March 17-19, 2013
Mar 17 11:17 Carrie Lucking: not ready for primetime propagandist Mar 17 11:49 Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen, ABM singing from dishonest hymnal Mar 17 21:17 I asked, Scott Wright answered Mar 19 01:08 ABM: The DFL's empty words machine Mar 19 09:20 Resolving GOP disputes the right way Mar 19 08:54 Michele Bachmann's commitment to transparency, transportation
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Carrie Lucking: not ready for primetime propagandist
Carrie Lucking is the executive director of the ABM. One of her responsibilities is to sell Gov. Dayton's budget regardless of how unpopular it is with Minnesotans. During an Almanac debate with Ben Golnik, the president of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, Ms. Lucking got her talking points mixed up. At one point, she was arguing against herself.
During her rant about raising taxes, Ms. Lucking started whining that "evil corporations" weren't paying their fair share in income taxes. She praised Gov. Dayton's 2-point income tax increase as a step in the right direction.
Admittedly, Ms. Lucking isn't the brightest bulb in the DFL's chandelier. Corporations don't pay income taxes based on the individual income tax rates. In fact, Gov. Dayton's Mulligan Budget proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 8.4%, a cut of over a point. Does Ms. Lucking think that cutting taxes on "evil corporations" is a step in the right direction?
The top individual income tax bracket would apply to small businesses, not corporations. Successful small business owners frequently work 60-70 hours a week. They first meet their payroll while complying with mountains of city, state and federal regulations. That's a daunting task at minimum. That's before they see a dime of profit. These are the people that Ms. Lucking thinks aren't paying their fair share.
At another point, Ms. Lucking talked about how Gov. Dayton's revised budget (he can't seem to get that first budget right) made bold investments in education. Again, Ms. Lucking seemed more interested in the DFL/ABM talking points than in reality. The reality is that Gov. Dayton has had a pair of opportunities to pay off the school shift.
The first opportunity came when the GOP legislature passed a bill in 2012 to pay off the school shift. Gov. Dayton immediately vetoed that bill. Gov. Dayton had another opportunity to pay off the school shift as part of this year's budget. Instead of paying the shift off, Gov. Dayton chose to stiff school districts to the tune of $1,252,000,000 (that's $1.25 billion) until 2017.
Gov. Dayton's "bold investments" in E-12 education are predicated on stiffing school districts. That isn't bold. According to the DFL's definition, Gov. Dayton's education budget is predicated on gimmickry.
At another point, Ms. Lucking said that Gov. Dayton's dropping of the sales tax and other tax increases proved that he's willing to listen to his opponents. That ignores the fact that Myron Frans, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Revenue, spent 18 months travelling the state, supposedly listening to business leaders, to put together Gov. Dayton's tax reform proposal.
Commissioner Frans either didn't listen to business leaders or the tax increase activists within the DFL and ABM overruled him. Either way, Gov. Dayton put a high priority on listening to his special interest allies than he put on listening to Minnesota's job creators.
Ms. Lucking's appearance showed she isn't ready for primetime. Meanwhile, Mr. Golnik made one argument after another refuting the ABM/DFL talking points. He highlighted the fact that opposition to Gov. Dayton's tax increase agenda was a bipartisan thing. Mr. Golnik highlighted the fact that significant numbers of DFL legislators opposed those crippling tax increases.
Ultimately, that's why Gov. Dayton dropped most of his tax increase proposals as quickly as he did. Ms. Lucking's spin can't change that irrefutable fact.
Tags: Carrie Lucking , ABM , Spin , Education Shift , Mark Dayton , Investment , Regressive Tax Increases , Sales Tax , Corporations , Income Taxes , Small Businesses , Myron Frans , Minnesota Department of Revenue , Tax Reform , Special Interests , DFL , Ben Golnik , Minnesota Jobs Coalition
Posted Sunday, March 17, 2013 11:17 AM
No comments.
Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen, ABM singing from dishonest hymnal
On this morning's At Issue With Tom Hauser, Hauser played a clip of Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and ABM's Carrie Lucking talking about Gov. Dayton's "bold investment in education." Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and Ms. Lucking recited their spin with the most professional of poker faces.
The reality is that Gov. Dayton, for the second time in two years, agreed to stiff school districts out of $1,252,000,000. This time, he's proposed to delay paying back the school shift until 2017. What's worse is that the DFL legislature has agreed with Gov. Dayton. They've agreed that they shouldn't pay off the shift until the distant future.
