May 22-28, 2019
May 22 01:59 Gov. Walz's, DFL's disgrace exposed May 23 23:15 Let the finger-pointing begin May 25 17:45 Another ho-hum Twins win May 26 03:25 Highlighting the DFL's disastrous session May 26 21:56 Another series, another Twins sweep May 27 13:50 Wolgamott's Northstar folly May 28 15:34 What are Comey, Clapper & Brennan afraid of?
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Gov. Walz's, DFL's disgrace exposed
It's understatement to say that House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt didn't compliment the DFL after this session. Rep. Daudt criticized House DFL leadership, saying "I am not going to stand for this dark of night, making decisions behind closed doors with no one knowing what's the bill. The authors of the bills didn't know what was in the bills, we didn't have spreadsheets, the spreadsheets that we did get didn't match the bills . This is an absolute shame on the Democrats who are running the chamber on the Minnesota House of Representatives."
If Minnesotans care about performance, then they should fire the DFL and replace them with people that know how to make things run properly. The DFL, especially Speaker Hortman and House Majority Leader Winkler, have a variety of nickname options. One legitimate option is the gang who couldn't shoot straight. Another option would be 'the not yet ready for primetime players.'
Here's why Leader Daudt was upset :
This has been the least productive, least transparent session in the history of this state. Minnesotans should be ashamed of the process at the end of this legislative session.
Look how out-of-touch Speaker Hortman looks in this picture:
Walz looks like he's about to blow a gasket while Hortman is smiling. What's up with that? Here's Leader Daudt's press availability:
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I'm with Leader Daudt. The DFL should be utterly ashamed of their incompetence. Unfortunately, the DFL won't be ashamed of their incompetence because that would require a conscience, something that the DFL hasn't had for 20 years. In light of Leader Daudt's information about the Sick Tax, the DFL's insistence on the Sick Tax is, at best, puzzling. That's being charitable. If the federal government covers the things that the Provider Tax was originally put in place to cover, then the Sick Tax can't be part of the final budget. If it's being used as a slush fund for DFL special interest vote-buying, then it's gotta go.
The more information that I gather about the budget agreement, the more I'm certain that Republicans should hold up the bills until the DFL caves on the health care provider tax. Period. That shouldn't be part of the final budget.
In 2020, DFL freshmen will have to campaign with a handful of millstones hung around their necks. First, the House freshmen will have to explain why they voted for the biggest potential tax increase in Minnesota history. Next, they'll have to explain why they voted to increase health care costs to pay for a DFL slush fund. Third, these DFL freshmen will need to explain why they were part of the least productive, least competent legislative majority in recent Minnesota history.
Good luck with that.
Posted Wednesday, May 22, 2019 1:59 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 22-May-19 05:07 PM
The DFL boot lickers don't care about anything other than increasing the budget and taxes. That's why even after 8 years of Gov. Incompetence, they not only elected another life long government stooge, they also elected a house full of them. They will get elected again unless Walz, Hortman, or Winkler go on a killing spree.
Let the finger-pointing begin
Earlier tonight, President Trump " ordered U.S. intelligence officials to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's investigation into 'surveillance activities' directed at the president's 2016 campaign."
Let the finger-pointing begin. Comey, Clapper and Brennan are already attempting to incriminate each other. In the end, I suspect that they'll each be 'successful', with each of them getting prosecuted and convicted or getting prosecuted and flipping on the other 2. Either way, the chances of this turning out well for that trio isn't high.
Let's get serious about this for a minute. Democrat spinmeisters point to the DOJ's IG report and insist that it's a comprehensive report on the origins of the faux investigation. It isn't because it isn't exhaustive. It can't reach the places that the AG's investigation can get to. First, the IG can't call in people from all of the IC agencies. It's limited by statute to the agency it's assigned to.
Next, the IG can't interview people who worked inside the DOJ but have since left. That means the IG can't interview the central figures in the investigation. Specifically, it prohibits the IG from interviewing Comey, Lynch, McCabe, Strzok and Page. Ditto with Clapper and Brennan.
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Trump also gave Barr "full and complete authority" to declassify information related to the investigation, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. The notice comes as Barr is conducting a review of what he has described as "spying" on members of the Trump campaign during the investigation into Russian interference.
Sanders said Trump had directed the intelligence community to "quickly and fully" cooperate with the investigation at Barr's own request. "Today's action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions," Sanders said.
This gives Attorney General Barr wide latitude to investigate the investigators. Last Sunday, Trey Gowdy made a rather interesting prediction during Maria Bartiromo's show:
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Considering the fact that Trey Gowdy a) has seen these documents and b) is one of the most honest people to ever serve in Congress, I'm betting that there's some former employees of the FBI and the IC who should be exceptionally worried.
