October 23-24, 2016
Oct 23 03:47 Dayton apologizes for apologizing Oct 23 10:59 SC Times endorses 4 ideologues Oct 23 15:27 Dayton-Nelson point-counterpoint Oct 23 23:36 Sen. Hayden's high stakes gambit Oct 24 09:53 Mills leads Nolan in KSTP poll Oct 24 11:47 Sen. Lourey's legacy? Oct 24 22:55 Rep. Newberger vs. Sierra Club Oct 24 23:53 Sierra Club's roots at the PUC
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Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Dayton apologizes for apologizing
Thursday, Gov. Dayton apologized for saying that the ACA, aka the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, wasn't affordable for increasing numbers of Minnesotans. It's noteworthy that Gov. Dayton didn't apologize to Minnesotans who buy their health insurance through the individual market. He apologized to DFL politicians who've been getting hit hard by constituents. Friday, Gov. Dayton flipped on his flip-flop , saying " Right now, it's not just raining, it's pouring on some Minnesotans . "
In his letter to DFL candidates, Gov. Dayton wrote "For the 95 percent of Minnesotans who are covered through the Medicaid expansion, MinnesotaCare or through their employer, it's working. It's working for the 3 percent who qualify for the federal tax credits through MNsure. But the law isn't working well for the 2 percent of Minnesotans in the individual market who don't receive any financial assistance to pay for their coverage."
This weekend, Gov. Dayton asked President Obama for disaster relief. He didn't ask for a disaster relief declaration only for the homes that were hit. He asked for a disaster relief declaration for entire counties.
The point is that insurance premiums are expensive for anyone who's buying through the individual market. That includes the people who are getting federal tax subsidies. The reason why people don't realize premiums are expensive for everyone is because taxpayers are paying a significant portion of the premiums for those getting federal subsidies.
The 'other' thing that Gov. Dayton isn't being honest about is that premiums are only part of this crisis. Gov. Dayton hasn't talked about the rising deductibles people pay. Families often have a deductible of $10,000-$13,900. If Gov. Dayton wants to suggest that that's affordable, then it's proof he can't relate to the average family.
Dayton, who's been a longtime supporter of the law, began his news conference by saying he regrets that his statement was "wrongly used" that way. He also said he has been in contact with Obama administration officials to offer clarification and additional context. But Dayton said he stands by the statement.
Gov. Dayton committed a political gaffe. He accidentally told the truth. I don't doubt that the Obama administration sought "clarification" on what he said. I don't doubt it if clarification is the word he's using instead of 'getting a lecture'.
Posted Sunday, October 23, 2016 3:47 AM
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SC Times endorses 4 ideologues
The first thing I noticed about the St. Cloud Times' endorsed school board candidates is that they're ideologues . They've drank the School Board's Kool-Aid. They each agree that voters must approve the $143,250,000 bonding referendum. These endorsed candidates don't care that property taxes will skyrocket because of this vote. These endorsed candidates don't care about the people living in St. Cloud who are living on modest fixed incomes and what those property tax increases will do to their family budgets.
They certainly don't care that building the new Tech HS isn't necessary. They don't care that building the new Tech HS is foolish. They've gotten their marching orders and they're going to do their best to carry those marching orders out.
It's been reported that the ISD 742 School Board has held listening sessions. That isn't true. They held gatherings that started with a professionally-produced presentation. It's indisputable fact that it's impossible to listen when you're talking.
The Times' Editorial Board did their best to spin these candidates' qualifications but it won't work. Here's what they wrote:
Yes, on the surface all four might not seem to offer much diversity. But their answers to written questions from this board, campaign materials, experiences and news coverage about all eight candidacies show they are the best qualified to help lead the district in addressing its many challenges.
It isn't just the surface that makes it seem like they "might not seem to offer much diversity." It's that they're cookie-cutter DFL/Education Minnesota ideologues who won't hesitate to raise taxes and rubberstamp Willie Jett's agenda.
Frankly, the decisions that this board has made have been questionable at best. That's especially true with the purchase of the land where the proposed new Tech HS is supposed to be located. When they first purchased it, they didn't bother to determine whether it was fit for building on. It wasn't. That's why they had to do a land swap with the City of St. Cloud.
Now these ideologues want us to write them a blank check in the amount of $143,000,000? It isn't just that I don't think so. It's that I'm saying ' Hell no! ' to these ideologues. I'll say that emphatically by voting for just one candidate, John Palmer. Unlike these ideologues, Dr. Palmer won't hesitate to ask the difficult questions. Unlike these ideologues, Dr. Palmer won't hesitate in saying no to Education Minnesota's agenda. Unlike these ideologues, Dr. Palmer will be the taxpayers' and the students' watchdog. Unlike these 4 ideologues, Dr. Palmer has earned my vote with his ideas, intelligence and his independence.
