November 4-5, 2019

Nov 04 02:38 Money is fungible, LGA is expensive
Nov 04 10:48 Mark Zaid vs. Jim Jordan

Nov 05 01:58 Good news for President Trump
Nov 05 10:51 DHS's corruption hearing
Nov 05 17:36 Volker's transcript hurts Dems

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Money is fungible, LGA is expensive

Articles like this spin-piece shouldn't be published. They're one-sided propaganda. They aren't informative. When I want legitimate information that helps me make decisions, I often turn to Harold Hamilton's weekly commentaries. First, let's examine the spin from the Times' spin-piece.

It says "As the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its special session last May, one state lawmaker spoke out about the increases in Local Government Aid and County Program Aid in the 2019 tax bill. Cities, he said, 'should be fat and happy for a long time' thanks to the $30 million boost in LGA. Now that cities are in the midst of important budget discussions, I keep thinking back to that comment and how it trivializes the challenges cities face in prioritizing the needs of our residents and communities."

Later in the spin-piece, we learn this:

My city, Willmar, is poised to get a $272,000 boost in LGA in 2020. However, the cost of health insurance for city employees is going up 30%, nearly $500,000. This added expense alone far exceeds any additional LGA that Willmar will receive.

First, we know that Willmar gets a total of over $9,200,000 in FY2019-2020 in LGA. By comparison, St. Paul and Minneapolis receive a combined $289,500,000 in LGA in 2019-2020. I mention that because of this information that I got from Harold Hamilton's report from this past Friday:

HAD ENOUGH SCANDAL?

Don't leave. We have one more for you. This one comes from the City of Minneapolis (surprised?) Having plenty of money and having solved the big problems, the city embarked on the building of new public services building to properly house the many bureaucrats who administer city ordinances, like the one mandating the sale of fruits and vegetables at city convenience stores.

The crowning jewel of this new building is a massive ceiling-mounted sculpture at the building's entrance. Want to guess the cost? If you said $772,000, you would be correct. $772,000 for a sculpture.

When called out, do you suppose the city was contrite and embarrassed? A person from the city with the title of 'city arts administrator' said the following:

"We wanted a piece that would capture people's attention when they came into the building. We wanted a piece that would be interesting and exciting. We also wanted a piece that would be interesting to people who came into the building over and over again."

The state sends about $80 million each year in aid payments to Minneapolis. If they have money like this for sculptures and the salary of an "arts administrator" they certainly don't need these state aid payments.

This isn't surprising. A few years ago, Minneapolis bought 10 "artistic" drinking fountains that cost the city $50,000 each. Had they purchased standard drinking fountain, that would've cost taxpayers a total of less than $60,000.

The point of this comparison is to highlight the fact that Minneapolis wastes more money per year than Willmar sees in terms of LGA increases. There are legitimate expenses that LGA helps defray the cost of. Unfortunately, big cities, especially Minneapolis, waste money on things like artistic drinking fountains, sculptures and bike trail administrators. When I went through the St. Paul city budget in 2008, I reported to my client that 30-40% of St. Paul's operating budget was wasteful spending that could be eliminated without a single person noticing outside of the lobbyists who lobbied for the extra money.

Think of how much money could be either redirected or eliminated if we didn't have cities like the Twin Cities wasting $500,000 on artistic drinking fountains or $772,000 for a sculpture inside a building. These are just the things we know about. There isn't any doubt that they're just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Posted Monday, November 4, 2019 2:38 AM

Comment 1 by eric z at 04-Nov-19 12:00 PM
Gary - A sincere thanks for a post not dealing with DC drama of the day. It is refreshing. Harold Hamilton is still alive? Do you think he does his own writing under his name, or is it ghostwritten? No question, you write what you post, but HH?

Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 04-Nov-19 01:41 PM
Yes, I think that HH still writes most of his stuff. I do think that he's got people doing tons of research for him, though.

Mark Zaid vs. Jim Jordan

This weekend, Mark Zaid, the lead attorney for the so-called whistleblower, offered to have his client answer written questions from Impeachment Committee Republicans. It didn't take long for Republicans to reject that offer :

But, late Sunday, House Oversight Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, seemingly rejected the offer from whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid, saying "written answers will not provide a sufficient opportunity to probe all the relevant facts and cross examine the so-called whistleblower. You don't get to ignite an impeachment effort and never account for your actions and role in orchestrating it," Jordan said.

Zaid's reply came through this tweet:


About those whistleblower protections, it's apparent that Mr. Zaid is doing the deflecting :

In order to submit an ICWPA complaint the following elements must be met:

Eligible Originator: Only applies to employees (civilian, military or contractor) assigned to the four DoD intelligence agencies (DIA, NSA, NRO, and NGA). Does not apply to activities of the military services, combatant commands, or Office of Secretary of Defense.


In other words, this anonymous informant isn't a heroic whistleblower saving the republic. He's just another CIA snitch spying on President Trump.

That means that Democrats are protecting this snitch for purely partisan purposes. This isn't done for patriotic purposes. It's done because Democrats want to impeach President Trump so badly they'd say or do anything to make it happen. Adam Schiff, the Democrats' Impeachment Committee Chairman, knows this law. If he doesn't, then he isn't qualified to be the House Impeachment Committee. That's part of his responsibility.

