November 11-17, 2010
Nov 11 15:46 What the Voters Didn't Say Nov 11 03:04 Rep. Winkler, Is Investigating Crow Wing County Corruption Frivolous? Nov 11 19:47 What's The DFL Afraid Of? Nov 12 03:45 Winkler On Health Care Nov 16 05:14 Which Obama will emerge? Nov 16 09:09 The President of the Senate Nov 16 21:20 Betty Hearts Pork Nov 17 02:48 Republican Committee Redesign Nov 17 08:09 Thissen Already Whining?
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009
What the Voters Didn't Say
This Pi-Press article puts in plain sight the DFL's strategy during the gubernatorial recount. I wrote about this yesterday in this post :
There's more to it than that, though. Sen. Dayton's union allies are creating a storyline that hopes to create the impression that Sen. Dayton's inauguration is inevitable. That storyline might've had some credibility if ABM hadn't posted this tweet this afternoon:
Tom Emmer can waive a recount after the state canvassing certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer.
Notice the wording of ABM's tweet. ABM didn't say Tom Emmer could "waive a recount" IF "the state canvassing board certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer." ABM's tweet intentionally said that Tom could do that AFTER "the state canvassing certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer."
It's important that we remember what the AFL-CIO of Minnesota posted through Twitter yesterday. Here's MNAFL-CIO's tweet from yesterday:
Yes, there will be a recount. But make no mistake, Mark Dayton is Minnesota's next Governor.
First, the AFL-CIO of Minnesota posts a tweet strongly suggesting that Mark Dayton's inauguration is inevitable. This afternoon, Jeff Rosenberg quoted from Rep. Winkler's statement that a lawsuit after the recount would be "frivolous." This evening, ABM posted a tweet that essentially told Tom Emmer he should end the process the minute the recount ended.
Before this article came out, I said that the DFL's storyline is that everything's fine, that the MNGOP are sore losers, that they're just trying to drag things out.
The DFL's problem is that their storyline doesn't withstand scrutiny. It isn't what's happening. Tom Emmer and the MNGOP is highlighting corruption that they're seeing in places like Crow Wing County. We've been told that Minnesota's election system is "the gold standard" for decades and, in many ways, they're right.
That said, it would be wrong for Republicans to not demand an explanation from the 'helpers' what they did in Crow wing County. It would be wrong for Republicans to not highlight the corruption that's been creeping into the system ever since motor voter and vouching became the law of the land.
The truth is that Republicans don't want to drag things out unnecessarily. They simply want the legally cast votes to get counted and to eliminate the corruption.
What's apparent is that the DFL wants to put everything in warp drive so we don't see the corruption of the DFL's election allies. Thanks to the MNGOP having gavels, rest assured that they'll demand accountability from these special interest groups.
On November 2, the voters spoke. Thanks to the corruption reported on thus far, we don't know what legally cast ballots tell us in terms of who won the most votes. Ergo, we don't know who Minnesota's legal voters picked as governor.
Until we answer that question, the DFL shouldn't attempt to hijack the process for their own purposes. This is too important to give into partisan wishes. Elections at that level are partisan in nature in that people are expressing their partisan preferences.
Once the votes are cast, though, we should set partisanship aside and resolve to just get the results right. If we determine that votes were cast illegally, those that cast them illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If they voted absentee, like they apparently did in Crow Wing County, we should see if those votes have been counted yet.
If they haven't been counted, then those votes should be rejected.
Next, we should determine if the Crow Wing County scandal is an isolated incident or if it's part of a system of corruption.
OBSERVATION: This is too important to not get right, too important to not learn important lessons from. Yesterday, Rep. Winkler bragged about how his legislation tightened up the election process. What we now know is that new laws, sans a legitimate enforcement component, won't eliminate corruption.
Enforcement and prosecution is the only thing that will eliminate the type of corruption we've seen in Crow Wing County.
Posted Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:46 PM
Comment 1 by M. Groetken at 11-Nov-10 04:12 PM
I too hope that MNGOP does not let go of this issue this time. No matter what the outcome of the Emmer/Dayton race, we have a huge voter integrity problem in this state. Other states are starting to compare their voting issues to Minnesota which is really an embarrassment.
There are several other state run group living facilities in Minnesota like the one in Crow Wing County. It will be very difficult to convince me that the AFSCME employees did not do the same thing with some of their residents. That could be several hundred votes. MNGOP should also be forcing DHS to investigate as employees in a facility governed by DHS laws are not allowed to manipulate vulnerable adults for their own personal gain.
