June 8-12, 2014
Jun 08 07:52 DFL, miners, seek new dance partners Jun 08 13:35 The DFL's "unholy alliance" Jun 09 12:33 Once reliable Iron Range worries DFL Jun 09 15:33 DFL, environmentalists, Sierra Club, don't just hate mining Jun 10 10:49 IFO's criticism of Rosenstone goes public Jun 10 11:44 Regulators for entrenched interests Jun 11 11:33 Defeating Cantor just first step Jun 12 03:56 The president who lost 2 wars, Part I Jun 12 17:26 Another liberal gets 'Krugman-ized'
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
DFL, miners, seek new dance partners
This editorial in the Mesabi Daily News, titled What happened to dance with who brung you?, rips the DFL for their attempt to serve two masters. Check this out:
We found it pretty sad that activists of a political party that often looks to the Range for traditional DFL votes to produce election victories in statewide contests couldn't even take a stand on an issue of jobs, which are so in need on the Range.
The party once again bowed to the environmental extremists and their dogma based on unfounded fears of devastation to the land and water of northeastern Minnesota.
How difficult would it have been to put a resolution with simple wording that the party supports copper/nickel/mining that meets state and federal environmental regulations up for a vote?
That's a stinging rebuke of the DFL, environmental extremists and Ken Martin especially. Let's remember that Ken Martin worked hard to prevent a mining fight from breaking out on the convention floor last weekend. Martin succeeded in that the fight didn't break out. Martin failed because the bitter feelings between the miners and the DFL's dominant environmental activist wing still exist. That won't change anytime soon.
It's really quite pathetic that the party that is supposed to be for the working men and women in Minnesota would cower to the extremists when hundreds and thousands of jobs on the Iron Range are at stake.
We get the politics of it, even though a few days later Matt Entenza blew a big hole in the unity facade when he filed for state auditor in a primary battle against Auditor Rebecca Otto, which will put the nonferrous mining issue front and center in the DFL primary election.
Noticeably silent through this fight is Al Franken. Sen. Franken hasn't said whether he's pro-PolyMet or whether he's with the environmental activists on this. I suspect he's with the environmental activists because he's supporting President Obama's delay of building the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Further proof of Sen. Franken's slipperyness on PolyMet is found on his campaign's issues page. Isn't it interesting that mining is nowhere to be found on Sen. Franken's issues page? That tells me PolyMet isn't a priority with Sen. Franken. What's telling is that Sen. Franken didn't bother mentioning mining during his 26+ minute long acceptance speech at the DFL convention:
If miners hadn't turned out for him in 2008, we'd still have Sen. Coleman. Now he's 'repaying' them by ignoring miners and mining? MDN's editorial sums things up perfectly:
So much for dancing with who brung you.
Amen to that.
Posted Sunday, June 8, 2014 7:52 AM
No comments.
The DFL's "unholy alliance"
One way to verify the hostility level between Rebecca Otto and the Iron Range DFL is to read th is article . Suffice it to say that minced words were kept to a minimum. Check out Dave Dill's statement:
'I don't support candidates who don't support economic development in northeastern Minnesota. And I especially don't support them when they placate people to raise money. That's an unholy alliance,' Dill said of Otto's vote on the leases and following effort to raise campaign funds off of it. Then he really took off the gloves. 'Much of fundraising today is done electronically. To do that candidates need the minerals that will be produced in copper/nickel mining. Perhaps they should communicate by using a string with two cans like we did in grade schools.'
'We are doing nothing wrong. We're following the rules. She voted against something that has been going on in the state for more than 100 years. She voted against the birth of mining. You don't mine until you drill.'
Dill's statement is definitely harsh, most likely because he's in a tough re-election fight. It serves him right because he's been silent for years on PolyMet/mining/economic development.
Here's another way to verify the hostility level between Metrocrat environmental activists and the Range DFL:
And it also draws a clear line in the political sand on mining and economic development in the region.
'WHEREAS, Iron Range cities will no longer stand for politicians who don't clearly and unequivocally stand for us on issues such as mining and economic development in our area,' it reads in part.
That's part of a proposed resolution that the Virginia City Council will vote on this Tuesday night. It clearly puts Otto in their cross hairs. It puts other politicians, like Gov. Dayton and Sen. Franken, on notice, too.
