July 7-11, 2011
Jul 07 13:56 MPP's Graphics vs. Verifiable Facts Jul 07 21:31 Carlson Budget Exactly What I Predicted Jul 08 04:02 Gov. Dayton's Press Release Budget Proposal Gambit Failing Jul 08 10:06 Jobs Crisis in Nation Leads to Political Crisis Inside White House Jul 08 14:42 Let's Debate Jul 09 06:37 Pethokoukis on the Jobs Report Jul 10 00:55 OLA Rejects MAPE Complaint Jul 10 09:15 Norquist Paranoia Jul 11 02:46 Dibble Calls Minnesota Voters Extremists (Indirectly)
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
MPP's Graphics vs. Verifiable Facts
This MPP article isn't worth the bandwidth it's printed on in terms of the graphics it relies on. Here's the graphic I'm refering to:
Notice the part that says "This is what the GOP wants you to think we spent last budget. This is what your mother called lying." MPP then cites the House Research:
The chart is from the House Fiscal Staff. The house is controlled by Republicans. This chart was produced by the house in February. They have known since February that we spent over $34 billion last budget. The MN GOP have known since February that $34B is not an increase over last budget's spending. They continue to claim that it is a 6% increase.
First, the House Fiscal Staff is nonpartisan. They weren't appointed by Speaker Zellers or Speaker Kelliher. They're professional number crunchers.
Next, it's important to note that MPP is including one-time money from the stimulus bill. That's more than $2,300,000,000 worth of spending. That shouldn't be included in calculating what we spend during the 2012-13 biennium. We shouldn't base our ongoing expenditures budget on one-time money. That's what got us in these difficulties.
We should base spending levels on what's necessary, aka demand by the Constitution. For instance, we should question whether we need to spend as much on MnSCU as we currently spend.
Most importantly, the $30,171,000,000 figure isn't just what "the GOP wants you to think we spent last budget." That claim is blown to smithereens by Sen. Cohen's quote :
SEN. COHEN: We're going to be passing a budget that it billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars and at a level that we've never done before in the history of the state. The 12-13 budget will be $34.33 billions of dollars in general fund dollars taxed to the citizens of Minnesota. The 10-11 budget two years ago was $30.171 billion, I believe.
So the difference is over $4 billion, I believe. The largest state general fund budget ever, ever, ever, in the history of the state of Minnesota.
Sen. Cohen is a DFL legislator who's served for 36 years. I'm betting that he knows what was spent. Forgive me if I trust him as speaking the truth as opposed to MPP's attempt to mislead.
MPP's post is a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011 1:56 PM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 07-Jul-11 03:05 PM
Actually, I really like this chart. It shows our situation clearly. It also shows the basis for why each side can claim the other side has it wrong, which is to say that neither side is lying, about the numbers that is.
It also shows the philosophy difference clearly. The DFL considers the presence of money, even one time money as justification for spending ad infinitum, plus inflation plus population growth, plus the 1-2% DFL vigorish. Only the GOP asks: what's the money for?
Comment 2 by Rex Newman at 07-Jul-11 03:21 PM
This chart points out something else, that Gov. Pawlenty and the GOP could and should have seen this coming last session. Like Eisenhower warning of the military-industrial complex at the end of his Presidency, Pawlenty should have predicted that the DFL would incorporate this one time money as a permanent expansion of state government. Maybe enough would have heard to elect Emmer. He might be further along on his Presidential run, too.
Comment 3 by Colin at 08-Jul-11 01:11 PM
"First, the House Fiscal Staff is nonpartisan. They weren't appointed by Speaker Zellers or Speaker Kelliher. They're professional number crunchers."
Aha! Algebra is an Arabic word, so obviously all accountants are members of Al Qaeda. Indeed, numbers and facts have a well-known liberal bias.
If we say that we ONLY SPENT $30 billion last budget and the reality is that we ALSO spent $2B in stimulus money and asked schools to spend $2B in new debt, then we couldn't possibly be wrong.
