July 1-5, 2014
Jul 01 06:15 Dayton's diatribe Jul 01 12:17 Obamacare's worst nightmare? Jul 02 04:16 Thus speaketh the emperor Jul 03 08:42 McFadden vs. Franken Jul 03 09:24 MNsure's next disaster Jul 03 10:39 DFL voter fraud exposed Jul 04 03:59 The Declaration's wisdom Jul 04 14:54 The Socialist Republic of International Falls? Jul 05 12:19 Censorship, 4th of July parade edition
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Dayton's diatribe
Based on Gov. Dayton's reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Harris v. Quinn lawsuit, there's little doubt but that he's got quite a temper. Check out his reaction to the ruling:
"By a 5-4 vote the court has voted to roll back the cause of civil rights in America," he said. "For decades the right to organize has been an accepted mainstream principle in American society. If people can't vote for themselves to decide if they want to join a union or not, that's just not democracy."
First, it's stunning that Gov. Dayton doesn't know the Constitution better than this. I'm including the text of the First Amendment for Gov. Dayton's peronal edification:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Specifically, when the First Amendment say that "Congress shall make no law" that infringes on the people' right to peaceably to assemble for the purpose of petitioning "Government for a redress of grievances", it means that the people get to decide who will represent them.
Second, the government, whether at the local, state or federal level, has the right to tell private sector employers that they're really public sector employees. How dare Gov. Dayton assume that a legislature has the right to reclassify these small businesses as public sector employees. That's the business owners' right. Period.
Ken Martin got more than a little upset, too:
But Ken Martin, the chair of Minnesota's DFL Party, said the decision was devastating.
"The Harris v. Quinn decision diminishes the ability of unions to work with American workers. It's devastating to think that the gains for wages, benefits and working conditions made by unions during the last century will be jeopardized," Martin said.
There's no question that this is a stinging defeat for AFSCME and the SEIU. That being said, it isn't the end of collective bargaining, which is what Martin is hinting at. Harris v. Quinn simply says that the government can't tell business owners that they're public employees.
AFSCME definitely didn't lose the right to negotiate collective bargaining agreements for correction officers, EMTs or sanitation workers . SEIU Local 26 definitely didn't lose the right to negotiate on behalf of Minnesota's Property Services Union .
I strongly suspect that Gov. Dayton's and Chairman Martin's statements are meant more to distract union workers from the DFL's division on mining. By highlighting this, the DFL is hoping Iron Rangers will forget about mining and focus on union solidarity.
Posted Tuesday, July 1, 2014 6:15 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 02-Jul-14 04:27 PM
Gary:
I think you missed a big point which Governor Dayton has missed. There are thousands of Minnesota Daycare workers who have said loud and clear, "I don't want to be part of this union" and yet Governor Dayton who made a comment that people need to vote to decide. What Governor Dayton and AFSCME wants is even though they are voting I don't want to join they will have to join! How is that Democracy?
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 03-Jul-14 01:17 AM
Walter, I didn't miss anything. It wasn't the focus of the article. I don't want to make these posts too long, which means I have to make decisions on content. That's the choice I made.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 03-Jul-14 02:52 PM
Gary the way I read the post you were talking about how governor Dayton didn't care that these people said they aren't government workers and shouldn't have the union interferring with their businesses. The quote I was trying to highlight was the governor while claiming that a vote to create the union should take place out right ignores that he has turned a deaf ear to those business owners since he in effect is saying I don't care what you think you are!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Obamacare's worst nightmare?
Jonathan Turley's LATimes op-ed makes quite the compelling case that the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is about to rule on a lawsuit that might permanently cripple the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare:
The D.C. Circuit Court is expected to rule any day now on the Halbig case, and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are growing nervous. In January, an Obamacare advocate described the Halbig case to a reporter for the Hill as "probably the most significant existential threat to the Affordable Care Act. All the other lawsuits that have been filed really don't go to the heart of the ACA, and this one would have." And in a fraught oral argument before the D.C. Circuit Court, the administration seemed to struggle to defend its interpretation.