Otto didn't need to hear this:
The elected leader of the state Senate said Otto called her shortly after strong reaction against her mineral leases vote erupted on the Range. "There's 'Dump Otto' signs showing up on the Range," she said. I said, 'What did you think was going to happen?' Bakk said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Bakk told her she would 'probably be fine' unless she received a primary challenge. She now has that. 'I'm just going to sit down and think on this. I won't immediately get on board, either way,' said Bakk, referring to both Otto and Entenza.
I wrote this post to highlight the fact that Matt Entenza might be as anti-mining as Otto is:
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. LCV doesn't support candidates that are pro-mining. There's no question but that both DFL candidates for State Auditor are anti-mining.
Most importantly, there's no question but that Ms. Otto gave the GOP a gift of immense proportions when she sent out that fundraising email where she bragged about voting against mining. Reaction on the Range to that fundraising email was instant and hostile. Sen. Bakk is right in telling Ms. Otto that she should've expected that hostile reaction.
Nolan is rightly getting criticized:
A 'Dump Otto' supporter tweeted out the following message Wednesday afternoon in response to a report that Nolan's campaign manager said the congressman is backing Otto in the campaign: 'Interesting that [the congressman from the Eighth District] is supporting an anti-mining candidate.'
Nolan responded in a telephone interview with the Mesabi Daily News late Wednesday afternoon.
'I endorsed the endorsement team and that includes Rebecca Otto, but with reservations because of her mining vote on mineral leases. She assured me she's not anti-mining, but she's going to have to prove that to me. I'm going to hold her feet to the fire,' Nolan said.
TRANSLATION: Nolan is a typical politician. He's playing political games, having it both ways on this issue. That isn't what leaders do. That's what cheap career politicians do.
Simply put, trusting Nolan is a major mistake. His political career has been marked by his being as slippery as a greased pig. It isn't that he's pure evil. It's just that I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him if I had a pair of broken arms and a bad back.
The same is true of Ms. Otto and Matt Entenza.
Posted Sunday, June 8, 2014 1:35 PM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 08-Jun-14 04:23 PM
Mr. Entenza obviously over-estimates his voter appeal, but he is savvy enough to see the opening Otto's extremist environmentalism has created. And in a primary election where campaigning skills matter most, Ms. Otto has virtually none. If Dayton could (falsely) rile up the Range to upset Kelliher, why can't Entenza?
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 08-Jun-14 10:52 PM
If I was a DFL voter on the iron Range I will do what Richard Pryor asked voters to do in the movie Brewster's Millions. Vote for "None of the Above" by hand.
If the DFL see's hundred or thousands of votes like that they will panic after the primary since Al Franken knows it was Iron Range votes that carried him to victory. Along with Mark Dayton and Gary Nolan.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Once reliable Iron Range worries DFL
Allison Sherry's article in the Strib is yet another article highlighting the tensions within the DFL. While things look normal on the outside:
things are anything but normal on the inside:
That has DFL state Chair Ken Martin fretting.
'I'm worried about the Eighth,' Martin said. 'The rank-and-file union members showing up and supporting the Democratic candidates, I'm worried about environmentalists in Duluth showing up and supporting our candidates. I'm worried about college students throughout this district and young people showing up. We have to win big. We have to run up the score here.'
Here's why Martin's worries are legitimate:
Increasingly, the Eighth is cleaved by forces difficult for any one party to address. PolyMet Mining Corp.'s plan to extract copper and nickel from the long-closed LTV mine in Hoyt Lakes has pitted out-of-work but union-loyal miners desperate for decent wages against preservationists, who say the mine could damage the watershed and poison the landscape.
Even after loyal DFLer and Aurora City Council Member David Lislegard lost his job at the mine in 2000, he canvassed for DFL candidates, fighting to get fellow miners to the polls.
No more. 'The party is starting to change in direction to the point where I don't know if it necessarily aligns itself with northeast Minnesota anymore,' said Lislegard, 41. 'I'm going to support those who support our way of life.'
Former state Rep. Tom Rukavina, who lives here, was more brusque.
