July 25-26, 2012
Jul 25 01:08 Zellers endorses Pugh in GOP primary Jul 25 01:29 To Rep. Thissen Jul 25 09:05 Unlocking Shale: what's truth, what's fiction? Jul 25 10:20 Priorities USA ad bombs Jul 25 12:24 Team Romney, election integrity and voter registration fraud Jul 26 00:33 Is Chip Cravaack's seat safe? Jul 26 08:21 Page Gardner's obfuscation Jul 26 09:12 July Bleg Jul 26 23:53 What is Tarryl Clark fighting for?
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Zellers endorses Pugh in GOP primary
Steve Smith has apparently worn out his welcome in the House GOP Caucus:
Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers announced today that he's backing Cindy Pugh over Rep. Steve Smith, R-Mound, in the August 14 primary. On his Facebook page, Zellers said he was backing Pugh because she "will represent the conservative values of the district."
"On important issues like education, government reform and protecting child care providers from forced unionization, I know where Cindy stands. She stands with students, with taxpayers and with families. She isn't someone who is going to let a special interest push her around."
"Cindy is a true conservative, and she's proven it through her years working on behalf of conservatives as a party and local volunteer. She is endorsed by the Republican Party, and is going to stand up for what is right, limited government, lower taxes and economic freedom. A vote for Cindy is a vote for the principles that make us conservative."
Smith's biggest sin is that he hasn't listened to his constituents. In a deep red district, Smith has voted like Ron Earhardt or Arne Carlson. Meanwhile, Cindy Pugh is a solid conservative, a reliable vote for economic liberty and limited government.
Ms. Pugh's website provides a glimpse into her agenda:
I have been an entrepreneur, a successful small business owner, and was the general manager of the downtown St. Paul Dayton's store for many years. I became politically active a few years ago because I didn't feel our elected officials were defending the values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, free markets and individual liberty and responsibility.
My top priorities as a legislator will be to foster job creation by reducing taxes and burdensome regulations on businesses, to keep spending in check with existing revenue, and to return meaningful control of public schools to parents and local school boards.
It's time for the people to have a champion for their causes. It's time to defeat a career politician who isn't representing his district.
Tags: RINO , Steve Smith , Conservative , Cindy Pugh , Kurt Zellers , GOP , Primary
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2012 1:08 AM
Comment 1 by MplsSteve at 25-Jul-12 09:27 AM
My first question is: What took Zellers so long to make an endorsement? What was he waiting for? To see which way the winds were blowing before making his choice?
I wish I could link this YouTube video to this story - but I'm at work and can't. But go to that website and you can find a 12 minute video interview of Steve Smith by the Lake Minnetonka Cable Commission.
In that interview, he essentially refers to the 2010 class of House freshmen as "ideologues", attempt to defend his vote for the Vikings stadium in a most phony way and at the end encourages Democrats to cross over and vote for him in the primary. He goes on to state that the GOP caucus never really tried to reach out and compromise with Governor Dayton.
This video alone should serve as sufficient grounds for his defeat in the primary.
Last weekend, I drove out from Minneapolis to Mound to help Dave Osmek in his campaign for state senate. Dave is running against Connie Doepke, another GOP House member with a record of bad votes. Pugh's people were right ahead of us. They were pumped up and well-organized. They look ready to win.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 25-Jul-12 10:26 AM
Steve, Thanks for that GOTV information. It sounds like motivated people matter in elections because they're the ones that actually show up, knock on doors, put up signs, write checks, etc. It sounds like Osmek & Pugh have those supports, Doepke and Smith don't.
My message to Doepke and Smith is simple. Good riddance.
Comment 2 by MplsSteve at 25-Jul-12 04:57 PM
Gary, I can't speak with Smith's campaign but I have heard that Doepke is well-funded.
She gets money from the Lake Minnetonka Chamber Of Commerce/Twin West PAC crowd. You know the type of people I'm talking about. She also transferred money from her House account in preparation for her Senate bid.