According to Jason Chaffetz, the former chair of the House Oversight Committee, that committee routinely went through whistleblower submissions. Why wouldn't Schiff's committee do the same? This anonymous informant doesn't qualify for whistleblower protections because he/she isn't "assigned to the four DoD intelligence agencies (DIA, NSA, NRO, and NGA)." Also, the informant isn't reporting on a covered person. It's obvious that this person is a snitch.

This is just posturing anyway. The minute that the House impeaches President Trump, the trial is held in the Senate. At that point, the Senate will set the rules and issue the subpoenas. At that point, Adam Schiff will lose his ability to protect this whistleblower. That will leave Mr. Zaid with little negotiating leverage at that future point.

I'd consider this offer a let's-see-if-they-blink offer. If Jordan, Nunes and others blink, fantastic for Zaid's client. If they don't, which appears to be the case, Zaid hasn't lost anything by trying.

Posted Monday, November 4, 2019 10:48 AM

Comment 1 by eric z at 04-Nov-19 11:51 AM
What matters at this point is the totality of what Trump did, especially via backchannel Rudy. How public awareness of things originated is background - and it is disingenuous to make a big stink about the WB motivation. The truth of what Trump did, and how the House and Senate respond is the only real story. All else is disinfo par excellence. Blowing smoke about what's water under the bridge only makes the smoke blower look as if grasping for straws. Keep the eyes on the prize - what was the totality of Trump action direct by phone and indirectly via henchmen. Aside from Trump's "so what" all else from GOP operatives is spin. Using Rudy backchannel was using something short of Trump's earlier reliance on Roy Cohn, who had the capability to match the meanness. It really is sad that no verbatim transcript of the Trump call, or a tape, does not exist, only a White Hiouse pieced together thing at its outset saying, "not verbatim." So, let the process unfold without losing focus - what was done by whom, at Trump's behest or based on belief of what he wanted, and was that sufficient grounds to impeach. And then the Senate nosecount comes into play, and Trump skates. Why bother? Pelosi resisted getting into the impeachment briar patch, but the caucus decided, and now we have sick theater. What's the quote about "sound and fury signifying nothing?"

Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 04-Nov-19 01:44 PM
What's the quote about 'sound and fury signifying nothing?'That's from Shakespeare. Centuries later, it was used by SportsCenter hosts. LOL

Good news for President Trump

This article is great news for President Trump. The information should boost Trump campaign staff's morale a bunch.

According to the article, "Donald Trump is competitive in head-to-head match ups with top Democrats in six key battleground states, according to a new set of New York Times/Siena College polls. Across Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina, the six states that Trump won most narrowly in 2016, the president trails Joe Biden by an average of two percentage points among registered voters , within the margin of error."

It's been my experience that polls of likely voters usually are better than polls of registered voters. This polling isn't the entire picture, either. Today on Outnumbered OT, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that they're registering new voters in 18 battleground states. McDaniel also said that they're using tomorrow's gubernatorial elections as a trial run for 2020. It helps when the RNC is raking in record amounts of contributions, not to mention the amount of small dollar contributions that are flowing in, thanks to pro-Trump enthusiasm.

The crowds at President Trump rallies are impressive. The online contributions are another indicator of voter approval for President Trump's agenda. If these contributors to President Trump's campaigns weren't enthusiastic, you wouldn't see these overflow crowds and record-setting small-dollar fundraising. Compare the Trump fundraising with Biden's fundraising.

Biden's fundraising is lackluster and it's mostly big dollar donors who max out quickly. It isn't surprising that Democrats are worried about their candidates.

That's only part of the reason why President Trump is feeling optimistic. If the Democrats' nominee is Elizabeth Warren, they're in lots of trouble. Sen. Warren's proposed Medicare-for-All plan is a major unforced error. First, there's no way to pay for it. Next, it's a plan that nobody wants outside of Ms. Warren and Sen. Sanders. If either senator are the nominee, Democrats will get crushed in all 3 races, aka the presidential, the House and the Senate.

House Democrat freshmen are already in deep trouble. Think of all of the freshmen that ran, saying that they wouldn't vote for Pelosi as Speaker. Then think of all of the freshmen that then voted for Pelosi as Speaker. Next, think of all of the freshmen that campaigned as moderates. Freshmen like Conor Lamb vehemently insisted that they were moderates. Then Pelosi twisted their arms until they voted to open the impeachment inquiry. Don't think that won't hurt.

Add that to a presidential race that's a potential drag on the Democrats' down-ticket races and this could be a difficult year for Democrats and Chairman Perez. Here in Minnesota, Democrat freshmen Angie Craig and Dean Phillips just made their re-election campaigns much more difficult. This guy will be difficult to beat:

Minnesotans deserve courageous leaders who are focused, disciplined, and honest who will take a stand when times are hard. You deserve leaders who won't say one thing then throw those promises out the window when they get to Washington. We face tough problems today, problems I can address in a meaningful way because of my personal and professional experiences.

