January 7-17, 2016
Jan 07 07:07 Highlighting political corruption Jan 12 05:44 Liberalism's 'bonus payments'? Jan 13 11:01 School Board's Tech figures questioned Jan 14 00:54 Critiquing Said's op-ed Jan 15 08:46 Bigger schools, shrinking enrollment Jan 17 07:26 Cruz vs. Trump, NY values edition Jan 17 12:15 Trump's New York values? Jan 17 16:32 Is Trump's mind melting?
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Highlighting political corruption
This article highlights how special interests acquire political influence. It starts innocently enough, with volunteers gathering "the 2,000 signatures from registered Republican voters that the senator needs to get on the Republican primary ballot." Because it's part of Utah's state statutes, the law has the same requirements for Democrats.
Getting volunteers to knock on doors to collect signatures isn't corrupt by itself. In fact, if that's all that was involved, that would be a great way to test citizens' enthusiasm. Unfortunately, that isn't what this is about. Far from it, actually.
Knocking on doors is so much easier if you have the address of people who are likely to support you. Why knock on every door in the neighborhood when a friendly special interest group has put together and maintained a list of people who will support you? Apparently, that's what the Utah Association of Realtors has put together. What's more, they're offering incumbents a special introductory price for that list:
Chris Kyler, executive director of the Utah Association of Realtors, said the app his group offers tracks the voter registration file and lets a candidate keep track of which doors have been knocked on and who has signed the petitions.
The idea is that candidates can send out volunteers, or Boy Scout troops or cheerleader squads looking for a fundraising opportunity, with the app to round up the signatures they need.
The Realtors, among the most politically influential groups at Utah's Capitol, are letting incumbents use the app free of charge . Kyler said they have not decided whether to give the same privilege to challengers or candidates for open seats.
It isn't surprising that the Utah Association of Realtors is a politically powerful special interest group in Utah. Incumbents can't afford to get them upset.
Posted Thursday, January 7, 2016 7:07 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 09-Jan-16 07:16 AM
How is limiting access to political office that way in any fundamental fashion different from trying to limit voting rights via photo ID or via constrictive early voting rules? Each step aims to bias the right to vote.
If ballot access is limited as in Utah, the SoS should, as in Minnesota, maintain the database - available for a minimal administrative fee for personnel downloading from the main database to a CD. Not private sector privateers, but the government.
I am glad, Gary, to see your disdain for private sector manipulation and creating biases in ballot access and/or voting, if not elsewhere. Soon you'll be a Democrat.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Jan-16 01:04 AM
Eric, Photo ID doesn't limit voting. It makes it more accurate. The myth that it disenfranchises voters was ridiculed by the various judges who ruled on Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections. John Paul Stevens, one of the most reliably liberal justices on the Supreme Court, wrote that Democrats couldn't prove that any of the defendants that brought the lawsuit would be prevented to vote.
Further, he wrote in his majority opinion that society has a vital interest in ensuring that nobody who isn't eligible to vote can vote. Justice Stevens said that sufficient proof existed in 2008 to prove that voter fraud was happening and that voter disenfranchisement wasn't happening. Game. Set. Match.
Liberalism's 'bonus payments'?
When unions signed onto liberalism's entire agenda, they signed onto some things that are hurting them now. That's what this article is about. Unions have been among the most trustworthy parts of the DFL's coalition. Their reward is getting frequently shafted.
The DFL has steadfastly defended the refugee resettlement program despite the national security risks it presents. The State Department's refugee resettlement program doesn't just give terrorists a free pass to move into the United States. It also hurts workers.
Last week, the St. Cloud City Council voted to rezone a former convent so it could be turned into an apartment unit that will house "seasonal workers from Ukraine, the Philippines and Mexico" who will work for GNP, formerly known as Gold'n Plump.
Now that it's their ox that's getting gored, the AFL-CIO is expressing its disgust with the program. Implicit in their complaint is their disgust with the DFL:
Jane Conrad, a union organizer with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, said GNP's program will have a ripple effect in St. Cloud.