Here's why Halbig v. Burwell is potentially lethal to Obamacare:
The Halbig case challenges the massive federal subsidies in the form of tax credits made available to people with financial need who enroll in the program. In crafting the act, Congress created incentives for states to set up health insurance exchanges and disincentives for them to opt out. The law, for example, made the subsidies available only to those enrolled in insurance plans through exchanges "established by the state."
But despite that carrot, and to the great surprise of the administration, some 34 states opted not to establish their own exchanges, leaving it to the federal government to do so. This left the White House with a dilemma: If only those enrollees in states that created exchanges were eligible for subsidies, a huge pool of people would be unable to afford coverage, and the entire program would be in danger of collapse.
Despite the Left's histrionics over yesterday's rulings, this is the one that frightens them. The ACA, aka Obamacare, has a hardship provision in it that exempts people from the ACA if they can't afford it. Without these federal subsidies, people of modest means couldn't afford qualified health plan, aka QHPs. It isn't a stretch to think that many of the people fitting into that category would opt not to buy health insurance altogether.
If that happens, everyone else's insurance premiums would spike higher. Obamacare's supporters know that that would be the first step onto a slippery slope that the ACA couldn't recover from.
Democrats like President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi wouldn't agree with what I'm about to say but here goes anyway: it's time to start over with health care reform. It's time to give people more options where they choose which coverages they need. Government needs to get out of the business of telling families what they need.
Government telling people what they need for health insurance is like settling for a mainframe in your house when you could buy an iPad from a discount website. Mainframes were useful...about 30 years ago. Today? Not so much. Ditto with government-dictated health insurance coverages.
Posted Tuesday, July 1, 2014 12:17 PM
Comment 1 by Gretchen Leisen at 02-Jul-14 05:23 PM
Thanks for this explanation of the H-B case. I did not understand the significance or the specifics of it.
Thus speaketh the emperor
When it comes to presidential arrogance, President Obama sits atop Mount Olympus. After the Supreme Court slapped him down on making recess appointments, DC pundits speculated whether President Obama would display a little humility. I knew that he isn't given to humility. Further, I know that he doesn't give a damn about the Constitution. This video shows that he doesn't respect the greatest governing document devised in the history of mankind:
Here's part of what President Obama said:
And this obstruction keeps the system rigged for those who are doing fine a the very top. It prevents us from helping more middle class families. And as long as they insist on taking no action whatsoever to help anybody, I'm going to keep taking actions on my own to help the middle class, like the actions I've already taken to speed up construction projects, attract new manufacturing jobs and lift workers' wages. It helps students pay off their student loans. And they criticize me for this. Boehner sued me for this. And I told him I'd rather do things when you pass some laws. Make sure the Highway Trust Fund is funded so we don't have to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers. It's not that hard.
That's just part of the speech. Frankly, I couldn't take more of President Obama's imperial tone. First, that minute of his speech is riddled with lies, starting with him saying that Speaker Boehner having sued him. It's true that Speaker Boehner announced that he'll sue President Obama but it wasn't because President Obama took action to "speed up construction projects."
Frankly, the legislative branch doesn't have the authority to "speed up construction projects." Only the executive branch can speed up the bid-letting process.
Speaker Boehner's lawsuit will be focused on President Obama's insistence that he be able to rewrite laws that he's signed without working with Congress. That's what I'd expect of Third World dictators, not the president of the United States.
That's before talking about President Obama's supposed actions that "help the middle class." Mr. President, where's the proof that your policies have helped the middle class? Economic growth was weak for 5 years before tanking the last quarter. Longterm unemployment is the highest it's been since the Carter administration. Most of the jobs being created are part-time jobs.
That's before talking about President Obama's war on coal, oil and natural gas, not to mention the war he's waging against states like Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. That's before talking about how higher electricity prices are hurting states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota and the Rust Belt states.
Mr. President, where's the proof that you've done anything that's helped the middle class?
President Obama's policies aren't great policies. If he was smart like Bill Clinton, which he isn't, he'd co-opt the Republicans' ideas. Instead, he insists that his ideas are the only legitimate ideas being offered. That's laughable. He's offering more of the same ideas that've failed the middle class for the past 6 years.
The only short-term option left for the American people is to elect a Republican majority in the Senate so things can get done. We've seen how obstructionist Harry Reid's been in the Senate. That recipe has failed. Let's see if changing the dynamics changes the results.
Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We've been stuck in the Democrats' obstructionist rut for the last 4 years. It's time to change directions. That's the only way we'll break out of this stagnation.
Originally posted Wednesday, July 2, 2014, revised 03-Jul 1:19 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 02-Jul-14 10:31 AM
I would like to engage in a bit of speculation. If (PLEASE, Lord) Republicans gain a majority in the US Senate, and they and the Republican House start to move the good legislation that Harry Reid has been blocking, is Obama smart enough (or stupid enough), cocky enough, and ambitious enough to veto everything? Does he care enough about doing his job to do anything at all? And if he DOES veto everything, how long can he keep it up, successfully, before Democrats decide to go along with what's right instead of with a lame duck President?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 02-Jul-14 11:35 AM
The entire idea behind getting that majority is to push legislation onto President Obama's desk. Further, yes, he's arrogant enough to think that he can get away with it.
One thing that I'll add is that having Mitch McConnell as leader is a plus for Republicans because he's good at getting things done. I'm not saying he's a conservative. I'm just saying that he's good at getting things done.
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 02-Jul-14 04:18 PM
Lets not forget as part of the thoughts both J and Gary are expressing because the US Senate has been run by Democrats for all six years Obama hasn't had to veto a single bill! Harry Reid just kills any bill that he and Obama doesn't like.
That's part of the frustration of the House can't do anything right now, because Harry Reid and unfortunately a couple of Republicans in the US Senate cooperate to kill any good bills.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by Gretchen Leisen at 02-Jul-14 05:18 PM
Great blog, Gary. One of my pet peeves is that polls say that the Congress is the least popular branch of government, and I think many people assume that means the GOP branch., and blame them for obstructionism. If they were a bit more educated they would realize: [1] Congress has two branches, House and Senate; and [2] the Senate is run by liberal Democrats with Harry Reid as it's chief judge and executioner of any GOP bills from the House. The American people need to give the Senate a big enema this coming November.
ps: I think your second sentence was meant to read 'recess' appointments, not 'resource' appointments.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 03-Jul-14 01:20 AM
You're right, Gretchen. I meant recess appointments. It's been fixed.
The Declaration's wisdom
On this day in 1776, men of great integrity gave us an incredible gift. On July 4, 1776, they gave us the Declaration of Independence. Though it's 238 years old, we're still benefiting from these men's wisdom. They suffered greatly to turn that declaration into reality. This society will be hurt, though, if we don't appreciate what they gave us. Let's look at the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence :
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
What these incredible men gave this nation is a system of government that prevents another man from becoming our king, legislature and judge.
Eventually, another group of great men wrote our Constitution. The principles listed in the Declaration of Independence became the pillars upon which the Constitution was written. When the Constitution was written, it created 3 co-equal branches of government, the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. They were seperated so nobody could become ultimate ruler.
Later in the Declaration of Independence, they listed their grievances. Here are some of the most noteworthy grievances:
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
Because of these usurpations, this nation's Founding Father understsood the importance of creating an independent judiciary, a legislature to write laws and a president that is accountable to We The People in executing those laws. They understood that presidents should respect the fact that they are given their "just powers from the consent of the governed."
That's the system they created. Unfortunately, we've had to deal with corrupt presidents from time to time. This is one of those times. Fortunately, the Founding Fathers gave us a system to deal with these situations. This week and last, the courts pushed back against this corrupt president.
The final paragraph of the Declaration is telling, too:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
This Declaration emphatically said that this nation would be based on the belief that these states would be free and independent, that each of the states had the authority to wage war and negotiate the terms of the cessation of war and to sign treaties with other nations. In the minds of the Founding Fathers, each of the states was its own sovereign nation. In fact, when the Revolutionary War ended, France recognized each of the states as a sovereign nation.
These principles were so important to the Founding Fathers that they pledged their lives, their considerable fortunnes and their sacred honor in fighting for these principles.
Had they lost the war, the signatories understood that they'd be tried and convicted of treason, which would likely be followed by their execution. Despite that risk, they said they'd rather fight for the blessings of liberty than living under King George III's tyranical government.
