July 5-8, 2012
Jul 05 01:54 King Banaian vs. Paul Thissen Jul 05 08:27 NEA gives Gov. Dayton meaningless award Jul 06 00:03 Gov. Dayton, Sen. Bakk Rep. Thissen hide from government shutdown truths Jul 06 10:28 Another pathetic jobs report Jul 06 16:56 Klobuchar, Obama: Economic failures Jul 06 18:13 God bless progressive idiots Jul 07 01:31 The changing Midwest Jul 08 00:14 Bringing in the pros Jul 08 08:01 Debunking the SC Times' ACA myths
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
King Banaian vs. Paul Thissen
This article highlights Paul Thissen's deceit in his quest for the Speaker's gavel:
On the anniversary of the start of last year's 20-day government shutdown and on the early side of a critical legislative campaign season, DFL House Minority Leader Paul Thissen blamed Republican majorities for the historic shuttering of state government and asked Minnesotans to avoid a 'shutdown sequel' by electing DFL majorities.
Thissen was surrounded by a handful of government workers in a Monday afternoon Capitol news conference, all who said it was Republicans who failed to compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton on a solution to the $5 billion budget deficit last summer. By doing so, Thissen said it was Republicans who drove the state into the longest known shutdown in the state and nation's history.
'The Republican legislative majorities have shown they are unwilling to compromise,' Jason Moran, a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency employee who temporarily lost his job last year, said in a prepared statement. 'They did it once, they'll do it again.'
Thissen continued, calling out quotes from select Republican House members, several in key swing districts, made during the shutdown last year. 'What we need to do to prevent another shutdown is elect people who are willing to work together,' Thissen said, pulling up selected newspaper quotations from freshman Reps. King Banaian, Doug Wardlow and Dave Hancock. 'We need folks that are willing to work together and do what's best for the state of Minnesota.'
Thissen is a deceitful weasel. He's the co-architect of the shutdown. First, Gov. Dayton did everything in his power to guarantee a painful shutdown . He made sure highway projects were shut down . He refused to sign bills that he agreed with.
Meanwhile, Rep. Thissen joined with Sen. Bakk in sabotaging a budget deal worked out between Gov. Dayton and the GOP leadership in the Legislature.
We don't people like Paul Thissen lecturing us about working together. We need people who tell Twin Cities elitists that they've run the state into the ground with their ridiculous regulations and their animosity towards the mining industry in northern Minnesota.
The thought that socialists like Rep. Thissen have our best interests at heart is nauseating. This quote is nauseating, too:
'The Republican legislative majorities have shown they are unwilling to compromise,' Jason Moran, a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency employee who temporarily lost his job last year, said in a prepared statement. 'They did it once, they'll do it again.'
Minnesotans swept the GOP into the House and Senate majorities with overwhelming turnout statewide. This happened because they actually met with people and got the people to vote for them.
If you strip out the Twin Cities' monolithic vote, Republicans dominated the rest of the state. From southern Minnesota to central Minnesota to northwestern Minnesota, Republicans ran Democrat incumbents out of office in staggering numbers. Some 15 DFL committee chairs were swept out in the House; another 4 DFL committee chairs lost their re-election bids.
In short, Minnesotans wanted the GOP agenda passed. Only a minority of Minnesotans want their taxes increased. Minnesotans voted for a government that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. They voted for a government that understood that businesses, not debt bills, create wealth and prosperity.
They didn't vote for a legislature that a) refused to propose a formal budget, b) spent money on redistricting staff but didn't put together a set of redistricting maps and c) wouldn't vote for the vast majority of reforms Gov. Dayton signed into law.
Rep. Thissen is a slippery, disgusting, deceitful little man. It's little wonder why he's the minority leader.
Meanwhile, King Banaian voted to a) prevent job-killing tax increases and b) reform a Twentieth Century government. Most importantly, King wrote the bill calling for government agencies, commissions and other overbloated bureaucracies to justify their existence. Then he convinced Phyllis Kahn and 11 other DFL legislatores to support the legislation.
Finally, King got Gov. Dayton to sign this important legislation into law.
Now that's impressive.
Tags: State Government Shutdown , Paul Thissen , Tom Bakk , Mark Dayton , Obstructionists , Tax Increases , DFL , King Banaian , Reforms , We The People , MNGOP
Posted Thursday, July 5, 2012 1:54 AM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 05-Jul-12 04:07 PM
As a well-connected very credible source summed it up for me in 2010: Paul Thissen is a moron. As you've again illustrated, trying to perceive competent reasoning or valid motivation in his words and deeds is pointless.
Comment 2 by Chad Q at 05-Jul-12 04:56 PM
I agree Rex but Thissen and his moronic statements are all the people heard while the GOP hid in the corner not wanting to offend anyone during an election year.
NEA gives Gov. Dayton meaningless award
The NEA, the biggest lobbyist group for union teachers, named Gov. Dayton America's Greatest Education Governor :
The National Education Association thinks Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is "America's Greatest Education Governor."
That's the title of the annual award the NEA presented to Dayton at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., this week.
Dayton "has kept his promise to make education a top priority of his administration by increasing education funding and focusing on our earliest learners," NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said in a statement.