Finally, it's time to tell the School Board that a) they work for us, b) they don't work for Education Minnesota and/or Willie Jett and c) we aren't their ATMs.
Posted Sunday, October 23, 2016 10:59 AM
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Dayton-Nelson point-counterpoint
Gov. Dayton made some unsubstantiated accusations against Speaker Daudt in this op-ed . Thankfully, Peter Nelson of the Center for the American Experiment quickly rebutted those accusations in this counterpoint op-ed .
The first false accusation that Gov. Dayton made was when he said "'Hundred of thousands of Minnesotans' will NOT see actual health insurance increases of 50 percent or more, because many people, who buy their policies through MNsure, will receive federal tax credits that will significantly lower their costs. They will NOT have to spend hours on the phone with MNsure, because its customer service has improved greatly since a bad beginning."
Nelson quickly rebutted that accusation, saying "Wrong! The Pioneer Press recently reported on the numbers of people effected by rate increases and found that 'about 300,000 Minnesotans are in that category, of whom 70,000 buy their plan through the state-run MNsure exchange and 230,000 directly from insurers.' Thus, the number of Minnesotans effected by rate increases who don't access tax credits through MNsure does step into 'hundreds of thousands' territory."
It's clear what's happened. I wrote about it in this post :
Dayton, who's been a longtime supporter of the law, began his news conference by saying he regrets that his statement was 'wrongly used' that way. He also said he has been in contact with Obama administration officials to offer clarification and additional context. But Dayton said he stands by the statement.
TRANSLATION: After telling the truth, Gov. Dayton got a call from the Obama administration. That call was likely X-rated. It likely consisted of Valerie Jarrett criticizing Gov. Dayton and Gov. Dayton repeatedly saying I'm sorry. It isn't a stretch to think that the administration had a letter pre-written that they insisted Gov. Dayton submit as his op-ed.
Dayton then claims "rate increases and enrollment caps : are NOT the fault of MNsure."
Wrong! No one argues MNsure is entirely to blame for the present crisis, but it has certainly played a role. When assigning blame for this mess, Daudt points to both "MNsure and federal mandates that destroyed states' ability to design an insurance market that meets the needs of its people."
What is MNsure's role? For one, MNsure and the state have failed to stop people from gaming the system by signing up for coverage when they get sick or hurt outside the enrollment period. People dropping in and out of coverage based on when they need care substantially drives up rates for everyone else who remains covered.
Then there's this:
President Obama's dishonesty is disgusting. The reason why premiums are skyrocketing is because young healthy people have consistently refused to buy health insurance. That means that the only people buying health insurance are the people who use it the most. That guarantees skyrocketing premiums.
President Obama, the Democrats, Gov. Dayton and the DFL forced this legislation on us. The people have spoken with the wallets. Initially, the people who needed insurance bought it while the people who didn't need it paid a fine rather than buy it. Once that started, it guaranteed significant premium increases.
It's simple math, actually. Insurance companies needed the premium revenues from young health people to pay for the increased claims from older, less healthy people. This wasn't just foreseeable. It was predicted!
Posted Sunday, October 23, 2016 3:31 PM
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Sen. Hayden's high stakes gambit
Sunday morning, DFL Sen. Jeffrey Hayden appeared on WCCO to talk about fixing MNsure. During Esme Murphy's interview with him, Sen. Hayden said something provocative when he said "This was part of an issue that Sen. Rubio kind of put into the continuing resolution in Washington. That can be repaired and we can kinda help insurers with the cost of health care."
What Sen. Hayden is talking about is a bill that Sen. Rubio passed several years ago that eliminated what's best described as the bailout section of the ACA. Democrats knew that insurance companies wouldn't support the ACA without a provision in the bill that essentially guaranteed the insurance companies annual bailouts essentially forever. 'Fixing' that part of the ACA would require Congress to pass legislation that repealed Sen. Rubio's bailout legislation. That won't and shouldn't happen. Period.
Let's be clear about this. I want the insurance companies making money. That's essential. What I don't want is insurance companies showing a profit because of federal bailouts. I want healthy companies, not propped-up companies.
