September 16-18, 2011
Sep 16 03:31 Higher Ed good news? Sep 16 11:28 Coleman's Cravaack Fundraiser Sep 16 13:18 Why Solyndra needed 2 bailouts Sep 16 17:38 The Infuriating Henry Waxman Sep 17 14:04 Over-the-Top Talk Sep 18 21:53 Is the Minneapolis school system underfunded?
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Higher Ed good news?
With Eric Kaler and Steve Rosenstone starting their administrations at the U of M and MnSCU respectively, there's a new focus on these higher education systems. With that new focus comes new observations. This Strib editorial makes this important observation:
If state aid cuts keep coming, both will resist higher tuition.
It isn't likely that Minnesota's revenue will recover anytime soon. It's important to remember that $900,000,000 of one-time money was used to plug this biennium's deficit. It'll be interesting to see if Mssrs. Kaler and Rosenstone live up to their goals.
Maintaining excellence without raising tuition means something has to give.
If Mr. Rosenstone want constructive suggestions, let's start with eliminating campuses that aren't needed. After that, let's eliminate soft degree programs that don't add anything to the economy. Another suggestion is eliminating the MnSCU office.
Unfortunately, the Strib's editorial starts from a flawed perspective:
State government has a role to play in exploring those opportunities. State analyses of workforce needs in various regions of the state ought to guide higher-ed planning.
Both Bemidji State and Central Lakes Community College offer degrees in Ojibwe Studies. I can't wait to hear which industries cry out for graduates with Ojibwe Studies degrees.
One question worth asking is whether we need Accounting taught at all of the community colleges. Another question worth asking is whether we need all of the nursing programs in the state. St. Cloud, for example, has multiple nursing programs.
Another question that should be asked is whether Lake Superior College needs 311 directors and instructors.
Finally, there's this: The other "give" that's sorely needed is from the state's business community. Kaler and Rosenstone both seek deeper ties with Minnesota's employers. They're looking for help of three kinds: program collaboration, donations and lobbying at the Legislature.
Let's see if Chancellor Rosenstone demands as much from his university presidents as he asks from the business community. Here in St. Cloud, President Potter doesn't have a sterling, consistent record of working with the business community.
Minnesota's higher education facilities have too many soft degree programs to be justified. It's time that got cleaned up because Minnesota taxpayers don't have unlimited financial resources.
Posted Friday, September 16, 2011 3:31 AM
Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 16-Sep-11 10:28 AM
You're the second person I have heard claim that the tobacco bonds are one-time money "used to erase/plug this year's deficit." It isn't true and never was. There WAS no deficit, only a desire to spend more than was "in the checkbook." On the rest of it, you're spot on.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 16-Sep-11 10:56 AM
Jerry, I wasn't refering to the tobacco bonds. I was refering to the $938,000,000 budget surplus at the end of the last biennium.
Coleman's Cravaack Fundraiser
MPR is reporting that Sen. Norm Coleman is hosting a fundraiser for Chip Cravaack today at The Minneapolis Club:
Former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman is slated to hold a fundraiser for GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack. Coleman, who lose his reelection bid to DFL Sen. Al Franken in 2008, is holding the fundraiser for Cravaack at The Minneapolis Club on Friday. Individuals are being asked to contribute $500. Political Action Committees are being asked to contribute $1,000.
Cravaack is expected to face a tough reelection battle in 2012. He defeated DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar in 2008.
This is a great first step for Chip Cravaack. During his initial run in 2010, fundraising prevented Chip from running a more robust campaign. This cycle, it's apparent that Chip's campaign is benefiting from the instant credibility that comes with being the incumbent.
Another additional credential working in Chip's favor is the fact that he's the sitting vice-chair of the House Subcommittee on Aviation .
Rather than sulking after his 2008 defeat, Sen. Coleman has stayed engaged with Minnesota politics. This fundraiser is a great way for him to do what he can to help Chip win re-election. Norm knows that it's important for the Minnesota GOP to solidify their gains, then build off of that strengthened base.
This is a perfect trial of the old political adage that 'money talks but early money shouts.' Thanks to the expected haul from today's fundraiser, Chip's campaign can afford to do alot of additional shouting.