Thank God they made the right choice.
Posted Friday, July 4, 2014 3:59 AM
No comments.
McFadden vs. Franken
Most of the political handicappers think Mike McFadden faces an uphill fight against Al Franken. That's a fair opinion. McFadden doesn't have the name recognition that Franken does. On the positive side, he doesn't have Al Franken's record of voting with President Obama 100% of the time.
This Bloomberg article isn't an in-depth article on the race but it's worth reading. Here's what they think Franken's strategy will be:
Franken, 63, already is drawing a contrast between himself and McFadden's financial ties. He released an ad last week touting his 'fight against Wall Street' that highlighted his 2010 effort to create an independent board to oversee the credit rating of financial products. 'Wall Street wasn't happy about that, but I don't work for them, I work for you,' Franken says in the ad.
Most Minnesotans think that Franken was talking to them when he said "I work for you." He wasn't. He's always worked for the special interests that fund Democrats. Franken's campaign website doesn't mention the environment or mining. That's more than a little interesting.
Franken's silence is fueled by his hope that Iron Range voters don't notice that he isn't fighting for them. He's hoping that they don't notice that he's repeatedly and steadfastly supported the environmentalists' agenda. He's hoping they won't notice that he hasn't lifted a finger to make the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects a reality.
"The Democrats are going to try and nail McFadden as the incarnation of a Wall Street fat cat, as they did with Mitt Romney,' Jacobs said.
Republicans, he added, 'are going to paint Al Franken as President Obama's handmaiden in passing Obamacare,' referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that the senator supported.
There's no question but that Sen. Franken staunchly supports the ACA, aka Obamacare. On his campaign website, he says more needs to be done "to bring Minnesota's tradition of quality, affordable care to the rest of the country." The ACA isn't a step towards bringing Minnesota's health care innovation to the nation. It's a step in the opposite direction of it. I wrote this article to highlight MNsure's failings:
This morning, in an exclusive interview with Examiner.com, Plombon went into detail about what's happening with insurance premiums. What Mr. Plombon said is that some people who get their insurance through the small group market are renewing their policies. Thus far, Advantage 1 has seen these clients' premiums increase from as 'little' as 30% to as much as 106%.
Sen. Franken can't afford to have statistics like this getting out because they're proof that the ACA is a total failure. MNsure is Obamacare in Minnesota. If McFadden repeatedl highlights these statistics this fall, Franken will have some explaining to do.
This strategy might bite Franken:
Franken declined to be interviewed, both in person and through a spokeswoman.
Why didn't Franken grant the interview? Wasn't he confident enough to face some simple questions? Is he trying to run out the clock without saying something stupid? Candidates that hide don't often win. It isn't like Franken's got a commanding lead in this fight. According to the KSTP-SurveyUSA poll , Franken only has a 48%-42% lead over McFadden. That's tight, especially considering the fact that Republicans haven't hit him hard with anything yet.
This race will tighten. It will be competitive. Franken has plenty to worry about. More on that later today.
Posted Thursday, July 3, 2014 8:42 AM
No comments.
MNsure's next disaster
There's no question that MNsure will be a liability for the DFL this fall. The only question is whether the damage will be disastrous or fatal. This article tips the needle more towards fatal:
About 16,000 Minnesotans who applied for Medical Assistance through MNsure are still without health insurance, some caught in limbo for as long as six months.
State officials said Wednesday that letters notifying consumers of problems with their original insurance applications never got sent out. That mistake meant consumers didn't realize they still had to provide crucial information before they could get coverage.
'It was a serious error on our part of not being more on top of understanding that process, and having the oversight in place,' said Deputy Commissioner Chuck Johnson of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
The process, which was intended to be fully automated, still relies on one of the many manual workarounds holding the MNsure system together. An upgrade toLeitzthe MNsure system later this month is expected to fully automate the process.
Forgive me for being skeptical but I won't believe this upgrade will work until it's working flawlessly. People shouldn't expect MNsure to be anything except a failure. MNsure is already guaranteed to be a mess again this fall:
During the assessment, 47 of the 73 sub-functions addressed were found either to be absent or not functioning as expected. Six of the 73 sub-functions could be considered for implementation post-open enrollment. The remaining 41 sub-functions need to be provided for the 2015 Open Enrollment either through changes/enhancements to the systems or through contingent means.
