May 4-6, 2018
May 04 07:59 MNLARS is still broken May 04 11:54 Sarah Anderson vs. Gov. Dayton May 04 13:07 Media Alert!!! UPDATED! May 04 13:19 Judge harshly rebukes Mueller's team May 05 05:58 Catholic Charities loses a cash cow May 05 07:46 Stauber's impressive endorsements May 05 16:48 Chuck Todd's 2018 fantasy? May 06 00:57 Trump's improving poll numbers
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
MNLARS is still broken
MNLARS remains the unfunny punchline to an unfunny joke. At this point, it almost feels cruel to criticize their ineptitude. Almost . This WCCO article highlights just how mixed up the department is.
For instance, "Shawn Sheely, who refurbishes motorcycles, got a surprise in the mail this week. 'There was a title for a 2009 Harley Davidson, brand-new bike with one mile on it,' Sheely said. 'Clearly not my bike. I don't own a Harley Davidson.' He wondered if he is the victim of identity theft. 'There's a lot of potential messes that could come out of this,' Sheely said. We ran the VIN number from the title through a number of websites, and on CarFax it came back as a 2009 Husqvarna motorcycle. Sheely did once own this kind of motorcycle, but he sold it three years ago."
Rep. Paul Torkelson, the chair of the Transportation Finance Committee, said "We have many examples all the way from somebody who got their driver's license with the wrong picture on it," Torkelson said. "Onto titles, onto people who have two sets of license plates for the same vehicle."
Though he won't like it, MNLARS is part of Gov. Dayton's legacy. Ditto with MNsure. When it comes to incompetence, the Dayton administration is the king of the hill.
[Video no longer available]
Minnesota needs a competent governor, someone whose administration performs the basic functions properly all the time. Instead, our current DFL governor is a joke, a travesty. Why am I not surprised?
Torkelson said the issue of additional funding for MNLARS to fix the glitches will come up before the legislative session ends, which is in just two and a half weeks. But right now, Torkelson said he is not in favor of putting money into a system that is still clearly broken.
Rep. Torkelson, please don't fund MNLARS repairs until we have a new, competent, and Republican governor. This isn't Monopoly money. It's real people's hard-earned money. Treat it like it's precious -- because it is -- though you wouldn't know that from how Gov. Dayton spends the taxpayers' money.
Posted Friday, May 4, 2018 7:59 AM
No comments.
Sarah Anderson vs. Gov. Dayton
Saying that Sarah Anderson has picked a good fight with Gov. Dayton is understatement. Anderson got an amendment attached to SF3656, "which includes a provision" that would "utilize excess funds from the Vikings stadium reserve to construct three veterans homes in Montevideo, Bemidji, and Preston."
It's amazing that Gov. Dayton would pick this fight. What's more amazing is that Gov. Dayton is fighting Rep. Anderson's amendment by saying that "Republicans are stealing the money from a special fund that pays for the new home of the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium." First, it's particularly stupid to fight against building these veterans homes "in Preston, Montevideo and Bemidji."
Gov. Dayton is picking a fight that puts him in opposition to these veterans homes while protecting the Vikings stadium. What's worse for Gov. Dayton's argument is that Rep. Anderson issued this statement :
Chair Anderson added that the proposal caps the stadium reserve account at 127% of the state debt service payments on the stadium to protect taxpayers. "Our bills caps the reserve at a level that already exceeds what is financially responsible in order to protect taxpayers. There is simply no excuse for these funds - much of which are generated by charitable gambling by veterans groups at VFW's and Legions throughout the state - to sit in a government bank account.
After issuing that statement, Rep. Anderson explained the amendment during this press availability:
[Video no longer available]
People won't have difficulty understanding that there's more than enough money in the fund to pay the state's obligation for the stadium plus a healthy reserve fund plus millions of dollars in excess of the reserve fund.
Gov. Dayton hasn't explained why this money should be used to make the reserve fund for the Vikings Stadium bigger than it needs to be rather than spending this money on 3 veterans homes. I'd love hearing Gov. Dayton and the DFL explain their twisted priorities.
Keeping tens of millions of extra dollars in the reserve fund rather than putting it to good use for veterans is twisted and then some.
Posted Friday, May 4, 2018 11:54 AM
No comments.