The reality is this: the one-time money was because we had a one-time 10% falloff in revenue and both Pawlenty and the federal government looked for any one-time source of revenue to fill the temporary hole. If we spend $34 billion again, it's because we're saying we cannot afford spending enough to handle any cost inflation and population growth. I've been saying for the last ten years that it doesn't matter what we spend if we don't address the root causes of health care cost inflation. The Republican HMO plan DOES NOT address any of the root causes of our problems! Therefore, the Republican budget is just failure v. 10.0.
Carlson Budget Exactly What I Predicted
When the sham Carlson/Mondale/Showalter budget panel was introduced, this was my prediction :
This panel won't have time to make serious recommendations. This panel won't have time to do anything other than make recommendations based on the failed status quo form of government.
Republicans have offered and passed numerous reforms that will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. This panel will ignore those positive changes that the GOP legislature has put forward.
The notion that Jim Showalter, who's been exposed as Gov. Dayton's political operative, is part of the panel says that he's there to control the outcome. There's no chance that he'll let the panel do anything that Gov. Dayton isn't interested in.
This afternoon, the panel weighed in. Here's what they've recommended :
A commission convened by former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Gov. Arne Carlson says Minnesota should raise cigarette, alcohol and income taxes to end a week-old government shutdown.
The report released Thursday says a $5 billion deficit could be erased by cutting $3.6 billion in projected spending and raising $1.4 billion in taxes.
Tax recommendations include a temporary, across-the-board income tax increase of 4 percent, a cigarette tax hike of $1.29 per pack, higher alcohol taxes and a human services surcharge.
That's insulting. It's almost identical to the latest proposal Gov. Dayton outlined. This commission was nothing more than the Dayton administration's vehicle to change public opinion. Gov. Dayton, Arne Carlson and the DFL's special interest allies hope this pushes public opinion enough to maintain the failed status quo politics of St. Paul. I'd be surprised if they have that effect.
Instead, thanks to the work of Democrats like Arne Carlson, Fritz Mondale and Jim Showalter, what Minnesotans are getting is the failed status quo political games St. Paul all-too-frequently engages in.
It's apparent that this report was guided to this outcome by Jim Showalter. I said at the outset that he'd be Gov. Dayton's enforcer on the panel. Gov. Carlson admitted that Showalter would exert alot of influence on this panel. That's why I didn't take this panel seriously.
Today, my prediction turned into reality. That reality would be Minnesota's nightmare. Thankfully, it's going nowhere.
Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011 9:31 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 08-Jul-11 02:54 AM
Gary:
Do these experts know that if you increase taxes on cigarettes you lose revenue. At least I know why on Wedesday Dayton was offering the cigarette tax increase. Why increase a tax when history shows the persons resposible for buy them cut demand amd their tax revenues instead of increasing.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Gov. Dayton's Press Release Budget Proposal Gambit Failing
If the DFL wanted to write something blaming the shutdown on the GOP legislature, they wouldn't need to change much from this MPR article . This smacks of total hypocrisy:
Koch says Dayton met briefly with leaders as they discussed the K-12 bill but she said they did not try to negotiate an overall budget agreement that would end the state government shutdown that began seven days ago.
Republicans have also renewed their call for Dayton to call a special session so the Legisalture can pass a bill that would partially fund state government.
"Forty-nine of 50 governors have solved budget issues," Koch said. "The governor is the CEO of the state. We need him to step up and lead."
When pressed, Koch was forced to acknowledge that state legisatures of all types have also finished their work. Koch also refused to say whether GOP leaders would present a budget offer to Dayton. Instead, she insisted that Republicans won't support a tax increase to close the budget gap.
"If the governor still has his tax increase proposal on the table then that hasn't changed that," Koch said.
The meeting comes one day after Dayton presented a budget offer to GOP legislative leaders. One option in his offer is a temporary income tax surcharge on people with an annual salary of $1 million or more. The other option would be to increase taxes on cigarettes by $1 a pack. Both of those plans also rely on a surcharge on hospitals and HMOs and further delaying payments to schools.