Last year, the MNsure meltdown was the top story in Minnesota. MNsure CEO Scott Leitz said that last year's failure was because they didn't have enough time to build MNsure. When MNsure fails again this fall, what will Leitz's excuse be?
Those were messes that MNsure knew about but hadn't fixed. This new article is a mess that we didn't know about until today. That 16,000 Minnesotanss who applied for Medical Assistance were uninsured is proof of Gov. Dayton's and Leitz's incompetence. This is totally unacceptable.
When Gov. Dayton took office, Minnesota was an innovator in health care. Now, it's a disaster. When the DFL took over the legislature, Minnesota's health care system was working well. Now, it's a total disaster. There's no question that we didn't have these problems before Obamacare/MNsure. There's no question that we didn't have these problems when Gov. Pawlenty was governor. And there's no question that we didn't have these problems when we had a GOP majority in the legislature.
Gov. Dayton wants people to believe that he's moving Minnesota in the right direction. MNsure is proof positive that he's moving Minnesota in the opposite direction. He's made terrible policy decisions. MNsure is proof of that. He's frequently admitted that he didn't know important things about the bills he's signed. He didn't know that the Vikings were allowed to sell personal seat licenses. He supposedly didn't know that the tax bill included a farm implement repair sales tax in the tax bill he supposedly negotiated. He allegedly didn't know that the revenues from e-pulltabs would fall disastrously short of paying the State's share of the Vikings stadium bill.
When Gov. Dayton hurts farmers and the working poor, it's time for a change. That time is this November. There's no excuse for this much incompetence.
Posted Thursday, July 3, 2014 9:24 AM
No comments.
DFL voter fraud exposed
According to this article , the DFL, specifically Phyllis Kahn's attorney, is admittig that voter fraud exists:
And that same day, Kahn campaign attorney Brian Rice filed a petition with Hennepin County calling into question the voter registrations of about 140 people at a single address in the Minneapolis district. Hennepin County officials are preparing to perform an inquiry based on allegations in the petition.
According to the document, which provides a list of people who have registered their residence as 419 Cedar Avenue South in Minneapolis, that address is a mailbox facility. Apartments above the building that make up multiple addresses don't contain any of the same names in their registry as those who are registered to vote at the address. It is illegal under Minnesota law for voters to cast a ballot outside of the districts they live in, and a voter registration must include a person's place of residence as the listed address. 'People have to be registered where they live, and you can't live in a mailbox,' Rice said in an interview with Capitol Report. 'You can't register out of a mailbox and vote in Minnesota.'
This is delicious irony. For years, DFL demagogues insisted that voter fraud didn't exist. They'd insist that Minneosta's electio system was the gold standard for the nation. They'd insist that the recounts were proof of Minnesota's great system.
Now that its ox that's getting gored, however, the DFL is admitting that voter fraud exists. Brian Rice is right about the law. The people that registered to vote with this address are ineligible to vote. Period. The law is exceptioally clear. I say this without knowing how many of these registrants voted for Phyllis Kahn or Mohamud Noor. I say this without knowing what the outcome of the primary will be.
It's irrelevant becaues the law is pretty straightforward. It isn't ambiguous. It's fair. If a candidate can't win by obeying the rules, they don't deserve to win.
This incident is proof that the DFL a) knew voter fraud existed, b) didn't mind voter fraud as long as Republicans were the ones getting hurt and c) didn't hesitate in lying in 2012 about the Photo ID amendment on the Minnesota ballot.
Now that we have proof positive that voter fraud exists and it's hurting a DFL candidate, will the DFL finally admit that we need to tighten up our voting requirements? I'm betting against it. The DFL benefits from voter fraud more than it's hurt by it. The only thing that'll change things is if voters get fed up with voter fraud and elect legislators and a governor who support election reform.
That won't happen with the DFL controlling the House or the Senate or if there's a Democrat as governor. They're the party that benefits from voter fraud. They're corrupt enough to care only about winning. They're the party that doesn't care about disenfranchising legal voters.