Media Alert!!! UPDATED!
I'll be talking with Dan 'The Ox' Ochsner today at 3:10 pm this afternoon about Tim Walz's statement in support of turning Minnesota into a sanctuary state. For those of you outside the KNSI listening area, click on this link , then click on the listen-live tab to listen in.
Most likely, we'll talk about what a gigantic mistake this was for Walz. While it will likely help him in winning the DFL endorsement, it's certain to hurt him in the general election.
UPDATE: For those who couldn't listen to my interview with Ox Friday, follow this link to listen to the podcast. My interview is the fourth interview from the top of the page.
Originally posted Friday, May 4, 2018, revised 05-May 6:17 AM
Comment 1 by Liz at 04-May-18 03:06 PM
Fantastic! Going to turn on the radio right now. Thank you Gary for all your work.
Comment 2 by Crimson Trace at 04-May-18 04:27 PM
Nice job, Gary! Tim Walz would quickly move Minnesota into bankruptcy with his position on making Minnesota a sanctuary state. I also don't trust him to hold fast to the second amendment rights of law abiding citizens.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 04-May-18 10:48 PM
CT, I'd trust Tim Walz to ditch the Second Amendment faster than Twins relievers blow late-inning leads.
Judge harshly rebukes Mueller's team
Saying that U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III was fed up with Mueller's team of lawyers is understatement. Judge Ellis rebuked them, saying "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort. You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you to lead you to Mr. Trump and an impeachment, or whatever."
That wasn't the only bombshell coming from Judge Ellis's courtroom. Later in the hearing, "where Manafort's team fought to dismiss an 18-count indictment on tax and bank fraud-related charges, took a confrontational turn as it was revealed that at least some of the information in the investigation derived from an earlier Justice Department probe , in the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia."
The special counsel argues that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein granted them broad authority in his May 2, 2017 letter appointing Mueller to this investigation. But after the revelation that the team is using information from the earlier DOJ probe, Ellis said that information did not "arise" out of the special counsel probe, and therefore may not be within the scope of that investigation. "We don't want anyone with unfettered power," he said.
That's definitely pushing the envelope. Saying that Judge Ellis wasn't amused is understatement. Things got more interesting when Judge Ellis asked for the unredacted "scope letter":
The judge also gave the government two weeks to hand over the unredacted "scope memo" or provide an explanation why not after prosecutors were reluctant to do so, claiming it has material that doesn't pertain to Manafort. "I'll be the judge of that," Ellis said.
If Judge Ellis rules that Mueller doesn't have the authority to prosecute Manafort, that doesn't mean Manafort is off the hook. It simply cripples Mueller's investigation, both from a political and legal standpoint. From a political standpoint, Mueller will have been exposed as overstepping his authority. Also politically, it'll cast doubt on Rod Rosenstein's letter authorizing the special counsel investigation. If Judge Ellis rules that the Rosenstein letter amounts to a blank check, Judge Ellis has the authority to limit the scope of Mueller's investigation.
[Video no longer available]
This wasn't a good day for the prosecutors or Mueller. It doesn't end things but it gives the Trump administration and legal team the ammunition to attack Mueller's propriety with regards to this investigation.
Posted Friday, May 4, 2018 1:19 PM
No comments.
Catholic Charities loses a cash cow
KNSI's Matt Demczyk's article is great news for people who think the State Department's refugee resettlement program needs to be slowed to a trickle. According to the article, "Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced this week that it will shift its focus to programs that combat homelessness and help at-risk children." The article also said that "The Trump administration increased security screening requirements and decreased the annual refugee arrival ceiling. Fewer than 950 refugees arrived in Minnesota last year, compared with more than 3,000 in 2016."
Volunteer agencies (like Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services), aka Volags, have used the resettlement program as a cash cow. The State Department pays Catholic Charities and LSS $3,300 to resettle refugees. The Volags are required to spend $2,300 on the refugees. Once the Volags have found the refugees a place to live, they get to keep $1,000 for their services.
Based on this information, Catholic Charities' refugee resettlement revenue dropped from $3,000,000 in 2016 to $950,000 in 2017. A $2,000,000 drop in revenues will require Volags to rethink their business model.
