June 1-7, 2014
Jun 01 18:41 Seifert vs. McFadden Jun 02 09:03 McFadden vs. Franken: Who represents the middle class? Jun 02 10:07 PolyMet fight still divides DFL Jun 03 16:33 DFL's 3 biggest problems: Dayton, Franken, mining Jun 05 03:56 Matt Entenza's anti-mining history Jun 06 01:47 Twins draft off to fast start Jun 06 12:50 Martin got what he wanted...sorta Jun 06 17:04 Minnesota Supreme Court rules against citizens Jun 07 23:08 How much trouble is Nolan in?
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Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Seifert vs. McFadden
This weekend's Republican Convention was a study in how 2 candidates handled things differently. Mike McFadden and Marty Seifert both said that they were keeping their options open on going to the primary if they weren't endorsed at the convention. That's where the similarity ends.
Friday's first ballot in the senatorial campaign produced 2 stunners. Julianne Ortman finished in third. Meanwhile Chris Dahlberg came in first. While Dahlberg might've hoped for that, there's no way he should've expected that. That result established him as a serious candidate.
It also hurt Sen. Ortman's standing with the delegates. Had she finished with 35% and in first place, she might've played it positive the rest of the way. Instead, they went negative. That hurt her with the delegates.
Through it all, Team McFadden kept grinding away, staying in close contention on each ballot. Then they caught a break after the 7th ballot. The next morning, they were back at it with renewed confidence. They won it before the results of the 10th ballot were announced whe Dahlberg graciously conceded.
Contrast that with Team Seifert. They didn't lead at any point. When the outcome became clear, Dave Thompson conceded while giving a gracious concession speech. Seifert approached the podium while Sen. Thompson spoke. It was thought that he'd concede, too.
Instead, he released his delegates publicly while telling them to leave the convention so there wouldn't be a quorum. Without a quorum, there couldn't be an endorsement. Activists on Twitter didn't take that well. The convention video shows some people booing while others applauded.
This statement sums things up pretty nicely:
Delegate and Minnesota Tea Party Alliance chair Jack Rogers was blunter. "Marty [Seifert] has just galvanized every faction in this party to work for the endorsed candidate," he said.
That can't be what Team Seifert was hoping for. I'd think the fundraising doors slammed shut during Seifert's speech, too.
Had Seifert accepted defeat or announced outside that he was going to the primary, he wouldn't have upset the delegates. Instead, he essentially said that if he couldn't win the endorsement, he'd do whatever he could to make sure nobody was endorsed.
That selfish act won't play well with people. There's no question that Seifert has loyal supporters. There's no question that he's alienated those who aren't already his supporters.
McFadden earned a ton of political capital this weekend because he didn't disrespect the delegates. Seifert lost whatever political capital he had by disrespecting the delegates.
As a result, McFadden's stock is on the upswing while Seifert's has ebbed.
Posted Sunday, June 1, 2014 6:41 PM
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McFadden vs. Franken: Who represents the middle class?
The McFadden vs. Franken matchup for Minnesota's Senate seat will be a fight about who offers the working poor and the middle class. Predictably, the DFL will say that Franken has fought for the middle class every day he's been in the Senate. In fact, they'll say that about about all of their elected officials.
It's verifiable truth that Mike McFadden has lifted more minority students out of poverty than Franken and all of the DFL politicians in DC combined. He did that through his work with the Cristo Rey school system.
Anyone that's heard Mike McFadden talk about Cristo Rey, which I have, knows that the Alliance for a Better Minnesota's attack of him as "an out of touch rich guy" is plain BS. You can't listen to Mike talk about how "78% of the kids that graduate go onto college and the rest go into the military" without seeing him beam with satisfaction knowing that those kids and their families have been changed forever.
Compare that with Franken talking about "investing in education." That's politician-speak for "spend money on the teachers unions." It's more mantra than anything else. When Franken talks about education, he talks with the passion of a man watching paint dry. It's a box he checks. It isn't something he's passionate about.
That's quite the contrast. The supposedly out-of-touch-rich-white-guy is passionate about helping underprivileged minority kids but the guy who's supposedly fighting for the middle class sounds bored when talking about education.
Figuring out who's most likely to help kids lift themselves out of poverty isn't difficult. The toughest part is being willing to admit that the facts are the facts.
As for the candidate who'd best fight for the middle class, consider how little Franken has done to lift the people in Virginia, Hibbing, Chisholm and Eveleth from their current crisis. Their current crisis is getting environmental organizations like Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and Conservation Minnesota off the miners' backs so they can make a living.
