March 9-14, 2012
Mar 09 09:26 I'm back with a passion Mar 09 10:32 A sacrificial lamb steps up Mar 09 11:52 Tarryl Clark, primary challenges & DFL party unity Mar 09 17:16 Newt's $2.50 gas campaign is making Obama backpedal Mar 10 00:11 C.K., Comedian: Before & After Mar 11 14:57 DFL activist: DFL "acts like wholly owned subsidiary" of EdMinn Mar 12 12:05 Rep. Thissen: longterm debt key to creating jobs Mar 13 23:20 SF248, cancer treatment and Twin Cities monopolies Mar 14 13:19 Photo ID myths
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
I'm back with a passion
Ladies & Gentlemen, I'm back after a short spell in cyberHELL. Over the next week, expect a flurry of articles that I've kept bottled up the last 2 weeks.
Thanks to the help of my friends & allies at True North (special thanks are owed to Derek Brigham, Nancy Laroche, Mitch Berg & the Lady Logician) & thanks to Examiner.com, I haven't been totally silent. Special thanks go to Rex Newman, too. Last night, Rex called to check where things were with LFR. I'll always appreciate Rex's call of encouragement.
It's good to be back home. With my friends. With my trusted allies.
An explanation is due. The Lady Logician captured what happened perfectly in this post:
There is an old adage that states, you know you are over the target when you start taking flack. If that is indeed the case, then our friend and fellow blogger Gary Gross is spot on over the target. Sometime during the day yesterday, his blog Let Freedom Ring, went down for a few hours after taking (according to his web host) a large spike in traffic. The site went down again today after it was verified that the site had been hacked. As of this writing LFR is still down.I admit that I've upset alot of disgusting, powerful people. I'll wear that as a badge of honor.
To speculate that this hack was politically motivated is not a far fetched one. Over the course of the last year Gary has taken on a number of liberal institutions including AFSCME, SEIU, EDMN, the League of Women Voters, the administration of St. Cloud State University and Alida Messinger/Alliance for A Better MN/Take Action triumverate. He has, in the last 18 months, made more than a few enemies with axes to grind.
As a result of this hacking, I've had to hire a new webhosting company. That means transferring the files from the old hosting servers to new ones. The bill will be expensive.
Your support would be greatly appreciated. Every little bit will help defray those expenses.
Most importantly, know that your readership is greatly appreciated.
Posted Friday, March 9, 2012 10:13 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 09-Mar-12 10:12 AM
Good to see you back!
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 09-Mar-12 10:14 AM
Thanks Bob. It's great to be back!
Comment 3 by Patrick at 09-Mar-12 07:09 PM
Gary
Great that you are back.....
Comment 4 by Jethro at 09-Mar-12 09:09 PM
Cyberspace was not the same without you. Welcome back!!
Comment 5 by Margaret at 09-Mar-12 09:44 PM
Delighted that you're back. I suspected there'd been dirty work at the crossroads but couldn't find out anything.
Comment 6 by walter hanson at 13-Mar-12 04:49 PM
Gary:
I'm glad you're back and this time it wasn't my computer that was giving me the trouble with you.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Response 6.1 by Gary Gross at 13-Mar-12 08:31 PM
Thanx Walter. It's good to be back.
A sacrificial lamb steps up
According to this article , Anne Nolan has stepped forward to be this year's sacrificial lamb against Michele Bachmann:
Anne Nolan says she's looking to unseat 6th Congressional District Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann this fall.
Nolan, who previously ran for the state House against Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, plans to make her plans official at 2 p.m. Friday at the St. Cloud Library, according to her Facebook page.
According to her old campaign website, Nolan works for WFC Resources, which trains employers on how to adopt flexible schedules for their employees. On the website, Nolan also wrote that she is a long-time community activist on workplace and economic development issues.
Nolan says she will abide by the DFL endorsement.