Posted Saturday, May 5, 2018 5:58 AM
No comments.
Stauber's impressive endorsements
Pete Stauber heads into today's CD-8 Republican convention as the only candidate in the race on the GOP side. Perhaps that's because he's an impressive candidate with a strong organization. Perhaps, it's because his list of endorsements reads like a Who's Who of Iron Range mayors :
"Enthusiasm is very, very high," Stauber said. "It's an inspiration for me as a candidate." But it's not the delegate numbers that are most telling at this stage in the race, some seven months away from Election Day. It's the names Larry Cuffe Jr. of Virginia, Shari Swanson of Buhl, Robert Vlaisavljevich of Eveleth and Andrea Zupancich of Babbitt, the four Range mayors who have endorsed Stauber despite being from a region traditionally known as a stronghold for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
This is still a tough fight for Republicans but it's worth noting that Eighth District Republicans have flipped a bunch of legislative seats since 2010.
After today's convention makes him the officially endorsed candidate, Stauber can start his general election campaign. Meanwhile, on the DFL side, a handful of candidates will have to fight things out amongst themselves for the next 3 months.
This must put a smile on Stauber's face:
But it's not just Stauber's position on mining that is winning over some people on the Range, said Cuffe, who admitted to being raised Democrat and voting Democrat most of his life. "I believe in his qualities and values," Cuffe said of Stauber. "Mining is just a small reason why I support him."
The Twin Cities DFL is nuts. It's composed of trust fund babies and environmentalists. Rudy Perpich's DFL exists only in the history books.
Swanson added she's less likely to listen to local DFLers even if they are full-tilt for mining. The party, she said, has been co-opted by Twin Cities' metropolitan values. "It just seems like more and more the power is coming out of the Twin Cities in the DFL Party," she said. "It's getting stronger on their side and it's less friendly with what we do up here."
This is a fight Stauber can win. If he wins and, as I suspect, Republicans flip Tim Walz's seat, it could make for a very good night for the Republican Party of Minnesota.
Posted Saturday, May 5, 2018 7:46 AM
No comments.
Chuck Todd's 2018 fantasy?
The title for this article is "Democrats might have a better chance to flip the Senate than you think." I'm betting that Democrats have virtually no chance of flipping the US Senate. This is NBC's list of the top 10 states most likely to flip:
They follow it up with this reminder:
And remember, our Top 10 list is what these races look RIGHT NOW. After all, it's very possible that the GOP gains ground in red Tennessee after likely nominee Marsha Blackburn consolidates Republican support. What's more, the GOP could be stronger in Indiana and West Virginia after their divisive primaries end on Tuesday. And Florida bears watching as Republican Rick Scott pours millions of dollars into that Senate contest. (If you think Florida at #8 is too low on our list, you'd still probably want to be Democrat Bill Nelson in purple Florida than Joe Manchin in red West Virginia.)
Let's re-word that paragraph to resemble accuracy:
Remember, this is the state of the race before the primaries pick the candidates, before Republicans actually start campaigning, before Republicans start reminding voters that Democrats voted unanimously against repealing Obamacare and against the Trump/GOP tax cuts that have revived the economy. This is the state of the race pending the Trump/Kim Jung-Un summit and the possible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This is the state of the race before the Mueller 'investigation' reaches full toxicity with voter. (Think of how often Democrats have insisted that Trump colluded with Russia.)
In other words, that's the state of the race before any real campaigning starts.
Hating Trump won't win many statewide elections. Unanimously voting against popular bills like the Trump/GOP tax cuts won't make life easy for Democrats. Defending the Democrats' obstructionism won't be easy, either. Suffice it to say that the Republicans will have lots of ammunition to use against Democrats once the campaigns get into full swing.
The point worth making is that Republicans haven't started their campaign yet even though Democrats have been campaigning since the day after Trump's election. Nobody's paying attention right now. Why should Republicans tip off Democrats on their campaign themes? It's smarter to wait until this fall, then unload on Democrats.
Posted Saturday, May 5, 2018 4:48 PM
No comments.