"It's kind of opening a Pandora's box that we really shouldn't be going down," she said. "When you have guest workers coming in from out of the area, they're not staying here, they're not invested in the community, the way those that live here are. And when we have the poverty rate that we have currently right now, we need everything we can get in this community."
Ms. Conrad can thank the DFL for those refugees taking the place of her union workers. Then again, it's fair to say that the AFL-CIO can blame themselves for empowering the DFL locally and the Democratic Party nationally.
The AFL-CIO and other major unions have gotten shafted by other Democratic Party agenda items. Think Keystone XL transcontinental pipeline and the Sandpiper Pipeline from the Bakken to Superior, WI. The unions got shafted on those good-paying jobs because today's Democratic Party will always side with the environmentalists over the unions. Think, too, of the ACA demolishing the unions' Cadillac health insurance plans, too.
Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2016 5:44 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 12-Jan-16 04:01 PM
As Joe Soucheray says, they wind milled themselves. They never, ever think of the consequences of their actions until it comes around and hits them square.
Comment 2 by Jethro at 12-Jan-16 04:49 PM
Excellent job, Gary! Checkmate!
Comment 3 by eric z at 13-Jan-16 05:21 PM
And "right to work" as Dave Thompson and Andy Aplikowski favor is the answer. And pigs can fly. It's the employer, stupid.
Allow employers to screw workers and you have the disgraceful minimum wage situation you have now where full time work week wages are insufficient to live on.
That employer wants guest workers because they work for Peanuts. Period. End of story. Make employers be decent, make them pay survival wages at the least, the problem goes away.
The unions know that. The Republicans like Dave Thompson know it too. The difference is Dave Thompson and clones of him want it, the unions do not. Are the DC powers pushing a questionable agenda. Sure. But then put the blame where blame is due. Both parties, DC.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 13-Jan-16 07:14 PM
Eric, the best way to increase wages is to have a robust economy. When unemployment is low & the workforce participation rate is high, wages increase because employers are forced to compete for human capital, aka employees.
Right to work states have robust economies because the businesses flourish, which then forces them to pay more for wages.
Ask yourself this: if right to work was as awful for workers as Democrats claim it is, why hasn't any right-to-work states tried it, then switch back? Further, why don't workers leave those states for non right-to-work states?
Comment 5 by Chad Q at 13-Jan-16 08:14 PM
Last time I made minimum wage was 1988 when I was a junior in HS. From there I went to college, got a degree, got a job with marketable skills and have been working my way up the ladder ever since, all without having to become a member of a union.
Moral of the story: Get an education and gain skills that are valuable to your employer and you won't be making minimum wage at 45 and living in your parents basement.
Comment 6 by eric z at 16-Jan-16 08:04 AM
Chad Q.
I got mine now you get yours, isn't that social Darwinism?
Isn't it how the Mafia operates, become a good fella, hope to make wise guy, as however the leadership requires.
Nice idea, Chad Q., and the true hpe is that you don't get fired in the next seven to ten years because somebody else sucking their way up the totem pole has an equal skill set and will do the same work for less.
Bless such a notion of red, white and blue.
Comment 7 by eric z at 16-Jan-16 08:53 AM
Gary-
I do not totally understand your point. Are you saying the smart people all gravitate to those prosperous right to work states and you're still here?
And "seasonal workers" Chad Q., Gary's post topic, what does that term mean to you? Those who've had privileges and opportunity you tout, or perhaps Gary's post relates to a different segment of the work force? Surely Chad Q. a best in the nation neurosurgeon such as you at Mayo Clinic are in a class by yourself, and I suppose my earlier comment at that level of irreplaceable nonfungible skill is moot. No mere cog in the gear. No sir. Special.
Response 7.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Jan-16 07:35 AM
Eric, I'm just highlighting the fact that right-to-work states are more prosperous.
Comment 8 by Chad Q at 17-Jan-16 08:21 AM
I didn't know it was a privilege and opportunity to go to public schools and work hard, pay my own way through college, work hard, gain additional skills that my current and future employers value to become more marketable and valuable, all the while still working hard to get ahead.