Chip's benefiting from his highlighting subjects that Rep. Oberstar likely would've swept under the rug. Chip issued this statement to explain why he voted for legislation that would limit this administration's overreach via the NLRB.
While making it clear that he stands for unions' rights, Chip's also making sure people know that he won't let this administration use the NLRB to prop up President Obama's campaign.
Posted Friday, September 16, 2011 11:28 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 19-Sep-11 09:28 AM
You wrote: "Rather than sulking after his 2008 defeat,"
You will never, EVER convince me that Norm Coleman lost that election. Simple as that.
Why Solyndra needed 2 bailouts
After reading this article , the question I'm asking is whether the Obama administration was street smart about Solyndra. Street smart as in K Street-smart. Here's why I'm thinking that:
The Fremont, California-based solar-panel maker paid McAllister & Quinn more than $187,000 in 2010 and 2011 to lobby on its behalf, according to Senate records.
It's true that McAllister & Quinn isn't located on K Street. McAllister & Quinn headquarters is located on 15th St. in DC. Nonetheless, Solyndra apparently benefited from McAllister & Quinn's lobbying. The question is why Solyndra needed McAllister & Cook after they'd received their guaranteed loans. That question is answered here:
Solyndra LLC, the failed company that House Republicans said may have benefited from White House political connections, unsuccessfully sought a meeting with environment chief Carol Browner to argue for the use of solar panels on government buildings, e-mails show.
Chris Fish, a lobbyist with McAllister & Quinn LLC in Washington, wrote the White House Energy and Climate Change office on July 12, 2010, to request a meeting between Solyndra executives and Browner, who was director of the office, according to e-mails the White House turned over to House investigators for the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Solyndra executives sought to 'increase U.S. government installation deployment of U.S.-made solar panels,' according to the e-mail from Fish.
Simply put, Solyndra couldn't survive without the loans and a bailout to boot. If the federal government agreed to "increase U.S. government installation deployment of U.S.-made solar panels,' they'd get a cash transfusion, something they desperately needed.
If that isn't the portrait of a failing company, I don't know what is. What's interesting is that Solyndra apparently didn't notice this administration's need to highlight a green energy success story, especially one funded by the stimulus.
Either way, the money Solyndra spent on lobbying is just another expense We The People will have to pay for.
Posted Friday, September 16, 2011 1:22 PM
No comments.
The Infuriating Henry Waxman
The more people learn about the Solyndra scandal, the more they're getting appalled at how Washington operates. According to this article , the Obama administration is trying to quickly shut down the federal loan program. In the article, rabid-left Rep. Henry Waxman made this astonishing statement:
'Taxpayers have over $500 million at risk as a result of Solyndra's bankruptcy,' said House Energy and Commerce ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif. ' We need to understand what happened and how we can avoid future losses .'
First, Waxman has it wrong. Taxpayers don't have "over $500 million at risk." That money is essentially gone. As for understanding how Congress "can avoid future losse", my first suggestion is to not pass ideological boondoggles that spend hundreds of billions of dollars with little chance of getting a decent return on investment.
I'd also suggest that Congress do a better job with oversight. During Waxman's time as chairman of the committee, he didn't conduct meaningful oversight hearings. Shortly thereafter, Energy and Commerce took up Obamacare. It turns out that that legislation ate into the committee's time, limiting their ability to conduct oversight.
Because they took their eye off the ball, Rep. Cliff Stearns' subcommittee is forced into cleaning up Waxman's mess.
Finally, I'd suggest that Congress thinks things through first before writing legislation. Wouldn't it be refreshing for government to get things right the first time so we didn't have messes to clean up after the fact?
That's the type of first I'd welcome.
Posted Friday, September 16, 2011 5:38 PM
Comment 1 by William Wilson at 23-Sep-11 03:36 PM
Waxman is a total embarrassment and a joke. His district should secede from the Union so he can take all the idiots who voted for him with him.