'I just wish one day that our good DFL senators, both of them, you know, would tell the environmentalists to quit crying wolf, you can't be against everything,' he said. 'You can't want a broadband if there is no copper. You can't want windmills if there is no nickel. You can't want a medical device industry if there aren't stents made of copper, nickel and stainless steel. So cut the crap and grow up.'
There've been tons of times I've disagreed with 'Tommie the Commie' when he was in the legislature. This time, I wholeheartedly agree with him. In the aftermath of the DFL State Convention, a DFL activist made a similar statement, saying that environmental activists walked the convention floor with cell phones and iPads. This DFL activist then asked "do they think that the minerals in those phones and iPads magically drop out of the sky"?
Both nationally and here in Minnesota, Democrats are at a tipping point. Will environmental activists continue to dictate their agenda or will they be abrupt like Tom Rukavina and tell these environmental activists to "grow up"?
Lislegard still favors Nolan in the upcoming election, but he is wavering on whether to support Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken's re-election bids. He senses that the DFL has taken his and other blue-collar votes for granted, and he is particularly disgusted with the carefully parsed answers he hears about the idled mine that once was his livelihood.
Mindful of the different factions, both politicians are careful when talking about PolyMet.
'What they [miners] want is sustainable mining, that's what they always wanted,' Franken said. 'That's what we're doing with the process, and I think the process has improved the project considerably. : There is never anything without risk, but we have to make sure the risk is as minimal as possible.'
That's slippery language from Sen. Franken, which isn't surprising. The mining issue wasn't controversial because of what the miners wanted. It was controversial because environmental activists were steadfastly opposed to precious metals mining. In fact, Alida Messinger, who has written some of the biggest checks to the DFL, vehemently opposes precious metals mining.
Dayton makes no apologies for staying neutral until more is known about one of the most environmentally sensitive projects the state has embarked upon.
'I've said before and I'll say again, my position is I'm not going to take a position,' Dayton said. 'I'm going to remain intentionally neutral until all the reports are done, all the comments have been made and filed and responded to, until there is final information. When that will be, I'm not entirely certain. Some people jumped in already pandering to one group or another : before the final analysis came in. I think that's irresponsible.'
Gov. Dayton, it's time you stopped walking the tightrope. Tons of information is already known about PolyMet. Alida Messinger and Becky Rom won't support PolyMet. Get over it. No amount of information will change their minds.
If the DFL won't tell the environmental activists to sit down and shut up, lots of Rangers will vote for the MNGOP's pro-mining candidates. It's that simple.
Posted Monday, June 9, 2014 12:33 PM
Comment 1 by Harlan Christensen at 09-Jun-14 04:49 PM
Great piece. If Dayton was sincere about waiting until "all the reports are done", why didn't he stand by the findings of the Wild Rice Sulfate Standard Study released by the MPCA earlier this year? Read my piece (Google MinnPost sulfide).
The study disclosed that sufficient data exists to support site-specific standards, yet Dayton was preparing to announce the 10mg/lL sulfate standard should stay in effect, in spite of the report stating that iron makes sulfate non-toxic. Range legislators intervened and Dayton said more research is needed and sent it back to the MPCA. One reader's comment to my commentary stated "What is the Governor trying to pull here?"
I also had a piece published by the Duluth News Tribune where I wrote that the governor and the senators gambled with their letter that by not more definitively supporting NorthMet side, they can capture voters on both sides of the mining issue.
MinnPost and DNT have exclusive rights to those commentaries, but will give you permission to reprint and/or quote from them. Hometown Focus reprinted the sulfate piece in their recent special mining edition. Another paper, the Ely Conservationists for Common Sense, just got reprint permission as well. You might call the editors there about how environmental restrictions on new development is killing local business.
I hope you use my commentaries to further illustrate how they are playing politics with people's livelihood. Great job. Email if you want to chat and I'll contact you. Even give you some quotes. Harlan Christensen
DFL, environmentalists, Sierra Club, don't just hate mining
I've written ad nauseum about how environmental activists hate mining on the Iron Range. Rep. Jim Newberger's Strib op-ed highlights how environmental activists hate coal-fired power plants in Central Minnesota, too:
Last year, the DFL majority forced Xcel Energy to adopt a 30 percent renewable energy standard by 2020. Now the Obama administration wants to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The war on coal has come home to Minnesota. Now let's consider the cost.