Van Roekel's statement isn't entirely accurate, however.
Dayton and Republican legislative leaders struck a budget deal in 2011 to end a 20-day government shutdown that included borrowing an additional $770 million in state aid from schools to help close the state's $5 billion shortfall. That brought the amount owed to schools to $2.7 billion and forced schools to borrow money to manage cash flow. But the budget deal also included an additional $50 per pupil in state aid to offset borrowing costs.
The NEA is a corrupt, deceitful organization. Their award is based mostly on a big lie.
Gov. Dayton's education budget and the GOP leadership's education budget both included a school shift. Gov. Dayton wanted a 50/50 shift whereas the GOP shift was a 60/40 shift. The GOP shift would actually pay the schools more money faster than Gov. Dayton's shift would.
Here's another whopper that President van Roeckel told:
Dayton "has kept his promise to make education a top priority of his administration by increasing education funding and focusing on our earliest learners," NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said in a statement.
Actually, that isn't quite true either. Gov. Dayton, while campaigning, promised "he'd raise education funding each year 'no exceptions, no excuses .'' It's interesting that the NEA would argue that the man who said he'd increase funding each year "no exceptions, no excuses" proposed the biggest school shift during the Dayton budget shutdown of 2011.
What this really means is that Gov. Dayton worked tirelessly to protect the teachers unions. That isn't the same as improving Minnesota's educational outcomes. This is just another meaningless award meant to paper over a failed politician's nonaccomplishments.
Tags: Education Shift , Mark Dayton , Campaign Promises , NEA
Posted Thursday, July 5, 2012 8:27 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 05-Jul-12 12:31 PM
This is no different than Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize for doing absolutely nothing. n Liberals just love giving and receiving awards just for participating.
Comment 2 by Patrick at 05-Jul-12 03:35 PM
Governor Mark "shut-em-down" Dayton is now officially one of the trophy kids!
Comment 3 by Aaron at 06-Jul-12 08:51 AM
I wonder how many more students educators will hand out free "A's" to this year as well? http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-of-college-grade-inflation/
Gov. Dayton, Sen. Bakk Rep. Thissen hide from government shutdown truths
This week, the DFL launched a mini-PR offensive about the Dayton shutdown. People paying attention will recognize the talking points. If Paul Thissen is complaining about the shutdown, he'll whine that we need DFL majorities to avoid another government shutdown. If Zach Dorholt talks about the shutdown, the message is that we just need more cooperation and compromise:
I am running for the Minnesota House because Minnesota can do better than political posturing and ideological obstructionism. When I am out talking with folks, they often cite partisan bickering as their top frustration. Regrettably, the shutdown exposed the harm of legislators who put rigid ideology and wealthy special interests above the needs of Minnesota.
Last summer, about 19,000 Minnesotans were laid off, state parks were closed, road construction was delayed, small businesses were unable to get permits...all resulting in the state losing millions of dollars, including lost revenue from lottery sales, tax audits and state fees and concessions.
Mr. Dorholt's opponent is King Banaian. In his first term, King got an important reform passed that was part of the budget agreement that Gov. Dayton signed into law. The Sunset Advisory Commission will review all of the commissions, panels and other parts of Minnesota's bureaucracy.
Not only did King get that important reform passed but he got substantial bipartisan support from a legislator who is miles apart from King ideologically. That legislator is Phyllis Kahn. In fact, that reform passed with 10 DFL legislators supporting the bill.
King has built up a bunch of goodwill because he's kept his promises. When King announced that he was running, he said that the first bill he'd submit would create the sunset commission . Unlike other politicians, King's kept his promises.
People respect that whether they agree with him (they should) or not.
Zach Dorholt's LTE appears to be straight from the DFL's Chanting Points hymnal. The budget gospel of the DFL is that Republicans were rigid ideologues while Gov. Dayton was the picture of diplomacy and graciousness. These documents provide a timeline through the final negotiations prior to the Dayton Shutdown.
Q: Why didn't Mr. Dorholt mention the fact that Gov. Dayton, Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers reached an agreement on June 29, 2011 that didn't include tax increases?
A: Because then he'd have to admit that Gov. Dayton later went back on his word thanks to the $1,400,000,000 in tax increases that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen insisted on.
Q: Why didn't Mr. Dorholt mention that Gov. Dayton let the state government to be shut down 21 days before agreeing to the budget that he'd first accepted, then rejected, back on June 29, 2011?
A: Because that'd demolish Mr. Dorholt's storyline that Republicans were rigid ideologues and that Gov. Dayton was the picture of diplomacy and graciousness. It also would've forced him to admit that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen were the rigid ideologues in this fight.
Here is a timeline of the pre-shutdown negotiations:
- June 29: Governor Dayton drops push for tax increases but keeps spending demands.
- June 29: Republicans offer to accept higher spending in exchange for government reforms.
- June 30: Governor Dayton offer goes back on his word , asks for tax increases.
- June 30: Governor Dayton makes a second offer, without tax increases , asking instead for a 50/50 school funding delay.