On Facebook and on Free Republic, I've been trying to get people riled up about Osmek's and Pugh's races. Both Osmek and Pugh are working hard. Ask Osmek. He's lost over 20 pounds since the race started. But money will also take a candidate a long way as well.
I've written some checks to both candidates and every weekend, have driven from right in Minneapolis out to Mound and Wayzata. Both campaigns need more cash and more volunteers.
This race is not solely about the Tea Party vs the country club GOP. It's about electing officials who'll do what they say and who won't turn around and kick the base in the butt every free chance they get. That's what Doepke and Smith (an by association, Jim Abeler and Rod Hamilton) have done.
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 25-Jul-12 06:42 PM
Keep doing what you're doing Steve. You're doing the Lord's work.
If there's a lesson we should take from 2010, it's that money isn't the deciding factor. Just ask Chip Cravaack.
To Rep. Thissen
Rep. Thissen, You've flapped your gums the last 2 years. You've insisted that small businesses aren't creating enough jobs and aren't paying their fair share of taxes.
The one thing you haven't done is explain how annual bonding bills will create permanent jobs that help people who aren't construction workers. Another thing you didn't explain is how $1,400,000,000 worth of tax increases would convince entrepreneurs to put their money at risk.
I wish those were the only questions I had for you, Sen. Bakk and Gov. Dayton but they aren't.
- Why should people trust the DFL when they spent $188,000 on redistricting hardware, software and staff, then refused to put together a set of maps?
- Why should people think that the DFL has a clue about creating longlasting jobs when they won't even put a simple budget together?
- Why should people think that the DFL won't spend their money recklessly if they're given the gavels of leadership?
If you refuse to think in terms of helping people achieve prosperity, there's no reason for people to let the DFL have their gavels back. The GOP legislature made great strides the last 2 years. They started with a $6,200,000,000 deficit and finished this session with a $1,300,000,000 surplus. They did that without raising taxes, too.
They had an ambitious reform agenda, too. First, they passed permitting reform. Then they passed alternative teacher licensure. After that, they passed health care reform that's already cutting health care costs while saving taxpayers money. Finally, they passed budget reform that will question the mission of state agencies.
In short, the DFL sat on their thumbs when they weren't whining or spinning the truth. They didn't put a budget together. They didn't put a set of redistricting maps together either. By comparison, the GOP passed an impressive reform agenda, which helped turn a $6,200,000,000 deficit into a $1,300,000,000 surplus.
That's why Minnesota is creating jobs again.
No thanks to you, Rep. Thissen.
Tags: Paul Thissen , Do-Nothing Legislature , Redistricting , Budget , DFL , Reforms , Health Care , Permitting , Jobs , MNGOP , Election 2012
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2012 1:29 AM
Comment 1 by Terry Stone at 25-Jul-12 09:54 AM
Throughout the budgeting process and throughout the development of legislative reforms, Thissen, et al., warned of dire consequences for 'the children', for 'our most vulnerable citizens' and for 'the hardworking men and women of Minnesota'. Other than the stigma of having been exploited by the DFL, all Minnesotans seem just fine under fiscally prudent governance.
Comment 2 by IndyJones at 25-Jul-12 03:47 PM
Ahhh, those bonding bills create jobs for democrats. Unions love those bonding bills...and what corporatist wouldn't enjoy them as well. And those jobs paid by bonding have a higher minimum wage as well....all arranged by the democrats. Whats not to like if you're a democrat running for office?
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 25-Jul-12 06:38 PM
Q: What's in it for unions on the Range?
A: Nothing.
Unlocking Shale: what's truth, what's fiction?
When it comes to shale oil, it seems that only one thing is in dispute: that there's lots of it. After that, it's apparent that the rhetoric doesn't match the science. This article caught my attention because it appears to refut frequently used misinformation. Here's a claim that was used in a recent anti-fracking documentary:
Opponents of fracking say breast cancer rates have spiked exactly where intensive drilling is taking place, and nowhere else in the state. The claim is used in a letter that was sent to New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo by environmental groups and by Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of "Gasland," a film that criticizes the industry. Fox, who lives in Brooklyn, has a new short film called "The Sky is Pink."