This is a huge can of worms. Someone needs to finally have the guts to open it up, empty it out, and go in with the Lysol to clean it out -- ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 11-Nov-10 05:43 PM
Gary:
Lets not forget one other point. If we had Crow Wing county did it happen in 2008? Yes Crow Wing county might not have had enough fraud in 2010 to make a difference, but was there fraud in 2008 that might have helped Franken get elected.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Nov-10 05:51 PM
At this point, that's just speculation, Walter. Investigate in a timely fashion but one the time is passed, time to move on.
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 11-Nov-10 08:31 PM
Yes, but if the election judges knew that this was the fourth group in 2010 and they weren't alarmed they had an obligation to report in 2008. It sounds like the election judges were part of the fix since it was their job to stop it!
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 4 by eric z at 12-Nov-10 02:37 AM
Mark Dayton's inauguration is inevitable.
Face it.
He won.
Emmer lost, by just under nine thousand votes.
No way in the world can Emmer scare up enough this-or-that to turn the tide.
It is GOP diddling, wasting time, wasting money, denial.
Everyone faces that the GOP won both legislaive houses.
It happened.
What's the GOP problem admitting Dayton won?
I don't understand it.
Truly.
It seems they are up to some form of stalling mischief; to do bad things if Pawlenty holds over; depriving Dayton of his proper veto powers from start of session onward. It is abusive.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Nov-10 03:57 AM
Mark Dayton might become governor but he didn't win the election. The corruption that will be exposed in the next month will stun & anger people. The recount will be the vehicle by which this corruption is exposed.
Rep. Winkler, Is Investigating Crow Wing County Corruption Frivolous?
This afternoon, MNPublius quoted from Rep. Ryan Winkler's statement on the recount in this post . Here's what Rep. Winkler is quoted as saying:
Thanks to the bipartisan work of Republicans and Democrats in the legislature, the upcoming gubernatorial recount should be one of the most efficient and accurate election recounts in state history, and not subject to serious legal challenge.
Still, Tom Emmer's legal team is lining up to delay the inevitable, preparing to drag our state through the mire of a protracted lawsuit that only seeks to defer the will of the people.
It's time to complete a fair and accurate recount, and then allow the state's leaders to begin the work of addressing the serious challenges facing Minnesota families and businesses.
Rep. Winkler apparently thinks that the corruption found in Crow Wing County isn't worth investigating. Here's what we learned from Mitch's interview that's more than worth investigating:
There appeared to be a dozen, maybe fifteen handicapped people, and perhaps three supervisors.
"But what alarmed me", said Jensen, "was, I'm looking across at a poll booth, and I see a staffer walk over with an individual who's mentally handicapped, put down ballot w/pen. The guy walked away from the booth. She called him back over; you could tell by her body language she was getting impatient, and the guy wouldn't come back. So she filled out his ballot. Then she retrieved him, and had him turn in his ballot."
Jensen continued "So I went "what the hell?" I couldn't believe she filled out the guy's ballot!"
"As I'm voting, the woman was 2 booths down with another invividual. She was talking like he's a child. Telling him who he should vote for. I think "This isn't right". Going right down line, candidate by candidate. I look over, her hand was on the pencil." Jensen told me he overheard him instructing the man to vote a straight DFL ticket; "it was DFL candiates - Dayton, Oberstar, Taylor Stevens, Ward, right down the ballot, every candidate."
That's just the half of it. If you aren't furious by now, you're likely comatose. This information will cure that apathy:
Jensen stopped for a moment, and pointed out that he knows that it's perfectly legal for people to help people to vote. "I'm a disabled veteran. I support the rights of the disabled".
But, he added, "this was more than "assistance".
He went to a county worker, and asked if she was aware of what was going on. "She says "Well, yeah"", Jensen continued. "She seemed nervous. Eventually she said "You don't know the half of it. This is the fourth group we've had today".
If that's the fourth group like that that came into the Crow Wing County Auditor's office that day, it's fair to ask whether other county auditors offices were visited by groups assisted by similarly corrupt people.
I was upset enough after reading Mr. Jensen's account of what's happening. After coupling that with Rep. Winkler's statement and I'm now more than upset. I'm furious because Rep. Winkler apparently isn't interested in investigating corruption of the type Mitch reported about. He'd rather sweep this under the rug and pretend that passing new laws is all that's needed to clean up Minnesota's election system.