Sen. Franken told the Ely Echo that he's talked with the United States Forest Service as if that'll solve the miners' crisis. The permitting process for PolyMet started 9 years ago. It's cost PolyMet over $150,000,000. Mike McFadden will fight for regulatory and permitting reform so PolyMet can become a reality, so that mining jobs can be created.
The question is whether talking with a government bureaucrat, aka the Franken method, is more effective than passing laws that put those bureaucrats on notice that they'd better start helping people. Personally, I think the McFadden method is most likely to help the Iron Range faster.
Posted Monday, June 2, 2014 9:03 AM
Comment 1 by Gretchen Leisen at 02-Jun-14 03:49 PM
After attending the MN GOP convention this weekend, I left with a great respect for all the contenders for the US Senate nomination. They were gracious, well spoken for conservative principles, and avoided pitfalls by remaining respectful of each other.
In the gubernatorial election process, we saw many excellent presentations by all the candidates. I was a delegate for Marty Seifert, but I was immediately impressed with Jeff Johnson, and I am now enthusiastically supporting him for the upcoming primary in August as well as the November election against Mark Dayton.
I feel we have two excellent candidates at the top of the ticket, and other great candidates for the rest of the constitutional offices. Go GOP, and defeat Dayton and Franken in November!
PolyMet fight still divides DFL
Despite the DFL's best efforts to paint over the Polymet/environment issue, it's clear from this article that the DFL is deeply divided:
Democrats averted a nasty public fight Sunday over a controversial Iron Range copper-nickel mining proposal that has vividly split powerful party factions.
Activists at the state DFL convention decided against debating a proposal to make support of mining part of the state party platform. The move took on enormous implications as environmentalists and labor supporters are bitterly divided over PolyMet Mining Corp.'s proposal to extract copper and nickel from the long-closed LTV mine in Hoyt Lakes.
'The mining issue has the potential to rip up the last remaining hard-core Democrats,' said Joel Holstad, a DFL activist from Forest Lake. 'I have no idea which way this is going to go, but I think this issue has the potential to be incredibly impactful on the future of the party.'
Though a civil war didn't break out on the DFL convention floor, which was a distinct possibility, that doesn't mean Iron Range hostilities towards environmentalists don't exist.
Those hostilities certainly still exist. They just didn't erupt at the DFL convention. That's a distinction worth noting. It means the hostilities exist beneath the surface. It means Republicans' pro-mining message will get a fair hearing. It means the DFL can't take the Iron Range for granted.
Most importantly, it means the DFL can't focus all their attention on the suburbs. It isn't likely that miners will let Gov. Dayton, Sen. Franken and Rick Nolan voice soft support for mining. They'll expect the trio to enthusiastically and unconditionally support mining.
In short, Dayton, Franken and Nolan will actually have to support mining instead of playing the game.
The fight pits a strong and influential conservation-minded wing of the party against Iron Range DFLers, who strongly support the mining expansion.
The civil war didn't erupt but the hostilities remain.
Posted Monday, June 2, 2014 10:07 AM
Comment 1 by Gretchen Leisen at 03-Jun-14 08:18 PM
The environmentalists are deceitful in their claims of being open minded. "Just do more studies and assure us that the water supply will not be contaminated" is their mantra.
But, such studies have been done over and over again. Each time a new study and operating plan has been released, the resulting reaction from environmentalists and their DFL lackeys is the same [it is never good enough, and it never will be good enough.]
My nephew is part of the team of scientists who have been doing the studies and vetting the plans of Poly Met and other mining companies in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is a knowledgeable man and an honorable one. He has testified before the Wisconsin legislature that one of the last plans for a mining operation in northern Wisconsin included a water treatment plant that would assure that treated waste water would be of a quality equal to that of the best water treatment plants in the USA. But, that did not satisfy the environmentalists because, "the water was not the same as the water was before it was used in the mining process. The water quality was too high"! So it is obvious that neither the environmentalists or their Democrat/DFL legislators will ever approve any mining operations. They are against all progress and the development of our natural resources. The fact that jobs are being denied to the northeastern Minnesota population is not of interest or importance to them. Their minds are fossilized and they remain with a 19th century mentality.
It is imperative that we elect an enlightened legislature in Minnesota in 2014!
DFL's 3 biggest problems: Dayton, Franken, mining
I've written tons of posts about the mining issue and its potential to divide the DFL the past 3 years. It's nice to see people are noticing its potential. This article , for instance, notices that:
Minnesota Democrats have decided against debating a proposal to support the state's non-ferrous mining development in Minnesota's Iron Range as part of the state party political platform.