What's worst about the DFL's "bold investment in education" is that the DFL has proposed gutting teacher accountability by repealing the basic skills test for teachers. Rep. Ward submitted HF0171, which would repeal the Basic Skills Test that the GOP legislature passed and Gov. Dayton signed in 2012.
Rep. Ward supposedly submitted this bill because some teachers are having difficulty passing this test. Rather than insisting on more qualified math and science teachers, Rep. Ward apparently thinks the 'solution' is to make it impossible for teachers to not get licensed.
Putting this into simple summary form, the DFL is stiffing school districts out of a billion dollars while attempting to make it easier for unqualified teachers to get licensed.
I'm willing to bet that most parents wouldn't call that a "bold investment in education." I'd bet they'd call that selling out to the DFL's special interest allies in Education Minnesota. I'm betting they'd say, convincingly, that Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and Ms. Lucking listen more attentively to Tom Dooher than they listen to parents.
I'm betting they'd be spot on with their opinion.
Tags: Mark Dayton , Paul Thissen , Carrie Lucking , School Shift , Basic Skills Test , John Ward , Tom Dooher , Education Minnesota , Special Interests , DFL , Reforms , Teacher Accountability , MNGOP
Posted Sunday, March 17, 2013 11:49 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 17-Mar-13 02:57 PM
Gary:
Forgive me for asking wasn't part of this so call bold package to do an extra year of preschool and an extra year of high school. In other words give the school districts an extra two years to teach.'
Maybe god forbid get them to do their job within the 13 years that they have now. Now that will be bold, but Dayton doesn't seem to be demanding any performance anywhere except the rich pay more in taxes.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
I asked, Scott Wright answered
I've been visiting Scott Wright's DraftCountdown website for at least 4 years now. Suffice it to say that I think highly of Scott's insights into the draft and player talent evaluations. If you didn't have Scott's website bookmarked before today, I strongly recommend you bookmark it today.
When the Vikings traded Percy Harvin for a bunch of draft picks, I sought Scott's opinion on the trade. Scott thought that the Vikings got quite a nice bunch of picks for a player everyone knew was going to get traded. When the Vikings signed Greg Jennings, I posed some questions to Scott. Here are the questions with Scott's answers:
Q1: The Vikings signed Greg Jennings to a 5-year contract days after trading Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks for Seattle's first & seventh round picks in this year's draft and Seattle's third round pick in the 2014 draft. Considering the draft picks they got from Seattle and the Jennings signing, what do you think are the Vikings' most likely options in the April NFL Entry Draft?
Scott: Despite the addition of Jennings, I still believe wide receiver will be high on the Vikings priority list on Draft Day. After all, Jennings is going to be 30-years-old and battled some injuries last season. Even if Jennings lives up to expectations, Minnesota will need at least one more weapon at the position. Cordarrelle Patterson of Tennessee will most likely be long gone and, while the diminuative Tavon Austin of West Virginia would be a great fit, his stock has risen to the point that he may not be there at #23. Other possibilities would be Keenan Allen of Cal, Justin Hunter of Tennessee or DeAndre Hopkins of Clemson. Allen and Hopkins would be safe choices as they'd both be ideal fits in the West Coast Offense; however, neither is necessarily a dynamic gamechanger. Hunter, on the other hand, may be the most talented wideout prospect in this class, at least from a size/speed perspective, and possesses the tools to be a true impact, go-to target at the next level. At this point I would say Austin or Allen are the most likely possibilities for the Vikings in Round 1.
As for the other first rounder, I think Notre Dame ILB Manti Te'o would make a ton of sense for Minnesota. With Jasper Brinkley signing with the Cardinals as a free agent, the Vikings have a big hole in the middle of their defense and the organization has shown a clear preference for Fighting Irish prospects in recent years. Te'o will most likely have to endure some razzing from new teammates during the offseason team activities and training camp but ultimately, his play and those top-notch intangibles will win everyone over.
Q2: Which players should the Vikings target with their picks in the first, second and third rounds?