Dayton said Republicans would have to present a budget offer if they don't like his ideas.
First, I don't have a problem with the media pressing Sen. Koch or Speaker Zellers on details. They're adults who take care of themselves. What I have a problem with is the Potted Plant Media not challenging Gov. Dayton and his administration on what specific budget cuts they're proposing.
If they can't put the alleged budget cuts onto a spreadsheet, they literally don't exist. They're figments of Gov. Dayton's imagination. Based on Sen. Koch's and Speaker Zellers' letter to Gov. Dayton, it sounds like Gov. Dayton's budget cuts have never been more than figments of Gov. Dayton's imagination. Here's the key portion of their official letter to Gov. Dayton:
In addition, your budget fails to deliver a complete budget. You have not released a detailed budget that includes both revenues and spending priorities since March 21. You continue to state that you are cutting more than $2 billion in spending; however, we have concerns that you are including additional revenue increases in your spending plans and your information is still incomplete. Without complete information, we can not adequately evaluate your proposal. We again ask that you provide a list of your spending reductions.
It's disappointing to find out that Gov. Dayton hasn't submitted a detailed spending cuts plan since mid-March. This is proof that Gov. Dayton isn't in charge of this process.
If Gov. Dayton doesn't want to be a failure again, he needs to start doing the nuts and bolts types of things that prove he isn't just a press release governor. At this point, that's all he is. At this point, too many members of the Potted Plant Media don't have the will to make Gov. Dayton accountable for his actions.
If Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers hadn't released this information, the Twin Cities media would've continued repeating the Dayton administration line about taking a balanced approach.
It's time for the public, especially the unions, to demand that Gov. Dayton put his plan on paper. Until then, his 'plan' is nothing more than today's press release.
That might fly if you're a U.S. senator but it doesn't work if you're governor. In the Senate, you can take entire terms off without people noticing. As governor, you're expected to lead.
Gov. Dayton, it's time you either led or got out of the way.
Posted Friday, July 8, 2011 4:02 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 08-Jul-11 09:22 AM
"If Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers hadn't released this information, the Twin Cities media would've continued repeating the Dayton administration line about taking a balanced approach."
They still will. DFL talking points matter more than the truth to those people.
Jobs Crisis in Nation Leads to Political Crisis Inside White House
This morning's jobs report is proof of a genuine economic crisis across the country. This, in turn, likely triggered a full-blown political crisis in the White House. First, here is the dismal, disappointing report:
U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dousing hopes the economy would regain momentum in the second half of the year.
Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday, well below economists' expectations for a 90,000 rise.
The unemployment rate climbed to a six-month high of 9.2 percent, even as jobseekers left the labor force in droves, from 9.1 percent in May.
First, this is proof that America's economy isn't growing the way hurting families need it to. Nonfarm payrolls rising by a scant 18,000 is terrible. While that news is terrible, this information indicates that the economy is weaker than this administration is leading us to think:
"The message on the economy is ongoing stagnation," said Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Decision economics in New York. "Income growth is marginal so there's no indication of momentum.
The government revised April and May payrolls to show 44,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported.
Nonexistent income growth says that people are just treading water. That's a far different picture than the White House has tried painting. Readjusting the jobs report downward is proof that employers aren't buying the Obama administration's happy talk.
Political Consequences
The economy is the top concern among voters and will feature prominently in President Barack Obama's bid for re-election next year. So far, the economy has regained only a fraction of the more than 8 million jobs lost during the recession.
"Today's report is more evidence that the misguided 'stimulus' spending binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said in a statement.
This isn't the news that this administration needs. Mr. Axelrod knows that they'll be history if the unemployment doesn't improve dramatically over the next year. Raising $1,000,000,000 to spend on the campaign won't matter if unemployment stays this high.