That won't change anytime soon.
Posted Thursday, July 3, 2014 10:39 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 04-Jul-14 12:33 PM
Gary:
It should be obvious the first thing that the Republican Secretary of State candidate should be talking about when he or she makes their campaign appearances.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
The Socialist Republic of International Falls?
I just got a call from Terry Stone, who drove the Eric Nelson campaign van in the parade in International Falls. He said that the director of the parade, Kevin Adee, kicked a disabled veteran out of the parade for diplaying all the votes Rick Nolan has cast against veterans. Charlie Makidon drove up to International Falls from Brainerd to campaign against Nolan.
Makidon spent $160 on literature to hand out to the parade-goers. Makidon had done his research. The lit pieces listed the bill numbers that Nolan voted on. They showed Nolan voting repeatedly against veterans. It's obvious that Mr. Makidon is a serious man.
When Terry heard what was happening, he asked Adee why he'd tossed Mr. Makidon's vehicle from the parade. Adee replied that "a decision had to be made" because it was "a family event." Terry replied that "the Constitution is a family thing, too."
In our conversation, Terry said "Apparently, the First Amendment's protection doesn't quite extend all the way to the Canadian Border" before noting that "political speech is the highest form of protected speech." I replied that I agreed with that before saying that I'm certain that King George III probably didn't want the Declaration of Independence published, either.
There's more to this story that I'll be tracking as the weekend progresses. I just wanted to get this to press ASAP.
UPDATE : Here's a picture of Charlie Makidon's War Wagon:
Originally posted Friday, July 4, 2014, revised 06-Jul 3:31 PM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 05-Jul-14 07:59 AM
In my limited experience, that's a pretty standard parade rule. Politicians are entitled, and many do, to engage in great "orations" in the public square, but a parade is a different thing and might turn a celebratory mood, for the kids, into ugly politicking, and it makes good sense to me. I think most politicians are used to it and agree with it. It's done for the name recognition, not issue advocacy or negatives about your opponent.
Comment 2 by Dave Hoffman at 05-Jul-14 08:15 AM
@JEwing - you've got to be kidding. Are you going to relegate dissenting speech to a specific area? Why can't anyone confront politicians on the lies and votes that they take? I am very proud of this guy who did the research and can properly present the actual voting record of the candidate and then let people decide for them selves. It is also my position that children and young adults need to understand that there are different sides to the issues and it's good to present them both for debate. By disagreeing with you "did I hurt your feelings???"
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 05-Jul-14 10:48 AM
Jerry, Politicking happens at parades all the time. This decision shouldn't have been made. Period. The First Amendment sometimes causes heartburn for politicians. I'm totally fine with that. Adee's decision is indefensible. Thankfully, this firestorm is just getting started.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 05-Jul-14 11:27 AM
Forgive me for asking, but a couple of questions need to be asked here and this can be applied to Gary's follow ups.
One, who was the official organizer of the parade? This is the people who ran the parade.
Two, did the official organizer of the parade set any rules on what could be displayed on a float or a car?
Three, and this still isn't clear to me since I assume the person wasn't offically associated with the campaign was did he has a permit to have his car in the parade?
Yes political stuff happens at parades all of the time, but usually the parade organizers have set up in front the rules to be obeyed if you wanted to be part of the parade.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 05-Jul-14 12:01 PM
Walter, I'm still digging into who the official organizer is.
Second, whether they set rules or not is irrelevant because setting up rules, at least in this case, was intended to silence free speech, which the First Amemdment explicitly prohibits.
If the entire nation isn't a free speech zone, then the First Amendment is useless.
Third, if you're asking about Mr. Makidon, he was just a private citizen who had submitted his application to participate in the parade. His application, from what I can tell, was accepted.
Finally, organizers can't set up rules that prohibit free political speech because that's a violation of the Bill of Rights.
Comment 5 by J. Ewing at 05-Jul-14 08:32 PM
Mr. Makidon, forgive me for any offense. Thank you for your service and I applaud your initiative, but I still do not see it your way, as a clear free speech issue. You were very clearly advocating against a candidate, and doing so in a negative fashion. What is supposed to be happening at these parades is a celebration, not criticism. For years, we've followed similar rules here locally about what we can and cannot hand out from the parade. And politically speaking, Politicians get appreciated for appearing and for throwing candy for the kiddos, and Dis-appreciated if they engage in open (especially negative) politicking on this "festive" occasion.