ATTENTION REP. WINKLER: Laws alone won't eliminate corruption of this type. Without a vigorous investigation into reports of corruption of this magnatude, corruption will flourish. Apathy is corruption's best friend.
There's more to it than that, though. Sen. Dayton's union allies are creating a storyline that hopes to create the impression that Sen. Dayton's inauguration is inevitable. That storyline might've had some credibility if ABM hadn't posted this tweet this afternoon:
Tom Emmer can waive a recount after the state canvassing certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer.
Notice the wording of ABM's tweet. ABM didn't say Tom Emmer could "waive a recount" IF "the state canvassing board certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer." ABM's tweet intentionally said that Tom could do that AFTER "the state canvassing certifies that Dayton received more votes than Emmer."
It's important that we remember what the AFL-CIO of Minnesota posted through Twitter yesterday. Here's MNAFL-CIO's tweet from yesterday:
Yes, there will be a recount. But make no mistake, Mark Dayton is Minnesota's next Governor.
First, the AFL-CIO of Minnesota posts a tweet strongly suggesting that Mark Dayton's inauguration is inevitable. This afternoon, Jeff Rosenberg quoted from Rep. Winkler's statement that a lawsuit after the recount would be "frivolous." This evening, ABM posted a tweet that essentially told Tom Emmer he should end the process the minute the recount ended.
Nowhere in all these statements are found statements about the possibility that corruption, like the kind already discovered in Crow Wing County, might significantly alter the complexion of the recount.
Rep. Winkler, Sen. Dayton and their union and family allies should let the investigation run its course. If Rep. Winkler's laws cleaned the system up, then why have we read about the corruption in Crow Wing County?
Let's not pretend that Sen. Dayton and Rep. Emmer aren't working on their transition plans. Let's not pretend that they aren't working on their budgets or have them pretty much ready to submit. The budget won't be submitted until after the State of the State address anyway.
If there is corruption that's being reported, Ritchie's replacement (after he recuses himself) owes it to Minnesota to investigate every bit of reported corruption.
Anything short of that is appeasing the corruptocrats.
Posted Thursday, November 11, 2010 1:32 PM
Comment 1 by Lorri Maus at 11-Nov-10 05:41 AM
I wonder if any laws were broken related to the Vulnerable Adult Rules?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Nov-10 01:02 PM
We'll certainly attempt to find out all we can on this issue. Corruption, wherever it's found, is evil. There's no arguing otherwise on that.
What's The DFL Afraid Of?
Since Tuesday afternoon, the DFL's communications drumbeat has focused on the inevitability of Mark Dayton's inauguration. This tweet by the SD56DFL is an interesting revelation. Here's the tweet's text:
If so, coup attempt. RT @tpmmedia Would GOP Try To Drag Out MN-GOV Recount To Keep Pawlenty In Office? http://tpm.ly/ckkFFe
On Tuesday, the storyline was Dayton's inevitability . Yesterday, that storyline changed to any Emmer lawsuit would be frivolous '. This morning, anything other than going through the motions of a recount is a "coup attempt."
Here's something interesting from this Pi-Press article :
Many elections officials, including those participating in the Humphrey Institute forum, said the state election system was tightened after the 2008 Franken-Coleman U.S. Senate recount, limiting the number of potential votes Emmer can hope to find during the recount and, if it comes to that, a court contest.
These so-called experts are assuming that there isn't any corruption in the system. I'm not willing to concede that, especially in light of the Crow Wing County scandal. That's before talking about voting machine errors, too.
What's most troublesome to me is that there are lawyers whose job it is to present evidence in courts of law suddenly want to eliminate the evidenciary phase and jump hastily to the verdict phase. Why would they do that when their training teaches them something entirely different?
There's a court phase that's part of the recanvass/recount/certification process because the people who wrote Minnesota's election laws understood that counting the ballots is only part of the recount/certification process. They understood the courts were the place where disputes would be settled.
The DFL's PR offensive is, well, offensive from a multitude of perspectives. Thus far, the DFL's schills, including Rep. Winkler, have stated opinions or spread rumors. They haven't offered anything meaningful or factual. There's been alot of bluster from them but its worth is questionable.
Which leads me to this question: What's the DFL afraid of? Might they be doing everything to keep the media's eyes from looking into the Crow Wing County scandal? Does the DFL want us to not investigate because they're worried authorities will find out how they're corrupting the election process?