...
Yet Fox tells viewers in an ominous voice that "In Texas, as throughout the United States, cancer rates fell, except in one place, in the Barnett Shale."
The problem with Fox's statement is that facts don't verify the validity of his statement:
But researchers haven't seen a spike in breast cancer rates in the area, said Simon Craddock Lee, a professor of medical anthropology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
David Risser, an epidemiologist with the Texas Cancer Registry, said in an email that researchers checked state health data and found no evidence of an increase in the counties where the spike supposedly occurred.
And Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a major cancer advocacy group based in Dallas, said it sees no evidence of a spike, either.
"We don't," said Chandini Portteus, Komen's vice president of research, adding that they sympathize with people's fears and concerns, but "what we do know is a little bit, and what we don't know is a lot" about breast cancer and the environment.
These statements have an impact because they aren't from people with a financial stake in fracking. They're statements from organizations and people who deal with cancer.
If it's a choice between trusting a filmmaker pushing an environmental agenda or medical experts citing their observations, most people will trust a medical expert over a filmmaker with an environmental agenda.
Far too often, environmental activists exaggerate to sell their agenda. If they stuck with what they could prove, their agenda would fall flat on its face in minutes.
Tags: Environmental Activists , Documentary , Josh Fox , Spin , Progressives , Cancer , Susan G. Komen for the Cure , Breast Cancer , Fracking , Energy , Barnett Shale , Marcellus Shale
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2012 10:54 AM
No comments.
Priorities USA ad bombs
One thing that'll become perfectly clear in the next few days is that this Priorities USA ad will bomb:
Here's the ad's transcript:
ANNOUNCER:
Welcome to the Olympics. There's Mitt Romney, who ran the Salt Lake City Games, waving to...
China, home to a billion people. Thousands owe their jobs to Mitt Romney's companies.
India, which also gained jobs thanks to Romney, an outsourcing pioneer.
And Burma, where Romney had the uniforms made for the 2002 games.
We know the Swiss have a special place in Mitt Romney's wallet - er - heart.
He kept millions in Swiss banks; those Swiss sure know how to keep a secret.
Speaking of secrets, there's Bermuda. Home to a secretive corporation set up by Romney. No one knows why. And Romney won't tell.
And the Cayman Islands. Where Romney keeps millions to avoid U.S. taxes.
Ya gotta say this about Mitt Romney. He sure knows how to go for the gold...for himself.
Priorities USA Action is responsible for the content of this advertising.
This ad will be a failure for a whole host of reasons. First, it's glib. Media guru Frank Luntz says that people aren't in the mood for glib because the economy has them depressed.
Another reason why this ad will fail is because it's based on the faulty premise that people see red when they see a wealthy person. There's no question that the redistributionist lefties will react that way but that ad won't persuade true independents.
Most people see a wealthy person as someone who had a great idea, then got rewarded for having that great idea. There's no animus towards wealthy people. All the people surrounding President Obama don't share that perspective.
Finally, this ad will fail is because it doesn't make a personal connection with voters. There's nothing that creates a visceral reaction. It's just a bunch of spin getting thrown out there in the format of a negative ad.
As a conservative activist, I love this ad. First, it's ineffective. Next, it's a waste of Priorities USA's money, which I prefer over them spending their money on effective, hard-hitting ads.
Tags: SuperPAC , Priorities USA , Bill Bur , President Obama , Class Warfare , Democrats , Mitt Romney , Winter Olympics , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2012 10:20 AM
Comment 1 by Terry Stone at 25-Jul-12 11:21 AM
The ad makes a great case for the truly international nature of the Olympic games; and little more.
Team Romney, election integrity and voter registration fraud
I wish this information surprised me but it doesn't:
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign is asking Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to launch an investigation into voter-registration forms that are being sent to Virginia residents and addressed to deceased relatives, children, family pets and others ineligible to vote.