If Anne Nolan is the DFL candidate, this will be a major bloodbath for the DFL. I suspect Ms. Nolan won't be the DFLer facing Michele in the general election, though I don't know who will be the sacrificial lamb. Whoever the DFL's candidate is will get crushed. It isn't difficult to picture another 15-point defeat for the DFL.
Tarryl got thumped so badly by Michele last time, Tarryl's GPS was broke to the point that she's running in the Eighth District.
Tags: Anne Nolan , Tarryl Clark , Sacrificial Lamb , DFL , Steve Gottwalt , Michele Bachmann , Sixth District , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Friday, March 9, 2012 10:32 AM
No comments.
Tarryl Clark, primary challenges & DFL party unity
Tarryl Clark is proving that she's the ultimate team player , with the proviso that she's the head of the team:
Waves of concern rippled among democrats throughout northeastern Minnesota Thursday on the heels of former State Senator Tarryl Clark's announcement that she intends to bypass the party endorsement and force a DFL primary in the 8th congressional district. In what is likely to be one of the milder comments directed at the St Cloud resident in the wake of her revelation, DFL Party Chair Ken Martin stressed the importance of party unity if we are to defeat incumbent Tea Party Rep. Chip Cravaack (MN/NH):
We are disappointed to hear that Tarryl Clark will not be abiding by the DFL endorsement. As a former associate chair of the State DFL Party, Tarryl Clark knows the importance of the endorsement process. By forcing a primary election, we risk wasting valuable DFL resources and drawing the focus away from the real goal of defeating Chip Cravaack.
There is far too much at stake in the Eighth Congressional District to focus on anything other than making Chip Cravaack a one-term Congressman. That is why it is so important that we unite as a party in support of a DFL-endorsed candidate who understands the values of the Eighth District and who is committed to representing the people of northeastern Minnesota in Washington.
Last May I wrote this post highlighting her 'willingness' to help out the CD-8 DFL by running there instead of getting her ass kicked in CD-6. At the time, I coined a phrase that I didn't use on the blog while talking with friends. Here's that phrase:
Tarryl Clark's motto: Have open seat, will relocate.
The reality is that Tarryl's in this for Tarryl. She can't listen to Ken Martin because she knows that it'd be the end of her political career. This is her last opportunity . If she loses this time, she's history.
Let's be clear, though, about how phony this call for unity is. DFL politicians frequently ignore the endorsing process. Just ask Gov. Kelliher.
Tags: Taxin' Tarryl Clark , Primary , Carpetbagger , Ken Martin , Margaret Anderson-Kelliher , Mark Dayton , DFL , Election 2012
Posted Friday, March 9, 2012 11:52 AM
Comment 1 by Jethro at 09-Mar-12 10:26 PM
Tarryl is a classic case of someone who desparately wants to hold higher office even if it means intentionally moving elsewhere. Even her fellow DFLers have become disenchanted with her. For Tarryl, it is really about self service...not public service.
Newt's $2.50 gas campaign is making Obama backpedal
Milton Wolf's article is spot on. While Mitt and Rick duke it out over whatever, Newt's been the guy who's taking the fight to President Obama on Obama's biggest weakness.
In a 30-minute video titled '$2.50 per Gallon Gasoline, Energy Independence and Jobs,' Mr. Gingrich unveiled his vision for renewed American prosperity centered around oil and natural-gas production. He demonstrated his unparalleled insight into the intersection of energy, security and prosperity. Mr. Gingrich rightly declared that never again should an American president bow before a Saudi king. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama, stung by his recent half-billion-dollar failed Solyndra boondoggle, began floating his latest green fantasy of harvesting algae to cure the pain at the pump.
Panicked by Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Obama was forced off his game and repeatedly tried to respond, only making matters worse for himself. He stayed true to the Democrats' anti-energy agenda and mocked Republicans for wanting to drill for new oil. This made the president the butt of a joke for Jay Leno on 'The Tonight Show': Democrats claim that new drilling for oil won't help us for at least 10 years, but haven't they been saying that now for more than 10 years?