Esme Murphy was right when she said that "This is just a Band-Aid. This would just be a one-year fix that might cost $300,000,000, possibly up to $600,000,000. Going forward, Minnesota legislators are calling on Washington, the Congress, to do a permanent fix. Do you really think that's going to happen?" Here's Sen. Hayden's reply:
Well, elections matter and we're in an election season. We think if we get the right people in Washington, we certainly can get it done. This was part of an issue that Sen. Rubio kind of put into the continuing resolution in Washington. That can be repaired and we can kinda help insurers with the cost of health care.
Here's a provocative exchange between Murphy and Sen. Hayden:
SEN. HAYDEN: What we did is we called for a special session to call the GOP to come to the table so we -- once again during the legislative session -- we had this fix ready to go and they weren't interested so now that they have come to understand that this is a big issue and they're hearing from their constituents, we're saying 'back to the table.'
MURPHY: You're hearing from your constituents as well. I mean isn't this on Democrats? I mean this is your plan.
SEN. HAYDEN: We're absolutely hearing from our constituents and have been. That's why we had the 6 provisions with the tax credit as a fix so we were working on the issue but, as you know, we need the Republican House to come forward and even, um, all legislators on all sides need to do.
There's little chance of a special session to fix MNsure, especially after Sen. Hayden essentially blamed Republicans for the DFL's mess. You know it's bad when Esme Murphy blames the Democrats' plans.
Posted Sunday, October 23, 2016 11:36 PM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 26-Oct-16 10:40 AM
Democrats want the adults to come to the table to clean up the kiddies' mess.
Two chances of that -- slim and fat.
Mills leads Nolan in KSTP poll
Stewart Mills' supporters in the Eighth District should be cautiously optimistic after KSTP announced the results of their latest poll of the district . According to the poll, "Stewart Mills leads Democratic incumbent Rick Nolan by four points in Minnesota's 8th District, 45 percent to 41 percent, in our exclusive KSTP/SurveyUSA poll. However, a significant number of voters remain undecided, 14 percent, and could swing this election either way." Stewart Mills' supporters should be cautiously optimistic because Mills led Nolan by 8 points at this point in 2014 and wound up losing by 3,000+ votes.
This year, the dynamics have changed significantly, though. First, Hillary Clinton is dragging Nolan down. According to KSTP's poll, "the top of the Democratic ticket, Hillary Clinton, appears to be very unpopular in the 8th District. Our poll shows Republican Donald Trump with a 12-point lead over Clinton, 47 percent to 35 percent." Stewart Mills is hammering Nolan on that fact in his stump speeches and in his advertising. This ad highlights Mills' argument beautifully:
Here's the transcript of the ad:
MILLS: I'm Stewart Mills and I approve this message.
NARRATOR: Hillary Clinton promises to kill mining jobs all across America.
HILLARY CLINTON: We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.
NARRATOR: Here in Minnesota, Rick Nolan is doing the same. Nolan supports Hillary's war on coal. He voted for anti-mining regulations that are destroying Minnesota jobs and sticking middle class families with higher energy bills. Rick Nolan and Hillary Clinton are job killers.
This is interesting, too:
Nolan might also be facing resistance from voters over his support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and his desire to go even further and implement "universal," or government-run health care. Our KSTP/SurveyUSA poll indicates 45 percent of those surveyed in the 8th District favor repeal of the ACA, 30 percent say there need to be changes to the program and 13 percent say they favor universal health care.
Gov. Dayton isn't doing Nolan any favors by switching his position on the ACA seemingly on a daily basis. Each day, Gov. Dayton either talks about the need for a special session or says something provocative or he flip-flops. The point is that Gov. Dayton has kept this story alive for over a week. Here's what the KSTP/SurveyUSA poll found were the Eighth District's priorities:
When asked which issue is most important to them when deciding their vote, health care came in as the top choice at 26 percent. Another 25 percent cited terrorism and national security while 13 percent said taxes. Mining came in at six percent, education at 5 percent and foreign trade at four percent.
Last night, Mills and Nolan squared off in a debate. Mills did an effective job of prosecuting his case against Nolan on energy and mining. Approximately 4 minutes into this video, Mills rattles off a series of points against Nolan's green agenda:
It's apparent that Mills learned some important lessons from his 2014 campaign. Let's hope that the results are better this time.
Posted Monday, October 24, 2016 9:53 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 26-Oct-16 10:38 AM
I'd feel much better about Mills if he weren't such a staunch Trumphumper. I do not like Donald Trump's Republican Party, which Stuart Mills seems to support.