Trump's improving poll numbers
Amber Athey's article certainly is welcome news for President Trump and Kellyanne Conway. While the media is yapping endlessly about the difficult week President Trump has had, only Athey noticed that "A poll taken on April 22, 2018 had Trump's approval rating among black men at 11 percent, while the same poll on April 29, 2018 pegged the approval rating at 22 percent. It should be noted that Reuters only sampled slightly under 200 black males each week and slightly under 3,000 people overall. Trump experienced a similar jump in approval among black people overall, spiking from 8.9 percent on April 22 to 16.5 percent on April 29."
If President Trump's poll numbers keep improving, Republicans' chances of holding onto the House increase significantly. The Senate is another matter, since I've never thought that their majority was in danger this cycle. In fact, I think the national forecasters (Cook Political Report, Chuck Todd's Top Ten List) are off by a significant amount with the Senate.
Salena Zito often reminds us just how often the pundits don't understand today's voters. Her upcoming book, which she outlines in this article , is essential reading for people trying to understand Trump voters and the political change that's happening. First, let's plug Salena's book:
My new book, 'The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics' (Crown Forum), co-written by Brad Todd, is a road trip into the lives of Rust Belt voters who switched their states' allegiances in the presidential elections from 2012 to 2016.
Next, let's dig into Salena's observations, starting with this:
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Ed Harry is sitting in the booth at the back end of D's Diner in Plains Township, Luzerne County. Up front, the place is filled with customers at a chrome lunch counter as waitresses busily fill coffee cups, take orders and greet regulars with a familiar, "The usual?" For most of his life Harry (inset) has done two things: voted Democrat and lead union workers.
Later, Salena writes:
"My party, the party that was supposed to be the party of the working guy, the guy I stood up for and worked for all of my career, was no longer part of this new ascending Democratic coalition. Blue-collar America essentially had the door shut in its face," Harry says.
A shift is happening and it isn't just about Trump's personality. Salena notes that "They aren't asking why people in the Rust Belt counties who voted for former President Barack Obama twice suddenly switched to Trump. But they should. Because Trump was not the cause of this movement, he was the result of it. In order to fully appreciate his rise to the White House, you need focus on the people who put him there."
The truth that nobody's admitted yet is that President Trump is a great politician. He's got something else going for him in that he's doing his utmost to keep the promises he made on the campaign trail. President Trump promised to appoint conservative judges. Thus far, he's kept that promise. President Trump promised to cut taxes and regulation. Thus far, he's succeeded beyond Republicans' wildest hopes. He failed on repealing Obamacare only because John McCain acted like a Democrat. That isn't President Trump's fault. That's 100% Sen. McCain's fault.
How badly are pundits misreading Trump voters? This bad:
GIRL GUN POWER
KENOSHA, Wis. - Amy Maurer is a very striking woman, her blond hair cut short in the kind of dramatic fashion you'd see in the pages of Vogue or on a Paris runway. Sitting in the conference room of TG3 Electronics, Chief Financial Officer Maurer (inset) is both in command and at ease, surrounded by the keyboards her company manufactures.
Maurer, 43, is the married, educated, suburban mom whom experts missed in the 2016 election - and still don't get today. As a gun owner and strong defender of the Second Amendment, she based her vote entirely on the Supreme Court vacancy and who would fill it.
The Clinton campaign tried hard to win over voters like Maurer with ads highlighting Trump's most misogynistic remarks, casting him as an unhinged troglodyte no self-respecting woman could support. "They believed, I think, that the social pressure from either friends or professional peers would be too much. That we would cave because of his behavior. Well, they misunderstood where the emphasis of our vote was. They thought, 'Feminist, right? Successful, kids in the home, married, college-educated .?.?. Oh, they cannot vote for Trump, they just cannot.'" She smiles broadly. "They were wrong."
Democrats are still in denial about Trump. They still can't believe that he 'stole' the Democrats' voters. The truth is, like President Trump's rising support with African-Americans, people think that the Democratic Party left them rather than the other way around.
PS- That's why their resistance movement will fail miserably.
Posted Sunday, May 6, 2018 12:57 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 06-May-18 07:09 AM
Trump didn't steal any votes, he just spoke to the people like humans and didn't blow smoke up their asses telling them he was going to tax the rich and give them the money. Democrats finally got sick of their party not delivering on their promises of a liberal utopia and figured they had nothing to lose in voting for Trump because he can't do any worse than they've had for the last 60 years of failed promises.