The errant mailings from the Washington-based nonprofit group Voter Participation Center have befuddled many Virginia residents, leading to hundreds of complaints.
The organization has been mass-mailing the forms, pre-populated with key information such as names and addresses, to primarily Democratic-leaning voting blocs such as young adults, unmarried women, African-Americans and Latinos.
That'll get Voter Participation Center in trouble. Here's why:
In a letter this month, the State Board of Elections asked the group to cease pre-populating their forms and raised questions about how the group was obtaining lists of registered voters, citing the errant forms.
Riemer noted that pre-populating the forms violates rules set forth in the state code and the Virginia Constitution requiring that voters fill out their own forms.
There's no question that people that willingly commit voter registration fraud will willingly commit voter fraud. There's no question that that's what Voter Participation Center is involved in.
It's one thing to send forms out with real people's names on them. It's still illegal but at least the Voter Participation Center could make a plausible argument. Mailing out registration forms with the names of family pets and deceased children is indefensible.
The intent is clear. Committing voter registration fraud is the first step. The next step is requesting absentee ballots in those fraudulent people's names.
Check back Thursday to find out what connections VPC has.
Tags: Voter Participation Center , Janis Gardner , Voter Registration Fraud , Voter Fraud , Democrats , Crime , Investigation , Kenneth Cuccinelli , Virginia , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2012 12:24 PM
Comment 1 by Patrick at 25-Jul-12 01:11 PM
Drug money funds voter fraud in Kentucky
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/25/drug-money-funds-voter-fraud-in-kentucky/
I wonder when the liberals (and some RINOS) are going to come clean on the real reason they oppose voter photo ID?
Comment 2 by Paul at 25-Jul-12 02:17 PM
Actually, this is not evidence of fraud. The Voter Participatoin Center simply purchased mailing lists from other business and organizations. Those lists contain names and other information that people provide -- for example, some people will use the name of their pet to sign up for an email mailing list to help disguise their identity. Also, the lists will invariably include names of deceased persons, or those who have moved away from the state. Etc. There is no way for anyone to police or scrub those lists to ensure that everyone invited to register is eligible to vote.
It's no different than handing out voter registration cards at the state fair or at a shopping center: You aren't encouraging fraud if you hand one to a 17 year old, or a non-citizen. They commit fraud only when they swear falsely by signing the form, and there's no evidence in VA (or MN) that this has occured on any measurable basis.
Talk about grabbing at straws . . . . .
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 25-Jul-12 02:55 PM
Actually, yes, it's a crime in Virginia to fill in voter registration forms, whether it's in whole or in part. Second, what mailing list did the VPC buy that includes the names of dead children & family pets?
Your spin is insulting.
Is Chip Cravaack's seat safe?
The title is provocative. Some might argue that it's foolish. I've been as bullish about Chip Cravaack as anyone in the righty blogosphere. In fact, I was the first, and only, blogger to predict Chip's victory in 2010.
Going into this year, I thought Chip would be re-elected by 3-6 points. If the KSTP/SurveyUSA polling is accurate , which I'm confident it is, I'll have to rethink that.
Though the KSTP/SurveyUSA didn't poll congressional races, some interesting information indicates that Chip should be in good shape. Specifically, the presidential polling data offers an interesting insight into Chip's race.
The polling is broken down into many categories, one of which is support by region. The latest polling shows Mitt Romney getting 48% of the vote in northeast Minnesota, with President Obama getting a paltry 38%.
For decades, Democrats owned the Iron Range, the Arrowhead and Duluth. With no disrespect intended toward Mitt Romney, he wouldn't be doing that well if not for Chip's breakthrough victory in 2010. I'd be surprised if Chip isn't defeating each of his DFL opponents at this point. I'm speculating but I wouldn't be surprised if Chip is getting 53-55% of the vote right now.
I'm not predicting that. I just wouldn't be surprised if that were reality.