- June 30: Republicans respond with a proposal for a 60/40 school shift and proceeds from the sale of tobacco settlement bonds. No policy included. This was the GOP's final offer.
- June 30: For the second time, Governor Dayton goes back on his word and brings back his demand for tax increases. This was the governor's final offer.
- June 30: GOP leaders deliver a proposed lights-on bill to Governor Dayton .
- June 30: Governor Dayton rejects lights-on bill, announces there will be a government shutdown.
It's stunning that Gov. Dayton twice dropped his demands for tax increases only to rescind those agreements at Sen. Bakk's and Rep. Thissen's insistence. What's more stunning is Gov. Dayton's rejection of a light's on bill that would've funded state government while he, Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers negotiated a final budget settlement. This puts the final blame for the shutdown squarely on Gov. Dayton's, Sen. Bakk's and Rep. Thissen's shoulders.
Ultimately, Gov. Dayton alone is to blame for rejecting a lights-on funding bill that would've prevented 20,000 state employees from getting laid off for 3 weeks.
Mr. Dorholt is right that "Minnesota can do better than political posturing and ideological obstructionism." They did exactly that the first Tuesday of November, 2010 when they threw out the obstructionist DFL majorities in the House and Senate. The GOP promised that they wouldn't raise taxes if they won the majority. Prior to the 2010 midterm election, the DFL went had a 46-21 veto-proof majority in the Senate and an 87-47 seat supermajority in the House.
When the dust settled early on Wednesday morning, the GOP held a 37-30 majority in the Senate and a 72-62 seat majority in the House. Of the 201 races settled in 2010, Republicans flipped 41 DFL seats in the House and Senate.
The GOP House and Senate majorities kept their promises to the people of Minnesota. They didn't raise taxes. They balanced the budget. They reformed government. I'd submit that that's the reason why the DFL is whining. Gov. Dayton twice went back on his promises to the GOP leadership in negotiations. It's only logical that the DFL would frown upon people who kept their word.
Tags: State Government Shutdown , Mark Dayton , Paul Thissen , Tom Bakk , Zach Dorholt , Budget Negotiations , Tax Increases , Broken Promises , Ideologues , DFL , Kurt Zellers , King Banaian , , Amy Koch , MNGOP , Election 2010
Posted Friday, July 6, 2012 12:03 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 06-Jul-12 07:40 AM
We don't need DFL majorities in the sense that the State, nation, and world will survive - at least short term - under Republican mischief while having majorities in each house. It is just that DFL majorities would yield better government and hasten a return to better economic times. So, Gary, when was the last time either DFL led house ran up over eighty dollars in attorney bills because of the way a hirling was doffing the boss? Just curious, if that ever happened under DFL leadership. And the underling, a hatchet-man now bent on extracting cash in revenge. GOP leadership brings you ...
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 06-Jul-12 04:07 PM
Eric:
If DFL majorities is what is needed how come when Obama was swept into office and the Democrat controlled Congress gave Obama what he wanted health care, stimulus, and everything else the national economy didn't zoom up.
And keep in mind that the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 and every cent of spending which Bush signed off on Obama voted for.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Another pathetic jobs report
Worst. Jobs. President. Ever.
President Obama is out campaigning in an attempt to explain why this month's jobs figures are pathetic :
U.S. payrolls expanded by just 80,000 net jobs in June keeping the unemployment rate flat at 8.2 percent, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. The private sector only expanded by some 84,000 positions.
Those jobs figures are pathetic. This post on the White House blog attempts to explain the pathetic job numbers away:
While the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, much more remains to be done to repair the damage from the financial crisis and deep recession that followed. It is critical that we continue the policies that build an economy that works for the middle class and makes us stronger and more secure as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession. There are no quick fixes to the problems we face that were more than a decade in the making. President Obama has proposals to create jobs by ending tax breaks for companies to ship jobs overseas and supporting State and local governments to prevent layoffs and rehire hundreds of thousands of teachers.
It's insulting to hear this administration claim that the economy is "continuing to heal." It isn't. It's still badly broken.
There's never been a recovery in modern times that's created this few jobs.
Here's the only thing that's right in this post:
There are no quick fixes to the problems we face...
With this administration, that's undeniably true. Four more months or four more years with this administration won't improve the monthly jobs reports. We don't have to ask this administration the question that got Earl Weaver kicked out of so many games :
Time was, the Baltimore Orioles' manager was Earl Weaver, a short, irascible, Napoleonic figure who, when cranky, as he frequently was, would shout at an umpire, " Are you going to get any better or is this it ?"
After 4 years, it's reasonable to assume that this is the best this administration will do.
No White House post would be complete without this in it:
Today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that private establishments added 84,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 80,000. The economy has now added private sector jobs for 28 straight months, for a total of 4.4 million payroll jobs during that period. Employment is growing but it is not growing fast enough given the jobs deficit caused by the deep recession.
Creating 75,000 jobs a month isn't an accomplishment. It's a disgrace:
This is pathetic, too:
Adding further pressure to President Obama heading into the election, Hispanic and Latino unemployment remained essentially unchanged at 11.0 percent.
The unemployment rate for white men and women was unchanged at 7.4 percent, while 184,000 more black American's went without a job in June, for an unemployment rate of 14.4 percent.
