January 6-8, 2011
Jan 06 00:58 Will Dayton Side With Jobs or Special Interests? Jan 06 14:21 Is Gov. Dayton a TEA Party Politician? Jan 06 15:42 A Glimpse Into Aasen's Litigation History Jan 07 02:37 MCEA Part of Coalition For Higher Gas Prices Jan 07 07:52 Chairman Ryan: The Democrats' Worst Nightmare Jan 07 08:58 Dayton Won't Let Go of Risky Tax-the-Rich Scheme Jan 07 14:38 The Tip of the Environmental Iceberg Jan 08 13:08 Almanac's Roundtable Jan 08 23:18 Dishonesty the Name of Horner's Game
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Will Dayton Side With Jobs or Special Interests?
This MPR article tees up an important question, one which will impact the future of the Dayton administration. Here's the balancing act Gov. Dayton finds himself performing:
Ely Mayor Roger Skraba is pushing Dayton to pick someone sympathetic to the projects. In a letter to the governor signed by a handful of regional mayors, Skraba notes the support Dayton received from the region. That might have accounted his slender margin of victory over Republican Tom Emmer.Dayton has two choices: pick another environmental extremist like Aasen or pick someone sane who doesn't want to shut down the mining industry. It's worth noting that it was Rep. Oberstar's vote for Cap and Tax that sunk him more than any other issue, even more than his vote for Obamacare.
"Northeastern Minnesota gave him the support because, we feel we're labor, we're jobs," Skraba said." We feel that this governor is going to listen to us and support the jobs of northeastern Minnesota."
Skraba is a canoe outfitter and his livelihood depends heavily on the area's pristine environment.
Environmentalists warn that pollution from the mining projects would pose a serious, long-term threat to the area's waters. But Skraba said he has confidence in the mining technology and the people behind the mining projects.
Last week, Dayton appointed an environmental advocate, Paul Aasen, to head the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, another state agency closely involved with mine permitting. Aasen had worked for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.
Dayton administration officials declined to comment. But Skraba hopes Dayton will seek to balance Aasen's appointment with his DNR choice. Skraba favors someone like Larry Kramka the department's current assistant commissioner, considered one of the leading candidates.
But another leading contender, Tom Landwehr, has strong environmental ties. Landwehr, assistant state director for the Nature Conservancy of Minnesota is a former DNR official.
Peggy Ladner, the conservancy's state director, describes Landwehr as someone who is passionate about Minnesota's natural resources and who would lean toward environmental protection, something mining interests might not want to hear.
Gov. Dayton campaigned as a 'jobs governor'. His pick of Aasen says that his first priority is to side with the environmental extremists and that creating high-paying long-lasting jobs isn't a high priority.
It's also important to see this through the perspective of how serious Gov. Dayton is about regulation and permitting reform. In his statement announcing his pick of Aasen, he said that Aasen shared his vision of changing the name of the MPCA from pollution control to pollution reduction.
If Dayton picks another environmental extremist to head the DNR, he will have sent the signal that he isn't a jobs governor, that he's an environmental extremist at heart and that the DFL sides with environmental extremists, not with organized labor.
That's trouble for whoever the DFL candidate is in MN-8 who'll challenge Chip Cravaack.
That candidate will have a difficult time garnering support with the miners if he hasn't led the fight against the environmental extremists like Mr. Aasen.
Gov. Dayton needs to decide quickly if he'll let the DFL's environmental extremist allies push him around or if he'll start picking people closer to Minnesota's mainstream in terms of environmental regulations and job creation. If he picks extremism over job creation, the direction he's already heading in, Minnesotans will take issue with his environmental extremism in 2012.
Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 12:58 AM
No comments.
Is Gov. Dayton a TEA Party Politician?
One of the things TEA Party activists insist on is that politicians listen to them. Based on what Scott Wente wrote in this article , it almost sounds like Gov. Dayton is a TEA Party kind of guy, with the key word being almost.
Cottage Grove resident Leon Moe is critical of federal health care expansion and on Wednesday was given a big platform to express that view.
Gov. Mark Dayton yielded his microphone to Moe and other protesters at a highly unusual ceremony during which the governor signed off on an expansion of the federal Medicaid program in Minnesota.
Democrat Dayton and his supporters spoke in favor of the move to broaden Medicaid, known as Medical Assistance in Minnesota, but in a rare move the governor also allowed vocal opponents to attend the ceremony and to comment.
Moe, who went to the Capitol to protest the action, said he was asked to speak. He believes the Medicaid action is unconstitutional.
'If you can show me anywhere in the Constitution where it says that Congress has the authority to legislate health care, let me know,' Moe said to applause as he stood at Dayton's lectern and in the light of TV cameras.
I was following this on Twitter. Some people were saying things like "Dayton owned the room" and "Dayton said 'this is the people's room'". The left was almost wetting itself over this development.
The thing they're missing is that growing numbers of people are insisting that government not only gives them the microphone but actually listens to them. Gov. Dayton gave Moe the microphone. He didn't listen to him. Instead, he stuck the legislature with another $384,000,000 to the deficit.