Rep. Thad McCotter issued this statement on this morning's jobs report:
Over sixteen million Americans are unemployed. Over thirty million Americans are unable to pursue better jobs because of the failed stimulus and other irresponsible, job-crushing policies. Inflation is rising. Real wages are declining, everywhere except at the Obama White House. To Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney's big government and bailout banks, this is an economic statistic. To Main Street, this is real suffering. This must and will end.
'Like every one else in this age of international, global competition, big government and the bailout banks must be restructured for the future, and taxation and regulatory reform must be implemented, so our entrepreneurs and workers can immediately grown our economy and commence an era of unprecedented prosperity for the American people.'
This isn't rocket science. Capital isn't being put at risk because businesses are worried about the potential costs that Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank bill will impose on them. Until those things are repealed, this economy will stay stagnated.
As usual, Ed has it exactly right in this post :
This doesn't even qualify as spin. This is denial on the scale of Baghdad Bob. The 'prism' of GDP and the unemployment rate are precisely how Americans evaluate the economy. They don't give a damn if the President makes decisions 'based on me and my family' if those decisions turn out to be disastrous, and right now, that's the case presented in the latest economic slide. Plouffe's argument seems to be that people will vote for caring incompetence, and while that may be the only argument left for Obama's re-election, Plouffe and company are about to find out that denial isn't exactly a winning strategy.
Plouffe's statements seemed tin-eared at the time he made them. Today, they seem downright insulting to America's intelligence. They know President Obama's economic plans have had ample time to put people back to work. Plouffe and Axelrod can buy all the clever ads they want. They can't counteract the negative news that this administration isn't up to the job of creating jobs.
As if that isn't enough bad news from the jobs report, here's more:
Details of the report showed widespread weakness, though factory payrolls rebounded 6,000 after contracting in May for the first time in seven months, with the recovery reflecting a step-up in motor vehicle production.
Construction employment fell 9,000 last month after declining 4,000 in May. Government employment declined for an eighth straight month as municipalities and state governments continued to wield the ax to balance their budgets.
The only remedy to this jobs crisis is to put President Obama on unemployment next November. Anything short of that will lead to declining employment throughout the rest of the nation.
Posted Friday, July 8, 2011 10:06 AM
Comment 1 by Dan at 08-Jul-11 10:45 AM
Ouch, this has gotta hurt from the Romney campaign: http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/07/08/unemployment-rate-rises-again-as-president-obama-continues-to-fail-our-economy/
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 08-Jul-11 11:11 PM
Gary:
I think you're missing something important which you've barely mentioned. Employment is falling among government workers now. The stimulus bill delayed that. With the pubic understanding that needs to be done the unions continuing to promote government spending is helping to drive their own members away. More important in states which Obama barely won and might need to win such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and Florida what have the Repubican governors been doing?
BALANCING BUDGETS, CUTTING SPENDING, REDUCING GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT, CUTTING REGULATIONS, AND REVIVING STATE ECONOMIES.
Walter Hanson
Mnneapolis, MN
Let's Debate
This morning, I had an interesting thought about Arne Carlson. The media is so eager to tout him as a senior statesman for the Republican Party, mostly because he's supposedly a moderate. I don't buy the fact that Arne Carlson is really a Republican, much less a moderate Republican.
I know he couldn't identify with mainstream Republicans because he's never identified himself with them. Let's remember that spending increased by 56% during his 8 years in office. That's 7% per year or 14% per biennium. That's perfectly in line with what the DFL has historically done. Let's remember that the initial budget passed by the DFL majority passed in 2007 would've increased spending by 17% for the 2008-09 biennium.
How is that significantly different than what Arne did each year for 8 years?
To settle this fight once and for all, I'm proposing that there be an hour-long debate during the state fair at the grandstands. Let's have Ed Morrissey, Mitch Berg, Dan Ochsner and Tom Hauser as moderators. I'm also proposing that the debate be between so-called senior GOP statesman Arne Carlson and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dave Thompson.
The debate would be a great service to Minnesota because these moderators are straight shooters who fit comfortably within the mainstream of Minnesota politics.