Seasonal workers, whether they are legal or illegal, have those same opportunities here in the US. It is not my fault or anyone else's fault that they decided to come to the US without any marketable skills that would allow them to work for more than minimum wage without the Mafia a.k.a. unions, forcing them to become a good fella in order to make a good life for them and their families. You keep believing that the government and unions need to provide people with good paying jobs and I'll keep doing what has gotten me ahead in life. Good Day.
Comment 9 by eric z at 17-Jan-16 05:49 PM
Chad Q - Okay, fair point, you worked hard to prosper. But does that require that you have no sympathy or caring for those not as smart as you, who still know suffering? Them and their children? That's a hard outlook.
School Board's Tech figures questioned
After reading Kevin Allenspach's article , it's difficult to give the ISD 742 School Board the benefit of the doubt.
Last fall, the school board argued that it was wiser to build a new school (estimated cost of $113.8 million) than to remodel the current Tech High School. Allenspach's article highlights the untrustworthiness of the School Board's numbers. For instance, Allenspach notes that "the district's pre-referendum estimate of $85 million in maintenance during the next 10 years just to keep the school in use" is being questioned by 2 Tech grads.
Sarah Murphy and Claire VanderEyk are both architects and Tech graduates. They're both convinced that the ISD 742 School Board's $85,000,000 estimate isn't accurate. The School Board's estimate includes "$10 million-$15 million for roofing, $20 million for a boiler replacement, $5 million for a chiller replacement, $5 million for window replacement, $10 million for asbestos removal, $1 million for brick tuckpointing, $5 million for plumbing, $2 million for lighting, $1 million for parking lots, $2 million-$3 million for electrical service, $3 million to replace classroom ceilings, $3 million to replace doors and hardware, $2 million to replace flooring, $750,000 for a building control system and $15 million-$20 million for general building repairs."
Murphy's response was powerful:
"Those numbers are really round, so it's hard to take them seriously," said Murphy, who worked for architectural firms in Minnesota and Colorado before becoming a space planner for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. "The building is 100 years old, so it's going to need some help. But if there are real structural problems, there shouldn't be anybody in the building. If the cafeteria has major structural issues, why are they using it? They'd be putting the kids at risk. There's a difference between structural problems and things that are inconvenient or don't look good, like floor tiles popping up."
The School Board's pitch was essentially a sky-is-falling pitch. The Board essentially said that not approving the bonds for the new Tech High School was the equivalent of putting these students at risk. It isn't a stretch to think that the School Board tried shaming voters into approving the bonds.
Murphy has worked on similar projects, including North High School in Denver, which required technology updates and other renovations but preserved a building built in 1907. Both she and VanderEyk said they will work with the Friends of Clark Field citizens group to see if there is a way to get more information about renovating Tech.
Ms. Murphy and Ms. VanderEyk should be applauded for their efforts. I've learned more from them in a short period of time than I learned from the Vote Yes campaign all last fall. Most importantly, I'm thinking that I'd make a more informed decision because of these ladies' works.
This is information that we should've gotten from the School Board but didn't. That leads to the question of why we got this financial information from them. Let's recall that Barclay Carriar admitted that the blueprint for the new Tech High School wasn't available :
According to Barclay Carriar, a 57-year-old adviser with Ameriprise Financial and co-chair of Neighbors for School Excellence, 'What a lot of them don't recognize is, with the cost of designing a building, 80 percent of it isn't going to be designed until after the referendum. And the plans we've got now are still tentative."
That's stunning. They asked taxpayers for $113,800,000 in bonding approval but they hadn't designed the building. What's up with that? How many banks would lend money based on that type of information and still be solvent 5 years from now? Hint: the number rhymes with Nero.
Originally posted Wednesday, January 13, 2016, revised 14-Jan 12:42 PM
No comments.