'The mining issue has the potential to rip up the last remaining hard-core Democrats,' Democratic-Farmer Labor Party activist Joel Holstad told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
This article certainly mentions the potential crisis too:
There's another nagging problem that could grow into a major headache for the DFL: how to handle mining. If the environmentalists keep pushing for more and more environmental impact statements, they could push the Iron Range - long a party stronghold, into the laps of the GOP : or at least push longtime DFLers into apathy.
Throughout the day Saturday, there were meetings among Rangers and party officials over how to handle mining.
Even a milquetoast resolution party members had designed to try to please everybody was found to be offensive by the Rangers. (The resolution essentially said the DFL supports mining that doesn't contaminate the water, etc.) 'If they're going to do a resolution like this on mining, why not on 3M, why not on every industry in the state?" asked Sen. Dave Tomassoni, who is from Chisholm and was a convention delegate.
Meanwhile, Republicans are finally starting to understand the potency of the issue :
They were one in a message that had been honed specifically for a post-convention fly around stop on the Iron Range by Republican candidates and party officials. That verbal missive: The Minnesota GOP and its candidates are 100 percent behind mining, especially proposed copper/nickel/precious metals projects, and with a commitment to do more than just talk a good game on the issue.
'The modern DFL in Minnesota has declared war on mining,' said Stewart Mills, 8th District GOP candidate to face U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan. Both Mills and Nolan are from the Brainerd area. 'They (Democrats) need to do more than talk the talk ... they need to start walking the walk' on copper/nickel mining, said House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt of Zimmerman, which is about 40 miles north-northwest of Minneapolis.
If the DFL won't truly represent the miners, these candidats will. He actually did things to push the process, compared with Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar saying that they've talked with the Forest Service.
Cravaack held monthly meetings to push the issue with the MPCA and the federal government. Franken and Klobuchar have chatted with the Forest Service.
The difference in commitment is startling. DFL Chairman Ken Martin can yap all he wants about the DFL's commitment to the Range but actions speak louder than words. Thus far, the DFL is all words. Thus far, starting with Chip Cravaack, the GOP has been all action.
Posted Tuesday, June 3, 2014 4:33 PM
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Matt Entenza's anti-mining history
According to Matt Entenza's website, Entenza graduated from Macalester College with a degree in Environmental Studies :
Matt graduated from Worthington Senior High School and won a scholarship to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., with an eye toward eventually going to law school. After his sophomore year, he transferred to Macalester College in St. Paul and was elected student body president. He received a degree in environmental studies with honors.
The environment isn't a passing fancy with Rep. Entenza. One of the organizations who has honored him is the League of Conservation Voters. Here's what LCV's mission is in their own words:
LCV runs tough and effective campaigns to defeat anti-environment candidates, and support those leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy future for America.
Simply put, LCV supports candidates that are anti-mining. That means both DFL candidates for State Auditor are anti-mining. The biggest difference between him and Rebecca Otto is that she's campaigned as anti-mining. Thus far, Entenza hasn't. That said, it isn't like he's supported precious metals mining projects like PolyMet and Twin Metals-Minnesota.
In the end, Entenza's candidacy should be seen for what it is -- an attempt to stay relevant in Minnesota politics until a congressional seat opens up.
Finally, this shows that he thinks Otto is vulnerable.
Posted Thursday, June 5, 2014 3:56 AM
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Twins draft off to fast start
Major League Baseball's annual entry draft got started Thursday night, with the Houston Astros picking Brady Aiken with the first pick in this year's draft. It was the third straight season Houston had the first pick in the draft.
The Twins have had high picks in the last three drafts, too, though I'd argue that they've added more talent to their team in those years than Houston has. This year, the Twins drafted Nick Gordon with the fifth overall pick. Here's what CBSSports said about Gordon :
The son of long-time big leaguer Tom Gordon and brother of current Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon, Nick has a quick left-handed swing and drives the ball to all fields. His power is mostly into the gaps for doubles than over the fence at the moment. Quick feet, reliable hands, and a strong arm makes him a natural at shortstop, plus he is an excellent athlete, as you might expect given his bloodlines. Gordon, who stands 6-foot-0 and 180 lbs., has legitimate All-Star potential and a very high ceiling. He has hit 94 mph off the mound and pitching could always be a fallback option if things don't go as planned on the infield.
Gordon was considered by many scouts to be the top position player in this year's draft. If that's true, the Twins drafted a kid with the physical tools and the bloodlines to be a special player.