This next part also got fanatical support:
Moe said he has received medical care from the Veterans Administration for 41 years. 'I totally understand what government health care is all about,' he said. 'I oppose this legislation.'
The lefties on the Twittersphere started ridiculing Moe, though not by name, saying that this is proof that Moe is being a hypocrite.
This is actually a teachable moment. The federal government pays Medicaid and VA benefits. The VA is definitely constitutional because they're paying benefits for constitutionally mandated employees, aka the military. Since the Constitution assigns the military to the federal government, this is the federal government's responsibility.
Expanding Medicaid is the federal government telling the states that they must spend money on a federal program. Expanding Medicaid and pushing that expense on the states is also the federal government dictating the states' tax policies and rates.
To be a true TEA Party politician, Gov. Dayton would've actually had to listen to Mr. Moe. He didn't listen. He simply let Moe talk. After moe finished talking, Gov. Dayton did what he originally planned on doing, which was add to Minnesota's deficit while increasing Minnesota's longterm obligations.
For all the DFL's yapping about structural deficits, the DFL isn't bashful about signing onto things that add to Minnesota's structural deficit. Over the next 2 years, I'll highlight the DFL's attempts to add to Minnesota's structural deficits on this blog.
I suspect I'll be extremely busy.
Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 2:21 PM
Comment 1 by maurice novratz at 21-Jan-11 10:48 AM
I think Mr. Moe has touched upon a very important point about the Constitution. I believe that the Interstate Highway system was never mentioned in the Constitution and should be removed because of the overr reach by the Federal Government.
Maurice
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 21-Jan-11 11:01 AM
I'll respectfully disagree with you on both points. Since it involves more than one state, that responsibility falls to the federal government. All highways wholly contained within a state are that state's responsibility.
A Glimpse Into Aasen's Litigation History
Faithful readers of this blog know that I've had issues with Gov. Dayton's pick to be MPCA Commissioner. This document highlights why I've got problems with Mr. Aasen:
'The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, a St. Paul-based nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, is suing Kittson County, its board of commissioners and Glenn Anderson Construction for excavating, deepening and widening ditches, an act Kittson County Commission Chair Dr. Joe Bouvette says never happened. The MCEA alleges that in the act in question, the environment of rare and threatened plant species in area wetlands was disrupted. The lawsuit alleges the county applied for permits from the state in 2004 to build an off-road vehicle trail through the Beaches Lake Wildlife Management Area. The permits were denied, according to the MCEA, on the grounds of the high diversity and habitat quality of the area. The county did not apply for the permits, however. The ATV club applied for them, according to Kittson County Engineer Kelly Bengtson.
The permits mentioned in the lawsuit have nothing to do with the four ditches in question, he said. The MCEA says the county went ahead and excavated, deepened and widened the ditches in 2006, causing some wetlands to fill with dirt and rocks and drained surrounding wetlands. Bouvette, however, said the ditches were not excavated and widened to his knowledge, as that would have required petitions and a public hearing. 'That is classified as an improvement and can't be done without a hearing. The ditches were cleaned,' he said. 'That is done all the time. They were made to function as they are supposed to.'" (Lisa Gibson, 'Environmental Group Sues Kittson County,' Grand Forks Herald, July 17, 2007)
The MCEA's lawsuit was "dismissed by stipulation" on 1/14/09.
The MCEA, under Aasen's supervision, is a litigation-happy organization that isn't interested in getting basic facts straight before filing lawsuits. Their motto appears to be 'Sue first, then investigate.' Had they investigated first, they wouldn't have wasted Kittson County's time and money.
Then there's this lawsuit:
'A Minnesota environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources seeking to have the department address global warming in an environmental study related to the Minnesota Steel Industries LLC mill project. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) claims the environmental impact study done by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Minnesota Steel is deficient in that it fails to address global warming or the amount of greenhouse gases the steel mill would emit once operational. Minnesota Steel is looking to build a $1.6-billion iron ore mining, processing and steelmaking plant near Nashwauk, Minn., on the Mesabi Iron Range. The steel company has received air, water and wetlands permits in the past two weeks and is planning to begin construction in the fourth quarter. The MCEA wants to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are addressed in the environmental impact study.
'There is nothing about global warming or greenhouse gas emissions in the study,' said Kevin Reuther, an attorney for the MCEA. 'Everyone is in agreement that climate change is a very important issue and when you build a steel mill, you are going to have greenhouse gas emissions. The study does not talk about greenhouse gases or climate change. We want to see those things included in the study. ('Environmental group sues Minn. department over mill study,' Metal Bulletin Daily Alerts, September 12, 2007)
10/15/2008 ~ Dismissed via summary judgement
How does one include information in an EIS about something that might or might not exist? Seriously, this is what I refer to as attrition litigation. MCEA's litigation doesn't have as much to do with protecting the environment as it has to do with preventing industry from creating jobs.
Gov. Dayton's picking Paul Aasen says everything about whether he'll put a higher priority on creating jobs or siding with environmental extremists on preventing job creation.
Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 3:42 PM
No comments.