The more vigorously the DFL and their allies protest, the more I'm convinced that they're afraid of what an official investigation will uncover.
From that perspective, it's easy to understand what the DFL is afraid of.
Posted Thursday, November 11, 2010 7:47 PM
Comment 1 by Jeff Rosenberg at 11-Nov-10 08:33 PM
This is pretty funny, considering the efforts Team Coleman went to in 2008 to declare Coleman the winner and demand Franken waive his recount rights. In fact, Coleman issued frequent press releases declaring himself the winner, and suggested that Franken should concede for the good of the state. The DFL has been quite tame by comparison.
Do you condemn Coleman's efforts in 2008 to declare himself the winner preemptively?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 11-Nov-10 09:41 PM
I don't care even a little bit about 2008. That's history. Today's today. That's what matters.
Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 11-Nov-10 10:26 PM
Maybe Coleman knew that the corruption of the election was nothing compared to the corruption of a recount process. If not, he should have.
Comment 3 by eric z at 12-Nov-10 02:31 AM
So tell me, where is Emmer going to scare up miscount errors totalling in the range of four thousand votes?
Answer: He won't.
The GOP camp are being asses.
This one Emmer should concede, he has no prayer of a chance, so what are you GOP types up to?
Stall it, keep Pawlenty in the saddle, do big time mischief after Jan. 3? Is that the scenario?
What is the GOP up to?
That's what the DFL is afraid of, and it looks like the GOP is up to no good.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Nov-10 03:59 AM
There's mischief involved but the type you're thinking. The corruption in the electoral system is extensive & appalling. When it's exposed, people will see how corrupt some of the DFL's political allies are.
Comment 4 by Luke at 12-Nov-10 05:25 PM
So, Crow Wing County had widespread voter fraud, huh?
We'd better look into that real thoroughly, and maybe even hold up seating anyone who was elected there, just to be sure.
But wait, I seem to remember that 4 out of 5 of Crow Wing County's legislative seats went to Republicans? How do the Republicans feel about that thorough investigation now?
I don't think Sutton can have it both ways; there was either crazy voter fraud and the elections process is corrupt, which calls into question his precious legislative majorities, OR the elections process works, it always has, and the will of the people of MN has been expressed.
No matter how much we might disagree with their decision.
Response 4.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Nov-10 05:35 PM
Luke, I didn't use the term widespread voter fraud. That's your term. I said that several groups of people came into the Crow Wing County Courthouse & voted absentee because that's what eyewitnesses have reported.
Next, whether 4 out of the 5 Crow Wing County legislative seats are Republicans is irrelevant in terms of investigating the incident because, as far as we know, they weren't involved in helping these people voting illegally. Ergo, there's nothing for them to worry about in investigating the incident. They can aggressively investigate.
Frankly, your logic is shaky at best. In fact, it's difficult for me to consider your thinking as logical.
Winkler On Health Care
This afternoon, Rep. Winkler posted a tweet criticizing Gov. Pawlenty about something that might or might not happen. Here's the text of Rep. Winkler's tweet :
Pawlenty brief attacking healthcare law might signal he'll help delay recount so MN loses federal money. Selfish.
Here's the article Rep. Winkler is referring to:
Pawlenty and Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri, both Republicans leaving office soon, joined Thursday in the filing. It seeks permission to submit a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit being pursued by 20 states.
The filing says the two governors are safeguarding their citizens from "federal abuse of the spending power." They argue that the law places liabilities on states through a Medicaid expansion.
After Rep. Winkler posted that tweet, I had a brief exchange with him via Twitter. Here's our exchange:
ME: Rep. Winkler, what part of the federal gov't dictating the size & shape of our budget do u like most?
REP. WINKLER: What part of giving away billions of dollars to other states and wiping out healthcare for the poor (see GAMC) do you like most?
ME: The part where 'getting' that money means higher fed deficits & costs states 10s of millions of $$$
REP. WINKLER: Healthcare for the poor is less important than MN helping feds reduce the deficit? What other money should we volunteer to return?
ME: We do a better job of caring 4 the poor than the feds do. That isn't debatable. We shouldn't opt into a program that offers inferior coverage & causes additional expenses to the state, which limits the state's ability to cover other people.
The flaw in Rep. Winkler's thinking is apparent to those who've studied the issue. In order to 'give us' health care, the federal government taxes us. In exchange, we 'get' health care. Sort of. GAMC is Minnesotan for Medicaid.