President Obama shouldn't expect enthusiastic support from these minority communities. With that many people unemployed, it's inconceivable that minorities will give this administration a pass.
A measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers ticked higher to 14.9 percent, its highest level since February, while the labor force participation rate stayed near a 30-year low at 63.8 percent.
The 'official' unemployment rate doesn't tell people just how bad things are. The bad news for this administration is that people are living through the 'real' unemployment rate, which is stuck at 14.9%. That's why likely voters give this administration a failing grade on the economy:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows just 31% of Likely Voters believe President Obama is doing a good or excellent job handling economic issues, including 12% who say he is doing an excellent job. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe Obama is doing a poor job in this area.
To adapt a line from President Reagan, a recession is when your neighbor is unemployed, a depression is when you're unemployed and a recovery is when President Obama is unemployed.
This quarter's jobs reports are proof of that.
Tags: President Obama , Jobs Report , Unemployment , Latino Unemployment , Minority Unemployment , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Friday, July 6, 2012 10:28 AM
Comment 1 by Terry Stone at 06-Jul-12 11:21 AM
If Obama has solutions he isn't sharing, his recalcitrance is criminal. If he has no solutions, he needs to be returned to Chicago.
Comment 2 by Crimson Tide at 06-Jul-12 11:33 AM
Why should anyone be surprised? Employers are not impressed by Obama's hostile anti-business policies. Outsourcing jobs in many cases is more desirable than expanding here in the US. More than ever, our college graduates are ill-prepared for the workforce & are in debt up to their eye brows. Many college degrees are not worth the diploma paper they are written on. College administrators do what they please & our political leaders do not hold them accountable.
Comment 3 by Patrick at 06-Jul-12 01:51 PM
recalcitrance - that word sums it up perfectly!
Comment 4 by walter hanson at 06-Jul-12 04:02 PM
Gary:
I might have to disagree with your comment about the thing being right is that there is a quick fix. Fire Obama November 6, 2012 and the economy will take off dramatically starting November 7, 2012.
Of course the White House doesn't want to recommend that quick and accurate fix.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Klobuchar, Obama: Economic failures
When it comes to creating the type of atmosphere needed for a robust economy, President Obama and Sen. Klobuchar have a history of failure. The last annual deficit prior to Sen. Klobuchar's election was $161,000,000,000. Since her election, deficits have increased by orders of magnitude. We've already had 3 straight years of deficits of more than $1,200,000,000,000. We're closing in on another trillion dollar deficit this year.
Meanwhile, job creation numbers during the Obama-Klobuchar era have been pathetic. This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, aka the BLS, reported that more people went on permanent disability (85,000) last month than jobs that were created (80,000).
Let's review the Klobuchar-Obama record on job creation.
Sen. Klobuchar vote twice for the stimulus. President Obama signed it into law. The stimulus failed miserably, especially when you factor in the billions of dollars lost through loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra.
Sen. Klobuchar twice voted to create a tax on medical device manufacturers like Boston Scientific, Medtronic and dozens of smaller medical device manufacturers in Minnesota. She did that while voting for the Affordable Care Act. President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.
Lots of executives at companies have said that they won't hire because the regulations to the Affordable Care Act are difficult to keep track of. That makes it difficult for them to comply with the regulations.
A CEO would be foolish to put his company's money at risk in that type of situation.
Sen. Klobuchar and President Obama are captivated by green energy. Neither has shown a willingness to increase domestic fossil fuel production. Sen. Klobuchar has shown a propensity for staging photo ops at gas stations to whine about high gas prices. In fact, it's something she's done for years .
The record is clear. Sen. Klobuchar has voted to raise taxes on Minnesota's biggest private sector employers. She's voted for billions of dollars worth of loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra. She's voted for adding trillions of dollars to our national debt. She's voted for bills that've made life tougher for job creators.
There is a solution:
Bloomington, MN - Three and a half years of failed economic policies is more than enough. It's time to try using real economics to return America back to growth and job creation.
'Dismal. That is the only word I can think of to describe today's jobs report,' said Kurt Bills, Republican candidate for US Senate.
'Unexpected' is the word most often used to describe bad news these days,' said Bills. 'But these numbers aren't unexpected at all. Any economist worth the name has known for a long time that Klobamanomics doesn't work, and is harming economic growth,' Bills added.
Today's jobs report was terrible. Only 80,000 jobs were created last month, which is far fewer than necessary to reduce the unemployment rate.
More jobs than that are necessary to even keep up with increases in the workforce, especially due to young adults graduating from high school and college. Only 54% of young adults are now employed, the lowest rate since 1948, the year the government began taking records. In 2007 62% of young adults were employed.
'When the stimulus was passed, Obama and Klobuchar promised that unemployment would be below 6% by now and the economy would be humming along. Instead, unemployment is above 8% and has been rising. According to the Minneapolis Fed, this is the worst employment recovery since World War II,' Bills said.
'Obviously Washington needs a dose of Econ 101 to bring it back to reality,' Bills concluded.
