2018 - 2021 Public Policy Commentary Archive - Anoka County Watchdog
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July 5th, 2021
FAREWELL
Dear Loyal Readers,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this communication.
After 16 years of journalistic excellence, I have decided to discontinue the Watchdog.
After 91 birthdays, I simply don’t have the energy and enthusiasm I once did and it’s time for me to step back and finally enjoy retirement.
To be honest, my health has also been failing me a bit of late.
I started the Anoka County Watchdog back in 2005 because I saw a county board out of step with the taxpayers.
Nowhere was this disconnect more evident than with the Northstar commuter rail project, a failed boondoggle and white elephant that has proven us right regarding our opposition.
I would like to think the Watchdog played a role in turning around the composition of the Board and helping fellow Watchdogs keep their local units of government accountable.
The Minnesota Watchdog played a similar role at the state level.
I have enjoyed every minute of fighting the liberals and standing up for core American values like individual liberty and free enterprise.
The fight is ongoing, but more important than ever.
The principles and values that built this country are under assault and the threat is real.
As Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.”
How true.
Now it is time for others to take up the torch of liberty and carry it forward.
In closing, I want to thank all of you for your friendship, loyal readership, and your commitment to fight the good fight.
God Bless you, your family, and the United States of America.
Sincerely,
Harold E. Hamilton
FAREWELL
Dear Loyal Readers,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this communication.
After 16 years of journalistic excellence, I have decided to discontinue the Watchdog.
After 91 birthdays, I simply don’t have the energy and enthusiasm I once did and it’s time for me to step back and finally enjoy retirement.
To be honest, my health has also been failing me a bit of late.
I started the Anoka County Watchdog back in 2005 because I saw a county board out of step with the taxpayers.
Nowhere was this disconnect more evident than with the Northstar commuter rail project, a failed boondoggle and white elephant that has proven us right regarding our opposition.
I would like to think the Watchdog played a role in turning around the composition of the Board and helping fellow Watchdogs keep their local units of government accountable.
The Minnesota Watchdog played a similar role at the state level.
I have enjoyed every minute of fighting the liberals and standing up for core American values like individual liberty and free enterprise.
The fight is ongoing, but more important than ever.
The principles and values that built this country are under assault and the threat is real.
As Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.”
How true.
Now it is time for others to take up the torch of liberty and carry it forward.
In closing, I want to thank all of you for your friendship, loyal readership, and your commitment to fight the good fight.
God Bless you, your family, and the United States of America.
Sincerely,
Harold E. Hamilton
June 18th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “All cops are Derek Chauvin!”
Quote of the Week: "We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban."
In This Issue:
EMERGENCY?
There’s a lot of really good news out there regarding the Chinese virus. Infection rates are falling, cases are falling, hospitalizations are falling, and deaths from COVID are falling.
Life is returning to normal. Mask mandates have been lifted, social distancing protocols have been shelved, venues are opening and most of all, there will be a normal State Fair this year.
Despite all this normalization, Governor Walz continues to govern by executive fiat, pursuant to a state law that allows him to govern in despotic fashion, simply by declaring every 30 days that there is an “emergency” that doesn’t allow for normal law making.
Minnesota statutes 12.31,Subd.2(a) simply and succinctly declares, in part, “The governor may declare a peacetime emergency.”
So, are we in a peacetime emergency? Are we in a situation that calls for the governor to bypass the constitution and sideline the duly elected members of the legislature?
Of course not.
Any reasonable definition of “emergency” includes the need to act immediately, the need to act with urgency to prevent or mitigate harm.
There is utterly nothing about the current situation that demands the immediacy or urgency of executive fiat.
Clearly, the legislature should resume its rightful, legitimate place in making the laws of Minnesota.
Excuses about welfare benefits or the administration of vaccines are nonsense and a flimsy excuse for the governor jealously clinging to kingly powers.
Shame on the governor.
Shame all the more on the DFL majority in the House, which has consistently enabled this power grab by refusing to declare an end to these powers, as the statute allows.
At least with Walz, one can understand that he’s a weak man who is finding it difficult to wean himself off the euphoric drug of absolute power.
With the DFL legislators, it’s stunning to contemplate their abdication of legislative authority. Their total abdication of all moral, ethical, legal, and constitutional duties.
The same holds true for the judicial branch, which has also refused to uphold their basic and fundamental obligation to interpret and apply the constitution.
This rule by fiat for some 450 plus calendar days has been a shameful chapter in the state’s history.
Ending the peacetime powers is important.
What’s more important is to ensure it never happens again by amending Chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes to reassert the role of the legislature in lawmaking.
This egregious violation of the Non-Delegation Doctrine is truly shameful.
POLL POWER
There were a handful of polls this week that provided some excellent insight into the state of the country that provide some insight into where the country is headed over the next few months and into the next election cycle.
The first poll was an annual Gallup poll regarding how Americans view the state of our collective morals.
Overall, 84% view the state of moral values as “fair” or “poor.”
66% see the state of moral values as getting worse.
What’s really interesting is to see how these numbers break down by partisan affiliation.
That breakdown provides a stark, breathtaking contrast in how Democrats and Republicans view the state of moral affairs in the country.
It’s affirmation that “blue” and “red” America are increasingly alienated from one another and have less and less in common regarding core principles and values.
Consider GOP responses:
66% call the state of moral values “poor.”
27% label the state of moral values “fair.”
7% call them “good” or “excellent.”
92% say things are getting worse.
On the Democrat side:
30% call the state of moral values “poor.”
47% label the state of moral values “fair.”
22% call them “good” or “excellent.”
49% say things are getting worse.
We are living in two Americas.
Next, our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment just released another “Thinking Minnesota” poll that collects Minnesotans’ opinion on current issues.
85% trust law enforcement to act in the best interests of the community.
69% trust the police to keep us safe, compared to 50% for Governor Walz.
55% disapprove of Walz’s response to the riots and crime.
48% believe the state is on the wrong track, while 45% believe it is on the right track.
81% are concerned about crime.
58% are visiting Minneapolis less frequently.
Clearly, Minnesotans are concerned about crime and they are holding Tim Walz responsible.
While the 2022 election is a long ways away, this could become a “public safety” election, which favors Republicans.
Clearly, the public isn’t supportive of DFL efforts to defund law enforcement.
Moreover, the public wants a “tough on crime” approach, meaning that Republicans should be enhancing criminal penalties, not reducing them.
The public is sick and tired of reading of career criminals walking the streets.
We read of too many violent criminals who shouldn’t have been on the streets when they attacked and assaulted yet another innocent citizen.
Public safety is a core function of government and a universal desire of humans, regardless or race, gender, religion, nationality or location.
In short, Minneapolis or Mora, people want government to do its job to keep people safe.
And finally, there is a great Monmouth poll out there that shows the great Democrat crack up.
The poll compares Democrat feelings about the president and Congress compared to a similar poll in April.
Then: 83% said the country was moving in the right direction.
Now: 59% think the country is moving in the right direction.
Then: 12% said the country was on the wrong track.
Now: 32%.
Then: 63% approved of the job of the Democrat-led Congress.
Now: 32% approve.
For Democrats, the 2020 election was about nothing more than Trump Derangement Syndrome, fomented by liberal media agitprop, led by propaganda outlets like CNN.
Now that Orange Man Bad glue has been removed, the Star Wars cantina of characters that make up today’s Democrat party is at war with one another, brawling over the core question of whether they should act really nuts or really, really nuts.
The GOP is headed for a big win in 2022.
Count on it.
Quote of the Week: “All cops are Derek Chauvin!”
- Minneapolis Mob Chant
Quote of the Week: "We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban."
- Rep. Ilhan Omar
In This Issue:
- Emergency?
- Poll Power.
EMERGENCY?
There’s a lot of really good news out there regarding the Chinese virus. Infection rates are falling, cases are falling, hospitalizations are falling, and deaths from COVID are falling.
Life is returning to normal. Mask mandates have been lifted, social distancing protocols have been shelved, venues are opening and most of all, there will be a normal State Fair this year.
Despite all this normalization, Governor Walz continues to govern by executive fiat, pursuant to a state law that allows him to govern in despotic fashion, simply by declaring every 30 days that there is an “emergency” that doesn’t allow for normal law making.
Minnesota statutes 12.31,Subd.2(a) simply and succinctly declares, in part, “The governor may declare a peacetime emergency.”
So, are we in a peacetime emergency? Are we in a situation that calls for the governor to bypass the constitution and sideline the duly elected members of the legislature?
Of course not.
Any reasonable definition of “emergency” includes the need to act immediately, the need to act with urgency to prevent or mitigate harm.
There is utterly nothing about the current situation that demands the immediacy or urgency of executive fiat.
Clearly, the legislature should resume its rightful, legitimate place in making the laws of Minnesota.
Excuses about welfare benefits or the administration of vaccines are nonsense and a flimsy excuse for the governor jealously clinging to kingly powers.
Shame on the governor.
Shame all the more on the DFL majority in the House, which has consistently enabled this power grab by refusing to declare an end to these powers, as the statute allows.
At least with Walz, one can understand that he’s a weak man who is finding it difficult to wean himself off the euphoric drug of absolute power.
With the DFL legislators, it’s stunning to contemplate their abdication of legislative authority. Their total abdication of all moral, ethical, legal, and constitutional duties.
The same holds true for the judicial branch, which has also refused to uphold their basic and fundamental obligation to interpret and apply the constitution.
This rule by fiat for some 450 plus calendar days has been a shameful chapter in the state’s history.
Ending the peacetime powers is important.
What’s more important is to ensure it never happens again by amending Chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes to reassert the role of the legislature in lawmaking.
This egregious violation of the Non-Delegation Doctrine is truly shameful.
POLL POWER
There were a handful of polls this week that provided some excellent insight into the state of the country that provide some insight into where the country is headed over the next few months and into the next election cycle.
The first poll was an annual Gallup poll regarding how Americans view the state of our collective morals.
Overall, 84% view the state of moral values as “fair” or “poor.”
66% see the state of moral values as getting worse.
What’s really interesting is to see how these numbers break down by partisan affiliation.
That breakdown provides a stark, breathtaking contrast in how Democrats and Republicans view the state of moral affairs in the country.
It’s affirmation that “blue” and “red” America are increasingly alienated from one another and have less and less in common regarding core principles and values.
Consider GOP responses:
66% call the state of moral values “poor.”
27% label the state of moral values “fair.”
7% call them “good” or “excellent.”
92% say things are getting worse.
On the Democrat side:
30% call the state of moral values “poor.”
47% label the state of moral values “fair.”
22% call them “good” or “excellent.”
49% say things are getting worse.
We are living in two Americas.
Next, our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment just released another “Thinking Minnesota” poll that collects Minnesotans’ opinion on current issues.
85% trust law enforcement to act in the best interests of the community.
69% trust the police to keep us safe, compared to 50% for Governor Walz.
55% disapprove of Walz’s response to the riots and crime.
48% believe the state is on the wrong track, while 45% believe it is on the right track.
81% are concerned about crime.
58% are visiting Minneapolis less frequently.
Clearly, Minnesotans are concerned about crime and they are holding Tim Walz responsible.
While the 2022 election is a long ways away, this could become a “public safety” election, which favors Republicans.
Clearly, the public isn’t supportive of DFL efforts to defund law enforcement.
Moreover, the public wants a “tough on crime” approach, meaning that Republicans should be enhancing criminal penalties, not reducing them.
The public is sick and tired of reading of career criminals walking the streets.
We read of too many violent criminals who shouldn’t have been on the streets when they attacked and assaulted yet another innocent citizen.
Public safety is a core function of government and a universal desire of humans, regardless or race, gender, religion, nationality or location.
In short, Minneapolis or Mora, people want government to do its job to keep people safe.
And finally, there is a great Monmouth poll out there that shows the great Democrat crack up.
The poll compares Democrat feelings about the president and Congress compared to a similar poll in April.
Then: 83% said the country was moving in the right direction.
Now: 59% think the country is moving in the right direction.
Then: 12% said the country was on the wrong track.
Now: 32%.
Then: 63% approved of the job of the Democrat-led Congress.
Now: 32% approve.
For Democrats, the 2020 election was about nothing more than Trump Derangement Syndrome, fomented by liberal media agitprop, led by propaganda outlets like CNN.
Now that Orange Man Bad glue has been removed, the Star Wars cantina of characters that make up today’s Democrat party is at war with one another, brawling over the core question of whether they should act really nuts or really, really nuts.
The GOP is headed for a big win in 2022.
Count on it.
June 4th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Ham Lake Mayor Mike Van Kirk announced on #tcnt this morning they will not be changing the name of the city despite PETA’s requests, but they WILL be hosting a Freedom Festival & Pig Roast on July 3rd.”
In This Issue:
CAPTAIN VAN KIRK
Let’s hear it for Ham Lake Mayor Mike Van Kirk, a true conservative and man of the people.
As you may have read, the extremist, tin foil hat animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has called for the fair burgh of Ham Lake to change its name to “Yam Lake” for reasons unknowable to any rationale, sane person.
If this was a publicity stunt for the group, it failed miserably and only reaffirmed the group’s reputation as a collection of nut balls in the eyes of the average citizen.
If they were serious (our guess), they are proof positive that a large segment of America has come completely unmoored from the principles that built this country and the ideas that have allowed mankind to evolve from cave-dwelling animals to civilized humans.
It’s indeed to time discuss a formal divorce among Americans.
Back to Ham Lake.
The mild, meek response would have been to simply oppose the suggested name change.
Here, Van Kirk shoved it right back in PETA’s face with a freedom festival and pig roast.
Simply awesome.
Moreover, many readers don’t know that both Mayor Van Kirk and the city council are fighting everyday to keep Ham Lake a city for freedom loving, constitutional government loving people.
For example, last May, the city passed a resolution declaring the city to be a “Constitutional and Business Friendly” community.
Bravo!
For many years, Ham Lake has been a bastion of Watchdogs, going back to the days of opposing the failed Northstar commuter rail white elephant.
We should also give a shout out to the freedom loving city government in Oak Grove, near to Ham Lake.
But this week, the spotlight deserves to be on Mayor Van Kirk and the Ham Lake city council.
If you’re looking for an island of sanity in Minnesota, check out Ham Lake.
GOVERNMENT ARSON
As this publication has stated many times, government acts as an arsonist.
Government sets fire to things, calls 911, and then rushes back to the scene, fire hose in hand to douse the flames and act the hero.
This is a regular occurrence, apparently.
The latest episode of firebug government centers on the lack of available labor in the marketplace as the country rapidly recovers from various lockdowns that crippled the economy.
To this day, government is paying people not to work by offering rich unemployment benefits and “stimulus” checks.
Now, government is acknowledging the crisis they created by considering more government spending to encourage people TO work.
Thus, at the very time government is paying people to stay home on the couch, they are considering tax breaks and other incentives to encourage people to leave home and get off the couch.
This according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted government’s “growing concern” that the lack of available labor will stall the economic recovery.
It’s also happening at the same time dotard president Joe Biden is denying that extended unemployment benefits are incentivizing indolence.
Government’s left hand holds matches while the right holds a bucket of water.
You just can’t make it up. You really can’t.
WUHAN WACKINESS
Are you old enough to remember when Donald Trump was labeled as nuts, yet again, because he believed that there was evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in China, and wasn’t a natural virus, as the media and “experts” maintained?
Are you old enough to remember when the “experts” like Tony Fauci claimed there was no credible evidence of a laboratory leak and that such claims were foolish?
This publication recalls, especially now as it’s now acceptable and fashionable to consider this very distinct possibility.
Moreover, it appears that some of these experts were neck-deep in dangerous “gain of function” tests that manipulated corona viruses to make them more contagious and more lethal.
In short, it appears that this vicious pandemic may have been unleashed on the world via human error and then covered up by the media and the very experts who were involved in the experiments.
If you still believe a damn thing the mainstream media tells you, you probably should join PETA or call OJ to help find the real killers.
Quote of the Week: “Ham Lake Mayor Mike Van Kirk announced on #tcnt this morning they will not be changing the name of the city despite PETA’s requests, but they WILL be hosting a Freedom Festival & Pig Roast on July 3rd.”
- Justice and Drew Radio Program
In This Issue:
- Captain Van Kirk;
- Government Arson;
- Wuhan Wackiness;
CAPTAIN VAN KIRK
Let’s hear it for Ham Lake Mayor Mike Van Kirk, a true conservative and man of the people.
As you may have read, the extremist, tin foil hat animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has called for the fair burgh of Ham Lake to change its name to “Yam Lake” for reasons unknowable to any rationale, sane person.
If this was a publicity stunt for the group, it failed miserably and only reaffirmed the group’s reputation as a collection of nut balls in the eyes of the average citizen.
If they were serious (our guess), they are proof positive that a large segment of America has come completely unmoored from the principles that built this country and the ideas that have allowed mankind to evolve from cave-dwelling animals to civilized humans.
It’s indeed to time discuss a formal divorce among Americans.
Back to Ham Lake.
The mild, meek response would have been to simply oppose the suggested name change.
Here, Van Kirk shoved it right back in PETA’s face with a freedom festival and pig roast.
Simply awesome.
Moreover, many readers don’t know that both Mayor Van Kirk and the city council are fighting everyday to keep Ham Lake a city for freedom loving, constitutional government loving people.
For example, last May, the city passed a resolution declaring the city to be a “Constitutional and Business Friendly” community.
Bravo!
For many years, Ham Lake has been a bastion of Watchdogs, going back to the days of opposing the failed Northstar commuter rail white elephant.
We should also give a shout out to the freedom loving city government in Oak Grove, near to Ham Lake.
But this week, the spotlight deserves to be on Mayor Van Kirk and the Ham Lake city council.
If you’re looking for an island of sanity in Minnesota, check out Ham Lake.
GOVERNMENT ARSON
As this publication has stated many times, government acts as an arsonist.
Government sets fire to things, calls 911, and then rushes back to the scene, fire hose in hand to douse the flames and act the hero.
This is a regular occurrence, apparently.
The latest episode of firebug government centers on the lack of available labor in the marketplace as the country rapidly recovers from various lockdowns that crippled the economy.
To this day, government is paying people not to work by offering rich unemployment benefits and “stimulus” checks.
Now, government is acknowledging the crisis they created by considering more government spending to encourage people TO work.
Thus, at the very time government is paying people to stay home on the couch, they are considering tax breaks and other incentives to encourage people to leave home and get off the couch.
This according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted government’s “growing concern” that the lack of available labor will stall the economic recovery.
It’s also happening at the same time dotard president Joe Biden is denying that extended unemployment benefits are incentivizing indolence.
Government’s left hand holds matches while the right holds a bucket of water.
You just can’t make it up. You really can’t.
WUHAN WACKINESS
Are you old enough to remember when Donald Trump was labeled as nuts, yet again, because he believed that there was evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in China, and wasn’t a natural virus, as the media and “experts” maintained?
Are you old enough to remember when the “experts” like Tony Fauci claimed there was no credible evidence of a laboratory leak and that such claims were foolish?
This publication recalls, especially now as it’s now acceptable and fashionable to consider this very distinct possibility.
Moreover, it appears that some of these experts were neck-deep in dangerous “gain of function” tests that manipulated corona viruses to make them more contagious and more lethal.
In short, it appears that this vicious pandemic may have been unleashed on the world via human error and then covered up by the media and the very experts who were involved in the experiments.
If you still believe a damn thing the mainstream media tells you, you probably should join PETA or call OJ to help find the real killers.
May 28, 2021
Quote of the Week: “In America today the principle that drove the civil-rights movement – equality for all – is fast giving way to the view that race must be a dominant factor in every decision from college admission to eligibility for a federal farm program to the makeup of corporate boards to who gets priority for a COVID vaccine.”
Quote of the Week: “He rejects Church teachings on abortion, marriage, sex and gender and is hostile to religious liberty. He embraces the most pro-abortion, and anti-religious liberty public policy program in history. The case against honoring him is immeasurably stronger than it was against honoring President Obama.”
Quote of the Week: “Why ain’t nobody mad about a 10-year-old, my grandson, fighting for his life? Because a cop didn’t shoot him, is that why?”
In This Issue:
OPAQUE
So, here we are again. The regular session of the Minnesota legislature has adjourned and we have no budget, even though that’s the reason the legislature convened back in January.
The governor and legislators have a little over a month until the new fiscal year starts July 1.
Any budget items left undone will result in a government shutdown in that budget area.
This isn’t the first time taxpayers have been in this situation.
In fact, it’s been the norm, not the exception.
And it isn’t any person or political party.
It seems regardless of who’s leading and who’s in the majority, budgets don’t make deadline, which creates two issues.
The first issue is that the work doesn’t get done on time, which isn’t a big deal.
This publication would rather see Republicans fight for their principles instead of capitulating simply to meet some artificial deadline.
Principles are worth fighting for.
If things need to be shut down to prevent onerous and outrageous tax increases, so be it.
Minnesota is at a tipping point, and smaller, less intrusive government is worth fighting for.
In fact, it’s mandatory if we’re to keep from becoming the next Illinois.
On the other hand, the lack of transparency is disturbing.
These negotiations should be held in public, where taxpayers can weigh in and see the process.
Crafting 99% of state spending behind closed doors, where only small handful of legislators (or just two) are participating is simply bad public policy.
Republicans have the right ideas and the right agenda.
They should welcome a public debate and negotiation.
They should be willing to put their ideas up against DFL ideas at any public place at any time.
Let the world compare their ideas to those of Tim Walz.
The citizens of this state deserve better than the process that is currently playing out.
VILE THREATS
There may be no bigger domestic threat to America than Senate Majority Chuck Schumer.
He personifies his party’s increasing willingness to publicly threaten our venerated political institutions in the name of political power.
Think about what he and the Democrats in Washington have done and threatened to do since winning their narrow majorities in the last election.
Statehood for Washington, D.C. which would alter the balance of power in the Senate.
The constant threat to abrogate the filibuster, a key parliamentary device designed to forge consensus and compromise. (By the way, how did repealing the filibuster for judicial nominees work out, Chuck?)
The bill that recently passed the House that would federalize elections for the first time in American history, repealing the election laws of all 50 states, especially those in red states.
And now we read of the threat to “pack” the Supreme Court with new justices if the current court overturns the horrible Roe v. Wade decision.
Here we have the leader of the Senate threatening the Judicial Branch if that separate, co-equal branch refuses to rule a particular way on a case.
If a drug dealer or foreign power threatened the American court system this way, the perps would be arrested straight away and locked up for a long, long time.
Democrats deserve a thorough rebuke at the polls in 2022.
They fared rather poorly in 2020, barely retaining and eking out slim majorities that certainly didn’t provide a mandate for radical government.
Vile threats, indeed.
TAXASOTA
An interesting study was published recently that calculated how much taxes a person can expect to pay over their lifetime in each state in the union.
The study created a methodology that studied the income and tax obligations of an “average” person as their income and spending is applied to both the federal tax code and the tax code of each state for income, property, and sales taxes.
Those tax payments over a lifetime were calculated as follows for select states:
New Jersey: $931,698 (1)
Illinois: $693,792 (10)
Minnesota: $649,130 (14)
South Dakota: $387,013 (35)
North Carolina: $362,634 (40)
West Virginia: $321,023 (50)
Life of Tax: How Much Tax is Paid Over a Lifetime | Self.
Thus, in order to happy to pay for a better Minnesota, one must be willing to pony up an extra $262,117 over neighboring South Dakota.
To pick Minnesota over North Carolina, one would need to part with an extra $286,496.
And Joe Biden and the DFL want to raise these taxes even higher – on everyone.
Quote of the Week: “In America today the principle that drove the civil-rights movement – equality for all – is fast giving way to the view that race must be a dominant factor in every decision from college admission to eligibility for a federal farm program to the makeup of corporate boards to who gets priority for a COVID vaccine.”
- WSJ Editorial Board
Quote of the Week: “He rejects Church teachings on abortion, marriage, sex and gender and is hostile to religious liberty. He embraces the most pro-abortion, and anti-religious liberty public policy program in history. The case against honoring him is immeasurably stronger than it was against honoring President Obama.”
- Notre Dame Alumni petition against Joe Biden
Quote of the Week: “Why ain’t nobody mad about a 10-year-old, my grandson, fighting for his life? Because a cop didn’t shoot him, is that why?”
- Sherrie Jennings, grandmother of Ladavionne Garrett
In This Issue:
- Opaque;
- Vile Threats;
- Taxasota.
OPAQUE
So, here we are again. The regular session of the Minnesota legislature has adjourned and we have no budget, even though that’s the reason the legislature convened back in January.
The governor and legislators have a little over a month until the new fiscal year starts July 1.
Any budget items left undone will result in a government shutdown in that budget area.
This isn’t the first time taxpayers have been in this situation.
In fact, it’s been the norm, not the exception.
And it isn’t any person or political party.
It seems regardless of who’s leading and who’s in the majority, budgets don’t make deadline, which creates two issues.
The first issue is that the work doesn’t get done on time, which isn’t a big deal.
This publication would rather see Republicans fight for their principles instead of capitulating simply to meet some artificial deadline.
Principles are worth fighting for.
If things need to be shut down to prevent onerous and outrageous tax increases, so be it.
Minnesota is at a tipping point, and smaller, less intrusive government is worth fighting for.
In fact, it’s mandatory if we’re to keep from becoming the next Illinois.
On the other hand, the lack of transparency is disturbing.
These negotiations should be held in public, where taxpayers can weigh in and see the process.
Crafting 99% of state spending behind closed doors, where only small handful of legislators (or just two) are participating is simply bad public policy.
Republicans have the right ideas and the right agenda.
They should welcome a public debate and negotiation.
They should be willing to put their ideas up against DFL ideas at any public place at any time.
Let the world compare their ideas to those of Tim Walz.
The citizens of this state deserve better than the process that is currently playing out.
VILE THREATS
There may be no bigger domestic threat to America than Senate Majority Chuck Schumer.
He personifies his party’s increasing willingness to publicly threaten our venerated political institutions in the name of political power.
Think about what he and the Democrats in Washington have done and threatened to do since winning their narrow majorities in the last election.
Statehood for Washington, D.C. which would alter the balance of power in the Senate.
The constant threat to abrogate the filibuster, a key parliamentary device designed to forge consensus and compromise. (By the way, how did repealing the filibuster for judicial nominees work out, Chuck?)
The bill that recently passed the House that would federalize elections for the first time in American history, repealing the election laws of all 50 states, especially those in red states.
And now we read of the threat to “pack” the Supreme Court with new justices if the current court overturns the horrible Roe v. Wade decision.
Here we have the leader of the Senate threatening the Judicial Branch if that separate, co-equal branch refuses to rule a particular way on a case.
If a drug dealer or foreign power threatened the American court system this way, the perps would be arrested straight away and locked up for a long, long time.
Democrats deserve a thorough rebuke at the polls in 2022.
They fared rather poorly in 2020, barely retaining and eking out slim majorities that certainly didn’t provide a mandate for radical government.
Vile threats, indeed.
TAXASOTA
An interesting study was published recently that calculated how much taxes a person can expect to pay over their lifetime in each state in the union.
The study created a methodology that studied the income and tax obligations of an “average” person as their income and spending is applied to both the federal tax code and the tax code of each state for income, property, and sales taxes.
Those tax payments over a lifetime were calculated as follows for select states:
New Jersey: $931,698 (1)
Illinois: $693,792 (10)
Minnesota: $649,130 (14)
South Dakota: $387,013 (35)
North Carolina: $362,634 (40)
West Virginia: $321,023 (50)
Life of Tax: How Much Tax is Paid Over a Lifetime | Self.
Thus, in order to happy to pay for a better Minnesota, one must be willing to pony up an extra $262,117 over neighboring South Dakota.
To pick Minnesota over North Carolina, one would need to part with an extra $286,496.
And Joe Biden and the DFL want to raise these taxes even higher – on everyone.
May 21st, 2021
Quote of the Week: “I don’t know if there’s a lot of data or research that’s been done on it but I think the folks in business and human psychology would tell you: if there’s a chance to get something free, it might encourage you to do something.”
In This Issue:
CONGRATULATE IOWA!
In a first for the Watchdog, we congratulate the state of Iowa.
The occasion for this historic pat-on-the-back is Governor Kim Reynolds signing into law a “never again” bill that prohibits school districts from adopting mask mandates.
Moreover, the bill prohibits local units of government from adopting them as well.
Said Governor Reynolds, "The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their child's education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decisions I am proud to be a governor of a state that values personal responsibility and individual liberties. I want to thank the Iowa Legislature for their quick work in bringing this bill to my desk so that it can be signed into law."
Arkansas is the only other state that has passed this kind of law, though other states like North Dakota have passed similar laws that still allow local units of government to promulgate mandates.
This type of law is sorely needed as the Mask Cult is alive and well.
Despite there being no scientific evidence that mask mandates work, and despite COVID cases falling precipitously, many levels of government have now decided to stop following the “science” and continue to mandate masks, especially in schools.
If tinfoil hat types want to walk around wearing masks after vaccination, go for it.
When government practices this tyranny on the unwilling, it’s most decidedly uncool – and unconstitutional.
More importantly, the mask tyranny is now creeping into other areas of public health.
More than one bureaucrat has hinted at the “value” of mask mandates to combat the flu or even the common cold.
Tyrannical behavior is a disease that infects many. COVID is just the platform.
9-11 was another platform.
There is no shortage of people of who want to trammel your Natural Rights and control you.
Don’t let them do it, especially in Minnesota.
Politicians in this state would absolutely love to codify mask mandates.
The most important thing Republican legislators can do right now is fight for a repeal of the law that empowered Walz to act like a dictator.
Never again is the motto, folks.
RED STATE, BLUE STATE
The choice regarding where to live has never been greater.
There was a time not that long ago when most American jurisdictions were essentially the same.
Most Americans shared the same principles and values.
Sure, there were outliers like Vermont, but they were the exception, not the rule.
Today, that situation has been turned on its head.
Nearly every issue is now a political issue and you are either with your tribe or trapped behind enemy lines, it seems.
COVID mitigation measures are the latest cleave, with blue states clinging jealously to mask mandates, school shutdowns, and vaccine passports.
Red states the opposite.
Blue states continue to grab federal dollars from unemployment insurance while red states are declining the extra money, believing it provides a disincentive to work, with moral and economic implications.
And while COVID grabs the headlines, the culture wars have rapidly accelerated the trend.
Blue states embrace abortion on demand; red states are starting to challenge abortion rights, hoping to overturn the illogical, nonsensical Roe v. Wade holding.
Red states are pushing back on the notion that there are countless genders and thus a menu from which people, including young children, are entitled to choose, buffet style.
Critical Race Theory is another fault line.
So is defunding the police.
Standing for the National Anthem.
Allowing natural gas hook ups in homes.
And don’t forget economics, always a fault line.
Taxes have in the past been a consideration mostly for business interests and those wealthy enough to care.
Not anymore. Government’s insatiable appetite for money, coupled with a lack of accountability, has made it a middle-class issue, especially since the federal government stopped subsidizing blue states with a federal tax deduction for state and local taxes paid.
So have government policies that make economic life miserable.
California land use laws have driven home prices through the roof by restricting supply.
Forest management laws have made many parts of the state tinder traps, driving home insurance premiums into the stratosphere or making policies unavailable.
Increasingly, “self-selection” has become important to many Americans, the process of choosing to live among neighbors who share their world view.
How deep the polarization runs remains to be seen.
Is 2021 more like 1968 or 1858?
Quote of the Week: “I don’t know if there’s a lot of data or research that’s been done on it but I think the folks in business and human psychology would tell you: if there’s a chance to get something free, it might encourage you to do something.”
- Governor Tim Walz, explaining the DFL governing philosophy.
In This Issue:
- Congratulate Iowa!
- Red State, Blue State.
CONGRATULATE IOWA!
In a first for the Watchdog, we congratulate the state of Iowa.
The occasion for this historic pat-on-the-back is Governor Kim Reynolds signing into law a “never again” bill that prohibits school districts from adopting mask mandates.
Moreover, the bill prohibits local units of government from adopting them as well.
Said Governor Reynolds, "The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their child's education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decisions I am proud to be a governor of a state that values personal responsibility and individual liberties. I want to thank the Iowa Legislature for their quick work in bringing this bill to my desk so that it can be signed into law."
Arkansas is the only other state that has passed this kind of law, though other states like North Dakota have passed similar laws that still allow local units of government to promulgate mandates.
This type of law is sorely needed as the Mask Cult is alive and well.
Despite there being no scientific evidence that mask mandates work, and despite COVID cases falling precipitously, many levels of government have now decided to stop following the “science” and continue to mandate masks, especially in schools.
If tinfoil hat types want to walk around wearing masks after vaccination, go for it.
When government practices this tyranny on the unwilling, it’s most decidedly uncool – and unconstitutional.
More importantly, the mask tyranny is now creeping into other areas of public health.
More than one bureaucrat has hinted at the “value” of mask mandates to combat the flu or even the common cold.
Tyrannical behavior is a disease that infects many. COVID is just the platform.
9-11 was another platform.
There is no shortage of people of who want to trammel your Natural Rights and control you.
Don’t let them do it, especially in Minnesota.
Politicians in this state would absolutely love to codify mask mandates.
The most important thing Republican legislators can do right now is fight for a repeal of the law that empowered Walz to act like a dictator.
Never again is the motto, folks.
RED STATE, BLUE STATE
The choice regarding where to live has never been greater.
There was a time not that long ago when most American jurisdictions were essentially the same.
Most Americans shared the same principles and values.
Sure, there were outliers like Vermont, but they were the exception, not the rule.
Today, that situation has been turned on its head.
Nearly every issue is now a political issue and you are either with your tribe or trapped behind enemy lines, it seems.
COVID mitigation measures are the latest cleave, with blue states clinging jealously to mask mandates, school shutdowns, and vaccine passports.
Red states the opposite.
Blue states continue to grab federal dollars from unemployment insurance while red states are declining the extra money, believing it provides a disincentive to work, with moral and economic implications.
And while COVID grabs the headlines, the culture wars have rapidly accelerated the trend.
Blue states embrace abortion on demand; red states are starting to challenge abortion rights, hoping to overturn the illogical, nonsensical Roe v. Wade holding.
Red states are pushing back on the notion that there are countless genders and thus a menu from which people, including young children, are entitled to choose, buffet style.
Critical Race Theory is another fault line.
So is defunding the police.
Standing for the National Anthem.
Allowing natural gas hook ups in homes.
And don’t forget economics, always a fault line.
Taxes have in the past been a consideration mostly for business interests and those wealthy enough to care.
Not anymore. Government’s insatiable appetite for money, coupled with a lack of accountability, has made it a middle-class issue, especially since the federal government stopped subsidizing blue states with a federal tax deduction for state and local taxes paid.
So have government policies that make economic life miserable.
California land use laws have driven home prices through the roof by restricting supply.
Forest management laws have made many parts of the state tinder traps, driving home insurance premiums into the stratosphere or making policies unavailable.
Increasingly, “self-selection” has become important to many Americans, the process of choosing to live among neighbors who share their world view.
How deep the polarization runs remains to be seen.
Is 2021 more like 1968 or 1858?
May 14, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Our nation is in deep peril. We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty.”
Quote of the Week: “If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, incl. local business and workplace guidance.”
Quote of the Week: “The 2020 polls overstated Democratic support in every type of contest we looked at: the national popular vote, the state-level presidential vote as well as senatorial and gubernatorial elections.”
Factoid of the Week: The 2022 legislature will convene on January 31st.
In This Issue:
THE END
Not really. The state constitution mandates that the 2021 regular session of the legislature adjourn by midnight Monday.
That will happen, but it won’t be the end of the story.
It is highly likely that the legislature won’t finish a budget by then, making necessary one or more special sessions to conclude a budget by June 30th.
A delay beyond June 30th means that any budgetary programs not funded by then will result in a government shutdown, as the new fiscal year commences on July 1st.
Thus, June 30th is the real budget deadline.
Moreover, if the governor doesn’t give up his emergency pandemic powers, there will be a special session on June 14th to consider an extension of those powers for another 30 days.
Any angst over not finishing on time is misplaced.
The reality is that special sessions aren’t so special. Anyone paying attention knows that there have been many special sessions over the last 20 years.
Moreover, it’s a reality that federal guidance and regulations regarding the use of federal funds isn’t available right now.
The big idea here is to ensure that the legislature is involved in the expenditure of these funds and it isn’t left to the sole discretion of the governor.
If it takes longer to get the right end product, including no tax increases, then so be it.
THE END – OF THE LINE
As long-time readers know, the failed Northstar commuter rail line is the very reason why the Watchdog was founded.
While not gratifying, it has been nonetheless been very welcome to see elected officials call for abandoning this white elephant and cut losses instead of throwing good money after bad.
Anoka County Commissioner Scott Schulte has been at the forefront of this important effort.
Anoka County readers will find this as no surprise. As a business owner, Schulte knows the value of taxpayer money and has been a voice of fiscal restraint during his time in public service, including the county board, where he first did taxpayers the ultimate favor by booting Dan Erhart out of office.
Schulte recently penned an opinion piece detailing Northstar’s abysmal numbers and laying out the logical case for mothballing the line.
Back in the “good old days” prior to the China Virus, Northstar required a subsidy of nearly $40 per day per rider for a round trip.
Today, the subsidy stands at a whopping $47,520 per year per rider.
That number is obscene and totally indefensible to any reasonable person.
Given that work patterns, and therefore commuter patterns, have changed in ways that will be permanent, it’s highly unlikely that ridership numbers will greatly improve.
What a surprise. For years, the Watchdog and others have pointed out the folly of major investments in fixed guideway transportation.
That chicken will now come home to roost as employers large and small are abandoning downtown office space, ditching the cost, inconvenience, and crime inherent in densely populated urban cores.
And to think that a popular bus line with 85% farebox recovery was jettisoned in favor of a vanity project for a small group of elected officials whose arrogance and entitlement didn’t allow them to see the error of their ways.
At least they didn’t get their way on the equally ridiculous idea of taxing Anoka County residents to pay for a football stadium.
In that case, they only got played as stalking horses to allow the Wilfs to drive a better bargain with Hennepin County and Minneapolis.
The payback to the federal government to retire Northstar would only be $83 million.
The state should gladly pay it off and be free of this mess.
BIGGEST MISS IN 40 YEARS
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece examining the deliberations of a trade group for political pollsters that examined how they got the 2020 elections so wrong.
Simply put, the group is trying to figure why 2020 elections polls were grossly wrong. More to the point, the polls overstated support for Democrats in every single case.
Start with the presidential election.
The aggregate polling for that race was the most inaccurate in over 40 years, of course overstating support for Sleepy Joe and understating support for President Trump.
The evidence was damning and overwhelming.
Said Vanderbilt political science professor Joshua Clinton, “The 2020 polls overstated Democratic support in every type of contest we looked at: the national popular vote, the state-level presidential vote as well as senatorial and gubernatorial elections.”
While this all appears interesting, it is the opinion of this publication that panels like these are a whitewash.
The reason these polls are wrong is because they are designed to be wrong.
They are a voter suppression tool, designed to demoralize Republican voters and cause them to stay home, believing that their vote won’t change the outcome.
It has become an impossible task for the media and pollsters to hide their bias.
It’s open, pervasive, and even celebrated by clowns like Jim Acosta and his ilk over at CNN.
The gig is up.
Pollsters, like the legacy media, have lost their credibility and deservedly so.
Millions of Americans are all done giving any credence to polling data.
Things you trust more than political pollsters: gas station sushi.
Quote of the Week: “Our nation is in deep peril. We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty.”
- Flag Officers 4 America, a coalition of retired senior military officers
Quote of the Week: “If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, incl. local business and workplace guidance.”
- Centers for Disease Control
Quote of the Week: “The 2020 polls overstated Democratic support in every type of contest we looked at: the national popular vote, the state-level presidential vote as well as senatorial and gubernatorial elections.”
- Josh Clinton, Vanderbilt University
Factoid of the Week: The 2022 legislature will convene on January 31st.
In This Issue:
- The End;
- The End – of the Line;
- Biggest Miss in 40 Years.
THE END
Not really. The state constitution mandates that the 2021 regular session of the legislature adjourn by midnight Monday.
That will happen, but it won’t be the end of the story.
It is highly likely that the legislature won’t finish a budget by then, making necessary one or more special sessions to conclude a budget by June 30th.
A delay beyond June 30th means that any budgetary programs not funded by then will result in a government shutdown, as the new fiscal year commences on July 1st.
Thus, June 30th is the real budget deadline.
Moreover, if the governor doesn’t give up his emergency pandemic powers, there will be a special session on June 14th to consider an extension of those powers for another 30 days.