Comment 2 by Harrier Hrnagedo at 27-Oct-16 04:09 PM
I'm voting Clinton and Nolan! Trump is clearly unqualified, and Mills isn't any better!
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 27-Oct-16 04:44 PM
Mills isn't qualified? Right. He just ran the benefits department at one of the most successful retail outlets in the Upper Midwest. He was an innovator with health care, too. Mills Fleet Farm's employees don't have to worry about dramatically increasing insurance premiums or shrinking networks or skyrocketing deductibles. Meanwhile Rep. Nolan supports a system where health insurance premiums are going through the proverbial roof, deductibles are unaffordable & networks are shrinking in virtually every state.
If Nolan is qualified but Mills isn't, I'd pick Mills' supposed lack of qualifications (LOL) 100% of the time.
Sen. Lourey's legacy?
Mike Cummins is rightfully upset with DFL Sen. Tony Lourey for a multitude of reasons. The second paragraph to Cummins' DNT op-ed is a good place to start. Cummins' first paragraph starts by saying "I'm mad that the health plan I've had for over 10 years tripled in price and then got canceled. My daughter, son and I got pushed onto my wife's plan that she receives from work that now costs half her check each payday. We were sold a bill of goods that turned out to be a lie built on a lie written by incumbent District 11 Sen. Tony Lourey."
Sen. Lourey is asking for 4 more years to 'fix' the mess he and Gov. Dayton enthusiastically created and bragged about. MNsure is a disaster. The DFL is insisting on fixing little things that won't fix the real problem. The problem is the ACA itself, which requires everyone to buy health insurance and that requires insurance companies to sell policies to people with pre-existing at the same price as they sell policies to young healthy people.
When the ACA was passed, Republicans insisted that the ACA was a disaster waiting to happen. Two weeks ago, Gov. Dayton said that "the Affordable Care Act isn't affordable to a growing number of Minnesotans." That was a gaffe in that Gov. Dayton accidentally told the truth.
Sen. Lourey was the chief author of the bill establishing MNsure. He even bragged about it at MNsure's signing ceremony, saying "The people won on this bill." I'm totally certain that having the price of health insurance triple in 3 years isn't how most people would define as the people winning.
All legislators make mistakes. Still, Sen. Lourey's mistake was especially harmful. First, it hurt lots of families who were satisfied with their health insurance plans. Thanks to the ACA, people who had wonderful health insurance policies couldn't keep them because they didn't meet the ACA's definition of a QHP or Qualified Health Plan. That drove up insurance prices, especially on the individual market.
Next, Sen. Lourey's bill was an ideological masterpiece. The ACA was about checking off the Holy Grail of liberalism. It wasn't about solving a problem. Democrats had chased the thought of universal health care literally for a century. It didn't matter to Sen. Lourey that Minnesota's system was working beautifully. The DFL's Holy Grail was what mattered to him.
Now that MNsure is failing just as terribly as the ACA, MNsure is a giant millstone around Sen. Lourey's neck. Now it's a matter of whether the voters of Lourey's district hold him accountable or whether they give him a free pass.
Posted Monday, October 24, 2016 11:47 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 26-Oct-16 10:36 AM
Lourey's district is hard to figure out. Lots of conservative-minded people who reflexively vote for him because of his mother, and of course, because of the D.
Rep. Newberger vs. Sierra Club
There wasn't much doubt about whether Rep. Jim Newberger represents his district prior to this election. That's a big reason why he'll easily win re-election this Nov. 8. Still, Rep. Newberger's op-ed on Gov. Dayton's shutting of the Sherco power plants shows how hard he'll fight for his district.
The most alarming part of Rep. Newberger's op-ed came when he wrote "With all the talk of a 'transformational' approach to energy at Thursday's meeting, the Public Utilities Commission passed on actually deciding how it was going to 'transform' our energy grid. The PUC merely voted to retire two coal-fired units without designating a replacement." There's nothing "transformational" about shutting down 2 power plants that supply a large percentage of central Minnesota's electricity, a significant number of central Minnesota's private sector jobs and a gigantic portion of central Minnesota's property tax revenue.
I'd say that it's downright reckless for the PUC to shut down any type of power plant without having a plan on what to replace them with except I know that the Public Utilities Commission has lots of environmental activists on its board. This decision isn't just reckless. It's intentional.
Based on his campaign website, it isn't a stretch to think that one would-be career politician who's cheering the PUC's decision is Zach Dorholt. Here's what he wrote on his priorities page on energy and the environment :
I believe that our natural resources are one Minnesota's greatest assets. I want to be able to swim in our waters and eat the fish that I catch and I want my children to be able to say the same thing 50 years from now. An ecological balance in a state that is the headwaters is not only a recreational need, but a necessity for our economy and way of life.