Critiquing Said's op-ed
Times Writers Group columnist AJ Kern apparently got under the skin of Ahmed Ali Said when she wrote this column about Ron Branstner. According to Said, Mr. Branstner is "an immigrant/Muslim basher". I've met Mr. Branstner. He's neither a Muslim nor an immigrant basher. What he is is a man who isn't afraid to ask tough questions of county governments about the costs of programs that support refugee resettlement programs.
First, in the interest of full disclosure, AJ is a friend of mine. She's also one of the smartest people I've met when it comes to education policy and a champion for true accountability. I've seen AJ demand accountability from people whether they're Republicans, Democrats or independents.
In AJ's latest column , she wrote about Mr. Branstner being chosen as a "divider who made a difference" by the Times' Editorial Board, saying that Branstner was simply a man who fought for increased transparency on the costs of the refugee resettlement program to taxpayers. Having tried to find out this information myself, it's clear that counties are about as transparent as a brick wall. That's especially true of Stearns County.
We still don't know how much money the tri-county area is spending on health programs, on education and other programs for these refugees. Since citizens are paying for it, they have a right to know how much they're spending on these programs. Thanks to Mr. Branstner's tenacity and insistence on transparency, citizens now have hope of finding out how much these programs cost.
Thanks to Mr. Branstner's tenacity, Mr. Said is accusing Mr. Branstner of hating Muslims. That's a despicable, baseless accusation. Period. The truth is that Mr. Branstner wants accountability in government.
Mr. Branstner doesn't deserve Said's criticism. He deserves our thanks.
Posted Thursday, January 14, 2016 12:54 AM
Comment 1 by jarrett at 14-Jan-16 06:49 AM
Said was actually throttled back with distance put between them by Unite Cloud as a whack job.
He is VERY GOOD for the opposition to unbridled Refugee Resettlement as such.
Comment 2 by Jethro at 14-Jan-16 08:58 AM
I heard Ron Branster speak last fall on refugee resettlement. He was knowledgeable, respectful, and showed absolutely no evidence of disliking refugees, immigrants or Muslims. The St. Cloud Times so called fact checking needs major improvement. Calling Ron a hater of Muslims is a false accusation. CAIR is being exposed for what it truly is and people are waking up.
Comment 3 by Chad Q at 14-Jan-16 10:31 AM
This is no different than people using the race card. If Mr. Said was really concerned about the programs that are helping refugees, you'd think he'd want to make sure there was transparency to make sure the money was being spent wisely.
Bigger schools, shrinking enrollment
When I wrote this post about the ISD 742 School Board's numbers on how much it would cost to fix Tech High School, I unintentionally omitted the enrollment figures for the district. The point of the article was to highlight the fallibility of the School Board's numbers. Specifically, I quoted Sarah Murphy's criticism of the repair cost figures.
Kevin Allenspach's article quotes Ms. Murphy as saying "Those numbers are really round, so it's hard to take them seriously." Rather than just criticizing the figures, Ms. Murphy and Claire VanderEyk, both Tech alumni and architects, got a bid on how much it would cost to fix Tech.
The ISD 742 School Board estimated the cost at between $85,750,000 and $96,750,000. The estimate put together for Ms. Murphy and Ms. VanderEyk was $15,696,000. That's a difference of more than $70,000,000. As terrible as those numbers are, that isn't the whole story. This St. Cloud Times article on open enrollment is just another nail in the School Board's bonding project coffin.
According to the School Board, the new Tech High School and the renovated Apollo High would have had an enrollment capacity of 1,800 students each. Here's what the Times' open enrollment article says:
The Sauk Rapids-Rice school district has seen a steady increase in the number of students open-enrolling from other districts. This fall, the district gained more than 500 students more than it lost to other districts. Almost a quarter of Sauk Rapids-Rice students aren't residents of the school district. On the flip side, the St. Cloud school district lost about 1,660 more students this year to other public school districts than it gained through open enrollment.
The combined enrollment at Tech and Apollo was 2,700+ students last year. The trend is declining enrollment. Taxpayers aren't out of line in questioning the School Board's decision to build a new school that's bigger than they need at a price nobody can afford.