The thing with Medicaid is that, while the federal government pays for the lion's share of the bill, states pay a significant share of the bill, too. In Minnesota's case, that bill is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.
The other thing that we can't forget is that hospitals, clinics and doctors get cheated on Medicaid payments. In some instances, those short payments cause small town doctors and clinics to not accept Medicaid or Medicare patients. That isn't just my opinion. Even MN2020 agrees with me :
Extending insurance benefits to more people through health care reform will not necessarily guarantee access to health services. Minnesota's medically underserved populations are concentrated in rural and inner-city areas . The reasons for the disparities differ in each region and reach beyond just inadequate insurance.
MN2020 just admitted that having health insurance doesn't guarantee health care. Having health insurance is worthless if there are doctor and nurse shortages, which there are. That's where I part ways with MN2020.
J.H. Fonkert from the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Minnesota Department of Health stresses the importance of Rural Minnesota's Health Care Workforce and identifies two strategies for alleviating physician shortages in rural Minnesota: 1) attracting young professionals to medical careers and 2) encouraging health care professionals to work and stay in rural areas. New federal health care reforms provide incentives for doing this.
It's foolish arguing with people that think Obamacare doesn't include as many disincentives as it provides incentives for going into med school. If Obamacare is fully implemented, the federal government will have to impose price controls to keep health care costs from skyrocketing.
Rep. Winkler is arguing for the carrot (fed dollars) at the same time he's hoping we don't notice that the product we're buying is a clunker. Early MA is a terrible deal. As I told him, Minnesota's solutions are vastly superior to the product offered by Obamacare.
Posted Friday, November 12, 2010 3:45 AM
Comment 1 by John Anderson at 12-Nov-10 03:11 PM
"Minnesota's solutions are vastly superior...". Minnesota and Pawlenty have no solutions. Our uninsured rate is going up. Health insurance premiums for employers are going up. Deductibles and copays for consumers are going up. And the conservative solution is repeal the federal law that says insurance companies can't deny coverage to my sick kid. I guess conservatives don't have sick kids, or, if they do, don't care about them getting health care services.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 12-Nov-10 05:26 PM
The insurance premiums & health care costs are going up because Medicare& Medicaid vastly underpay doctors, clinics & hospitals. VASTLY UNDERPAY. This year, Minnesota will experience true health care reform in the form of Steve Gottwalt's Healthy Minnesota Plan. Steve's plan will actually be a totally private plan. The state will pay the premium & the annual per patient deductible.
What's more is that it's superior to the current MinnesotaCare plan in its coverages & its annual maximums. MinnesotaCare as currently configured has a tiny maximum expense amount allowance. Steve's will be well into 6-figures. What's happened in the past is that the DFL has bottled this plan up in committee. They've TOLD WE THE PEOPLE that Republicans didn't have solutions. They were LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH!!!
With Republicans in the majority in the House & Senate, Minnesotans will see all the solutions Republicans have. The DFL's lies will be exposed. That's why the DFL is afraid.
As for your children, Sir, I empathize with you. I hope we get real health reform passed ASAP because people need that for financial security.
Comment 2 by eric z at 15-Nov-10 01:18 PM
Romneycare is a mess?
Cato thought claims sol
http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v30n1/cpr30n1-1.html
Perhaps many of the premises of surrendering all to the provider industry are at fault. The Canddian and European healthcare systems are not in such distress. There might be a lesson.
Do you know, Gary, how China manages healthcare. I know they have curbed profligate reproduction in the nation, but aside from that end of healthcare, have you any knowledge?
I have not seen news or think tank coverage of that.
It might be helpful to look.
It is certain we agree that the bill that got passed at the federal level is flawed. How to fix it, make it better, it's open season on that hummer.
Comment 3 by eric z at 15-Nov-10 01:40 PM
John Anderson - the trend with the unemployment situation is clear also in terms of non-coverage and undercoverage growing.
The entire premise of having to depend on an employment situation for family health demands is something the GOP, Taft primarily, did post-war. It goes back further perhaps, but that's looking back enough.
Taft got a blank check on domestic labor-employer affairs in exchange for not sabotaging the Marshall Plan.
The GOP got to structure post-war labor relations in exchange for leaving Truman and the Dems control of foreign policy. Then Taft and pals did what Truman would have done but did not want responsibility for, domestically, and Truman did what the GOP, if at all rational in viewing those times, would have done.