I'm a leader with both military and corporate experience that is outside the world of politics. I know how to create a vision and move people toward a goal that is larger than each individual and that transcends racial, economic and gender differences.

It's apparent that Mr. Qualls is a leader. Mr. Phillips hasn't done a thing since getting elected, then joining the Problem Solvers Caucus.
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Pitting a talker against the leader in that video isn't a fair fight.

Posted Tuesday, November 5, 2019 1:58 AM

No comments.

DHS's corruption hearing

Last Thursday's hearing of the Senate's Health and Human Services committees elicited important testimony , although it's impossible to picture it having been pleasing. Michelle Benson is taking a trust-but-verify attitude towards Health and Human Services:

"For the most part, Commissioner Harpstead said all the right things in yesterday's hearing," said Sen. Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake), chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee. "Acknowledging they made errors and need to clean up their processes is an important step. One issue on which I will continue to demand a straightforward answer, however, is what will happen when the federal government asks Minnesota to return the $29 million in overpayments. Will DHS attempt to bury it in a forecast adjustment? Or will they be open and upfront? If it's the former, I will have serious problems. I will be watching carefully to make sure they follow through on their promises and their accounting for these illegal payments is transparent."

Sen. Benson didn't pull punches:

Yesterday, Benson indicated major cultural changes need to happen at DHS. "If you want to know how much bureaucracy and unaccountability costs state government, look no further than DHS," she said. "Several levels of management were either too incompetent or too indifferent to check for and identify obviously erroneous payments." The OLA report yesterday indicated that no one in DHS has taken responsibility for the overpayments, and there is no documentation to determine who made the decision for the higher payment structure to the tribes. "There are six managers between the Opioid Treatment Authority Representative and the Commissioner," Benson continued. "All of them failed - miserably. If none of them are going to take responsibility, none of them should keep their jobs."

This is what happens when the people don't care because it isn't their money. It's either corruption or incompetence or both. How do 6 managers not catch this simple mistake? This isn't just about restructuring of DHS. It's about getting rid of these potentially incompetent, corrupt employees. You'll be shocked at Jim Nobles' statement 4:20 into this video:
[Video no longer available]
The standard payment for these opioid addiction programs is $455 when the patient visits the clinic and receives a dose of whatever medication they're taking. According to Mr. Nobles' testimony, there isn't supposed to be a payment if the medication is self-administered at home. Mr. Nobles said that $455 was paid to the White Earth and Leech Lake tribes when patients self-administered their medication.

When the patient visits the clinic, then gets a dose of medication, that's called the "encounter rate." DHS kept paying the White Earth and Leech Lake tribes the encounter rate even when the patient self-administered. It isn't surprising that these tribes refused to answer Mr. Nobles' auditors' questions when they did their audit. Further, DHS employees wouldn't cooperate either.

The tribes have issued a statement saying that they won't pay back any of the money because it wasn't their fault. Knowingly accepting money that isn't due to the tribes is certainly their fault. That being said, there's no doubt that DHS is at fault, too. They're the ones who made the allegedly unjustified payments. Nobles testified that "In fact, the tribes were told by officials at the Department of Human Services that they could receive those payments. That was direction and guidance that the Department gave."

There's no question that the tribes received a ton of money from this federal program. What isn't known is who authorized the improper payments. If nobody at DHS admits who authorized the improper payments, that entire group of managers should get terminated. They didn't have the statutory authority to approve those payments. If there wasn't a clinic visit, there shouldn't have been a payment. That isn't difficult to figure out.

Posted Tuesday, November 5, 2019 10:51 AM

No comments.

Volker's transcript hurts Dems

This afternoon, the House Impeachment Committee, formerly known as the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), released more transcripts of Adam Schiff's closed-door hearings intended to impeach President Trump. According to one of the transcripts, it says that former "U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, according to transcripts released Tuesday, pushed back on the claim that President Trump sought to withhold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky until Kiev committed to investigate allegations concerning the 2016 election while also denying that Trump was seeking 'dirt' on former Vice President Joe Biden."

That's a major defeat for Democrats. At the time, Volker was the highest-ranking US diplomat in Ukraine. Here's what the partial transcript said:

In a transcript of his closed-door deposition last month with lawmakers conducting the impeachment probe, Volker was asked if Trump withheld or delayed a meeting with Zelensky absent a pledge to probe concerns Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

"The answer to the question is no, if you want a yes-or-no answer. But the reason the answer is no is we did have difficulty scheduling a meeting, but there was no linkage like that," he said.

To be fair, acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor testified that by "mid-July it was becoming clear to me that the meeting President Zelensky wanted was conditioned on the investigations of Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections." Still, it's charitable to say that the conflicting testimony isn't muddy. One diplomat said one thing. Another diplomat said the opposite. Will Americans agree to undo an election based on conflicting testimony? It's impossible to picture that happening.

It'd be one thing if both diplomats said the same thing. Even then, it'd be difficult because linking a meeting with military aid isn't that big of a deal. This video is worth watching:
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Democrats won't give up until they've voted to impeach President Trump but they should drop it right now. Democrats are playing a terrible hand poorly.

Posted Tuesday, November 5, 2019 5:36 PM

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