Sherco, located in Becker, Minn., produces enough energy for almost half of our state and is the largest coal power plant in the Midwest. It produces 2,400 megawatts of electricity for more than 2.5 million people. That's more power than both of Minnesota's nuclear plants combined.
That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, though. Here's more:
Sherco already meets or exceeds federal clean air standards, and it plans to spend hundreds of millions more for emissions scrubbers to further reduce its environmental impact. Leadership from the organization leading the charge to close Sherco, Beyond Coal, has publicly admitted that Sherco is 'unbelievably clean.'
Beyond Coal is part of the Sierra Club's war on energy :
Sierra Club Programs
Priority Campaigns
Beyond Coal
Beyond Oil
Beyond Natural Gas
Our Wild America
Check out this picture:
The Sierra Club isn't hiding the fact that they're pushing for a no-fossil-fuel energy world. That's just the start. The Sierra Club's North Star Chapter Executive Committee reads like a Who's Who of the DFL:
John Hottinger
John Hottinger is a former Minnesota state senator and majority leader, representing constituents in Mankato. He brings a long history of public service and a deep interest in environment and conservation issues, particularly global warming, to the ExCom.
Javier Morillo-Alicea
Javier Morillo-Alicea is the president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26, which unites more than 5,000 property service workers in the Twin Cities metro area. Prior to being elected president of SEIU Local 26, he was a political organizer for the SEIU Minnesota State Council and served as State Director for the AFL-CIO's Voter Protection Program. Morillo was previously a historian and anthropologist, teaching courses at Carleton and Macalester College. He is a Fulbright Scholar and has a Bachelor's Degree in History from Yale University. He lives on the West Side of St. Paul with his partner of thirteen years.
Last Friday night, Javier Morillo-Alicea told his Almanac Political panelists that environmentalists and miners were "having a discussion" about precious metals mining. I suspect his definition of "having a discussion" on mining is what most people would call a step short of a civil war in the DFL.
The DFL's alliance with organizations like Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and the Sierra Club should tell voters that, on issues like energy and mining jobs, the DFL is far outside Minnesota's mainstream.
Originally posted Monday, June 9, 2014, revised 15-Oct 10:23 PM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 10-Jun-14 09:22 AM
That's the problem with these environmentalist wackos. They have no concept of reality. When they give up THEIR cars and quit heating THEIR homes, and go back to living in the world of 1905 without all of those modern conveniences (like coal stoves), we'll talk.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 10-Jun-14 10:59 AM
Unfortunately, Jerry, they understand their actions perfectly. The reason why they want to prevent PolyMet & Twin Metals is because their vision is for a UN biosphere that would include the BWCA, Superior National Forest & most of Quetico National Park in Canada. That would make that land offlimits forever.
Comment 2 by Joe Baltich at 04-Jul-14 08:28 AM
Gary Gross, while I agree that there was/is a biosphere plan in the works, I don't believe that the pawn anti's give it any consideration. They are simply cannon fodder and when a biosphere will be implemented, they like everyone else would be shut out. Only the super elite would be allowed to enter for "study". The cannon fodder doesn't know why they are supporting anything other than it "feels good and right". They don't have a lot of depth in thought and looking to the future realistically is not in their tool bag. Look at their support for climate change legislation. They actually support "science by consensus" and not fact. It is a very large, emotionally driven group of easily mislead people who are too lazy to dig for anything more than surface information. Unfortunately, they also have money to donate and support.
Comment 3 by NMcReady at 04-Jul-14 09:10 PM
The United Steelworkers Union joining the Sierra Club with the Blue/Green Alliance is job killer. Along with Nolan now a member of the Green Team in Congress. Wake up DFL. This is not your daddy's DFL anymore!
IFO's criticism of Rosenstone goes public
It isn't often that the IFO, aka the Inter Faculty Organization, publicly criticizes the chancellor of MnSCU. Suffice it to say that this is one of those times. Here's the opening paragraph from their letter to the MnSCU Board of Trustees, which is titled "Bill of Particulars Concerning Chancellor Rosenstone's Performance":
The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) does not take lightly the decision to present to the Board of Trustees this bill of particulars concerning the performance of Chancellor Rosenstone. A frank message about the overall low morale of state university faculty on every campus in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) is long overdue. More than at any time in recent memory, faculty have witnessed the erosion of the missions of the state universities - missions that faculty have struggled to create and maintain, and that have served Minnesotans well. Campus feedback on the chancellor's leadership has been extensive, and the faculty consistently report feeling disregarded and disrespected by his actions. This must change: State university morale continues to decline because of decisions by the chancellor. Our 4,000 state university faculty members do not view Chancellor Rosenstone as a strong advocate for state universities. It is time to re-focus on the present realities of our state university campuses instead of turning out a stream of planning documents that purport to chart the future.