Scott: In rounds two and three the Vikings may keep their focus on the defense. Of particular concern is defensive tackle, where Kevin Williams is getting up there in years and there really isn't another clear-cut starting-caliber talent. Fortunately, this is one of the deepest defensive tackle crops in recent memory and a borderline first round talent like Kawann Short of Purdue could fall into their laps in round two. Other second round options could include Brandon Williams of Missouri Southern St. or Bennie Logan of L.S.U. while Montori Hughes of UT-Martin or Akeem Spence of Illinois could be in the mix in round three. The Vikings could also use more help in the secondary. There should be plenty of quality cornerback prospects available beyond the first round but some potential fits for their zone coverage scheme would be Logan Ryan of Rutgers, David Amerson of North Carolina St., Jordan Poyer of Oregon St. and Jamar Taylor of Boise St. At safety, keep an eye on Johnathan Cyprien of Florida International in round two, T.J. McDonald of USC in round three or perhaps Zeke Motta of Notre Dame in the middle rounds.
The Vikings will have to bring in some help along the offensive line at some point as well. At the very least, a versatile backup is needed to build quality depth and it wouldn't hurt to have someone challenge Brandon Fusco at right guard.
Besides Scott's mock draft , make sure and check out his ratings pages . They're broken down in terms of most talented players overall and by position.
Scott's answers make tons of sense to me. Te'o has a couple of things that make him appealing. He's got middle linebacker instincts and he's a great cover guy. Hunter makes sense as well, though my wish is that Tayvon Martin would drop into the Vikings lap in the first round.
It's important to remember that the draft is still taking shape. That means everyone's mock drafts, whether it's Scott's mock draft or that guy with wind-tunnel-tested hair, is still very much fluid.
Finally, I'll use this opportunity to say I trust Rick Spielman running the draft. Simply put, he's gotten pretty strong grades for his picks. In my opinion, last year's draft crop was the best in Vikings history. Getting 2 instant Pro Bowlers (Matt Kalil and Blair Walsh) and a future Pro Bowl safety in Harrison Smith from one draft would get an A- grade or better just on those picks alone.
Getting Josh Robinson to bolster the secondary in the third round was a solid pick. Getting Jarius Wright and Rhett Ellison in the fourth round to help the passing game was impressive, too.
Tags: Greg Jennings , Percy Harvin , Minnesota Vikings , Rick Spielman , Manti Te'o , Notre Dame , Justin Hunter , University of Tennessee , Tayvon Martin , University of West Virginia , Matt Kalil , USC , Harrison Smith , Scott Wright , DraftCountdown.com
Posted Sunday, March 17, 2013 9:17 PM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 18-Mar-13 10:19 AM
Manti Te'o ran a 4.81 40-yard dash at the combine and did not take part in the bench press. Add to that his other issues and you get a player who will be lucky to stay in the first round.
The Vikings can do better.
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 18-Mar-13 04:07 PM
Bob:
The question is will there be another middle linebacker available when the two picks take place? Can you name that much better linebacker that will be there.
Compared with Harvin I don't think Te'o has other issues. To be exact I think that might be a factor for him to prove himself in the NFL the flack he has gotten over the last couple of months.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by Bob J. at 19-Mar-13 02:05 PM
Walter, I can see the Vikings taking a stab at Urlacher for a one-year fix.
Point being, Spielman has emasculated an already bad receiving corps and that's a priority especially when you're expecting big things from your third-year quarterback. The Jennings signing is cool and necessary but if you take Kyle Rudolph out of the mix the returning player with the most catches from last year is Adrian Peterson.
I'd take Kevin Minter of LSU before Te'o and rank a guy like Arthur Brown of K-State right alongside.
Comment 4 by walter hanson at 19-Mar-13 02:45 PM
Bob:
If we can get Urlacher that will be a great one year fix. Especially if you also get an young MLB (possibly that second first round pick it sounds like we disagree who is that best linebacker) who can be a quick study (Urlacher does have a history of injury problems). The big question with Urlacher is it's likely the only way the Vikings will sign him is if he takes a discount contract not to mention one year contract.
Will Urlacher do that? If his agent tells Spiellman that he will be a fool not to take him.
As for the draft plan with the young Wright, Rudolph, Tony G who is a good blocker not to mention reciever when AP isn't in there, you have a lot of talent in the recieving corp if you take with one of the two first round picks a WR.