Any angst over not finishing on time is misplaced.
The reality is that special sessions aren’t so special. Anyone paying attention knows that there have been many special sessions over the last 20 years.
Moreover, it’s a reality that federal guidance and regulations regarding the use of federal funds isn’t available right now.
The big idea here is to ensure that the legislature is involved in the expenditure of these funds and it isn’t left to the sole discretion of the governor.
If it takes longer to get the right end product, including no tax increases, then so be it.
THE END – OF THE LINE
As long-time readers know, the failed Northstar commuter rail line is the very reason why the Watchdog was founded.
While not gratifying, it has been nonetheless been very welcome to see elected officials call for abandoning this white elephant and cut losses instead of throwing good money after bad.
Anoka County Commissioner Scott Schulte has been at the forefront of this important effort.
Anoka County readers will find this as no surprise. As a business owner, Schulte knows the value of taxpayer money and has been a voice of fiscal restraint during his time in public service, including the county board, where he first did taxpayers the ultimate favor by booting Dan Erhart out of office.
Schulte recently penned an opinion piece detailing Northstar’s abysmal numbers and laying out the logical case for mothballing the line.
Back in the “good old days” prior to the China Virus, Northstar required a subsidy of nearly $40 per day per rider for a round trip.
Today, the subsidy stands at a whopping $47,520 per year per rider.
That number is obscene and totally indefensible to any reasonable person.
Given that work patterns, and therefore commuter patterns, have changed in ways that will be permanent, it’s highly unlikely that ridership numbers will greatly improve.
What a surprise. For years, the Watchdog and others have pointed out the folly of major investments in fixed guideway transportation.
That chicken will now come home to roost as employers large and small are abandoning downtown office space, ditching the cost, inconvenience, and crime inherent in densely populated urban cores.
And to think that a popular bus line with 85% farebox recovery was jettisoned in favor of a vanity project for a small group of elected officials whose arrogance and entitlement didn’t allow them to see the error of their ways.
At least they didn’t get their way on the equally ridiculous idea of taxing Anoka County residents to pay for a football stadium.
In that case, they only got played as stalking horses to allow the Wilfs to drive a better bargain with Hennepin County and Minneapolis.
The payback to the federal government to retire Northstar would only be $83 million.
The state should gladly pay it off and be free of this mess.
BIGGEST MISS IN 40 YEARS
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece examining the deliberations of a trade group for political pollsters that examined how they got the 2020 elections so wrong.
Simply put, the group is trying to figure why 2020 elections polls were grossly wrong. More to the point, the polls overstated support for Democrats in every single case.
Start with the presidential election.
The aggregate polling for that race was the most inaccurate in over 40 years, of course overstating support for Sleepy Joe and understating support for President Trump.
The evidence was damning and overwhelming.
Said Vanderbilt political science professor Joshua Clinton, “The 2020 polls overstated Democratic support in every type of contest we looked at: the national popular vote, the state-level presidential vote as well as senatorial and gubernatorial elections.”
While this all appears interesting, it is the opinion of this publication that panels like these are a whitewash.
The reason these polls are wrong is because they are designed to be wrong.
They are a voter suppression tool, designed to demoralize Republican voters and cause them to stay home, believing that their vote won’t change the outcome.
It has become an impossible task for the media and pollsters to hide their bias.
It’s open, pervasive, and even celebrated by clowns like Jim Acosta and his ilk over at CNN.
The gig is up.
Pollsters, like the legacy media, have lost their credibility and deservedly so.
Millions of Americans are all done giving any credence to polling data.
Things you trust more than political pollsters: gas station sushi.
May 7, 2021
Quote of the Week: “I think she’s got real problems,… I’ve had it with … I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence.”
Quote of the Week: “The cost of virtue signaling over the past five years has grown exponentially, from the painless task of planting anti-Trump signs in your yard all the way to turning your family members over to authorities, masking little kids playing outdoors, subjecting the young to racist re-education, and even injecting teenagers with a novel vaccine of which the long-term effects are completely unknown.”
In This Issue:
THE TOTALITARIAN NEXT DOOR
There’s nothing like a crisis to expose a person’s true colors. The military veterans who read this publication know what that means. Military training is designed to breakdown the façade we all wear, expose the true person, and build them back up to withstand the rigors of combat.
At least that was true until the Biden administration re-oriented our military away from confronting enemies like China and Russia and focused our generals on confronting “extremism” in the ranks, which is code for any soldier who doesn’t embrace the Woke agenda.
Anyway, there’s nothing like a global crisis to expose those true colors.
During the initial phase of the pandemic, most Americans were exposed as sheep, meekly complying with government diktats and refusing to ask critical questions regarding the “science” that underpinned assaults on sacred freedoms and engage in the critical thinking required to evaluate the perennial trade offs between individual liberty and public safety.
Self-governance requires a lot of work. For many, it was easier to simply hide in the basement, take the stimulus check, and watch Tim Walz shred the constitution.
Now we see the true colors of another type of nasty neighbor: the totalitarian next door.
This contemptible human being cheers oppressive government and believes that force is required to “help” the great unwashed masses to live their best life.
These people enthusiastically support rule by executive fiat because it frees our betters from the shackles of checks and balances that prevent them from implementing the social engineering programs that will makes us better, even if we’re too stupid to realize it.
In short, the Walz pandemic power parade is right up their alley.
This ideology is personified by one Jill Burcum, whose public biography is stereotypical to the point of comedy.
She’s an editorial writer and opinion columnist for the Star Tribune. We’re told she’s a not one but TWO-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Only a liberal weenie would brag about being a bridesmaid. Does the Pulitzer organization issue participation trophies?
Next, we read that she’s not only a college graduate, but a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington. It’s a land grant institution, but you get the picture. Nothing like bragging about your honors from 30 years prior to establish one’s elitism and self-importance.
Most importantly, Ms. Burcum owns a coveted “blue check” from the Twitter overlords, the currency of the Digital realm and the new “papers” that are required these days to prove one’s loyalty to the new orthodoxy.
But give her credit. In one tweet, she managed to encapsulate the world view and the agenda of the Totalitarian Class and how they view the opportunity inherent in a pandemic.
Said Burcum, “I'm hoping that the Gov. Walz ‘wind down’ plan announced tomorrow looks like Michigan's ‘Vacc to Normal’ plan. Whitmer tied restriction easing to vaccination rates. It's a nice, tasty carrot of an incentive to boost shots as doses into arms slow.”
Read that one more time.
She believes that our liberties, based on our God-given natural rights, are nothing more than a “tasty carrot” to force people to submit to a vaccine that is unproven and may conflict with a person’s principles and values.
Our freedoms are the not the government’s to dangle before us, as a parent would dangle a cookie before a toddler to encourage potty training or the way a trainer dangles a fish before a seal to encourage barking.
Our freedoms belong to each of us as human beings, conferred directly by our Creator, without government acting as the middleman or the gate keeper.
Some may see the reaction to Burcum’s observation as an overreaction or a bit too much.
Hardly.
Her viewpoint falls squarely within a totalitarian world view that fundamentally discounts individual rights and elevates collective rights above them, as enforced by the state.
Innocuous words and phrases like “mandates” and “requirements” hide a very ugly truth. Every government program and initiative, at some level, is guaranteed by coercion and the threat of negative sanction.
Don’t pay your taxes and see what happens. Men, don’t register for Selective Service and see what happens. Try to board an airplane without photo ID and see what happens.
In the same way that the pandemic has shown us that many people are sheep, people like Jill Burcum have reminded us that oppressive government is the rule, not exception, throughout human history.
People had better wake up. Across a broad spectrum of American life, our individual rights are in imminent danger. Whether the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, or any other right, it’s under assault in a big way.
It’s high time for Americans to “wake” in response to “woke.”
SCHOOL NEWS
Speaking of folks who know how to maximize a crisis, none are better than the Education Industrial Complex.
It’s same old tried and true template, but souped up to meet the heightened anxieties of a pandemic that features a 99.9% survival rate for children.
As we now know, thanks to released communications, education union leaders conspired with political leaders to keep school shuttered to leverage more goodies from the public fisc.
This situation now sets the stage for the annual, inevitable plea to fully and adequately fund our schools.
A shopworn part of that narrative, faithfully executed by the media, is the sob story that districts are now in the process of reducing staff and “cutting to the bone” those already thin education budgets.
The goal, of course, is to get a healthy taste of both federal funny money as well as some booty out of the state’s projected budget surplus.
Don’t buy it.
First, our poor, pitiful government schools have already received over $1 billion in federal COVID funny money, just for Minnesota.
Second, as pointed out by state Senator Carla Nelson (R – Rochester), our public schools have been well funded over the past number of years, even when inflation is factored in.
Even counting for inflation, state aid per pupil has averaged a 7% increase each year in recent years. That’s accounting for inflation.
One of the big problems for school districts right now is that enrollment is down.
Because money follows students, fewer students equal fewer dollars.
Of course, many parents have voted with their feet and left government schools in order to enroll their children in private or charter schools that offered the in-person learning opportunities they want.
Whether these students return is an open question, but the reality is that these school districts that shut down in part to appease the teachers’ union need to live with their decision.
You shut it down, you live with the consequences.
What is needed is more choice in education, not less.
Quote of the Week: “I think she’s got real problems,… I’ve had it with … I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence.”
- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Liz Cheney
Quote of the Week: “The cost of virtue signaling over the past five years has grown exponentially, from the painless task of planting anti-Trump signs in your yard all the way to turning your family members over to authorities, masking little kids playing outdoors, subjecting the young to racist re-education, and even injecting teenagers with a novel vaccine of which the long-term effects are completely unknown.”
- Christopher Bedford
In This Issue:
- The Totalitarian Next Door;
- School News.
THE TOTALITARIAN NEXT DOOR
There’s nothing like a crisis to expose a person’s true colors. The military veterans who read this publication know what that means. Military training is designed to breakdown the façade we all wear, expose the true person, and build them back up to withstand the rigors of combat.
At least that was true until the Biden administration re-oriented our military away from confronting enemies like China and Russia and focused our generals on confronting “extremism” in the ranks, which is code for any soldier who doesn’t embrace the Woke agenda.
Anyway, there’s nothing like a global crisis to expose those true colors.
During the initial phase of the pandemic, most Americans were exposed as sheep, meekly complying with government diktats and refusing to ask critical questions regarding the “science” that underpinned assaults on sacred freedoms and engage in the critical thinking required to evaluate the perennial trade offs between individual liberty and public safety.
Self-governance requires a lot of work. For many, it was easier to simply hide in the basement, take the stimulus check, and watch Tim Walz shred the constitution.
Now we see the true colors of another type of nasty neighbor: the totalitarian next door.
This contemptible human being cheers oppressive government and believes that force is required to “help” the great unwashed masses to live their best life.
These people enthusiastically support rule by executive fiat because it frees our betters from the shackles of checks and balances that prevent them from implementing the social engineering programs that will makes us better, even if we’re too stupid to realize it.
In short, the Walz pandemic power parade is right up their alley.
This ideology is personified by one Jill Burcum, whose public biography is stereotypical to the point of comedy.
She’s an editorial writer and opinion columnist for the Star Tribune. We’re told she’s a not one but TWO-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Only a liberal weenie would brag about being a bridesmaid. Does the Pulitzer organization issue participation trophies?
Next, we read that she’s not only a college graduate, but a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington. It’s a land grant institution, but you get the picture. Nothing like bragging about your honors from 30 years prior to establish one’s elitism and self-importance.
Most importantly, Ms. Burcum owns a coveted “blue check” from the Twitter overlords, the currency of the Digital realm and the new “papers” that are required these days to prove one’s loyalty to the new orthodoxy.
But give her credit. In one tweet, she managed to encapsulate the world view and the agenda of the Totalitarian Class and how they view the opportunity inherent in a pandemic.
Said Burcum, “I'm hoping that the Gov. Walz ‘wind down’ plan announced tomorrow looks like Michigan's ‘Vacc to Normal’ plan. Whitmer tied restriction easing to vaccination rates. It's a nice, tasty carrot of an incentive to boost shots as doses into arms slow.”
Read that one more time.
She believes that our liberties, based on our God-given natural rights, are nothing more than a “tasty carrot” to force people to submit to a vaccine that is unproven and may conflict with a person’s principles and values.
Our freedoms are the not the government’s to dangle before us, as a parent would dangle a cookie before a toddler to encourage potty training or the way a trainer dangles a fish before a seal to encourage barking.
Our freedoms belong to each of us as human beings, conferred directly by our Creator, without government acting as the middleman or the gate keeper.
Some may see the reaction to Burcum’s observation as an overreaction or a bit too much.
Hardly.
Her viewpoint falls squarely within a totalitarian world view that fundamentally discounts individual rights and elevates collective rights above them, as enforced by the state.
Innocuous words and phrases like “mandates” and “requirements” hide a very ugly truth. Every government program and initiative, at some level, is guaranteed by coercion and the threat of negative sanction.
Don’t pay your taxes and see what happens. Men, don’t register for Selective Service and see what happens. Try to board an airplane without photo ID and see what happens.
In the same way that the pandemic has shown us that many people are sheep, people like Jill Burcum have reminded us that oppressive government is the rule, not exception, throughout human history.
People had better wake up. Across a broad spectrum of American life, our individual rights are in imminent danger. Whether the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, or any other right, it’s under assault in a big way.
It’s high time for Americans to “wake” in response to “woke.”
SCHOOL NEWS
Speaking of folks who know how to maximize a crisis, none are better than the Education Industrial Complex.
It’s same old tried and true template, but souped up to meet the heightened anxieties of a pandemic that features a 99.9% survival rate for children.
As we now know, thanks to released communications, education union leaders conspired with political leaders to keep school shuttered to leverage more goodies from the public fisc.
This situation now sets the stage for the annual, inevitable plea to fully and adequately fund our schools.
A shopworn part of that narrative, faithfully executed by the media, is the sob story that districts are now in the process of reducing staff and “cutting to the bone” those already thin education budgets.
The goal, of course, is to get a healthy taste of both federal funny money as well as some booty out of the state’s projected budget surplus.
Don’t buy it.
First, our poor, pitiful government schools have already received over $1 billion in federal COVID funny money, just for Minnesota.
Second, as pointed out by state Senator Carla Nelson (R – Rochester), our public schools have been well funded over the past number of years, even when inflation is factored in.
Even counting for inflation, state aid per pupil has averaged a 7% increase each year in recent years. That’s accounting for inflation.
One of the big problems for school districts right now is that enrollment is down.
Because money follows students, fewer students equal fewer dollars.
Of course, many parents have voted with their feet and left government schools in order to enroll their children in private or charter schools that offered the in-person learning opportunities they want.
Whether these students return is an open question, but the reality is that these school districts that shut down in part to appease the teachers’ union need to live with their decision.
You shut it down, you live with the consequences.
What is needed is more choice in education, not less.
April 23, 2021
Quote of the Week: “I grew up in the era of actual, legalized institutional racism. I grew up in the Deep South in Tallahassee, Florida in the 1960s during the days of the KKK, Jim Crow, and segregation. I sit today before you as someone who has lived the American Dream, as have millions of other Americans of all races from every background. This is due to our country’s mission statement that all men and women are created equal.”
Quote of the Week: “What I find extremely offensive is the narrative from the Left that black people are not smart enough, not educated enough, not desirous enough of education to do what every other culture and race does in this country, get an ID. True racism is this: It’s a projection of the Democratic Party on my proud race. It’s called the soft bigotry of low expectations.”
In This Issue:
VACCINATION HESITANCY
Minnesota, and the nation, is quickly reaching a pivot point regarding COVID-19 vaccinations.
Soon, vaccine stocks will start to out-number those who want the vaccine.
Put another way, simply, supply will start to overtake demand.
This has implications for the fight against the China virus (or can we only cite geography when referring to the “U.K. variant” or the “Brazil variant”?), as herd immunity may not be reached.
Now, the Watchdog has no opinion regarding vaccination. That’s a personal choice.
But we have seen, and will see, is a nasty attack on those who are skeptical of the efficacy of the vaccine, regardless of manufacturer.
Of course, those who are skeptics have been derided as ignorant, uncouth “Trumpers” who lack the understanding and intelligence to comprehend basic science.
Huh.
What could make so many Minnesotans and Americans suspicious of the vaccine and those touting it?
Consider the following.
How it started: The virus will kill 22,000 Minnesotans by July 2020
How it’s going: 7,000 have died thus far, with a dispute ongoing as to how many of those 7,000 died “because” of COVID or died “with” COVID.
How it started: We need restrictions for two weeks to flatten the curve.
How it’s going: Governor Walz has exercised unilateral, plenary powers for over 400 days.
How it started: We need kids at home “learning” online because of the virus.
How it’s going: Lockdowns were unnecessary. Distance learning has harmed our kids in ways we are just beginning to understand.
How it started: We need to shut down businesses and kill jobs to halt the virus.
How it’s going: Lockdowns were unnecessary.
How it started: The virus remains active on surfaces for hours and is a threat.
How it’s going: The virus dies quickly on surfaces.
How it started: Our lockdown is based on a sophisticated model.
How it’s going: Two grad students at the U concocted the model over a weekend.
How it started: The state needs to spend $7 million on a morgue to house the bodies.
How it’s going: Just kidding. But now taxpayers own a crappy building with a leaky roof.
How it started: The vaccines are completely safe.
How it’s going: J&J and Astra Zeneca are two vaccines under scrutiny.
How it started: Trump is delusional. A vaccine will never be delivered that quickly.
How it’s going: Man, Joe Biden did a great job getting the vaccine to market.
And we wonder why people are expressing hesitation to get vaccinated.
It’s not ignorance. It’s not superstition.
If the government wants more people to get vaccinated, answering rational, reasonable questions is the way to do it.
Ridicule and condescension won’t cut it.
A NATION OF LAWS
The trial of officer Derek Chauvin resulted in a verdict of “guilty” on all three counts.
To many legal experts, the verdicts weren’t surprising.
The real question is what happens on appeal, which most assuredly will happen.
This was, of course, a very high-profile trial that took place in the era of high tech, where news and information is spread instantaneously around the world.
Throughout the trial, the jury wasn’t sequestered, making it almost impossible for the jury to follow instructions not to consume news related to the trial.
There are a number of issues that could be raised on appeal.
The jury could have been unduly influenced by a number of developments, starting with the City of Minneapolis granting a $27 million civil law settlement to the estate of George Floyd.
Or it could have been the killing of Daunte Wright just 10 miles away in Brooklyn Park.
Or the comments of Rep. Maxine Waters, who urged rioters to become “more confrontational.”
Or the president of the United States, who publicly prayed for the “right” verdict.
This exposure also raises the appeal of issue of not only sequestration but also venue.
It’s a bit surprising that for this type of case, the trail wasn’t moved out of Minneapolis with a sequestered jury.
Moreover, there could be grounds for appeal based on the prosecution’s closing arguments, which violated rules of the court by offering belittling and negative descriptions of the defense’s closing.
Finally, there could be grounds for appeal on the third-degree murder charge. There is an ambiguity in the law that can be read to apply the charge only when multiple people are at risk, not just one.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but there can be no doubt that many elected officials sullied and disrespected the sacred process of a criminal trial by jury with their pronouncements of “murder’ and “guilt” before Chauvin was even charged.
It was a mob mentality, stoked by Biden, Walz, Waters, and a host of DFL legislators.
The rule of law has an important place in our society.
They trashed it with their irresponsible rhetoric and possibly have jeopardized the verdict rendered this week.
There was a time when we expected more from our elected leaders.
Not anymore.
Quote of the Week: “I grew up in the era of actual, legalized institutional racism. I grew up in the Deep South in Tallahassee, Florida in the 1960s during the days of the KKK, Jim Crow, and segregation. I sit today before you as someone who has lived the American Dream, as have millions of other Americans of all races from every background. This is due to our country’s mission statement that all men and women are created equal.”
- Rep. Burgess Owens (R – UT 4) and former NFL Star
Quote of the Week: “What I find extremely offensive is the narrative from the Left that black people are not smart enough, not educated enough, not desirous enough of education to do what every other culture and race does in this country, get an ID. True racism is this: It’s a projection of the Democratic Party on my proud race. It’s called the soft bigotry of low expectations.”
- Rep. Burgess Owens (R – UT 4) and former NFL Star
In This Issue:
- Vaccination Hesitancy
- A Nation of Laws
VACCINATION HESITANCY
Minnesota, and the nation, is quickly reaching a pivot point regarding COVID-19 vaccinations.
Soon, vaccine stocks will start to out-number those who want the vaccine.
Put another way, simply, supply will start to overtake demand.
This has implications for the fight against the China virus (or can we only cite geography when referring to the “U.K. variant” or the “Brazil variant”?), as herd immunity may not be reached.
Now, the Watchdog has no opinion regarding vaccination. That’s a personal choice.
But we have seen, and will see, is a nasty attack on those who are skeptical of the efficacy of the vaccine, regardless of manufacturer.
Of course, those who are skeptics have been derided as ignorant, uncouth “Trumpers” who lack the understanding and intelligence to comprehend basic science.
Huh.
What could make so many Minnesotans and Americans suspicious of the vaccine and those touting it?
Consider the following.
How it started: The virus will kill 22,000 Minnesotans by July 2020
How it’s going: 7,000 have died thus far, with a dispute ongoing as to how many of those 7,000 died “because” of COVID or died “with” COVID.
How it started: We need restrictions for two weeks to flatten the curve.
How it’s going: Governor Walz has exercised unilateral, plenary powers for over 400 days.
How it started: We need kids at home “learning” online because of the virus.
How it’s going: Lockdowns were unnecessary. Distance learning has harmed our kids in ways we are just beginning to understand.
How it started: We need to shut down businesses and kill jobs to halt the virus.
How it’s going: Lockdowns were unnecessary.
How it started: The virus remains active on surfaces for hours and is a threat.
How it’s going: The virus dies quickly on surfaces.
How it started: Our lockdown is based on a sophisticated model.
How it’s going: Two grad students at the U concocted the model over a weekend.
How it started: The state needs to spend $7 million on a morgue to house the bodies.
How it’s going: Just kidding. But now taxpayers own a crappy building with a leaky roof.
How it started: The vaccines are completely safe.
How it’s going: J&J and Astra Zeneca are two vaccines under scrutiny.
How it started: Trump is delusional. A vaccine will never be delivered that quickly.
How it’s going: Man, Joe Biden did a great job getting the vaccine to market.
And we wonder why people are expressing hesitation to get vaccinated.
It’s not ignorance. It’s not superstition.
If the government wants more people to get vaccinated, answering rational, reasonable questions is the way to do it.
Ridicule and condescension won’t cut it.
A NATION OF LAWS
The trial of officer Derek Chauvin resulted in a verdict of “guilty” on all three counts.
To many legal experts, the verdicts weren’t surprising.
The real question is what happens on appeal, which most assuredly will happen.
This was, of course, a very high-profile trial that took place in the era of high tech, where news and information is spread instantaneously around the world.
Throughout the trial, the jury wasn’t sequestered, making it almost impossible for the jury to follow instructions not to consume news related to the trial.
There are a number of issues that could be raised on appeal.
The jury could have been unduly influenced by a number of developments, starting with the City of Minneapolis granting a $27 million civil law settlement to the estate of George Floyd.
Or it could have been the killing of Daunte Wright just 10 miles away in Brooklyn Park.
Or the comments of Rep. Maxine Waters, who urged rioters to become “more confrontational.”
Or the president of the United States, who publicly prayed for the “right” verdict.
This exposure also raises the appeal of issue of not only sequestration but also venue.
It’s a bit surprising that for this type of case, the trail wasn’t moved out of Minneapolis with a sequestered jury.
Moreover, there could be grounds for appeal based on the prosecution’s closing arguments, which violated rules of the court by offering belittling and negative descriptions of the defense’s closing.
Finally, there could be grounds for appeal on the third-degree murder charge. There is an ambiguity in the law that can be read to apply the charge only when multiple people are at risk, not just one.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but there can be no doubt that many elected officials sullied and disrespected the sacred process of a criminal trial by jury with their pronouncements of “murder’ and “guilt” before Chauvin was even charged.
It was a mob mentality, stoked by Biden, Walz, Waters, and a host of DFL legislators.
The rule of law has an important place in our society.
They trashed it with their irresponsible rhetoric and possibly have jeopardized the verdict rendered this week.
There was a time when we expected more from our elected leaders.
Not anymore.
April 16th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Let’s be clear: The brave men and women of the Minnesota National Guard are our neighbors. They’re teachers, health care workers, and business owners who live in communities across our state. This is unacceptable. They can’t ‘go home’ — this is their home.”
Quote of the Week: “Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
In This Issue:
APPALLING
The “woke” crowd knows no boundaries when it comes to their behavior. From acts of extreme violence to those boorish and embarrassing, these people beclown themselves at every turn.
The latest episode concerns woke members of certain labor unions.
This week, the Saint Paul Labor Center, a building that houses numerous labor union offices, was opened to members of the Minnesota National Guard who have been deployed in response to the riots in Brooklyn Center.
The building was opened at the invitation of one of the tenants, the Minnesota Pipe Trades.
Leaders of different unions got wind of the hosting and decided to march on their own building to demand the eviction of the Guard members.
A leader of the Minnesota Nurses Association was quoted in the media as follows, “Our position, especially as members of organized labor, is it’s critical that we side with the people on this issue — not the politicians, not the bank owners and not the armed forces that are defending both. Our position has always been, in especially in light of another killing of an unarmed Black man, that we are unequivocal in our support of that community’s right to protest. The infrastructure of labor is not for rent to the people who are suppressing that protest.”
Peak wokeness.
Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin would be proud.
Thankfully, there has been forceful pushback from other labor unions, condemning in no uncertain terms this shameful behavior.
There is clearly a schism happening within organized labor in America.
On one side, you have the “adult” unions that are focused on jobs for members, political pragmatism, and public policy solutions to complex problems.
On the other side are the “juvenile” unions, focused on social justice pap, virtue signaling, political radicalism, and the expenditure of union resources and goodwill on issues that have absolutely nothing to do with improving the terms and conditions of employment for their dues-paying members.
May elected officials on both sides of the aisle take the time to discern the difference.
Treating “labor” as a monolithic entity is unproductive and simply wrong.
Put another way, not all unions are created equal.
THE SPIN MACHINE FIRES UP
The headline this read as thus: Dem Pollsters Acknowledge “Major Errors” in 2020 Polling.
Five of the largest DFL polling firms released a statement this week acknowledging the obvious – that they totally screwed up 2020 election polling, a mea culpa of sorts.
The statement then goes on to list a bunch of excuses as to why things went wrong.
Don’t be fooled. This statement is no mea culpa and it certainly isn’t sincere.
First, it isn’t like 2020 was some aberration. Democrat polls have been wrong for many years and in many federal and state elections.
Hello? Trump 2016 anyone? Remember when Hillary Clinton was predicted a shoo-in for the White House?
Second, and related, these polling firms didn’t “get it wrong.”
In fact, they got it right. You just have to understand the question.
You see, it isn’t about accurate polling that provides a service to both candidates and the public at large.
Instead, it is part and parcel of a massive voter disinformation campaign designed to suppress Republican votes by demoralizing their voters, making it seem like certain races are a forgone conclusion in favor of the Democrat.
This propaganda is then propagated by the legacy media, also an integral part of the Democrat machine.
The pollsters are proven wrong every November, they feign disappointment, profess remorse and the desire to do better, then go right back to the plan.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
The good news is that no thinking citizen swallows this tripe anymore.
The pollsters, like the media, long ago lost all credibility with many Americans.
And with good reason.
Watch. 2022 will be filled with the usual claims that Democrats are going to do great in congressional and legislative elections.
Republicans will do far better than expected, and the pollsters will all profess shock and surprise.
And, as usual, it will all be a bunch of BS.
Don’t believe the polls; don’t believe the media.
Quote of the Week: “Let’s be clear: The brave men and women of the Minnesota National Guard are our neighbors. They’re teachers, health care workers, and business owners who live in communities across our state. This is unacceptable. They can’t ‘go home’ — this is their home.”
- Governor Tim Walz
Quote of the Week: “Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
In This Issue:
- Appalling;
- The Spin Machine Fires Up.
APPALLING
The “woke” crowd knows no boundaries when it comes to their behavior. From acts of extreme violence to those boorish and embarrassing, these people beclown themselves at every turn.
The latest episode concerns woke members of certain labor unions.
This week, the Saint Paul Labor Center, a building that houses numerous labor union offices, was opened to members of the Minnesota National Guard who have been deployed in response to the riots in Brooklyn Center.
The building was opened at the invitation of one of the tenants, the Minnesota Pipe Trades.
Leaders of different unions got wind of the hosting and decided to march on their own building to demand the eviction of the Guard members.
A leader of the Minnesota Nurses Association was quoted in the media as follows, “Our position, especially as members of organized labor, is it’s critical that we side with the people on this issue — not the politicians, not the bank owners and not the armed forces that are defending both. Our position has always been, in especially in light of another killing of an unarmed Black man, that we are unequivocal in our support of that community’s right to protest. The infrastructure of labor is not for rent to the people who are suppressing that protest.”
Peak wokeness.
Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin would be proud.
Thankfully, there has been forceful pushback from other labor unions, condemning in no uncertain terms this shameful behavior.
There is clearly a schism happening within organized labor in America.
On one side, you have the “adult” unions that are focused on jobs for members, political pragmatism, and public policy solutions to complex problems.
On the other side are the “juvenile” unions, focused on social justice pap, virtue signaling, political radicalism, and the expenditure of union resources and goodwill on issues that have absolutely nothing to do with improving the terms and conditions of employment for their dues-paying members.
May elected officials on both sides of the aisle take the time to discern the difference.
Treating “labor” as a monolithic entity is unproductive and simply wrong.
Put another way, not all unions are created equal.
THE SPIN MACHINE FIRES UP
The headline this read as thus: Dem Pollsters Acknowledge “Major Errors” in 2020 Polling.
Five of the largest DFL polling firms released a statement this week acknowledging the obvious – that they totally screwed up 2020 election polling, a mea culpa of sorts.
The statement then goes on to list a bunch of excuses as to why things went wrong.
Don’t be fooled. This statement is no mea culpa and it certainly isn’t sincere.
First, it isn’t like 2020 was some aberration. Democrat polls have been wrong for many years and in many federal and state elections.
Hello? Trump 2016 anyone? Remember when Hillary Clinton was predicted a shoo-in for the White House?
Second, and related, these polling firms didn’t “get it wrong.”
In fact, they got it right. You just have to understand the question.
You see, it isn’t about accurate polling that provides a service to both candidates and the public at large.
Instead, it is part and parcel of a massive voter disinformation campaign designed to suppress Republican votes by demoralizing their voters, making it seem like certain races are a forgone conclusion in favor of the Democrat.
This propaganda is then propagated by the legacy media, also an integral part of the Democrat machine.
The pollsters are proven wrong every November, they feign disappointment, profess remorse and the desire to do better, then go right back to the plan.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
The good news is that no thinking citizen swallows this tripe anymore.
The pollsters, like the media, long ago lost all credibility with many Americans.
And with good reason.
Watch. 2022 will be filled with the usual claims that Democrats are going to do great in congressional and legislative elections.
Republicans will do far better than expected, and the pollsters will all profess shock and surprise.
And, as usual, it will all be a bunch of BS.
Don’t believe the polls; don’t believe the media.
April 9th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “There is nobody around who can say Northstar rail hasn’t been given a fair shot. Even on its best days, the numbers were horrible. Ridership is way down and the subsidy is far too high. So, I hope we can realize we gave it our best shot and it didn’t work and put those transit dollars to better use.”
Quote of the Week: "Man, I think most white people and Black people are great people, I really believe that in my heart, but I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer."
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans are committed to no new taxes. Unfortunately, House Democrats are not. As Democrats look to increase taxes on your salary, your, gas, and a plethora of other things Senate Republicans will continue to fight to keep Minnesota affordable for you.”
In This Issue:
TAXES, TAXES, TAXES
There may have never been a worse time in modern Minnesota history to raise taxes, yet here they go again.
The DFL has not only proposed tax increases, they have gone completely bananas and proposed taxes that would be the highest in state history.
Tim Walz and company are making a game effort to compete with New York and California to be the highest taxed state in America.
The fact that Minnesota is lacking Wall Street, Broadway, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and an ocean has not dissuaded this merry band of liberal wack jobs from seeking out job-killing, punitive, confiscatory tax increases.
This is the response to businesses in the state getting hammered by the DFL COVID shutdowns that “the science” has proven were not needed.
Given the state’s budget surplus and billions in funny money flowing from the printing presses in DC, there is no legitimate public policy purpose for tax increases.
Instead, the justification is merely political, to punish the successful and play to their rabid base. This is a political base that despises achievement, denigrates free enterprise, and has a childish faith in the ability of government to solve problems.
Think about the fiscal situation.
The state is projected to have a $1.6 billion budget surplus, one of the largest in modern times.
Moreover, billions in aid is flowing into the state from the profligacy of Sleepy Joe Biden, who may or not be aware of all of this.
In short, the state is drowning in revenue.
Despite the windfall, the DFL tax orgy includes:
Thankfully, these tax increases are dead on arrival with the Senate GOP, which is, thankfully, the back stop against the DFL House majority and a DFL governor who is clearly in over his head.
The next week will see the legislature pass their “omnibus” budget bills through each house.
The week after will see conference committees begin to meet in an effort to hammer out differences.
The legislature, by the constitution, must adjourn no later than May 17th.
If any budget items remain unresolved, a special session would be needed to get things done.
The state’s fiscal year ends June 30th, meaning that any unresolved budget issues would mean a partial government shut down as there would be no funding.
You can bank on the Senate GOP refusing tax increases.
If Walz needs to be taken to a shut down to prove it, so be it.
Quote of the Week: “There is nobody around who can say Northstar rail hasn’t been given a fair shot. Even on its best days, the numbers were horrible. Ridership is way down and the subsidy is far too high. So, I hope we can realize we gave it our best shot and it didn’t work and put those transit dollars to better use.”
- Anoka County Commissioner Scott Schulte
Quote of the Week: "Man, I think most white people and Black people are great people, I really believe that in my heart, but I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer."
- NBA great Charles Barkley
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans are committed to no new taxes. Unfortunately, House Democrats are not. As Democrats look to increase taxes on your salary, your, gas, and a plethora of other things Senate Republicans will continue to fight to keep Minnesota affordable for you.”
- Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka
In This Issue:
- Taxes, Taxes, Taxes.
TAXES, TAXES, TAXES
There may have never been a worse time in modern Minnesota history to raise taxes, yet here they go again.
The DFL has not only proposed tax increases, they have gone completely bananas and proposed taxes that would be the highest in state history.
Tim Walz and company are making a game effort to compete with New York and California to be the highest taxed state in America.
The fact that Minnesota is lacking Wall Street, Broadway, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and an ocean has not dissuaded this merry band of liberal wack jobs from seeking out job-killing, punitive, confiscatory tax increases.
This is the response to businesses in the state getting hammered by the DFL COVID shutdowns that “the science” has proven were not needed.
Given the state’s budget surplus and billions in funny money flowing from the printing presses in DC, there is no legitimate public policy purpose for tax increases.
Instead, the justification is merely political, to punish the successful and play to their rabid base. This is a political base that despises achievement, denigrates free enterprise, and has a childish faith in the ability of government to solve problems.
Think about the fiscal situation.
The state is projected to have a $1.6 billion budget surplus, one of the largest in modern times.
Moreover, billions in aid is flowing into the state from the profligacy of Sleepy Joe Biden, who may or not be aware of all of this.
In short, the state is drowning in revenue.
Despite the windfall, the DFL tax orgy includes:
- $350 million increase in the gas tax
- $1 billion Metro sales tax increase for light rail and transit
- $160 million in vehicle tab fee increases
- $563 million for “fifth tier” income tax bracket at 11.5%
Thankfully, these tax increases are dead on arrival with the Senate GOP, which is, thankfully, the back stop against the DFL House majority and a DFL governor who is clearly in over his head.
The next week will see the legislature pass their “omnibus” budget bills through each house.
The week after will see conference committees begin to meet in an effort to hammer out differences.
The legislature, by the constitution, must adjourn no later than May 17th.
If any budget items remain unresolved, a special session would be needed to get things done.
The state’s fiscal year ends June 30th, meaning that any unresolved budget issues would mean a partial government shut down as there would be no funding.
You can bank on the Senate GOP refusing tax increases.
If Walz needs to be taken to a shut down to prove it, so be it.
April 2nd, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Look at how he steps and look at how I step. Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. OK? Come on.”
Quote of the Week: “So the best way to get something done, if you – if you hold near and dear to you, that you, uh-um, like to be able…anyway.”
In This Issue:
BILL OF THE YEAR
The calendar may have just turned to April, but the Watchdog is already making the call for our “Bill of the Year.”
That bill is HF1993 and its Senate companion SF2244. Both bills finally put a wooden stake through the heart of the tax-dollar-sucking vampire called Northstar Rail.
Authored by Rep. Cal Bahr (R – East Bethel) and Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake), the bill is a one-page declaration of taxpayer freedom wrapped in eloquent prose such as “The council shall immediately terminate all services related to Northstar, including stopping all passenger service, closing all stations, and ending law enforcement services provided by the Metropolitan Transit Police along the route.”
Beautiful.
The beleaguered white elephant has once again caught the attention of lawmakers as the line has experienced a staggering 96% drop in ridership since the pandemic struck, begging the question as to whether it isn’t time to cut losses and finally mothball this loser.
Although this publication has said it before, it’s important to say it again, as the Northstar apologists continue to lie about the line’s past, present, and future.
First, Northstar rail has NEVER met ridership projections. Of course, the goalposts have been moved over the years to show the line as less of a loser than it really is. The original slogan that the line would equal “one and a half lanes on Highway 10” never came close.
Second, the lie will be told that Northstar ridership will rebound once the pandemic passes.
Rebound to what, is the question. The answer likely is a rebound to the previous abysmal numbers.
Again, ridership projections have never been met, and the pandemic is only one small part of the story.
Then, of course, is the grand old chestnut that Northstar would be a raging success if only those intransigent Republicans hadn’t stopped the line from going to Saint Cloud.
Again, the line didn’t go to Saint Cloud (actually Rice, MN) because the line under that scenario failed to meet FTA metrics for viability – period. It wasn’t because of Republicans, even though so many of them foolishly supported the line.
This “line to Saint Cloud” narrative is a bunch of bunk and shouldn’t be given any credence.
Saint Cloud, Minnesota is a small city. In fact, it isn’t even in the top ten for state population.
Yeah, extending the train to the 542nd largest city in America will fix things – NOT.
Northstar commuter rail is a loser and it always was.
The line was nothing more than a vanity project for Dan Erhart and the other Anoka County commissioners to satisfy their political “short man’s syndrome” to put Anoka County “on the map.”
Whether it was the stupid idea that the county tax base could support a pro football venue or this train, Erhart and company never ceased to embarrass themselves with their “Waiting for Guffman” behavior.
The train imploding is a fitting epilogue to an era of county government that is finally washing out of the body politic in Anoka County.
THE LEVIATHAN – PART XXVII
Tell us if you’ve heard this one before: state agency is found to have wasted money, not followed the law, failed to follow internal rules, and is filled with staff who are lacking the skills, experience, training, and competence to do the job.
Tell us if you recall the Minnesota Department of Human Services being described in such a way as recently as 2019.
Well, here they go again.
Because regulators smelled so much smoke with 2019 audit that uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse, they decided to see if there was some fire, so to speak, with a follow up audit.
And to no one’s surprise, it was fire they found.
Specifically, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) conducted a deeper dive in the Human Services Behavioral Health Division (BHD) grant awarding process.
What the OLA found wasn’t pretty.
Here are some of the conclusions:
OLA also found that the Department of Human Services, through its Behavioral Health Division, did not comply with legal requirements and state policies related to grant oversight.
The OLA found some 14 major deficiencies during their audit, including phrases like:
The rest of this all-too-familiar passion play will come to pass, with the agency leadership acting contrite and pledging to do better next time.
Then the next time will come and then the next and then the next.
These examples of egregious government waste, fraud and abuse are all too frequent here in Minnesota, happening across numerous agencies (MNLARS, anyone?).
Perhaps it’s time to admit that there is a limit to size and scope of government and that once that limit is surpassed, government borders on the ungovernable.
Government at some point simply becomes too unwieldy to fulfill its assigned mission, help the people its supposed to help, and honor the taxpayers by properly and efficiently deployed allocated resources.
After all, who’s being well served by the current system? It appears that the bureaucrats are only ones getting better from this state of affairs.