Just for a history lesson, Barack Obama got 70,959 votes in the Arrowhead in 2008. By comparison, John McCain got 38,907 votes from the Arrowhead in 2008. Put into percentages, President Obama got 64.6% of the vote in the Arrowhead in 2008.
If President Obama's popularity has dropped by 25 points in an area that should be a bellweather for him, doesn't that say he'll have to fight to win Minnesota? That's the last thing Team Obama needs.
Tags: President Obama , Minnesota , Polling , Arrowhead , Democrats , Mitt Romney , Chip Cravaack , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, July 26, 2012 12:33 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 26-Jul-12 11:41 AM
If all the guy is doing is representing big-bucks mining interests not wanting to meet environmentally responsible expectations, I surely hope the seat's unsafe. He can always run in New Hampshire.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 26-Jul-12 12:08 PM
Now that sounds like a guy who supports "working families."
Eric, you might want to think about the possibility that PolyMet won't get its permits if its plan isn't solid.
The other thing you might want to consider are all the big-bucks foundations trying to kill the mining industry. There's this Rockefeller lady that's trying her best to shut mining down.
PS- Jeff Anderson asked a pertinent question that the EPA won't answer. The EPA won't approve PolyMet's permits until sulfide is less than 10 ppm. Anderson asked why that's the standard when the EPA lets wastewater treatment plants build if their sulfide load is 50 ppm.
The answer is simple. Ms. Rockefeller, the Twin Cities elites and the environutters want to shut down mining.
Comment 3 by eric z at 26-Jul-12 12:59 PM
If Polymet will not be responsible, it is Polymet's fault. The ore will be there until there is a responsible firm stepping up and the jobs will be there because of the nature of mining. To blackmail the general public and local workers the way Polymet has, in trying to blackmail regulators, is unconscionable.
Downright nasty, too.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 26-Jul-12 03:32 PM
Eric, you're missing the point entirely. PolyMet isn't holding the government hostage. The EPA is holding PolyMet hostage by insisting on artificially low sulfide levels.
If you want to argue that wastewater treatment facilities and PolyMet should be held to the 10 ppm standard, you'd at least be intellectually consistent. Since CM isn't insisting on that, it's safe to assume that the 50 ppm standard is the right standard.
Page Gardner's obfuscation
Yesterday, Mitt Romney's campaign asked Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli to investigate the activities of the Voter Participation Center :
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign is asking Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to launch an investigation into voter-registration forms that are being sent to Virginia residents and addressed to deceased relatives, children, family pets and others ineligible to vote.
The errant mailings from the Washington-based nonprofit group Voter Participation Center have befuddled many Virginia residents, leading to hundreds of complaints.
The organization has been mass-mailing the forms, pre-populated with key information such as names and addresses, to primarily Democratic-leaning voting blocs such as young adults, unmarried women, African-Americans and Latinos.
VPC founder Page Gardner has responded to the Romney campaign's request in this communication :
Attempts by the Romney for President Campaign to block voter registration efforts in Virginia 'may rise to the level of interference with legitimate voter registration efforts contrary to applicable state and federal laws,' the Voter Participation Center (VPC) said today in a letter to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
The VPC today asked the Attorney General to refuse the Romney for President Campaign's request to investigate completely lawful efforts by the VPC to register Virginians. The VPC also asked the Attorney General to deny the Campaign's request that State Board of Elections officials direct registrars to refuse to accept official, state approved voter registration applications submitted by eligible voters in the Commonwealth.
'The Romney campaign's request for a probe into over 15 thousand returned legal and state-approved registration application forms is part of a blatant and ongoing partisan effort to keep people from voting, ' explained VPC founder and president Page Gardner. 'We see it everywhere -voter purges in Florida, Texas and Colorado; onerous voter ID laws, which Pennsylvania State GOP House Leader Mike Turzai recently admitted serve no purpose other than to elect Republicans. We will fight these efforts to disenfranchise voters in Virginia and in every other state.'