MCEA Part of Coalition For Higher Gas Prices
With the national gas price exceeding $3.00/gallon, you'd hope that environmental extremists wouldn't be working to drive it higher. Unfortunately, that's precisely what they're attempting to do:
'A coalition of US-based environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court September 3 against the State Department seeking to overturn a permit to build a pipeline to import Canadian crude. The lawsuit, which also names Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the US Army Corps of Engineers as defendants, takes aims at a permit granted in August to Canada's Enbridge Energy for construction of the Alberta Clipper crude line into the US (ON 8/21). The Alberta Clipper pipeline is designed to initially carry 450,000 b/d of crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin. The 1,000-mile project envisions expansion to 800,000 b/d.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by the law firm Earthjustice. Oakland, California-based Earthjustice filed the suit on behalf of the Sierra Club, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, the Indigenous Environmental Network and the National Wildlife Federation. The groups' concern surrounds increased availability in the US of oil produced from Canadian oil sands that could add air and water pollution as refineries process heavier crude, which the environmentalists said will contribute to global warming.
The filing claims the State Department failed to consider the cumulative impact of other proposed pipelines, including Enbridge's Southern Lights project and TransCanada's Keystone project, with Alberta Clipper. The groups claim the State Department's issuance of the permit was unconstitutional because the project should be exclusively considered by Congress.' (Matthew Cook, 'US suit aims to block Alberta Clipper line,' Platts Oilgram News, September 4, 2009)
9/23/2009 ~ Transferred to another district
This litigation does nothing except add to the cost of a gallon of gas. They're fighting the myth of AGW. There's no proof that man is causing global warming but that isn't preventing the MCEA and their coalition from insisting that AGW exists and is verifiable.
Courts deal with proof, aka verifiable things. Too often, the MCEA deals with allegations and myths. That's why their track record is shoddy. The only reason why they prevailed (I didn't say won for a reason) against the Big Stone II investors is because the filibuster-proof Senate and the Obama administration's threatened to bankrupt them.
While Big Stone II is a victory for their cause, it isn't a legal victory. In the end, though, when Minnesotans, whether they're from rural Minnesota, whether they're part of a construction union or whether they're just average folks who want Minnesota's economy to flourish, find out that MCEA has played a significant role in damaging Minnesota's economy, the DFL's losses won't seem like a victory.
Posted Friday, January 7, 2011 2:37 AM
No comments.
Chairman Ryan: The Democrats' Worst Nightmare
This week, the Democrats' worst nightmare came true: Paul Ryan became the Budget Committee Chairman. It's their worst nightmare because he's the two things they can't deal with: calm and logical. Thursday afternoon, I got this statement from Chairman Ryan's office on the Democrats' duplicity with regards to Obamacare:
WASHINGTON ~ House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan issued the following statement with respect to House Republicans' continued efforts to repeal and replace the Democrats' costly government takeover of health care:
'The Democrats' health care law is a budget buster. Misleading claims on its deficit impact exclude the $115 billion needed to implement the law and over $500 billion in double-counting Social Security payroll taxes, CLASS Act premiums, and Medicare reductions. The law was written to measure 10 years of tax increases to offset 6 years of new spending. The Democrats stripped costly provisions that were included in initial score, and enacted them separately to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. Hiding spending does not reduce spending. There is no question that the creation of a trillion dollar open-ended entitlement is a fiscal train wreck.
'To be clear, our dispute is not with the hard-working, non-partisan professionals at the Congressional Budget Office. CBO scores what is put in front of them, and what Democrats put in front of them last year was legislation packed with smoke and mirrors to hide the impact of trillions of dollars in new spending.
'Unless repealed, this law exacerbates the spiraling cost of health care, explodes our deficit and debt, and will forever alter the relationship between the government and the American people. I look forward to voting for the repeal of this law and continuing to advance fiscally responsible, patient-centered reforms.'
The Democrats can technically say that there's a surplus to the Obamacare bill. People living in the real world, though, will call them con men or liars because they stripped out expensive provisions like the 'doc fix' and for double-counting the $500,000,000,000 cut in Medicare that's then used to pay for the CLASS Act.
The Democrats have said for months that cutting Medicare will add to its solvency. That'd be true if the money wasn't also used to pay for the new entitlement, also known as the CLASS Act. Democrats can't say that they're saving money if they're spending that money.
The thing about Chairman Ryan that makes him the Democrats' worst nightmare isn't that he's brilliant. It's that he's brilliant and unflappable. On TV, he comes across as reasonable, intelligent and even-tempered.
TRANSLATION: It's impossible to turn him into the boogeyman like the Democrats did with Newt, with Bob Livingston and with Tom DeLay. They're welcome to try but it simply ain't happening.
Here are some things that the Democrats will have to deal with soon:
Around the time these conflicting estimates were released, more than 130 respected economists addressed a letter to President Obama stating 'the health care bill contains a number of provisions that will eliminate jobs, reduce hours and wages, and limit future job creation.'xi According to the letter, those job-killing provisions include:
'New Taxes. The bill raises taxes by almost $500 billion over ten years. A significant portion of these tax increases will fall on small business owners, reducing capital and limiting economic growth and hiring.