Perhaps the best way to serve the least among us is to limit the help government can offer but ensure that the help that is given is efficient, competent, meaningful, and worthy of taxpayer support.
What is the limit of effective and efficient government?
This is the question that should be asked and debated.
We’re at that point.
Quote of the Week: “Look at how he steps and look at how I step. Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. OK? Come on.”
- Joe Biden, referring to President Trump, said in September of 2020
Quote of the Week: “So the best way to get something done, if you – if you hold near and dear to you, that you, uh-um, like to be able…anyway.”
- President Joe Biden
In This Issue:
- Bill of the Year;
- The Leviathan – Part XXVII.
BILL OF THE YEAR
The calendar may have just turned to April, but the Watchdog is already making the call for our “Bill of the Year.”
That bill is HF1993 and its Senate companion SF2244. Both bills finally put a wooden stake through the heart of the tax-dollar-sucking vampire called Northstar Rail.
Authored by Rep. Cal Bahr (R – East Bethel) and Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake), the bill is a one-page declaration of taxpayer freedom wrapped in eloquent prose such as “The council shall immediately terminate all services related to Northstar, including stopping all passenger service, closing all stations, and ending law enforcement services provided by the Metropolitan Transit Police along the route.”
Beautiful.
The beleaguered white elephant has once again caught the attention of lawmakers as the line has experienced a staggering 96% drop in ridership since the pandemic struck, begging the question as to whether it isn’t time to cut losses and finally mothball this loser.
Although this publication has said it before, it’s important to say it again, as the Northstar apologists continue to lie about the line’s past, present, and future.
First, Northstar rail has NEVER met ridership projections. Of course, the goalposts have been moved over the years to show the line as less of a loser than it really is. The original slogan that the line would equal “one and a half lanes on Highway 10” never came close.
Second, the lie will be told that Northstar ridership will rebound once the pandemic passes.
Rebound to what, is the question. The answer likely is a rebound to the previous abysmal numbers.
Again, ridership projections have never been met, and the pandemic is only one small part of the story.
Then, of course, is the grand old chestnut that Northstar would be a raging success if only those intransigent Republicans hadn’t stopped the line from going to Saint Cloud.
Again, the line didn’t go to Saint Cloud (actually Rice, MN) because the line under that scenario failed to meet FTA metrics for viability – period. It wasn’t because of Republicans, even though so many of them foolishly supported the line.
This “line to Saint Cloud” narrative is a bunch of bunk and shouldn’t be given any credence.
Saint Cloud, Minnesota is a small city. In fact, it isn’t even in the top ten for state population.
Yeah, extending the train to the 542nd largest city in America will fix things – NOT.
Northstar commuter rail is a loser and it always was.
The line was nothing more than a vanity project for Dan Erhart and the other Anoka County commissioners to satisfy their political “short man’s syndrome” to put Anoka County “on the map.”
Whether it was the stupid idea that the county tax base could support a pro football venue or this train, Erhart and company never ceased to embarrass themselves with their “Waiting for Guffman” behavior.
The train imploding is a fitting epilogue to an era of county government that is finally washing out of the body politic in Anoka County.
THE LEVIATHAN – PART XXVII
Tell us if you’ve heard this one before: state agency is found to have wasted money, not followed the law, failed to follow internal rules, and is filled with staff who are lacking the skills, experience, training, and competence to do the job.
Tell us if you recall the Minnesota Department of Human Services being described in such a way as recently as 2019.
Well, here they go again.
Because regulators smelled so much smoke with 2019 audit that uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse, they decided to see if there was some fire, so to speak, with a follow up audit.
And to no one’s surprise, it was fire they found.
Specifically, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) conducted a deeper dive in the Human Services Behavioral Health Division (BHD) grant awarding process.
What the OLA found wasn’t pretty.
Here are some of the conclusions:
- Throughout this report, we cite the grant administration controls DHS should have had in place and how, lacking those controls, it failed to comply with a significant number of important policy and legal requirements.
- OLA found that internal controls over the areas in our audit scope were not adequate to ensure that DHS, through its Behavioral Health Division, safeguarded assets and ensured compliance with legal requirements and state policies related to grant oversight.
OLA also found that the Department of Human Services, through its Behavioral Health Division, did not comply with legal requirements and state policies related to grant oversight.
The OLA found some 14 major deficiencies during their audit, including phrases like:
- Administrators did not ensure that employees had the appropriate skills, knowledge, and job descriptions…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not comply with state requirements…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not ensure that appropriate staff approved advance payments…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not ensure grantees submitted required progress reports…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not conduct and document required monitoring…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not conduct and document required financial reconciliations…
- The DHS Behavioral Health Division did not complete required closeout evaluations…
The rest of this all-too-familiar passion play will come to pass, with the agency leadership acting contrite and pledging to do better next time.
Then the next time will come and then the next and then the next.
These examples of egregious government waste, fraud and abuse are all too frequent here in Minnesota, happening across numerous agencies (MNLARS, anyone?).
Perhaps it’s time to admit that there is a limit to size and scope of government and that once that limit is surpassed, government borders on the ungovernable.
Government at some point simply becomes too unwieldy to fulfill its assigned mission, help the people its supposed to help, and honor the taxpayers by properly and efficiently deployed allocated resources.
After all, who’s being well served by the current system? It appears that the bureaucrats are only ones getting better from this state of affairs.
Perhaps the best way to serve the least among us is to limit the help government can offer but ensure that the help that is given is efficient, competent, meaningful, and worthy of taxpayer support.
What is the limit of effective and efficient government?
This is the question that should be asked and debated.
We’re at that point.
March 19th, 2021
Quote of the Week: "Let me be clear: There is no room in our classrooms for things like critical race theory. Teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money."
Quote of the Week: “If you’re waiting for permission from the chief executive to celebrate Independence Day with your family, you clearly don’t grasp the concept of Independence.”
Factoid of the Week: No woman has run faster than Flo-Jo, who set records still unbroken 33 years later. You know who has run faster? 76 high-school boys in the US in 2019.
In This Issue:
EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
So, Governor Tim Walz again finds himself in quarantine because of COVID-19 exposure.
This development has sparked a debate over whether or not he should have been vaccinated.
The Watchdog isn’t so partisan that we would attack Walz over this situation.
While he may have wanted to avoid the optics of “jumping the line”, there is enough vaccine in stock to get the chief executive inoculated.
Go get it done, Tim.
This is especially true since the governor is over age 50 and is clearly overweight.
No reasonable person can attack the governor in this regard, just as the crazy Left shouldn’t have attacked Sen. Gazelka for suggesting the same for legislators.
The Capitol is under lockdown right now, closed to the public. How ironic that the People’s House is closed to The People.
Walz should lead the parade and let the state know it’s okay to get in line, just as it’s okay to stay out of line, if that’s what one’s conscience dictates.
STICK IT IN YOUR EARMARK
Donald Trump did his best to drain the Swamp.
The fact that he was persecuted for four years by the Establishment proves it.
And now we see why.
Just weeks into the Biden administration, the old way of doing business returns to Washington.
The latest manifestation of Swamp Fever is a return of “earmarks”, a process whereby members of Congress to allocate money for a specific project, like a bridge.
Ten years ago, Republicans banned the practice after notoriously wasteful projects were highlighted, such as the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska.
Sources say the House GOP voted 102-84 in favor of resuming earmarks.
The justification for returning to this swampy practice is that the Democrats are doing it, so a failure to participate in the scam would be a “disadvantage” somehow.
The other alibi is that if Congress doesn’t earmark, project selection would fall to the agencies, such as the federal Department of Transportation, which is under the leadership, ultimately, of President Biden.
What a crock.
Earmarking is a scummy practice that allows members of Congress to steer projects to their district, regardless of need or merit.
Refusing to participate in this scam is both good politics and good public policy.
Agencies have an objective “scoring” process to select projects, which is preferable to earmarks, which are governed by nothing more than political considerations and raw political power.
Calling BS on the return of earmarks would provide the House GOP with a high-profile point of contrast with House Democrats going into the pivotal 2022 elections, a cycle where Republicans rightly feel good about retaking the majority.
This publication fails to see how climbing in the gutter with Democrats enhances election prospects.
It seems that every day, Republicans sully their brand with political moves that dull the lines of difference with Democrats.
For example, Republicans long ago lost credibility on the issue of the national debt and deficit spending, in the process vaporizing their reputation for fiscal responsibility and accountability.
So long as the House GOP acts like this, voters will ask why they should vote GOP.
After all, why vote for fake Democrats when you can vote for the real thing.
Republicans are attempting to paper over the controversy by pointing to some “reforms” in the process that allegedly make the process “transparent” and therefore acceptable.
Nope. You can put lipstick on a pig but a pig is still a pig.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has it right, saying, “We’ve got $30 trillion in debt, and people are tired of the swamp. And the GOP should be ashamed of itself if it jumps headfirst right back into the swamp.”
Quote of the Week: "Let me be clear: There is no room in our classrooms for things like critical race theory. Teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money."
- FL Governor Ron DeSantis
Quote of the Week: “If you’re waiting for permission from the chief executive to celebrate Independence Day with your family, you clearly don’t grasp the concept of Independence.”
- Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4)
Factoid of the Week: No woman has run faster than Flo-Jo, who set records still unbroken 33 years later. You know who has run faster? 76 high-school boys in the US in 2019.
- Sen. Tom Cotton (R – AR)
In This Issue:
- Executive Privilege;
- Stick it in Your Earmark;
EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
So, Governor Tim Walz again finds himself in quarantine because of COVID-19 exposure.
This development has sparked a debate over whether or not he should have been vaccinated.
The Watchdog isn’t so partisan that we would attack Walz over this situation.
While he may have wanted to avoid the optics of “jumping the line”, there is enough vaccine in stock to get the chief executive inoculated.
Go get it done, Tim.
This is especially true since the governor is over age 50 and is clearly overweight.
No reasonable person can attack the governor in this regard, just as the crazy Left shouldn’t have attacked Sen. Gazelka for suggesting the same for legislators.
The Capitol is under lockdown right now, closed to the public. How ironic that the People’s House is closed to The People.
Walz should lead the parade and let the state know it’s okay to get in line, just as it’s okay to stay out of line, if that’s what one’s conscience dictates.
STICK IT IN YOUR EARMARK
Donald Trump did his best to drain the Swamp.
The fact that he was persecuted for four years by the Establishment proves it.
And now we see why.
Just weeks into the Biden administration, the old way of doing business returns to Washington.
The latest manifestation of Swamp Fever is a return of “earmarks”, a process whereby members of Congress to allocate money for a specific project, like a bridge.
Ten years ago, Republicans banned the practice after notoriously wasteful projects were highlighted, such as the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska.
Sources say the House GOP voted 102-84 in favor of resuming earmarks.
The justification for returning to this swampy practice is that the Democrats are doing it, so a failure to participate in the scam would be a “disadvantage” somehow.
The other alibi is that if Congress doesn’t earmark, project selection would fall to the agencies, such as the federal Department of Transportation, which is under the leadership, ultimately, of President Biden.
What a crock.
Earmarking is a scummy practice that allows members of Congress to steer projects to their district, regardless of need or merit.
Refusing to participate in this scam is both good politics and good public policy.
Agencies have an objective “scoring” process to select projects, which is preferable to earmarks, which are governed by nothing more than political considerations and raw political power.
Calling BS on the return of earmarks would provide the House GOP with a high-profile point of contrast with House Democrats going into the pivotal 2022 elections, a cycle where Republicans rightly feel good about retaking the majority.
This publication fails to see how climbing in the gutter with Democrats enhances election prospects.
It seems that every day, Republicans sully their brand with political moves that dull the lines of difference with Democrats.
For example, Republicans long ago lost credibility on the issue of the national debt and deficit spending, in the process vaporizing their reputation for fiscal responsibility and accountability.
So long as the House GOP acts like this, voters will ask why they should vote GOP.
After all, why vote for fake Democrats when you can vote for the real thing.
Republicans are attempting to paper over the controversy by pointing to some “reforms” in the process that allegedly make the process “transparent” and therefore acceptable.
Nope. You can put lipstick on a pig but a pig is still a pig.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has it right, saying, “We’ve got $30 trillion in debt, and people are tired of the swamp. And the GOP should be ashamed of itself if it jumps headfirst right back into the swamp.”
March 5, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to heal.”
Quote of the Week: “Government can and should be doing more to help workers and families. And the ultra-wealthy can and should be paying more of their fair share. Nothing about Minnesota’s surplus projection changes that.”
Factoid of the Week: Dr. Tony Fauci is the highest paid federal bureaucrat, at $417,608 annually. By comparison, the president of the United States makes $400,000. The chief justice of the Supreme Court makes $267,000.
In This Issue:
NO SURPRISE
Were any of you actually, truly, sincerely thinking the Democrats would govern as moderates? Did you really believe in the whole “unity and healing” shtick?
Sucker.
Of course, the Democrats abandoned the “unity and healing” gimmick once they got power. It was never a public policy goal. It was merely an expedient political lie, a deceit to be swallowed whole by millions of the gullible.
After all, if you can be made to believe that Trump is a Russian agent, Brett Kavanaugh is a gang rapist, and all we need is 15 days to flatten the curve, you will certainly believe Joe Biden is interested in leading a united country.
While we haven’t seen the president for 43 days (they must have relocated the Delaware basement to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), we have certainly seen his policy craft at work.
We have seen major bill after major bill passed with ZERO Republican votes.
That’s saying something. When every single member of the House GOP Conference votes, in toto, against a bill, it’s a big deal.
It’s almost like failing a high school class. You have to work really hard to do it.
Biden’s legislation should pick up a couple of GOP votes by default.
The same holds true for the Woke DFL crowd down in Saint Paul.
Their catalog of extreme and laughable legislation could occupy the next 15 editions of the Watchdog.
Putting mask mandates into law. Reverse discrimination bills. Defund the police. Abortion on demand (aka “pregnancy care”).
Perhaps the most emblematic piece of legislation in this regard is the governor’s DFL budget proposal.
The proposal contains over $1 billion in tax increases, including regressive taxes on the poor.
And even after the most recent state budget forecast showed a significant surplus, the DFL is doubling down on these tax increases.
Think about it.
We have a state budget surplus.
Washington is on the verge of sending hundreds of billions in debt-financed dollars directly to the states.
Minnesota, thanks to Walz, has seen the private economy devastated, with thousands of businesses permanently closed as a result of unnecessary, unproductive lock downs.
And the DFL still wants tax increases?
No wonder the DFL failed to take over the state Senate and came within a whisker of losing the House.
No wonder the GOP did so well around the country last November.
The Democrats will certainly pursue their Woke agenda until the 2022 elections.
And the GOP would have it no other way.
No wonder the few moderate Dems who are left are fretting.
2022 can’t come fast enough.
THE “EXPERTS” WERE WRONG
Remember Joe Biden’s famous proclamation, “This is dark winter ahead” regarding COVID?
Or Tim Walz’s declaration that we would have tens of thousands of dead by July – of 2020?
And these guys aren’t even experts at anything, except grifting.
The real public health “experts” were also wrong.
Their predictions of millions dead, lockdowns for years, and COVID’s lethality and transmissibility, were all wrong.
Instead, the real epidemic, the real tragedy, was the havoc wreaked by government fiat, all based on their bogus claims.
Economic dislocation, addiction, mental health issues, isolation, educational disaster, all because of their failure to properly assess the situation in a rational, logical manner.
The experts who were correct were ignored, ridiculed, and “cancelled at the stake” in a manner not dissimilar from the way geocentric heretics were burned at the stake centuries ago.
History will not judge kindly these purveyors of panic porn.
If history is just, this chapter will be viewed in the same manner as other similar mania, such as the Salem Witch Trials.
One of the heroes of this episode is Dr. John Loannidis of Stanford Medical School.
The good doctor has succinctly captured the tragedy by describing the COVID panic porn as a “once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.”
He has also said, “Unfortunately, we do not know if these measures work.… [w]e don’t know how long social distancing measures and lockdowns can be maintained without major consequences to the economy, society, and mental health.”
Another guy who has been both hero and goat on this issue is Minnesota’s own Dr. Michael Osterholm, who has been on both sides of the COVID debate.
Here, we’ll choose to follow the “good” Osterholm, who said back in March 2020: “Covid-19 will go away eventually in one of two ways. Either we will develop a vaccine to prevent it, or the virus will burn itself out as the spread of infection comes to confer a form of herd immunity on the population.”
He also said: “Consider the effect of shutting down offices, schools, transportation systems, restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, concert halls, sporting events and other venues indefinitely and leaving all of their workers unemployed and on the public dole. The likely result would be not just a depression but a complete economic breakdown, with countless permanently lost jobs, long before a vaccine is ready or natural immunity takes hold. We can’t have everyone stay home and still produce and distribute the basics needed to sustain life and fight the disease.”
And, finally, there is Dr. Knut Wittkowski. In a quote that should be engraved on the walls of the Capitol in Saint Paul, said of the lockdowns, “I think people in the United States … are more docile than they should be.”
Indeed, doctor. Indeed.
Quote of the Week: “Now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to heal.”
- Dotard-in-Chief Joe Biden
Quote of the Week: “Government can and should be doing more to help workers and families. And the ultra-wealthy can and should be paying more of their fair share. Nothing about Minnesota’s surplus projection changes that.”
- House DFL Majority Leader Ryan Winkler
Factoid of the Week: Dr. Tony Fauci is the highest paid federal bureaucrat, at $417,608 annually. By comparison, the president of the United States makes $400,000. The chief justice of the Supreme Court makes $267,000.
In This Issue:
- No Surprise;
- The “Experts” Were Wrong;
NO SURPRISE
Were any of you actually, truly, sincerely thinking the Democrats would govern as moderates? Did you really believe in the whole “unity and healing” shtick?
Sucker.
Of course, the Democrats abandoned the “unity and healing” gimmick once they got power. It was never a public policy goal. It was merely an expedient political lie, a deceit to be swallowed whole by millions of the gullible.
After all, if you can be made to believe that Trump is a Russian agent, Brett Kavanaugh is a gang rapist, and all we need is 15 days to flatten the curve, you will certainly believe Joe Biden is interested in leading a united country.
While we haven’t seen the president for 43 days (they must have relocated the Delaware basement to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), we have certainly seen his policy craft at work.
We have seen major bill after major bill passed with ZERO Republican votes.
That’s saying something. When every single member of the House GOP Conference votes, in toto, against a bill, it’s a big deal.
It’s almost like failing a high school class. You have to work really hard to do it.
Biden’s legislation should pick up a couple of GOP votes by default.
The same holds true for the Woke DFL crowd down in Saint Paul.
Their catalog of extreme and laughable legislation could occupy the next 15 editions of the Watchdog.
Putting mask mandates into law. Reverse discrimination bills. Defund the police. Abortion on demand (aka “pregnancy care”).
Perhaps the most emblematic piece of legislation in this regard is the governor’s DFL budget proposal.
The proposal contains over $1 billion in tax increases, including regressive taxes on the poor.
And even after the most recent state budget forecast showed a significant surplus, the DFL is doubling down on these tax increases.
Think about it.
We have a state budget surplus.
Washington is on the verge of sending hundreds of billions in debt-financed dollars directly to the states.
Minnesota, thanks to Walz, has seen the private economy devastated, with thousands of businesses permanently closed as a result of unnecessary, unproductive lock downs.
And the DFL still wants tax increases?
No wonder the DFL failed to take over the state Senate and came within a whisker of losing the House.
No wonder the GOP did so well around the country last November.
The Democrats will certainly pursue their Woke agenda until the 2022 elections.
And the GOP would have it no other way.
No wonder the few moderate Dems who are left are fretting.
2022 can’t come fast enough.
THE “EXPERTS” WERE WRONG
Remember Joe Biden’s famous proclamation, “This is dark winter ahead” regarding COVID?
Or Tim Walz’s declaration that we would have tens of thousands of dead by July – of 2020?
And these guys aren’t even experts at anything, except grifting.
The real public health “experts” were also wrong.
Their predictions of millions dead, lockdowns for years, and COVID’s lethality and transmissibility, were all wrong.
Instead, the real epidemic, the real tragedy, was the havoc wreaked by government fiat, all based on their bogus claims.
Economic dislocation, addiction, mental health issues, isolation, educational disaster, all because of their failure to properly assess the situation in a rational, logical manner.
The experts who were correct were ignored, ridiculed, and “cancelled at the stake” in a manner not dissimilar from the way geocentric heretics were burned at the stake centuries ago.
History will not judge kindly these purveyors of panic porn.
If history is just, this chapter will be viewed in the same manner as other similar mania, such as the Salem Witch Trials.
One of the heroes of this episode is Dr. John Loannidis of Stanford Medical School.
The good doctor has succinctly captured the tragedy by describing the COVID panic porn as a “once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.”
He has also said, “Unfortunately, we do not know if these measures work.… [w]e don’t know how long social distancing measures and lockdowns can be maintained without major consequences to the economy, society, and mental health.”
Another guy who has been both hero and goat on this issue is Minnesota’s own Dr. Michael Osterholm, who has been on both sides of the COVID debate.
Here, we’ll choose to follow the “good” Osterholm, who said back in March 2020: “Covid-19 will go away eventually in one of two ways. Either we will develop a vaccine to prevent it, or the virus will burn itself out as the spread of infection comes to confer a form of herd immunity on the population.”
He also said: “Consider the effect of shutting down offices, schools, transportation systems, restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, concert halls, sporting events and other venues indefinitely and leaving all of their workers unemployed and on the public dole. The likely result would be not just a depression but a complete economic breakdown, with countless permanently lost jobs, long before a vaccine is ready or natural immunity takes hold. We can’t have everyone stay home and still produce and distribute the basics needed to sustain life and fight the disease.”
And, finally, there is Dr. Knut Wittkowski. In a quote that should be engraved on the walls of the Capitol in Saint Paul, said of the lockdowns, “I think people in the United States … are more docile than they should be.”
Indeed, doctor. Indeed.
February 26, 2021
Quote of the Week: “North Star was a loser before and ridership may never come back and it was never financially feasible. So, I think we should continue to press and look harder to mothball North Star possibly.”
Quote of the Week: “What I saw during my presidency was the politics of white resistance and resentment, the talk of welfare queens and the talk of the undeserving poor and the backlash against affirmative action. All that made the prospect of actually proposing any kind of coherent, meaningful reparations program struck me as, politically, not only a non-starter but potentially counter-productive.”
In This Issue:
FACILE WRITING 101
No reasonable person would describe the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a serious, thought-provoking, scholarly publication.
Having said that, the paper really outdid itself this week by publishing one of the most juvenile, ridiculous, unpersuasive opinion pieces which we have ever had the misfortune of reading.
The piece was written by one Erin Maye Quade, who describes herself (apologies if she identifies otherwise), as the “campaign manager and coalitions director” of a group called “UnRestrict Minnesota.” We hope no one got paid a lot to come up with that bland, vapid name.
The thesis of the piece is that two Republican state Senators, Michelle Benson and Julia Coleman, have “elevated” “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric against people who “access pregnancy care” (translation: get abortions).
This is a serious charge. Cutting through the liberal muck speech, Quade accuses Benson and Coleman of fomenting (inciting?) violence against others.
That’s the thesis and that’s the charge.
Yet, after 16 paragraphs of grade school prose, she offers not a single example of this “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric.
You have to be joking.
Every middle schooler (when they’re actually in school) learns that the thesis sentence is then supported thereafter.
In any school that doesn’t engage in outcome-based education, this piece would earn an “F” and perhaps not even qualify for a participation ribbon.
Moreover, the piece was doomed from start, given that the thesis was also poorly constructed, overly vague and lacking in coherency.
What does it mean to “elevate” one’s rhetoric?
What exactly is “dangerous” rhetoric?
What does the author mean by saying that this “dangerous” rhetoric “targeted” women to get abortions?
While Quade utterly failed in her mission to stain Benson and Coleman’s reputations as legislators, she proved two other points beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt.
One, Quade’s vague, non-sensical, opaque speech patterns epitomize the results wrought by today’s public school system.
She represents the millions of young people churned out by the public school system who are totally incapable of rational, logical, dispassionate thought and analysis.
Instead, emotional, illogical, feel-good double speak and the regurgitation of political slogans are prized.
“Pregnancy care.” Classic.
Two, Quade represents the worst of the Left’s intolerant, venomous, Cancel Culture.
In a sense, her miserable show in persuasive writing is irrelevant because that wasn’t the real mission.
The real mission was to hurl the smear and run, knowing that the target audience, like the author, would have no real interest in a truly persuasive piece.
So long as the right-wingers got kicked, that’s all that matters.
Likely, Quade’s social media blew up afterwards, with accolades from like-minded haters.
Surely, any smear hurled in the name of “pregnancy care” is justified and applauded by today’s Left.
What’s next, Star Tribune, glorifying vandalism and violence in the name of environmentalism?
“Young Minnesotans find 'calling' leading Line 3 pipeline protests” (Strib 2/23/21)
(Editor’s Note: The Watchdog no longer links articles from the MST. They don’t deserve the clicks).
And the Left decries “extremism.”
SOMETIMES, BEING RIGHT IS TOO EASY
While the Watchdog is right nearly all the time on every issue, sometimes the prediction is easy money, like fishing with dynamite.
Such is the case in predicting the failure of Northstar commuter rail.
Since the Watchdog’s inception in 2005, this publication has consistently pointed out the failure of this ill-conceived white elephant.
It wasn’t too hard to see that a fixed-rail train line running through lightly populated (by mass transit metrics) exurban and rural counties would fail.
Recall that the original line was supposed to terminate in the tiny burgh of Rice, MN, up in Benton County.
And while we always maintained that Northstar was a loser that stunk like burned money, we never thought it would get this bad.
A recent news report states that ridership on the line is down a whopping 80% in 2020.
Note that this is an 80% drop from the line’s already pathetic ridership numbers.
Want another mind-blowing number?
The taxpayer subsidy per rider is a whopping $400 per ride.
You could fly riders by helicopter for that number.
As State Rep. Koznick noted in our “quote of the week”, Northstar has always been a loser.
The line has NEVER met promised ridership numbers. Ever.
So, policy makers shouldn’t buy the bunk narrative that ridership will come back after Tim Jong Walz deigns to reopen our republic.
The line was promised to be the equivalent to 1.5 lanes of traffic on Highway 10.
Right.
And no, extending the line won’t fix it.
There is a false narrative that conservative politicians cut the northern terminus from Rice down to Big Lake, thereby preventing a stop in the cosmopolitan city of Saint Cloud.
Wrong.
The line was cut because the original proposed line failed to meet the Federal Transit Administration’s metrics for funding.
In short, the line up to Saint Cloud wasn’t viable.
Now we’re seen that the line up to Big Lake isn’t, either.
Rep. Koznick is absolutely right.
Mothball this sucker and cut the losses.
White elephant.
Shame on those who ripped off the taxpayers and voted for this crap.
Quote of the Week: “North Star was a loser before and ridership may never come back and it was never financially feasible. So, I think we should continue to press and look harder to mothball North Star possibly.”
- State Rep. Jon Koznick (R – Lakeville)
Quote of the Week: “What I saw during my presidency was the politics of white resistance and resentment, the talk of welfare queens and the talk of the undeserving poor and the backlash against affirmative action. All that made the prospect of actually proposing any kind of coherent, meaningful reparations program struck me as, politically, not only a non-starter but potentially counter-productive.”
- Barak Obama (2/22/21)
In This Issue:
- Facile Writing 101;
- Sometimes, Being Right is Too Easy.
FACILE WRITING 101
No reasonable person would describe the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a serious, thought-provoking, scholarly publication.
Having said that, the paper really outdid itself this week by publishing one of the most juvenile, ridiculous, unpersuasive opinion pieces which we have ever had the misfortune of reading.
The piece was written by one Erin Maye Quade, who describes herself (apologies if she identifies otherwise), as the “campaign manager and coalitions director” of a group called “UnRestrict Minnesota.” We hope no one got paid a lot to come up with that bland, vapid name.
The thesis of the piece is that two Republican state Senators, Michelle Benson and Julia Coleman, have “elevated” “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric against people who “access pregnancy care” (translation: get abortions).
This is a serious charge. Cutting through the liberal muck speech, Quade accuses Benson and Coleman of fomenting (inciting?) violence against others.
That’s the thesis and that’s the charge.
Yet, after 16 paragraphs of grade school prose, she offers not a single example of this “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric.
You have to be joking.
Every middle schooler (when they’re actually in school) learns that the thesis sentence is then supported thereafter.
In any school that doesn’t engage in outcome-based education, this piece would earn an “F” and perhaps not even qualify for a participation ribbon.
Moreover, the piece was doomed from start, given that the thesis was also poorly constructed, overly vague and lacking in coherency.
What does it mean to “elevate” one’s rhetoric?
What exactly is “dangerous” rhetoric?
What does the author mean by saying that this “dangerous” rhetoric “targeted” women to get abortions?
While Quade utterly failed in her mission to stain Benson and Coleman’s reputations as legislators, she proved two other points beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt.
One, Quade’s vague, non-sensical, opaque speech patterns epitomize the results wrought by today’s public school system.
She represents the millions of young people churned out by the public school system who are totally incapable of rational, logical, dispassionate thought and analysis.
Instead, emotional, illogical, feel-good double speak and the regurgitation of political slogans are prized.
“Pregnancy care.” Classic.
Two, Quade represents the worst of the Left’s intolerant, venomous, Cancel Culture.
In a sense, her miserable show in persuasive writing is irrelevant because that wasn’t the real mission.
The real mission was to hurl the smear and run, knowing that the target audience, like the author, would have no real interest in a truly persuasive piece.
So long as the right-wingers got kicked, that’s all that matters.
Likely, Quade’s social media blew up afterwards, with accolades from like-minded haters.
Surely, any smear hurled in the name of “pregnancy care” is justified and applauded by today’s Left.
What’s next, Star Tribune, glorifying vandalism and violence in the name of environmentalism?
“Young Minnesotans find 'calling' leading Line 3 pipeline protests” (Strib 2/23/21)
(Editor’s Note: The Watchdog no longer links articles from the MST. They don’t deserve the clicks).
And the Left decries “extremism.”
SOMETIMES, BEING RIGHT IS TOO EASY
While the Watchdog is right nearly all the time on every issue, sometimes the prediction is easy money, like fishing with dynamite.
Such is the case in predicting the failure of Northstar commuter rail.
Since the Watchdog’s inception in 2005, this publication has consistently pointed out the failure of this ill-conceived white elephant.
It wasn’t too hard to see that a fixed-rail train line running through lightly populated (by mass transit metrics) exurban and rural counties would fail.
Recall that the original line was supposed to terminate in the tiny burgh of Rice, MN, up in Benton County.
And while we always maintained that Northstar was a loser that stunk like burned money, we never thought it would get this bad.
A recent news report states that ridership on the line is down a whopping 80% in 2020.
Note that this is an 80% drop from the line’s already pathetic ridership numbers.
Want another mind-blowing number?
The taxpayer subsidy per rider is a whopping $400 per ride.
You could fly riders by helicopter for that number.
As State Rep. Koznick noted in our “quote of the week”, Northstar has always been a loser.
The line has NEVER met promised ridership numbers. Ever.
So, policy makers shouldn’t buy the bunk narrative that ridership will come back after Tim Jong Walz deigns to reopen our republic.
The line was promised to be the equivalent to 1.5 lanes of traffic on Highway 10.
Right.
And no, extending the line won’t fix it.
There is a false narrative that conservative politicians cut the northern terminus from Rice down to Big Lake, thereby preventing a stop in the cosmopolitan city of Saint Cloud.
Wrong.
The line was cut because the original proposed line failed to meet the Federal Transit Administration’s metrics for funding.
In short, the line up to Saint Cloud wasn’t viable.
Now we’re seen that the line up to Big Lake isn’t, either.
Rep. Koznick is absolutely right.
Mothball this sucker and cut the losses.
White elephant.
Shame on those who ripped off the taxpayers and voted for this crap.
February 19th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “I’m literally humbled to have my name mentioned. There’s a lot of conversations that need to be had. I’ll never say never. I’m keeping all options open, but I was just reelected, and I have a great opportunity to represent the constituents of the 8th District in Congress.” (In reference to the office of Governor of the State of Minnesota)
Factoid of the Week: On this date in 1942, FDR signed executive order 9066, which sent thousands of Japanese Americans into forced exile for 2.5 years. Timely for today.
Poll of the Week: 76 percent of U.S. adults said the national anthem should be played prior to professional sporting events, including 60 percent who said it should “definitely” be part of the pregame.
Editor’s Note: It’s truly amazing to see how Donald Trump still lives in the heads of so many liberals. They got the memo that he’s left public office, right?
In This Issue:
THE CLEAN ENERGY FIASCO
Much has been written regarding the recent meltdown of Texas’s energy grid, resulting in death, hardship, and the near collapse of their entire system, which would have taken months to repair.
Like everything in our lives, the issue has become politicized, with environmental wackos rushing to blame everything but renewable energy sources, along with their Hollywood funders taking joy in the suffering of fellow Americans.
Heck, if they can politicize baseball and wearing socks, they can politicize electricity.
The reality is that the fiasco in Texas has laid bare the situation into which environmental extremists and their politician allies have placed us.
In short, reliability has been sacrificed at the altar of environmental radicalism.
Note that the phrase is “environmental radicalism.”
This is to say that including renewable generation sources in the generation mix is desirable.
Wind and solar power aren’t inherently poor public policy.
But heavily subsidizing these sources to grossly distort markets is poor public policy.
Failing to prioritize reliability as the cornerstone of good energy policy is horrible public policy.
Apologists for Renewable Dogma can spin the Texas situation all they want, but the simple fact remains.
Wind doesn’t always blow.
The sun doesn’t always shine.
Therefore, these sources of generation by definition aren’t reliable.
The reality is that our public policy has pursued “green” energy at the expense of reliability.
In doing so, renewable advocates have done a disservice to their own cause.
Look for a strong course correction in favor of reliability.
There may be a day when technology makes these sources reliable and part of a grid’s baseload calculus. For example, quantum leaps in battery technology may get us there.
But that isn’t today.
And lest you think the pain was limited to Texas, know that rolling blackouts hit North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of western Minnesota.
Rolling blackouts could continue in Dakotas, Minnesota as winter tests region's power grid | INFORUM
That’s something you probably didn’t see highlighted by the mainstream media.
That would hamper the media agitprop that this is a Texas problem brought on by deregulation and a failure of government to put the grid under the yoke of bureaucrats.
This, by the way, is also why there is a fixation on Sen. Ted Cruz being gone for one day while Joe Biden gets a pass.
Yes, Cruz made a bonehead move, but one that certainly didn’t make anyone’s life worse.
The Rule here is that the mainstream media will persecute the highest-ranking Republican in any crisis.
Imagine if we had a Republican president right now.
The headlines would announce that this crisis is President XXX’s “Katrina” moment.
The news would be chock-full of stories about the slow federal response, wondering why the 82nd Airborne hadn’t yet been deployed to Eagle Fart, TX to thaw out that frozen septic pump, chop firewood for the local orphan’s home, or jump start Jethro Jones’ stalled F-150.
Yet nary a peep from the White House press Corps.
Give it a week, and the fawning stories of Uncle Joe’s decisive and timely leadership will spew forth, jamming all social media platforms.
There will no doubt be a complimentary narrative blaming Donald Trump in some manner.
All in a day’s work for the mainstream media.
THE DFL’S NASTY, NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK
The DFL is glad it’s Friday!
It was a poor week as Team Blue took two black eyes, thanks to friendly fire.
It was even a bi-cameral effort.
Existential question: if it was a unicameral legislature, would there have been only one embarrassment?
In the Senate, a bill was debated that would place the decision to close schools in a peacetime emergency solely in the hands of the locally elected, locally accountable school boards.
The debate dragged on for hours, as DFL senator after senator bemoaned the bill while extolling the virtue of the governor’s unilateral powers.
When the vote board had closed, 40 senators were in favor of the bill and only 27 opposed.
Every Republican, two independents, and four Democrats voted for the bill.
The dramatics of the DFL speakers belied a lack of support for their position.
And over in the House, things weren’t much better.
The DFL leadership early in the week had to pull a bill off the calendar that would have created a slush fund to pay for the law enforcement response to civil unrest that is likely to accompany the trial of the four Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd.
They didn’t have the votes to bring up the bill.
And when they finally brought up the bill on Thursday, it was voted down, with Democrats joining every Republican in rejecting the bill.
What a circus.
We wish the DFL leadership a restful weekend. They need it.
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
If there’s one silver lining to this horrible pandemic, it’s that many parents have discovered that the government school monopoly isn’t the best choice for their child.
Enrollment numbers are way down in government schools, while enrollment in private schools and home schools is way up.
The response from government is exactly what you would expect: give us money.
Whether enrollment is up or down, the government school leviathan will always want more money.
The story line is that more money will cover the alleged budget gaps until students come back to government schools once Tim Jong Walz and the Teachers’ Union allow it.
Who says so?
Our view is that many parents will discover the value of being free from government schools and won’t go back, despite the monopoly and heavy subsidies the government schools enjoy.
Senate Republicans shouldn’t give into this scheme.
With Sen. Roger Chamberlain chairing the Education Committee, this publication has every confidence the right thing will be done.
Quote of the Week: “I’m literally humbled to have my name mentioned. There’s a lot of conversations that need to be had. I’ll never say never. I’m keeping all options open, but I was just reelected, and I have a great opportunity to represent the constituents of the 8th District in Congress.” (In reference to the office of Governor of the State of Minnesota)
- Congressman Pete Stauber (R – MN8)
Factoid of the Week: On this date in 1942, FDR signed executive order 9066, which sent thousands of Japanese Americans into forced exile for 2.5 years. Timely for today.
Poll of the Week: 76 percent of U.S. adults said the national anthem should be played prior to professional sporting events, including 60 percent who said it should “definitely” be part of the pregame.
Editor’s Note: It’s truly amazing to see how Donald Trump still lives in the heads of so many liberals. They got the memo that he’s left public office, right?
In This Issue:
- The Clean Energy Fiasco;
- The DFL’s Nasty, No Good, Very Bad Week;
- Government Schools.
THE CLEAN ENERGY FIASCO
Much has been written regarding the recent meltdown of Texas’s energy grid, resulting in death, hardship, and the near collapse of their entire system, which would have taken months to repair.
Like everything in our lives, the issue has become politicized, with environmental wackos rushing to blame everything but renewable energy sources, along with their Hollywood funders taking joy in the suffering of fellow Americans.
Heck, if they can politicize baseball and wearing socks, they can politicize electricity.
The reality is that the fiasco in Texas has laid bare the situation into which environmental extremists and their politician allies have placed us.
In short, reliability has been sacrificed at the altar of environmental radicalism.
Note that the phrase is “environmental radicalism.”
This is to say that including renewable generation sources in the generation mix is desirable.
Wind and solar power aren’t inherently poor public policy.
But heavily subsidizing these sources to grossly distort markets is poor public policy.
Failing to prioritize reliability as the cornerstone of good energy policy is horrible public policy.
Apologists for Renewable Dogma can spin the Texas situation all they want, but the simple fact remains.
Wind doesn’t always blow.
The sun doesn’t always shine.
Therefore, these sources of generation by definition aren’t reliable.
The reality is that our public policy has pursued “green” energy at the expense of reliability.
In doing so, renewable advocates have done a disservice to their own cause.
Look for a strong course correction in favor of reliability.
There may be a day when technology makes these sources reliable and part of a grid’s baseload calculus. For example, quantum leaps in battery technology may get us there.
But that isn’t today.
And lest you think the pain was limited to Texas, know that rolling blackouts hit North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of western Minnesota.
Rolling blackouts could continue in Dakotas, Minnesota as winter tests region's power grid | INFORUM
That’s something you probably didn’t see highlighted by the mainstream media.
That would hamper the media agitprop that this is a Texas problem brought on by deregulation and a failure of government to put the grid under the yoke of bureaucrats.
This, by the way, is also why there is a fixation on Sen. Ted Cruz being gone for one day while Joe Biden gets a pass.
Yes, Cruz made a bonehead move, but one that certainly didn’t make anyone’s life worse.
The Rule here is that the mainstream media will persecute the highest-ranking Republican in any crisis.
Imagine if we had a Republican president right now.
The headlines would announce that this crisis is President XXX’s “Katrina” moment.
The news would be chock-full of stories about the slow federal response, wondering why the 82nd Airborne hadn’t yet been deployed to Eagle Fart, TX to thaw out that frozen septic pump, chop firewood for the local orphan’s home, or jump start Jethro Jones’ stalled F-150.
Yet nary a peep from the White House press Corps.
Give it a week, and the fawning stories of Uncle Joe’s decisive and timely leadership will spew forth, jamming all social media platforms.