The two party system was strong, and remains strong.
Gary - the hospitals overbill. It's a dance they go through. The uninsured in distress get screwed, the insurer crowd battles down the overcharging on the covered care, and the industry piles up undue cash while the threat against the uninsured in distress is multiplied and publicized.
Cozy? Gary -
"With Republicans in the majority in the House & Senate, Minnesotans will see all the solutions Republicans have. The DFL's lies will be exposed. That's why the DFL is afraid."
The DFL teachers and bureaucrat wings may be more afraid than others. But somehow they always seem to do okay.
The DFL is afraid of what the GOP feared before gaining majorities. Redistricting mischief.
Redistricting will be log-rolling now. The GOP protecting their stronghold districts, the DFL doing the same, an armistice and cease fire that way, and Dayton signing approval.
That, or again into the courts.
Any thoughts that way, Gary, or will we be waiting for a future post in that direction?
Finally, John Anderson, the "little urchins" argument is an objectionable diversion.
Elderly care and unemployed and impoverished healthcare needs will be the dilemma. Not urchins we can cry about. Tiny Tim Cratchit arguments really are a pain. It's all heat, no light, and a nasty ploy to boot. They should be in Dickens' tomb.
Just tell the truth. Let Cratchit carry his kid around if it works for now. Single payer will fix the nation's healthcare situation, while nothing less will, and whatever brand of band-aid is GOP, vs DFL, will be diversionary from the need, ultimately, to move beyond band-aid coverage of the cancerous status quo, to establish sane single payer.
Which Obama will emerge?
This op-ed written by Democratic pollsters Doug Schoen and Pat Cadell, highlights President Obama's credibility gap. Here's what he's said in the past:
President Obama must decide now how he wants to govern in the two years leading up to the 2012 presidential election.
In recent days, he has offered differing visions of how he might approach the country's problems. At one point, he spoke of the need for "mid-course corrections." At another, he expressed a desire to take ideas from both sides of the aisle. And before this month's midterm elections, he said he believed that the next two years would involve "hand-to-hand combat" with Republicans, whom he also referred to as "enemies."The he being refered to is Prersident Obama.
One of the things that "a mid-course correction." What's needed is the repeal of Obama, not the waivers from President Obama's HHS :
Among the waivers recently granted were for employers like Darden Restaurants, which operates the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants, for 34,000 of its workers. Federal officials have granted 111 waivers to employers, insurers and union plans, who are responsible for covering about 1.2 million people.
Darden said the waiver would allow it to offer employees access to affordable coverage as the health care law is started.
If the system that's being put in place is that good, why are waivers already being granted? It's a safe bet that they aren't getting waivers to pay more.
What's worst is the list Jim Hoft compiled:
Service Employees Benefit Fund (#10 on list) with 1, 297 enrollees gained a health care waiver from the Obama Administration.
Lets' see who else is on the list:
#10- Service Employees Benefit Fund
#12; UFCW Allied Trade Health & Welfare Trust
#14; IBEW No.915
#19; Asbestos Workers Local 53 Welfare Fund
#33; Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 123 Welfare Fund
#35; UFCW Local 227
#52; UFCW Maximus Local 455
#55; Local 25 SEIU
#60; UFCW Local 1262
#78; Local 802 Musicians Health Fund
#83; Local 17 Hospitality Benefit Fund
#89; International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
#91; Transport Workers
#92; UFT Welfare Fund (United Federation of Teachers)
People accusing President Obama of supporting the Democrats' special interest allies have a keep eye. That list is composed of a dozen unions, most of which have contributed either to Democratic politics in general or President Obama specifically.
Gone are the days when this Obama is mistaken for the campaign Obama. Gone is the Obama that talked about red state America vs. blue state America vs. the United States of America. What we got isn't a postpartisan Obama. It's just a partisan, radicalized Obama.
Posted Tuesday, November 16, 2010 9:14 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 16-Nov-10 04:19 PM
The reason for these waivers is to keep the truth about Obamacare from being noticed by the general public. A large corporation or two, or a large union suddenly dropping coverage or radically raising premiums would get noticed. Well, these waivers ought to get the same kind of notice. In fact, smart Republicans might just remove that one provision of the law, and then see how quickly it unravels.