'New and Increased Medicare Taxes. An increase in the Medicare payroll tax included in the bill will affect small businesses employing millions of Americans. Over time, higher payroll taxes will decrease wages for these employees. And a new Medicare tax on investment income such as interest, dividends, and capital gains proposed by President Obama and likely included in the bill will threaten jobs and decrease economic growth.
'Employer Mandate. The bill will impose a tax of $2,000 per employee on employers with more than 50 employees that do not provide health insurance. The bill will also tax employers that offer health coverage deemed 'unaffordable' by the government. These new taxes on employers will reduce employment or be passed on to workers in the form of lower wages or reduced hours.'
Any bill that increases taxes on employers by $2,000 per employee won't inspire those employers to hire people anytime soon. PERIOD.
I wrote awhile back that Dave Camp put together a list of $670,000,000,000 in tax increases contained in Obamacare. That certainly won't help create jobs, either.
The bottom line is this: Obamacare doesn't create jobs, adds to the deficits and does nothing to bend the cost curve down. The other bottom line is that Paul Ryan is an effective spokesman in the fight to repeal Obamacare because he lays out with specificity (what page, what provision) where he's getting his information from.
If a Democrat is foolish enough to argue that Chairman Ryan is making something up, he's able to tell that Democrat where in the Obamacare bill what he's talking about is at. Without getting flustered.
That's why he's the Democrats' worst nightmare.
Posted Friday, January 7, 2011 7:52 AM
Comment 1 by eric z. at 07-Jan-11 02:28 PM
Calm and logical?
Like Emmer?
As intelligent as Emmer?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 07-Jan-11 03:28 PM
Eric, Chairman Ryan is the smartest man on policy I've ever seen...on a par with Bill Clinton.
Dayton Won't Let Go of Risky Tax-the-Rich Scheme
As much as Minnesotans oppose tax increases, Gov. Dayton refuses to stop pushing his job-killing tax-the-rich scheme :
Gov. Mark Dayton delivered an unrelenting pro-tax sermon to a decidedly tax-wary crowd Thursday night, telling a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce dinner that there is no good way out of the state's budget mess.
"Anyone who thinks this session is going to be easy and painless, please share your magic potion with the rest of us," the new Democratic governor told the 1,500 business leaders in a St. Paul convention center ballroom. It was a room full of people who fought to keep him from office in the fall campaign.
Business groups are nervous about Dayton's keystone proposal for fixing Minnesota's budget problems: Bumping up income taxes on many people reporting six figure incomes. Some independent businesses file their taxes on personal income forms, meaning they could get hit. Republicans, who control the Legislature, say they won't pass it.
Gov. Dayton can hold his breath until he's blue in the face. He can throw temper tantrum after temper tantrum. He can shut down his DC office. He can threaten to have Ryan Winkler send out one dishonest press release after another. Whatever he does, this legislature won't raise taxes.
Rest assured that the CoC will support pro growth GOP candidates against DFL incumbents that vote for increasing taxes. They'll enthusiastically support GOP legislators that vote for regulatory reform, too.
I wrote almost a month ago that victories will be sparse for Dayton this year:
Similarly, when people hear Dayton touting his tax-the-rich scheme, entrepreneurs cringe because their businesses will take a hard hit. That, in turn, will cause, at best, sluggish job growth, at worst, serious layoffs.
Again, Dayton will be on the wrong side of that issue. The GOP legislature will be fighting with Minnesota's taxpayers. He won't win the tax fight. In fact, he'll be fortunate to not get pummeled on taxes.
A Gov. Dayton wants to gut the charter school budget. He'll face a stiff fight on that issue; in fact, he could take quite a hit on this.
The Republican legislature is writing a photo ID/election reform bill. During the campaign, it was clear that Minnesotans of all political persuasions favored that legislation. The DFL legislature and a Gov. Dayton will fight against that legislation.
Again, a Gov. Dayton will be on the wrong side of an important issue.
It won't take long before Minnesotans realize that electing Gov. Dayton was as big a mistake as electing Jesse 'the conspiracy theorist' Ventura to be our governor in 1998.
Gov. Dayton has years of political experience. His ex-wife has a thick wallet. He's also got near-universal name recognition, too. The one thing he doesn't have is an appealing agenda.
In the end, that's what will sink the DFL in 2012 and sink him in 2014. It won't take long before the DFL realizes that Alida bought the DFL and that she's running the party into the ground. By then, though, it'll be too late.
The damage will be done.
The good news is that the GOP legislature will have finished off Dayton's foolish tax-the-rich scheme.