There will no doubt be a complimentary narrative blaming Donald Trump in some manner.
All in a day’s work for the mainstream media.
THE DFL’S NASTY, NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK
The DFL is glad it’s Friday!
It was a poor week as Team Blue took two black eyes, thanks to friendly fire.
It was even a bi-cameral effort.
Existential question: if it was a unicameral legislature, would there have been only one embarrassment?
In the Senate, a bill was debated that would place the decision to close schools in a peacetime emergency solely in the hands of the locally elected, locally accountable school boards.
The debate dragged on for hours, as DFL senator after senator bemoaned the bill while extolling the virtue of the governor’s unilateral powers.
When the vote board had closed, 40 senators were in favor of the bill and only 27 opposed.
Every Republican, two independents, and four Democrats voted for the bill.
The dramatics of the DFL speakers belied a lack of support for their position.
And over in the House, things weren’t much better.
The DFL leadership early in the week had to pull a bill off the calendar that would have created a slush fund to pay for the law enforcement response to civil unrest that is likely to accompany the trial of the four Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd.
They didn’t have the votes to bring up the bill.
And when they finally brought up the bill on Thursday, it was voted down, with Democrats joining every Republican in rejecting the bill.
What a circus.
We wish the DFL leadership a restful weekend. They need it.
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
If there’s one silver lining to this horrible pandemic, it’s that many parents have discovered that the government school monopoly isn’t the best choice for their child.
Enrollment numbers are way down in government schools, while enrollment in private schools and home schools is way up.
The response from government is exactly what you would expect: give us money.
Whether enrollment is up or down, the government school leviathan will always want more money.
The story line is that more money will cover the alleged budget gaps until students come back to government schools once Tim Jong Walz and the Teachers’ Union allow it.
Who says so?
Our view is that many parents will discover the value of being free from government schools and won’t go back, despite the monopoly and heavy subsidies the government schools enjoy.
Senate Republicans shouldn’t give into this scheme.
With Sen. Roger Chamberlain chairing the Education Committee, this publication has every confidence the right thing will be done.
February 12, 2021
Quote of the Week: "The not-guilty vote is growing after today. I think most Republicans found the presentation by the House managers offensive and absurd. We all know what happened at the Capitol was terrible. I hope everybody involved that broke into the Capitol goes to jail, but I don’t remember any of these House managers saying a damn thing when they were trying to break into my house and going after Susan Collins and spitting on all of us.”
Quote of the Week: "Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died."
In This Issue:
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Here they go again. Efforts are underway to change the name of Coon Rapids, MN, because of the perceived racial epithet inherent in the name.
This, despite clear historical evidence that the city got its name from the trappers and fur traders who frequented the area in the 19th Century to trap racoons, which were abundant, by historical reports.
We shouldn’t be surprised, given the virtue-signaling, “woke” world in which we live.
Some non-profit group appropriately named “Transformative Circle” is pushing the change. According to the group, changing the name of some rather anonymous suburb of Minneapolis would be a transformative chapter in the global quest for peace, love, and understanding.
“We’re in the middle of a worldwide movement to become more racially aware, more equitable, learn more about each other”, says Lori Anderson, who represents the Circle.
Here’s what the Watchdog knows about becoming more racially aware and equitable, Lori.
You can call Coon Rapids whatever you want, but it won’t do a damn thing for a minority kid trapped in poverty, a broken home, or forced into worthless online schooling because political leaders don’t have the guts to stand up to Education Minnesota.
If there was truly a concern about equity, why not march down to the governor’s mansion and demand that schools open – today – and get these kids back in front of teachers.
Where’s the concern about black student achievement?
According to the state’s Department of Education, Coon Rapids High School is failing black students.
68% of black students at the school are below proficiency in science.
75% of black 11th graders at the school are below proficiency in math.
57% of black 10th graders at the school are below proficiency in reading.
It’s damn near impossible to prosper in life when you can’t properly read, write, cipher, or understand basic principles of science.
How do you get a good job? Who wants to hire a person lacking these kinds of skills?
And do you think these numbers have gotten better or worse after Governor Walz shuttered our schools?
Maybe the Transformative Circle should transform itself into an education reform group.
But that wouldn’t garner any media attention, would it?
THE EXTREMISTS
The biased and dishonest members of the Fourth Estate are telling us that we need to beware of a group of Americans they call “Christian Nationalists.”
The Watchdog hasn’t heard of such folks, so we read deeper into a local news article to find out the characteristics we should be on the lookout for with these allegedly dangerous citizens.
We learn that Professor Samuel Perry of the University of Oklahoma says such people are drawn together by “a collection of myths, traditions, symbols, narratives and value systems that idealize and advocate a fusion of Christianity with American civic life.”
We further learn that Christian Nationalists are “conservative, believe in the supremacy of the Bible, and believe the nation is ‘on the brink of moral decay,’”
If this is indeed the case, don’t these same definitions apply to millions of ordinary Americans?
After all, many are politically conservative, are people of faith, and believe in participating in civic life.
Moreover, couldn’t these same descriptions be applied to very men who founded the nation?
Wasn’t this nation founded upon Judeo-Christian values?
The historical record is quite clear that the foundation of the Constitution, and the nation, is based upon biblical principles.
There is no question that the Framers were people of faith.
“In God We Trust” can be traced back as early as 1814 in our national life.
So, what’s the point? That anyone who is conservative and Christian is suspect? That there may be a small number people within this broadly defined group who advocate law breaking?
If that’s the case, what about Antifa and BLM?
This publication suspects this is little more than agitprop designed to smear conservatives and Christians, two groups the mainstream media despise.
You’ve been warned, Watchdogs. You’ve been put on notice that the Left is pushing towards a day when these beliefs will be outlawed and subject adherents to criminal sanction.
The Cancel Culture is only a first step to rewriting history and cowing those who object.
THE BELEAGUERED POSTAL WORKER
The mainstream media have also been telling us that we should pity postal workers, who are apparently upset that President Trump didn’t show enough respect and that they were overworked over the Christmas Holiday.
Readers can make up their own mind, but the Watchdog this week took a quick spin through the 460 page collective bargaining agreement to see the terms and conditions of employment in this organization.
We learned that postal workers:
Doesn’t seem like a bad gig, but that’s just us.
Quote of the Week: "The not-guilty vote is growing after today. I think most Republicans found the presentation by the House managers offensive and absurd. We all know what happened at the Capitol was terrible. I hope everybody involved that broke into the Capitol goes to jail, but I don’t remember any of these House managers saying a damn thing when they were trying to break into my house and going after Susan Collins and spitting on all of us.”
- Sen. Lindsay Graham (R – SC)
Quote of the Week: "Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died."
- NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, referring to COVID-related nursing home deaths
In This Issue:
- What’s in a Name?
- The Extremists;
- The Beleaguered Postal Worker.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Here they go again. Efforts are underway to change the name of Coon Rapids, MN, because of the perceived racial epithet inherent in the name.
This, despite clear historical evidence that the city got its name from the trappers and fur traders who frequented the area in the 19th Century to trap racoons, which were abundant, by historical reports.
We shouldn’t be surprised, given the virtue-signaling, “woke” world in which we live.
Some non-profit group appropriately named “Transformative Circle” is pushing the change. According to the group, changing the name of some rather anonymous suburb of Minneapolis would be a transformative chapter in the global quest for peace, love, and understanding.
“We’re in the middle of a worldwide movement to become more racially aware, more equitable, learn more about each other”, says Lori Anderson, who represents the Circle.
Here’s what the Watchdog knows about becoming more racially aware and equitable, Lori.
You can call Coon Rapids whatever you want, but it won’t do a damn thing for a minority kid trapped in poverty, a broken home, or forced into worthless online schooling because political leaders don’t have the guts to stand up to Education Minnesota.
If there was truly a concern about equity, why not march down to the governor’s mansion and demand that schools open – today – and get these kids back in front of teachers.
Where’s the concern about black student achievement?
According to the state’s Department of Education, Coon Rapids High School is failing black students.
68% of black students at the school are below proficiency in science.
75% of black 11th graders at the school are below proficiency in math.
57% of black 10th graders at the school are below proficiency in reading.
It’s damn near impossible to prosper in life when you can’t properly read, write, cipher, or understand basic principles of science.
How do you get a good job? Who wants to hire a person lacking these kinds of skills?
And do you think these numbers have gotten better or worse after Governor Walz shuttered our schools?
Maybe the Transformative Circle should transform itself into an education reform group.
But that wouldn’t garner any media attention, would it?
THE EXTREMISTS
The biased and dishonest members of the Fourth Estate are telling us that we need to beware of a group of Americans they call “Christian Nationalists.”
The Watchdog hasn’t heard of such folks, so we read deeper into a local news article to find out the characteristics we should be on the lookout for with these allegedly dangerous citizens.
We learn that Professor Samuel Perry of the University of Oklahoma says such people are drawn together by “a collection of myths, traditions, symbols, narratives and value systems that idealize and advocate a fusion of Christianity with American civic life.”
We further learn that Christian Nationalists are “conservative, believe in the supremacy of the Bible, and believe the nation is ‘on the brink of moral decay,’”
If this is indeed the case, don’t these same definitions apply to millions of ordinary Americans?
After all, many are politically conservative, are people of faith, and believe in participating in civic life.
Moreover, couldn’t these same descriptions be applied to very men who founded the nation?
Wasn’t this nation founded upon Judeo-Christian values?
The historical record is quite clear that the foundation of the Constitution, and the nation, is based upon biblical principles.
There is no question that the Framers were people of faith.
“In God We Trust” can be traced back as early as 1814 in our national life.
So, what’s the point? That anyone who is conservative and Christian is suspect? That there may be a small number people within this broadly defined group who advocate law breaking?
If that’s the case, what about Antifa and BLM?
This publication suspects this is little more than agitprop designed to smear conservatives and Christians, two groups the mainstream media despise.
You’ve been warned, Watchdogs. You’ve been put on notice that the Left is pushing towards a day when these beliefs will be outlawed and subject adherents to criminal sanction.
The Cancel Culture is only a first step to rewriting history and cowing those who object.
THE BELEAGUERED POSTAL WORKER
The mainstream media have also been telling us that we should pity postal workers, who are apparently upset that President Trump didn’t show enough respect and that they were overworked over the Christmas Holiday.
Readers can make up their own mind, but the Watchdog this week took a quick spin through the 460 page collective bargaining agreement to see the terms and conditions of employment in this organization.
We learned that postal workers:
- Have tenure. After 6 years of continuous service, you can’t be laid off;
- Top of the salary schedule is $76,754 per year;
- Ten days of paid vacation every year;
- 2 hours of vacation earned each pay period;
- Overtime pay after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week;
- A defined-benefit retirement plan.
Doesn’t seem like a bad gig, but that’s just us.
February 5th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Each family is receiving $500 a month, unconditional, no strings attached, and no work required.”
Quote of the Week: "Despite being massively outspent, we held every Republican seat, picked up seats in the suburbs, knocked off longtime Democrat incumbents, and made historic gains on the Iron Range."
Quote of the Week: “Money, it's a crime. Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie.”
In This Issue:
SETTING MONEY ON FIRE
Liberals are good at setting money on fire. Whether blowing money though governmental spending on bloated, inefficient programs or through propping up crappy candidates with bad ideas, their profligacy has reached art form.
The last election cycle is yet one more prime example.
This publication explored this tragic comedy at the federal level in recent editions.
Today, we take a look at the state level.
In the aggregate, the DFL and aligned groups spent over $16 million on state Senate races. The GOP spent approximately $7.7 million defending their majority.
The result was that the DFL gained one seat and remained in the minority.
Over in the Minnesota House, the DFL spent $9 million to the GOP’s $4.5 million.
The result was that the DFL lost five seats while keeping a narrow majority.
What a crock to hear Democrats continue to decry the influence of money in politics.
There were 13 senate races where the DFL spent more money but lost the race.
On the GOP side, there were two races where that was the case.
There were 8 senate races where the DFL spent over $1 million, winning only two of them.
All told, the DFL and company spent over $10 million on losing races.
In the House, the DFL and allied groups lost 30 races where they outspent the GOP and allied groups.
In contrast, the GOP only lost 3 races where they spent more.
While money indeed matters, good candidates and good ideas matter more.
If having more money was dispositive, the GOP would never win in Minnesota, where the DFL enjoys hedge fund money, public union money, George Soros money, and Rockefeller money.
TAX ME, PLEASE!
With Biden in office, we are now seeing the all-too-predictable parade of his rich buddies taking to the various media platforms to tell us how important – and patriotic! – it is to have successful people hand over more of their money in the form of higher income taxes.
We all know the public policy reasons to oppose higher taxes.
We know that the wealthy already pay most of the income taxes and certainly pay far more per capita than other citizens.
We know that many wealthy people are really small businesses that pay via “pass through” entities that are on the individual income tax. Thus, more paid in taxes is less available to hire, train, and offer enhanced pay and benefits to employees. Less money available to buy new and better equipment. More in costs of the product or service the company offers in order to cover the higher tax bill.
We also know that the rich, or any citizen, has the ability to write an extra check to either the federal or state government if they feel their tax bill isn’t high enough.
Last year, the Treasury Department reported that citizens donated $1.6 million to the poor, beleaguered, federal government.
In short, there they go again.
We’ve seen this bad movie before.
But here’s one issue that doesn’t get enough attention.
The debate is always focused on the pure policy of raising taxes.
That’s important, but what about the back end of the increased revenue?
In other words, why do we take at face value the claim that more taxes will equal better outcomes?
Will taking more from the rich make for a more just and equitable society? It won’t.
Will giving some federal agency a couple more billion lead to better outcomes? It won’t.
Really, raising taxes on the wealthy only accomplishes two dubious goals.
First, it satiates the envy of citizens who are jealous of more successful people and derive perverse pleasure in seeing them punished for their prosperity.
Second, it allows wealthy liberals to virtue signal their guilt over being successful and see the enhanced rates as public atonement for their sin of success.
It’s time for thinking citizens to challenge the narrative that higher taxes mean a better society buttressed by “adequately funded” government programs that will magically start to deliver results.
Making the Leviathan fatter won’t make us better.
GOLDEN TURKEYS
Speaking of bloated, unresponsive government, our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment recently published 2020 Golden Turkey awards, highlighting Minnesota’s most wasteful government programs.
Check out the Center, Minnesota’s premier conservative think tank.
The Centers publishes a magazine entitled “Thinking Minnesota” each quarter.
Below are excepts from their list of state spending infamy:
$1,000 to explore our feelings about climate change
Every year the Legacy Fund (another constitutionally dedicated funding source), doles out millions of dollars of sales tax revenue to projects for clean water, outdoor heritage, arts and cultural heritage, and parks and trails. And every year, there are some really questionable expenditures that qualify for the Golden Turkey Award. This year, the Legacy Fund set aside $1,000 of your money for a woman to host a hands-on climate mapping workshop where participants create maps of their personal emotional terrain of climate change. Does anger over really wasteful spending count as “personal emotional terrain”?
Tourism through Twitter: two tweets a month for $57,000
One of our Golden Turkey Award nominees for wasteful spending shows how easy it is to move from a legitimate state purpose to just plain silly. In the name of tourism and promoting the state, Explore Minnesota (our Department of Tourism) recently paid $57,000 to celebrity chef (and erstwhile Minnesotan) Andrew Zimmern to tweet twice a month as a “social media influencer.”
The $6.9 million (thankfully, still) vacant Tim Walz morgue
When the Governor bought the abandoned fruit company warehouse back in May, the state was averaging 12.5 deaths per day. Like many of Walz’s early predictions, his estimation of the need for storing 5,100 bodies at a time scared Minnesotans into giving up more and more of their freedoms in return for safety.
Quote of the Week: “Each family is receiving $500 a month, unconditional, no strings attached, and no work required.”
- Muneer Karcher-Ramos, Office of Financial Empowerment, City of Saint Paul
Quote of the Week: "Despite being massively outspent, we held every Republican seat, picked up seats in the suburbs, knocked off longtime Democrat incumbents, and made historic gains on the Iron Range."
- House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R – Crown)
Quote of the Week: “Money, it's a crime. Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie.”
- Roger Waters
In This Issue:
- Setting Money on Fire;
- Tax Me, Please!
- Golden Turkeys.
SETTING MONEY ON FIRE
Liberals are good at setting money on fire. Whether blowing money though governmental spending on bloated, inefficient programs or through propping up crappy candidates with bad ideas, their profligacy has reached art form.
The last election cycle is yet one more prime example.
This publication explored this tragic comedy at the federal level in recent editions.
Today, we take a look at the state level.
In the aggregate, the DFL and aligned groups spent over $16 million on state Senate races. The GOP spent approximately $7.7 million defending their majority.
The result was that the DFL gained one seat and remained in the minority.
Over in the Minnesota House, the DFL spent $9 million to the GOP’s $4.5 million.
The result was that the DFL lost five seats while keeping a narrow majority.
What a crock to hear Democrats continue to decry the influence of money in politics.
There were 13 senate races where the DFL spent more money but lost the race.
On the GOP side, there were two races where that was the case.
There were 8 senate races where the DFL spent over $1 million, winning only two of them.
All told, the DFL and company spent over $10 million on losing races.
In the House, the DFL and allied groups lost 30 races where they outspent the GOP and allied groups.
In contrast, the GOP only lost 3 races where they spent more.
While money indeed matters, good candidates and good ideas matter more.
If having more money was dispositive, the GOP would never win in Minnesota, where the DFL enjoys hedge fund money, public union money, George Soros money, and Rockefeller money.
TAX ME, PLEASE!
With Biden in office, we are now seeing the all-too-predictable parade of his rich buddies taking to the various media platforms to tell us how important – and patriotic! – it is to have successful people hand over more of their money in the form of higher income taxes.
We all know the public policy reasons to oppose higher taxes.
We know that the wealthy already pay most of the income taxes and certainly pay far more per capita than other citizens.
We know that many wealthy people are really small businesses that pay via “pass through” entities that are on the individual income tax. Thus, more paid in taxes is less available to hire, train, and offer enhanced pay and benefits to employees. Less money available to buy new and better equipment. More in costs of the product or service the company offers in order to cover the higher tax bill.
We also know that the rich, or any citizen, has the ability to write an extra check to either the federal or state government if they feel their tax bill isn’t high enough.
Last year, the Treasury Department reported that citizens donated $1.6 million to the poor, beleaguered, federal government.
In short, there they go again.
We’ve seen this bad movie before.
But here’s one issue that doesn’t get enough attention.
The debate is always focused on the pure policy of raising taxes.
That’s important, but what about the back end of the increased revenue?
In other words, why do we take at face value the claim that more taxes will equal better outcomes?
Will taking more from the rich make for a more just and equitable society? It won’t.
Will giving some federal agency a couple more billion lead to better outcomes? It won’t.
Really, raising taxes on the wealthy only accomplishes two dubious goals.
First, it satiates the envy of citizens who are jealous of more successful people and derive perverse pleasure in seeing them punished for their prosperity.
Second, it allows wealthy liberals to virtue signal their guilt over being successful and see the enhanced rates as public atonement for their sin of success.
It’s time for thinking citizens to challenge the narrative that higher taxes mean a better society buttressed by “adequately funded” government programs that will magically start to deliver results.
Making the Leviathan fatter won’t make us better.
GOLDEN TURKEYS
Speaking of bloated, unresponsive government, our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment recently published 2020 Golden Turkey awards, highlighting Minnesota’s most wasteful government programs.
Check out the Center, Minnesota’s premier conservative think tank.
The Centers publishes a magazine entitled “Thinking Minnesota” each quarter.
Below are excepts from their list of state spending infamy:
$1,000 to explore our feelings about climate change
Every year the Legacy Fund (another constitutionally dedicated funding source), doles out millions of dollars of sales tax revenue to projects for clean water, outdoor heritage, arts and cultural heritage, and parks and trails. And every year, there are some really questionable expenditures that qualify for the Golden Turkey Award. This year, the Legacy Fund set aside $1,000 of your money for a woman to host a hands-on climate mapping workshop where participants create maps of their personal emotional terrain of climate change. Does anger over really wasteful spending count as “personal emotional terrain”?
Tourism through Twitter: two tweets a month for $57,000
One of our Golden Turkey Award nominees for wasteful spending shows how easy it is to move from a legitimate state purpose to just plain silly. In the name of tourism and promoting the state, Explore Minnesota (our Department of Tourism) recently paid $57,000 to celebrity chef (and erstwhile Minnesotan) Andrew Zimmern to tweet twice a month as a “social media influencer.”
The $6.9 million (thankfully, still) vacant Tim Walz morgue
When the Governor bought the abandoned fruit company warehouse back in May, the state was averaging 12.5 deaths per day. Like many of Walz’s early predictions, his estimation of the need for storing 5,100 bodies at a time scared Minnesotans into giving up more and more of their freedoms in return for safety.
January 29, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Politics has turned the lofty ideal of equality into the ugly reality of resentments of other people’s achievements – and a feeling that the world owes you something, while you owe nobody anything.”
Quote of the Week: “We must keep life affordable by not raising taxes on anyone, much less small businesses that found a way to thrive in a pandemic, which will be hit by the 5th tier. Nor should we have regressive tax increases on tobacco. We can support families by tightening government budgets first.”
Quote of the Week: “In a year when thousands of MN families & businesses have lost 50%+ of their income, Gov. Walz is proposing just .3% in budget reductions from our $50b+ budget. Democrats are not even bothering to ask govt to tighten its belt like so many Minnesotans have this year.”
Factoid of the Week: Only two states have inoculated fewer citizens, per capita, against COVID-19 than Minnesota. Those two being California and Virginia.
In This Issue:
#SQ+$1.7
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
This should be the hashtag for every Minnesota Republican for the next few days. This hashtag stands for “status quo plus $1.7 billion.”
This is shorthand for Governor Walz’s proposed budget, which is nothing more than the failed status quo plus $1.7 billion in tax increases.
The budget is nothing more than the same old tired ideas and pay offs for favored constituencies – plus a few billion more in spending.
Of course, the budget is also dressed up in the same old shop-worn euphemisms about the wealthy “paying their fair share” and just “a little bit more” through various “revenue enhancements” to “invest” in failed, bloated government programs that will reaffirm our commitment to “being in this together.”
Yes, nothing signals our collective commitment to the common good like an expensive, worthless government program that does nothing except enrich and empower the bureaucracy.
This parade of fiscal supplication clearly puts the teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, at the forefront.
Their power over the DFL so influential they forced Puppet Walz to hold a separate press event to showcase their sacking of the public fisc, a passive-aggressive Minnesota version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. Someone buy Denise Specht a wooden leg. Avast, taxpayer booty dead ahead!!!
The education budget agitprop even had a catchy name, the “Due North” plan.
Walz could spare us the charade and simply name Denise Specht, the union boss, as commissioner of Management and Budget.
You’re either protecting the family budget or the government budget.
In his proposal, Walz nicks the government budget by.3% while jacking up taxes $1.7 billion.
Let’s take a look at those massive, proposed increases.
Income tax. Walz wants to add a fifth income tax tier that would hit small businesses making between $500,000 and $1 million per year. While dressing up the increase in the language of punishing rich people, he intentionally fails to note that many small businesses are “pass through” entities that pay their taxes as individual taxpayers. Thus, he wants to hammer job creators who have managed to survive his draconian lock down measures.
Apparently, Tim hasn’t heard that these talented and successful people are finding it very easy to move their operations to tax-friendly jurisdictions. The term “hyper-mobile capital” is unfamiliar to the chief executive.
Corporate tax. For those corporations that aren’t “pass through”, he wants to raise their rates as well, leaving no job creator unscathed.
Not an economics teacher, Walz doesn’t understand the simple concept that corporations don’t pay taxes. They pass those taxes onto customers in the form of higher prices, to their employees in the form of less pay and fewer benefits, and to shareholders in the form of reduced dividends and shareholder value.
Put another way, Walz is on a fiscal Kamikaze mission to emulate Illinois and New York, ignoring the open arms of Texas and Florida.
When you wield the hammer of executive fiat, everything looks like a nail.
And then there’s the estate tax, also known more accurately as the “death tax.”
The governor wants to tax the dead and what they leave behind by reducing the value of an estate that can be excluded from the tax.
This tax, like so many others, won’t yield what the DFL thinks it will because people will engage in various avoidance behaviors to put their assets beyond the reach of Tim’s puffy, greedy fingers.
As Walz himself very inaccurately noted, “the tax code is for altering behavior.”
No, that’s not the reason we have a tax code, but he’s right in noting that the code influences behavior.
(This is a great reason to introduce “dynamic scoring” to the revenue estimates of these proposals, by the way. Paging Tax Chair Carla Nelson…)
While there are other “Revenue enhancements” proposed, perhaps none is more emblematic of the hypocrisy and arrogance of Walz and his ilk than the $151 million tax increase on vaping and tobacco products.
While Walz is claiming that his tax increases are okay because they only harm “the rich”, the truth, of course, is different.
It is beyond dispute that tobacco taxes are regressive, meaning they harm the poor far more than the wealthy.
Tobacco taxes are right up there with the gas tax in being regressive and therefore harmful to poor people.
Good for Minority Leader Daudt for calling out Walz on his double speak.
What a totally expected yet still disappointing budget.
DOA.
THE PLAN
The Republicans are in a great position to execute a strategic plan this simple and powerful.
The three-point plan is thus.
One. No tax increases. Minnesota is a high tax state that has suffered greatly under Walz’s pandemic response. Thus, there will be no FY 22-23 budget with tax increases – period.
Two. Open the schools. Let Republicans for once act as Democrats and not let a crisis go to waste. Walz has unilaterally shut down the schools and parents are rightly freaking out. Even many liberals want schools open.
Importantly, even “the science” (The science!!!!!!) says schools can be open safely.
In exchange for an education budget, Republicans should insist on school choice in some form. There may never be more momentum for a game-changer like school choice. With a hard-nosed reformer like Roger Chamberlain heading the Senate Education Committee, it’s game on.
Three. Reform the governor’s pandemic powers. Minnesota has suffered greatly though the unilateral actions of a governor who has used executive fiat to rule for the past many months.
Moreover, the law granting him this authority is an unconstitutional delegation of power from the legislative to the executive branch.
Reforming this law is both good public policy and good politics, proving our Framers to be once again prescient in foreseeing men like Tim Walz and devising bulwarks against their designs.
Moreover, there is bi-partisan support for reforming this law, which is needed at some level. With a part-time legislature, there may be times the chief executive needs to act during an emergency.
Tim Walz has clearly shown the fatal flaws in the current law.
Let’s reform the law and get it back within constitutional guardrails.
And finally, stand your ground. Republicans should steel themselves for a protracted, perhaps ugly, confrontation with the governor and the DFL.
This is your time.
Quote of the Week: “Politics has turned the lofty ideal of equality into the ugly reality of resentments of other people’s achievements – and a feeling that the world owes you something, while you owe nobody anything.”
- Thomas Sowell
Quote of the Week: “We must keep life affordable by not raising taxes on anyone, much less small businesses that found a way to thrive in a pandemic, which will be hit by the 5th tier. Nor should we have regressive tax increases on tobacco. We can support families by tightening government budgets first.”
- Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R – Nisswa)
Quote of the Week: “In a year when thousands of MN families & businesses have lost 50%+ of their income, Gov. Walz is proposing just .3% in budget reductions from our $50b+ budget. Democrats are not even bothering to ask govt to tighten its belt like so many Minnesotans have this year.”
- House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R – Crown)
Factoid of the Week: Only two states have inoculated fewer citizens, per capita, against COVID-19 than Minnesota. Those two being California and Virginia.
In This Issue:
- #SQ+$1.7
- The Plan
#SQ+$1.7
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
- Dean Wormer
This should be the hashtag for every Minnesota Republican for the next few days. This hashtag stands for “status quo plus $1.7 billion.”
This is shorthand for Governor Walz’s proposed budget, which is nothing more than the failed status quo plus $1.7 billion in tax increases.
The budget is nothing more than the same old tired ideas and pay offs for favored constituencies – plus a few billion more in spending.
Of course, the budget is also dressed up in the same old shop-worn euphemisms about the wealthy “paying their fair share” and just “a little bit more” through various “revenue enhancements” to “invest” in failed, bloated government programs that will reaffirm our commitment to “being in this together.”
Yes, nothing signals our collective commitment to the common good like an expensive, worthless government program that does nothing except enrich and empower the bureaucracy.
This parade of fiscal supplication clearly puts the teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, at the forefront.
Their power over the DFL so influential they forced Puppet Walz to hold a separate press event to showcase their sacking of the public fisc, a passive-aggressive Minnesota version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. Someone buy Denise Specht a wooden leg. Avast, taxpayer booty dead ahead!!!
The education budget agitprop even had a catchy name, the “Due North” plan.
Walz could spare us the charade and simply name Denise Specht, the union boss, as commissioner of Management and Budget.
You’re either protecting the family budget or the government budget.
In his proposal, Walz nicks the government budget by.3% while jacking up taxes $1.7 billion.
Let’s take a look at those massive, proposed increases.
Income tax. Walz wants to add a fifth income tax tier that would hit small businesses making between $500,000 and $1 million per year. While dressing up the increase in the language of punishing rich people, he intentionally fails to note that many small businesses are “pass through” entities that pay their taxes as individual taxpayers. Thus, he wants to hammer job creators who have managed to survive his draconian lock down measures.
Apparently, Tim hasn’t heard that these talented and successful people are finding it very easy to move their operations to tax-friendly jurisdictions. The term “hyper-mobile capital” is unfamiliar to the chief executive.
Corporate tax. For those corporations that aren’t “pass through”, he wants to raise their rates as well, leaving no job creator unscathed.
Not an economics teacher, Walz doesn’t understand the simple concept that corporations don’t pay taxes. They pass those taxes onto customers in the form of higher prices, to their employees in the form of less pay and fewer benefits, and to shareholders in the form of reduced dividends and shareholder value.
Put another way, Walz is on a fiscal Kamikaze mission to emulate Illinois and New York, ignoring the open arms of Texas and Florida.
When you wield the hammer of executive fiat, everything looks like a nail.
And then there’s the estate tax, also known more accurately as the “death tax.”
The governor wants to tax the dead and what they leave behind by reducing the value of an estate that can be excluded from the tax.
This tax, like so many others, won’t yield what the DFL thinks it will because people will engage in various avoidance behaviors to put their assets beyond the reach of Tim’s puffy, greedy fingers.
As Walz himself very inaccurately noted, “the tax code is for altering behavior.”
No, that’s not the reason we have a tax code, but he’s right in noting that the code influences behavior.
(This is a great reason to introduce “dynamic scoring” to the revenue estimates of these proposals, by the way. Paging Tax Chair Carla Nelson…)
While there are other “Revenue enhancements” proposed, perhaps none is more emblematic of the hypocrisy and arrogance of Walz and his ilk than the $151 million tax increase on vaping and tobacco products.
While Walz is claiming that his tax increases are okay because they only harm “the rich”, the truth, of course, is different.
It is beyond dispute that tobacco taxes are regressive, meaning they harm the poor far more than the wealthy.
Tobacco taxes are right up there with the gas tax in being regressive and therefore harmful to poor people.
Good for Minority Leader Daudt for calling out Walz on his double speak.
What a totally expected yet still disappointing budget.
DOA.
THE PLAN
The Republicans are in a great position to execute a strategic plan this simple and powerful.
The three-point plan is thus.
One. No tax increases. Minnesota is a high tax state that has suffered greatly under Walz’s pandemic response. Thus, there will be no FY 22-23 budget with tax increases – period.
Two. Open the schools. Let Republicans for once act as Democrats and not let a crisis go to waste. Walz has unilaterally shut down the schools and parents are rightly freaking out. Even many liberals want schools open.
Importantly, even “the science” (The science!!!!!!) says schools can be open safely.
In exchange for an education budget, Republicans should insist on school choice in some form. There may never be more momentum for a game-changer like school choice. With a hard-nosed reformer like Roger Chamberlain heading the Senate Education Committee, it’s game on.
Three. Reform the governor’s pandemic powers. Minnesota has suffered greatly though the unilateral actions of a governor who has used executive fiat to rule for the past many months.
Moreover, the law granting him this authority is an unconstitutional delegation of power from the legislative to the executive branch.
Reforming this law is both good public policy and good politics, proving our Framers to be once again prescient in foreseeing men like Tim Walz and devising bulwarks against their designs.
Moreover, there is bi-partisan support for reforming this law, which is needed at some level. With a part-time legislature, there may be times the chief executive needs to act during an emergency.
Tim Walz has clearly shown the fatal flaws in the current law.
Let’s reform the law and get it back within constitutional guardrails.
And finally, stand your ground. Republicans should steel themselves for a protracted, perhaps ugly, confrontation with the governor and the DFL.
This is your time.
January 22, 2021
Quote of the Week: “Reflexive invocations of ‘systemic racism’ and ‘white supremacy’ have become the Tourette’s Syndrome of left-wing professors and activists. They are au courant, shallow terms of the moment, lacking depth or weight.”
Quote of the Week: “Banning Trump from his often self-destructive Twitter addiction, smearing his supporters as racists, and bulldozing through a far-Left agenda will only ensure Trump a ninth life. Americans hate one thing more than a sore loser, and that is an arrogant, vindictive—and bullying—winner.”
Factoid of the Week: 56% of Americans agree with the statement that "Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations."
Factoid of the Week: 58% of Americans think that "most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public."
In This Issue:
ACTION, NOT WORDS
In determining if President Joe Biden is serious about truly unifying the nation (and not defining “unity” as coercing conformity though cancelling and intimidating dissenting voices), we should not examine his words, but his actions.
Is he interested in being a leader, or will we see another four years of the underachieving, unproductive Swamp denizen we’ve seen for the past 47?
Will he be a statesman or simply the same old lying-dog-face-pony-soldier-corn-pop-top-of-my-law-school-class-HBCU-graduating-you’re-a-damn-liar-man-politcal-science-class-winner-push-up-king-hair-smelling-grabby-hands blow hard we’ve come to expect – and loathe – for the past 47 years?
No, let’s examine his words.
Of course, the mainstream media, reverting to their traditional role as the propaganda arm of the federal government, fawned over his inaugural address and proclaimed it something akin to the Gettysburg Address.
Consider this passage: “I know that the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new, our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal, and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.”
So, political differences are a stark choice between those who treasure American ideals and the racists?
That’s simplistic, naïve, and casts legitimate differences of opinion as nothing short of a war between enlightenment and primitive bigotry.
Biden’s speech toadies are clearly steeped in the ideology of victimhood, complaint, ethnic Balkanism and America as a bastion of structural, irredeemable racism.
This isn’t a good look for slick talking, Washington careerist who looks to millions of Americans as more of a used car salesman than chief executive.
And how about those actions?
The president’s slew of executive orders included, among other things, stabbing American construction trade workers and our energy economy in the back by rescinding a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
The pipeline is in progress and not on the drawing board, meaning that his diktat immediately put thousands of construction trade workers in the bread line, hurt contractors and workers in supporting roles for the project, stranded billions in investments, and slapped a valued foreign ally in the face.
Biden bragged throughout his campaign about his blue collar “everyman” roots while courting the endorsements of the very unions he now slapped down.
On the first day.
One can only hope that TC Energy, the owner of the project, sues in federal court. Only the Congress has the authority to regulate Interstate Commerce, so says the Constitution.
Article I, Section 8 clearly states that “THE CONGRESS (emphasis added) shall have power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
The president has no power to unilaterally regulate commerce between the U.S. and Canada by rescinding a permit. That power was an impermissible delegation of legislative power to the executive.
Paging Amy Coney Barrett…
But first we’ll see if TC Energy has the guts to refile this lawsuit, which they filed once before, which was made moot when Trump gave the needed approvals.
And what of impeachment? Isn’t the most important action the new president can take to heal the nation is to call for the Congress to drop the impeachment trial of Donald Trump?
Merits aside for a moment, isn’t this a very necessary step on the road to unity and healing?
In other words, talk of unity and healing is meaningless, and patently insincere, if Biden fails to lead the call to drop this dubious impeachment and trial.
Moreover, the impeachment was a blatantly political act that is also unconstitutional.
Clearly, the Constitution’s text and history shows that the Framers intended that only THE PRESIDENT, be subject to impeachment, not former presidents.
The Framers were well aware of the practice of harassing and intimidating deposed leaders by outing them through show trails to exact political revenge.
It’s a farce.
Biden’s leadership, or lack thereof, on this issue is the litmus test for his claim of Unifier-in-Chief.
Either lead on it or admit that it’s another lie, Joe.
THE LEVIATHAN
Government doesn’t do much well. Government is inherently bloated, unresponsive, inefficient, and oppressive.
This is because government is a monopoly and monopolies, by definition, are unresponsive.
This is why the government can’t effectively distribute vaccines.
Amazon, UPS, and FedEx can effectively and efficiently distribute millions of products around the world on-time, every single day.
The solution for the Democrats in DC will be to turn to these or other private sector actors to rescue the program.
Then they will turn around and hold hearings to castigate these same actors and demand that they be brought to heel under the yoke of coercive government.
The same holds true for Walz’s failed COVID appointment web site.
If you are surprised that the web site crashed and utterly failed, you aren’t paying attention.
The state’s ObamaCare web site did the same.
Remember MNLARS?
This is a joke, the only bigger joke being that people keep electing these Democrats, expecting something different.
Ticketmaster can handle selling 80,000 Rolling Stones tickets in one morning.
Delta can handle millions of reservations and reservation changes seamlessly.
VRBO can do the same for housing reservations.
Multiple web sites do the same for dinner reservations.
Same goes for medical appointments.
Yet government can’t make it work for a vaccine reservation.
We get the government we deserve.
PREDICTIONS
Predictions for the Biden administration:
Unlike the Left, we don’t put ideology or party above country.
If Biden fails, the country will fail.
We just don’t have much faith he’s the right man for these times.
May we be totally wrong about this.
Quote of the Week: “Reflexive invocations of ‘systemic racism’ and ‘white supremacy’ have become the Tourette’s Syndrome of left-wing professors and activists. They are au courant, shallow terms of the moment, lacking depth or weight.”
- Heather Mac Donald
Quote of the Week: “Banning Trump from his often self-destructive Twitter addiction, smearing his supporters as racists, and bulldozing through a far-Left agenda will only ensure Trump a ninth life. Americans hate one thing more than a sore loser, and that is an arrogant, vindictive—and bullying—winner.”
- Victor Davis Hanson
Factoid of the Week: 56% of Americans agree with the statement that "Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations."
Factoid of the Week: 58% of Americans think that "most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public."
In This Issue:
- Action, Not Words;
- The Leviathan;
- Predictions.
ACTION, NOT WORDS
In determining if President Joe Biden is serious about truly unifying the nation (and not defining “unity” as coercing conformity though cancelling and intimidating dissenting voices), we should not examine his words, but his actions.
Is he interested in being a leader, or will we see another four years of the underachieving, unproductive Swamp denizen we’ve seen for the past 47?
Will he be a statesman or simply the same old lying-dog-face-pony-soldier-corn-pop-top-of-my-law-school-class-HBCU-graduating-you’re-a-damn-liar-man-politcal-science-class-winner-push-up-king-hair-smelling-grabby-hands blow hard we’ve come to expect – and loathe – for the past 47 years?
No, let’s examine his words.
Of course, the mainstream media, reverting to their traditional role as the propaganda arm of the federal government, fawned over his inaugural address and proclaimed it something akin to the Gettysburg Address.
Consider this passage: “I know that the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new, our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal, and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.”
So, political differences are a stark choice between those who treasure American ideals and the racists?
That’s simplistic, naïve, and casts legitimate differences of opinion as nothing short of a war between enlightenment and primitive bigotry.
Biden’s speech toadies are clearly steeped in the ideology of victimhood, complaint, ethnic Balkanism and America as a bastion of structural, irredeemable racism.
This isn’t a good look for slick talking, Washington careerist who looks to millions of Americans as more of a used car salesman than chief executive.
And how about those actions?
The president’s slew of executive orders included, among other things, stabbing American construction trade workers and our energy economy in the back by rescinding a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
The pipeline is in progress and not on the drawing board, meaning that his diktat immediately put thousands of construction trade workers in the bread line, hurt contractors and workers in supporting roles for the project, stranded billions in investments, and slapped a valued foreign ally in the face.
Biden bragged throughout his campaign about his blue collar “everyman” roots while courting the endorsements of the very unions he now slapped down.
On the first day.
One can only hope that TC Energy, the owner of the project, sues in federal court. Only the Congress has the authority to regulate Interstate Commerce, so says the Constitution.