As for me the rest of the draft unless there is an offense player who drops or might have dramatic development talent every other pick should be a defensive player. After all we do need linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
ABM: The DFL's empty words machine
When Gov. Dayton unveiled his latest budget, DFL leaders praised him for proposing an honest budget that funds the DFL's special interest allies' priorities:
DFL legislative leaders praised Dayton for proposing an honest budget that restores fiscal stability and funds most of their priorities, but they stopped short of endorsing the particulars.
Friday night, Carrie Lucking, ABM's executive director, sang from the same hymnal, praising Gov. Dayton's honest budget and his "bold investment in education." Later, when pressed by Ben Golnik on Gov. Dayton's taxes on couples making $250,000 or singles making $150,000, Ms. Lucking threw a hissy fit about how corporations aren't paying their fair share.
During the budget fight, Republicans would be well-advised to look for euphemisms like bold investments in education, honest budgets and evil corporations as justifications for increasing individual income taxes while ignoring Gov. Dayton's willingness to stiff school districts out of $1,252,000,000 owed through school shifts from the Pogemiller Senate and Kelliher House.
One thing they'll certainly avoid talking about is Rep. John Ward's bill that would gut teacher accountability . Here's the description of the bill:
K-12 teachers; requirement repealed for teachers to pass a basic skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a condition for receiving a teaching license.
The DFL purports to be the education party. Why would they propose a bill that would let unqualified teachers get their teaching licenses? This isn't an imaginary problem either:
My district - Sauk Rapid-Rice - has 37 teachers with certification waivers or variances, including four certified for elementary education teaching secondary math and science. Their college-level course work did not include geometry, trigonometry or even college algebra.
In other words, people should question the DFL when they praise Gov. Dayton's "bold investments in education" or when they ignore paying off the school shift, then praise Gov. Dayton for his proposing an honest budget. The DFL, with plenty of help from school boards, criticized the GOP, saying that the GOP's school shift was a "budget gimmick." Now that Gov. Dayton isn't paying off the school shift, those school boards are silent.
Ms. Lucking's inadvertant reference to corporations not paying their fair shair while talking about Gov. Dayton's proposed tax increase on "the rich" is telling, too. Gov. Dayton proposed cutting the corporate income tax rate. Gov. Dayton proposed creating a new tax bracket with a rate of 9.85%.
There's little question that the phrase "corporations not paying their fair share" tests well in focus groups. That's why Ms. Lucking used that phrase when she was caught in a difficult situation. People who didn't pay attention didn't notice that Gov. Dayton proposed raising income taxes on small businesses, not corporations.
These are just some examples of the DFL's/ABM's empty words machine. The DFL has spent millions of dollars on focus group testing to find words that sound good in public. It's a shame they didn't spend that money on finding which policies actually create jobs or increase individual prosperity.
Finally, what kind of political party stiffs school districts out of hundreds of millions of dollars, proposes gutting teacher accountability while raising taxes on hard-working entrepreneurs?
Tags: Mark Dayton , Carrie Lucking , John Ward , Teacher Accountability , Teacher Licensure , School Shift Tax the Rich , Tax Increases , Income Taxes , Education Minnesota , Special Interests , DFL
Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2013 1:08 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 19-Mar-13 03:02 PM
Gary:
How about this as a bold investment? Demand they spend the money better!
Here's ago I had an unexpected encounter with a Minneapolis School board member. My number may be out of date, but the principal still stands:
* I got the school board member to say (with the help of an aide) that we spend $10,000 per year per kid.
* I got the school board member to say (with the help of the aide again) that a teacher's salary was $60,000.
* What the school board member couldn't answer was that I pointed out that you're spending $100,000 other than the teacher to teach a class of 16. Can't you spend that money better before asking for a tax increase?
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Resolving GOP disputes the right way
Last fall, a dispute arose about judicial elections. Specifically, the dispute arose over whether judicial district conventions had the authority to endorse candidates for appellate court judgeships. This post won't deal with that matter, mostly because a hearing was held in February, 2013 at the State of Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings on the matter. Additionally, this post won't defend anyone's actions.