Posted Thursday, May 23, 2019 11:15 PM
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Another ho-hum Twins win
Let's just be clear about something. This year's Twins team wasn't expected to have a .686 winning percentage after 51 games. Having a winning percentage that high in 25 games would've been considered extraordinary with most Twins fans. Today, the Twins hit their 102nd home run of the season. They're on pace to hit 324 for the season. That would shatter the MLB record of 267 homers hit by the
The Twins have won 10 of their last 11 games, with the only loss coming last Sunday in Seattle. That loss has separated a pair of 5-game winning streaks. Last night, the Twins got 7 relatively decent innings from Jose Berrios, with the only blip coming in the 2nd inning, when the White Sox scored 4 runs. That put the Twins down 4-1 at the time. Instead of panicking, the Twins just scored the final 10 runs of the game. The Twins slugging percentage for last night's game was .750. The Twins' OPS last night was 1.165.
Today's game was somewhat of a flat-liner. The Twins jumped out to a 2-1 lead early. Then they put it in autopilot, winning 8-1. Today's hitting stars were Ehire Adrianza, who got 3 hits and 3 RBIs, C.J. Cron, who got 2 hits and 4 RBIs and Jorge Polanco, who got 2 hits to raise his league-leading batting average to .340. Kyle Gibson, today's starter, gave up a 4th-inning home run that gave the South Siders a brief glimmer of hope, bringing them to within a run at 2-1.
That glimmer died in the bottom of the 4th, when C.J. Cron singled to left, Jonathan Schoop and Eddie Rosario scored. Later, Ehire Adrianza singled to shallow center, driving in C.J. Cron for the third run of the inning and extending the lead to 5-1.
Adrianza drove in the final 3 runs with the Twins' only homer of the day to make the final score 8-1. At no point did it feel like the Twins weren't in total control. What's eerie in a fun way is the similarities I'm seeing between this Twins team and their 1991 team that won the World Series. That team wasn't expected to do much. At the end of the year, though, they hoisted the World Series Trophy after Jack Morris's 10-inning 1-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves.
Speaking of Mr. Morris, aka 'Black Jack', he did the analysis of today's Twins game. He was part of another team that came from nowhere to win the World Series. That would be the 1984 Detroit Tigers team. That team started 35-5. They became one of only a handful (and I'm talking about a tiny handful) of teams that went wire-to-wire without spending a day out of first place. I'm talking about those Tigers being in first place from Opening Day of the regular season to never trailing in the playoffs.
There's still 111 games left in the regular season so optimism must be tempered somewhat. Still, it's indisputable that the Twins are one of, if not baseball's, elite teams. This team has a ton of talent, albeit unknown talent. If they continue playing like this, where the starting pitching is solid, the bullpen is very good, the defense is consistently excellent and the hitting is elite, why shouldn't the Twins have confidence in their abilities?
Finally, the Twins are doing this while Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver are still on the injured list. Further, they got off to this start without Miguel Sano for the first 40+ games. Call me crazy but I think this team is loaded. Here's Twins manager Rocco Baldelli's post-game press conference:
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The last time the Twins had a rookie manager get off to this good of a start was 1987. Some guy who got along with his players nicknamed TK led that team to the Twins' first World Series championship.
Posted Saturday, May 25, 2019 5:45 PM
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Highlighting the DFL's disastrous session
This article highlights just how out-of-touch the DFL is with voters. Frankly, it's stunning to hear the DFL's spin on the DFL's disastrous session. As I said here, the DFL got smoked this session.
House Speaker Melissa Hortman said Democrats "fought until the very last minute" to include some of their top priorities in the final bills but ran out of time before Monday's mandatory adjournment for the regular session. She cited driver's licenses for immigrants living in the country illegally, making it easier for workplace sexual harassment victims to sue and making emergency insulin supplies more affordable.
House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler said they could raise their issues again next year, and use them against Republicans in the 2020 campaign when they hope to hold the House and retake the Senate. He cited gun control, paid family and medical leave and some education measures. "We feel like we've made some progress this year and we have marked out where we want to go in the future," Winkler said.
As a Republican, I have one thing to say to the DFL -- Thank you for pushing drivers licenses for illegal immigrants and gun control. Those are issues that poll extremely poorly in the outer ring suburbs, the exurbs and rural Minnesota. In this video, Speaker Hortman says that they tried laying out the DFL's vision going forward:
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According to the DFL Speaker's own words, the DFL's vision for Minnesota going forward is higher taxes and less accountability to the taxpayers. If that's what they're selling, and it is, then I'm betting that Minnesotans aren't buying.
Posted Sunday, May 26, 2019 3:25 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 27-May-19 04:26 PM
You can't have vision when you have blinders on.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 28-May-19 01:50 PM
Put differently, it's impossible to find what you refuse to look for.
Another series, another Twins sweep
Yesterday, I wrote that the Twins' winning ways were getting routine. Right now, the Twins are playing extremely solid baseball in all facets of the game. Yes, the MLB Network's DJ can't stop talking about the Twins hitting homeruns but that's just part of the Twins story.
To be fair, the Twins have hit 104 homeruns in their first 52 games. They've tended to game-changers or back-breakers. Last week, the Twins hit 8 homeruns against the Angels in their 16-7 victory. That tends to get noticed. Fair enough.