Simply put, Chancellor Rosenstone isn't getting the job done. The IFO's Bill of Particulars carry these headings:
- Failure to represent effectively colleges and universities within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) at the Minnesota Legislature
- Failure to comply with legislative language on budget shortfalls
- Failure to provide transparency on administrative efficiencies and external fundraising
- Failure to oversee effectively responsibility for the administrative operations on our campuses
- Failure to advocate on critical issues on behalf of students
- Failure to address the challenges of cultural diversity
- Failure to include sufficient state university faculty input to budget process and planning initiatives
- Failure to respect collective bargaining process and environment
- Failure to reach contract settlement with the IFO, even though all MnSCU and non-MnSCU state unions have reached agreement
- Failure to retain staff who provide key administrative functions in the System Office
Remember, this is the professors' union highlighting these points of contention. It's worth digging further into the Bill of Particulars. That's where you'll find information like this:
Legislators complained that the chancellor's budget requests were not understandable - the budget document itself was a PowerPoint presentation. The budget request failed in its most basic purpose: To show where money was going to come from and where it would be spent.
If that's right, it isn't surprising that the legislature accepted the IFO's budget proposals instead of Chancellor Rosenstone's budget. That's what happened in 2013.
Frankly, if I was a legislator serving on one of the Higher Ed committees and I found out that the chancellor's budget was really a glorified PowerPoint presentation, I'd reject it, too. If the MnSCU Chancellor can't respect my time enough to even put a budget document together, why should I waste my time going through it?
This might be Chancellor Rosenstone's biggest failure:
4. Failure to oversee effectively responsibility for the administrative operations on our campuses:
a. By failing to ensure a reliable payroll system for Metropolitan State, when almost the entire Human Resources staff resigned due to the financial mismanagement of the university; and
b. By failing to ensure that disciplinary actions on the campuses adhere to the Master Agreement and state law, e.g., the MSU Mankato's treatment of its football coach.
c. By unnecessary involvement of the System Office in campus level searches and minimizing faculty and student participation, resulting in several interim and protracted searches for campus administrators.
In other words, Chancellor Rosenstone didn't pay attention to what was happening at a handful of his campuses. If the CEO of a private company had this happen on his/her watch, that company's board wouldn't need a Bill of Particulars. That CEO would be history before the ink dried on the bill of particulars.
Getting the payroll right is important. They didn't get it right at Metropolitan State. In fact, they didn't get it right for years.
Firing a coach is a big thing. Firing that coach after a prosecutor said they wasn't a case against the coach is stupidity.
There's a lengthy list of things Chancellor Rosenstone has made mistakes on. This sums things up perfectly:
It is time to re-focus on the present realities of our state university campuses instead of turning out a stream of planning documents that purport to chart the future.
Being a visionary isn't as important as simply being competent. Far too often, MnSCU's trains don't run on time. In fact, there's times when the proverbial trains don't leave Rosenstone's depot.
It's time for Chancellor Rosenstone to leave.
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2014 10:49 AM
Comment 1 by Crimson Trace at 10-Jun-14 06:30 PM
This is a joke...
But the board of trustees issued a statement Monday saying it supports Rosenstone 'unanimously and without reservation.' The statement, signed by board chair Clarence Hightower, called Rosenstone 'a visionary leader who cares passionately for our students and works tirelessly on their behalf.' It said the board 'remains enthusiastic' about the direction under his leadership.
http://www.startribune.com/local/262394451.html
Comment 2 by Yeager at 11-Jun-14 09:34 AM
While it is convenient to go after Rosenstone, he sent an very interesting and revealing letter to the outgoing and incoming IFO Presidents, in which he anticipates a "reset" in communication between MnSCU and the IFO.