Things were just getting started for the Twins, though. In the second round, the Twins took Louisville's closer, Nick Burdi. Here's the Pioneer Press's take on Burdi:
The Twins weren't able to sign Nick Burdi three years ago out of high school, but they figured it was worth giving the Louisville closer another shot.
Armed with a fastball that has been clocked as high as 103 mph, Burdi is the all-time saves leader for the Cardinals after spending the past three years in their bullpen. His slider has been clocked as high as 92-93 mph and regularly sits at 87-90 mph.
Simply put, Burdi has the ultimate power arm, throwing his fastball as fast as 103 mph. That's just insane. That's before talking about his slider, which tops out at a brisk 93 mph. If Burdi has command of his pitches, he could be in the majors by 2016.
Having him set up Glen Perkins would give the Twins an unstoppable bullpen.
Back to the Twins last 3 first round picks. This year, they got the kid rated the top position player in the draft. Last year, they picked Kohl Stewart, a top of the rotation righthander, with the fourth overall pick. In 2012, the Twins picked Byron Buxton with the second overall pick. At the time, Buxton was considered by most scouts as being the best player in the draft. When Houston picked Carlos Correa, the Twins must've thought they'd just moved Christmas to early June. He and Miguel Sano project to be the next dynamic duo for the Twins.
With any luck, Gordon and Burdi will be Buxton's and Sano's teammates for years to come.
Posted Friday, June 6, 2014 1:47 AM
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Martin got what he wanted...sorta
Ken Martin didn't hide the fact that he didn't want a pro-mining resolution brought to the convention floor at last weekend's DFL state convention. According to this article , he got what he wanted:
Ken Martin got what he had hoped for at the DFL State Convention last weekend regarding the copper/nickel/precious metals mining issue on the Range: Nothing - no resolution for or against debated on the floor.
The state DFL Party chairman had said for a couple months in interviews and conversations with the Mesabi Daily News that his goal was to not have the controversial issue turn into a convention firefight. He succeeded, despite passionate feelings on both sides.
A floor fight would've been big news that the media would've splashed on their front pages or led their broadcasts with. Martin definitely didn't want that. He settled for a artificial show of party unity.
The question going forward will be whether pro-mining and pro-union people will settle for that. This is just a hunch but I don't think they will, especially considering the number of "Dump Otto" lawn signs that've popped up on the Range.
After the Minnesota Executive Council met last year, Rebecca Otto sent out a fundraising email saying that she was the only vote against mining exploration leases. At the time, she thought this would help raise lots of money. It might well have helped with that. Unfortunately for her, that email fell into the right hands.
There's no question that her email played well with the Metrocrat environmental activist wing of the DFL. Unfortunately for her, there's no question that it doesn't play well at all on the Range. That's why the "Dump Otto" signs popped up. That's why Matt Entenza filed a primary challenge against her.
Entenza knows she's vulnerable.
Politically speaking, not talking about mining at the DFL convention was smart. Unfortunately for Chairman Martin and the DFL, that's just a temporary fix. The discontent is still boiling. The biggest dynamics change is that Republicans running for statewide office are highlighting their support for mining.
Meanwhile, the DFL's support for mining is, putting this charitably, tepid. They're walking a political tightrope without a safety net underneath. The DFL's margin for error doesn't exist. A mistake might cost their statewide candidates their races.
The tightrope act worked during the convention. That doesn't mean, however, that things won't boil over before Election Day. Chairman Martin better say his prayers and eat his vitamins. If he doesn't, this could be a tough year for the DFL.
Posted Friday, June 6, 2014 12:50 PM
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Minnesota Supreme Court rules against citizens
If Patrick Condon's article highlights anything, it's that the courts really aren't accessible to average citizens. With their ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court essentially said that the judiciary is only for deep-pocketed people:
The state's high court ruled that former Republican Rep. Jim Knoblach would have to post an $11 million surety bond if he wanted his challenge to the project to continue. He said he can't afford to post a bond of that size.
'Requiring a member of the public to come up with $11 million in a case like this is a chilling precedent to a citizen raising a constitutional challenge,' he said.
This is stunning on multiple fronts. First, the constitutional case is clear. If the Supreme Court read the merits of the lawsuit, they'd know that the lower court's ruling was a joke and an insult to Minnesota's constitution. Second, saying that a lawsuit can't proceed without the litigant putting up an $11,000,000 surety bond is the fastest way to stop a lawsuit.
