March 1-2, 2011
Mar 01 03:19 Whom to Believe? Mar 01 03:43 St. Cloud Reaction to Budget Forecast Mar 01 08:11 Walker Highlights Obama's 'Oversights' Mar 01 09:36 Has 2012 Death Knell Begun? Mar 02 04:07 Dayton Administration Earning Obstructionist Label Mar 02 04:32 Gov. Dayton Will Move Mar 02 05:41 Rep. Thissen, Repeating Lies Doesn't Make It Truth Mar 02 12:59 Doing My Good Deed For the Day Mar 02 13:40 It's Just a Matter Of Time
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Whom to Believe?
Monday afternoon, Pat Kessler tweeted this :
MN State Economist Tom Stinson: Deficit dropped in part cuz of Obama/GOP compromise on extending Bush tax cuts.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota DFL tweeted this :
Forecast says over half the FY11 bottom-line improvement from accounting for early Medicaid expansion.
If left with the choice of trusting the DFL or Tom Stinson, I'll trust Mr. Stinson. I'd further add that Gov. Dayton's opting in is another instance of the DFL creating a bigger structural deficit.
The early opt-in money isn't guaranteed beyond 2014. After that, that money likely will disappear. In fact, if SCOTUS rules that O'Care is unconstitutional, that money will disappear before the presidential election. The question then becomes "What will Minnesota do to deal with those people relying on O'Care"?
UPDATE: Here's another Kessler tweet about MMB opinion:
MMB: capital gains tax generated 65% of budget improvement; lower tax rate meant more turnover of portfiolios.
The bottom line is this: reasonable tax rates keep the economy running smoothly. Gov. Dayton's new top tax rate isn't reasonable. It's exhorbitant. That's why it would've killed jobs had it gotten enacted. Thanks to the GOP legislature, Gov. Dayton's tax policies won't see the light of day. They'll get a polite hearing before they're shot down.
Sen. Koch and Speaker Zellers responded to the welcome news:
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, said she was glad to see Dayton roll back one of his tax proposals, but she remains concerned about the others. The GOP wants to balance the budget without tax increases. Koch said the smaller deficit doesn't change that priority.
"With what's in the checkbook, let's live within that. Let's compromise within that," Koch said. "Let's reform, and we'll be healthier for it. Our economy and our budget will be healthier for it."
By my calculation, the amount of money available for the 012-013 biennium will be very similar to the 08-09 biennium. There were more than a few people who complained that the DFL legislature spent the surplus, including a bunch of one-time money.
House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, sidestepped questions about Stinson's analysis. Zellers said he thinks the forecast had a clear message about taxes.
"If you don't overcollect and you let the people, the hardworking taxpayers of this great state keep the money, they'll do the right thing with it," said Zellers. "They'll invest it. They'll spend it."
I'd love hearing the DFL explain why that budget, combined with a slew of reforms that the GOP is working on, isn't sufficient for this budget. Let's remember that there's only a $5,000,000,000 deficit if they spend $39,000,000,000 during the 2012-2013 biennium.
Passing a budget that would be $5,000,000,000 bigger than the previous biggest budget in Minnesota history can't be justified, especially while the economy is faltering like this.
Gov. Dayton should be ashamed of himself for not looking harder for savings. Clearly, he's mostly interested in raising taxes. Gov. Dayton hasn't shown any ambition in finding spending efficiencies.
Gov. Dayton has said when questioned about raising taxes that Minnesotans don't mind because "the Minnesotans I know are better than that." If they're "better than that," why do many of his rich liberal friends, like his family, hide their wealth from taxes in shelters?
Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2011 3:19 AM
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St. Cloud Reaction to Budget Forecast
Last night, Rep. King Banaian sent me this statement about the budget forecast:
We just received a new state economic forecast. It calls for a $5 billion budget shortfall in the upcoming biennium; that's a $1.1 billion improvement compared with the last November's forecast.
Our state revenue is expected to increase from approximately $30 billion to more than $33 billion in the next biennium, a rise of about 9 percent. The shortfall exists only because expenditures are automatically set to rise by approximately 29 percent over the same period. Governor Mark Dayton's first budget proposed a 22 percent increase in spending. I expect he will issue a revised budget plan of his own now that we have updated figures.