One wonders if this BoP is the result of a failure in leadership in the IFO as much as MnSCU...
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 11-Jun-14 10:22 AM
This isn't about a communications reset. The things outlined in the BoP are things that are administrative responsibilities, either at the MnSCU office (budget proposal) or university presidents' responsibilities (Hoffner firing, Metropolitan State payroll).
The IFO can be prepared to talk with the chancellor or the Board of Trustees but they can't force them to talk. That's on the other side.
If you want to talk about whether FA presidents fail to represent dues-paying members, that's a different discussion that I'm willing to take up any time.
Comment 4 by Yeager at 11-Jun-14 10:42 AM
The Hoffner debacle is 100% on the administration there, and the IFO rightly defended (and won) that battle. Similarly the Metro State situation is unacceptable. However, the immediate stance that the IFO has taken with a number of other issues signals a lack of willingness to work together - to truly pursue collaborative leadership. Instead there was nearly laser beam focus (at least seemingly) on pay raises and finding opportunities for scoring points against MnSCU administration.
FA leadership representing dues-paying members? This is a long standing problem in which those in the club get the support. Doesn't seem to matter much who is in charge.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Jun-14 11:15 AM
How do you work with someone who thinks he can rule by announcing things that require faculty participation? (Think police agreement, GPTWI Trust Survey index.)
Regulators for entrenched interests
If lobbyists and regulators existed at the turn of the Twentieth Century, it's fairly likely we'd still ride in horse-drawn carriages. The Horse & Buggy Union likely would've lobbied state governments to prevent cars from being driven on state highways and city streets. They might've lobbied to prevent them from being manufactured.
Glenn Reynolds' article illustrates how the regulatory system operates and who is hurt by overregulation:
The regulatory knives are out for Uber and Lyft, two ride-sharing services that make life easier for consumers and provide employment opportunities in a stagnant economy. Why are regulators unhappy? Basically, because these new services offer insufficient opportunity for graft.
Here's a more detailed explanation for Reynolds' accusations:
In most cities, traditional taxi services are regulated by some sort of taxi commission. Similarly, limo services, the ones that provide the black Town Cars favored by big shots (and used by many Uber drivers), are regulated by some sort of livery office. The rules strictly forbid the two sectors of the market from competing with one another. And, generally, entry is limited so that neither faces too much competition in general. In holding down competition, these regulators act on behalf of the entities they supposedly regulate for the benefit of consumers.
The goal of these regulators is to stifle competition to the greatest extent possible. This sentence is the most revealing:
In holding down competition, these regulators act on behalf of the entities they supposedly regulate for the benefit of consumers.
This regulatory system operates in much the same way that campaign finance 'reforms' operate. Campaign finance laws are written by incumbents with the intent of protecting incumbents. When McCain-Feingold was signed into law, some pundits rightly called it the Incumbents Protection Act because it stifled political speech right before primaries and general elections.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court gutted McCain-Feingold.
Hopefully, Reynolds highlighting the regulators' chicanery will put an end to the regulators' attempt to stifle competition. Society needs more, not less, competition. That means society needs a less burdensome regulatory regime. When competition is strong, capitalist economies flourish. When competition is limited, the economy stagnates.
It's that simple.
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2014 11:44 AM
No comments.
Defeating Cantor just first step
When Dave Brat defeated Eric Cantor last night, it was the stunner of news stories this year. Here's Brat's explanation to Sean Hannity on what he did:
Here's the partial transcript of Hannity's interview with Brat:
BRAT: I ran on Republican principles. We have this Republican creed in Virginia and the only problem with the Republican principles is no one is following them.
The first one is commitment to free markets. We don't have any free markets in this country any more. Then equal treatment under the law, fiscal responsibility, constitutional adherence, peace through strong defense and faith in god and strong moral fiber. That's what I ran on: The Republican creed. But the press is just always out there to have these exciting stories to sell papers, and the people actually do care about policy. When you're serious: I give 30 minute stump speeches on policy, and the press made fun of me. They said 'these aren't good stump speeches. You're talking serious issues.' Well, the American people are ready for serious issues.
People bought into Brat's message because he won by 7,000 votes. Cantor lost because Cantor didn't take Brat or his district seriously .