In addition to holding it at the State Fair, let's have someone subsidize a live video feed for the internet for those who can't make it to the fair. That person or company can recoup some or all of their money through advertising revenues.
I don't want this to be Arne vs. a retired GOP legislator. I want Minnesota to see the difference between politicians that once were considered moderate Republicans vs. a current conservative that's been recently mischaracterized as a far right conservative by Eliot Seide .
Let's let Minnesota decide which person's views are more in line with their policies, priorities and beliefs.
Let's make it happen.
Posted Friday, July 8, 2011 2:42 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 08-Jul-11 11:03 PM
First question for the debate:
If you only have $34 billion what's wrong with spending just $34 billion or even less? That might end the debate because Arne's mind will melt just like any other liberal.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Pethokoukis on the Jobs Report
Thus far, I've read several articles on this month's jobs report. This report by James Pethokoukis lays out why the jobs report is actually worse than the headlines, starting first with others' reactions:
- All in all, an employment report with no redeeming features whatsoever, employment, unemployment, hours and wages all disappointed.- Barclays
- The June jobs report was a shocker. It was far worse than expected, and weak on all key dimensions, job creation, unemployment, the length of the workweek, and hourly earnings. The recent pattern of jobs suggests that the economy hit a brick wall in May. - IHS Global
- Overall the June Employment Report was quite disappointing, with basically no positive offsets to the poor headline results. - Goldman Sachs
- The June employment report was universally weak and undoes the modest improvement in the economic data we have seen over the last two weeks. We are back where we started; the risk of a cold summer, similar to last year, is palpable. - BofA Merrill Lynch
- It is hard to excuse this report on supply-chain disruptions and it suggests that growth momentum evaporated as the second quarter drew to a close.- RDQ Economics
- Unfortunately, leading labor market indicators like temporary help employment, aggregate hours worked and first-time jobless claims remain weak and thus do not suggest an imminent reacceleration in the labor market. - MKM Partners
After giving us those statements, Mr. Pethokoukis offers this sobering statistic:
Indeed, if the labor force, which shrank again, was as big as it was when President Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be north of 11 percent. As it is, the broader U-6 measure surged to 16.2 percent from 15.8 percent. But with an economy growing at just 2 percent or so, expectations should be low.
In a sense, people aren't paying much attention to the quarterly GDP or monthly jobs reports. It isn't that they don't care about the economy. It's because they don't need the reports to know that the economy stinks and that unemployment is worse than the statistics show. Frankly, the number of people unemployed for more than 6 months stays incredibly high. If the economy was genuinely gaining momentum, the unemployment rate would still be high but the number of people who were unemployed for more than 6 months figure would be dropping. It isn't. What's more, the number of people who've technically dropped out of the workforce continues to be a story. Because people have been out of work so long, the unemployment rate is actually understated. Though they won't admit it, it's scaring this administration. The unemployment rate matters but the number of people out of work matters more. If the number of chronically unemployed stays high, Obama's chances of getting re-elected drop to almost zero. What's most discouraging is that this administration's plans for getting us out of this terrible economy is to do more of what hasn't worked. That's the definition of insane.
Posted Saturday, July 9, 2011 6:37 AM
No comments.
OLA Rejects MAPE Complaint
Admitting that OLA doesn't usually get involved in legislative branch affairs, Legislative Auditor James Nobles nonetheless issued a stinging rejection of MAPE's complaint that Speaker Zellers' and Sen. Majority Leader Koch's letter to MAPE employees.
First, here's what Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers wrote in their letter :
As Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate, we want to personally let you know that we do not want a government shutdown. Our best opportunity for resolution is in the next 72 hours. This is a serious time for you, for us and for our state.
The budget that passed the Minnesota Legislature in May spent $34 billion. It represents a 12% increase over the $30 billion this same tax structure brought in for the past two years. If we include the $2.3 billion of federal stimulus dollars that supplemented our current budget during the recession, this $34 billion budget represents a 6% increase in spending. All without raising taxes.