Minnesota, like this nation, can't afford Sen. Klobuchar's and President Obama's failed policies and trillion dollar annual deficits. This November, Minnesotans have the opportunity to rectify the mistakes they made in 2006 and 2008.
Tags: President Obama , Amy Klobuchar , Jobs Report , Deficits , Gas Prices , Unemployment , Solyndra , Stimulus , Democrats , Kurt Bills , Econ 101 , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Friday, July 6, 2012 4:56 PM
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God bless progressive idiots
There are few things I like reading more than left-leaning superPACs and the SEIU spending money on races they don't have a chance of winning :
A Democratic super PAC and a major union have reserved almost $900,000 worth of Twin Cities TV ad time as they target Republican Reps. Chip Cravaack and John Kline of Minnesota and Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin.
The House Majority political action committee and Service Employees International Union announced the reservation Monday as part of a $20 million push to help Democrats win the House.
House Majority reserved $594,000 and SEIU reserved $295,000 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
Cravaack is a top target after unseating a long-serving Democrat two years ago in northeastern Minnesota. Ribble is another freshman who could face a stiff challenge in a Wisconsin district partially reached by Minneapolis airwaves.
Kline, a five-term incumbent, faces a less conservative electorate in a newly drawn district in the southern Twin Cities.
I'm thrilled that the SEIU and this superPAC have committed to spending this money in their futile attempt to defeat Chip Cravaack and John Kline. I'd rather see the SEIU and this superPAC spend their money on those races than on races they might have a shot at winning.
There's no question that a) Chip's had a bullseye painted on him since the night Jim Oberstar refused to admit he'd been defeated by Chip and b) John Kline's district isn't as red as it was prior to redistricting.
In Rep. Kline's instance, that means he'll win by only 10-12 points instead of the usual 15-18 points. Talk about money well spent. (Or you can talk about pissing a $200,000-$300,000 away in a futile attempt to defeat Rep. Kline.)
There's no question that the DFL, the DCCC and the SEIU are salivating at the opportunity to defeat Chip after he defeated the porkmeister they loved. There's also no chance that they'll defeat Chip. During his 2 years in office, Chip's worked hard to make life better for the Iron Range. The reports I'm getting from the Range tell me Chip's efforts are paying off.
As for their decision to purchase ad time against Reid Ribble, my question is simple: Why would these idiots buy Twin Cities ad time against a congressman whose district is in northeastern Wisconsin? That makes as much sense as purchasing Twin Cities ad time against Christi Noem.
Spending money on Twin Cities ad buys against Ribble and Chip is stupid. The southern portion of Chip's district is the most conservative part of the district. Their ad buy will win dozens of votes for Chip's opponent. They would've been far better off had they bought ad time against Chip and Reid Ribble in Duluth.
God bless idiots like the SEIU and The House Majority PAC. They were bound to lose seats this time already. Spending money this foolishly guarantees that.
Tags: House Majority PAC , Ad Buy , SEIU , Democrats , Chip Cravaack , John Kline , Reid Ribble , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Friday, July 6, 2012 6:13 PM
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The changing Midwest
Scott Walker's never-in-doubt victory in Wisconsin was the first verification that the Midwest was changing politically. Shortly after Gov. Walker's victory in the recall election, other signs emerged. John's post was the first indicator that Minnesota was changing politically, too. Here's why John's post caught my attention:
I have learned from multiple sources that two recent polls, conducted by independent polling firms, show that Minnesota will be in play in this year's presidential race. Even in blue Minnesota, Obama can't get to 50%. Accordingly, watch for substantial amounts of money to flow into the state to try to close the small gap that currently exists and win it for Mitt Romney.
This is far too little information to predict Mitt taking Minnesota's electoral votes but it isn't too little information to argue that Minnesota has changed politically since 2008.
We'll return to that in a minute.
Durin a Friday afternoon interview, Eric Branstad said that Democrats had more registered Democrats than registered Republicans at the start of 2012. Branstad said that Republicans turned that around before Memorial Day to int that Republicans had a 12 point lead going into the Memorial Day weekend. Now Republicans have a 21 point in voter registrations over Democrats, a 9-point jump in a single month.
That's a gigantic swing in a single month. In fact, it's a significant 6-month shift. It's understatement to say that a 25-point swing in 6 months is a significant change.
Let's get back to Minnesota because changes are happening. The first indicator that things were changing was the candidate recruitment for the 2010 midterm elections. That was the most impressive recruiting class in state history.
That opinion was proved right when Republicans swept the DFL from their majorities in the state legislature. That year, Republicans defeated 15 DFL committee chairs in the House on their way to a 25 seat gain. Though Senate Republican candidates didn't defeat a dramatic number of committee chairs, they were impressive in that they won a net 16 seats in the 67 seat Senate.
Flipping 25% of a legislative body's seats in a single election doesn't qualify as a status quo election by anyone's standards. That's just the beginning, though.
Thanks to redistricting, several legislative incumbents are matched against each other in the Eighth District, which is undergoing significant changes, thanks in large part to Chip Cravaack's victory in 2010.
One of those matchups pits GOP freshman Sen. John Carlson against DFL Sen. Tom Saxhaug. Another matchup pits GOP freshman Rep. Carolyn McElfatrick against DFL Rep. Tom Anzelc.