The new forecast will allow us to zero-in on our budget targets and comply with the Constitution by erasing the shortfall before the fiscal year ends in June. The House has a deadline of March 25 to finalize its targets, which provides plenty of time to negotiate a budget.
An improving economy that helps our budget is a step in the right direction, but significant work still remains in digging ourselves out of this hole. It is still incumbent upon us to continue focusing on helping folks get back to work, improving our business climate and exhibiting fiscal responsibility. Those are the tools that will not only erase our shortfall, but will help us achieve sustainability in Minnesota.
Rep. Steve Gottwalt sent me this statement:
We now have $3 billion more in projected revenue for the coming biennium than the current biennium, a nearly 9% increase! With that kind of revenue increase, there is absolutely no justification for jacking up taxes and spending on struggling Minnesotans! In fact, state officials told us at this morning's budget briefing that we still face a larger than $4 billion structural deficit for future bienniums.
Yet Governor Dayton and the DFL continue to support an unsustainable 22 percent increase in state spending. They have no interest in reforming, setting better priorities, and living within our means. State Finance Director Tom Stinson told us this morning that most of the revenue improvement came from capital gains as a result of sticking with the Bush Tax Cuts.
Yes, that's right: Holding down tax rates actually increased our tax revenues! Stinson also emphasized the need to do all we can to spur private sector job growth if we want to stabilize what he called our "fragile" economic recovery.
Friends, it has never been more important for us to live within our means, and resist the temptation to slip back into the status quo. It's still a $5 billion deficit, and unless we do all we can to change Minnesota's state spending growth, we will face multi-billion dollar deficits for years to come. It's time to get Minnesota back to work and back to prosperity by
lifting the burden of big government and unsustainable government spending!
Of the two statements, the thing that jumps out at me most is Rep. Gottwalt's statement that they expect to be 9 percent more general fund revenues during the 012-013 biennium than they'll collect this biennium.
Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2011 5:08 AM
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Walker Highlights Obama's 'Oversights'
Monday, Gov. Walker highlighted President Obama's oversights :
"I'm sure the President knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay. And I'm sure the President knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.
"Furthermore, I'm sure the President knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.
"I'm sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn't acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another."
President Obama is a professional at sounding reasonable while acting radical. That's what he's done here. He's sounded reasonable in insisting on PEUs 'keeping' their collective bargaining rights while knowing that the most of the federal government employees don't have collective bargaining rights.
Certainly, nobody in national security has collective bargaining rights. They can't strike. Just ask PATCO.
Yesterday, President Obama said that politicians shouldn't vilify public union employees. Gov. Walker rightly highlights that he's praised "more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin."
In other words, President Obama didn't get his information right in one instance. Later, President Obama resorted to one of his favorite devices: the strawman argument.
The strawman argument is especially important to President Obama because it implies that his opponents are behaving badly. Nevermind the fact that, in this instance especially, his opponents aren't behaving badly. In fact, Gov. Walker's behavior has been exemplary.
The longer this standoff lasts, the more Democrats hurt themselves. President Obama's crebility is damaged by his PR stunts and misinformation campaigns. Democrats lose by acting like spoiled brats who won't do their jobs.
Contrary to CW, Democrats are losing this PR battle. There's no question that their base is energized. That's usually a positive thing. This time it isn't. It isn't because the Democrats are alienating independents by not standing and fighting.
Instead, they're acting like spoiled brats.
Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2011 8:11 AM
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Has 2012 Death Knell Begun?
The day after the 2008 elections, it was impossible to go 5 minutes without hearing a pundit predicting the death of the Republican Party. they'd just gotten crushed. They weren't principled. Etc, etc, etc.
Thanks to the radicalism of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid, Republicans swept to a dramatic victory in 2010. Thanks to the militant actions of the spoiled brats from Wisconsin and Indiana, Democrats are getting themselves in deeper trouble for 2012 than they were in in 2010.