The governor vetoed all but the agriculture budget. He originally wanted to spend $37 billion, and later revised his budget. However, he has yet to provide key details for each part of that budget.
Since the governor vetoed the Legislature's budget bills, we have made three substantive compromises. We funded K-12 education, public safety and courts at the governor's requested levels; withdrew our request for tax cuts; and allocated additional resources to higher education, environment, and flood and disaster relief. All were rejected by Governor Dayton.
We also asked to be called to special session, something only the governor can do - so that we can pass bills and avoid an unfortunate, unnecessary and potentially costly shutdown. The Governor has said he will not call a special session.
Here's what Jim Monroe said in his complaint about Speaker Zellers' and Sen. Koch's letter:
Today, State Representative Kurt Zellers and State Senator Amy Koch sent out what many of our members have termed an inappropriate, 'political' letter to state employees. Speaker Zellers, do you not remember that it was Representative Keith Downey, a member of your caucus, who said that when it came to the state workforce, it is important to 'starve the beast?'
Do you both not remember that throughout the recent legislative session, your members, in both houses, continually attacked hard-working, dedicated state employees by authoring and passing bills that cut state employees' jobs, wages, healthcare and pensions?
We support Governor Dayton and do not trust what tricks your party will pull during a legislative session. Leadership is about compromise and fairness for the common good, not ideology that allows the rich to get richer. You are jeopardizing our members' livelihoods and financial well being by not compromising with Governor Dayton.
Senator Koch and Representative Zellers, make no mistake about it; our members believe to their core that the budget impasse and upcoming shutdown rest squarely on your shoulders.
First things first. The Zellers-Koch letter isn't political in nature. It's simply an update on the legislative process. As such, Speaker Zellers and Leader Koch were well within their bounds of using the state government email system. That's the conclusion Mr. Nobles determined:
Both the House and Senate policies make general declarations that their email systems should be used for legislative business and matters of concern to the House and Senate (although, like the Executive Branch policy, they allow for limited personal use.) The policies call on members and staff to exercise good judgment and common curtesy in sending emails.
Certainly, using the legislative e-mail system to tell AFSCME or MAPE workers they should vote for or against someone would be a clear violation of campaign finance laws. I'd expect the legislative email policy to conform to campaign finance laws.
The email that MAPE complained about didn't advocate for a candidate. It didn't even advocate for state employees to support the GOP budget in whole or in part.
It's telling that MAPE got upset that a benign email was sent telling state employees what the legislature has done.
It's absurd to think that legislators don't have the right to tell anyone in the state what they've done. I'd argue that it's their responsibility to keep people informed.
This is MAPE acting as part of the propaganda arm of the DFL trying to make it sound like the GOP is being unethical. That just got shut down because Jim Nobles ruled that Speaker Zellers and Leader Koch acted within the boundaries established by previous legislatures.
MAPE can't make this stick because the policy established by the legislature is sensible and doesn't conflict with other laws. I don't even think that a hyperpartisan person Jim Monroe thinks that Speaker Zellers and Leader Koch did anything wrong.
In fact, I'd bet that Monroe is worried that the rank-and-file are finding out what the legislature really did as opposed to hearing the spin that they've heard from union leadership. If rank-and-file union members hear how the government was shut down when it didn't need to be, I wouldnt' be surprised if they started questioning leadership.
I'd submit that that's what MAPE was most worried about. If people stop walking in lock-step with leadership, which I think is starting to happen, leadership's credibility will disappear instantly.
Thanks to Jim Nobles' report, rank-and-file MAPE members have reason to question their union's leadership. If that happens, this shutdown impasse will essentially be history.