The reason why the Eighth is changing is because the DFL delegation from the north votes like the metro DFL. The DFL should be changed from the Democrat-Farmer-Laborer Party to the Democrat-Public Employee Union-Environmentalist Party.
That's why areas that Republicans are gaining ground in many areas of northern Minnesota, both in the Seventh and Eighth districts. The metro environmentalists are causing chaos with farmers in the Seventh and miners in the Eighth.
The doorknocking results I've heard about thus far indicate that the Carlson-Saxhaug and McElfatrick-Anzelc matchups aren't the only legislative races that the DFL should worry about in the Seventh and Eighth. There are at least anothe 5-6 races that the DFL should worry about.
If legislators like Tom Bakk, David Thomassoni, Carly Melin and Dave Dill don't start consistently pushing back against the environmentalists and social liberals ASAP, which they won't, the Iron Range will get the message that their DFL legislators are just an extension of the metro DFL.
Central Minnesota is changing, too, thanks in part to Michele Bachmann but also in part to lots of solid conservatives from Elk River to Little Falls and west to Buffalo and Alexandria.
When Election 2008 ended, the DFL held 5 of the 9 seats in SD-14, SD-15 and SD-16. Thanks to redistricting, those 3 districts have changed into SD-13, SD-14, SD-15 and SD-30.
The GOP battle cry for 2010 was '9 for 9 in 10'. Rep. Larry Hosch prevented that from happening. This year, the GOP battle cry in central Minnesota is '12 for 12 in 12.' This time, Larry Hosch won't prevent it because he retired rather than get defeated.
There's still a long time between now and Election Day, 2012. The good news is that positive signs are popping up from central Minnesota all the way to the Canadian border.
The Midwest is changing. The only question left is to what extent it'll change this election.
Tags: Eric Branstad , Iowa , Voter Registrations , Wisconsin , Scott Walker , Chip Cravaack , Carolyn McElfatrick , John Carlson , MNGOP , Tom Saxhaug , Tom Anzelc , Tom Bakk , David Thomassoni , DFL , President Obama , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Saturday, July 7, 2012 1:31 AM
Comment 1 by Mark Hagebak at 07-Jul-12 07:23 AM
Good Morning:
What a great article. Hopefully it will energize people. Would like to see Mr. Bills doing more to get his name out there. I think he can beat Amy. whats your take?
Mark Hagebak
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 07-Jul-12 09:14 AM
It's a difficult, uphill fight to defeat St. Amy because the liberal media will protect her with their lives. That said, she's been a worthless senator. She's almost as liberal as Franken. She's voted for a massive series of tax increases. She voted for the stimulus, which I predicted would fail.
Then there's her vote for the Affordable Care Act.
Comment 2 by eric z at 07-Jul-12 07:44 AM
You might be right about the pendulum swinging one way now, but the disagreement we have is whether or not that's good. A respectful disagreement. But a disagreement. I think much of the rest of the hemisphere moving away from the Nixon-Kissinger juntas is good change, you may or may not agree. My guess, make it hope, is you are more a Barry Goldwater Republican than a Nixon-Bush Republican - given you have your mind set on being one.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 08-Jul-12 01:52 PM
Gary:
If it's true that Obama is not getting 50% then there's a shot since one reason why Franken won was he claimed Norm Coleman was Bush's yes man and wouldn't work with the Democrats. Sounds like Amy has that libability on her neck. Not to mention I don't think there is an independent senate candidate that will drain away almost 20% of the vote.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 4 by eric z at 08-Jul-12 03:35 PM
Walter and Gary, why do you think Bachmann declined to run against Klobuchar? You have a guy with no name recognition and with another Republican blogger ragging about Bills being too close to Ron Paul. Is it Bachmann is too selfish to not do it for the party? It looks that way.
Bringing in the pros
It's becoming painfully obvious that Mitt Romney needs to reconfigure his campaign staff. Eric Fehrnstrom's statement that the individual mandate is a penalty wasn't just a misstatement. It represented a missed opportunity to drive home a bigger message.
The good news is that Mitt's apparently noticed that Fehrnstrom might cost him the election :
Sources tell CBS News that Madden will be spending more time on the road with Romney and is likely to become a more public presence as a TV spokesperson for the candidate. He will hit the road with Romney next week, following Romney's New Hampshire vacation.
This move to make Madden a more public face of the campaign comes a week after fellow senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom committed a messaging misstep, which resulted in Romney having to walk back those comments.
Fehrnstrom said in an interview on MSNBC last week that Romney believed the individual mandate in President Obama's health care law was a "penalty", not a "tax", contrary to the line Republicans had taken after the Supreme Court upheld the law. As a result, Romney sat down with CBS News' Jan Crawford in the middle of his Fourth of July vacation to state unequivocally that he believes the mandate is a "tax."
Romney campaign sources stress this isn't a campaign shakeup but it's a move to give Madden more "bandwidth and additional responsibilities."
That's a polite way of admitting that this is a mini-shakeup without alienating Fehrnstrom. Making Kevin Madden the face of the campaign is a great first step. He's sharp. He's quick on his feet. Most importantly, he doesn't miss opportunities.