First things first. Judge Marek ruled that Sen. Bakk's bill didn't violate the Single Subject Clause of Minnesota's Constitution because "the office building provision is linked to the rest by a common thread of 'financing and raising revenue to fund state and local government operations." In other words, the legislature can put anything it wants to pass into the tax bill if it's something that's linked to "state or local government operations."
In other words, Judge Marek's ruling essentially gutted Minnesota's Constitution. That's either proof that she's corrupt or proof that she's ignorant of Minnesota's Constitution.
Next, it's exceptionally elitist of Minnesota's Supreme Court to require this surety bond. They've essentially said that deep pockets are required if a person wants to appeal legislative decisions. That's stunning in its elitism.
If ever there was justification for citizens voting out judges and replacing them with judges who'll obey Minnesota's Constitution.
What just happened is that Judge Marek ignored Minnesota's Constitution. Later, government lawyers convinced a judge that a pesky citizen shouldn't really have access to the courts. Finally, the Minnesota Supreme Court completed the whitewash by agreeing with the government's attorneys, putting the final brick in place stopping citizens from accessing judicial remedies to legislative overreach.
It's a sad day for Minnesota's citizens. The elitists on Minnesota's Supreme Court just ruled that the court won't hear lawsuits pertaining to legislative overreach unless the litigant has exceptionally deep pockets.
Posted Friday, June 6, 2014 5:04 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 07-Jun-14 11:17 AM
Gary:
Sounds like when Governor Johnson takes office and the Republicans take over the state house they have an important bill to write to stop the State supreme court from being able to throw out a phony excuse to stop a lawsuit they don't want to rule on.
You can bet if they want to rule on it they wouldn't have done this.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
How much trouble is Nolan in?
Based on this video, it's pretty clear that Rick Nolan thinks he's in for a helluva fight:
This is the first hint that Nolan thinks he's in for quite a fight:
Nolan started off the campaign with a shot the Republican contender Stewart Mills. 'He is, no mistake about it, a one percenter who is there to represent the 1 percent not the 99 percent,' Nolan said.
That's stunning. People shopping at Mills Fleet Farm aren't 1-percenters. They're mostly blue collar folks looking for good prices on things they need for their car, their yard or for hunting.
Trying to cast Stewart Mills as an out-of-touch 1-percenter is foolish. I don't doubt that Nolan is foolish enough to try. I just think it's a foolish attempt. As foolish as that is, though, it isn't the most foolish thing Nolan said. This is:
Nolan said he supports projects like Polymet, and that project is environmentally sound. 'It offers a great hope for some really good-paying jobs over a couple hundred years on into the future. Good stuff; I'm fully supportive of it,' Nolan said.
Nolan fully supports PolyMet...for now. His support hasn't been consistent, though. Let's remember this oldie-but-goodie from July, 2012:
DFL congressional candidate Rick Nolan proposed on Wednesday, July 18, development of a new federal technical institute on mining and the environment to help the industry overcome production and environmental issues to create more jobs, an idea immediately panned by his opponents as expensive and ineffective.
That was Nolan's 'plan' after Jeff Anderson, his DFL primary opponent, criticized him for not supporting PolyMet. Think of that as Nolan 1.0, which I think is the closest to who Nolan really is.
Nolan 2.0 is Nolan, the slithery politician. That version of Nolan was exposed in this article :
[P]erhaps it's fitting that tracking 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan's position on a bill that deregulates the mining industry and fast tracks the permitting process for PolyMet is a bit like watching a fish flopping around on a dock: first he's against it, then he's for it and now he once again opposes it, this time promising to vote against the legislation if it 'comes anywhere near close to becoming law.'
Jesse Peterson, an environmental activist, wasn't impressed:
The reaction of the those who gathered in Bohannon Hall on that Saturday afternoon is perhaps best summed up by 32-year-old Jesse Peterson, who characterized Nolan's responses and actions with respect to HR 761 as 'incredibly deceptive and reflecting a willingness to be phony.'
If anyone printed $3 bills, Nolan's face would be on them.
But I digress.
The latest version of Nolan, aka Nolan 3.0, is the guy who now who, supposedly, unflinchingly supports PolyMet. The truth is that he's whoever he needs to be depending on who he's talking to. That's who he's been his entire political. I know because I voted for him way back in his first run in the 1970's. Nolan is the ultimate panderer. That's who he's been forever. This picture shows he hasn't changed:
The Iron Range doesn't need a career politician who'll change his beliefs depending on who he's talking to. Rangers need a guy who's comfortable saying what he believes in. They need someone who unconditionally supports mining.
Stewart Mills is the only candidate who fits that description.
Posted Saturday, June 7, 2014 11:08 PM
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