The President of the Senate
We've known for awhile that Michelle Fischbach will be the first Republican to be the Senate president. What I didn't know was that the president of the Senate is third in the chain behind the governor and Lt. Gov :
Sticky notes protrude from her copy of Mason's Manual, a thick book laying out a legislative body's rules. She has gone through the book many times since taking office in 1996 and is known as "as stickler for rules," as incoming Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch said.
But there was a constitutional provision that escaped Fischbach: When she is sworn in as president, she is third in line to the governor's office only behind the lieutenant governor.
When a reporter told her about that, her jaw dropped.
"It didn't hit me," an astounded Fischbach said. "I didn't think about that. ... I'm going to have to call my husband."
I didn't know that the Senate President was third in line behind the governor and lt. governor but it's good to know. The liklihoood of Michelle becoming the governor are minimal but it's interesting nonetheless.
Democrats have controlled the Senate, often by huge margins, since lawmakers began running on political party tickets in 1972. "Conservatives," mostly Republicans, held power at times during the nonpartisan years, and Republicans did control the Senate from time to time before the nonpartisan law passed in 1913, but the Legislature has changed so much that anything giving guidance about a party taking the majority would be sadly outdated.
Fischbach, a native of Woodbury, who briefly sat on the Paynesville City Council before being elected to the Senate, said she is ready to take on the uncharted challenge.
As president, she will run Senate sessions, calling on senators to speak and at times deciding if an amendment is germane to the bill being debated. She will make sure the Senate is making progress during its debates.
The important thing for Michelle to keep in mind is producing reform-minded legislation to put on the governor's desk. She'll need to work with Amy Koch and with Kurt Zellers to keep the GOP's reform agenda going.
The last 2 cycles, the DFL ran roughshod on GOP legislators, to the point where the DFL ignored doing what's best for Minnesotans. The next 2 years should be about doing the people's business instead of writing legislation for the special interests.
That was something else the DFL spent too much time on.
I'm still skeptical over whether the DFL is interested in working with the GOP but it's something worth checking into. If you can find willing DFLers, then that's the approach to take. If the DFL plays games, however, then it's best to give them the message that John Q. Public won't appreciate their representative playing hardball against popular legislation.
If the GOP doesn't overrun common sense, they should be the majority party for a decade or more. Good luck the Sen. Koch's leadership team. It's quite the talented team.
Posted Tuesday, November 16, 2010 9:10 AM
No comments.
Betty Hearts Pork
According to this article , Betty McCollum has defended the use of federal earmarks:
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., on Tuesday defended congressional earmarks, saying limits have been put in place and that the money spent on them represents only a small part of the overall federal budget.
Republican House leaders have called for a moratorium on the earmark process, which allows members of Congress to fund specific projects in their states or districts. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has said he also supports a ban on earmarks.
But McCollum said she's concerned about the $45 million earmark pending before the House for the Central Corridor light rail project. She said the project is worthwhile and will create thousands of jobs.
"[Earmarks are] one half of one percent of the entire federal budget," McCollum told MPR's Morning Edition. "This is for local communities. I'm a big supporter of local control, especially when it comes to spending some of our tax dollars."
Based on this map , the Central Corridor light rail system isn't an interstate rail system, meaning it shouldn't get federal funding. It's more important to fund bridge and road repair projects than putting in a government-subsized rail system. I don't see what the priority is for building another government-subsidized rail system.
Rep. McCollum is trying to say that this isn't a big deal, that it's just a tiny percentage of the overall federal budget. The flaw with that argument is that the federal budget is huge. It's time we rejected that argument and just stopped spending money on things we don't need. We've done a terrible job of appropriating money to projects that aren't really federal responsibility.
Posted Tuesday, November 16, 2010 9:20 PM
Comment 1 by Chad A Quigley at 16-Nov-10 10:26 PM
Rep. McCollum is the dumbest person to ever have attained the title of representative. This is just another example of just how dumb she is. Ms. Collect wiped the floor with her in the CD 4 debates yet the DFL faithful voted to put her back in Washington. I guess it goes to show that the DFL will vote for dog excerment as long as it has DFL behind the name.
Comment 2 by Mike Anderson at 17-Nov-10 12:12 AM
I'm for getting rid of earmarks, but considering that MN sends far more money to DC than we get in return, I think we should at least get what we pay for. Why should we subsidize all the backwards red states down south and out west?
Republican Committee Redesign
This is the memo issued today highlighting the committee redesign which was announced today:
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and Speaker of the House Designate Kurt Zellers Streamline Committee Structure
St. Paul---In an afternoon news conference at the State Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) and Speaker of the House designate Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) unveiled a new, streamlined committee structure for the upcoming legislative session.