With opportunities like this presenting themselves, it's in Mitt's best interest to capitalize:
A coalition of African-American pastors is calling on blacks to boycott President Barack Obama and sign a petition demanding that the administration withdraw support for gay marriage.
The group, the 1,300-member Coalition of African-American Pastors, says it was snubbed by Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder when it demanded a meeting to discuss same-sex unions. The group had requested the meeting last month.
This is a great opportunity to connect with black congregations. That was a big thing in 2004 for President Bush's re-election campaign, especially in Ohio.
Blacks churches played a major role in North Carolina approving a constitutional amendment affirming marriage as being between one man and one woman :
In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the strongest support came from the predominantly white suburban areas of Mint Hill and Matthews. Across town, voters in the African-American neighborhoods of Coulwood and Paw Creek voted almost 2 to 1 in favor. The margin was the same in predominantly black precinct 79 near Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
While the NAACP campaigned hard against the amendment, many black voters continued to see same-sex marriage not as a civil rights issue, but as a lifestyle choice with which they don't agree.
'This amendment has always been about one thing and one thing only, marriage and family,' said Bishop Phillip Davis, pastor of Nations Ford Community Church, a black congregation in southwest Charlotte. 'The voters of North Carolina have chosen to protect the soul of the state and the nation; that is marriage and family.'
Eric Fehrnstrom isn't talented enough to make this a big deal. Kevin Madden is. Potentially, that's the difference between a tight race and a blowout, the difference between a hold election in Congress and another wave election.
The first thing Madden should do is make this about more than Mitt's resume. It's nice. It says 'I'm competent.' It doesn't say 'Follow me to a great future.' That's what's needed to bust this race open.
After another dismal jobs report, President Obama is on the ropes. Mitt's speech Friday was a good speech but the campaign must go on the offensive.
Start putting out daily fact sheets showing all the pathetic jobs reports since the recovery officially started. Talk about how the Affordable Care Act raises taxes on the middle class. Talk about how health insurance costs are rising faster after enacting the Affordable Care Act than they were before it was signed into law.
Put Madden on TV once a week to talk about specifics from Mitt's plan to fix the mess this administration has created. Yes, the recession started during the Bush administration. It ended early in this administration. The question that the Romney campaign hasn't exploited is questioning why President Obama's recovery has been anemic to pathetic.
Everyone agrees that we've averted a crisis. With the crisis averted, isn't it fair to expect the recovery to accelerate?
With Kevin Madden doing the messaging, Mitt can exploit that question and change the direction of the election before the conventions start.
Finally, I'd suggest to the Romney campaign to adopt "Carpe diem" as the campaign's new slogan. There's no time like the present to put President Obama on the defensive.
Tags: Eric Fehrnstrom , Tax , Penalty , Gaffe , Mitt Romney , Kevin Madden , Nail Biter , Landslide , GOP , President Obama , Affordable Care Act , Unemployment , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Sunday, July 8, 2012 12:14 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 08-Jul-12 01:45 PM
Gary:
It's a good thing that Obama hasn't figured out yet to keep Ax off television. Hopefully this won't give Obama any good ideas.
Gary one thing you didn't say was in 2008 McCain lost in part because he was trying to control a bad message system. Telling Palin what not to say, putting things off limits, etc. At least Mitt gets the message including trying to do damage control. Hopefully the national party got the message on the tax since I heard our party chair tried to spin it like the Eric person.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by eric z at 08-Jul-12 03:29 PM
With the headline, "Bringing in the Pros," I thought it was going to be a post about the Secret Service.
But since it's about Mitt, do you think he will at least release another tax return, for when he voted in Massachusetts registered out of his son's basement, for Scott Brown, in 2010, so that the voting record and state tax returns show he was not for tax purposes claiming the big place in New Hampshire was his home.
Voter fraud seems to be a GOP hot button issue, so I thought you guys would be all over that the way Brad Blog is.
I expect "Pro" advisors would suggest that not releasing other tax returns beyond the 2010 one as openly as Dad George did in his political days with ALL of his returns might honk off the electorate. He's stonewalling. That is not a sound approach while asking citizens for the trust of giving him their vote. He is not running for President of the Cayman Islands where such secrecy probably is the norm.
Comment 3 by Bob J. at 09-Jul-12 09:11 AM
"With opportunities like this presenting themselves, it's in Mitt's best interest to capitalize:"
Since Romney is regarded as the 'father of gay marriage' for his actions on that issue while governor of Massachusetts, perhaps he should come up with a different way to reach out to minorities. The problem with Romney isn't in what he says, it's in what he's already done.
If the Republicans had a genuinely conservative candidate waiting to take on Obama, we'd be printing inaugural ball tickets in no time. But we don't. So it's going to be a long, hard slog.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 09-Jul-12 09:29 AM
Bob, It's now a binary choice: work for & vote for Mitt or do nothing & give us a lifetime of the Affordable Care Act.
I fought the ideological fight harder than anyone this winter. That fight's decided. If you want to be a sour grapes voter, be prepared for 4 more years of the Marxist-in-Chief.