Posted Friday, January 7, 2011 8:58 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 07-Jan-11 10:41 AM
You forgot the other advantage Dayton has, and that is a Big Lie backed up by Big Media, who are in the sack for this uber-liberal hypocrite. He keeps banging the drum that raising taxes on the "rich" is a matter of "fairness," while completely forgetting to send in HIS check, voluntarily, and completely overlooking the simple expedient of cutting taxes on the not-rich, which would accomplish fairness while being a lot more popular and useful. Of course, that means that State government would have to give up first claim on every dollar earned in the State, which he might see as a drawback, but which I hope the majority of Minnesotans would think a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Hmmm, perhaps that explains why Mark Dayton likes the idea-- it makes no sense.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 07-Jan-11 11:42 AM
I haven't forgotten that. I'm just being resourceful in getting the word out to hundreds & thousands of people. Frankly, I'm upset with the state party not sponsoring more special events that highlight more of Dayton's & the DFL's abhorrent policies.
We need to focus more on telling the 'choir-in-waiting' why they should support conservatives' limited gov't policies. The more we do to win them over, the less relevant the Agenda Media become.
Comment 2 by eric z. at 07-Jan-11 02:33 PM
J. Ewing - You say Dayton and "Big Lie." Dayton never said restaurant servers make a hundred grand, did he? Dayton has been consistent about taxing the rich, as Willie Sutton was about robbing banks, "It's where the money is." He may have to wait two years, but all he needs is a DFL legislature during his first or second term, and it gets done.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 07-Jan-11 03:36 PM
Eric, Emmer talking about restaurant workers wasn't a lie. Here's the definition of lie:
a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruthJust like President Bush didn't lie us into war, Emmer didn't lie about restaurant workers. Were they both wrong? Definitely. Did they lie? Not a snowball's prayer in H-E double toothpicks.
Dayton will be a 1-termer. He's utterly unqualified for the job. His pick for MPCA commissioner is an anti-capitalist thug whose organization has worked tirelessly to kill jobs in the name of the environment. When that information gets out, people on the range, in western Minnesota & in the outer burbs will turn on Gov. Dayton like Rod Carew turned on a hanging curveball.
Get used to losing.
Comment 3 by J. Ewing at 07-Jan-11 05:05 PM
I didn't say Dayton was a liar. If a lie is a known untruth, Dayton is safe because he hasn't a clue as to what the truth is, which makes him dangerous. The Big Lie is the notion that the tax system is "unfair," (since it's exactly what the legislature created) and worse, that the ONLY way to correct it is by raising taxes further at the top end, when the obvious solution is to lower them at the bottom end or, even more correctly, to notice that the system is already UNfair to /high/ earners. The tax system shouldn't be about fairness, anyway, but about raising the revenues necessary to fund essential government services. Right now government spends so much more than that it really needs a dose of reality. It's unlikely to receive that from delusional Dayton.
The Tip of the Environmental Iceberg
This moring, I read this LTE on the intersection between the PolyMet and Nokomis mines, Paul Aasen and the MCEA. The LTE, written by Terry Stone, is a compelling read, one which all Minnesotans should read.
This afternoon, I decided to call Terry. I'm glad I did. Terry's insights gave me a whole new perspective into Minnesota's environmental anti-industrial complex. For now, though, let's see what Minnesota's environmental extremist movement has done to our economy:
Governor (Mark) Dayton has barely begun making decisions and already I see a big difference between his campaign promises, centered on jobs, and his appointment of Paul Aasen as Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner.
The MPCA works best when it administers environmental law as part of the executive branch. Aasen is, by any reasonable evaluation, an environmental extremist and activist who has embroiled Minnesota in lawsuits for years.
Aasen is listed as the contact for Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. MCEA shares the same address and suite with Minnesota Environmental Partnership. The MEP membership is said to be over 80 non-profits, but the list reads like a who's who summary of job-killing extremists who have bilked the public out of economic vitality with environmental lawsuits.
Environmental groups have filed more than 2,000 job-killing lawsuits during the past 10 years with the Sierra Club filing over half of them. Environmental lawsuits have snagged environmental groups over 34 million of our dollars in legal fees awarded to them. Win or lose, a perverted system called Equal Access to Justice Act pays environmental groups for suing the public. Environmental groups were paid $462,010 in legal fees for actions in Minnesota alone.
From this background and mindset comes Dayton's pick for the MPCA. This is not an auspicious beginning for the economic salvation and job creation promised by candidate Dayton.
As I read Terry's LTE, it felt like I was reading one of my posts, except that Terry's information is more extensive than mine. One thing that's clear is that MCEA, under the leadership of Paul Aasen, has been a force for economic destruction in Minnesota.
It's dispiriting to total up the economic destruction caused by MCEA's attrition litigation. I've had it up to here with the DFL telling me that the 'no-new-taxes-crowd' are what's led to Minnesota's economic ruin. Based on the attrition litigation practiced by MCEA, I think it's easier for me to make the case that they're to blame for more of Minnesota's economic difficulties than are Tim Pawlenty's policies.
In fact, I don't think it's that close of a fight on that issue. It's time that clear-thinking conservatives started pushing back against these militant environmental organizations. I can't summarize things better than Terry's summation so I'll you with Terry's summarization of what's at stake:
The Iron Range currently holds the second largest copper deposit (34 percent of U.S. resource), the second largest platinum group metals deposit (75 percent of U.S. resource) and the third largest nickel deposit (95 percent of U.S. resource). These are big deposits; these are big stakes and big jobs. Dayton has played to his ideological environmental base. With the appointment of Paul Aasen, he has just told the Iron Range to keep waiting.