That said, I don't know how I or anybody else would have ruled on your float, because you are not the candidate, accusing the opposition. But anything you can do to get rid of Rick Nolan is good by me. Thanks for stepping up.
Comment 6 by J. Ewing at 06-Jul-14 10:22 AM
Again, thank YOU. But Nolan is your fight, not mine, and I'm very happy you are on the job. Wasn't it John Kerry that never released a proper DD-214?
Comment 7 by walter hanson at 06-Jul-14 11:46 AM
Charlie:
For starters I was responding to a comment Gary had made about parades being political. Keep in mind since some parades are setup to be for a specific thing the organizers of the parade might ask for limits on people if they want to take part. That is one reason why Saint Patrick Day parades have content disputes since the organizers say the parade is to honor the Irish and gay groups in large liberal cities want to be in the parade more to display gay pride than Irish pride. Thus if this parade was setup to honor the fourth of July you probably meant that criteria quite easily based on what you described your float was. I wasn't trying to say anything about specifically what you were trying to do.
Based on what you said and maybe that you can clarify this for me:
One, the city of International Falls was officially running the parade.
Two, it sounds like you had to ask in advance for permission to be in the parade thus to use your term "lineup number" It sounds like and forgive me if I'm wrong that you had basically been granted permission to be in the parade and after you had made the effort and expense to be there the mayor said you can't be in the parade. This even though apparently you had never been given anything by the city of International Falls in advance to say what you can't do if you were allowed to be in the parade.
I personally think you should file a law suit against International Falls for a billion dollars since you were denied your proper place in the parade because they thought you were doing political things which they didn't say you couldn't do in advance.
Keep up your work of showing American pride and helping our vets including my Dad who is heaven now.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 8 by walter hanson at 06-Jul-14 07:22 PM
Charlie:
First of all one reason why I do this is I think if somebody does something wrong they have to be stood up to. In this case you're being told sorry you can't be in the parade just because you have what some people might think is a political message.
Second, my dad if he was alive and heard about this will be steaming mad! Trying to get you and by my trying to stand up to Mr. Adee will be something that he will want to encourage you to do.
Third, you should pursue some type of legal action against who officially organized the parade. Keep in mind parades (and I've been involved in trying to pull one off in the past) don't just happen on a spur of the moment. They have to ask for police to rope off roads for example. They have to ask for special clean up efforts. The parade might need a permit to pay for these expenses. If there is an official structure in your case you were calling people and there was a Mr. Adee (the only reason why I was calling him Mayor was the reading of post that I did I thought it was an International Falls official who did this to you) who thought he had some power on it was run. Pursuing the legal action I suggest will help clarify exactly who Mr. Adee is and what he thought gave him that power to kick you out. Pursuing a legal action will also expose what went wrong so you can't have this happen to you again (and apparently you have been in other parades with no dispute)
Four, keep in mind while you claim that you have no political agenda your own float has a comment, "Veterans don't let veterans vote for Rick Nolan" That is a political statement no matter how you want to try to spin it!
Five, yes I do have a political agenda here since I'm from Minneapolis. I am harmed by the acts that the Democrats in Congress can do to me. If this helps get rid of Rick Nolan and for example if Al Franken can be dragged into trying to defend Nolan on this it might help defeat him I'm for that!
Six, I think what you're doing is wonderful and if there is something I can to do try to support it I will like to know.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 9 by walter hanson at 07-Jul-14 12:55 AM
Charlie:
Um have you even bothered to have a read a word I have written?
Okay who am I? I'm a 53 year old man whose father was a world war II veteran. He taught me that if something is wrong you're suppose to stand up and fight for what is right.
I also love history. I've read a lot of military history so I'm sad that schools today don't want to teach the true history of what previous veterans did. Like what happened in Vietnam since your float is an effort to remind people of the bad treatment given to Vietnam veterans.