Seventy-three (73) million Americans are unregistered in American today. This is a national disgrace.
The Voter Participation Center is a non-partisan, non-profit that focuses on registering and turning out the Rising American Electorate, unmarried women, people of color and young voters, who account for 53 percent of voting eligible citizens but who represent 63 percent of all unregistered Americans.
The VPC has helped register more than 1.5 million voters since it began in 2004. Since September 2011, the VPC has mailed out almost 7 million voter registration applications in 30 states. Those applications were reviewed prior to mailing by elections officials, including in Virginia where they were reviewed by officials in the State Board of Elections office. More than 400,000 Americans returned those applications to elections officials. The VPC plans to add to these totals with another 5.3 million piece mailing in early September.
'The new majority in America frightens some political groups because these are the voters they want to keep from the polls on November 6. It's no surprise that our organization, which is conducting the largest mail registration program in the country, is under attack. But we have no intention of backing down. At a time when states have limited programs or resources to educate and register voters, efforts like ours, the League of Women Voters and other civic engagement groups have never been more important.'
The Romney campaign doesn't have a complaint with voter registration drives that register "unmarried women, people of color and young voters." The Romney campaign has a problem with VPC attempting to register out-of-state family members and deceased children:
Justin Riemer, the State Board of Elections' deputy secretary, said forms have been sent by the group to deceased infants, out-of-state family members, and non-U.S. citizens, among others.
The Virginia State Board of Elections appears to be leaning towards investigating the VPC:
In a letter this month, the State Board of Elections asked the group to cease pre-populating their forms and raised questions about how the group was obtaining lists of registered voters, citing the errant forms.
Riemer noted that pre-populating the forms violates rules set forth in the state code and the Virginia Constitution requiring that voters fill out their own forms.
VPC knows that this investigation doesn't have a thing to do with registering legal voters. They've included that in their official statement to deflect attention from the fact that they're a) breaking the law by partially filling in the voter registration forms and b) sending registration forms to infants that died.
Based on Justin Riemer's statements that VPC was warned a) not to fill in parts of the voter registration form and b) that filling in parts of the voter registration form was illegal in Virginia, it sounds like VPC is in deep legal trouble.
VPC's letter to the Romney campaign opens with a bunch of bluster:
I write on behalf of the Voter Participation Center (VPC) in response to your July 24, 2012 letter to the Virginia Office of the Attorney General and State Board of Elections. The Voter Participation Center is astounded that the Romney campaign would make such blatantly false allegations. It is also astounded that you would call for an investigation into completely lawful voter registration efforts and that you would ask the State Board of Elections to direct registrars to refuse to accept official, state approved voter registration applications submitted by eligible voters in the Commonwealth.
Again, VPC is pretending that they haven't been warned not to break the law but that's reality.
Tags: Voter Participation Center , Voter Registration Fraud , Page Gardner , Voter Fraud , Investigation , Justin Riemer , State Board of Elections , Kenneth Cuccinelli , Attorney General , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, July 26, 2012 8:21 AM
No comments.
July Bleg
In the past month, LFR has led the way in highlighting the political changes on the Iron Range, exposing CREDO's corruption and highlighting the left's desire to shut down mining.
This morning, I've highlighted some voter registration fraud in Virginia and asked the question of whether Chip Cravaack's seat is safe.
If you appreciate these insights into both local and national political developments, consider dropping a few coins into the Tip Jar at the top of the page in the right sidebar.
Your contributions will help me continue breaking stories that you won't find in the newspapers or on the local news.
Know that all contributions are appreciated. Thanks for your loyal readership. Enjoy today's articles.
Posted Thursday, July 26, 2012 9:12 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 26-Jul-12 11:30 AM
Gary, Strib today has a big online item, "Dayton to fight FEMA decision to deny more flood aid for north."
Your guy is not even mentioned as concerned. Water levels must be fine in New Hampshire.