It's important to remember that the School Board's price tag on a new Tech High School was $113.8 million. Compare that with Ms. Murphy's and Ms. VanderEyk's estimate to fix the existing Tech High School is $16,000,000. Additionally, the School Board's estimate of fixing Apollo was $46.5 million.
Why would anyone trust the School Board's figures for either project, especially given their proclivity for wild exaggerations? It's time to scrap the School Board's plan entirely. That doesn't mean we can afford to do nothing. That isn't an option. It just means we should fix what needs fixing at a price that's taxpayer friendly.
Posted Friday, January 15, 2016 8:46 AM
Comment 1 by Dave Steckling at 15-Jan-16 06:27 PM
1800 capacity new charter school to be operative by 2018; further 742 declining enrollment should follow. Eventually there will be adequate space among the various 742 buildings to comfortably house ALL grades. Back in the 1970's the junior high were grades 7-8-9. This could again be implemented so the existing high schools could accommodate more kids. Course the teachers union would not care for that.
Comment 2 by Jethro at 15-Jan-16 06:31 PM
Dave: Speaking of empty space, don't forget about the two empty dorms at SCSU and the $44 million empty ISELF science building thanks to President Potter. Only the best for St. Cloud taxpayers.
Comment 3 by Dave Steckling at 15-Jan-16 11:41 PM
CORRECTION: the new charter school will open this August with room for 800 students in K-6. Within three years 1200 capacity for K-8. Good idea Jethro, send some 742 to class at ISELF science equipped building.
Cruz vs. Trump, NY values edition
When Ted Cruz didn't criticize Donald Trump early in the campaign, conservatives, including myself, criticized him. Clearly, he had a well-thought out plan that he's started implementing this past week. When he started talking about Donald Trump's New York values, he must've known that Trump would attack viciously. When Trump invoked 9/11 during Thursday night's debate, Sen. Cruz politely applauded the heroism of 9/11 first responders, firefighters and police officers.
Charles Krauthammer said that that was a low point for Cruz. It's easy to conclude that if you're looking at it from a debate-only maneuver. The truth is that Sen. Cruz baited Trump into this fight. The truth is that it's a fight Trump can't win. I don't know that Cruz will win. Trump is hitting him hard, too. Still, Sen. Cruz is giving better than he's getting. Catherine Frazier, Sen. Cruz's campaign spokesperson, hinted that there's plenty more criticism heading in Trump's direction :
"The question is, do we want our future leadership to look like that of New York City's?" she said. "Where the government mandates how much soda you can drink, where it is illegal to protect yourself with a firearm, and where its elected officials say that people who value unborn life aren't welcome?"
"Or do we want our next president to embrace the values that get government our of the way, that reward hard work, that champion faith, family, and individual liberties?" Frazier continued. "There is no doubt that America wants more of the latter."
Sen. Cruz's ad, titled "Donald Trump on New York values - in his own words" uses Trump's statements against him:
Cruz and Trump have engaged in a scripted dance where each pretends to like the other. With the Iowa Caucuses 2 weeks away, both men are throwing uppercuts, not jabs. Until now, Trump has gotten away with being a New York liberal. Saturday on Twitter, TriciaNC attacked Trump this way:
Good Grief! You even supported Democrat Charlie Crist over @MarcoRubio http://patriotupdate.com/donald-trumps-donations-to-democrats/ : tcot
Later, she chimed in with this shot :
You became so #prolife that you donated to Right To Life groups instead of PP and NARAL, right? Oops, your bad
Rick Tyler, the senior communications advisor to Sen. Cruz's Jobs Growth and Freedom PAC, threw this shot at Trump :
In 2008, the Real Donald Trump gave $50,000 to the New York State Democratic Party #NYValues
Rick Tyler ?@rickwtyler The Real Donald Trump gave $41,000 to liberal Democrat Eliot Spitzer #NYValues
It's official. The floodgates have opened. Mr. Trump had better get used to a steady barrage of specific criticisms of how he's supported liberal politicians from Hillary Clinton to perverted former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Glenn Beck jumped into the fight with this tweet :
Amanda Carpenter jumped into the fight with this tweet :
Amanda Carpenter Who supported the big bank bailouts? Trump. Trump. Trump. Not Cruz
Trump's thin skin won't let him continue taking this pounding without responding. If people couple his thin skin with his financial support for Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation and his vote for President Obama in 2008, it isn't difficult to see Mr. Trump taking a sustained pounding. Lots of things can happen in the next 2 weeks.
