to the point of completely covering SCSU's $9,542,000 deficit for FY15.
Unfortunately, when you couple the poor retention numbers with declining numbers of New Entering Freshmen (NEF) and New Entering Transfer (NET) students as shown in the following figure, you have a "perfect storm" as described by President Potter in SCSU's FY15 Financial Recovery Plan:
The 30.0% decline in NEF/NET numbers from Fall 2007 to Fall 2014 happened on President Potter's watch. It is also relevant to note that the steepest decline came in Fall 2011 on the heels of his reorganization of the university to make it "more efficient" and better able to respond to change. From Fall 2010 to Fall 2015, NEF/NET enrollment dropped by an amazing 25.6%! It seems that the only efficiency gained by reorganization was in dramatically reducing the number of NEF and NET students enrolling at SCSU.
Clearly, SCSU's "perfect storm" is of its own making and has created a deep financial hole. The first step to get out of that hole is to understand how you got there in the first place. That means you have to accept responsibility and stop blaming others or other things. It is not possible to move forward in any positive way if you keep thinking that things were just done to you and that you were in no way responsible.
As a start, let's stop calling the loss of $7,700,000 on the Coborn's Plaza Apartments in the first five years of operation "a success." Clearly, it isn't. Based on the lease with the Wedum foundation, SCSU is likely to lose over $6,000,000 in the next five years before it can get out of the contact and it might cost another $6,000,000 if we do not get out of the lease. While that failed project is not the only cause of SCSU's financial hole, it certainly has contributed over a million a year in spending.
When coupled with all of the other expenses SCSU now has to cover - the operating costs and debt service for ISELF, losses on the parking ramp, loan repayment and debt service on the Brooks Center, police officers on campus, the Confucius Institute, and the list goes on - SCSU is in a much poorer financial condition as reflected in a 0.07 CFI for FY14. Given the current financial situation, a 5.1% enrollment decline in FY15 plus an additional 3.3% decline in enrollment for FY16, the CFI for SCSU will likely go negative for FY15.
It has been said that:
"The darkest hour is just before the dawn."The meaning of this is that there is hope, even in the worst of circumstances. Unfortunately, unless you know when the dawn is, it is hard to know if you have reached the darkest hour. For SCSU, it probably isn't possible to answer that question with certainty because of the number of moving and interconnected parts. At best, all that can be said is the sun will eventually rise. How bad it will get at SCSU before then is anybody's guess.
Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2015 2:00 AM
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Gov. Walker goes on the record
Last night, Gov. Scott Walker, (R-WI), went 'on the record' with Fox's Greta van Susteren:
One of the first things that Gov. Walker touted was the positive impact Act 10 has had on education:
GOV. WALKER: People claimed that public education would fall apart. Instead, by getting rid of seniority and tenure, we empowered school districts to put their best and their brightest in the classrooms by hiring based on merit and pay ... Today, our schools are better. Our graduation rates are up. Our third-grade reading scores are up. Our ACT scores are the second best in the nation.
Thus far, we've watched DC pundits and British blowhards ask trivial questions of Gov. Walker about such non-pressing importance like whether he believes in evolution or whether he thinks President Obama is a Christian.
When Gov. Walker didn't play their gotcha games, the media acted like they'd been scandalized. What'd happened was that Gov. Walker essentially told them, politely, was that he wanted to talk about important things, not the gotcha stuff they wanted to talk about. Thank God for that.
Other than the DC blowhards, nobody gives a rip about Gov. Walker's thoughts on evolution or President Obama's faith. What they care most about is what he'll do to fix the messes that President Obama has created. The people understand that the next president will have to deal with a defiant Vladimir Putin, a terrorist nation that's expanding its reach and a regulatory regime that's crippling innovation and job creation.
GOV. WALKER: You'll appreciate this, Greta. I was in Green Bay, WI, this afternoon. I was at 2 of the leading job creators talking about opportunities for people with disabilities and somebody in the press at the end of the event asked a question about this very subject and I said "I challenge you to go out and walk with me down the streets of Green Bay, WI, and ask 100 people on the street what they really care about. I'm certain not a one of them will talk about the issues we heard about in Washington.
That's a perfect way to deal with the Gotcha Media. Gov. Walker didn't respond this aggressively initially but he's catching on quick. The thing he already understands that Jeb Bush never will is that the press will back down a bit (not a lot but a little) if they're worried about some timely sharp elbows to keep them on the straight-and-narrow.
Think of it like a Bob Gibson fastball past your head or into your ribs if you showboated after hitting a home run off of him.
The thing that Gov. Walker now understands is that the Gotcha Media that cover the campaigns need him more than he needs any one of them. It isn't that he needs to constantly pick fights with the reporters covering his campaign. It's that he needs to remind them that he'll give preferential treatment to people who don't ask gotcha questions. If reporters ask tough, policy-oriented questions, he should answer respectfully.
It won't take long for the reporters to figure out, and adapt to, the ground rules.
Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2015 5:17 AM
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