Now let me ask you a serious question. I've been taught that one reason why the veterans had to go and fight in wars was to preserve the rights we were given in the constitution? IS THAT WRONG? That didn't happen at all? Are you saying that I don't have the right even though there is a constitution of the United States of America to say something is right or wrong?
Now you seem to think that just because I live in Minneapolis and I wasn't there on July 4th that I shouldn't express an opinion on what happened. One reason why I'm concerned (and it seems like you don't see the danger of it happening) is that you can go to Hibbing for example where a Miss Smith can do the exact same thing that Mr. Adee did to you! If you don't want Miss Smith in Hibbing or Mr. Jones in Virginia to do this to you a piece of advice which you seem to be ignoring because you don't like the size of my nose is that you have to fight back against Mr. Adee right now!
Your attitude is that since it didn't effect me I shouldn't act at all. In the 1930's there was a man by the name of Hitler and he had organization called the Nazi party working for him. A lot of citizens didn't even bother to protest because at the time they were only burning some books of other people, or they were giving Jews a hard time, and other little things that didn't affect most Germans lives. As long as it wasn't that particular person they didn't have to worry! Do you have any idea how many millions of people eventually died because the German people were willing to put up with a bunch of little things like not being able to drive their float in a parade?
You said that I don't respect veterans. I respect veterans especially because my dad was one! I respect veterans because I understand the history of the conflicts that they had to fight in.
I think Gary will freak out if I actually put my address down. I think I have told you enough to show you that I truly want to help you and I'm trying to show support for you which you're attacking after the horrible behavior Mr. Adee gave you.
I CERTAINLY HAVE JUST AS MUCH RESPECT IF NOT MORE RESPECT FOR VETERANS THAN YOU DO!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 10 by walter hanson at 07-Jul-14 03:05 PM
Charlie:
My Dad is rolling over in his grave in anger with the way you're treating me. For example I have said the things that I stood for here. You mean I don't have the right that if Congressman Nolan isn't helping Veterans to try to express hey Nolan should be voted out for not helping veterans (something which your float wants).
My only political agendas if you want me to be crystal clear on this are:
One, somebody treated you wrong and they shouldn't have done that. I have tried to support you on that. I have tried to point out hey there are things that Mr. Adee would've needed to back up his decision to kick you out.
Two, hey if this can happen in International Falls it can happen in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Golden Valley, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, and I can keep listing local cities where I am. so if you happen to make a fuss then it might not happen down here. Shouldn't I care about that?
Three, my life will be better off if I can help elect Republicans to Congress from other districts which can offset the vote of my so called Representative Keith Ellison. so something that can help kick out Rick Nolan and help Stewart Mills get elected is something good for me no matter how you want to spin.
Four, I'm not trying to embarrass you (though you're doing a good job of that on your own). I was trying to offer you moral support which you don't want and advice which you don't want.
Just curious since you're a veteran why are you saying that I don't have the right to say something is wrong even though you think I'm wrong? Are you saying that I should've just say "Go Mr. Adee! Keep up that good work you did!!" Because by staying silent that is the message that I'm sending to Mr. Adee.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Censorship, 4th of July parade edition
Yesterday, I wrote this post about how Kevin Adee, the parade organizer for the International Falls 4th of July Parade, wouldn't let Charlie Makidon, a disabled veteran, participate in International Falls' parade. In that post, I mentioned Mr. Makidon's lit piece that he wanted to distribute. Here is the front of Mr. Makidon's lit piece:
Here's the other side of Mr. Makidon's lit piece:
Since writing that first post, I found out that Mr. Makidon was the commander of the Disabled American Veterans chapter in St. Paul, MN from 2004-05.
I don't know if Adee is supporting Nolan officially but I can say with certainty that he ran interference for Rick Nolan by not letting Mr. Makidon participate in yesterday's parade.
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Mr. Makidon spent $160 getting those lit pieces made. That's before driving to International Falls from the Brainerd Lakes area.
Terry Stone, the Chairman of the Koochiching County Republican Party, got it right when he said "I guess the First Amendment's protections don't extend all the way to the Canadian border."
That's the sad truth. It's also infuriating.
Finally, check out this article , which I wrote about the incident for Examiner.
Posted Saturday, July 5, 2014 12:19 PM
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