One disturbing thing that came out of last night's coverage is that the celebrity TEA Party organizations didn't lift a finger to help Brat. Laura Ingraham told Fox News's Megyn Kelly that Jenny Beth Martin of the TEA Party Patriots, "much to my consternation", didn't take Brat's calls.
The reality is that too many of these 'official' TEA Party organizations have drifted from the TEA Party's principles. Martin didn't respond to a true TEA Party activist.
I attribute that to a steady drift from TEA Party celebrities from TEA Party principles. Celebrities like Sarah Palin and others endorsed candidates who wouldn't know the first thing about TEA Party principles. I know because I criticized them months ago when Palin endorsed Julianne Ortman.
I've had my own fight with a different TEA Party organization. Specifically, I had a fight with TEA Party Nation. I wrote this post about TPN's endorsement. Here's what they said about Sen. Ortman in their endorsement:
She is running and has racked up an impressive series of endorsements. She has been endorsed by our friends at Tea Party Express, the Conservative Campaign Committee, Citizens United and most recently she was endorsed by Sarah Palin.
She is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-low taxes and perhaps most importantly in favor of a complete repeal of Obamacare.
When I criticized them for not doing their homework, TPN attacked me, saying:
@LFRGary If I had a nickel for every time a liberal told us we were losing credibility, we'd be rich.
I don't know who's runnning communications for TPN but they're overpaid if they're getting paid. First, they support a liberal candidate, saying that she's conservative. When I criticized them for supporting a liberal, they criticized me by calling me a liberal.
Frankly, it's time to start holding these celebrities' feet to the fire. They're celebrities who don't think they have to do their research. I shot TPN's, Sarah Palin's and Citizens United's endorsements down in less than 15 minutes each.
Eric Cantor lost because voters perceived him as thinking he was too important to worry about his constituents. Celebrity TEA Party organizations lost because they didn't support Brat.
Posted Wednesday, June 11, 2014 11:33 AM
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The president who lost 2 wars, Part I
While watching the O'Reilly Factor Wednesday night, I was pissed to hear how ISIS, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, had essentially rolled back the military gains made by the Bush administration. Put differently, the Obama administration is in the process of losing a war that the Bush administration had won. I know because I wrote about it back in November, 2007:
Since the last soldiers of the 'surge' deployed last May, Baghdad has undergone a remarkable transformation.
No longer do the streets empty at dusk. Liquor stores and cinemas have reopened for business. Some shops stay open until late into the evening. Children play in parks, young women stay out after dark, restaurants are filled with families and old men sit at sidewalk cafes playing backgammon and smoking shisha pipes.
Compare that description with this article :
They have live-tweeted amputations, carried out public crucifixions and have been disavowed as too extreme by al-Qaeda. Now they have taken over Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city. They are the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, a group of extremist Sunni Islamist militants, and they are rapidly becoming one of the deadliest and most prolific insurgent groups in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, ISIS fighters led a surprise attack on government locations in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.
The assault was so brutal that soldiers in the Iraqi army left their posts and in some cases even their uniforms as they fled en masse, according to a report by the Washington Post. The assault has left the terror group in control of the city's airport, army base and other vital infrastructure. It provided them with cash from the city's banks and weapons from the local military posts. As the BBC notes, the fighting has also resulted in the rapid and fearful exodus of hundreds of thousands of people.
The seizure of Mosul is the latest event in the the rise of ISIS, once merely one of the many al-Qaeda-linked franchises that occupied the fractious and insecure regions of Syria and Iraq, but now a powerful autonomous entity that holds significant territory and resources.
The truth is that President Obama was hell-bent on getting out of Iraq even if it meant losing the war that President Bush had won. The Anbar Awakening scuttled al-Qa'ida in Iraq. Sunnis kicked the terrorists out of northern and western Iraq, erasing their footprint in cities like Fallujah, Tikrit, Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk. Now ISIS has recaptured most of western and northern Iraq, including Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit. Here's a map of the territory now controled by ISIS:
Thanks to President Obama's insistence on getting out of Iraq regardless of the consequences, radical Sunni Islamists now control most of Iraq and Syria. Thanks to President Obama's decision to let al-Qa'ida establish a Muslim caliphate in Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit, hundreds of soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice for nothing.