Over-the-Top Talk
This morning, there's alot of over-the-top political talk. Larry Kudlow's article talks about Mike Bloomberg's riot talk:
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in a radio interview on Friday, warned that high unemployment could lead to widespread rioting. That's right. He actually said that. At a time when European cities have suffered massively from hooliganism, and at a time when U.S. towns like Philadelphia and Kansas City have suffered huge human and commercial tolls from so-called flash riots.
For Bloomberg to come out with this statement is irresponsible and incendiary. But you know what? He's got a personal agenda. This is a desperate talking point to sell President Obama's jobs plan, which Bloomberg favors as a solution to high unemployment and zero growth.
There's a whole history here of liberals threatening riots if they don't get their way. WABC radio host Mark Simone reminded me that back in 1994, Matilda Cuomo warned there would be race riots in New York if her husband Mario weren't re-elected governor in his race against George Pataki.
So now the liberal Mike Bloomberg is trying to go to bat for his pal Obama. And he's doing so in a very clumsy and inappropriate way.
This is sad. It's also what I'd expect from Bloomberg. He pales in comparison with Rudy Giuliani. Rudy was a real mayor. Bloomberg is a joke.
Bloomberg's statements are irresponsible. What evidence is he basing his statements on? Is he just engaging in fearmongering to get President Obama's sinking jobs bill passed?
Bloomberg's run as mayor isn't littered with great accomplishments. It's littered with following the liberals' talking points. At some point, he'll run NYC into the dirt and New Yorkers will hold their nose and elect another Giuliani type to clean up the liberals' mess.
It's entirely predictable.
Posted Saturday, September 17, 2011 2:04 PM
No comments.
Is the Minneapolis school system underfunded?
This article provides a glimpse into the Minneapolis school system's crony-laden system:
House Majority Leader Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) is doing his own inquiry into how the Minneapolis Public Schools spends it money after reading this Star Tribune report . The story revealed Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson's decision to award $270,000 in retroactive raises to central office administrators at the same time the district cut more than 100 jobs including 52 teaching positions.
"A lot of people were concerned about this," said Jodi Boyne, director of public affairs for the GOP Caucus. "We want to make sure this money is being spent on education."
The next time EdMinn whines about how badly underfunded schools are, they'd better be prepared to get this story thrown in their face. Giving raises to admininstrators when money is tight is bad enough. Giving $270,000 worth of retroactive raises to central office admininstrators isn't justifiable.
Here's the salutation and first paragraph from House Majority Leader Matt Dean's letter:
Dear Superintendent Johnson:
This is a formal request under the Minnesota Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, for access to inspect all memos, documents, files and e-mails in your and/or the department's posession related to the recent pay increase for the central office administrators in the Minneapolis School District.
Majority Leader Dean wrote that letter on July 26th. It's 55 days later and he still hasn't gotten the information he's requested:
Six weeks later, he has not received all the information.
Apparently, Ms. Johnson's administration hasn't put a high priority on locating these documents, much less getting them into Majority Leader Dean's hands. That raises another question.
If these administrators got $270,000 worth of raises, shouldn't they be able to pull together the documentation where their raises were justified? If they can't pull this documentation together, doesn't that indicate that these raises weren't justified? If they're refusing to pull this documentation together, doesn't that indicate that their raises weren't justified because they're too corrupt?
At minimum, this kerfuffle suggests that there's too much cronyism in the Minneapolis school system. Whether the central office is corrupt, filled with political cronies or is inept, these raises aren't justified. They should be rescinded by the Legislature ASAP.
Let's hope that Majority Leader Dean's actions trigger a reaction from the parents whose children are getting ripped off.
Posted Sunday, September 18, 2011 9:53 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 19-Sep-11 12:00 AM
Gary I wonder where the school board is on this? I mean if the Super does this raise doesn't the school board whose job it is to help the children (after all these are all DFL endorsed candidates) suppose to review it and here's a novel concept vote it down!
Aren't any members of the school board caring about this?
Of course as a Minneapolis resident I know the sad truth.
No DFL school board member cares.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 19-Sep-11 07:57 AM
Walter, It's unthinkable to think that the school board doesn't care but that's apparently the truth. I'd love getting Rex Newman's, Matt Abe's, Sheila Kihne's & Mitch Berg's take on this.