Rather, I'll focus this post on settling disputes between Republican Party activists. This past Saturday, a resolution was approved at the CD-8 convention. Here's the text of that resolution:
Minnesota 8th Congressional District Republican Party of Minnesota
Annual convention, Saturday, March 16, 2013
Whereas:
GOP insider Harry Niska filed a legal action against GOP Judicial Chair Bonn Clayton over differences of opinion in the interpretation of the MNGOP Constitution and;
Whereas,
This legal action was heard February 7 & 8, 2013 and;
Whereas,
Complainant Niska was represented in court by recent MNGOP employee David Asp before a three-judge panel convened by the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings and;
Whereas differences of opinion within the party are best resolved first within the party and;
Whereas,
There is reasonable evidence that MNGOP, Chair, Pat Shortridge, at minimum approved of this extraordinary legal action;
Now, therefore be it resolved that we strongly condemn the GOP activist complainant, appropriate MNGOP leadership and the Executive Committee for enabling the legal action against Judicial District Chair Bonn Clayton instead of resolving the matter within the State Central Committee.
According to the text document, the document was "prepared and paid for by Terry Stone on his own behalf and not done by any candidate or candidate committee." When I contacted Mr. Stone, he stated something emphatically to me. Here's what he said:
This resolution isn't about who is right or who is wrong; it's about the dignity of being a Republican activist and the correct way to resolve intramural disputes. This complaint was filed November 7, 2012. Any alleged harm was already resolved by the election. There was no timeliness and the issues should and could have been resolved by the Central Committee at its next meeting. - Terry Stone
Before anyone thinks this is a split within the RPM that can't be repaired, they'd best think again. I know both Mr. Stone and Mr. Niska. They obviously have different points of view but their commitment to defeating DFL legislators and congresscritters is indisputable.
It's apparent to me that Mr. Stone simply thinks this issue should've gotten resolved at a State Central Committee meeting, not at the Office of Administrative Hearings.
In my humble opinion, I think that's the right way to resolve disputes between committed party activists. If, after that attempt is made, things still aren't resolved, a hearing at the Office of Administrative Hearings is still available as an option.
Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:20 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 19-Mar-13 02:51 PM
Gary:
Maybe you can go into one item of history here. I'm looking at if I'm right somebody asked for and didn't get or somebody got which another person didn't think was right the Republican party to make an endorsement on a judical appeal level. Because of that is what this dispute was about it should've been resolved using the state central committee.
I know the state Republican party because of the work of Greg Wensel and others have managed to get the state party at state conventions to do endorsement for the Supreme Court.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 20-Mar-13 08:59 AM
What I want to know is who this Administrative Whatsis bunch is and what they have to do with anything internal to the Party? Not only is this the wrong way to settle the question, but it seems to point to a whole 'nother layer of government bureaucratic meddling that is unneeded and unwanted. Or should be.
Comment 3 by Harry at 20-Mar-13 09:18 AM
Gary, Walter, and Jerry --
Sadly, you've been misled, for several reasons I sent to Gary in an email this morning, starting with the fact that this was not an "intramural dispute." The Office of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over violations of the Minnesota Fair Campaign Practices Act, not intramural disputes. I hope Gary takes the opportunity to promptly correct the record. I also wish Gary had made an attempt to learn the whole story from me before putting this post up.
Comment 4 by Robert at 20-Mar-13 10:20 AM
Would have been nice to include some facts in this.
Such as the fact that Bonn wasn't chair of anything - When Bonn was chair of JD1, he decided to stop holding convention because in his words he would just be reelected. His term had long expired and when a real convention was held in January, Bonn was not elected chair.
Or the fact that Bonn tried to illegally change the constitution of JD1 so that a small select group would control elections instead of the delegates.
Or if you read the Judgement, you will see that Bonn was told on numerous times to stop what he was doing and continued. And that during the trial it was he who wanted to subpoena about half to MNGOP, so I would that is probably part of wht the party lawyer was involved.
While I agree with the premise that party issues should stay in the party - You have someone who continued to act despite the issue being resolved at the party - The State Convention voted on endorsements and Bonn ignored.
The JD1 voted on leadership and constitution and Bonn continues to ignore.
Sometime you have to do extraordinary things. Bonn claimed to be acting for the Party and the Delegates when he is only acting for himself.
I expect the party to defend us. It was Bonn who took this outside the party when he started publishing false endorsements and statements, so it is no surprise that it was necessary to go outside the party to stop him.
Comment 5 by walter hanson at 20-Mar-13 02:09 PM
Harry:
I hate to ask where was I misled?
I know the state party because of the work of Greg Wensel and others have called for the endorsement of judges.