The hard-working people of the Iron Range need these jobs. In fact, if we get all these mines going, they'll see a major increase in shipping activity, too, which means the economies in Silver Bay, Two Harbors and especially Duluth will explode.
Imagine how that'd change Minnesota's economy. Imagine how that'd change Minnesota's revenues, Minnesota's budgets.
That's what Paul Aasen, MCEA and Mark Dayton are standing against.
There's a new rallying cry for the Range and Minnesota's economy:
NO MORE!!!
Posted Friday, January 7, 2011 2:38 PM
Comment 1 by Ron Niemala at 08-Jan-11 12:30 PM
Terry is "right on". Job killing, anti-business is what Minnesota in known for. Keep up exposing the DFL/enviro-terrorists/job killers.
Comment 2 by eric z. at 09-Jan-11 10:11 AM
Few jobs. It's a fiction to contend otherwise. And the Iron Range is becoming more, not less job-diverse.
If the world's need for more copper is to be met in part in Minnesota, then Minnesota's need for protections including an environmental-remediation escrow of sufficient size to cover the rape-and-run tactics that mining firms, left to their own profit maximizing, are prone to implement, foster, and follow.
If there's to be PolyMet mining, it must be done in a way protective of the wilderness neighborhoods near the ore body.
Pure and simple. All thinking to the contrary is short term, and flawed.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 09-Jan-11 12:12 PM
Rape-and-run??? That's just a bit melodramatic, isn't it???
MCEA's goal is to make sure these projects don't become reality. If you'd been reading the research I've presented here, you'd know that. The story that MCEA is peddling in public isn't what they're about. It's PR spin & I've done the research that proves it.
The MCEA claims in its lawsuits that PolyMet will ruin the environment. Their proof? The study which they did says so. It's time you didn't accept their studies like they were etched in stone tablets on Mount Sinai. They're more PR than science.
PS- The notion that PolyMet will destroy the environment isn't based on science. It's based on MCEA's extremist agenda.
Comment 3 by angieupnorth at 06-Feb-11 03:27 AM
Rape and run indeed! Thank goodness Governor Mark Dayton is working to stop the madness that is copper mining. Silver Bay air quality is rated worse than St. Paul, MN and the mine's response was "It's not fair to compare us to St. Paul." I guess pristine woods on the banks of Lake Superior shouldn't be compared to a large, industrial metropolitan center. What about green jobs? The republican rhetoric of whatever big business wants means 'jobs, jobs, jobs". Hmmm... we have seen these economics before. It's how we got into the economic disaster President Obama is pulling is out of. If you want to see what great guys mining companies are - look what the citizens of West Virginia are fighting with mountain top mining. Thugs. Regulations to protect people from cancerous pollutants and the environment from being devastated are the only way mining should proceed. Safety = healthy miners and jobs - not joblessness.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 06-Feb-11 07:51 AM
Such a drama queen. WOW!!! RAPE & RUN??? REALLY??? Gov. Dayton isn't standing up for the environment. He's just hating the miners who won't have jobs. IT'S SHAMEFUL!!!
The "Republican rhetoric" to which you speak doesn't exist EXCEPT IN YOUR WARPED MIND.
MCEA & the lying, militant environmentalists have killed the economy with lawsuits & BULLSHIT SCIENCE that wouldn't withstand the laugh test or peer review.
Almanac's Roundtable
Friday night, the Almanac Roundtable consisted of the 4 legislative leaders: Senate Majority Leader Koch, Speaker Zellers, Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen. For the most part, it was a spirited, though polite, exchange. As expected, the DFL leaders spoke about the need for compromise, citing Gov. Dayton as being willing to work with the GOP.
There was a time, though, where Cathy Wurzer said something that caught my attention. In the context of "waiting for Gov. Dayton's budget", she asked whether there would be policy or budget work getting done. I found that to be interesting from the perspective that then-Speaker Kelliher refused to put forth a budget or consider any bills of any meat.
Speaker Kelliher, at the time, said that they'd just work off Gov. Pawlenty's budget, which is code for saying they weren't putting a budget together because they intended on spending their time criticizing Gov. Pawlenty's budget.
This GOP leadership won't hesitate in presenting reform legislation. That's part of what they campaigned on, with the obvious main campaign item being restoring jobs and balancing the budget without raising taxes. Reforming government, especially regulations and permitting, will lead to balancing the budget without raising taxes while making Minnesota more business-friendly.
The GOP is saying that their solution to the budget deficit is 1) saving money through reforms and 2) growing the economy by making Minnesota more hospitable to potential job creators.
The other thing that's worth mentioning that I took away from Almanac's discussion is that any panel that doesn't include Larry Pogemiller automatically has a better shot at civility than one that does. Tom Bakk and Paul Thissen are partisans who can play hardball.
Still, they aren't the ill-tempered spoiled brat that Sen. Pogemiller is. That's a major improvement already.