Thanks to President Obama's picking sides with PEUs and his stuffing unpopular legislation down the people's throats (O'Care and the Stimulus), he's putting himself in a precarious position for 2012.
Nolan Finley's column highlights the Democrats' difficulties:
Instead of staying on the field to defend their positions, Democratic lawmakers in both states fled to neighboring Illinois, where they hope to win with their absence what they couldn't at the ballot box - namely, the right to control policymaking.
Without the Democrats, the legislatures don't have the required quorums to pass budget measures, including cutting pay and benefits for public workers.
The lawmakers in exile call this a defense of democracy. In truth, it's a step toward anarchy. If it catches on as a practice, it will officially end government by, of and for the people.
It's part of a disturbing trend by Democrats to embrace a by-any-means-necessary approach to governing. We saw it during passage of Obamacare, when the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate blew up the rules to block a filibuster. In Massachusetts, Democrats used after-the-fact law changes in a failed attempt to keep a Republican from succeeding Ted Kennedy.
Finley calling the Democrats' strategy a "by-any-means-necessary approach" just nails it. That's what they specialize in. They've also specialized in ignoring the will of the people. That's why they got slammed so hard this past November. They didn't want to listen to We The People during the townhalls in August, 2009. They ignored the great suggestions put forth by Paul Ryan and Dave Camp at the Health Care Summit in February, 2010.
They paid the price for their arrogance a couple months ago. I totally agree with Finley's summation:
These Democrats in Indiana and Wisconsin merit universal condemnation.
What they are saying is that the people no longer have the right to use the ballot box to decide the direction of their government.
That's a rule change our system can't survive.
Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2011 9:36 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 01-Mar-11 12:41 PM
Seems to me the Republicans in Wisconsin, if not other places, can have the upper hand here if they want it, since the only quorum requirement is for budget bills. They could, for example, make Wisconsin a Right to Work state with no Democrats even present. That would be worse than what Gov. Walker has proposed by far and make the current demonstrations almost a moot point.
They could pass new abortion restrictions, one assumes, or laws against illegal aliens in the workplace. In short, every liberal wish fulfilled in the past could be gutted in a few weeks, unless they choose to return and fulfill the role to which they were elected and, if they don't, too bad. They'll have failed their constituents, lost the battle and the war, and become even less relevant. And it's all good.
Dayton Administration Earning Obstructionist Label
I've written before about the Dayton administration's delays. Now PIM is reporting about another Dayton administration delay. From this point forward, I'm considering this a confirmed pattern. Here's what PIM is reporting:
Rep. Greg Davids, chair of the Taxes Committee, is upset about a delay in the release of the 2011 tax incidence study by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. In a letter sent Monday to assistant Revenue commissioner Matt Massman, Davids criticizes the agency for failing to meet the March 1 deadline for the biennial report.
'While I understand the many undertakings your department is currently facing, a delay of this magnitude is unacceptable,' Davids wrote.
In particular, the Preston Republican argues that data on the levels of taxation facing different income brackets is necessary to weigh Gov. Mark Dayton's budget proposal. The first-term DFLer wants to close roughly half of the state's $5 billion budget deficit by raising taxes on the state's wealthiest five percent of residents, arguing that it will make the tax code more fair and progressive.
'It is precisely because the governor's budget is centered around a two-year old study that the delay in issuing the new one is not acceptable,' Davids wrote.
The Dayton administration has acquired the reputation of withholding information from the legislature. It's an obstructionist administration. What's worse is that they're getting a reputation of being two-faced.
Gov. Dayton, Rep. Thissen and Sen. Bakk daily whine to their willing media allies that they haven't seen the GOP budget. Meanwhile, they've kept key people from testifying ; they've ordered key personnel to not respond to official letters of inquiry and now delay the release of an important budget report.
Until Gov. Dayton starts complying with the legislature's information requests in a timely fashion, Sen. Koch, Speaker Zellers, Sen. Thompson and Rep. Dean should tell the Twin Cities press corp and the outstate media of the ways that Gov. Dayton's administration is withholding important information.