Posted Sunday, July 10, 2011 12:55 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 10-Jul-11 09:27 AM
Gary when that email came out AFSCME sent out an email saying do Koch and Zeller think we're stupid? Um what was stupid in the email. I guess by attacking the messager they are trying to get us to forget the messenger.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Norquist Paranoia
I read alot of articles in a day, many of which are painful reading. That said, the most painful article I read this past week is this article . Here's what made it painful for me:
Norquist, who has never held elected office, is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, a group whose pledge not to raise taxes under any circumstances has now been signed by hundreds of Republican candidates and officials at both state and national levels.
And they do mean "any circumstances." Enormous budget deficits? No. A country at war? Nope. Famine and plague? Sorry.
Our grandmothers kidnapped and threatened with death until and unless we raise taxes, as Norquist was asked recently by Stephen Colbert? Well, answered the unflappable Norquist, we always have our memories and our photographs.
(Colbert was being characteristically satiric. There appeared to be nothing satiric about the response.)
Actually, Colbert wasn't being satiric. He was being an idiot.
This is another painful section:
How prudent is it to take an irrevocable pledge about how to govern before one begins the actual work of governing? How wise is it to remove from the legislative toolbox one of the most important tools before one knows what particular challenges one will face?
When the problem is spending, it's exceptionally wise to take raising taxes off the table. Keeping them on the table just gives politicians the temptation to keep spending. That's something we simply can't afford right now.
I'd also argue that raising taxes isn't a particularly important tool when spending is the problem. In fact, I'd argue that raising taxes is the lazy politician's way of solving deficits. They've played that game too often with little success.
Whether it's the noise coming from Democrats in DC or Dayton in St. Paul, Democrats insist that any cuts would be devasting to people. The DFL's insistence that spending cuts be kept to a minimum while raising taxes speaks volumes about their insistence on oversized government.
We're nowhere's close to eliminating government waste. What's needed is for thoughtful DFL legislators to push Rep. Thissen and Sen. Bakk off the stage so that serious government reforms could be ironed out.
Until we eliminate the foolish spending that crony government brings, Grover Norquist's pledge to not raise taxes is the right thing to do.
This ending says it all:
Americans for Tax Reform asks every candidate for elected office on the state or federal level to make a written commitment to their constituents to "oppose and vote against all tax increases."
Every member of Congress, upon taking office, is asked to swear an oath to "well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter."
Here is my simple question: Which "pledge" takes precedence?
I didn't know they were incompatible. The no new taxes pledge is incompatible with liberal spending habits but that doesn't make it incompatible with legislators' oath of office.
Posted Sunday, July 10, 2011 9:15 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 10-Jul-11 09:29 AM
Gary:
We see the danger of increase spending. Colbert doesn't as does any other liberal.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Bob J. at 11-Jul-11 11:41 AM
I just think it's ridiculous that so many people watch comedians to help shape their political views. I mean, comedians not named Dayton.
Dibble Calls Minnesota Voters Extremists (Indirectly)
This morning on Esme Murphy's program, Scott Dibble did the unthinkable. He indirectly called voters extremists. Prior to that, Sen. Dibble made a stunning admission. Here's that exchange:
SEN. DIBBLE: I respond by saying that I'm in no position to take this hit and I would never state employees in this position. This shutdown is a function and a failure to compromise from the other party. I'm working very, very hard all the way through this shutdown. I have no savings to fall back on. I don't have another job.
It's stunning to hear a state senator admit that the legislature is his ownly job. Here's the part where Sen. Dibble gives state workers the cold shoulder. Esme Murphy had asked about why they didn't pass a lights on bill. Here's Sen. Dibble's response:
SEN. DIBBLE: You know, I think a lights on bill would make alot of sense if there was a modest bit of movement from the Republican majority. They have literally not moved an inch since Election Day. So lights on if we're working towards some sort of compromise. Otherwise, lights on just means we drag this thing out and out and out forever and ever and ever.
This is stunning. It's like the state employees that he spoke so glowingly about in his initial reply aren't an important part of the DFL's priorities. He doesn't care that AFSCME and MAPE workers are taking a major hit as a direct result of Gov. Dayton not signing a lights on bill.