Article I, Section 8 clearly states that “THE CONGRESS (emphasis added) shall have power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
The president has no power to unilaterally regulate commerce between the U.S. and Canada by rescinding a permit. That power was an impermissible delegation of legislative power to the executive.
Paging Amy Coney Barrett…
But first we’ll see if TC Energy has the guts to refile this lawsuit, which they filed once before, which was made moot when Trump gave the needed approvals.
And what of impeachment? Isn’t the most important action the new president can take to heal the nation is to call for the Congress to drop the impeachment trial of Donald Trump?
Merits aside for a moment, isn’t this a very necessary step on the road to unity and healing?
In other words, talk of unity and healing is meaningless, and patently insincere, if Biden fails to lead the call to drop this dubious impeachment and trial.
Moreover, the impeachment was a blatantly political act that is also unconstitutional.
Clearly, the Constitution’s text and history shows that the Framers intended that only THE PRESIDENT, be subject to impeachment, not former presidents.
The Framers were well aware of the practice of harassing and intimidating deposed leaders by outing them through show trails to exact political revenge.
It’s a farce.
Biden’s leadership, or lack thereof, on this issue is the litmus test for his claim of Unifier-in-Chief.
Either lead on it or admit that it’s another lie, Joe.
THE LEVIATHAN
Government doesn’t do much well. Government is inherently bloated, unresponsive, inefficient, and oppressive.
This is because government is a monopoly and monopolies, by definition, are unresponsive.
This is why the government can’t effectively distribute vaccines.
Amazon, UPS, and FedEx can effectively and efficiently distribute millions of products around the world on-time, every single day.
The solution for the Democrats in DC will be to turn to these or other private sector actors to rescue the program.
Then they will turn around and hold hearings to castigate these same actors and demand that they be brought to heel under the yoke of coercive government.
The same holds true for Walz’s failed COVID appointment web site.
If you are surprised that the web site crashed and utterly failed, you aren’t paying attention.
The state’s ObamaCare web site did the same.
Remember MNLARS?
This is a joke, the only bigger joke being that people keep electing these Democrats, expecting something different.
Ticketmaster can handle selling 80,000 Rolling Stones tickets in one morning.
Delta can handle millions of reservations and reservation changes seamlessly.
VRBO can do the same for housing reservations.
Multiple web sites do the same for dinner reservations.
Same goes for medical appointments.
Yet government can’t make it work for a vaccine reservation.
We get the government we deserve.
PREDICTIONS
Predictions for the Biden administration:
- All failures will be blamed on Trump;
- “Unity” will mean “conformity;”
- The media will act as a propaganda front for Biden;
- Most Americans will be worse off under Biden;
- All of the above will lead to more polarization.
Unlike the Left, we don’t put ideology or party above country.
If Biden fails, the country will fail.
We just don’t have much faith he’s the right man for these times.
May we be totally wrong about this.
January 15th, 2021
Quote of the Week: “If you demand that your political adversaries adhere to a principle, but exempt people whose cause you endorse from having to comply, then that preference you enjoy boasting about is not really a principle. It is not a standard of conduct applicable to all, in other words, but just another rhetorical device used for political combat.”
Quote of the Week: “Whenever the vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision-stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this government cannot last.”
Factoid of the Week: According to the Minnesota Department of Health, only 32% of COVID vaccine doses sent to the state have been utilized. In other words, 68% of vaccines are sitting on the shelf.
Question of the Week: Is there anything dumber than requiring athletes to wear masks during competition? Dumb laws breed contempt for the rule of law. Another example of a governor in over his head.
In This Issue:
THE SWAMP
Don’t delude yourself into thinking that the events of the past week, or the past four years have been about Donald J. Trump.
Disapproval of the president’s often unpresidential behavior shouldn’t deceive you into going along with the power grab and oppression to follow.
If President Trump did anything, he ripped the mask off the Swamp to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a Deep State, supported by the Left’s thirst for power.
The banning of the president from major social media platforms was a breathtaking and disgusting display of this power.
The Ayatollah can tweet but Trump can’t.
Somehow, Big Tech can’t stamp out child porn on the Internet, but they can de-platform Parler in a day.
A group that preaches unity and reconciliation impeaches a president who will leave office in a week. The attacks on the president have grown so mundane, the world essentially shrugged off an impeachment of the president, an action that would have brought the world to a standstill in years past. Was it even televised?
We have seen calls from Democrats for Republicans to resign or be impeached for exercising their constitutional rights. Like it or not, it is the right of every member of Congress to vote against certification of Electoral College results. In fact, many of the Democrats condemning votes against certification themselves have voted against certification in the past, as recently as 2016.
The media covers up massive scandals like Hunter Biden’s pay to play schemes and the seemingly never-ending parade of California Democrats caught hanging out with Chinese agents. Instead, the public is subjected to either outright fabrications or “reports” that Trump doesn’t like puppies and baseball.
Trump or not, the Left and their allies in corporate America, the bureaucracy, and the media are moving to suppress voices with which they disagree, cancelling dissenting voices.
Who do these people think they are, college presidents?
Wake up, America. These people are shredding your natural rights. It isn’t about Trump, it’s about you.
THOSE PUBLIC UNIONS
The data is clear. Medical and mental health professionals are united. Kids need to be in school. Every day that kids aren’t in school, there is more and more damage to their learning, their mental and physical health, their odds of acquiring the skills needed to be productive citizens.
You can easily guess who doesn’t support in-person learning.
Hint: It’s the same group that generally opposes efforts to enhance learning – the teachers’ union.
Now that many districts are contemplating a return (finally) to in-person learning, the union is coming out of the woodwork to oppose. It’s about the children, right?
Local media has featured the opposition of the unions representing teachers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Of course, support is up for sale, if government spends enough money, capping class sizes for example, as the science tells us COVID goes away in class sizes under 20.
If the comments section of the major media publications are any guide, taxpayers and parents aren’t in the mood. They want kids in school and they want teachers teaching.
If paramedics and grocery store staff can be at work, so can teachers.
BAD BILL OF THE WEEK
With the legislature back in session, it’s time for the bad ideas to roll.
This week’s winner is House File 6, a bill that seeks to have an unelected panel appointed by the governor hand out state tax dollars to repair both public and private property damaged in the riots that Governor Walz and Mayor Frey allowed to rampage for days on end this summer.
Regarding public property, those cities should pay for it. They certainly appear to have lots of money to spend, as they always do.
Regarding private property, that is a matter for insurance and litigation.
It may seem harsh, but to hand out taxpayer money to uninsured or underinsured private businesses is to create a moral hazard.
Because some business owners chose not to insure or underinsure their business doesn’t make it an obligation for fellow taxpayers to cover the loss.
There seems to be an ever-expanding list of people and organizations the government is willing to bail out.
With so many riding in the wagon, pretty soon no one will be left to pull it.
Quote of the Week: “If you demand that your political adversaries adhere to a principle, but exempt people whose cause you endorse from having to comply, then that preference you enjoy boasting about is not really a principle. It is not a standard of conduct applicable to all, in other words, but just another rhetorical device used for political combat.”
- William Voegeli
Quote of the Week: “Whenever the vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision-stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this government cannot last.”
- Abraham Lincoln
Factoid of the Week: According to the Minnesota Department of Health, only 32% of COVID vaccine doses sent to the state have been utilized. In other words, 68% of vaccines are sitting on the shelf.
Question of the Week: Is there anything dumber than requiring athletes to wear masks during competition? Dumb laws breed contempt for the rule of law. Another example of a governor in over his head.
In This Issue:
- The Swamp;
- Those Public Unions;
- Bad Bill of the Week.
THE SWAMP
Don’t delude yourself into thinking that the events of the past week, or the past four years have been about Donald J. Trump.
Disapproval of the president’s often unpresidential behavior shouldn’t deceive you into going along with the power grab and oppression to follow.
If President Trump did anything, he ripped the mask off the Swamp to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a Deep State, supported by the Left’s thirst for power.
The banning of the president from major social media platforms was a breathtaking and disgusting display of this power.
The Ayatollah can tweet but Trump can’t.
Somehow, Big Tech can’t stamp out child porn on the Internet, but they can de-platform Parler in a day.
A group that preaches unity and reconciliation impeaches a president who will leave office in a week. The attacks on the president have grown so mundane, the world essentially shrugged off an impeachment of the president, an action that would have brought the world to a standstill in years past. Was it even televised?
We have seen calls from Democrats for Republicans to resign or be impeached for exercising their constitutional rights. Like it or not, it is the right of every member of Congress to vote against certification of Electoral College results. In fact, many of the Democrats condemning votes against certification themselves have voted against certification in the past, as recently as 2016.
The media covers up massive scandals like Hunter Biden’s pay to play schemes and the seemingly never-ending parade of California Democrats caught hanging out with Chinese agents. Instead, the public is subjected to either outright fabrications or “reports” that Trump doesn’t like puppies and baseball.
Trump or not, the Left and their allies in corporate America, the bureaucracy, and the media are moving to suppress voices with which they disagree, cancelling dissenting voices.
Who do these people think they are, college presidents?
Wake up, America. These people are shredding your natural rights. It isn’t about Trump, it’s about you.
THOSE PUBLIC UNIONS
The data is clear. Medical and mental health professionals are united. Kids need to be in school. Every day that kids aren’t in school, there is more and more damage to their learning, their mental and physical health, their odds of acquiring the skills needed to be productive citizens.
You can easily guess who doesn’t support in-person learning.
Hint: It’s the same group that generally opposes efforts to enhance learning – the teachers’ union.
Now that many districts are contemplating a return (finally) to in-person learning, the union is coming out of the woodwork to oppose. It’s about the children, right?
Local media has featured the opposition of the unions representing teachers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Of course, support is up for sale, if government spends enough money, capping class sizes for example, as the science tells us COVID goes away in class sizes under 20.
If the comments section of the major media publications are any guide, taxpayers and parents aren’t in the mood. They want kids in school and they want teachers teaching.
If paramedics and grocery store staff can be at work, so can teachers.
BAD BILL OF THE WEEK
With the legislature back in session, it’s time for the bad ideas to roll.
This week’s winner is House File 6, a bill that seeks to have an unelected panel appointed by the governor hand out state tax dollars to repair both public and private property damaged in the riots that Governor Walz and Mayor Frey allowed to rampage for days on end this summer.
Regarding public property, those cities should pay for it. They certainly appear to have lots of money to spend, as they always do.
Regarding private property, that is a matter for insurance and litigation.
It may seem harsh, but to hand out taxpayer money to uninsured or underinsured private businesses is to create a moral hazard.
Because some business owners chose not to insure or underinsure their business doesn’t make it an obligation for fellow taxpayers to cover the loss.
There seems to be an ever-expanding list of people and organizations the government is willing to bail out.
With so many riding in the wagon, pretty soon no one will be left to pull it.
January 8, 2021
Quote of the Week: “They weren’t protesters — don’t dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists.”
Quote of the Week: “They’re not gonna stop before Election Day and they’re not going to stop after Election Day. And everyone should take note of that. They’re not gonna let up and they should not.”
In This Issue:
A LEGACY TARNISHED
The assault on the seat of government of our great country was ugly, vile, un-American, and worthy of unqualified condemnation.
There is no question that the President of the United States bears his share of responsibility for the mayhem (more on that later).
There is also no question that the outrage of Democrats and the Left is in many respects cynical, hypocritical, tone-deaf, and revealing of the win-at-all-costs mentality that is the hallmark of their ilk.
For months, they excused, ignored, and even cheered the violence that led to so much pain and destruction in cities across the country.
In today’s digital environment, there is a long, irrefutable record of this support for rioters.
For them, the morality of violence falls in the realm of situational ethics. Do they condemn mayhem? Do they believe in the Rule of Law? That depends on who’s committing the violence and why.
When rioting is normalized, it becomes impossible to control it, excusing the behavior for some and not others.
We are either a nation of laws or we are not.
It is also worthwhile to recall that the Left and their media allies spent much time noting that the riots of summer 2020 were likely the work of “infiltrators” and agent provocateurs.
When such a possibility was raised regarding the Capitol Hill riot, the theory was immediately condemned and shot down, even though an investigation won’t be completed for months.
The hope is that the Left will join Republicans in condemning and working to prevent ALL politically inspired violence.
Having said that, don’t hold your breath.
The legacy of President Trump will be complicated and perhaps not discernable for many years.
One thought that comes to mind as we contemplate the end of his term is that Donald J. Trump is an American Tragic Hero.
As explained by Aristotle, Trump fits many of the traits.
The very personality traits that got him elected and drove his policy agenda ultimately led to his demise.
For conservatives, we will spend much time in the coming months and years thinking about what might have been, especially as we watch Joe Biden and the Democrats kill jobs, strangle prosperity, and trammel the values that made the country great.
Trump was a candidate who demonstrated the courage to say the things many Americans were thinking. He was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said, as crude or impolitic as some of it may have been.
He was a president who laid out a policy agenda and then boldly pushed for it, providing a stark contrast to candidates from both parties who are all too comfortable making campaign promises they have no intention of keeping.
He pursued his agenda despite the constant attacks and harassment from the Swamp, the media, and coastal elites who despised his concern for the Forgotten Man.
His legacy will be one of a pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-liberty agenda that delivered results that we will long for as we endure the inevitable Biden stagnation.
But his legacy is also one of missed opportunities, countless unforced errors, and an incivility borne of arrogance that Americans didn’t want or expect from their president.
In short, Trump the candidate never made the transition to President Trump, which was his ultimate downfall.
So often, single incidents come to be emblematic of careers, eras, or long-running affairs.
The first presidential debate of 2020 stands out in that regard.
Trump was the combative, argumentative, juvenile, belligerent man that made us all cringe.
His constant interrupting of Biden and refusal to offer even a modicum of cooperation to the debate moderator was a typical Trump debacle.
While presidential election results are the product of countless factors, his performance was a singular moment that crystallized in the minds of many voters everything they disliked about man who was often easy to dislike.
The other example is January 5th, 2021.
This is the day Republicans lost both Georgia Senate seats, giving the Democrats control of the White House and both houses of Congress.
Again, many factors were in play, but there is no doubt the losses were the fault of Trump.
At a time when Republicans should have been rallying around their Georgia candidates with a unified narrative of stopping the Democrats from running DC, Trump occupied the narrative with his obsessive, quixotic, pursuit of election fraud claims that went nowhere.
He demonstrated clearly that his personal political desires were the priority, with Republican priorities a distant second,
He destroyed the campaign plan with attacks on Georgia Republicans, attacks on the integrity of the Georgia voting system (“Don’t vote, it’s rigged! Wait, vote GOP!”) and the distractions of wild conspiracy theories, all based on “reports.”
What a ham-handed effort.
It’s clear that the Trump campaign had absolutely no plan in place for probable election challenges prior to Election Day, despite the fact that election fraud is a fact of life in places like Philadelphia and Detroit.
Moreover, the challenges were punctuated with the aforementioned conspiracy theories and explicit threats against members of Congress who didn’t fall in line with the increasingly bizarre legal and political theories, such as the idea that the vice president had unilateral authority to nullify and disqualify a state’s slate of electors. Federalism, anyone?
It’s ironic to think about how decisively Republicans won the ideas campaign in 2020 but lost the personality campaign, thanks to Trump.
Republicans gained seats in the House (contrary to conventional wisdom), defended ALL their legislative majorities in the state legislatures (contrary to conventional wisdom), and held losses in the U.S. Senate to a net of one seat (contrary to conventional wisdom).
Yet, the White House was lost, as was the Senate, under the narrowest of numbers, leading to the narrowest of governing majorities.
In short, when voters were presented a contrast of ideas, the GOP won. When they were presented a contrast of personalities, the GOP lost.
The role of Donald Trump in both the past and future of American and Republican Party Politics will be fascinating to watch.
Joe Biden’s administration, on the other hand, will not.
Quote of the Week: “They weren’t protesters — don’t dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists.”
- Joe Biden on the Capitol Hill riots
Quote of the Week: “They’re not gonna stop before Election Day and they’re not going to stop after Election Day. And everyone should take note of that. They’re not gonna let up and they should not.”
- Kamala Harris on the BLM/Antifa riots
In This Issue:
- A Legacy Tarnished.
A LEGACY TARNISHED
The assault on the seat of government of our great country was ugly, vile, un-American, and worthy of unqualified condemnation.
There is no question that the President of the United States bears his share of responsibility for the mayhem (more on that later).
There is also no question that the outrage of Democrats and the Left is in many respects cynical, hypocritical, tone-deaf, and revealing of the win-at-all-costs mentality that is the hallmark of their ilk.
For months, they excused, ignored, and even cheered the violence that led to so much pain and destruction in cities across the country.
In today’s digital environment, there is a long, irrefutable record of this support for rioters.
For them, the morality of violence falls in the realm of situational ethics. Do they condemn mayhem? Do they believe in the Rule of Law? That depends on who’s committing the violence and why.
When rioting is normalized, it becomes impossible to control it, excusing the behavior for some and not others.
We are either a nation of laws or we are not.
It is also worthwhile to recall that the Left and their media allies spent much time noting that the riots of summer 2020 were likely the work of “infiltrators” and agent provocateurs.
When such a possibility was raised regarding the Capitol Hill riot, the theory was immediately condemned and shot down, even though an investigation won’t be completed for months.
The hope is that the Left will join Republicans in condemning and working to prevent ALL politically inspired violence.
Having said that, don’t hold your breath.
The legacy of President Trump will be complicated and perhaps not discernable for many years.
One thought that comes to mind as we contemplate the end of his term is that Donald J. Trump is an American Tragic Hero.
As explained by Aristotle, Trump fits many of the traits.
The very personality traits that got him elected and drove his policy agenda ultimately led to his demise.
For conservatives, we will spend much time in the coming months and years thinking about what might have been, especially as we watch Joe Biden and the Democrats kill jobs, strangle prosperity, and trammel the values that made the country great.
Trump was a candidate who demonstrated the courage to say the things many Americans were thinking. He was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said, as crude or impolitic as some of it may have been.
He was a president who laid out a policy agenda and then boldly pushed for it, providing a stark contrast to candidates from both parties who are all too comfortable making campaign promises they have no intention of keeping.
He pursued his agenda despite the constant attacks and harassment from the Swamp, the media, and coastal elites who despised his concern for the Forgotten Man.
His legacy will be one of a pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-liberty agenda that delivered results that we will long for as we endure the inevitable Biden stagnation.
But his legacy is also one of missed opportunities, countless unforced errors, and an incivility borne of arrogance that Americans didn’t want or expect from their president.
In short, Trump the candidate never made the transition to President Trump, which was his ultimate downfall.
So often, single incidents come to be emblematic of careers, eras, or long-running affairs.
The first presidential debate of 2020 stands out in that regard.
Trump was the combative, argumentative, juvenile, belligerent man that made us all cringe.
His constant interrupting of Biden and refusal to offer even a modicum of cooperation to the debate moderator was a typical Trump debacle.
While presidential election results are the product of countless factors, his performance was a singular moment that crystallized in the minds of many voters everything they disliked about man who was often easy to dislike.
The other example is January 5th, 2021.
This is the day Republicans lost both Georgia Senate seats, giving the Democrats control of the White House and both houses of Congress.
Again, many factors were in play, but there is no doubt the losses were the fault of Trump.
At a time when Republicans should have been rallying around their Georgia candidates with a unified narrative of stopping the Democrats from running DC, Trump occupied the narrative with his obsessive, quixotic, pursuit of election fraud claims that went nowhere.
He demonstrated clearly that his personal political desires were the priority, with Republican priorities a distant second,
He destroyed the campaign plan with attacks on Georgia Republicans, attacks on the integrity of the Georgia voting system (“Don’t vote, it’s rigged! Wait, vote GOP!”) and the distractions of wild conspiracy theories, all based on “reports.”
What a ham-handed effort.
It’s clear that the Trump campaign had absolutely no plan in place for probable election challenges prior to Election Day, despite the fact that election fraud is a fact of life in places like Philadelphia and Detroit.
Moreover, the challenges were punctuated with the aforementioned conspiracy theories and explicit threats against members of Congress who didn’t fall in line with the increasingly bizarre legal and political theories, such as the idea that the vice president had unilateral authority to nullify and disqualify a state’s slate of electors. Federalism, anyone?
It’s ironic to think about how decisively Republicans won the ideas campaign in 2020 but lost the personality campaign, thanks to Trump.
Republicans gained seats in the House (contrary to conventional wisdom), defended ALL their legislative majorities in the state legislatures (contrary to conventional wisdom), and held losses in the U.S. Senate to a net of one seat (contrary to conventional wisdom).
Yet, the White House was lost, as was the Senate, under the narrowest of numbers, leading to the narrowest of governing majorities.
In short, when voters were presented a contrast of ideas, the GOP won. When they were presented a contrast of personalities, the GOP lost.
The role of Donald Trump in both the past and future of American and Republican Party Politics will be fascinating to watch.
Joe Biden’s administration, on the other hand, will not.
January 1, 2021
Editor’s Note: We wish all our readers a Happy New Year! May 2021 be better than 2020. That’s a pretty low bar, but we’ll take it.
Quote of the Week: “The truth of it is this: Making a big show of holding Trump accountable was the easy and safe play for certain self-proclaimed heroes in the press. Trump’s lies are obvious, and there is an audience for ‘resistance’ theatrics. But doing the same for Biden would require effort and risk, and, well, that is apparently too much to ask of certain members of our vaunted Fourth Estate.”
In This Issue:
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
This past year was disappointing to so many people in so many ways. Looking back is both cathartic and a sort of “airing of grievances” that Frank Costanza could easily understand. And while there are numerous stories and issues that dominated the year, three stand out to this publication.
The first is COVID, the predominant issue of the year. In particular, the government response to COVID is noteworthy.
As many states, Minnesota included, implemented draconian, freedom sapping lockdowns by executive fiat, it became clear that many Americans are nothing more than sheep.
These timid souls were more than content to swallow every last bit of rhetorical tripe from their government, telling them to live in fear, surrender their rights, ignore whatever common sense resided between their ears, and meekly comply with the sovereign’s dictates, lest they end up dying from a virus that features a survival rate of better than 99%.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of them. It is said that during the American Revolution, only 3% of the population actively took up arms against the British Empire. It’s very likely true.
Mask mandates, shut down orders, shelter in place orders, endless assaults on our freedoms both large and small, all of it is happily absorbed by millions.
Those who would sacrifice their liberty for security deserve neither. True.
Here in Minnesota, even Tim Jong Walz’s incompetence is excused and overlooked.
The $7 million uber-morgue. The ridiculous and silly pandemic model that was incorrect by orders of magnitude. Ridiculous executive orders about how many people can show up for Christmas or forcing kids to wear masks on the ice. No problem, because Tim’s trying.
The simple, ugly truth is that most people are more than happy to let government take care of them, even if it means sacrificing liberty and other natural rights.
The reality is that freedom is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It means accountability and self-reliance. It means the freedom both succeed or fail. With true freedom, there is no guaranteed safety net.
For millions, that’s too much.
Freedom is like going to the gym. It’s hard to gain the benefits but really easy to lose.
Freedoms lost under the guise of public health may be very difficult to regain.
It’s sobering to consider the “temporary” governmental powers that may prove permanent.
If you wonder how totalitarian government has ruled millions over the centuries, look back at this year. Surely, you have friends, neighbors, and family members who have without a second thought supported and followed every mandate related to the virus.
That’s the template.
Ronald Reagan observed that freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.
He was correct, in every sense of the word.
The second issue has a silver lining. 2020 was the year that the media finally eliminated all pretense and threw off the mask of objectivity to reveal their eternal liberal bias.
That bias will be further confirmed as we watch Slow Joe treated with kid gloves throughout his term in the White House.
No questions about Hunter.
As Becket Adams recently wrote, “No questions about the lies that will surely accompany a man who has been lying his entire adult life, which is to say the entire time he’s been in Washington.
Biden, you may recall, lied during the election about his opposition to fracking. He lied when he said he was the first person to call for invoking the Defense Production Act to fight the coronavirus. Biden claimed in May that every time he has run for office, he has had the backing of the NAACP. This is false. Biden claimed that the Obama administration did not ‘lock people up in cages.’ It absolutely did. He claimed that ‘immediately, the moment the Iraq War started, I came out against the war at that moment.’ He did not.
Then, there’s the plagiarism, the lying about being shot at in Iraq, the lying about marching in the civil rights movement, and the lying about being arrested in South Africa while attempting to meet with an imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
When Biden first ran for president, he claimed during a tense exchange with a voter that he attended law school at Syracuse University on a full academic scholarship, that he finished in the top half of his class in law school, that he was named the outstanding student in the political science department as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, and that he graduated from Delaware with three undergraduate degrees.
Not even one of these claims is true.”
Biden is an inveterate liar, a proven fact.
Watch the media cover for him.
2020 was also the year that political pollsters were shown to be liars for the Democrats.
Anyone who has reviewed their failed body of evidence over the past three election cycles could only conclude that they are liars, the same as the media, in bed for the Democrats and nothing more than a propaganda organ.
This publication could fill many pages of commentary with the massive polling errors that prevailed during the campaign. Overall, the polls consistently showed Biden leading Trump in key battleground states. They were all wrong. While we don’t know the outcome as of this writing, we do know that the pollsters have no credibility nor do the political talking heads who called this election for Biden and Team Socialism. They got it wrong on every level.
Consider the RealClear Politics polling average versus the results in select states:
Florida: RCP average of Biden +1. Result: Trump +3.5
Wisconsin: RCP average Biden +6.7. Result: Biden +0.7.
Iowa: RCP average Trump +0.2. Result: Trump +8.2.
Texas: RCP average Trump 1.3. Result Trump +5.8
Remember that these are polling averages. Many polls were downright ridiculous, such as the New York Times poll in very late October that showed Biden at +11 in Wisconsin.
In the Senate, the polling was just as bad.
In Maine, not ONE poll showed Republican Susan Collins ahead. The most recent poll in that state showed her opponent ahead +6. She won.
In North Carolina, not one recent poll showed Republican Thom Tillis with the lead. He is poised to win.
In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst beat the RCP average by +5.2 to win re-election.
In the generic vote for Congress, once again, every poll had Democrats ahead, for an RCP average of +7. The pundits had Dems picking up between 5-15 seats.
The reality is that Republicans have gained at least six seats in the U.S. House and will likely pick up at least 10.
Good job, guys. At least we now know the enemy. Fake news, indeed.
Finally, 2020 was a year in which red states began to show superiority to blue states.
The numbers don’t lie. Blue states are losing taxpayers while red states gain them. California, New York, Illinois, and their ilk will be losing congressional seats while Texas (3), Florida (2), North Carolina, and Montana will be gaining. In fact, blue states that aren’t tinfoil hat crazy are gaining. Colorado and Washington (minus Seattle) are two examples of blue states that value capitalism and wealth creation, thus attracting capital of all types.
One driver of this activity is the little noticed but brilliant federal law limiting the SALT deduction to a hard cap of $10,000.
SALT, an acronym for “state and local taxes” was for many years a limitless deduction that allowed wealthy taxpayers to fully deduct their state and local taxes from their federal taxes.
This was little more than a blank check that allowed irresponsible blue state like Illinois and New York to jack up taxes with impunity, as the federal treasury would take the hit.
Moreover, this tax code provision punished responsible states and their taxpayers.
With a hard cap, many successful people had the incentive to move to states like Texas and Florida, potentially saving thousands or even millions in state taxes.
No wonder Pelosi and Schumer are working so hard to reinstate this tax break for the richest Americans.
May this cap never go away.
What a year.
Editor’s Note: We wish all our readers a Happy New Year! May 2021 be better than 2020. That’s a pretty low bar, but we’ll take it.
Quote of the Week: “The truth of it is this: Making a big show of holding Trump accountable was the easy and safe play for certain self-proclaimed heroes in the press. Trump’s lies are obvious, and there is an audience for ‘resistance’ theatrics. But doing the same for Biden would require effort and risk, and, well, that is apparently too much to ask of certain members of our vaunted Fourth Estate.”
- Becket Adams
In This Issue:
- The Year in Review.
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
This past year was disappointing to so many people in so many ways. Looking back is both cathartic and a sort of “airing of grievances” that Frank Costanza could easily understand. And while there are numerous stories and issues that dominated the year, three stand out to this publication.
The first is COVID, the predominant issue of the year. In particular, the government response to COVID is noteworthy.
As many states, Minnesota included, implemented draconian, freedom sapping lockdowns by executive fiat, it became clear that many Americans are nothing more than sheep.
These timid souls were more than content to swallow every last bit of rhetorical tripe from their government, telling them to live in fear, surrender their rights, ignore whatever common sense resided between their ears, and meekly comply with the sovereign’s dictates, lest they end up dying from a virus that features a survival rate of better than 99%.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of them. It is said that during the American Revolution, only 3% of the population actively took up arms against the British Empire. It’s very likely true.
Mask mandates, shut down orders, shelter in place orders, endless assaults on our freedoms both large and small, all of it is happily absorbed by millions.
Those who would sacrifice their liberty for security deserve neither. True.
Here in Minnesota, even Tim Jong Walz’s incompetence is excused and overlooked.
The $7 million uber-morgue. The ridiculous and silly pandemic model that was incorrect by orders of magnitude. Ridiculous executive orders about how many people can show up for Christmas or forcing kids to wear masks on the ice. No problem, because Tim’s trying.
The simple, ugly truth is that most people are more than happy to let government take care of them, even if it means sacrificing liberty and other natural rights.
The reality is that freedom is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It means accountability and self-reliance. It means the freedom both succeed or fail. With true freedom, there is no guaranteed safety net.
For millions, that’s too much.
Freedom is like going to the gym. It’s hard to gain the benefits but really easy to lose.
Freedoms lost under the guise of public health may be very difficult to regain.
It’s sobering to consider the “temporary” governmental powers that may prove permanent.
If you wonder how totalitarian government has ruled millions over the centuries, look back at this year. Surely, you have friends, neighbors, and family members who have without a second thought supported and followed every mandate related to the virus.
That’s the template.
Ronald Reagan observed that freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.
He was correct, in every sense of the word.
The second issue has a silver lining. 2020 was the year that the media finally eliminated all pretense and threw off the mask of objectivity to reveal their eternal liberal bias.
That bias will be further confirmed as we watch Slow Joe treated with kid gloves throughout his term in the White House.
No questions about Hunter.
As Becket Adams recently wrote, “No questions about the lies that will surely accompany a man who has been lying his entire adult life, which is to say the entire time he’s been in Washington.
Biden, you may recall, lied during the election about his opposition to fracking. He lied when he said he was the first person to call for invoking the Defense Production Act to fight the coronavirus. Biden claimed in May that every time he has run for office, he has had the backing of the NAACP. This is false. Biden claimed that the Obama administration did not ‘lock people up in cages.’ It absolutely did. He claimed that ‘immediately, the moment the Iraq War started, I came out against the war at that moment.’ He did not.
Then, there’s the plagiarism, the lying about being shot at in Iraq, the lying about marching in the civil rights movement, and the lying about being arrested in South Africa while attempting to meet with an imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
When Biden first ran for president, he claimed during a tense exchange with a voter that he attended law school at Syracuse University on a full academic scholarship, that he finished in the top half of his class in law school, that he was named the outstanding student in the political science department as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, and that he graduated from Delaware with three undergraduate degrees.
Not even one of these claims is true.”
Biden is an inveterate liar, a proven fact.
Watch the media cover for him.
2020 was also the year that political pollsters were shown to be liars for the Democrats.
Anyone who has reviewed their failed body of evidence over the past three election cycles could only conclude that they are liars, the same as the media, in bed for the Democrats and nothing more than a propaganda organ.
This publication could fill many pages of commentary with the massive polling errors that prevailed during the campaign. Overall, the polls consistently showed Biden leading Trump in key battleground states. They were all wrong. While we don’t know the outcome as of this writing, we do know that the pollsters have no credibility nor do the political talking heads who called this election for Biden and Team Socialism. They got it wrong on every level.
Consider the RealClear Politics polling average versus the results in select states:
Florida: RCP average of Biden +1. Result: Trump +3.5
Wisconsin: RCP average Biden +6.7. Result: Biden +0.7.
Iowa: RCP average Trump +0.2. Result: Trump +8.2.
Texas: RCP average Trump 1.3. Result Trump +5.8
Remember that these are polling averages. Many polls were downright ridiculous, such as the New York Times poll in very late October that showed Biden at +11 in Wisconsin.
In the Senate, the polling was just as bad.
In Maine, not ONE poll showed Republican Susan Collins ahead. The most recent poll in that state showed her opponent ahead +6. She won.
In North Carolina, not one recent poll showed Republican Thom Tillis with the lead. He is poised to win.
In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst beat the RCP average by +5.2 to win re-election.
In the generic vote for Congress, once again, every poll had Democrats ahead, for an RCP average of +7. The pundits had Dems picking up between 5-15 seats.
The reality is that Republicans have gained at least six seats in the U.S. House and will likely pick up at least 10.
Good job, guys. At least we now know the enemy. Fake news, indeed.
Finally, 2020 was a year in which red states began to show superiority to blue states.
The numbers don’t lie. Blue states are losing taxpayers while red states gain them. California, New York, Illinois, and their ilk will be losing congressional seats while Texas (3), Florida (2), North Carolina, and Montana will be gaining. In fact, blue states that aren’t tinfoil hat crazy are gaining. Colorado and Washington (minus Seattle) are two examples of blue states that value capitalism and wealth creation, thus attracting capital of all types.
One driver of this activity is the little noticed but brilliant federal law limiting the SALT deduction to a hard cap of $10,000.
SALT, an acronym for “state and local taxes” was for many years a limitless deduction that allowed wealthy taxpayers to fully deduct their state and local taxes from their federal taxes.
This was little more than a blank check that allowed irresponsible blue state like Illinois and New York to jack up taxes with impunity, as the federal treasury would take the hit.
Moreover, this tax code provision punished responsible states and their taxpayers.
With a hard cap, many successful people had the incentive to move to states like Texas and Florida, potentially saving thousands or even millions in state taxes.
No wonder Pelosi and Schumer are working so hard to reinstate this tax break for the richest Americans.
May this cap never go away.
What a year.
December 25th, 2020
Editor’s Note: On behalf of Harold Hamilton and the entire Watchdog staff, we wish you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas. 2020 was a year to forget in so many ways, but we always maintain a grateful heart and supreme faith that Divine Providence will forever keep and protect our Republic. We look forward to the Watchdog’s 16th year of publication in 2021.
In This Issue:
AMERICA’S CONSEQUENTIAL CHRISTMAS
The year is 1776. The time is Christmas.
(By Andrew Knighton, first published 3/1/2016)
The war was not going well for the American colonies. They had suffered several defeats and Washington was forced to move his forces during the depths of Winter, which was contrary to all military thinking, at the time. Throughout the history of warfare, winter has tended to be a time of consolidation and recuperation rather than advance. Winter was a terrible time to be on the march in the colonies, with ice on the rivers and snow covering the ground. With Christmas in sight, few of the troops wanted to be bearing arms rather than back home in the arms of their loved ones.
Small wonder then that British commander Sir William Howe had sent his troops into winter quarters, rather than send them out into the bitter cold. He would have expected his opponents, smarting from defeats at Fort Lee and Fort Washington, to do the same.
Among the forces settling down to wait out the winter were the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey. These German mercenaries had often proven a fearsome addition to the British forces, but for now, they wanted to stay warm and dry and to enjoy a festive drink or three.
The Hessians were led by Colonel Johann Gotlieb Rall. To Rall, image was an important part of military discipline, and his image was one of confidence. His desire not to be seen as weak or intimidated by the colonials overstepped the line from inspiring to over-confidence. He would not admit in front of his men, but he informed his superiors – that Americans raids led him to believe that Trenton might be attacked. Without expressing these concerns he could not fortify the town, never mind ensure his men were in a state of preparedness.
Always a man who liked to stay up late drinking and rise late for a hot bath, Rall celebrated Christmas 1776 in his traditional style – drinking and gambling into the night.
What Rall feared but could not admit was true – the Americans were coming, and they were led by a commander who remains the most famous in his nation’s entire history – General George Washington.
Washington was a man who liked to analyze and plan. He favored complex and clever-sounding tactics, and at Trenton, this almost became his downfall.
To ensure a morale-boosting victory, and prevent the Hessian’s escaping, Washington wanted to achieve two things at Trenton – to surround the enemy, and to surprise them. To this end, he divided his troops into three formations, who would march on Trenton under cover of the night of 25 December. They would then attack the enemy all at once, ensuring tactical advantage and cutting off the British force’s escape route. It was a plan that looked great on paper! However, the reality of the situation was not suitable for Washington’s tactics.
The reality for an 18th-century army was that it was hard to coordinate separate formations over a distance, doubly so in darkness and with winter conditions hindering their movements. And so it was that, when Washington attacked, two out of three formations were not in position.
Though the plan may not have gone perfectly, it achieved its aims, in particular, the element of surprise. This was as much down to Hessian failings as colonial cunning.
Rall, given a note the previous day predicting an American attack, had stuffed it unopened into his pocket. Meanwhile, his second-in-command, Major von Dechow, had canceled the dawn patrol for 26 December.
It was Christmas, bitterly cold out, and he did not expect trouble from the Americans under such circumstances.
The first the Hessians knew of the attack was when the Americans assaulted an outpost a mile from town. Soon messengers were rushing to rouse Rall and gather the defenders. While the Hessians struggled into action, the American formations approached the town, cutting off escape routes and bringing up their cannon to bombard Hessian troops.
With cannon at the heads of both main roads and other artillery firing from across the river, the Americans quickly broke the Hessian formations and gained control of much of Trenton. Buildings gave them defensive cover, and sympathetic civilians came to their aid.
Rall made one final attempt to break out of the trap. With pipes and drums playing, he led his men toward the American flank on hills north of Trenton. On the heights, Washington saw the Hessians coming and formed his men up ready.
The mercenaries marched into withering fire that fell on them from three directions at once. Rall was fatally wounded, and his men broke for the final time. 22 were killed and 83 wounded, but more significantly, 896 were captured.
The Americans lost only five men wounded in the battle, and two dead from frostbite. They had taken out the entire Hessian force with almost no losses and added to their own arms and supplies with those taken from the Germans.
Perhaps more significantly, Trenton provided the Americans with a much-needed psychological boost. Morale and recruitment lifted once more while the stunned Howe struggled to come to terms with the apparent turnaround. By making winter his ally, George Washington had saved the struggling Revolution. It would take several more years for the British to learn to respect their foes.
Editor’s Note: On behalf of Harold Hamilton and the entire Watchdog staff, we wish you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas. 2020 was a year to forget in so many ways, but we always maintain a grateful heart and supreme faith that Divine Providence will forever keep and protect our Republic. We look forward to the Watchdog’s 16th year of publication in 2021.
In This Issue:
- America’s Consequential Christmas.
AMERICA’S CONSEQUENTIAL CHRISTMAS
The year is 1776. The time is Christmas.
(By Andrew Knighton, first published 3/1/2016)
The war was not going well for the American colonies. They had suffered several defeats and Washington was forced to move his forces during the depths of Winter, which was contrary to all military thinking, at the time. Throughout the history of warfare, winter has tended to be a time of consolidation and recuperation rather than advance. Winter was a terrible time to be on the march in the colonies, with ice on the rivers and snow covering the ground. With Christmas in sight, few of the troops wanted to be bearing arms rather than back home in the arms of their loved ones.
Small wonder then that British commander Sir William Howe had sent his troops into winter quarters, rather than send them out into the bitter cold. He would have expected his opponents, smarting from defeats at Fort Lee and Fort Washington, to do the same.
Among the forces settling down to wait out the winter were the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey. These German mercenaries had often proven a fearsome addition to the British forces, but for now, they wanted to stay warm and dry and to enjoy a festive drink or three.
The Hessians were led by Colonel Johann Gotlieb Rall. To Rall, image was an important part of military discipline, and his image was one of confidence. His desire not to be seen as weak or intimidated by the colonials overstepped the line from inspiring to over-confidence. He would not admit in front of his men, but he informed his superiors – that Americans raids led him to believe that Trenton might be attacked. Without expressing these concerns he could not fortify the town, never mind ensure his men were in a state of preparedness.
Always a man who liked to stay up late drinking and rise late for a hot bath, Rall celebrated Christmas 1776 in his traditional style – drinking and gambling into the night.
What Rall feared but could not admit was true – the Americans were coming, and they were led by a commander who remains the most famous in his nation’s entire history – General George Washington.
Washington was a man who liked to analyze and plan. He favored complex and clever-sounding tactics, and at Trenton, this almost became his downfall.