They don't get to play their games in public about how the GOP legislature hasn't submitted their budget then quietly stop key budget information from getting to the appropriate legislative committees.
That's what corrupt administrations do. It isn't what honorable administrations do. Thus far, I can't say that this is an honorable administration. I can only say that they're corrupt and obstructionist.
Minnesotans deserve better than that.
Posted Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:07 AM
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Gov. Dayton Will Move
During an interview on MPR, Gov. Dayton said that Republicans would have to move on the issue of tax increases :
Gov. Mark Dayton said "both sides have to move" to craft a solution to bridge the $5 billion gap in the state's finances.
Faced with Republican legislative leaders' adamant opposition to any tax increases, Dayton said in an interview on Minnesota Public Radio that he's "not going to go all the way over to their point of view ...I don't believe in it."
Gov. Dayton, hear this once: The GOP won't move on tax increases. Stop thinking that they will. Minnesotans spoke last November. They said yes to not raising taxes on Minnesota's job creators. They said yes to living within our means.
Now that there's about $4,000,000,000 more in revenue forecast to come in during the next biennium than what's coming in during this biennium, an 8.7 percent increase, there's no need for a tax increase. At least, there isn't an economic justification for raising taxes.
Gov. Dayton has frequently cited the need for more tax fairness for raising taxes. That's a wimpy, counterproductive argument. I don't care about tax fairness if it isn't making me more prosperous. All I care about is prospering. PERIOD.
Raising taxes on Minnesota's job creators by 40% is counterproductive, too. Why would we choose to weaken Minnesota's economy when we're struggling? That's foolish.
The GOP legislature will balance the budget without raising taxes while setting smart spending priorities on the things most important to Minnesotans.
If Gov. Dayton wants to veto a budget that doesn't raise taxes, he'll have to argue that he's calling a special session because he's that wedded to killing jobs. He's welcome to defend that position but I wouldn't recommend it.
That's a position DFL legislators up for re-election a year away won't want to defend.
Posted Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:32 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 02-Mar-11 09:51 AM
Maybe it's time to reframe the argument. If Dayton wants to raise taxes to support more spending, let him make that argument, and let the GOP have the "living within our means" side of it. If he wants to argue tax fairness, let him argue for taxing the rich more, and let the GOP argue for taxing everybody else LESS. Then we'll see where the dust settles.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 02-Mar-11 01:08 PM
There's no need to REframe it that way. That's what they've been doing for 2 months.
Rep. Thissen, Repeating Lies Doesn't Make It Truth
Rep. Thissen started his whining diatribe by saying that there were "no more excuses for Republicans" to produce " their property tax-raising, all cuts budget ."
HINT TO REP. THISSEN: Repeating bullshit that is is verifiably false won't make it truth.
I wrote here that the GOP plan is balanced: part growing the economy, part reforming government to work for the people and part making the difficult cuts.The Dayton/Thissen/Bakk plan isn't balanced. It's all about raising taxes on Minnesota's job creators while letting cities like St. Paul and Minneapolis make much-needed cuts. The Dayton/Thissen/Bakk budget is about letting irresponsible cities off easy.
This isn't to say that all cities have been irresponsible. St. Cloud has kept property taxes stable while absorbing LGA cuts. That's because Dave Kleis has set intelligent priorities. It's because he's actually said no to people.
Rep. Thissen is right that property taxes will go up if R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman keep spending like money grows on trees. They need to expand their vocabulary to include words like NO and PRIORITIES. Thus far, there isn't proof that those words are included in their vocabulary, especially with regards to their special interest allies.
Rep. Thissen's message comes across as whiny to outstate people. He hasn't stated why the Dayton/Thissen/Bakk plan should be adopted. He's only whined about how the GOP hasn't proposed a budget, then whined that the GOP budget is an all-cuts budget that raises property taxes.
If he hasn't seen their budget, how could he possibly know that their budget will raise property taxes or that it's "an all-cuts budget"? When did Rep. Thissen add the gift of clairvoyance to his annoying habit of being whiney?
Personally, I don't know how Sen. Bakk puts up with Rep. Thissen's whining tone of voice. It's THAT annoying.