What Sen. Dibble just essentially said is that maintaining Gov. Dayton's bargaining position is a higher priority than the state employees. If the employees were Gov. Dayton's highest priority, he would've signed a lights on bill.
Esme Murphy then talked about proposing a modern equivalent to the 2005 Health Impact Fee. Here's Sen. Dibble's response:
SEN. DIBBLE: Well, it tells me we've got a hardline...and we see the party bosses telling them giving an inch is a loss and you're going to have primary challenge. They're in a box of their own creation. You know, Tony Sutton is saying a compromise is evil. Grover Norquist is now weighing in in Minnesota, saying even a tiny bit of new revenue is capitulation. Doug Wardlow, a freshman House member, has said that the time for compromise is over.
So what has to happen is that the grown ups have to take control come into the room. I was encouraged when Vice President Mondale and former Gov. Arne Carlson...now we have a bipartisan commission, moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats, people who have had their hand at the tiller for a very long time, coming in with significant ideas on how to approach this thing. But what has to happen is some Republicans, just a few Republicans in the legislature, have to step up and say 'It's time to govern. It's time to compromise. It's time to get this thing over with because we've got this huge freshman class of TEA Party extremists who aren't going to give an inch.
The intellectual incoherence of Sen. Dibble's last statement is scary. Think about this. Republicans won majorities in the House and Senate this year, picking up a net of 25 seats in the House and 16 seats in the Senate.
These Republicans ran on a limited agenda of not raising taxes, getting spending under control and putting in place policies that will help the private sector create jobs. The voters overwhelmingly accepted the Republicans' message.
What Sen. Dibble is essentially saying is that the voters voted for a huge group of freshmen even though these candidates were a bunch of extremists. Does anyone who isn't a DFL activist think that this freshman class are a bunch of extremists? Let's remember that many of these freshmen handily defeated DFL incumbents.
Sen. Dibble couldn't find the mainstream of Minnesota politics with a GPS. He's the last person I'll pay attention to.
Posted Monday, July 11, 2011 2:46 AM
Comment 1 by Glenn at 11-Jul-11 06:04 PM
'He doesn't care that AFSCME and MAPE workers are taking a major hit as a direct result of Gov. Dayton not signing a lights on bill.'
Even stranger is that the true blue union members I talk to absolutely don't want a lights on bill. What part of unemployment am I missing here?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Jul-11 06:22 PM
So you're happy taking a 50% cut in pay? Interesting. I think we can arrange that. The AFL-CIO put together calls for their members to call Kurt Daudt & tell him to compromise. Instead, a half-dozen callers told Rep. Daudt to stand his ground.
So much for unflinching, unanimous union support of Gov. Dayton's policies.
Comment 2 by Donna Foster at 12-Jul-11 08:38 AM
I've talked to several people this week who are falling for the whole "legislators should give up their pay" argument - most of them union people. I ask them exactly what the job of a legislator is. They don't know. I tell them that the Republicans did their job - they presented a budget. The Democrats have not - and the Democrat Governor vetoed the Republican budget. So.....who DID their job and who didn't? Should the people who did their jobs be forced to give up their pay? I go on to ask them if they would work for free if their company's leaders couldn't agree on how the company should proceed. They all said, "hell no". I then ask them if they would give up their pay if their co-workers were playing political games and not doing thier jobs. They said "no". I then asked them why they would ask the legislators to do something they wouldn't do themselves. I end the conversation by pointing out that the people encouraging their current belief system are at least consistent - after all - every union strike boils down to workers being asked to give up their pay because their leaders are playing political games. I can assure you that I am not well-liked at work......
Comment 3 by Bob J. at 12-Jul-11 09:35 AM
Interesting article in the Duluth paper this morning about Northern Minnesota legislators who are still getting paid. Nine of them, all DFL.
Comment 4 by walter hanson at 12-Jul-11 11:37 PM
Bob:
They're taking that money to support that hurting economy because we can't get that new mining operation going which will create thousands of jobs.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