Mr. Obama boasts that oil production is up under his administration. True, but only because the president hasn't yet stopped production on privately owned land. Mr. Gingrich cut right through his profound dishonesty: 'Under President Obama, because he is so anti-American-energy, we have actually had a 40 percent reduction in development of oil offshore, and we have had a 40 percent reduction in the development of oil on federal lands,' Mr. Gingrich pounced. 'So in the area he controls, production is down and the area that is hard at the free enterprise stuff where people get rich, production is up. So he is now claiming credit for the area he can't control in order to have us think he is actually for what he opposes.'
Mr. Gingrich reduced the once-confident 'Yes, we can!' 2008 version of Mr. Obama into the backpedaling 'It's not my fault' 2012 version right before our eyes. A defensive Mr. Obama dissembled: 'We know there's no silver bullet that will bring down gas prices or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight.' Wait, what about that algae?
Newt's solutions-oriented message hits President Obama right where he's most vulnerable. If the Supreme Court rules, as expected, that Obamacare's individual and employer mandates are unconstitutional, President Obama's biggest weakness this fall will be $5 a gallon gasoline, followed closely by union unrest triggered by President Obama's caving to the militant environmentalists.
Newt Gingrich isn't waiting for bad things to happen so he can capitalize like the other GOP candidates are doing. He's highlighting the three biggest Obama administration failings: high gas prices, unemployment and his indifference to individual prosperity.
This picture is just the beginning of President Obama's heartburn:
That picture gives new meaning to the saying "Things will get worse before they get better", doesn't it?
Newt's the only GOP candidate who's focusing the nation's attention to this developing crisis. It's true Mitt and Rick have similar policies. Still, they aren't highlighting the crisis hitting the people's pocketbooks.
Newt's the only guy highlighting it and fighting this administration on it. The campaign model GOP presidential candidates should be following is Bob McDonnell's in the 2009 Virginia governor's race. Gov. McDonnell's campaign was totally focused on solutions.
Newt paid attention to that. Mitt Romney and Sen. Santorum didn't. That's why Mitt and Rick are having a childish personality-driven spat. That's why Newt's giving this administration heartburn.
It's time for the adults in the GOP to wake up and realize that the only thing that'll put a Republican in the White House is having a solutions-oriented candidate who's able to put President Obama on the defensive.
That isn't Mitt. That description doesn't fit Sen. Santorum either. It only fits Newt.
Tags: Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less , Gas Prices , Prosperity , Newt Gingrich , Debates , Jobs , Mitt Romney , Rick Santorum , GOP , President Obama , Crony Corporatism , Democrats , Elections 2012
Posted Friday, March 9, 2012 5:16 PM
No comments.
C.K., Comedian: Before & After
When Greta van Susteren posted about this entertainer yesterday, people knew she was pissed and rightfully so. This is what Greta took offense to:
Another pig: .and a media association has hired the pig, Louis C.K., to be their headliner for the big media dinner? Really? I am not going. I refuse to go. Everyone in the media should join me in this boycott.
The headliner of this year's Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner is 'comedian' Louis C.K. Comedian? I don't think so. Pig? yes.
He uses filthy language about women: ..yes, the C word: and yes, even to describe a woman candidate for Vice President of the United States. It isn't just Governor Palin he denigrates. He denigrates all women and looks to the crowd to laugh.
I refuse to show any support for this guy or for the Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner Committee who hired him. I think the organization that hired him is just as bad as he is. It is no secret that he denigrates women.
Thoughtful people should thank Greta for speaking out on the straightforward principles of dignity and respect. Thanks to Greta's moral clarity and courage, she's had a profound impact in less than 24 hours:
Mediaite.com's Alex Alvarez has the story:
(by the way, 'he just didn't want to do it?' Yeah right: .he changed his mind less than 24 hours after I called for a boycott. I assume many others jumped on the call for the boycott and thus he made the right decision. We did it together.)