That's just getting started. These terrorists will use that territory to train terrorists to spread jihad throughout the world. That will happen even though President Obama won't admit that. It won't happen during the last 2 years of his administration but it'll happen as sure as the sun sets in the west.
This information should frighten westerners:
The assault has left the terror group in control of the city's airport, army base and other vital infrastructure. It provided them with cash from the city's banks and weapons from the local military posts.
In other words, this terrorist network has the wherewithal to plan attacks, buy the material for those attacks and have the sanctuary to train terrorists for a new round of terrorist attacks anywhere in the world. It's a safe bet those attacks won't be focused on Russia or Iran. It's assumed those terrorist attacks will first hit Israel, western Europe and the United States.
Unfortunately, this administration hasn't demonstrated that they care about this new terrorist organization. This administration talks about destroying "core al-Qa'ida." ISIS is like core al-Qa'ida on steroids and HGH.
Thanks to President Obama's decision to lose the war in Iraq, whether that was intentional or not, and his decision to get out of Afghanistan after releasing the Taliban 5 and his decision to side with the Iranian mullahs while Iranians were protesting their elections, President Obama has made southwest Asia and the Middle East a hotbed for terrorism.
The world will be a far more dangerous place to live than when he was sworn in. Check back later today for Part II of this series.
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2014 3:56 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 12-Jun-14 04:59 PM
Gary:
Al Qaida can't be alive and well. Joe Biden told us time after time that it was dead or at least on the run thanks to Obama's great leadership. Not to mention the peace that Obama created with Iraq will be a great gift of his leadership.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 12-Jun-14 05:34 PM
Walter, I hate breaking this to you but VP Biden doesn't have much credibility these days. LOL
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 13-Jun-14 01:44 PM
Gary:
I kind of figured that, but it doesn't hurt to remind everybody else what they said especially since what is happening in Iraq now can easily be repeated in Afghanistan after Obama holds up his white flag there.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Another liberal gets 'Krugman-ized'
There was a time when Paul Krugman was considered a bight guy, especially when he talked economics. That Krugman doesn't exist, at least not in public anymore. That Krugman disappeared when he decided it was more important to be a corrupt political hack than to be an expert economist.
Sadly, Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has been Krugman-ized. In his latest article , Ornstein's disgusting ideology is displayed:
First, it is clear that this moves the Republican Party even further to the right, in approach, attitude and rhetoric. Even if the overwhelming majority of incumbents, including establishment ones, have won renomination, even if broader Republican public opinion is more establishment conservative than Tea Party radical, all it takes is an example or two of the opposite to get all politicians jumping at their shadows and muttering to themselves, 'That could happen to me.'
The fact that Ornstein mentions TEA Party radical is proof that Ornstein is a political hack. Here's what 'radical' Dave Brat believes :
We Believe:
That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice,
That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society,
That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government,
That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing Constitutional limitations,
That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense,
That faith in God, as recognized by our Founding Fathers is essential to the moral fiber of the Nation.
Wow. I instantly felt tormented by Brat's radicalism after reading those principles. NOT. If that's Ornstein's definition of radicalism, then that says that Ornstein's the radical.
There was a time, back the country functioned properly, when adhering to these principles was totally uncontroversial. Unfortunately, that's history, at least in the eyes of people like Ornstein, Krugman, not to mention President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
Here's another telling statement from Mr. Ornstein:
Cantor had put out a policy plan for June that has a bunch of symbolic actions and a few real policy advances. Now, that plan will surely be curtailed further. Action means government doing things, and the zeitgeist of the GOP now is not to have government doing anything except self-destructing.
First, Ornstein's paranoid delusions shouldn't be taken seriously. Republicans, including TEA Party activists, want government living within the Constitution's limits. There's no question that the Constitution is a radical document. It's the only document like it in the history of the world because it says people give power in limited amounts to the government.
Other country's governing documents say that a) power originates from the government and b) is given in limited amounts to the governed.
Second, it's obvious that Ornstein hasn't noticed that this administration is incredibly inept without the Republicans' help. Government that's run by people who love huge government, is utterly incompetent, not to mention totally corrupt.
Mr. Ornstein apparently is too busy criticizing people with legitimate complaints to notice the Obama administration's ineptitude. He should stop being a political hack and start paying attention more. He'd have more credibility if he did.
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2014 5:26 PM
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