To ensure a morale-boosting victory, and prevent the Hessian’s escaping, Washington wanted to achieve two things at Trenton – to surround the enemy, and to surprise them. To this end, he divided his troops into three formations, who would march on Trenton under cover of the night of 25 December. They would then attack the enemy all at once, ensuring tactical advantage and cutting off the British force’s escape route. It was a plan that looked great on paper! However, the reality of the situation was not suitable for Washington’s tactics.
The reality for an 18th-century army was that it was hard to coordinate separate formations over a distance, doubly so in darkness and with winter conditions hindering their movements. And so it was that, when Washington attacked, two out of three formations were not in position.
Though the plan may not have gone perfectly, it achieved its aims, in particular, the element of surprise. This was as much down to Hessian failings as colonial cunning.
Rall, given a note the previous day predicting an American attack, had stuffed it unopened into his pocket. Meanwhile, his second-in-command, Major von Dechow, had canceled the dawn patrol for 26 December.
It was Christmas, bitterly cold out, and he did not expect trouble from the Americans under such circumstances.
The first the Hessians knew of the attack was when the Americans assaulted an outpost a mile from town. Soon messengers were rushing to rouse Rall and gather the defenders. While the Hessians struggled into action, the American formations approached the town, cutting off escape routes and bringing up their cannon to bombard Hessian troops.
With cannon at the heads of both main roads and other artillery firing from across the river, the Americans quickly broke the Hessian formations and gained control of much of Trenton. Buildings gave them defensive cover, and sympathetic civilians came to their aid.
Rall made one final attempt to break out of the trap. With pipes and drums playing, he led his men toward the American flank on hills north of Trenton. On the heights, Washington saw the Hessians coming and formed his men up ready.
The mercenaries marched into withering fire that fell on them from three directions at once. Rall was fatally wounded, and his men broke for the final time. 22 were killed and 83 wounded, but more significantly, 896 were captured.
The Americans lost only five men wounded in the battle, and two dead from frostbite. They had taken out the entire Hessian force with almost no losses and added to their own arms and supplies with those taken from the Germans.
Perhaps more significantly, Trenton provided the Americans with a much-needed psychological boost. Morale and recruitment lifted once more while the stunned Howe struggled to come to terms with the apparent turnaround. By making winter his ally, George Washington had saved the struggling Revolution. It would take several more years for the British to learn to respect their foes.
December 4th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “We feel like two people because we are two people. The signs are unmistakable. Our most divisive issue is our symbol of unity. Factions like BLM and blue lives matter have their own flags. Our heritage, revered by half of America, is being vandalized and toppled by the other half. Our most popular sport now begins with two anthems.”
In This Issue:
A HOUSE DIVIDED
While the subject is lengthy, complex, and worthy of books, it is increasingly clear that America is deeply divided, perhaps in an irreconcilable way.
Vapid bromides exhorting us to “conversations” and “awareness” about this issue or that issue mean nothing and do nothing. Slogans about being “in this together” and “unity” are just that – slogans.
If you doubt this observation, if you are of the opinion that America today is more 1968 than 1858, some statistics say emphatically 1858.
In a January 2019 poll, Donald Trump had the approval of 87% of identified Republicans and the approval of 8% of identified Democrats. This 79% “approval gap” was the largest ever recorded. Of the 15 largest partisan gaps in annual presidential approval ratings, 14 of them have occurred in the past 15 years. We are clearly seeing the chief executive through an exclusively partisan lens.
A 2019 Pew Research poll showed exactly how Republicans and Democrats feel about each other. A majority of Republicans say Democrats are “more immoral” than the average American.
75% of Democrats say Republicans are “more closed-minded.”
63% of Republicans say Democrats are “more unpatriotic.”
Majorities in both parties say the other side doesn’t share their non-political values and principles.
77% of Republicans and 72% of Democrats say that voters in both parties “not only disagree over plans and policies, but also cannot agree on the basic facts.
Only 17% of Republicans say that the Democratic Party has “a lot” or “some” good ideas” and only 13% of Democrats say this about the Republican Party.
83% of Republicans say the phrase “governs in an honest and ethical way” describes the GOP very or somewhat well; just 12% say this phrase describes the Democratic Party well. The pattern of opinion is very similar among Democrats: 85% of Democrats describe their own party as governing in an honest and ethical way, while just 15% say this describes the Republican Party.
And finally, a majority in both parties do not want their children to marry across party lines. In 1960, the number of respondents who felt this way was in the low single digits.
Do you need any more proof?
MINNEAPOLIS IS HORRIBLE
Minneapolis has become a lawless dystopia. Car jackings are off the charts, some blocks are police “no go” zones, and parts of the city resemble the burned-out rubble reminiscent of cities like Hue, Dresden, or Fallujah.
None of this has stopped elected officials representing the city from their quest to defund the police and institute some type of collectivist utopia.
Yet these same city officials continue to call on the state and federal government to ship in money to rebuild what was lost to their dallying in the face of crisis and perfidy towards the rule of law.
The latest outrage concerns the city’s upcoming debt service for their share of the Viking’s stadium, the place where professionals get to play sports while kids can’t play thanks to Governor-Supreme Tim Jong Walz.
As part of the scheme to finance the $1.1 billion stadium for the Vikings, the city agreed to a back-loaded $150 million contribution, the first tranche of which is due next year.
This is the outrage. City officials are now proposing to have the state cover the first debt payment and then discuss ways to lower or eliminate the city’s remaining obligation.
Of course, the city’s finances are indeed in crisis, thanks to the twin liberal policies of pandemic shutdowns and the tacit approval of allowing thugs to burn the city in the name of social justice.
Hell no.
In fact, it’s high time that Republican legislators defund Minneapolis.
Enough is enough.
If city leaders want to run a circus, make them pay for it.
Start by zeroing out local government aid to the city immediately.
This is the wealthiest city in the state. They should have been off this form of welfare years ago.
The idea of taxpayers in Hibbing or Willmar sending money to the liberal elites in Minneapolis was ridiculous from the start.
If the city wants to defund cops while funding bicycle sustainability coordinators, let them do it on their dime.
This publication speaks for thousands of taxpayers who have had enough of tracking these fools.
This is a win-win. They get left alone to do crazy stuff. We don’t have to worry about it.
Next, the state can continue to make alternative learning options available to children who are currently sentenced to failing schools.
Again, enough of this business of trying to force accountability. Instead, make it easier for families to vote with their feet.
Part of this effort should include an amendment to eliminate the prohibition on private school vouchers. The prohibition is nothing more anti-Catholic bigotry that should be erased.
Those two agenda items should be enough to start.
COMMITTEE CAPERS COME CALLING
As you know, the DFL maintained control of the Minnesota House by a shrunken 70-64 majority.
As such, they can only lose two votes and still pass a bill.
The real issue here is that House committee structure was released this week, with a whopping 30 committees to vet and process legislation.
With 70 legislators, 43% of House DFL members will be a committee chair.
It’s almost as if a committee gavel has become a participation ribbon. Everyone gets a gavel!
A byzantine scheme of committees with overlapping jurisdiction is sure to create confusion and turf battles between power-hungry legislators.
In the healthcare realm:
Health Finance & Policy
Human Services Finance & Policy
Preventative Health Policy
Behavioral Health Policy
In the business and commerce realm:
Commerce Finance & Policy
Climate and Energy Finance & Policy
Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance & Policy
Workforce and Business Development Finance & Policy
Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance & Policy
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC
The Fraser Institute recently released its “economic freedom” report that measures how economically free nations, states, and localities in North America rank.
As one would expect, Minnesota ranked an abysmal 40th out of the 50 states, earning a “least free” designation.
States were graded on three areas: Government Spending; Taxes; and Labor Market Freedom.
This is yet one more indicator that Minnesota is on a trajectory for economic malaise.
Policies like this will catch up with the state, especially since Minnesota lacks the amenities of other high tax, economically oppressive states like New York and California.
The “most free” state was New Hampshire.
The “least free” state was New York.
South Dakota ranked #5.
North Dakota was #13
Wisconsin ranked #19.
Iowa ranked #28.
Another dubious distinction for the North Star State.
Quote of the Week: “We feel like two people because we are two people. The signs are unmistakable. Our most divisive issue is our symbol of unity. Factions like BLM and blue lives matter have their own flags. Our heritage, revered by half of America, is being vandalized and toppled by the other half. Our most popular sport now begins with two anthems.”
- Anonymous (11/30/20)
In This Issue:
- A House Divided;
- Minneapolis is Horrible;
- Committee Capers Come Calling;
- The People’s Republic.
A HOUSE DIVIDED
While the subject is lengthy, complex, and worthy of books, it is increasingly clear that America is deeply divided, perhaps in an irreconcilable way.
Vapid bromides exhorting us to “conversations” and “awareness” about this issue or that issue mean nothing and do nothing. Slogans about being “in this together” and “unity” are just that – slogans.
If you doubt this observation, if you are of the opinion that America today is more 1968 than 1858, some statistics say emphatically 1858.
In a January 2019 poll, Donald Trump had the approval of 87% of identified Republicans and the approval of 8% of identified Democrats. This 79% “approval gap” was the largest ever recorded. Of the 15 largest partisan gaps in annual presidential approval ratings, 14 of them have occurred in the past 15 years. We are clearly seeing the chief executive through an exclusively partisan lens.
A 2019 Pew Research poll showed exactly how Republicans and Democrats feel about each other. A majority of Republicans say Democrats are “more immoral” than the average American.
75% of Democrats say Republicans are “more closed-minded.”
63% of Republicans say Democrats are “more unpatriotic.”
Majorities in both parties say the other side doesn’t share their non-political values and principles.
77% of Republicans and 72% of Democrats say that voters in both parties “not only disagree over plans and policies, but also cannot agree on the basic facts.
Only 17% of Republicans say that the Democratic Party has “a lot” or “some” good ideas” and only 13% of Democrats say this about the Republican Party.
83% of Republicans say the phrase “governs in an honest and ethical way” describes the GOP very or somewhat well; just 12% say this phrase describes the Democratic Party well. The pattern of opinion is very similar among Democrats: 85% of Democrats describe their own party as governing in an honest and ethical way, while just 15% say this describes the Republican Party.
And finally, a majority in both parties do not want their children to marry across party lines. In 1960, the number of respondents who felt this way was in the low single digits.
Do you need any more proof?
MINNEAPOLIS IS HORRIBLE
Minneapolis has become a lawless dystopia. Car jackings are off the charts, some blocks are police “no go” zones, and parts of the city resemble the burned-out rubble reminiscent of cities like Hue, Dresden, or Fallujah.
None of this has stopped elected officials representing the city from their quest to defund the police and institute some type of collectivist utopia.
Yet these same city officials continue to call on the state and federal government to ship in money to rebuild what was lost to their dallying in the face of crisis and perfidy towards the rule of law.
The latest outrage concerns the city’s upcoming debt service for their share of the Viking’s stadium, the place where professionals get to play sports while kids can’t play thanks to Governor-Supreme Tim Jong Walz.
As part of the scheme to finance the $1.1 billion stadium for the Vikings, the city agreed to a back-loaded $150 million contribution, the first tranche of which is due next year.
This is the outrage. City officials are now proposing to have the state cover the first debt payment and then discuss ways to lower or eliminate the city’s remaining obligation.
Of course, the city’s finances are indeed in crisis, thanks to the twin liberal policies of pandemic shutdowns and the tacit approval of allowing thugs to burn the city in the name of social justice.
Hell no.
In fact, it’s high time that Republican legislators defund Minneapolis.
Enough is enough.
If city leaders want to run a circus, make them pay for it.
Start by zeroing out local government aid to the city immediately.
This is the wealthiest city in the state. They should have been off this form of welfare years ago.
The idea of taxpayers in Hibbing or Willmar sending money to the liberal elites in Minneapolis was ridiculous from the start.
If the city wants to defund cops while funding bicycle sustainability coordinators, let them do it on their dime.
This publication speaks for thousands of taxpayers who have had enough of tracking these fools.
This is a win-win. They get left alone to do crazy stuff. We don’t have to worry about it.
Next, the state can continue to make alternative learning options available to children who are currently sentenced to failing schools.
Again, enough of this business of trying to force accountability. Instead, make it easier for families to vote with their feet.
Part of this effort should include an amendment to eliminate the prohibition on private school vouchers. The prohibition is nothing more anti-Catholic bigotry that should be erased.
Those two agenda items should be enough to start.
COMMITTEE CAPERS COME CALLING
As you know, the DFL maintained control of the Minnesota House by a shrunken 70-64 majority.
As such, they can only lose two votes and still pass a bill.
The real issue here is that House committee structure was released this week, with a whopping 30 committees to vet and process legislation.
With 70 legislators, 43% of House DFL members will be a committee chair.
It’s almost as if a committee gavel has become a participation ribbon. Everyone gets a gavel!
A byzantine scheme of committees with overlapping jurisdiction is sure to create confusion and turf battles between power-hungry legislators.
In the healthcare realm:
Health Finance & Policy
Human Services Finance & Policy
Preventative Health Policy
Behavioral Health Policy
In the business and commerce realm:
Commerce Finance & Policy
Climate and Energy Finance & Policy
Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance & Policy
Workforce and Business Development Finance & Policy
Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance & Policy
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC
The Fraser Institute recently released its “economic freedom” report that measures how economically free nations, states, and localities in North America rank.
As one would expect, Minnesota ranked an abysmal 40th out of the 50 states, earning a “least free” designation.
States were graded on three areas: Government Spending; Taxes; and Labor Market Freedom.
This is yet one more indicator that Minnesota is on a trajectory for economic malaise.
Policies like this will catch up with the state, especially since Minnesota lacks the amenities of other high tax, economically oppressive states like New York and California.
The “most free” state was New Hampshire.
The “least free” state was New York.
South Dakota ranked #5.
North Dakota was #13
Wisconsin ranked #19.
Iowa ranked #28.
Another dubious distinction for the North Star State.
November 20th, 2020
Quote of the Week: "David and I have always voted our districts. We have always represented our districts as bipartisan and moderate members of the legislature. Forming this new caucus is just a natural progression of aligning more with moderate than the far right or left. Additionally, we will not stray from the values of Northern Minnesota and what our people are most passionate about -- our economy and jobs that support our families and our economic lifeline of mining and wood products. Our natural resource-based economy is critical to our region of the state."
Quote of the Week: “Republican dominance in supposedly 50-50 districts is yet another reminder of just how wrong polls were in 2020, and how wrong they have been for some time. What should embarrass pollsters most, though, is not the fact that they were wrong, but how one-sided they were in the process.”
In This Issue:
BIAS
Now is the time in the election cycle where the Political-Industrial complex makes excuses as to why they were so wrong – and so biased – in favor of their predictions and prognostications in favor of Democrats throughout the election cycle.
For months and months, you heard about a “blue wave” and other predictions about how Donald Trump and Republicans were headed for disaster at the polls, thanks to an agenda focused on tax cuts, job growth, pro-family initiatives, and a true “America first” world view.
And just like in 2016, it didn’t happen.
Don’t allow these agents of the Left to fool you. Their incorrect data and predictions were intentional, designed to suppress the Republican vote and assist the Democrats in winning races.
The Mainstream Media has dropped all pretense of objectivity and has openly shown their bias.
The polling industry has yet to drop the pretense, but the evidence is undeniable.
Check these “coincidences” and think about it:
Of 27 U.S. House races labeled a “toss up” by “expert” Charlie Cook, Republicans won all 27. ALL 27.
Of 26 House races deemed “lean GOP” or “likely GOP”, the GOP won all 26.
The GOP even won 7 of 36 House races labeled “leans or likely Democrat.”
We could also list a litany of biased polling data from House races, such as the poll from Utah-4 that showed Republican Burgess Owens down 11 points. He won.
Rest assured, this whole crew will be back in 2022, spinning a narrative that the GOP is not only poised to lose, but on the brink of political extinction.
Don’t buy it. These guys are dead and can only be revived if you buy into their bulls**t.
ROCKS AND COWS
Governor for Life Tim Jong Walz once declared that rural Minnesota was “mostly rocks and cows.”
That insult was just one of many that has been hurled at those who live more than 20 miles from the skyscrapers of burned-out Minneapolis. Recall Barack Obama accusing those same Americans of “bitterly clinging to the guns and religion.”
There was once an ad campaign regarding dental health that warned, “Ignore your teeth and they will go away.”
In 2020, we see that if Democrats ignore rural legislators and voters, they will go away.
This week, a bombshell was dropped when two veteran DFL state Senators announced that they have left the DFL and will serve in Saint Paul as independent legislators, representing no party.
Tom Bakk represents northern Minnesota in the legislature for the past 26 years. He has been the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, and a DFL candidate for governor.
David Tomassoni represents a neighboring district on the Iron Range and has been in the legislature for 28 years as a DFL member. He serves as the President of the Senate.
This turn of events is a stunning rebuke for the DFL. These men have a combined 54 years of legislative service and have held prominent positions within the DFL caucus.
Any reasonable review of their voting records shows that both haven’t changed their views over the years. Instead, their departure can be seen only as an indictment of a DFL that has become dominated by a coalition of wealthy white urban elites, effete suburbanites wracked with guilt, and radicals who hate America, capitalism, and the rule of law.
Moreover, the move places control of the state Senate firmly in GOP hands. Under the new alignment, the body is now 34 GOP, 31 DFL, and two independents who will likely caucus with the GOP. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka has already announced that both men will be named committee chairmen.
Today, there is really only one DFL senator who can be said to represent rural Minnesota, Sen. Kent Eken of Twin Valley. There are three more DFL senators who don’t represent the Metro, but their district are primarily regional centers in Mankato, Duluth, and Saint Cloud.
It’s amazing to consider the rural areas of the state that just a short number of years ago were solidly DFL but are no longer. Cities like Austin, Albert Lea, Willmar, Hibbing, and Pine City are now in GOP hands.
LOCKDOWN LUNACY
So here we are again, locked down under the executive fiat of King Tim Jong Walz, Supreme Leader and Sun King of Minnesota.
These lockdowns, already of dubious efficacy, weren’t supposed to happen anymore.
Remember back in March when Walz first seized power in the name of “flattening the curve” and ensuring that health care resources would be preserved?
What happened?
Eight months later, we apparently are still unprepared for the spike in cases we all knew was coming.
In fact, during that time, we have seen two hospitals close, including one that was specifically designated as a COVID care site.
We have seen mask mandates. Wasn’t that supposed to cure everything?
What about the $7 million morgue that remains, thankfully, without a single body?
So, we’re taking away sports from young kids but keeping the status quo in nursing homes, the scene of about 75% of COVID deaths.
The governor’s unilateral, authoritarian, go-it-alone strategy has been an abject failure.
And legislative DFLers who have supported his actions are his unindicted co-conspirators.
What’s even more disturbing, Walz has begun to act like totalitarian leader, becoming increasingly belligerent as citizens begin to question what’s happening.
Many of you don’t know that the Department of Health has been excluding certain members of the media from briefings, presumably for political reasons.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/11/media-access-in-one-state-finale.php?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sw&utm_campaign=sw
We have seen governor Walz attack those who disagree with him, such as his infamous quote recently that “Republicans are wrong every damn time.”
How has that morgue worked out, Mr. Perfect?
Eight months after seizing unilateral powers, Walz continues to act by fiat, excluding the legislature from the law-making process that has been central to our system of self-governance since the start and featured in Western governance since Montesquieu.
He owns this debacle.
One would think that the judicial branch would step in at some point.
It’s too bad voters didn’t do just a titch more on election day. A few hundred more votes in districts like 38B and 39B, and there would be a GOP majority to extinguish the madness.
Quote of the Week: "David and I have always voted our districts. We have always represented our districts as bipartisan and moderate members of the legislature. Forming this new caucus is just a natural progression of aligning more with moderate than the far right or left. Additionally, we will not stray from the values of Northern Minnesota and what our people are most passionate about -- our economy and jobs that support our families and our economic lifeline of mining and wood products. Our natural resource-based economy is critical to our region of the state."
- State Senator Tom Bakk (DFL – Cook)
Quote of the Week: “Republican dominance in supposedly 50-50 districts is yet another reminder of just how wrong polls were in 2020, and how wrong they have been for some time. What should embarrass pollsters most, though, is not the fact that they were wrong, but how one-sided they were in the process.”
- Cabot Phillips
In This Issue:
- Bias;
- Rocks and Cows;
- Lockdown Lunacy.
BIAS
Now is the time in the election cycle where the Political-Industrial complex makes excuses as to why they were so wrong – and so biased – in favor of their predictions and prognostications in favor of Democrats throughout the election cycle.
For months and months, you heard about a “blue wave” and other predictions about how Donald Trump and Republicans were headed for disaster at the polls, thanks to an agenda focused on tax cuts, job growth, pro-family initiatives, and a true “America first” world view.
And just like in 2016, it didn’t happen.
Don’t allow these agents of the Left to fool you. Their incorrect data and predictions were intentional, designed to suppress the Republican vote and assist the Democrats in winning races.
The Mainstream Media has dropped all pretense of objectivity and has openly shown their bias.
The polling industry has yet to drop the pretense, but the evidence is undeniable.
Check these “coincidences” and think about it:
Of 27 U.S. House races labeled a “toss up” by “expert” Charlie Cook, Republicans won all 27. ALL 27.
Of 26 House races deemed “lean GOP” or “likely GOP”, the GOP won all 26.
The GOP even won 7 of 36 House races labeled “leans or likely Democrat.”
We could also list a litany of biased polling data from House races, such as the poll from Utah-4 that showed Republican Burgess Owens down 11 points. He won.
Rest assured, this whole crew will be back in 2022, spinning a narrative that the GOP is not only poised to lose, but on the brink of political extinction.
Don’t buy it. These guys are dead and can only be revived if you buy into their bulls**t.
ROCKS AND COWS
Governor for Life Tim Jong Walz once declared that rural Minnesota was “mostly rocks and cows.”
That insult was just one of many that has been hurled at those who live more than 20 miles from the skyscrapers of burned-out Minneapolis. Recall Barack Obama accusing those same Americans of “bitterly clinging to the guns and religion.”
There was once an ad campaign regarding dental health that warned, “Ignore your teeth and they will go away.”
In 2020, we see that if Democrats ignore rural legislators and voters, they will go away.
This week, a bombshell was dropped when two veteran DFL state Senators announced that they have left the DFL and will serve in Saint Paul as independent legislators, representing no party.
Tom Bakk represents northern Minnesota in the legislature for the past 26 years. He has been the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, and a DFL candidate for governor.
David Tomassoni represents a neighboring district on the Iron Range and has been in the legislature for 28 years as a DFL member. He serves as the President of the Senate.
This turn of events is a stunning rebuke for the DFL. These men have a combined 54 years of legislative service and have held prominent positions within the DFL caucus.
Any reasonable review of their voting records shows that both haven’t changed their views over the years. Instead, their departure can be seen only as an indictment of a DFL that has become dominated by a coalition of wealthy white urban elites, effete suburbanites wracked with guilt, and radicals who hate America, capitalism, and the rule of law.
Moreover, the move places control of the state Senate firmly in GOP hands. Under the new alignment, the body is now 34 GOP, 31 DFL, and two independents who will likely caucus with the GOP. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka has already announced that both men will be named committee chairmen.
Today, there is really only one DFL senator who can be said to represent rural Minnesota, Sen. Kent Eken of Twin Valley. There are three more DFL senators who don’t represent the Metro, but their district are primarily regional centers in Mankato, Duluth, and Saint Cloud.
It’s amazing to consider the rural areas of the state that just a short number of years ago were solidly DFL but are no longer. Cities like Austin, Albert Lea, Willmar, Hibbing, and Pine City are now in GOP hands.
LOCKDOWN LUNACY
So here we are again, locked down under the executive fiat of King Tim Jong Walz, Supreme Leader and Sun King of Minnesota.
These lockdowns, already of dubious efficacy, weren’t supposed to happen anymore.
Remember back in March when Walz first seized power in the name of “flattening the curve” and ensuring that health care resources would be preserved?
What happened?
Eight months later, we apparently are still unprepared for the spike in cases we all knew was coming.
In fact, during that time, we have seen two hospitals close, including one that was specifically designated as a COVID care site.
We have seen mask mandates. Wasn’t that supposed to cure everything?
What about the $7 million morgue that remains, thankfully, without a single body?
So, we’re taking away sports from young kids but keeping the status quo in nursing homes, the scene of about 75% of COVID deaths.
The governor’s unilateral, authoritarian, go-it-alone strategy has been an abject failure.
And legislative DFLers who have supported his actions are his unindicted co-conspirators.
What’s even more disturbing, Walz has begun to act like totalitarian leader, becoming increasingly belligerent as citizens begin to question what’s happening.
Many of you don’t know that the Department of Health has been excluding certain members of the media from briefings, presumably for political reasons.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/11/media-access-in-one-state-finale.php?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sw&utm_campaign=sw
We have seen governor Walz attack those who disagree with him, such as his infamous quote recently that “Republicans are wrong every damn time.”
How has that morgue worked out, Mr. Perfect?
Eight months after seizing unilateral powers, Walz continues to act by fiat, excluding the legislature from the law-making process that has been central to our system of self-governance since the start and featured in Western governance since Montesquieu.
He owns this debacle.
One would think that the judicial branch would step in at some point.
It’s too bad voters didn’t do just a titch more on election day. A few hundred more votes in districts like 38B and 39B, and there would be a GOP majority to extinguish the madness.
11/13/20
Quote of the Week: “Will you pledge not to declare victory until the election is independently certified?” “Yes.”
Quote of the Week: "Resources are hemorrhaging. Our city is bleeding at this moment. I'm trying to do all I can to stop that bleeding."
In This Issue:
BLOODY MINNEAPOLIS
Before we get to election analysis, we need to take a moment to rightly castigate the clowns on the Minneapolis City Council for failing to fulfill the first obligation of government: protection of life and property.
Since May, the city has been nothing short of a war zone, with civil unrest resulting in significant property destruction and assaults on the lives of innocent residents.
The city’s response has been appalling. Instead of timely responding with a level of resources needed to guarantee public safety, city leaders muzzled law enforcement and led a rhetorical assault on them, with calls to defund and abolish the police department.
The logical result of this tragic comedy is a city on the brink. Lawlessness runs rampant, despite the cover-up from a complicit media that is loathe to embarrass progressive stars like Boy Mayor Jacob Frey.
So, what can be done?
Thankfully, Republicans retained control of the state Senate.
This means they have some control over the disposition of state aid that is dispensed to Minneapolis.
This aid, called Local Government Aid (LGA), is roughly $80 million per year to the city.
Republicans should insist that LGA to Minneapolis be used only to support the police department.
For example, about 90% of the department’s budget is for salaries and benefits. LGA could go to that purpose, and perhaps for equipment.
Moreover, maybe that $80 million could first be dedicated to rebuilding the Third Precinct, abandoned to rioters and burned to the ground.
Another possibility is to simply zero out the city’s LGA and let the city council figure it out.
The problem with directed LGA is that this money is fungible. State monies to the police department simply mean the city can spend resources elsewhere, wasted on diversity experts, sustainability coordinators, and climate crisis programs. In other words, we could see the unintended consequence of freeing the city from the financial obligation to fund public safety.
Let Governor Walz and the House DFL fight for the city’s LGA loot. Make them buy it in budget negotiations.
Zeroing out Minneapolis LGA would send a powerful message on behalf of the millions of taxpayers who are disgusted by the city’s actions and attempts to mimic Portland.
Doing otherwise is a classic example of rewarding bad behavior.
THE BLUE TRICKLE
Last week, this publication engaged in round one of election analysis.
Today is part II.
The theme is that despite the predictions from “experts,” there was no blue wave this year.
It was more like a blue trickle.
Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, democrats and their Leftist allies were rebuffed at nearly every turn, with the presidency being the only notable exception (probably).
It appears quite likely that the U.S. Senate will remain in GOP hands. The current split is 50-48, with two seats, both in Georgia, heading for a January 5th runoff.
If the GOP retains at least one seat, it will be only the third time since 1914 (the first year of direct Senate elections) that the American people elected a president of one party and vested control of the Senate in the other.
In the U.S. House, it appears that Republicans will gain at least 10 seats, giving the Democrats their narrowest majority since World War II.
In fact, it looks likely that every single incumbent House Republican will win.
At the gubernatorial level, Republicans saw a net gain of one, picking up Montana and retaining all other incumbents (UT, ND, MO, IN, WV, NH, VT).
At the state level, things weren’t any better for the Dems.
Despite spending over $500 million, they failed to flip a single house.
In fact, Republicans were successful in not only protecting all incumbent governors and their legislative majorities, but they also flipped the governorship of Montana and both legislative chambers in New Hampshire.
NO MANDATE
One of the most interesting data points from 2020 exit polling is that a majority (about 52%, depending upon the poll) of Biden voters characterized their choice as “against Trump” and not “for Biden.”
While the outcome remains in some doubt, it appears that Joe Biden will be the next president.
Good luck with that.
Half your supporters didn’t really support you; they just didn’t like your opponent.
71 million Americans voted for your opponent and many of them think fraud influenced the outcome.
It’s likely voters gave a Senate majority to the GOP, putting up a major obstacle to your agenda.
In the House, it appears that Democrats will have their smallest majority since World War II, leaving very little room to pass agenda items, most likely meaning there will have to be Republican buy in.
The Supreme Court is now in conservative hands, eliminating the liberal stratagem of having the judiciary pass in the courts what they couldn’t pass at the ballot box.
Instead of making law, the high court will now get back to the basic job of interpreting the law.
On any given issue, the hard Left will be nipping at Biden’s heels, demanding action on items like the Green New Deal, reparations, court packing, tax increases, wealth redistribution, and statehood for federal properties like DC and Puerto Rico.
Good luck, Joe. You dog faced pony soldier.
Quote of the Week: “Will you pledge not to declare victory until the election is independently certified?” “Yes.”
- Joe Biden replying to Chris Wallace in the first presidential debate
Quote of the Week: "Resources are hemorrhaging. Our city is bleeding at this moment. I'm trying to do all I can to stop that bleeding."
- Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo
In This Issue:
- Bloody Minneapolis;
- The Blue Trickle;
- No Mandate.
BLOODY MINNEAPOLIS
Before we get to election analysis, we need to take a moment to rightly castigate the clowns on the Minneapolis City Council for failing to fulfill the first obligation of government: protection of life and property.
Since May, the city has been nothing short of a war zone, with civil unrest resulting in significant property destruction and assaults on the lives of innocent residents.
The city’s response has been appalling. Instead of timely responding with a level of resources needed to guarantee public safety, city leaders muzzled law enforcement and led a rhetorical assault on them, with calls to defund and abolish the police department.
The logical result of this tragic comedy is a city on the brink. Lawlessness runs rampant, despite the cover-up from a complicit media that is loathe to embarrass progressive stars like Boy Mayor Jacob Frey.
So, what can be done?
Thankfully, Republicans retained control of the state Senate.
This means they have some control over the disposition of state aid that is dispensed to Minneapolis.
This aid, called Local Government Aid (LGA), is roughly $80 million per year to the city.
Republicans should insist that LGA to Minneapolis be used only to support the police department.
For example, about 90% of the department’s budget is for salaries and benefits. LGA could go to that purpose, and perhaps for equipment.
Moreover, maybe that $80 million could first be dedicated to rebuilding the Third Precinct, abandoned to rioters and burned to the ground.
Another possibility is to simply zero out the city’s LGA and let the city council figure it out.
The problem with directed LGA is that this money is fungible. State monies to the police department simply mean the city can spend resources elsewhere, wasted on diversity experts, sustainability coordinators, and climate crisis programs. In other words, we could see the unintended consequence of freeing the city from the financial obligation to fund public safety.
Let Governor Walz and the House DFL fight for the city’s LGA loot. Make them buy it in budget negotiations.
Zeroing out Minneapolis LGA would send a powerful message on behalf of the millions of taxpayers who are disgusted by the city’s actions and attempts to mimic Portland.
Doing otherwise is a classic example of rewarding bad behavior.
THE BLUE TRICKLE
Last week, this publication engaged in round one of election analysis.
Today is part II.
The theme is that despite the predictions from “experts,” there was no blue wave this year.
It was more like a blue trickle.
Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, democrats and their Leftist allies were rebuffed at nearly every turn, with the presidency being the only notable exception (probably).
It appears quite likely that the U.S. Senate will remain in GOP hands. The current split is 50-48, with two seats, both in Georgia, heading for a January 5th runoff.
If the GOP retains at least one seat, it will be only the third time since 1914 (the first year of direct Senate elections) that the American people elected a president of one party and vested control of the Senate in the other.
In the U.S. House, it appears that Republicans will gain at least 10 seats, giving the Democrats their narrowest majority since World War II.
In fact, it looks likely that every single incumbent House Republican will win.
At the gubernatorial level, Republicans saw a net gain of one, picking up Montana and retaining all other incumbents (UT, ND, MO, IN, WV, NH, VT).
At the state level, things weren’t any better for the Dems.
Despite spending over $500 million, they failed to flip a single house.
In fact, Republicans were successful in not only protecting all incumbent governors and their legislative majorities, but they also flipped the governorship of Montana and both legislative chambers in New Hampshire.
NO MANDATE
One of the most interesting data points from 2020 exit polling is that a majority (about 52%, depending upon the poll) of Biden voters characterized their choice as “against Trump” and not “for Biden.”
While the outcome remains in some doubt, it appears that Joe Biden will be the next president.
Good luck with that.
Half your supporters didn’t really support you; they just didn’t like your opponent.
71 million Americans voted for your opponent and many of them think fraud influenced the outcome.
It’s likely voters gave a Senate majority to the GOP, putting up a major obstacle to your agenda.
In the House, it appears that Democrats will have their smallest majority since World War II, leaving very little room to pass agenda items, most likely meaning there will have to be Republican buy in.
The Supreme Court is now in conservative hands, eliminating the liberal stratagem of having the judiciary pass in the courts what they couldn’t pass at the ballot box.
Instead of making law, the high court will now get back to the basic job of interpreting the law.
On any given issue, the hard Left will be nipping at Biden’s heels, demanding action on items like the Green New Deal, reparations, court packing, tax increases, wealth redistribution, and statehood for federal properties like DC and Puerto Rico.
Good luck, Joe. You dog faced pony soldier.
11/6/20
Quote of the Week: "If the pollsters get it wrong this time, they're done. The industry is done. The profession is done."
Quote of the Week: “The House looks likely to see Republicans lose a few more seats on top of the 40 they dropped in 2018. If the over/under is 10 seats, I tend to come down on the higher side. The Senate is increasingly less a case of whether Democrats will take a majority, but how large will it be.”
In This Issue:
THEY’RE DONE
One of the major takeaways from the 2020 election is that the political “experts” are done. They’ve killed their profession. Whether by calumny or incompetence, these people got it wrong – yet again, by making calls for a “blue wave” and boosting the prospects of Democrats that turned out to be either a big lie or an honest miscalculation by orders of magnitude.
This publication could fill many pages of commentary with the massive polling errors that prevailed during the campaign. Overall, the polls consistently showed Biden leading Trump in key battleground states. They were all wrong. While we don’t know the outcome as of this writing, we do know that the pollsters have no credibility nor do the political talking heads who called this election for Biden and Team Socialism. They got it wrong on every level.
Consider the RealClear Politics polling average versus the results in select states:
Florida: RCP average of Biden +1. Result: Trump +3.5
Wisconsin: RCP average Biden +6.7. Result: Biden +0.7.
Iowa: RCP average Trump +0.2. Result: Trump +8.2.
Texas: RCP average Trump 1.3. Result Trump +5.8
Remember that these are polling averages. Many polls were downright ridiculous, such as the New York Times poll in very late October that showed Biden at +11 in Wisconsin.
In the Senate, the polling was just as bad.
In Maine, not ONE poll showed Republican Susan Collins ahead. The most recent poll in that state showed her opponent ahead +6. She won.
In North Carolina, not one recent poll showed Republican Thom Tillis with the lead. He is poised to win.
In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst beat the RCP average by +5.2 to win re-election.
In the generic vote for Congress, once again, every poll had Democrats ahead, for an RCP average of +7. The pundits had Dems picking up between 5-15 seats.
The reality is that Republicans have gained at least six seats in the U.S. House and will likely pick up at least 10.
The media was even worse, clearly dropping all pretense of objectivity over the past four years in order to attack President Trump and Republicans. We have witnessed the death of polling, political commentary, and the legacy media, regardless of the presidential outcome.
MONEY CAN’T BUY LOVE – OR ELECTIONS
Ever increasing sums of money are spent on elections, but this cycle takes the cake.
Truly, the amount of money expended shocks the conscience. Of course, most of this money was spent by Democrats and their aligned partners in slime.
The amounts these groups spent in futility are amazing to behold and demonstrates the long-accepted economic principle of marginal value.
Consider the amounts of money spent in futility in MN and the country.
Democrats spent:
$107 million to lose in SC (Senate seat)
$88 million to lose in KY (Senate seat)
$48 million to lose in ME (Senate seat)
$47 million to lose in IA (Senate seat)
$42 million to lose in MT (Senate seat)
$24 million to lose TX (Senate seat)
Here in Minnesota, Democrats spent:
$1.1 million to lose in SD 34
$1 million to lose in SD 26
$1 million to lose in SD 39
$880,000 to lose in SD 25
$580,000 to lose in SD 38
SPLITTING VOTES
One fascinating takeaway from election night is that voters in Minnesota and around the country split their tickets on a variety of issues and races.
Here in Minnesota, Joe Biden and Tina Smith delivered decisive victories for the DFL but there was no coattail benefit to Democrats down ballot.
Collin Peterson was ousted by 13 points in congressional district 7.
Jim Hagedorn won re-election in the First District.
The GOP held the state Senate.
The GOP made big gains in the House, and didn’t see a single incumbent lose re-election while the GOP also held every open seat where a Republican retired.
In many critical races, Biden’s margins didn’t help the Democrat down ballot.
In SD 34, GOP senator Warren Limmer won by 2 points even though Biden carried the district by 8.
In Rochester, Sen. Carla Nelson won even though Biden won the district.
The same is true in SD 39, where Karin Housley won even though Biden carried her district by a narrow margin.
In New Hampshire, Biden carried the state while the state House and Senate were flipped to the GOP.
In Maine, Biden won comfortable while Republican senator Susan Collins won re-election is a surprise that no pundit saw.
In California, voters overwhelmingly went for Biden but rejected an affirmative action ballot initiative.
In Illinois, Biden won big but voters rejected an income tax increase.
In South Dakota, Trump and Republicans won while voters also approved a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Perhaps the overall lesson here is that the nation fundamentally wants centrist government and the mixed verdicts are evidence of that.
Quote of the Week: "If the pollsters get it wrong this time, they're done. The industry is done. The profession is done."
- Famed pollster Frank Luntz
Quote of the Week: “The House looks likely to see Republicans lose a few more seats on top of the 40 they dropped in 2018. If the over/under is 10 seats, I tend to come down on the higher side. The Senate is increasingly less a case of whether Democrats will take a majority, but how large will it be.”
- Political “expert” Charlie Cook, 11/3/20
In This Issue:
- They’re Done;
- Money Can’t Buy Love – or Elections;
- Splitting Votes.
THEY’RE DONE
One of the major takeaways from the 2020 election is that the political “experts” are done. They’ve killed their profession. Whether by calumny or incompetence, these people got it wrong – yet again, by making calls for a “blue wave” and boosting the prospects of Democrats that turned out to be either a big lie or an honest miscalculation by orders of magnitude.
This publication could fill many pages of commentary with the massive polling errors that prevailed during the campaign. Overall, the polls consistently showed Biden leading Trump in key battleground states. They were all wrong. While we don’t know the outcome as of this writing, we do know that the pollsters have no credibility nor do the political talking heads who called this election for Biden and Team Socialism. They got it wrong on every level.
Consider the RealClear Politics polling average versus the results in select states:
Florida: RCP average of Biden +1. Result: Trump +3.5
Wisconsin: RCP average Biden +6.7. Result: Biden +0.7.
Iowa: RCP average Trump +0.2. Result: Trump +8.2.
Texas: RCP average Trump 1.3. Result Trump +5.8
Remember that these are polling averages. Many polls were downright ridiculous, such as the New York Times poll in very late October that showed Biden at +11 in Wisconsin.
In the Senate, the polling was just as bad.
In Maine, not ONE poll showed Republican Susan Collins ahead. The most recent poll in that state showed her opponent ahead +6. She won.
In North Carolina, not one recent poll showed Republican Thom Tillis with the lead. He is poised to win.
In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst beat the RCP average by +5.2 to win re-election.
In the generic vote for Congress, once again, every poll had Democrats ahead, for an RCP average of +7. The pundits had Dems picking up between 5-15 seats.