Working together, we can create a more sustainable future by:
- Supporting energy conservation programs and investing in alternative energy systems
- Fully committing to restoring our local waters and native prairie grasses
- Using the Clean Water and Legacy funds, not as a credit card, but for their intended purpose
- Encouraging forward thinking businesses to locate in Minnesota
- Assisting in the formation of community green spaces, local sustainable food and gardening efforts
This isn't what a principled politician says. It's what a man who wants to be a green energy lobbyist says. It's what a politician who doesn't represent his constituents says.
Mr. Dorholt won't fight to keep these high-paying jobs in Central Minnesota. He should be crucified at the ballot box for selling out to the special interests instead of fighting for high-paying jobs in central Minnesota. Technorati: Sherco 2 Power Plant, Jim Newberger, Coal-Fired Power Plants, Becker, MN, Property Taxes, Jobs, MNGOP, Special Interests, Lobbyists, Zach Dorholt, Sierra Club, Environmental Activists, Green Energy, DFL, Election 2016
Posted Monday, October 24, 2016 10:55 PM
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Sierra Club's roots at the PUC
The thing that most people don't know about Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission, aka PUC, is that Gov. Dayton stuffed the Commission with reliable votes against fossil fuel-powered power plants. At least 3 of the commissioners have worked for DFL offices. The PUC's chair is Beverly Jones Heydinger. According to Ms. Jones-Heydinger's bio , she "served in the Minnesota Attorney General's Office from 1978 to 1999, under Attorneys General Warren Spannaus and Hubert H. Humphrey, III." The vice-chair, Nancy Lange, was appointed to the PUC in March, 2013. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Lange "served as Manager of Policy and Engagement at the Center for Energy and Environment. From 1992 through 2012, Ms. Lange held positions in Energy Program at the Izaak Walton League of America's Midwest Office, most recently as Director." The third DFL-appointed member of the Commission, Dan Lipschultz, is "a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)", something he has in common with Ms. Jones-Heydinger.
The lone Republican on the commission is John Tuma. Commissioner Tuma's bio is an interesting read. First, Commissioner Tuma "is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)." (Sound familiar?) Next, Commissioner Tuma "most recently served as a Government Relations Associate with Conservation Minnesota. He helped lead efforts to pass key energy legislation, including Minnesota's Renewable Energy Standard."
There's no question that Gov. Dayton wanted to leave a lasting imprint on 'the environment' through this regulatory agency. There's no question that Gov. Dayton wanted to put in place people who would implement the Sierra Club's and the Izaak Walton League's agenda through the PUC. These are the pictures of the men and women whose decisions have made electricity more expensive and less reliable:
Each of these commissioners was hand-picked by the Sierra Club. These commissioners were then officially nominated to the PUC by Gov. Dayton in the hopes of eliminating fossil fuel power plants. Simply put, the Sierra Club, the Izaak Walton League and other environmental organizations don't care about reliable energy sources. They're on a mission to 'save the planet'. If that requires killing great-paying jobs at plants like the Sherco power plants in Becker, then that's what they'll do.
The Sierra Club is so radicalized that they oppose natural gas-fired power plants :
Natural gas drillers exploit government loopholes, ignore decades-old environmental protections, and disregard the health of entire communities. "Fracking," a violent process that dislodges gas deposits from shale rock formations, is known to contaminate drinking water, pollute the air, and cause earthquakes. If drillers can't extract natural gas without destroying landscapes and endangering the health of families, then we should not drill for natural gas.
"No state has adequate protections in place. Even where there are rules, they are poorly monitored and enforced. Thanks to the multiple federal exemptions, we can't even count on the federal government to keep us safe! Together, though, we can change that! No industry, no matter how wealthy or powerful, can withstand the righteous passion of the American people. The out-of-control rush to drill has put oil and gas industry profits ahead of our health, our families, our property, our communities, and our futures. If drillers can't extract natural gas without destroying landscapes and endangering the health of families, then we should not drill for natural gas." - Allison Chin, Sierra Club president, July 28, 2012, at the Stop the Frack Attack rally
Don't forget that the Public Utilities Commission killed the Sandpiper Pipeline project . These aren't the friendly neighborhood green energy activists most people think of. They're hardline progressives with a nasty fascist anti-natural resources streak in them.
Originally posted Monday, October 24, 2016, revised 28-Oct 3:22 AM
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