This is why Greta is a giant in my mind. I'm sure there were others that jumped on the bandwagon. They wouldn't have had a bandwagon to jump on, though, if Greta hadn't spoken with the clarity and conviction she did.
That's why C.K. is history.
Greta is right, though, in highlighting the people who initially hired this mysogynist as being as reprehensible as the 'comedian.'
Tags: C.K. , Mysogynist , Agenda Media , Corruption , Greta van Susteren , Integrity , Principles , Boycott
Posted Saturday, March 10, 2012 12:11 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 12-Mar-12 09:59 AM
I wonder what the difference is, if any, between this Louis CK idiot and Andrew Dice Clay. Anyone remember the outrage back then?
Oh, wait. It's all in who you attack.
DFL activist: DFL "acts like wholly owned subsidiary" of EdMinn
I got mental whiplash after reading this op-ed . First, here's the introduction:
So there I was, in late February, a lifelong, die-hard progressive DFL mom from Minneapolis, sitting in the governor's office with Rep. Branden Petersen, a die-hard conservative Republican dad from Coon Rapids.
We were there to see if Gov. Mark Dayton would consider signing Petersen's bill to get rid of "last in, first out" (LIFO), a law that forces school districts to make teacher layoffs based solely on seniority, instead of effectiveness.
Branden and I are unlikely political allies who don't agree on much except that every kid deserves the best possible teacher and that LIFO is really stupid. According to a recent poll, 91 percent of Minnesotans agree.
In a nonpolitical world, this isn't close. Getting 9 out of 10 people to agree on anything is almost impossible. It's only possible if undeniable common sense is applied to an important issue. That's what's happened here.
If Gov. Dayton vetoes this legislation, Speaker Zellers should immediately bring this up for an override vote. Let's see how many DFL legislators are willing to walk the plank for EdMinn. The override vote on this legislation has the potential to flip DFL districts that shouldn't be in play.
Anyhow, the rest of the meeting followed the usual talking points of my beloved DFL tribe. We were told there's no proven way to know which teachers are effective; that student academic growth data isn't reliable; that the state would need many years to design and test evaluations before it could even consider using them in layoffs; that teachers were feeling demoralized and besieged, ditto for unions, etc., etc.
"Besides, what's the hurry?" asked the governor. "If it's such a good idea, why not introduce it next session?"
Have I mentioned yet that GOP legislators mostly drive me nuts? That I hate their creepy obsessions with gays, guns, voter ID, various lady parts, right-to-work nonsense and tax breaks for overpaid CEOs? That I fervently hope the DFL retakes the state Legislature this November?
But that brings me to what the hurry is: If the DFL regains control of the Legislature, we can kiss most education reforms goodbye. Because, on this topic, my party acts like a wholly owned subsidiary of Education Minnesota, which, frankly, doesn't do much for our credibility with ordinary voters.
The fact that is op-ed was written by a progressive activist should shout to "ordinary people" that the DFL shouldn't be trusted with the majority because they're acting "like a wholly owned subsidiary of Education Minnesota."
If EdMinn opposes common sense reforms that have the support of 91% of the people, the party that acts "like a wholly owned subsidiary of Education Minnesota" shouldn't be given gavels in 2013 under any circumstances.
Ms. Mikkelsen has made a pretty impressive case for keeping the GOP in the majority in 2013. Minnesota needs education reform ASAP. The current model is broken. We can't count on the DFL to reform education. In fact, we can count on them not lifting a finger on reforming education.
When Gov. Dayton vetoes the LIFO legislation, Speaker Zellers needs to put DFL legislators in a difficult situation. ASAP. Letting the EdMinn machine destroy kids' lives in the name of protecting teachers isn't ok.
Tags: LIFO , Education , EdMinn , Mark Dayton , Cronyism , DFL , Kurt Zellers , Reform 2.0 , MNGOP , Election 2012
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2012 5:09 PM
No comments.
Rep. Thissen: longterm debt key to creating jobs
Apparently, Rep. Thissen thinks that taking on longterm debt is the key to creating jobs. Apparently, most DFL politicians agree with him.