There's no direct correlation between cutting LGA and property tax increases. It doesn't exist. St. Cloud has gotten their LGA cut 3 straight years. Our property taxes have stayed the same.
What Rep. Thissen is really saying is that property taxes have spiked in the Twin Cities because those mayors and city councils haven't said no to spending hikes.
Outstate Minnesota is getting tired of subsidizing suburban mayors' unwillingness to say no. Rep. Thissen needs to get out of his suburban bubble and realize that there's a vastly different viewpoint beyond the burbs.
Until that happens, he'll continue being an unpersuasive pitchman for the DFL's budget. Then again, it'd take the world's best salesman to sell the DFL's budget.
Posted Wednesday, March 2, 2011 5:41 AM
Comment 1 by eric z. at 02-Mar-11 11:15 AM
Peter Bell's Met Council pushed the Northstar rail in Anoka County, and Abeler (R) and Jungbauer (R) backed it and now there's an added property tax for the Northstar Rail Development Authority. A wholly new property tax. Not in the Twin Cities. In Michele Bachmann loving and unquestioning Anoka County.
How does that fit your premise?
Republicans love shifting graduated income tax fairness down, and goosing up flat tax property taxes and sales taxes.
It keeps fat cats fat, and keeps the middle class trim but subservient.
Jungbauer may even put some kind of "spread the sales tax" thing into a bill this session.
He wants more Anoka County bonding, and that means more debt service and that comes out of -- surprise -- local county property taxes.
Check out 87th Sess., SF 275, Jungbauer authorship.
Goosing up the bonding levels.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 02-Mar-11 01:07 PM
If that's what Jungbauer did, then he should expect to get challenged about it. We're living in TEA Party America. We're no longer living in I'll-scratch-your-back-if you-scratch-mine America.
Doing My Good Deed For the Day
This morning, I saw a tweet from MPP about Joe Bodell's latest post . Joe starts with a series of questions, which I'll now answer one at a time:
Did public employee unions cause the housing bubble?
They didn't. A combination of Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, then Sen.-Obama and some corrupt bankers created the housing bubble. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed to the Housing bubble, too.
Did Social Security cause a trillion-dollar-a-year military budget?
Mr. Bodell obviously can't keep his mind focused. What do the military and Social Security have to do with each other? Is this Mr. Bodell's attempt to make a point? If it is, what point is he attempting to make?
Did Medicare cause private health insurer practices like recission and denial of coverage for preexisting conditions?
No. Unfortunately, there were other consequences to Medicare's coverage. Because Medicare underpaid clinics, doctors and hospitals so badly, those clinics, doctors and hospitals had to shift costs onto people with private insurance.
Did teachers cause employers to lay off millions of workers?
If the teachers were also state legislators who voted for nanny state overregulation, they caused employers to lay off millions of workers nationwide. Otherwise, teachers didn't cause employers to lay these people off.
Did firefighters' and police unions create the conditions for the worst financial-sector crimes since the so-called "Gilded Age"?
The answer to all of these questions, of course, is "No." And if that's the case, then why are they all being targeted to pay the price for the excesses, inflated rhetoric, and outright crimes of those who did cause these problems?
No, they didn't. On the other hand, union thugs from unions like the SEIU threatened their opponents at their home.
It's important to note that the inflated rhetoric is mostly coming from President Obama and Richard Trumka. Scott Walker's verbiage has been quite measured. He's daily praised the union workers who remained on the job.
The WEA isn't guiltless in the states' and school districts' financial difficulties. Their health insurance company, WEA Trust, has driven property taxes higher because their insurance premiums are substantially higher than other health insuance policies.
In fact, WEA Trust can be traced directly to monstrous deficits some school districts are experiencing :
Bernie Nikolay should be happy. His school district; he's the superintendent in Milton, had a good November.
The girls swim team won the state title, a first for Milton girls athletics. And an arbitrator said the district could switch health coverage away from the insurer owned by the teachers union. That'll save the district as much as a million bucks a year.