This isn't a difficult decision. Seriously, it isn't.
Comment 5 by walter hanson at 09-Jul-12 04:33 PM
Bob:
Um the father of gay marriage is the Massachusetts State Supreme Court that made the ruling. Romney tried to get on the ballot a ref. to correct that mistake. So actually Romney did no act to create gay marriage.
Eric:
It's kind of hard for to comment about what Pros are. After all for example you don't know that moms work hard.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Debunking the SC Times' ACA myths
The myths about the Affordable Care Act are multiplying on editorial pages. This SCTimes editorial is a good picture of those myths being amplified:
Too many partisan politicians are (again) being allowed to frame a key part of federal health care reform in a misleading, even irrelevant ideological perspective.
These folks proclaim the U.S. Supreme Court's mandate to carry health insurance is an erosion of our personal freedoms. Then they couple it with a dead-end conversation about whether it's a tax or fine on all people. It's not all people; just those who don't choose (but can afford) insurance.
President Obama has gotten into the habit of calling people freeloaders if they'll be affected by the individual mandate. That's a disgusting, dishonest characterization. Since when has the government had the authority to tell car owners that their car insurance had to have specific coverages?
Here's a little dose of reality. The government doesn't have the authority to tell people that they have to buy a policy that includes collision, theft, fire, liability and comprehensive coverages.
Yet that's exactly what the individual mandate does. It says that people who don't buy the health insurance policy that the government dictates will pay the individual mandate tax.
Imagine this: as a result of the Affordable Care Act, a couple that bought a high-deductible policy, then pays for routine checkups and doctor visits, is subject to the individual mandate tax because their policy didn't meet the federal government's minimum coverages.
In other words, people that did the right thing in buying their own health insurance are a) being called freeloaders by President Obama and b) subject to a hefty tax because they didn't do exactly what President Obama dictated to them to do.
If that doesn't sound like the actions of an autocratic government, then it's time people read the definition of autocrat :
- an absolute ruler, especially a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions.
- a person invested with or claiming to exercise absolute authority.
- a person who behaves in an authoritarian manner; a domineering person.
This statement is particularly irritating:
These folks proclaim the U.S. Supreme Court's mandate to carry health insurance is an erosion of our personal freedoms.
First, the Supreme Court's ruling carries with it an erosion of each person's liberty. If people want to argue that we're burdened whether we purchase the health insurance the government tells us to purchase or pay a massive tax, that's an intellectually honest argument. It's disgusting but it's intellectually honest.
Second, who appointed the Supreme Court to be the arbiters of personal liberties? They have the right to tell us if something's constitutional. They don't have the authority to ignore the Constitution even when an administration attempts to ignore it.
Regardless of Chief Justice Roberts' opinion, the Tenth Amendment says that the things that the federal government isn't responsible for are the responsibility of the states and the people. Here's another BS section from the editorial:
If your core objection is all about choice vs. force, you really only have to answer two questions before you propose your alternative plan. First, if people are allowed to choose no insurance, how are they going to pay their medical bills, especially when those bills exceed their savings account?
Will they turn over their cars, homes and even assets of other relatives to pay bills? And when that's not enough (which it won't be in many cases), how will they cover the remainder? Last I checked, indentured servitude wasn't exactly legal, which brings us to paying the ultimate price, shall we say, human foreclosure?
The first question doesn't think about liberty because it accepts a faulty premise. It's bad enough when government tells people they have to buy health insurance. It's worse when government tells people that that health insurance policy is subject to a massive tax if it doesn't include the coverages that they insist people buy.
Minnesota state statutes include 68 mandates for health insurance, each one adding costs to the insurance policy. If government didn't initially impose 68 mandates to be included in each health insurance policy, more people would buy health insurance because it wouldn't be too expensive. If people were allowed to buy high-deductible policies that included coverage for catastrophic health events, the premise for the first question disintegrates. Ditto with the second, sarcastic argument.
The problem with this type of editorial is that it deals with what is rather than what should be. Saying that we have to comply with a fatally flawed law is technically true as a matter of law. It's downright stupid to say that we shouldn't try repealing a law that a) doesn't contain health care costs, b) doesn't control increases in health insurance premiums, c) doesn't give people sensible health insurance options and d) limits people's freedom.
Questions like that probably limit the number of invites I get to dinner parties. But they get to the cold-hearted realities about the 'mandated coverage' debate, which many see as the center of this health reform act.
It's disappointing that educated people wouldn't think this issue through better than this. The Affordable Care Act is a solution at financial gunpoint. It isn't a solution. It's a way to bankrupt this nation.
It's disgusting that a government thinks it can impose unconstitutional, stupid laws on people who've tried to do the right thing. It's more disgusting to think that people start from the default positions that a) liberty is a frivolous thing and b) money is more important than liberty. People who are more worried about money than liberty soon won't have either.
Tags: Affordable Care Act , Individual Mandate , Tax , Mandates , Health Insurance , Catastrophic Coverage , Progressives , Liberty , Tenth Amendment , Constitution , Media Bias , SCOTUS
Posted Sunday, July 8, 2012 8:01 AM
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