Posted Sunday, January 17, 2016 7:26 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 17-Jan-16 08:24 AM
Let's hope a lot of things happen in the next few weeks because the US can handle another egotistical blowhard in office for another 4 years.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 17-Jan-16 03:46 PM
Chad, there are times when I question Trump's mental stability. I didn't attack him because I'm mean. I'm attacking him because he frightens me.
Trump's New York values?
Donald Trump's ego got the better of him yesterday when he took credit for the Iran hostage release . Mr. Trump should've quit while he was behind. Later, in a totally bizarre change of direction, Mr. Trump criticized the terms of the swap .
In other words, Trump criticized the prisoner swap that he took credit for. Is that an example of New York values? I could certainly make an argument that wanting it both ways happens to lots of northeastern liberals. Hillary's certainly tried having it both ways. Chris Christie supported strict gun control laws and Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court before categorically denying he'd supported either thing.
That's before talking about John Kerry's infamous "I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it" episode:
Only in the northeast would a person think that there's nothing wrong with wanting things both ways. In fact, I'm betting that Trump would have a hissy fit if people called him on it. I'd bet the proverbial ranch on it, in fact.
It's important that we take 2 things away from this. First, Mr. Trump didn't actually do anything. His ego is too big, though, to admit that he didn't have anything to do with the swap. Next, and more importantly, Mr. Trump's behavior is, putting it charitably, unhinged. What type of people talk out of both sides of their mouth, then criticize people for when they call him on his manic behavior?
Mr. Trump is acting this way before a single vote's been cast. Why shouldn't people think that he'll crack if he's ever the president when he has real responsibilities? Right now, he's just a loudmouthed candidate and former reality TV celebrity. If he's that out to lunch now, why shouldn't we think he'd crack when he's given legitimate responsibilities?
Posted Sunday, January 17, 2016 12:15 PM
No comments.
Is Trump's mind melting?
This entire campaign, Donald Trump has portrayed himself as an outside. It's a laughable statement but that's typical Trump. Trump is a DC outsider like an arsonist is a firefighter's best friend. In his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Trump said that Sen. Cruz is "a nasty guy." Trump's proof that Sen. Cruz is a nasty guy is that "Nobody in Congress likes him." Trump's other bit of proof that Sen. Cruz is a nasty guy is that "He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, 'Come on Ted. Let's go, okay.'"
That's what a man sounds like when he thinks he can say anything and get away with it. His proof that a competitor is a nasty guy is that his competitor "was so nice to me" and that "nobody in Washington" likes his competitor.
That's rich coming from a guy who's ripped everything in Washington from the minute he announced his campaign. The question that reporters should ask Mr. Trump is whether being hated by "everyone in Washington" or whether that's something to be proud of. Another question worth asking Mr. Trump is whether he should've taken the gloves off sooner. If Sen. Cruz is the nasty guy that Trump says he is, shouldn't he have criticized him before this?
We know that Mr. Trump isn't afraid to criticize people so that isn't why he didn't criticize Sen. Cruz. Further, we know that he's forever watching the polls. The minute anyone competes with him is the minute that Trump starts making things up about his opponent.
Finally, considering the fact that Trump's turned on pretty much everybody in the GOP, one wonders if he'll be able to get anything done if he's elected. The tax code needs a major overhaul. We need to end Obamacare and replace it with something that isn't that expensive. We need to wage war against career regulators who've been bought by the special interests, especially by environmental activists.
Posted Sunday, January 17, 2016 4:32 PM
No comments.