Today, however, was a more typical Twins victory. They hit a pair of 3-run homeruns (1 would've been sufficient) in defeating the Chicago South Siders. Jake Odorizzi supposedly wasn't feeling well so he took his misery out on the White Sox, yielding 1 hit and 1 walk over 5.1 innings while not surrendering a run. That dropped Odo's ERA to 2.16 while pushing his won-lost record to 7-2. Thus far, he's been the Twins' most consistent pitcher this year. BTW, he struck out 9 hitters in those 5.1 innings.
The Twins bullpen wasn't perfect but they were certainly solid, with Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffey leading the way today. Duffey pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 hits and a walk while getting all 6 of his outs with strikeouts.
Today was the Twins' second straight sellout. They're definitely enjoying themselves, just like the Twins players are having fun. Leading the AL in RBIs and homeruns is fan favorite Eddie Rosario. Here's his interview with FSN's Audra Martin:
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This Twins team reminds me an awful lot of the 1991 Twins team. That year's team featured key free agent signings Jack Morris, Chili Davis and Mike Pagliarulo. This year, the Twins added C.J. Cron through waivers, then signed free agents Nelson Cruz, Johnathan Schoop and Marwin Gonzalez. None of these players were headline-grabbers like Manny Machado or Bryce Harper. They're just great fits with this Twins team.
Finally, the number of unsung heroes continues to grow. When Cruz and Mitch Garver went on the IL (injured list), people wondered if the Twins offense would suffer. It's understatement to that the Twins offense hasn't skipped a beat since their injuries. Today's unsung hero was catcher Jason Castro. Castro called a fantastic game & was steady behind the plate in terms of framing pitches. It isn't surprising to me that he's such a valuable piece to the Twins' winning puzzle.
Go Twins!
Posted Sunday, May 26, 2019 9:56 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 27-May-19 04:25 PM
Just think what Molitor could have done with the same tools Rocco has. Too bad they (Falvey and Levine) forced Molitor to fail just so they could get their guy in.
Wolgamott's Northstar folly
This article highlights how Dan Wolgamott, Tama Theis and Jerry Relph are totally owned by Theresa Bohnen and the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Last Friday, Wolgamott insisted on this funding, saying that it would create jobs. (That's what the DFL always says about pork-barrel projects. It's always hogwash .)
Rep. Nick Zerwas, who represents Big Lake, told the legislature that the average ticket gets subsidized $54. That's an average subsidy of $14,000 per year per ticket. That's money that's wasted that could've been used to lower taxes and prevent foolish spending. Any person voting for this foolishness should be primaried and run out of politics.
Further, getting the Chamber's endorsement should be seen as a negative. They're moderates at best. They're also crony capitalists. I can't remember the last time they fought for pro-growth capitalist policies.
This should frighten people :
Wolgamott says he will be enthusiastically voting for the transportation budget, and will continue to be a tireless advocate to bring Northstar to St. Cloud. Other things included in the transportation bill include an additional $275 million over the current budget for statewide road construction, delivery, and maintenance.
How could this be? Gov. Walz didn't get his outrageous gas tax increase. We were told that we needed that tax increase to fix roads and bridges. St. Cloud voters better remember that Rep. Wolgamott voted for all of Gov. Walz's and the DFL's tax increases.
Posted Monday, May 27, 2019 1:50 PM
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What are Comey, Clapper & Brennan afraid of?
Now that AG William Barr is investigating whether President Obama's political appointees acted improperly in starting the surveillance into Carter Page, the same suspects (literally) are resurfacing with the same discredited excuses. Byron York's article asks all the right pointed questions.
The article, though, starts by saying "In February 2018, the House Intelligence Committee released the so-called Nunes memo. In four pages, the document, from the committee's then-chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, revealed much of what the public knows today about the FBI's reliance on the Steele dossier in pursuing since-discredited allegations that the Trump campaign and Russia conspired to fix the 2016 election. Specifically, it revealed that the FBI included unverified material from the dossier in applications to a secret spy court to win a warrant to wiretap Trump foreign policy volunteer adviser Carter Page. All that was classified. To release it, the committee appealed to President Trump, who made a declassification order. That is the only way Americans know about the Page warrant. From that knowledge came later revelations about the FBI's use of confidential informants and undercover agents to get information on Trump campaign figures."
Now the same doomsayers are back predicting more gloom:
Now, some of the same people are issuing somber warnings of the damage that will be done if Attorney General William Barr declassifies documents showing what else the nation's law enforcement and intelligence agencies did in the 2016 Trump investigation.
I'm shocked to hear Brennan, Clapper and Comey are using alarmist tones about exposing national security secrets. Coming from them, it rings hollow. Byron York explains in this interview:
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We've heard this refrain before. Yes, we should handle this information with the greatest of care. No, we shouldn't trust the most untrustable trio of partisan hacks in US intelligence history.
Posted Tuesday, May 28, 2019 3:34 PM
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