For months, DFL politicians, from Gov. Dayton to Rep. Thissen to backbench bombthrower Rep. Ryan Winkler, have talked about a "jobs bill." In the same breath, they've talked about a bonding bill being their first choice of a jobs bill.
Legislation that takes away money from the private sector in terms of banks' borrowing capability while not producing meaningful demand for new purchases create jobs? That's what bonding bills do.
The DFL's definition of a jobs bill is unknown in some respects. The DFL, especially Carrie Lucking, has talked plenty about Gov. Dayton's amazing jobs bill . They just won't explain how jobs are created. It's as if this is their explanation for how jobs are created:
That isn't much of an explanation. Then again, lefties like Rep. Thissen aren't capitalists so they shouldn't be expected to know what they're talking about.
People should only expect them to know their machine-generated chanting points.
Tags: Chanting Points , Paul Thissen , Mark Dayton , Jobs Bill , Debt , Stimulus , Carrie Lucking , DFL
Posted Monday, March 12, 2012 12:05 PM
Comment 1 by Nick at 12-Mar-12 09:11 PM
Long-term debt is not the key to creating jobs, reducing bureaucracy and paperwork, on the other hand, is and will help small businesses create jobs. This is because Bureaucracy and Paperwork is the Greatest Tax on Small Business according to Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks owner and co-founder of Audionet which became broadcast.com, which got acquired by Yahoo!). source: http://blogmaverick.com/2011/09/20/my-top-10-things-our-federal-government-should-do-and-more/
Comment 2 by Bob J. at 13-Mar-12 11:14 AM
"my-top-10-things-our-federal-government-should-do-and-more/"
The Federal Government should do only one thing: STOP.
Just S-T-O-P.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 13-Mar-12 04:52 PM
Forgive me for saying this, but I thought we did the bond bill for them last year! I don't know if I posted it here or somewhere else, but I thought we should be doing that bond bill with the understanding that there was going to be no bond bill this year. after all I thought we were borrowed to the maximum of the formula we use to borrow from.
Then again I forgot democrats don't care about running debt. They want their spending!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 4 by eric z at 17-Mar-12 08:53 AM
Is debt financing key to waging wars these days? It seems so. Debt for current expenses, vs capital spending, seems too easy for politicians of both controlling parties to say no.
Comment 5 by eric z at 17-Mar-12 08:56 AM
Walter Hanson - Which party controls the City of Ramsey?
Republicans do. Which party represents Ramsey in both houses.
Republicans do.
Which party pushed through funding for a Northstar stop in Ramsey? Ask Matt Look, GOP maven, on the Anoka County Board.
If you are going to say "for them" be damned sure you know which bunch of "them" you are talking about.
That, or hold back on the talking.
SF248, cancer treatment and Twin Cities monopolies
Tomorrow the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on SF248 , a bill that would extend the moratorium on the construction of new cancer radiation facilities in the 14-county Twin Cities metro area.
This language is especially disturbing:
[T]here shall be a moratorium on the construction of any radiation therapy facility located in the following counties: Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Washington, Anoka, Carver, Scott, St. Louis, Sherburne, Benton, Stearns, Chisago, Isanti, and Wright.
The first question I have is straightforward: What's the logic behind imposing a moratorium on cancer "radiation therapy facilities"? Here's another straightforward question that hasn't been answered: Shouldn't the patients' needs be our legislators' highest priority? Finally, isn't the legislature essentially extending a monopoly exception for the people that are protected by this moratorium?
It's apparent the answer to the first question is money. Sarah Janacek dug into the money trail . Here's what Sarah found:
Several years ago, I poured over Campaign Finance Board (CFB) reports trying to figure out how much money MRO was spending.