The reality is that Republicans have gained at least six seats in the U.S. House and will likely pick up at least 10.
The media was even worse, clearly dropping all pretense of objectivity over the past four years in order to attack President Trump and Republicans. We have witnessed the death of polling, political commentary, and the legacy media, regardless of the presidential outcome.
MONEY CAN’T BUY LOVE – OR ELECTIONS
Ever increasing sums of money are spent on elections, but this cycle takes the cake.
Truly, the amount of money expended shocks the conscience. Of course, most of this money was spent by Democrats and their aligned partners in slime.
The amounts these groups spent in futility are amazing to behold and demonstrates the long-accepted economic principle of marginal value.
Consider the amounts of money spent in futility in MN and the country.
Democrats spent:
$107 million to lose in SC (Senate seat)
$88 million to lose in KY (Senate seat)
$48 million to lose in ME (Senate seat)
$47 million to lose in IA (Senate seat)
$42 million to lose in MT (Senate seat)
$24 million to lose TX (Senate seat)
Here in Minnesota, Democrats spent:
$1.1 million to lose in SD 34
$1 million to lose in SD 26
$1 million to lose in SD 39
$880,000 to lose in SD 25
$580,000 to lose in SD 38
SPLITTING VOTES
One fascinating takeaway from election night is that voters in Minnesota and around the country split their tickets on a variety of issues and races.
Here in Minnesota, Joe Biden and Tina Smith delivered decisive victories for the DFL but there was no coattail benefit to Democrats down ballot.
Collin Peterson was ousted by 13 points in congressional district 7.
Jim Hagedorn won re-election in the First District.
The GOP held the state Senate.
The GOP made big gains in the House, and didn’t see a single incumbent lose re-election while the GOP also held every open seat where a Republican retired.
In many critical races, Biden’s margins didn’t help the Democrat down ballot.
In SD 34, GOP senator Warren Limmer won by 2 points even though Biden carried the district by 8.
In Rochester, Sen. Carla Nelson won even though Biden won the district.
The same is true in SD 39, where Karin Housley won even though Biden carried her district by a narrow margin.
In New Hampshire, Biden carried the state while the state House and Senate were flipped to the GOP.
In Maine, Biden won comfortable while Republican senator Susan Collins won re-election is a surprise that no pundit saw.
In California, voters overwhelmingly went for Biden but rejected an affirmative action ballot initiative.
In Illinois, Biden won big but voters rejected an income tax increase.
In South Dakota, Trump and Republicans won while voters also approved a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Perhaps the overall lesson here is that the nation fundamentally wants centrist government and the mixed verdicts are evidence of that.
10/30/20
Quote of the Week: “There was no other reason for me to be in that bar meeting Joe Biden than to discuss what I was doing with his family’s name and the Chinese CEFC.”
Factoid of the Week: Clinton 49 – Trump 39. Clinton +10.
Factoid of the Week: Biden 47 – Trump 42. Biden +5.
In This Issue:
THE BITTER END
Here we are, loyal readers. This is the last edition prior to Election Day 2020, marking the end of a seemingly endless campaign. No more texts. No more lawn signs. No more mail pieces.
Will it mark the end of the election? We don’t know, as the talking heads and other self-appointed “opinion leaders” are preparing us for an outcome that may not be known for days or weeks. These “experts” tell us that days or weeks of delay are “normal” and “to be expected.”
Yeah, right. The obsession with open-ended, standardless mail balloting dictated by fiat instead of legislating raises the dangerous specter of one candidate winning on election night, only to become a loser days or weeks later after all the late-arriving mail ballots show up.
Think it can’t happen?
In 2018, seven (seven!) congressional seats in California were won by Republicans on election night, only to be overturned weeks later, resulting in a Democrat win.
In any case, millions of you have already voted, some regretting that vote as new allegations have come to light that demonstrate the extent to which the Biden family monetized Sleepy Joe’s election certificates.
For those who have yet to vote, remember that you can vote early, in person or by mail, or in person next Tuesday.
For those voting by mail, be careful about timelines. Remember that you can hand carry your absentee ballot to your local election authority.
For assistance with casting your ballot, check this web site:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/
The Watchdog isn’t into making predictions about elections, other than this one: Republicans will outperform the polls, which have unsurprisingly predicted DFL victories across the board.
RACES TO WATCH
As mentioned, this publication won’t make predictions, but we will be paying attention to certain legislative races that we believe will provide clues as to how the night will turn out here in Minnesota.
In no particular order:
SENATE DISTRICT 56
This district in the South Metro, centered on Burnsville, Savage, and parts of Lakeville. The seat is held by the GOP and needed by the DFL if they are to take the majority. The district has always been a bit of swing district. The outcome of this election will tell us much about the Metro. If the GOP holds, good news for them and bad news for the DFL.
HOUSE DISTRICT 39B
This eastern Washington County district has historically been Republican and is one the district the DFL flipped in 2018, thanks to both the general atmospherics and a GOP incumbent who ran a poor campaign. The district leans GOP and needs to be a pick-up if the GOP wants to regain the majority.
HOUSE DISTRICT 5A
This strangely configured district encompasses the City of Bemidji and jogs its way east through Itasca County. It has been traditionally a swing area that has started to trend GOP, like much of the Eighth Congressional District. The GOP lost the district in 2018 by the slimmest of margins and has high hopes of regaining it. Trump won District 5A by 12 points in 2016.
SENATE DISTRICT 27
District 27 runs along the Minnesota-Iowa border, centered on the cities of Albert Lea and Austin. Like other rural areas, this district was once deep blue but has trended red recently, with Donald Trump winning it by about 14 points in 2016. Incumbent DFLer Dan Sparks has won relatively easy races, but the GOP has targeted the district as a pick-up opportunity this time around.
HOUSE DISTRICT 37B
Representing the city of Blaine in Anoka County, this district is a true swing district that features close elections. Rep. Nolan West well represents this fact, having won in 2016 and 2018 by fewer than 200 votes each time. The outcome in 2020 will give us clues for the larger outcome.
SENATE DISTRICT 34
Represented by long-term GOP incumbent Warren Limmer, the district is heavily targeted by the DFL this year. Located in the Northwest Metro, running from Maple Grove north through Dayton, the district has been reliably Republican. Will it stay that way in 2020, or are things moving towards the DFL?
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Now that the Watchdog has weighed in, where do the political operatives think the close races lie?
Let’s look at where the money is being spent by the GOP and their allies vis-à-vis the DFL and their allies. These are the top money races, in order (note that these will be Senate races as there are simply more people to cover compared to a House district):
District
Area
Status
DFL
GOP
34
Maple Grove, Dayton
GOP Held
$1.137 million
$611k
56
Burnsville, Savage
GOP Held
$963k
$461k
26
Rochester
GOP Held
$1.038 million
$283k
39
Stillwater, Forest Lake
GOP Held
$929k
$367k
14
Saint Cloud
GOP Held
$704k
$374k
25
Rochester
GOP Held
$879k
$90k
58
Lakeville, Farmington
DFL Held
$557k
$400k
27
Austin, Albert Lea
DFL Held
$457k
$273k
38
Lino Lakes, White Bear
GOP Held
$580k
$78k
20
LeSueur County
GOP Held
$156k
$442k
Overall, nearly $24 million has been spent to influence legislative races here in Minnesota.
Quote of the Week: “There was no other reason for me to be in that bar meeting Joe Biden than to discuss what I was doing with his family’s name and the Chinese CEFC.”
- Biden associate Tony Bobulinski
Factoid of the Week: Clinton 49 – Trump 39. Clinton +10.
- KSTP/Survey USA poll 10/25/16
Factoid of the Week: Biden 47 – Trump 42. Biden +5.
- KSTP/Survey USA poll 10/29/20
In This Issue:
- The Bitter End;
- Races to Watch;
- Follow the Money.
THE BITTER END
Here we are, loyal readers. This is the last edition prior to Election Day 2020, marking the end of a seemingly endless campaign. No more texts. No more lawn signs. No more mail pieces.
Will it mark the end of the election? We don’t know, as the talking heads and other self-appointed “opinion leaders” are preparing us for an outcome that may not be known for days or weeks. These “experts” tell us that days or weeks of delay are “normal” and “to be expected.”
Yeah, right. The obsession with open-ended, standardless mail balloting dictated by fiat instead of legislating raises the dangerous specter of one candidate winning on election night, only to become a loser days or weeks later after all the late-arriving mail ballots show up.
Think it can’t happen?
In 2018, seven (seven!) congressional seats in California were won by Republicans on election night, only to be overturned weeks later, resulting in a Democrat win.
In any case, millions of you have already voted, some regretting that vote as new allegations have come to light that demonstrate the extent to which the Biden family monetized Sleepy Joe’s election certificates.
For those who have yet to vote, remember that you can vote early, in person or by mail, or in person next Tuesday.
For those voting by mail, be careful about timelines. Remember that you can hand carry your absentee ballot to your local election authority.
For assistance with casting your ballot, check this web site:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/
The Watchdog isn’t into making predictions about elections, other than this one: Republicans will outperform the polls, which have unsurprisingly predicted DFL victories across the board.
RACES TO WATCH
As mentioned, this publication won’t make predictions, but we will be paying attention to certain legislative races that we believe will provide clues as to how the night will turn out here in Minnesota.
In no particular order:
SENATE DISTRICT 56
This district in the South Metro, centered on Burnsville, Savage, and parts of Lakeville. The seat is held by the GOP and needed by the DFL if they are to take the majority. The district has always been a bit of swing district. The outcome of this election will tell us much about the Metro. If the GOP holds, good news for them and bad news for the DFL.
HOUSE DISTRICT 39B
This eastern Washington County district has historically been Republican and is one the district the DFL flipped in 2018, thanks to both the general atmospherics and a GOP incumbent who ran a poor campaign. The district leans GOP and needs to be a pick-up if the GOP wants to regain the majority.
HOUSE DISTRICT 5A
This strangely configured district encompasses the City of Bemidji and jogs its way east through Itasca County. It has been traditionally a swing area that has started to trend GOP, like much of the Eighth Congressional District. The GOP lost the district in 2018 by the slimmest of margins and has high hopes of regaining it. Trump won District 5A by 12 points in 2016.
SENATE DISTRICT 27
District 27 runs along the Minnesota-Iowa border, centered on the cities of Albert Lea and Austin. Like other rural areas, this district was once deep blue but has trended red recently, with Donald Trump winning it by about 14 points in 2016. Incumbent DFLer Dan Sparks has won relatively easy races, but the GOP has targeted the district as a pick-up opportunity this time around.
HOUSE DISTRICT 37B
Representing the city of Blaine in Anoka County, this district is a true swing district that features close elections. Rep. Nolan West well represents this fact, having won in 2016 and 2018 by fewer than 200 votes each time. The outcome in 2020 will give us clues for the larger outcome.
SENATE DISTRICT 34
Represented by long-term GOP incumbent Warren Limmer, the district is heavily targeted by the DFL this year. Located in the Northwest Metro, running from Maple Grove north through Dayton, the district has been reliably Republican. Will it stay that way in 2020, or are things moving towards the DFL?
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Now that the Watchdog has weighed in, where do the political operatives think the close races lie?
Let’s look at where the money is being spent by the GOP and their allies vis-à-vis the DFL and their allies. These are the top money races, in order (note that these will be Senate races as there are simply more people to cover compared to a House district):
District
Area
Status
DFL
GOP
34
Maple Grove, Dayton
GOP Held
$1.137 million
$611k
56
Burnsville, Savage
GOP Held
$963k
$461k
26
Rochester
GOP Held
$1.038 million
$283k
39
Stillwater, Forest Lake
GOP Held
$929k
$367k
14
Saint Cloud
GOP Held
$704k
$374k
25
Rochester
GOP Held
$879k
$90k
58
Lakeville, Farmington
DFL Held
$557k
$400k
27
Austin, Albert Lea
DFL Held
$457k
$273k
38
Lino Lakes, White Bear
GOP Held
$580k
$78k
20
LeSueur County
GOP Held
$156k
$442k
Overall, nearly $24 million has been spent to influence legislative races here in Minnesota.
October 23rd, 2020
Quote of the Week: “For nearly a week at the end of May, Minnesotans watched in horror each night as Minneapolis descended further into chaos. They were begging for leadership that took far too long to arrive — an unacceptable reality that must be addressed and fixed.”
Quote of the Week: “Northstar, even on its best days, was under duress. Now it’s close to bleeding out.”
Factoid of the week: In their final Minnesota poll (conducted 10/22/16), KSTP/Survey USA had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by 10 points in the state.
Factoid of the Week: In their final Minnesota poll (conducted 10/20/16), the Star Tribune had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by 8 points in the state.
Factoid of the Week: On Election Day, Hillary Clinton won Minnesota by 1.5 points.
In This Issue:
HARD TO BE RIGHT
Pop quiz: what public policy issue caused Harold Hamilton, way back in 2005, to start a weekly commentary entitled, “The Anoka County Watchdog?”
Long-time readers know that the failed Northstar commuter rail line is the answer.
Harold thought back then that the line would be a disaster.
And he was right.
The latest ridership numbers from the line are downright appalling.
Ridership is down a whopping 95%!
While there is some dispute regarding the precise number, the average passenger subsidy is somewhere between $445 and $794.
These brutal numbers are even causing the unaccountable, utopian bureaucrats to rethink the line’s future.
Of course, the governor’s response to COVID-19 has greatly exacerbated these problems. That can’t be denied.
Having said that, this situation has only reminded taxpayers that the line was a debacle to start.
Recall that Northstar has never, ever, met ridership projections. The projections were a lie and a scam from the start, designed only to fool citizens into supporting the project.
Readers of this publication clearly recall boosters telling them that “the studies” all supported Northstar from a fiscal and transportation perspective.
Readers also know that these studies were never produced for their scrutiny.
Second, Northstar rail has always been the most highly subsidized mass transit line on the Met Council’s system. It’s been a money pit since day one.
This is all because of two fatal flaws.
First, commuter rail running through far exurban counties was always a bad idea. The population density needed for rail to be successful simply isn’t present along the line.
A romantic vision of trains and the insatiable need of certain elected officials to be different and have a shiny new toy different from what the other kids had.
Second, rail is inferior to busses for a variety of reasons that are haunting the line, especially in a pandemic.
Rail, by definition, is on a fixed guideway incapable of easy realignment. You pick your line and the die is cast. With busses, lines can be easily re-routed to adapt to changing commuter patterns and tastes.
Next, rail has overhead that can’t be easily dealt with. The locomotives and passenger cars are grossly expensive to own and operate.
Also, rail has to share the crowded rail lines with freight trains, owned by the same people who own the line. Timetables are far less flexible and thus less accommodating to customers.
Finally, let’s all remember another lie about Northstar that continues to make the rounds and will continue to do so.
Legislators, are you listening?
Northstar rail wasn’t originally planned to end in Saint Cloud as its western terminus. The line was slated to end in Rice, Minnesota, population 1,400.
Second, the line wasn’t stopped in Big Lake because funding ran out.
The line was dropped at Big Lake because running the line beyond that point caused the ridership, time to travel, and other crucial Federal Transit Administration metrics to fall below required minimums, which would have denied federal funding and killed the line.
The plan for Northstar boosters was always to take what they could get and then come back to the public trough later on.
This is precisely what happened with the Fridley station, which was the same situation. Building it would have caused problems with the FTA metrics, so they ditched the stop early on and then came back later.
Don’t let anyone, especially a politician, propagate the lie that the line should have gone to Saint Cloud but didn’t only because of federal funding.
Northstar is a horrible white elephant.
The Watchdog takes no pleasure in saying, “I told you so.”
Actually, we do. We will be holding a ticker tape parade in Anoka County the day the line is shut down.
Former commissioner Dan Erhart will be the invited grand marshal.
All Anoka County politicians who voted for the debacle will be invited special guests, especially the Republicans who defied their party platform and the wishes of their delegates.
Throwing good money after bad is never a good idea.
A SILVER LINING
There is no question that the virus and the government response thereto has been a tragedy.
The pain and dislocation felt by millions of people is real.
Having said that, there have been some silver linings that have come about that will serve people better.
One of those is silver linings is school choice.
The government’s horrific decision to deny children the ability to learn in person and confer the benefits of “community” that happen when students are present in the classroom on a daily basis has caused parents to examine what government schools have to offer compared to what other types of schools have to offer.
The numbers are starting to show up.
All over Minnesota, kindergarten enrollment is down by double digits in many government school districts.
On the other hand, private schools are seeing corresponding enrollment increases, along with other education platforms, such as “learning pods.”
Perhaps this tragedy will help more parents see that competition in education, like any other market, benefits the consumer.
The government monopoly over schools is an anachronism that should be eliminated.
School choice benefits students – all of them.
The challenge will be to also make sure that all students, especially impoverished ones, are offered choice.
The Education-Industrial Complex, which has never helped these students, will want to sentence them to failing schools regardless.
Truly, no child should be left behind and none sentenced to a school that fails them.
Quote of the Week: “For nearly a week at the end of May, Minnesotans watched in horror each night as Minneapolis descended further into chaos. They were begging for leadership that took far too long to arrive — an unacceptable reality that must be addressed and fixed.”
- Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-East Gull Lake)
Quote of the Week: “Northstar, even on its best days, was under duress. Now it’s close to bleeding out.”
- Anoka County Commissioner Matt Look
Factoid of the week: In their final Minnesota poll (conducted 10/22/16), KSTP/Survey USA had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by 10 points in the state.
Factoid of the Week: In their final Minnesota poll (conducted 10/20/16), the Star Tribune had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by 8 points in the state.
Factoid of the Week: On Election Day, Hillary Clinton won Minnesota by 1.5 points.
In This Issue:
- Hard to be Right;
- A Silver Lining.
HARD TO BE RIGHT
Pop quiz: what public policy issue caused Harold Hamilton, way back in 2005, to start a weekly commentary entitled, “The Anoka County Watchdog?”
Long-time readers know that the failed Northstar commuter rail line is the answer.
Harold thought back then that the line would be a disaster.
And he was right.
The latest ridership numbers from the line are downright appalling.
Ridership is down a whopping 95%!
While there is some dispute regarding the precise number, the average passenger subsidy is somewhere between $445 and $794.
These brutal numbers are even causing the unaccountable, utopian bureaucrats to rethink the line’s future.
Of course, the governor’s response to COVID-19 has greatly exacerbated these problems. That can’t be denied.
Having said that, this situation has only reminded taxpayers that the line was a debacle to start.
Recall that Northstar has never, ever, met ridership projections. The projections were a lie and a scam from the start, designed only to fool citizens into supporting the project.
Readers of this publication clearly recall boosters telling them that “the studies” all supported Northstar from a fiscal and transportation perspective.
Readers also know that these studies were never produced for their scrutiny.
Second, Northstar rail has always been the most highly subsidized mass transit line on the Met Council’s system. It’s been a money pit since day one.
This is all because of two fatal flaws.
First, commuter rail running through far exurban counties was always a bad idea. The population density needed for rail to be successful simply isn’t present along the line.
A romantic vision of trains and the insatiable need of certain elected officials to be different and have a shiny new toy different from what the other kids had.
Second, rail is inferior to busses for a variety of reasons that are haunting the line, especially in a pandemic.
Rail, by definition, is on a fixed guideway incapable of easy realignment. You pick your line and the die is cast. With busses, lines can be easily re-routed to adapt to changing commuter patterns and tastes.
Next, rail has overhead that can’t be easily dealt with. The locomotives and passenger cars are grossly expensive to own and operate.
Also, rail has to share the crowded rail lines with freight trains, owned by the same people who own the line. Timetables are far less flexible and thus less accommodating to customers.
Finally, let’s all remember another lie about Northstar that continues to make the rounds and will continue to do so.
Legislators, are you listening?
Northstar rail wasn’t originally planned to end in Saint Cloud as its western terminus. The line was slated to end in Rice, Minnesota, population 1,400.
Second, the line wasn’t stopped in Big Lake because funding ran out.
The line was dropped at Big Lake because running the line beyond that point caused the ridership, time to travel, and other crucial Federal Transit Administration metrics to fall below required minimums, which would have denied federal funding and killed the line.
The plan for Northstar boosters was always to take what they could get and then come back to the public trough later on.
This is precisely what happened with the Fridley station, which was the same situation. Building it would have caused problems with the FTA metrics, so they ditched the stop early on and then came back later.
Don’t let anyone, especially a politician, propagate the lie that the line should have gone to Saint Cloud but didn’t only because of federal funding.
Northstar is a horrible white elephant.
The Watchdog takes no pleasure in saying, “I told you so.”
Actually, we do. We will be holding a ticker tape parade in Anoka County the day the line is shut down.
Former commissioner Dan Erhart will be the invited grand marshal.
All Anoka County politicians who voted for the debacle will be invited special guests, especially the Republicans who defied their party platform and the wishes of their delegates.
Throwing good money after bad is never a good idea.
A SILVER LINING
There is no question that the virus and the government response thereto has been a tragedy.
The pain and dislocation felt by millions of people is real.
Having said that, there have been some silver linings that have come about that will serve people better.
One of those is silver linings is school choice.
The government’s horrific decision to deny children the ability to learn in person and confer the benefits of “community” that happen when students are present in the classroom on a daily basis has caused parents to examine what government schools have to offer compared to what other types of schools have to offer.
The numbers are starting to show up.
All over Minnesota, kindergarten enrollment is down by double digits in many government school districts.
On the other hand, private schools are seeing corresponding enrollment increases, along with other education platforms, such as “learning pods.”
Perhaps this tragedy will help more parents see that competition in education, like any other market, benefits the consumer.
The government monopoly over schools is an anachronism that should be eliminated.
School choice benefits students – all of them.
The challenge will be to also make sure that all students, especially impoverished ones, are offered choice.
The Education-Industrial Complex, which has never helped these students, will want to sentence them to failing schools regardless.
Truly, no child should be left behind and none sentenced to a school that fails them.
October 9th, 2020
Quote of the Week: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Quote of the Week: "Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
Quote of the Week: “It’s imperative that we have the tools necessary to respond to this public health emergency and protect the health and wellbeing of each and every Minnesotan. This emergency is not over.”
In This Issue:
MARTIAL LAW
Governor Walz will bring the legislature into special session for the fifth time since the May 2020 adjournment of the regular session.
Again, the purpose of the special session is to allow the legislature the opportunity to vote down this extension of emergency, unilateral powers.
Recall that the statute granting these powers, which is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, has a goofy “legislative veto” that allows for the extension unless both houses of the legislature affirmatively vote to deny the extension. Every time, the Senate has voted down the extension of the emergency while the House has abdicated its core constitutional obligations and acquiesced to the de facto imposition of martial law in Minnesota.
The governor claims he needs to act in unilateral fashion because he simply can’t get laws passed through the legislature.
What’s interesting about the claim is that he has signed 66 bills into law since he first declared these unilateral powers on March 16th, 2020.
Moreover, many of these laws deal specifically with COVID-related issues and, in fact, some outright codify aspects of the executive orders.
Put another way, there is ample evidence that the governor can work with the legislature to pass laws in the constitutionally mandated manner and meet the needs of the state regarding the virus.
This evidence clearly demonstrates that the governor is simply engaged in a power grab that relieves him of the inconvenience of dealing with the legislature while also eliminating the need to compromise and bargain, features of democratic government.
Unilateral decision making of the kind we have seen over the past seven months is reminiscent not of democratic government but of authoritarian government.
It’s obvious that the only way these powers will be relinquished is either through an election outcome in November that delivers pro-democratic Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, or the other outcome is that the judicial branch nullifies the law as an unconstitutional delegation of the legislative function to a separate coordinate branch of government.
It is basic constitutional jurisprudence, called the Non-Delegation Doctrine, that one branch of government cannot give away its inherent powers to another branch.
This doctrine upholds a core aspect of republican government that the power of the sovereign should be subject to a system of checks and balances that prevent tyranny and uphold the rule of law.
The Minnesota Legislature doesn’t have the authority to give away the law-making function to law-making by executive order and certainly not for months on end with no end in sight.
This is precisely the ruling of the Michigan Supreme Court that recently ended the unilateral law-making of another Democrat governor.
What a truly disgusting mess.
IRONY
The unilateral law-making of Governor Walz claims another victim.
That victim is Bethesda Hospital in Saint Paul.
How ironic that this hospital is the state’s designated COVID care site, caring for the those most impacted by the virus, primarily elderly Minnesotans infected through yet a different Walz policy negatively impacting people.
The hospital has announced that it and another hospital will close, thereby reducing the very hospital capacity we were told needed to be conserved, providing the pretext for those same unilateral powers.
So, we need to shut down the state to preserve health care resources, while those resources are being reduced by the laws designed to preserve them.
During the battle of Hue in Vietnam (1968), an American commander ironically noted that the city had to be destroyed in order to save it, a quote that came to define the illogical and somewhat insane saga that the war had become.
Bethesda Hospital is Minnesota’s Hue.
Walz must destroy healthcare resources in order to preserve them.
FEAR
The last three years have clearly demonstrated that anti-Trump forces will go to any length in their attempt to destroy the man.
While the Russia hoax will soon prove to be the most poisonous effort (because it is the most treasonous), the hysterical castigating of the president over his recent COVID comments are also emblematic of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
After being released from Walter Reed military hospital in great health despite testing positive for COVID, the president tweeted out words of optimism and encouragement, proclaiming that Americans shouldn’t live in fear of COVID.
Predictably, the commentariat went bonkers, claiming that Trump was downplaying the seriousness of the virus and even disrespecting those harmed by it.
What a bunch of total BS.
Was FDR downplaying the Great Depression when he uttered his famous “fear” quote? Was he showing disrespect for those who had lost everything in the crash?
Was FDR doing the same when he optimistically said that America would defeat the twin evils of Nazism and Imperialism. Disrespecting those who died in combat?
Of course not. It is a core duty of the president to offer the nation optimism and comfort when the chips are down.
Every president has done it, regardless of the situation.
Trump is rightly panned for often failing to act presidential.
Here, he fulfills a basic function of the office and the Left immediately pounces.
Donald J. Trump is truly in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
The Left has clearly lost it.
Quote of the Week: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933
Quote of the Week: "Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
- President Donald J. Trump, 10/6/20
Quote of the Week: “It’s imperative that we have the tools necessary to respond to this public health emergency and protect the health and wellbeing of each and every Minnesotan. This emergency is not over.”
- Governor Tim Walz
In This Issue:
- Martial Law;
- Irony;
- Fear.
MARTIAL LAW
Governor Walz will bring the legislature into special session for the fifth time since the May 2020 adjournment of the regular session.
Again, the purpose of the special session is to allow the legislature the opportunity to vote down this extension of emergency, unilateral powers.
Recall that the statute granting these powers, which is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, has a goofy “legislative veto” that allows for the extension unless both houses of the legislature affirmatively vote to deny the extension. Every time, the Senate has voted down the extension of the emergency while the House has abdicated its core constitutional obligations and acquiesced to the de facto imposition of martial law in Minnesota.
The governor claims he needs to act in unilateral fashion because he simply can’t get laws passed through the legislature.
What’s interesting about the claim is that he has signed 66 bills into law since he first declared these unilateral powers on March 16th, 2020.
Moreover, many of these laws deal specifically with COVID-related issues and, in fact, some outright codify aspects of the executive orders.
Put another way, there is ample evidence that the governor can work with the legislature to pass laws in the constitutionally mandated manner and meet the needs of the state regarding the virus.
This evidence clearly demonstrates that the governor is simply engaged in a power grab that relieves him of the inconvenience of dealing with the legislature while also eliminating the need to compromise and bargain, features of democratic government.
Unilateral decision making of the kind we have seen over the past seven months is reminiscent not of democratic government but of authoritarian government.
It’s obvious that the only way these powers will be relinquished is either through an election outcome in November that delivers pro-democratic Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, or the other outcome is that the judicial branch nullifies the law as an unconstitutional delegation of the legislative function to a separate coordinate branch of government.
It is basic constitutional jurisprudence, called the Non-Delegation Doctrine, that one branch of government cannot give away its inherent powers to another branch.
This doctrine upholds a core aspect of republican government that the power of the sovereign should be subject to a system of checks and balances that prevent tyranny and uphold the rule of law.
The Minnesota Legislature doesn’t have the authority to give away the law-making function to law-making by executive order and certainly not for months on end with no end in sight.
This is precisely the ruling of the Michigan Supreme Court that recently ended the unilateral law-making of another Democrat governor.
What a truly disgusting mess.
IRONY
The unilateral law-making of Governor Walz claims another victim.
That victim is Bethesda Hospital in Saint Paul.
How ironic that this hospital is the state’s designated COVID care site, caring for the those most impacted by the virus, primarily elderly Minnesotans infected through yet a different Walz policy negatively impacting people.
The hospital has announced that it and another hospital will close, thereby reducing the very hospital capacity we were told needed to be conserved, providing the pretext for those same unilateral powers.
So, we need to shut down the state to preserve health care resources, while those resources are being reduced by the laws designed to preserve them.
During the battle of Hue in Vietnam (1968), an American commander ironically noted that the city had to be destroyed in order to save it, a quote that came to define the illogical and somewhat insane saga that the war had become.
Bethesda Hospital is Minnesota’s Hue.
Walz must destroy healthcare resources in order to preserve them.
FEAR
The last three years have clearly demonstrated that anti-Trump forces will go to any length in their attempt to destroy the man.
While the Russia hoax will soon prove to be the most poisonous effort (because it is the most treasonous), the hysterical castigating of the president over his recent COVID comments are also emblematic of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
After being released from Walter Reed military hospital in great health despite testing positive for COVID, the president tweeted out words of optimism and encouragement, proclaiming that Americans shouldn’t live in fear of COVID.
Predictably, the commentariat went bonkers, claiming that Trump was downplaying the seriousness of the virus and even disrespecting those harmed by it.
What a bunch of total BS.
Was FDR downplaying the Great Depression when he uttered his famous “fear” quote? Was he showing disrespect for those who had lost everything in the crash?
Was FDR doing the same when he optimistically said that America would defeat the twin evils of Nazism and Imperialism. Disrespecting those who died in combat?
Of course not. It is a core duty of the president to offer the nation optimism and comfort when the chips are down.
Every president has done it, regardless of the situation.
Trump is rightly panned for often failing to act presidential.
Here, he fulfills a basic function of the office and the Left immediately pounces.
Donald J. Trump is truly in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
The Left has clearly lost it.
October 2nd, 2020
Quote of the Week: “It was the least enlightening, edifying or elevating presidential debate in U.S. history.”
Quote of the Week: “The president depressed everybody, even his own supporters, by acting like a bullying nut. He left people anguished about the future of the country. By the time it was over people were thinking, deep down: The incumbent is an incompetent who’s out of his mind, and the challenger is a befuddled man who struggles to carry a public thought to its conclusion, and who can’t tell you what he’ll do in part because he doesn’t want to and in part because he doesn’t really know.”
In This Issue:
THE CIRCUS
Well, that sucked. The first presidential debate of the election cycle was neither presidential nor a debate.
The big idea, allegedly, is to allow each candidate to make a case to the American people why they should be elected to the highest office in the land through a civil exchange of ideas and the give and take of examining those ideas though a normal, adversarial process.
It’s not supposed to the Thunderdome or the UFC Octagon or the Roman Colosseum.
Instead of Lincoln-Douglas, the night resembled two old men fighting over the television remote at the Springfield Retirement Castle.
Anyone who thought that either candidate “won” the debate is hopelessly blinded by partisanship.
Joe Biden was exactly who we thought he was.
He was somewhat coherent, mostly not, and unable and/or unwilling to tell the American people exactly where he stands on critical issues.
Viewers were subjected to sophomoric bromides about “bringing people together” and making it about “your family, not mine.”
Biden reminded this publication of some sort of elderly, peevish doll where you pull the string and it randomly spouts a slogan. “Pay your fair share!” “I’ve got a plan.” “I hear a dog whistle!”
What was worse, Donald Trump displayed an utter inability to take advantage of his incompetent opponent.
The president missed opportunity after opportunity to press the advantage by comparing and contrasting records and ideas.
Instead, the president made a spectacle of himself by constantly interrupting both Biden and Chris Wallace and coming off as a complete jerk.
“Jerk” is hardly the description you want to impress on the voting populace when you’re looking for 270 electoral votes.
For example, there was no mention of Biden’s support of trade deals that hallowed out our manufacturing base and wiped out towns across America. You know, one of the things that got Trump elected in the first place.
Instead, there was an obsessive fixation on Hunter Biden getting a loan from some Russian.
What was worse, however, was Trump saving Biden by interrupting when Biden was stumbling over tough questions or having no good answer for important issues.
Trump would be well served to agree to a mute button at the next debate.
If this is what we can expect from both candidates moving forward, just cancel the debates and allow Americans to morosely go to the polls and pick one of these people.
There is no question that Donald Trump has the better ideas and the better record.
But delivering them in a vessel of undisciplined, uncontrolled rage crushes the message and negatively reflects on the messenger.
If the president reads this commentary, we advise spending some time watching Ronald Reagan.
The Happy Warrior was a sterling messenger of the conservative viewpoint.
People want to vote their hopes and dreams. It’s not a trite slogan.
Trump is on a path to defeat. That trajectory needs to change.
This disaster didn’t help.
NO CONFIDENCE
The downward trajectory of our political discourse has been led by the mainstream media, which has suffered from the twin cancers of blatant bias and the disappearance of professionalism in the craft.
The loss of credibility and respect is starting to show up polling, which paints a grim picture for the editor’s office in any newspaper or television.
A recent Gallup poll asked Americans to respond to the following question: In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media -- such as newspapers, TV and radio -- when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly?
A whopping 60%, a clear majority, responded that they have “not very much trust” or “none at all.”
Among Republicans, the numbers are even worse.
Only 3% have “a great deal of trust” in the mainstream media.
7% have a “fair amount” of trust.
The other 90% have “not very much trust” or “none at all.”
Of course, the mainstream media is in denial, and will blame large sections of the populace for being too ignorant to understand the value, integrity, and genius of the media.
It’s similar to the arrogance of the education unions, who refuse to concede that they have lost credibility with the average American and instead blame everything but their “all pay, no accountability” attitude.
We’ve come a long way since Walter Cronkite.
We’re now stuck with political shills seeking celebrity with people like CNN’s Jim Acosta reveling in attacking the president and others like Don Lemon acting as a mouthpiece for the Left.
Quality, objective journalism is healthy for our Republic.
Barring that, the next best option is depriving the media of their cloak of objectivism, so their propaganda can be exposed for what it is.
The reality is that most Americans no longer get their news from these corrupted outlets, so it doesn’t matter too much.
For any reader who can remember the days of people like Cronkite, Donaldson, and Woodruff, it’s a stunning fall from grace.
Quote of the Week: “It was the least enlightening, edifying or elevating presidential debate in U.S. history.”
- Karl Rove
Quote of the Week: “The president depressed everybody, even his own supporters, by acting like a bullying nut. He left people anguished about the future of the country. By the time it was over people were thinking, deep down: The incumbent is an incompetent who’s out of his mind, and the challenger is a befuddled man who struggles to carry a public thought to its conclusion, and who can’t tell you what he’ll do in part because he doesn’t want to and in part because he doesn’t really know.”
- Peggy Noonan
In This Issue:
- The Circus;
- No Confidence.
THE CIRCUS
Well, that sucked. The first presidential debate of the election cycle was neither presidential nor a debate.
The big idea, allegedly, is to allow each candidate to make a case to the American people why they should be elected to the highest office in the land through a civil exchange of ideas and the give and take of examining those ideas though a normal, adversarial process.
It’s not supposed to the Thunderdome or the UFC Octagon or the Roman Colosseum.
Instead of Lincoln-Douglas, the night resembled two old men fighting over the television remote at the Springfield Retirement Castle.
Anyone who thought that either candidate “won” the debate is hopelessly blinded by partisanship.
Joe Biden was exactly who we thought he was.
He was somewhat coherent, mostly not, and unable and/or unwilling to tell the American people exactly where he stands on critical issues.
Viewers were subjected to sophomoric bromides about “bringing people together” and making it about “your family, not mine.”
Biden reminded this publication of some sort of elderly, peevish doll where you pull the string and it randomly spouts a slogan. “Pay your fair share!” “I’ve got a plan.” “I hear a dog whistle!”
What was worse, Donald Trump displayed an utter inability to take advantage of his incompetent opponent.
The president missed opportunity after opportunity to press the advantage by comparing and contrasting records and ideas.
Instead, the president made a spectacle of himself by constantly interrupting both Biden and Chris Wallace and coming off as a complete jerk.
“Jerk” is hardly the description you want to impress on the voting populace when you’re looking for 270 electoral votes.
For example, there was no mention of Biden’s support of trade deals that hallowed out our manufacturing base and wiped out towns across America. You know, one of the things that got Trump elected in the first place.
Instead, there was an obsessive fixation on Hunter Biden getting a loan from some Russian.
What was worse, however, was Trump saving Biden by interrupting when Biden was stumbling over tough questions or having no good answer for important issues.
Trump would be well served to agree to a mute button at the next debate.
If this is what we can expect from both candidates moving forward, just cancel the debates and allow Americans to morosely go to the polls and pick one of these people.
There is no question that Donald Trump has the better ideas and the better record.
But delivering them in a vessel of undisciplined, uncontrolled rage crushes the message and negatively reflects on the messenger.
If the president reads this commentary, we advise spending some time watching Ronald Reagan.
The Happy Warrior was a sterling messenger of the conservative viewpoint.
People want to vote their hopes and dreams. It’s not a trite slogan.
Trump is on a path to defeat. That trajectory needs to change.
This disaster didn’t help.
NO CONFIDENCE
The downward trajectory of our political discourse has been led by the mainstream media, which has suffered from the twin cancers of blatant bias and the disappearance of professionalism in the craft.
The loss of credibility and respect is starting to show up polling, which paints a grim picture for the editor’s office in any newspaper or television.
A recent Gallup poll asked Americans to respond to the following question: In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media -- such as newspapers, TV and radio -- when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly?
A whopping 60%, a clear majority, responded that they have “not very much trust” or “none at all.”
Among Republicans, the numbers are even worse.
Only 3% have “a great deal of trust” in the mainstream media.
7% have a “fair amount” of trust.
The other 90% have “not very much trust” or “none at all.”
Of course, the mainstream media is in denial, and will blame large sections of the populace for being too ignorant to understand the value, integrity, and genius of the media.
It’s similar to the arrogance of the education unions, who refuse to concede that they have lost credibility with the average American and instead blame everything but their “all pay, no accountability” attitude.
We’ve come a long way since Walter Cronkite.
We’re now stuck with political shills seeking celebrity with people like CNN’s Jim Acosta reveling in attacking the president and others like Don Lemon acting as a mouthpiece for the Left.
Quality, objective journalism is healthy for our Republic.
Barring that, the next best option is depriving the media of their cloak of objectivism, so their propaganda can be exposed for what it is.
The reality is that most Americans no longer get their news from these corrupted outlets, so it doesn’t matter too much.
For any reader who can remember the days of people like Cronkite, Donaldson, and Woodruff, it’s a stunning fall from grace.
September 25th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of ‘fairness’ which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent. The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own.
“The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on Supreme Court nominees. Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”
In This Issue:
SUPREME COURT PEARL CLUTCHING
Man, the wailing and gnashing of teeth and pearl clutching coming from the Left (when they aren’t busy burning down America) is something to behold.
Frankly, is both laughable and disgusting at the same time.
The current Supreme Court vacancy has crystalized the difference between the two major parties and their candidates for president and the U.S. Senate.
Here are the Watchdog’s five big takeaways from this “October Surprise” that came just a bit early this election year.
Truly, it’s a shocker and a bombshell, in the words of one Mean Gene Okerlund.
One: Elections Matter/Trump Matters.
Let’s recall the importance of the presidency, and this president, the next time idiots from the Lincoln Project and other Never Trumpers tell conservatives to vote for the liberal, incoherent, entrenched careerist Joe Biden.
Donald Trump has delivered two new justices to the Supreme Court and will soon deliver a third.
While Hidin’ Joe Biden is too embarrassed to release a short list of people he would nominate to the Court, you can rest assured names like Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Cruz, Hardiman, Thapar, and Lagoa aren’t on that list.
Moreover, Justice Breyer is 82 and two others are over 70 (Thomas and Alito).
The odds of the next president appointing at least one justice is quite good.
So, while many of us can agree that we don’t like the president’s style, which is often beneath the dignity of the office, that’s no reason to install Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House.
Moreover, President Trump, for his personal flaws, has demonstrated rock solid, courageous leadership during his term.
In fact, the Democrats have been on their heels for three years simply because they’ve never encountered a Republican who is their equal with respect to political street fighting.