"The principal goal with this new committee structure is to improve the way we govern as a majority," said Senate Majority Leader Koch. "Our caucus has a strong desire to productively innovate without clinging to the past. These reformed committees will restore simplicity and transparency to the committee process while offering potential for budget savings and clarity for citizens."
"This is what voters expected and demanded on Election Day: real reform, starting with ourselves. We promised a smaller and leaner government, and we're delivering," said Speaker of the House designate Kurt Zellers.
"Sweeping out the old guard the way they did sent a strong signal that voters want the legislature to change the way it operates. I think people will appreciate that the legislature sat down and actually figured something out. It's exactly what we said we would do to reduce the size of government. Today is the first step and we will continue as we dig into the rest of the budget," Zellers added.
The House of Representatives will reduce the number of committees from 36 to 24, a reduction of 30 percent. The Senate will reduce the number of committees from 25 to 16, a reduction of 36 percent. In total, the new GOP leadership in the Minnesota Legislature will be reducing the number of committees from 61 to 40, a reduction of approximately 35 percent.
When the DFL took the majority at the start of the 2007 session, Speaker Kelliher expanded the number of committees so everyone who wanted to be a committee chairmanship could have one. It wasn't that we needed 36 committees in the House. Now that the House and Senate are back in Republican control, the number of committees is brought back closer to normal.
The most important thing to me is that there are two reform committees in the House, one for education, the other for health care. It'll become apparent quickly that Republicans have lots of smart ideas that need to be signed into law. I've had the privilege to talk with these legislators more than a little and I've been impressed with their ideas.
It was difficult to listen to the DFL whine about Republicans being the party of no. With Republicans being in the majority in the House and Senate, it's guaranteed that Republicans' ideas will get heard.
UPDATE: Here's the complete list of House committees:
2011 ; 2012 House Committee Structure
Ways and Means Committee
Taxes Committee and Property and Local Tax Division
Education Finance Committee
Education Reform Committee
HHS Finance Committee
HHS Reform Committee
Ag and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee
Environment, Energy and Nat'l Resources Policy and Finance Committee
Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee
Capital Investment Committee
Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee
Civil Law Committee
Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee
Transportation Policy and Finance Committee
State Government Finance Committee and Veterans Services Division > Legacy Funding Div.
Government Operations and Elections Committee
Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee
Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee
Rules and Legislative Administration
Ethics
Redistricting
Posted Wednesday, November 17, 2010 6:04 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 17-Nov-10 01:19 PM
I'm surprised. I didn't think there was a need for that many committees, because the "problems" didn't fit into that many categories, but this list makes sense. I think a lot of these committees, such as Ag, Environment, and business regulation ought to be talking to one another, and we need to see that there aren't a lot of subcommittees formed that wipe out these efficiencies. but it's a great start.
Now, about that pesky little budget problem....
Comment 2 by Rex Newman at 17-Nov-10 11:48 PM
Less is definitely more. That should apply to committee names as well. The "Policy and Finance" phrase could be axed, just "Higher Education Committee, e.g.
Thissen Already Whining?
Based on this article , it sounds like Paul Thissen is already whining in his role as DFL leader:
What Rep. Thissen hasn't noticed is that the average person thinks of businesspeople as a good friend to have. It's just recently that liberals have started thinking of businesspeople as the enemy.
Koch said she thinks the changes will help citizens navigate the process. She also said it will free up time for legislators.
"When I think about the committees that I served on for the last four years, my schedule was full, and it allowed for very little time with my constituents, Koch said. "I think this is going to be very useful, particularly with some of our new members. They're going to have more time."
Koch and Zellers did not say which GOP legislators will chair the new committees. They plan to make those announcements Wednesday.
DFL House Minority Leader Paul Thissen said he fears Republicans will use their new structure to reward anonymous corporations that helped them win seats in the election.
This is just another instance where liberals are out of step with Minnesotans. Unless and until the DFL stops thinking of job creators as the enemy, they'll remain the minority party. The average person thinks of job creators as a positive influence on the economy.
The committee structure the last 4 years has been inefficient at best. It certainly didn't help move legislation quicker. Let's hope that Thissen isn't turning into a whiner. Let's hope that he'll be surprised by how well the system works. It certainly has a shot at working and working well.
Posted Wednesday, November 17, 2010 8:09 AM
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