Here are some of my calculations. [The following numbers do not include the 2010 election cycle.] Since 1998, the CFB has kept searchable donor database reports online. From these reports, one can learn that MRO founder Dr. Robert E. Haselow, and his wife, Justine Haselow, contributed $458,325 to Minnesota political candidates, parties and party units. Other doctors at MRO contributed at least $64,600.
As to the second question, Mr. and Mrs. Haselow have put a higher priority on their own well-being and their clinics' well-being. That isn't illegal by any stretch of the imagination . It isn't putting cancer patients' needs first.
As for the third question, it's apparent this moratorium is essentially giving Minneapolis Radiation Oncology a monopoly exception. It's one thing if someone reaches monopoly status by offering a fantastic product. It's another when someone reaches monopoly status through a big lobbying budget.
Are cancer patients best served by low prices and an abundance of radiation treatment locations? Are they better served by higher prices and fewer radiation treatment locations?
This moratorium is an affront to free market capitalists. It's hurting cancer patients by limiting their options. It's codifying into Minnesota state statute a monopoly exception.
That's why this moratorium shouldn't be extended. If anything, it should be dissolved ASAP.
Tags: Cancer , Radiation , Monopolies , Robert Haselow , Justine Haselow , Health Care , Oncologists , Lobbyists , Patients
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2012 11:20 PM
Comment 1 by David Borgert at 14-Mar-12 01:16 PM
Gary - this issue is far more complex than you appear to understand. It has nothing to do with market forces. These are VERY expensive facilities. A proliferation of cancer centers will not result in cheaper services nor in better quality services (Minnesota already leads the nation in both within the current market structure). I'd be happy to visit with you about this issue. BTW - CentraCare has no dog in this show. The conflict is between two powerful physician groups in the Metro Area.
Photo ID myths
Eric Black's Photo ID article is attracting the typical comments you'd expect from progressives. Black's article is fairly thoughtful. The comments aren't. One thing that Black highlights is the Wisconsin Constitution:
Article III of the Wisconsin Constitution states that "Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district."
The judge ruled that Wisconsin's Photo ID law is unconstitutional on the basis that people who don't have a Photo ID might be prevented from voting.
Black then said that Minnesota's Constitution doesn't have the same language. One of the commenters disagreed:
Minnesota Constitution, Article VII: 'Every person 18 years of age or more who has been a citizen of the United States for three months and who has resided in the precinct for 30 days next preceding an election shall be entitled to vote in that precinct.'
The comment does note, though, that Wisconsin's Photo ID law is a statute. Minnesota's Photo ID would amend Minnesota's Constitution.
That isn't what's disturbing. What's disturbing is that progressives have gotten away with the myth that people would have their voting rights ripped away from them. The district court judge who heard the case had a different opinion :
After discovery, District Judge Barker prepared a comprehensive 70-page opinion explaining her decision to grant defendants' motion for summary judgment. 458 F. Supp. 2d 775 (SD Ind. 2006). She found that petitioners had 'not introduced evidence of a single, individual Indiana resident who will be unable to vote as a result of SEA 483 or who will have his or her right to vote unduly burdened by its requirements.' Id., at 783.
That hasn't prevented TakeAction's Dan McGrath from making unsubstantiated statements like this:
Dan McGrath, Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota told reporters that 'over the past week, we've learned a lot about who would lose if photo ID becomes law, over 700,000 eligible Minnesota voters, including seniors, low-income persons, students, people of color, disabled and rural Minnesotans. What hasn't been discussed is who WINS when people can't vote. That's what this report outlines.'
McGrath's 700,000 figure is downright frightening. It's also a myth. Of the 700,000 people who "would lose" their right to vote if Photo ID became law, 500,000 of those were same day registrants who didn't have an ID. Potentially, that's admitting 500,000 out-of-state people to vote. I'm saying they all were people coming from Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. I'm saying that we don't know who those 500,000 people are or whether they're eligible Minnesota voters.
That leaves 215,000 Minnesotans without Photo ID. TakeAction Minnesota's McGrath insists that it's impossible for these registered voters to get a state-issued Photo identification card. What's McGrath's proof for that provocative statement? Does McGrath have proof?