Comment 2 by eric z at 26-Jul-12 11:47 AM
Gary what you are doing is worthwhile. I certainly hope your allied readers help out as they should. However, you are competing against Kurt Bills and others seeking money. Heck, Rick Santorum is still sending out money shakedown emails on some cockamamie "Patriots This and That," whatever he calls it, can't get enough. You are worth more than Rick Santorum. It is not even close. Good luck with the effort.
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 26-Jul-12 12:00 PM
Thanks Eric.
What is Tarryl Clark fighting for?
If Tarryl Clark has a theme to her campaigns, it's that she's always fighting for people. It appears as though her would-be constituents will reject her fighting for them for a 4th time in the last 6 elections she's been in.
Here's the truth about Tarryl. She's fought for special interests her entire adult life. Before she became a legislator, she was a lobbyist. After getting beaten like a drum by Michele Bachmann, Tarryl 'fought for' keeping union construction workers unemployed by leading the BlueGreen Alliance's fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline.
That means Tarryl didn't fight for lower gas prices at a time when gas prices were approaching $4 a gallon. She fought for President Obama's bundlers that got hundreds of millions of dollars of loan guarantees right before their companies went bankrupt.
Nowhere in Minnesota do we need someone who'll fight for President Obama's bundlers. Nowhere in Minnesota do we need someone who'll fight for subsidies for failing companies that add billions of dollars to the debt.
What's disgusting is that Tarryl played the class warfare card when she literally cast the 34th vote needed to raise taxes on 'the rich'. She didn't hesitate on raising taxes just like she didn't hesitate in lobbying to protect her green energy millionaires.
Take a long, hard look. That's who Tarryl Clark really is. It's beyond dispute that she'll fight for people. It's beyond dispute, too, that the people she'll fight for aren't the people who voted for her. She'll fight for the special interests with the best of them.
St. Cloud didn't need a legislator that fought for the special interests. The Sixth District didn't need that type of leadership, either, which is why they rejected here. The Eighth District needs someone who listens to the people, then works on the things that are the people's priorities.
Again and again, Chip Cravaack has proven to be that person.
Tags: BlueGreen Alliance , Tarryl Clark , Green Jobs , Lobbyist , Bankruptcies , Crony Capitalism , Loan Guarantees , Progressives , Chip Cravaack , Keystone XL Pipeline , Construction , Employment , PolyMet , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, July 26, 2012 11:53 PM
Comment 1 by Tom at 27-Jul-12 08:12 AM
What about the roving candidate? St Cloud for 6th District, and now the 8th District? The american people are realizing that the hyped up promises of security and prosperity are not going to come from government, but by a productive freedom seeking, hard working people that have defied all realms of possibilities. FREEDOM is going to ring, and persuasive tyrannical government types are going to find themselves looking for other employment.
Comment 2 by Jethro at 27-Jul-12 10:20 AM
Well stated, Tom! Tarryl will fight for you alright...on mostly the wrong issues.
Comment 3 by MplsSteve at 27-Jul-12 12:46 PM
I haven't seen much in the way of polling from that district - but I'd tend to think (and hope) that voters up there wouldn't take too kindly to a carpet-bagger.
OTOH, Tarryl Clark is just shrill enough and liberal enough that she might be the easiest candidate for Cravaack to beat in November.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 27-Jul-12 12:59 PM
Steve, Tarryl would be easy to defeat this November but Rick Nolan is a target-rich environment, too.
Jeff Anderson has $18,000+ CoH so he couldn't mount a defense, either.
The reality is that the DFL candidates aren't high quality candidates. I don't know this for sure but I get the impression that Chip would love squaring off against Nolan the most.
He's a radical environmentalist in a district that doesn't like people who are trying to shut down the mining industry.
Comment 5 by walter hanson at 27-Jul-12 04:12 PM
Gary:
The bonus for us is Chip in the process of fighting for reelection will remind all the voters in the 8th district that the policies they oppose are Obama's. If that gets Romney to a number close to if not breaking 50 in the 8th that might get the state to Romney. Something which Obama and his group weren't counting on.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