This session won't be all sweetness and light, though. There will be times where hardline politics will enter into the equation. They're going to have some fights along ideological lines. That's ok as long as they're advocating well-thought out policies.
I'm a contrarian in that I don't think people are looking for compromise as much as they're demanding that politicians get things right the first time. I'm certain that's what they're thinking because we're at a crossroads in this country and we don't have a margin for mistakes.
Based on the election results, it's obvious that voters want to try conservative principles to get out of this mess because, especially nationally, it was progressive ideas that got us into this mess.
How well Koch, Bakk, Zellers and Thissen work together will be an interesting storyline this session but they'll still be a sideshow to fixing the economy, creating jobs and balancing Minnesota's budget.
Get out the popcorn. This will be interesting.
Posted Saturday, January 8, 2011 1:08 PM
Comment 1 by David Koski at 08-Jan-11 03:08 PM
Congresswoman Giffords has been shot in the head today. She was hated by the Tea Party. More and more people are realizing the right wing and what it stands for is extremely violent and of no use. Thanks for the hatred.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 08-Jan-11 03:23 PM
Being a TEA Party activist & organizer, I can say that Rep. Giffords was one of the most rational, respected Democrats on a whole host of issues. The vast majority of TEA Party activists enthusiastically agreed with Rep. Giffords' attempts to crack down on violence caused by illegal immigrants.
Mr. Koski's dishonest accusations have no part in this discussion except to inform us how acts of violence are seen by a narrow sliver of Americans as proof that Republicans are evil who shouldn't be trusted, regardless of whether there's proof for their accusations.
I'd ask Mr. Koskid what his proof is for his violent rhetoric is but I won't waste time with that. It's apparent that he doesn't have proof.
FYI- Normally, I'd delete baseless accusations that are devoid of proof but it's worth noting how acts of violence aren't treated as crimes but rather crimes spawned from political ideology, especially at a time when facts & motivations aren't known.
Comment 2 by David Koski at 08-Jan-11 04:14 PM
Do you think this was just made up?
"Her father Spencer Giffords, 75, wept when asked if his 40-year-old daughter had any enemies.
"Yeah," he told The New York Post. "The whole tea party."
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 08-Jan-11 04:27 PM
If that's what Rep. Giffords' dad said, I'd say that's extremely unfortunate because, in my opinion, they don't reflect reality. In fact, I'd argue that her dad's statement was said while he was in a state of grief. I can't criticize Mr. Giffords' statement but I'll gladly criticize your irresponsible statement that people have realized that "the right wing" is "extremely violent & of no use."
First, there's no proof that the shooter is a conservative or a Republican. Without that information, your accusation is absurd. Next, thanking us "for the hatred" is vile on your behalf. What hatred, sir? For standing on principle for the principles that this nation was founded on???
Shame on you for your over-the-top statements. Mr. Giffords statements I can understand. Your's I can't.
Comment 3 by David Koski at 08-Jan-11 04:29 PM
I fixed my name it does not have a "d" at the end.
This is from Talking Points Memo:
"Back in March 2010, Sarah Palin created a campaign push through her Facebook page against Democrats from conservative districts who had voted for the health care bill -- among them, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was shot today.
The page used a picture of a map of the United States, with crosshair targets located over 20 districts that were carried by the McCain-Palin ticket in 2008, and whose representatives voted for the health care bill. The picture did not use photos of the members themselves, but instead placed the crosshairs over their geographic districts and included a list of their names below.
The page was promoted through Palin's Twitter account with the slogans, "Take Back the 20!" and, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD"
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/flashback-palin-used-crosshair-targets-for-giffordss-district-other-dems.php
Reload indeed, deny it all you want. Blood is on the Tea Party hands.
Comment 4 by David Koski at 08-Jan-11 04:52 PM
The gig is up. You post other stuff at the time of the incident, do not acknowledge that a member of the United States Congress has had an attempt on her life, i.e. assassinated. You show no remorse and that is very telling. For shame, a 9 year old child has died and a the father a Federal Judge has also died, yet no remorse. Notice that Republicans do not get murdered by Democrats. Say what you want and delete all you want. You have always been in the minority and you are going to be even more unpopular.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 08-Jan-11 05:21 PM
I won't reply to your hatefulness. What I will reply to is this: I haven't written anything about this because I won't write anything until the facts are clear. I won't just do something. I'll wait until I can say things that are verified. I won't shoot my mouth off like you've done.
Let's get back to something you said earlier. You started by alleging that this incident was proof that "the right wing" is hate-filled & "of no use". You still haven't showed how this incident is proof of anything other than an act of violence. Anything beyond that is speculation & projection.
Response 4.2 by Gary Gross at 08-Jan-11 05:25 PM
BTW, in the spirit of reconcilliation, I've gone into the comments & edited your name to reflect the correct spelling.
Comment 5 by David Koski at 08-Jan-11 06:13 PM
What I find incredible is that you whole existence is based on innuendo. Your implications that Democrats are socialist or even communists is all you really have. Yet you inconveniently never provide proof. Implying that Republicans are the only true Americans is the noose that you tied for the right winger neck. This assassination attempt is very obvious that the right wing is responsible. "Targets", "reload", "take em out", all that is not to be denied. Sorry, you started it. Live with it.