There's more:
It could mean the end to the costly market dominance of WEA Trust, the health insurer owned by the Wisconsin Education Association Council. Just under two-thirds of Wisconsin districts use WEA Trust, a puzzling preference since its coverage is so costly.
Districts that buy WEA Trust plans average $1,665 a month for family premiums, according to their state association, while those choosing other carriers average $1,466. The difference is greatest where taxpayers cover the whole premium.
These are just a few of the nasty little secrets Joe Bodell and the progressive spinmeisters don't want us to focus on. Joe Bodell and his spinmeister colleagues want the public to think that the only corruption in the world is in the corporate world. That's nonsense.
We know that's nonsense because Nina Easton chronicled SEIU's corruption when they invaded the home of Don Baer:
Waving signs denouncing bank "greed," hordes of invaders poured out of 14 school buses, up Baer's steps, and onto his front porch. As bullhorns rattled with stories of debtor calls and foreclosed homes, Baer's teenage son Jack, alone in the house, locked himself in the bathroom. "When are they going to leave?" Jack pleaded when I called to check on him.
Baer, on his way home from a Little League game, parked his car around the corner, called the police, and made a quick calculation to leave his younger son behind while he tried to rescue his increasingly distressed teen. He made his way through a din of barked demands and insults from the activists who proudly "outed" him, and slipped through his front door.
"Excuse me," Baer told his accusers, "I need to get into the house. I have a child who is alone in there and frightened."
FYI: The son Baer left in the car is still experiencing nightmares. He wakes up in the middle of the night, frightened out of his wits.
Mr. Bodell hasn't talked about these protests, possibly because he'd rather you think of Wall Street as the world's only bullies. That won't happen because I'm more than willing to expose these thugs' violent actions.
Posted Wednesday, March 2, 2011 12:59 PM
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It's Just a Matter Of Time
Based on the information in this article , it's just a matter of time before the Wisconsin 14 end their rebellion and return to the Senate:
The 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who left the state two weeks ago will now face fines of $100 for each day they stay away.
Republicans remaining in the Senate approved the daily fine on Wednesday with none of the Democrats present.
The Democrats left Wisconsin in order to delay indefinitely a Republican-backed bill taking away collective bargaining rights from public employees.
The resolution passed on Wednesday also requires the missing Democrats to reimburse the Senate for any costs incurred during attempts to force them to return. Their salary and other per diem payments can be withheld until they pay back the penalties and costs.
Republicans have already withheld the checks of missing Democrats from direct deposit and denied access to copying machines for their staff.
These aren't rich people. Getting fined $100/day plus paying for the attempts to bring them back to the chamber will get their attention fast.
MoveOn.org knows it's essentially over , too:
MoveOn just blasted an email with the subject line: "We could lose Wisconsin."
It's just a matter of time. Get out the butter cuz this protest is toast.
Posted Wednesday, March 2, 2011 1:40 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Quigley at 02-Mar-11 05:46 PM
Wa ha, wa ha, wa ha ha ha.
Comment 2 by Preston at 02-Mar-11 09:11 PM
If the Egyptian people can bring down a dictator after 30 years of police state rule, why can't state employee unions bring down this Governor or at least start a Governor recall effort. This is the United States of America, re-learn how to do it yourself.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-poll-public-unions-wisconsin_N.htm
Poll: Americans favor union bargaining rights, By Judy Keen and Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAYUpdated 2/23/2011 2:00:45 PM, MADISON, Wis. -
Americans strongly oppose laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. The poll found 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to such a proposal in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 03-Mar-11 12:24 AM
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make this a campaign issue. God, I hope Democrats are stupid enough to make this an issue.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 03-Mar-11 04:00 PM
Gary:
I have a stupid question to ask. These senators have stayed out of the state for what two weeks because other people are paying for their hotels, their clothes, their food, etc. Isn't that bribery. And unlike the so called bribes of Obamacare these are directed bribes.
If I was Walker or the attorney general of Wisconsin it looks like a grand jury to indict fourteen people receiving a bribe are in order.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 04-Mar-11 06:01 AM
Walter, Let's not assume anything. It's quite possible that they're running up their credit card balances. Until we know different, it's important that we stick with what we know.