It sounded like and then Robert's post confirmed this the theory I put out about a dispute over a judical endorsement was partially the cause of this.
I then said this should've been resolved within the party. Sorry for not saying if legally possible! But based on your description the party was trying to resolve it within the party.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 6 by Harry at 20-Mar-13 02:28 PM
Walter, we did have a state convention that resolved the issue in 2012. The problem is that then Mr. Clayton (and a few others) broke the law by misleading voters about whether certain candidates were endorsed. Despite numerous attempts to get them to stop, they persisted up until the election. And now, following a full evidentiary hearing, Mr. Clayton has been found to have broken the law: http://mn.gov/oah/images/0320-30147-niska-report.pdf
I am perplexed that some Republicans seem to believe Mr. Clayton should get away with breaking the law simply because he is a Republican. And I am perplexed that many who did nothing to stop Mr. Clayton from breaking the law and misusing the party's name and email lists are now criticizing me for doing something.
Comment 7 by Robert at 20-Mar-13 03:25 PM
You might want to also add that Bonn continues to mislead.
I just received a message from Bonn with the signature -
Bonn Clayton, Chair
Judicial District Republican Chairs
Since Bonn is not and has not been an elected chair or any judicial district for years, it appears that he still did not learn from the lawsuit.
Michele Bachmann's commitment to transparency, transportation
In the past, demented Michele Bachmann haters argued that she didn't care about her district. While it's true she took time to run for president, it isn't true that she doesn't care about what's best for her district. Her getting a new Stillwater Bridge built is proof she cares about the Sixth District. This Pi-Press article offers more proof that Rep. Bachmann cares about the Sixth District:
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann sought Monday to muster support in Minnesota and Washington for money to add a new Interstate 94 lane in each direction between the western Twin Cities suburbs and St. Cloud.
The congresswoman came to the state Capitol along with supporters from local government and businesses to talk about the project, as well as a related push to upgrade U.S. 10 that runs parallel to the heavily traveled interstate. Backers of the I-94 project are trying to amass $25 million for the first construction phase of an expansion that could reach $100 million when fully complete. The improvements to U.S. 10 are priced at $300 million.
Of course, the Dayton administration sought to diminish the importance of the I-94 project:
But Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said the I-94 widening doesn't rank high on the agency's long-term list of priority projects. "There are projects like this all across the state -- really good projects, really important projects , projects that have tremendous support like this," he said. "It all really boils down to the funding piece."
It's interesting that MnDOT spokesman Kevin Gutknecht hints that widening I-94 isn't a good project or an important project. The notion that one of the two busiest highways in the state doesn't qualify as an important project is utter nonsense.
This stinks of political gamesmanship on behalf of the Dayton Administration. Sixth District voters will remember that when Gov. Dayton asks for their support in 2014. I'm betting they won't like it that his administration prefered playing political games rather than doing what's right for economic development in central Minnesota.
The other thing that's worth noting is that Michele didn't airdrop an earmark into a transportation bill conference committee report. She's putting the project through the committee where it can be researched in the light of day. Michele's projects, including the Stillwater Bridge project and this project, both went through the committee process. The Stillwater Bridge project was signed by President Obama because it withstood the scrutiny of the House and Senate transportation committees.
Years ago, Rep. Bachmann pledged not to be a porkmeister like the late Jack Murtha or Minnesota's Jim 'Bike Path' Oberstar. She's kept that promise while still looking out for what's best for her district. Minnesota needs more politicians who are committed to doing things in the light of day rather than away from the people's scrutiny.
I expect this post to get tons of comments from Michele's left wing haters. Their comments will expose them for the partisan haters that they are. Remember their hate-filled comments the next time you enter a voting booth.
Tags: Michele Bachmann , Transportation , Economic Development , Public Safety , Interstate Highway System , I-94 , Stillwater Bridge , Committee Mark-Up , GOP , MnDOT , Mark Dayton , Jim Oberstar , Earmarks , Pork , DFL
Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2013 8:54 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 19-Mar-13 02:57 PM
Gary:
I'll note one other thing which you did mention, but didn't highlight that much when you were defending Michelle. Your post started with Michelle and others met with "State" people because in theory this is as much as a "State" issue as federal. Michelle was using her leverage as a Congresswoman to help the process move in Minnesota which as you highlighted the Democrat governor and his transportation person doesn't seem to be interested in.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