Response 5.1 by Gary Gross at 08-Jan-11 11:09 PM
Mr. Koski, You're about to get booted from this website, not because I disagree with you but because you're making things up. I've NEVER called Democrats communists. If you simply want to disagree with me, your comments will stay posted. If you're going to make dishonest accusations that aren't based on truth, then you'll get deleted.
You still haven't answered my question relating to your initial comment. Shortly after Rep. Giffords' shooting, you said that people were noticing how extreme conservatives were & that they were abandoning them. The implication was that the shooter was a conservative, something that's anything but proven.
Further, I've NEVER implied that Republicans are the only true Americans. Again, it's speculation or projection on your part. If you're going to accuse me of saying something, it'd better be verifiable.
You're an unhinged person with a strange relationship with verifiable proof. You should get more acquainted with it sometime.
Comment 6 by Scott Brooks at 09-Jan-11 02:00 AM
If I may return to the topic;
I had somewhat the same reaction to Almanac as you did, Mr. Gross.
I'm guessing that Mark Dayton was just as surprised as the rest of us that both chambers of the MN legislature would be captured by the GOP. I suspect that Dayton wanted the job with the assumption that it would be one party rule: that being the DFL.
Seeing as how he graded himself an "F" as U.S. Senator, I think he wants to redeem himself and I'm just wondering if he might be more willing to compromise with Republicans and maybe earn a "C".
Comment 7 by walter hanson at 09-Jan-11 10:48 PM
Gary:
Lets realize that David is an example of the extreme left that doesn't care about the truth. He misinterperts the Tea Party wanting to defeat miss Giffords because she will support health care, the stimulus, immigration as a horrible threat.
So David wants us to surrender our health care, our nation's fiances, because we can't speak up in opposition to bad Democrat policy.
I don't think so.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Dishonesty the Name of Horner's Game
This fall's campaign taught me, repeatedly, that Tom Horner's logic for running was built on dishonest premises. Having gotten defeated, things haven't changed with Mr. Horner. Mr. Horner's op-ed in Saturday's St. Cloud Times offers another bit of proof of Horner's intellectual dishonesty:
Republicans, who won majorities in both houses, are convinced Minnesotans want all solutions to fixing the state's deficit to come from the spending side of the ledger. Democrats, backed by the election of DFLer Mark Dayton to the governor's office, are equally adamant Minnesotans are willing to accept some higher taxes to maintain vital services.
If those are the only mandates Democrats and Republicans heard in the 2010 elections, Minnesotans better get used to another word: gridlock. Meaningful, long-term solutions won't be found if spending cuts or higher taxes are the only two tools used by legislators and the governor in an effort to forge good policy.
If false choices were commodities, Horner's campaign would've driven that commodity through the roof. It isn't that he offered any serious policy initiatives. It's that he spent his entire time suggesting that Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton were extremists who didn't represent mainstream Minnesota.
That theory disintegrates the minute it collides with reality.
While it's true that Republicans are adamant about not raising taxes, it isn't true to say that their only strategy comes from cutting the budget. Republicans' strategy on solving the persistent deficit problems hinge on strengthening Minnesota's economy, streamlining the permitting process, reforming Minnesota's regulations and telling each state agency and department that they need to justify every penny of their spending.
That hardly sounds like a simplistic 'no new taxes', cut-the-budget strategy for longterm economic growth and sustainable government spending. Rather, it sounds like a multi-faceted, thoughtful approach to strengthening Minnesota's economy and lightening the tax burden on Minnesota's taxpayers while still maintaining the services that are required.
This, BTW, is the message that the GOP legislature will be carrying this session. It's also the message that resonates with TEA Party activists and Main Street Minnesota.
It's time to discard Mr. Horner's arguments that everyone but him are extremists. It's apparent that he's got a substantial ego and a poor grasp of honesty.
Posted Saturday, January 8, 2011 11:18 PM
Comment 1 by eric z. at 09-Jan-11 10:07 AM
I see little difference between Horner and other pro-business Republicans. He's not tea-party, but not all of the GOP is either. It's an opportunistic malignant branch that exploits the dissatisfaction in ways that are best represented by Michele Bachmann and that fringe group.
They are far from mainstream, and will likely become marginalized as the two major parties move closer and closer.
A third party, trying for the center in that scenario is doomed. Horner did nothing to dispel that idea. And Horner did not cause Emmer to lose. Emmer caused Emmer to lose. He could not even carry a coat-tailing off of the Dems staying home and the GOP regulars voting in large percentages - what propelled the legislative trend.
That trend was not Emmer's friend, and it's unreality to continue blaming Horner and attacking him.
He's one of the GOP pack. No more and no less.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 09-Jan-11 12:18 PM
Horner isn't a Republican. He's a spinmeister. He thinks that he's the only rational man in politics. Shame on him for thinking that. He's prone to ignoring the GOP's mainstreet-approved agenda, then saying that they're the party of no. Minnesota rendered its verdict this past November. Get over it. Deal with it.