Judge Barker stated in her opinion that the Democratic Party of Indiana didn't present proof that people would be prevented from voting. That sets up an interesting fight: trust a judge whose rulings are based on verifiable proof or a lack thereof or trust a special interest group whose statements are based on allegations.
That isn't a difficult decision.
Tags: Photo ID , Elections , Voter Fraud , TakeAction Minnesota , Dan McGrath , Allegations , Judge Barker , Proof , SCOTUS
Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 1:19 PM
Comment 1 by IndyJones at 14-Mar-12 02:35 PM
You need a photo id issued by government to buy a gun or get a conceal carry permit. Does that mean the ATF and the local police are racist or fill in the blank, if you have no photo id?
Comment 2 by IndyJones at 14-Mar-12 02:37 PM
You also need a government photo id to get on a airline or get a hotel room. Racist? Sexist?
Comment 3 by Chad Q at 14-Mar-12 03:05 PM
Huh, you need an ID to vote in a union election, to buy alcohol, cigs, cough medicine, ammo, etc. Who are these democrats trying to fool. The only thing this amendment will stop is voter fraud.
Comment 4 by walter hanson at 14-Mar-12 04:38 PM
Lets not forget even if you show a Minnesota drivers License or ID Card it doesn't necessarily not prove you're not a US citizen able to vote in an election.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 5 by IndyJones at 15-Mar-12 11:55 AM
Walter...It will make it VERY possible to prosecute your hinney if you are not eligible to vote. Just like its possible to prosecute you if you aren't eligible to drink liquor or smoke or fly.
Comment 6 by walter hanson at 15-Mar-12 04:46 PM
Indy:
The point I was trying to make even if we pass the voter ID I know as fact since one of the things I do is process DL applications there are some people who are considered to be here legally by INS that have drivers licenses like us that don't show that they are non US citizens. They can show up and vote without showing proof of citizenship.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 7 by J. Ewing at 16-Mar-12 06:58 AM
Walter, all drivers licenses are supposed to carry visa expiration/immigration status information, according to the law Pawlenty signed a few years back. I've had to instruct election judges to check that information, because our turkey of a Secretary of State doesn't, or at least didn't. Now how that info gets ON the license I don't know.
Comment 8 by walter hanson at 16-Mar-12 04:35 PM
J:
Here's where the problem is.
Yes if you're an alien in Minnesota the state is suppose to stamp what is called a "Status check" date in the lower right hand corner that matches the expiration date of their document from INS.
However once the person has something from INS that says they are legally here and not being asked to leave such as permanent residence status or they have asylum that "status check" is no longer on their DL. Thus a person who has a permanent resident card and a drivers license with no status check date on it and if they want to vote by showing their DL an election judge won't be able to determine if they are a legal citizen by looking at just the DL.
One of the gripes I have about the current system especially with hispanics (possibly here illegally) and africans who have some type of asyulum status from showing up and voting if somebody is willing to vouch for them.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 9 by eric z at 17-Mar-12 08:46 AM
I see a thread that to me infringes on privacy and such.
Yes, a photo ID is required for a ton of stuff.
No, it is not necessary.
Yes, it is intrusive each time. The cliche in Nazi portrayals in 1940's movies was, "Your papers, please." There is too much of that, and each time, a passport to travel nation to nation, a photo ID to board a commercial flight; why really do all that?
Privacy is too easily compromised, with too little thought. When you need a photo ID to use a pay toilet and it will only take credit cards and not cash, by then it will be too late to rethink directions.
Response 9.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Mar-12 12:10 PM
I see a thread that to me infringes on privacy and such. Yes, a photo ID is required for a ton of stuff. No, it is not necessary.You know that Photo ID isn't needed how? Don't tell me that you think society is corrupt but it's saintly when it votes. Your argument isn't valid unless you're willing to argue that humans are perfectly capable of committing all manner of crimes but they draw the line with election integrity.