It’s no certain thing that a different Republican president would have so resolutely declared that a justice would be nominated and confirmed in this environment.
Simply put, Trump has got some real stones and perhaps that exactly what Republicans need.
For many years, the GOP was a permanent minority in Washington, willing to defer to Democrats and settle for the policy crumbs thrown their way.
So, if you’re thinking that you might vote for Sleepy Joe because he more stylistically your person, remember this fight.
Two: Democrats Don’t Care About Tradition or Rules.
It’s comical to watch none other than Sen. Chuck Schumer appeal to tradition and institutionalism in the name of deferring this nomination to the next president.
This is nothing more than raw power. Schumer and pals want a chance to install the justice of their choice, not the one of Trump’s choice.
If the roles were reversed, Schumer would plow ahead with nary a pang of apprehension.
The elimination of the filibuster for lower level federal judges under the last Democrat majority proves it.
The same holds true regarding the Democrats trying to hold other democratic institutions hostage to blackmail Republicans into deferring to the next Congress.
Since long before Justice Ginsburg passed, Democrat opinion leaders have been calling for the elimination of the Electoral College, the abolition of the filibuster in all cases, packing the Supreme Court, and creating additional states simply to add Senate seats and tip the balance of power.
Kudos to President Trump and Senate Republican leaders who refuse to cave to these vile threats to long-standing institutions.
But rest assured, the ruthless and nihilistic nature of Senate Democrats will be on full display when hearings are held on the next nominee.
The appalling and unrestrained attack on Judge Kavanaugh laid bare the one and only touchstone of Democrat rule: power.
Three: The Constitution is Clear.
The text of the Constitution is clear and unambiguous regarding the appointment of justices to the High Court.
Article II, Section 2 states:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
There is absolutely no qualification on the president’s power to nominate. For example, this power isn’t suspended during the last weeks or months of his term. It isn’t subject to subjective notions of “fairness” as explained by people who have no real understanding of the Constitution or the law.
The same holds true of the Senate’s Advice and Consent role.
Of course, much has been made of the so-called “Biden rule” that allegedly prohibits the Senate from considering a Supreme Court nomination during a presidential election year.
First, one can argue that the “rule” only applies when the Senate and White House are controlled by opposite parties.
Second, history indeed shows that on many occasions, a president has nominated and the Senate has concurred in the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court.
Finally, rules can be amended or abolished at any time. There is nothing sacrosanct about this “rule”, especially when Democrats so recently vaporized the filibuster rule for federal judges of inferior courts.
They truly made a bed in which they now lay.
Four: The Supreme Court is a Tragedy.
Now here us out, before you deem the language too harsh.
The tragedy is that the Supreme Court has become so central to American life, the country loses its collective mind when there is a vacancy.
Millions are poured into PR campaigns for or against a nominee.
The nominee and their family are subject to smear campaigns and harassment over alleged high school infractions.
Secret Service details are assigned to Judiciary Committee members because of death threats.
You can thank the Democrats and the Left for this state of affairs.
For decades, they have encouraged, cheered, and taken victory laps as the Court became highly activist, reordering American life in wholesale fashion at the stroke of a pen.
They celebrated the idea that 5 unelected people sat as a super-legislature, taking control of issues, particularly social issues that were once the jurisdiction of 50 state legislatures, all popularly elected.
The Court frequently did so by inventing and making up constitutional rights that were nowhere to be found in the text of the document or the historical deliberations of the Framers.
These “rights” are said to “emanate” from the text or exist in “penumbras” that cannot be seen in any plain reading.
A prime example of such unrestrained judicial activism is Roe vs. Wade.
No reasonable person can find the right to an abortion in the text of the Constitution.
Moreover, there isn’t a shred of historical evidence that the Framers intended to protect abortion as a federal constitutional right.
Now we get the circus we have today, which is nothing but toxic to our society and our political institutions.
Five: The Legend of RBG is Bigger Than the Truth.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived a life that in many respects is to be admired.
She blazed a trail for women in the legal profession, to be sure. She broke barriers at a time when women weren’t viewed as professional equals.
That aspect of her life is rightly celebrated.
Having said that, she spent 27 years on the High Court, leaving no real legacy as a jurist.
Americans would be hard pressed to name cases she authored that were of any real consequence, other than perhaps United States vs. Virginia (1996).
Her judicial philosophy was difficult to discern and certainly wasn’t influential among her colleagues.
Moreover, many have argued, including opinion leaders on the Left, that her tenure on the Court is blemished by a selfishness that harmed the institution.
She remained on the Court long after being productive and engaged, they argue.
They say this view is ironically captured by her alleged “dying wish” that her seat remain unfilled until after the election.
This publication agrees that the seat isn’t hers to control. In addition, there is no “dying wish” clause in the Constitution that excuses either the President or the Senate from fulfilling their duty to nominate and appoint.
The Court begins a new term soon and needs a full compliment.
We also can’t discount the possibility of a contested presidential election that may require a full compliment to dispose of serious legal issues.
This seat must be filled without delay.
The president is right and the Left is wrong.
Enjoy the process you’ve created, Democrats.
Quote of the Week: “My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of ‘fairness’ which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent. The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own.
“The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on Supreme Court nominees. Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”
- Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT)
In This Issue:
- Supreme Court Pearl Clutching.
SUPREME COURT PEARL CLUTCHING
Man, the wailing and gnashing of teeth and pearl clutching coming from the Left (when they aren’t busy burning down America) is something to behold.
Frankly, is both laughable and disgusting at the same time.
The current Supreme Court vacancy has crystalized the difference between the two major parties and their candidates for president and the U.S. Senate.
Here are the Watchdog’s five big takeaways from this “October Surprise” that came just a bit early this election year.
Truly, it’s a shocker and a bombshell, in the words of one Mean Gene Okerlund.
One: Elections Matter/Trump Matters.
Let’s recall the importance of the presidency, and this president, the next time idiots from the Lincoln Project and other Never Trumpers tell conservatives to vote for the liberal, incoherent, entrenched careerist Joe Biden.
Donald Trump has delivered two new justices to the Supreme Court and will soon deliver a third.
While Hidin’ Joe Biden is too embarrassed to release a short list of people he would nominate to the Court, you can rest assured names like Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Cruz, Hardiman, Thapar, and Lagoa aren’t on that list.
Moreover, Justice Breyer is 82 and two others are over 70 (Thomas and Alito).
The odds of the next president appointing at least one justice is quite good.
So, while many of us can agree that we don’t like the president’s style, which is often beneath the dignity of the office, that’s no reason to install Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House.
Moreover, President Trump, for his personal flaws, has demonstrated rock solid, courageous leadership during his term.
In fact, the Democrats have been on their heels for three years simply because they’ve never encountered a Republican who is their equal with respect to political street fighting.
It’s no certain thing that a different Republican president would have so resolutely declared that a justice would be nominated and confirmed in this environment.
Simply put, Trump has got some real stones and perhaps that exactly what Republicans need.
For many years, the GOP was a permanent minority in Washington, willing to defer to Democrats and settle for the policy crumbs thrown their way.
So, if you’re thinking that you might vote for Sleepy Joe because he more stylistically your person, remember this fight.
Two: Democrats Don’t Care About Tradition or Rules.
It’s comical to watch none other than Sen. Chuck Schumer appeal to tradition and institutionalism in the name of deferring this nomination to the next president.
This is nothing more than raw power. Schumer and pals want a chance to install the justice of their choice, not the one of Trump’s choice.
If the roles were reversed, Schumer would plow ahead with nary a pang of apprehension.
The elimination of the filibuster for lower level federal judges under the last Democrat majority proves it.
The same holds true regarding the Democrats trying to hold other democratic institutions hostage to blackmail Republicans into deferring to the next Congress.
Since long before Justice Ginsburg passed, Democrat opinion leaders have been calling for the elimination of the Electoral College, the abolition of the filibuster in all cases, packing the Supreme Court, and creating additional states simply to add Senate seats and tip the balance of power.
Kudos to President Trump and Senate Republican leaders who refuse to cave to these vile threats to long-standing institutions.
But rest assured, the ruthless and nihilistic nature of Senate Democrats will be on full display when hearings are held on the next nominee.
The appalling and unrestrained attack on Judge Kavanaugh laid bare the one and only touchstone of Democrat rule: power.
Three: The Constitution is Clear.
The text of the Constitution is clear and unambiguous regarding the appointment of justices to the High Court.
Article II, Section 2 states:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
There is absolutely no qualification on the president’s power to nominate. For example, this power isn’t suspended during the last weeks or months of his term. It isn’t subject to subjective notions of “fairness” as explained by people who have no real understanding of the Constitution or the law.
The same holds true of the Senate’s Advice and Consent role.
Of course, much has been made of the so-called “Biden rule” that allegedly prohibits the Senate from considering a Supreme Court nomination during a presidential election year.
First, one can argue that the “rule” only applies when the Senate and White House are controlled by opposite parties.
Second, history indeed shows that on many occasions, a president has nominated and the Senate has concurred in the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court.
Finally, rules can be amended or abolished at any time. There is nothing sacrosanct about this “rule”, especially when Democrats so recently vaporized the filibuster rule for federal judges of inferior courts.
They truly made a bed in which they now lay.
Four: The Supreme Court is a Tragedy.
Now here us out, before you deem the language too harsh.
The tragedy is that the Supreme Court has become so central to American life, the country loses its collective mind when there is a vacancy.
Millions are poured into PR campaigns for or against a nominee.
The nominee and their family are subject to smear campaigns and harassment over alleged high school infractions.
Secret Service details are assigned to Judiciary Committee members because of death threats.
You can thank the Democrats and the Left for this state of affairs.
For decades, they have encouraged, cheered, and taken victory laps as the Court became highly activist, reordering American life in wholesale fashion at the stroke of a pen.
They celebrated the idea that 5 unelected people sat as a super-legislature, taking control of issues, particularly social issues that were once the jurisdiction of 50 state legislatures, all popularly elected.
The Court frequently did so by inventing and making up constitutional rights that were nowhere to be found in the text of the document or the historical deliberations of the Framers.
These “rights” are said to “emanate” from the text or exist in “penumbras” that cannot be seen in any plain reading.
A prime example of such unrestrained judicial activism is Roe vs. Wade.
No reasonable person can find the right to an abortion in the text of the Constitution.
Moreover, there isn’t a shred of historical evidence that the Framers intended to protect abortion as a federal constitutional right.
Now we get the circus we have today, which is nothing but toxic to our society and our political institutions.
Five: The Legend of RBG is Bigger Than the Truth.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived a life that in many respects is to be admired.
She blazed a trail for women in the legal profession, to be sure. She broke barriers at a time when women weren’t viewed as professional equals.
That aspect of her life is rightly celebrated.
Having said that, she spent 27 years on the High Court, leaving no real legacy as a jurist.
Americans would be hard pressed to name cases she authored that were of any real consequence, other than perhaps United States vs. Virginia (1996).
Her judicial philosophy was difficult to discern and certainly wasn’t influential among her colleagues.
Moreover, many have argued, including opinion leaders on the Left, that her tenure on the Court is blemished by a selfishness that harmed the institution.
She remained on the Court long after being productive and engaged, they argue.
They say this view is ironically captured by her alleged “dying wish” that her seat remain unfilled until after the election.
This publication agrees that the seat isn’t hers to control. In addition, there is no “dying wish” clause in the Constitution that excuses either the President or the Senate from fulfilling their duty to nominate and appoint.
The Court begins a new term soon and needs a full compliment.
We also can’t discount the possibility of a contested presidential election that may require a full compliment to dispose of serious legal issues.
This seat must be filled without delay.
The president is right and the Left is wrong.
Enjoy the process you’ve created, Democrats.
September 18th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”
Quote of the Week: "You know, putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."
Quote of the Week: “The destruction of property in the civil unrest was not positive.”
In This Issue:
MEMORY LANE
It’s important to recall recent history, as the Left and their co-conspirators in the media regularly lie, have the lie disproven, and then simply move on to the next lie.
Don’t believe it? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Remember when both KSTP and the Star Tribune published polls in mid-September 2016 that showed Hillary Clinton with a six-point lead in Minnesota? Those are called suppression polls, designed to discourage Republicans from voting.
Remember when the big criticism of the president was over ventilators? The lack of ventilators was going to result in thousands dying in the hallways of overflowing hospitals, with “death panels” deciding who got a ventilator and who didn’t. In other words, who would live and who would die.
Remember when the big criticism was over PPE (personal protective equipment), and front-line workers would be needlessly exposed to COVID?
Remember when, here in Minnesota, the governor was using martial law powers only to “flatten the curve” and preserve hospital resources?
Remember when, even with draconian lockdowns, 22,000 Minnesotans would die from COVID?
Remember when 3,000 ICU beds would be occupied in Minnesota?
Remember when Tim Jong Walz spent $7 million to buy a 71,000 square foot warehouse to store bodies?
Remember when Tim Jong Walz unveiled his “dashboard” of dials and needles to tell us about regaining our freedom?
Remember when the goal in Minnesota was 20,000 daily COVID tests?
Remember when the riots were “mostly peaceful” protests?
Remember when the president colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election?
Remember when the Steele dossier was considered a legitimate document?
Remember when most media outlets at least pretended to be objective?
Remember when Joe Biden supported NAFTA?
Remember when Joe Biden supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal?
Remember when Joe Biden blasted Donald Trump for suspended travel from China?
Remember when the Democrat party wasn’t filled with Anti-Semites?
Above all, remember in November!
VOTING IN 2020
With early in-person voting starting, recall there are essentially three ways to vote in Minnesota.
First, you can vote in person at your regular polling location on Election Day, November 3rd.
Note that it will be very important this year to check your polling location as it may have changed.
For example, some polling locations used to be in or near nursing homes and were moved to reduce exposure for residents of those locations.
You can find your polling location here: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/
Second, Minnesotans can vote in-person starting today, September 18th.
Note that polling locations for early voting are different than the regular polling location on Election Day.
Voters can vote early at their county election office, usually located in the county courthouse.
Moreover, some cities and towns offer early voting polling locations. Call your city/township or check their web site for information.
Here’s some more information on early, in-person voting:
For most elections, absentee voting locations must be open during their normal business hours starting 46 days before the election. In addition, locations offering absentee ballots for federal, state or county elections must be open:
This does not apply to school districts holding standalone elections.
Some local jurisdictions may provide additional absentee voting days or hours beyond the above required days and times. Call your jurisdiction for more information.
Finally, Minnesotans can vote by mail by requesting an absentee ballot.
Note that any eligible voter can vote absentee without needing to provide a reason for doing so.
Also note that “absentee voting” is not “vote by mail.”
The voter must proactively request their absentee ballot.
You can request your ballot here:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/vote-early-by-mail/
Vote, Watchdogs!
FREEING CRIMINALS
After the focus groups and internal polling told Democrats that they had to start condemning the rioting and lawlessness that they had previously celebrated, the paper trail left on the Internet makes it difficult for these pols, including Kamala Harris, to change their tunes.
It has come to light that the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a fund organized to bail people out of jail, has been freeing some pretty vile people who shouldn’t be on the streets.
This fund has been promoted by Kamala Harris and a bevy of virtue signaling Hollywood types.
In addition, at least 13 Hidin’ Biden staffers have claimed they have contributed to the fund.
So, who are some of the good, “mostly peaceful” folks who have been sprung by the fund?
Timothy Wayne Columbus is a registered sex offender. He was bailed out in July. He is currently facing charges of raping an 8-year-old girl.
Richard Kelly is facing charges of burglary and first-degree assault for breaking into his mother’s home and savaging beating her over a number of hours, including taping her wrists and ankles before he beat her. He was bailed out by the fund on August 10th.
Deshaun Boyd was freed on $70,000 bail in July. He has since pleaded guilty to felony first degree aggravated robbery for robbing an elderly man who used a cane. Boyd and an accomplice savagely beat the victim, including “curb stomping” his head.
Boyd faces up to 20 years in prison.
Chris Boswell is a rapist. MFF paid $35,000 in cash to bail out Boswell, who is a twice-convicted rapist. Boswell also is currently charged with sexual assault, assault and kidnapping in two separate cases.
Jaleel Stallings. MFF paid $75,000 to bail out Stallings, who shot at a SWAT Team during May riots with a modified pistol. He was charged with attempted murder.
These are just a sampling of the winners MFF has put back on the streets.
This is today’s Democrat. This is the Harris-Biden ticket.
Quote of the Week: “If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”
- Kamala Harris
Quote of the Week: "You know, putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."
- Attorney General William Barr
Quote of the Week: “The destruction of property in the civil unrest was not positive.”
- Governor Tim Walz
In This Issue:
- Memory Lane;
- Voting in 2020;
- Freeing Criminals;
MEMORY LANE
It’s important to recall recent history, as the Left and their co-conspirators in the media regularly lie, have the lie disproven, and then simply move on to the next lie.
Don’t believe it? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Remember when both KSTP and the Star Tribune published polls in mid-September 2016 that showed Hillary Clinton with a six-point lead in Minnesota? Those are called suppression polls, designed to discourage Republicans from voting.
Remember when the big criticism of the president was over ventilators? The lack of ventilators was going to result in thousands dying in the hallways of overflowing hospitals, with “death panels” deciding who got a ventilator and who didn’t. In other words, who would live and who would die.
Remember when the big criticism was over PPE (personal protective equipment), and front-line workers would be needlessly exposed to COVID?
Remember when, here in Minnesota, the governor was using martial law powers only to “flatten the curve” and preserve hospital resources?
Remember when, even with draconian lockdowns, 22,000 Minnesotans would die from COVID?
Remember when 3,000 ICU beds would be occupied in Minnesota?
Remember when Tim Jong Walz spent $7 million to buy a 71,000 square foot warehouse to store bodies?
Remember when Tim Jong Walz unveiled his “dashboard” of dials and needles to tell us about regaining our freedom?
Remember when the goal in Minnesota was 20,000 daily COVID tests?
Remember when the riots were “mostly peaceful” protests?
Remember when the president colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election?
Remember when the Steele dossier was considered a legitimate document?
Remember when most media outlets at least pretended to be objective?
Remember when Joe Biden supported NAFTA?
Remember when Joe Biden supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal?
Remember when Joe Biden blasted Donald Trump for suspended travel from China?
Remember when the Democrat party wasn’t filled with Anti-Semites?
Above all, remember in November!
VOTING IN 2020
With early in-person voting starting, recall there are essentially three ways to vote in Minnesota.
First, you can vote in person at your regular polling location on Election Day, November 3rd.
Note that it will be very important this year to check your polling location as it may have changed.
For example, some polling locations used to be in or near nursing homes and were moved to reduce exposure for residents of those locations.
You can find your polling location here: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/
Second, Minnesotans can vote in-person starting today, September 18th.
Note that polling locations for early voting are different than the regular polling location on Election Day.
Voters can vote early at their county election office, usually located in the county courthouse.
Moreover, some cities and towns offer early voting polling locations. Call your city/township or check their web site for information.
Here’s some more information on early, in-person voting:
For most elections, absentee voting locations must be open during their normal business hours starting 46 days before the election. In addition, locations offering absentee ballots for federal, state or county elections must be open:
- The last Saturday before Election Day (10 a.m. — 3 p.m.);
- The day before Election Day until 5 p.m.;
This does not apply to school districts holding standalone elections.
Some local jurisdictions may provide additional absentee voting days or hours beyond the above required days and times. Call your jurisdiction for more information.
Finally, Minnesotans can vote by mail by requesting an absentee ballot.
Note that any eligible voter can vote absentee without needing to provide a reason for doing so.
Also note that “absentee voting” is not “vote by mail.”
The voter must proactively request their absentee ballot.
You can request your ballot here:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/vote-early-by-mail/
Vote, Watchdogs!
FREEING CRIMINALS
After the focus groups and internal polling told Democrats that they had to start condemning the rioting and lawlessness that they had previously celebrated, the paper trail left on the Internet makes it difficult for these pols, including Kamala Harris, to change their tunes.
It has come to light that the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a fund organized to bail people out of jail, has been freeing some pretty vile people who shouldn’t be on the streets.
This fund has been promoted by Kamala Harris and a bevy of virtue signaling Hollywood types.
In addition, at least 13 Hidin’ Biden staffers have claimed they have contributed to the fund.
So, who are some of the good, “mostly peaceful” folks who have been sprung by the fund?
Timothy Wayne Columbus is a registered sex offender. He was bailed out in July. He is currently facing charges of raping an 8-year-old girl.
Richard Kelly is facing charges of burglary and first-degree assault for breaking into his mother’s home and savaging beating her over a number of hours, including taping her wrists and ankles before he beat her. He was bailed out by the fund on August 10th.
Deshaun Boyd was freed on $70,000 bail in July. He has since pleaded guilty to felony first degree aggravated robbery for robbing an elderly man who used a cane. Boyd and an accomplice savagely beat the victim, including “curb stomping” his head.
Boyd faces up to 20 years in prison.
Chris Boswell is a rapist. MFF paid $35,000 in cash to bail out Boswell, who is a twice-convicted rapist. Boswell also is currently charged with sexual assault, assault and kidnapping in two separate cases.
Jaleel Stallings. MFF paid $75,000 to bail out Stallings, who shot at a SWAT Team during May riots with a modified pistol. He was charged with attempted murder.
These are just a sampling of the winners MFF has put back on the streets.
This is today’s Democrat. This is the Harris-Biden ticket.
September 4th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to, over the years, many times … as it turns out, that was the setup.”
Quote of the Week: “Given the threats to my home and my family, I’m gonna do everything to make sure that they are protected. I make no apologies whatsoever for that.”
Quote of the Week: “My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving.”
In This Issue:
LIBERAL PRIVILEGE
A hallmark of the continuum of totalitarian government (liberalism-socialism-communism) is the privilege of the elite, those who govern through unilateral control and fundamentally believe that laws are designed to control the great unwashed masses who deserve to be governed by an enlightened elite.
Whether we are talking the bucolic dachas of the Soviet Union, the tricked-out BMWs owned by the North Korean apparatchiks, or the gun toting security details of liberal politicians who despise private gun ownership, the cornerstone creed of these ruling elites is “Rules for thee, not for me.”
Such is the state of affairs in pandemic America, where the rule of law has been severely curtailed in the name of public safety, a universal and timeless excuse for government power grabs.
Across the Union, and in Minnesota, chief executives at the state and local level have imposed a form of martial law, imposing by fiat laws that were crafted in the total absence of legislative consideration and approval.
Witness Governor Tim Jong Walz ruling by fiat for over 170 days thus far, churning out over 80 executive orders under the auspices of a “peacetime emergency.”
Thus, it should be no surprise that this giant leap forward towards unaccountable government should be accompanied by an increase in brazen incidents of liberal privilege exercised by ruling elites.
While examples of this appalling and shameless behavior abound, three examples stand out.
The latest is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi getting busted for a hair coiffing in blatant violation of San Francisco’s strict prohibition against indoor appointments.
Laughably, Pelosi took no responsibility and showed no remorse for her liberal privilege, claiming that she didn’t know the rules and further blamed the salon owner for a “set up.”
While the substance of the privilege is minor, the principle is enormous.
Contrary to her lame excuse, she simply felt entitled to an activity denied to others.
She felt no compunction about living differently – and better – than people she claims to represent.
Example number two comes from the failed rat hole of Chicago, Illinois.
There, liberal mayor Lori Lightfoot, a staunch opponent of gun ownership, ordered law enforcement to establish a “no go” zone around her home, prohibiting entrance by the general public for any reason, including protests and marches.
The mayor who tolerates looting, rioting, and marching on the property of others refuses to tolerate it on her own property.
Like Pelosi, Lightfoot has absolutely no shame in claiming the privilege while thousands of her constituents suffer the lawlessness that shows the final failure of liberal governance.
And then there’s our home city, Minneapolis.
In the midst of the rioting and lawlessness that burned the city to the ground, we learned that some city council members somehow availed themselves of a private security detail - at taxpayer expense.
Think about that. At the same time thousands of Minneapolis residents were left to the mercy of a violent mob, three council members gave themselves the security and peace of mind that comes with a security detail.
Four legs good, two legs better!
HOW TRUMP WINS
Despite DFL protestations to the contrary, there is no doubt that Minnesota is in play this year.
In politics, as in life, all you need to do is follow the money.
Both presidential campaigns are investing significant resources in Minnesota and that’s all you need to know to confirm the hypothesis.
If Trump wins Minnesota this year, it is likely that these 5 factors fell in his favor.
One: Resources. Trump nearly won Minnesota in 2016 with no meaningful presence in the state. There was one staffer on the ground, who was sent to Colorado in early October.
This cycle, the Trump campaign is investing in Minnesota in a way no GOP presidential campaign has ever has.
Since early this year, the campaign has had field staff on the ground, running voter outreach programs, getting lawn signs installed, and coordinating with other GOP campaigns.
Today, there are about 80 of these full-time campaign veterans on the ground.
Millions of voter contacts have happened and thousands of lawn signs are out the door.
Sources tell the Watchdog that the campaign may spend upwards of $80 million by Election Day.
Two: The Pennsylvania plan worked. It’s not much of a secret that the Minnesota 2020 plan is built on the Pennsylvania 2016 plan. Simply put, the idea is to jack up turn out in Greater Minnesota while minimizing losses in the Metro. This plan is a departure from the traditional GOP template that Romney used in losing in 2012. That is, make the primary campaign strategy one of persuading moderate suburban voters.
The plan is a smart one as Minnesota has a large number of rural voters who fit the profile of a Trump voter. Moreover, the GOP is also pouring resources into the state’s three rural congressional districts. In fact, two of the three (1st and 7th) are targeted by the national party (1st hold and 7th pick up).
In the 8th District, Pete Stauber is poised to become the first Republican re-elected in NE Minnesota in 70 years.
In the 7th, Michelle Fischbach is a tier one candidate who has a great chance to flip the seat and send Colin Peterson packing.
In the 1st, incumbent Jim Hagedorn is facing a stiff challenge and is getting resources to help hold the seat.
All this activity will maximize Republican turnout where they want it.
Three: Party unity. In 2016, Trump won despite a bruising and draining primary that divided the party. This year, there is near universal unity, given that the choice is simply the policies of Trump or the policies of hidin’ Biden.
All resources expended by the Trump campaign have been strictly focused on winning the general election.
This development should provide a boost to Trump, especially in Minnesota, where nearly 150,000 voters in 2016 voted for either Johnson or McMullin. If those voters come home to Trump, that could provide the margin of victory.
Four: Is Biden Hillary or Barack? 2016 wasn’t as much about Trump as it was about Hillary. While Trump ran about even with Romney’s 2012 numbers, Clinton vastly underperformed Obama.
In other words, Trump didn’t jam in 2016 in Minnesota. Instead, Hillary was awful.
Can Biden boost the 2016 turn out? That remains to be seen. While Biden isn’t as reviled as Clinton (who is?), he still is seen as an establishment candidate and that may turn off the Bernie Bros and others who want to see full on communism.
Moreover, questions about Biden’s mental competence remain, despite what the media chooses to ignore.
If Biden continues to look feeble, incoherent, and irritable, he may lose voters who would otherwise be in his camp.
Five: The riots. There is no question that the riots are hurting Democrats. The Watchdog has spoken with DFL sources this week who confirm it. This is why we are seeing condemnation of the violence in way we didn’t before.
The real question is how long-lasting the damage is. Is the damage temporary, a fleeting blip from the summer? Or has the violence moved votes similar to the disastrous Wellstone memorial?
While the Wellstone event was close to Election Day, Minnesota also didn’t have early voting the way we do this year.
With absentee ballot requests being fulfilled soon, mid-summer events are now influencing votes in way they never had before.
Thousands of Minnesotans will soon cast their ballot for the November election.
Quote of the Week: “I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to, over the years, many times … as it turns out, that was the setup.”
- Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi
Quote of the Week: “Given the threats to my home and my family, I’m gonna do everything to make sure that they are protected. I make no apologies whatsoever for that.”
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
Quote of the Week: “My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving.”
- Minneapolis Councilperson Andrea Jenkins
In This Issue:
- Liberal Privilege;
- How Trump Wins;
LIBERAL PRIVILEGE
A hallmark of the continuum of totalitarian government (liberalism-socialism-communism) is the privilege of the elite, those who govern through unilateral control and fundamentally believe that laws are designed to control the great unwashed masses who deserve to be governed by an enlightened elite.
Whether we are talking the bucolic dachas of the Soviet Union, the tricked-out BMWs owned by the North Korean apparatchiks, or the gun toting security details of liberal politicians who despise private gun ownership, the cornerstone creed of these ruling elites is “Rules for thee, not for me.”
Such is the state of affairs in pandemic America, where the rule of law has been severely curtailed in the name of public safety, a universal and timeless excuse for government power grabs.
Across the Union, and in Minnesota, chief executives at the state and local level have imposed a form of martial law, imposing by fiat laws that were crafted in the total absence of legislative consideration and approval.
Witness Governor Tim Jong Walz ruling by fiat for over 170 days thus far, churning out over 80 executive orders under the auspices of a “peacetime emergency.”
Thus, it should be no surprise that this giant leap forward towards unaccountable government should be accompanied by an increase in brazen incidents of liberal privilege exercised by ruling elites.
While examples of this appalling and shameless behavior abound, three examples stand out.
The latest is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi getting busted for a hair coiffing in blatant violation of San Francisco’s strict prohibition against indoor appointments.
Laughably, Pelosi took no responsibility and showed no remorse for her liberal privilege, claiming that she didn’t know the rules and further blamed the salon owner for a “set up.”
While the substance of the privilege is minor, the principle is enormous.
Contrary to her lame excuse, she simply felt entitled to an activity denied to others.
She felt no compunction about living differently – and better – than people she claims to represent.
Example number two comes from the failed rat hole of Chicago, Illinois.
There, liberal mayor Lori Lightfoot, a staunch opponent of gun ownership, ordered law enforcement to establish a “no go” zone around her home, prohibiting entrance by the general public for any reason, including protests and marches.
The mayor who tolerates looting, rioting, and marching on the property of others refuses to tolerate it on her own property.
Like Pelosi, Lightfoot has absolutely no shame in claiming the privilege while thousands of her constituents suffer the lawlessness that shows the final failure of liberal governance.
And then there’s our home city, Minneapolis.
In the midst of the rioting and lawlessness that burned the city to the ground, we learned that some city council members somehow availed themselves of a private security detail - at taxpayer expense.
Think about that. At the same time thousands of Minneapolis residents were left to the mercy of a violent mob, three council members gave themselves the security and peace of mind that comes with a security detail.
Four legs good, two legs better!
HOW TRUMP WINS
Despite DFL protestations to the contrary, there is no doubt that Minnesota is in play this year.
In politics, as in life, all you need to do is follow the money.
Both presidential campaigns are investing significant resources in Minnesota and that’s all you need to know to confirm the hypothesis.
If Trump wins Minnesota this year, it is likely that these 5 factors fell in his favor.
One: Resources. Trump nearly won Minnesota in 2016 with no meaningful presence in the state. There was one staffer on the ground, who was sent to Colorado in early October.
This cycle, the Trump campaign is investing in Minnesota in a way no GOP presidential campaign has ever has.
Since early this year, the campaign has had field staff on the ground, running voter outreach programs, getting lawn signs installed, and coordinating with other GOP campaigns.
Today, there are about 80 of these full-time campaign veterans on the ground.
Millions of voter contacts have happened and thousands of lawn signs are out the door.
Sources tell the Watchdog that the campaign may spend upwards of $80 million by Election Day.
Two: The Pennsylvania plan worked. It’s not much of a secret that the Minnesota 2020 plan is built on the Pennsylvania 2016 plan. Simply put, the idea is to jack up turn out in Greater Minnesota while minimizing losses in the Metro. This plan is a departure from the traditional GOP template that Romney used in losing in 2012. That is, make the primary campaign strategy one of persuading moderate suburban voters.
The plan is a smart one as Minnesota has a large number of rural voters who fit the profile of a Trump voter. Moreover, the GOP is also pouring resources into the state’s three rural congressional districts. In fact, two of the three (1st and 7th) are targeted by the national party (1st hold and 7th pick up).
In the 8th District, Pete Stauber is poised to become the first Republican re-elected in NE Minnesota in 70 years.
In the 7th, Michelle Fischbach is a tier one candidate who has a great chance to flip the seat and send Colin Peterson packing.
In the 1st, incumbent Jim Hagedorn is facing a stiff challenge and is getting resources to help hold the seat.
All this activity will maximize Republican turnout where they want it.
Three: Party unity. In 2016, Trump won despite a bruising and draining primary that divided the party. This year, there is near universal unity, given that the choice is simply the policies of Trump or the policies of hidin’ Biden.
All resources expended by the Trump campaign have been strictly focused on winning the general election.
This development should provide a boost to Trump, especially in Minnesota, where nearly 150,000 voters in 2016 voted for either Johnson or McMullin. If those voters come home to Trump, that could provide the margin of victory.
Four: Is Biden Hillary or Barack? 2016 wasn’t as much about Trump as it was about Hillary. While Trump ran about even with Romney’s 2012 numbers, Clinton vastly underperformed Obama.
In other words, Trump didn’t jam in 2016 in Minnesota. Instead, Hillary was awful.
Can Biden boost the 2016 turn out? That remains to be seen. While Biden isn’t as reviled as Clinton (who is?), he still is seen as an establishment candidate and that may turn off the Bernie Bros and others who want to see full on communism.
Moreover, questions about Biden’s mental competence remain, despite what the media chooses to ignore.
If Biden continues to look feeble, incoherent, and irritable, he may lose voters who would otherwise be in his camp.
Five: The riots. There is no question that the riots are hurting Democrats. The Watchdog has spoken with DFL sources this week who confirm it. This is why we are seeing condemnation of the violence in way we didn’t before.
The real question is how long-lasting the damage is. Is the damage temporary, a fleeting blip from the summer? Or has the violence moved votes similar to the disastrous Wellstone memorial?
While the Wellstone event was close to Election Day, Minnesota also didn’t have early voting the way we do this year.
With absentee ballot requests being fulfilled soon, mid-summer events are now influencing votes in way they never had before.
Thousands of Minnesotans will soon cast their ballot for the November election.
August 28, 2020
Quote of the Week: “None of these guys — even Chauvin — actually killed him. He killed himself.”
Quote of the Week: “This is not a slam dunk for the prosecution and not an easy case, especially for the higher-degree homicide charges.”
In This Issue:
AMERICA BURNING
The summer of destruction continues apace. The news is a daily assault on the sensibilities of average citizens as rioters rampage through major cities, assaulting people, looting, and destroying property.
It isn’t lost on these main street voters that the cities in questions are bastions of liberal, Democrat rule. They see the “space” these leaders have given rioters in order to appease the mob, comprised of people who certainly don’t vote Republican, if they are eligible to vote at all. Many of the named protesters have felony records that preclude voting rights.
It isn’t lost on these main street voters that public safety is a core responsibility of government and they see that Democrats have subordinated that obligation to the obligation to appease the mob.
And now, this lawlessness isn’t lost on DFL politicians. The disgust of voters is starting to show up in both field polling and focus groups, according to sources who spoke to the Watchdog on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats in Minnesota are starting to get hurt in the polls by their apathy towards this lawlessness.
So, when you see these Democrats starting to respond to the rioting, one has to wonder whether the response is based on public safety or politics.
A “security election” clearly favors the GOP. As one strategist told the Watchdog, “If the DFL wants to debate us on public safety, we’re more than willing.”
The Democrats are clearly caught on the horns of a political dilemma. Since the start, they have tacitly and explicitly supported these street protests-cum-riots, which has alienated the suburban voters who swung their way in 2018.
Winning back those suburban voters with a tough-on-crime message will alienate much of the urban base that has supported the riots, as evidenced by the claim that it’s a form of racial reparations, for example.
Make no mistake, Minnesota is in play this year.
The crime fiasco is one reason why.
FLOYD CASE BOMBSHELL
Our friends at @AlphaNewsMN uncorked a bombshell this week when they broke the story regarding the Hennepin County medical examiner’s conclusions regarding the George Floyd death.
The narrative from the media and many elected officials, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, is that George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers, who are now facing criminal charges in that same vein.
Not so fast, says Dr. Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner.
His autopsy report contains bombshell revelations that may prove exculpatory at trial.
First, Dr. Baker concluded that Floyd had a “fatal” level of the powerful opioid fentanyl in his system.
This is consistent with law enforcement reports that show Floyd admitted that he had been “hooping” (using drugs) the day he was arrested.
Moreover, body camera footage from officers on the scene show Floyd acting in an erratic manner consistent with drug use. In fact, the officers asked him if he was on drugs because of this behavior.
Dr. Baker’s autopsy also concluded that Floyd’s lungs were 2-3 times their normal weight, carrying excess fluid that is often caused by fentanyl overdosing, a condition known as pulmonary edema.
Baker concluded that, “If Floyd were found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes [existed], this would be acceptable to call [his death] an OD [overdose].”
Importantly, Dr. Baker also concluded that Floyd showed no evidence of a restricted airway, a vital point, as the prosecution will argue that Floyd was murdered by a restricted airway, essentially choked to death by Minneapolis police kneeling on his neck.
Baker wrote, “Mr. Floyd did not exhibit signs of petechiae, damage to his airways or thyroid, brain bleeding, bone injuries, or internal bruising.”
Surely, the prosecution will produce experts who will argue differently, but this report is one more obstacle to the prosecution’s case.
After all, the defense has the primary tactical goal of introducing reasonable doubt into the minds of the jury.
Baker’s expert medical opinion may prove to be the cornerstone of the defense’s case.
Moreover, the prosecution has chosen to charge the officers with second degree murder.
Under Minnesota law, here is what the prosecution must prove in order to win a conviction:
causes the death of a human being with intent to effect the death of that person or another, but without premeditation.
The prosecution must prove that Officer Derek Chauvin intended to kill George Floyd when he retrained him.
Proving this mental state, which lawyers call mens rea, can be difficult as the prosecution has to try to prove what was in the defendant’s head at the time.
Moreover, it is likely that the case will be removed out of the Metro area, thanks to pretrial publicity and the argument that the defendants can’t get a fair trial in Hennepin County.
This motion has been made all the easier to prove by the prejudicial statements made by politicians like Governor Walz and AG Ellison, who have already pronounced the defendants guilty by labeling the death a “murder” time and again in public settings.
Thus, proving second degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt will be no slam dunk for the prosecution.
POST OFFICE PECCADILLOES
Of the numerous hoaxes and fake issues the Democrats have perpetrated against Donald Trump and his administration (the Kavanaugh sexual assault, Russia collusion, emoluments clause), the post office hoax may the most audacious and improbable of all.
The Democrats would have us believe the United States Post Office was some efficient, well-oiled machine prior to 2020.
Really.
While the Watchdog could consume pages with facts to the contrary, consider this one news item from this week.
According to the Postal Service Inspector General, the Postal Service has been wracked with questionable overtime expenses.
The report noted that there were some $522 million in questionable overtime expenses in 2019 alone.
The report goes on to note a whopping 42% of Postal Service employees logged unauthorized overtime last year.
More than 4,000 employees made more in overtime than their salaries.
Chuck and Nancy, if you want to run with a narrative that the post office is some sort of critical service that is under attack from Donald Trump, go for it.
The only thing dumber would be to try the same narrative with the IRS.
RINOS – GET TO KNOW ‘EM
Speaking of absurdities, it’s always entertaining when the Democrats trot out retread Republicans to endorse them.
Such was the case last week when Minnesotans were supposed to be impressed by the endorsement of Joe Biden by three “Republicans”, Arne Carlson, Tom Horner, and Dave Durenberger.
Arne Carlson hasn’t endorsed a Republican for decades, hasn’t been seen at a GOP event for decades, and was kicked out of the party years ago as he was no longer a Republican.
Tom Horner left the GOP in 2010, when he ran for governor as an endorsed member of the Independence Party. As a side note, guess who endorsed him? None other than Arne Carlson.
As another side note, how did Tom Horner get his start in politics? He was a staffer for Dave Durenberger.
Dave Durenberger, a former GOP senator, hasn’t been heard from since 1994, when he left the Senate in total disgrace, indicted criminally and formally rebuked on a 96-0 censure vote for multiple violations of finance and ethics laws.
In fact, he is the last U.S. Senator to be censured and one of the few in American history to suffer such ignominy.
A real loser.
So, go ahead DFL. If these three impress you, keep them.
Quote of the Week: “None of these guys — even Chauvin — actually killed him. He killed himself.”
- Defense attorney Earl Gray, speaking of George Floyd
Quote of the Week: “This is not a slam dunk for the prosecution and not an easy case, especially for the higher-degree homicide charges.”
- Professor Philip Stinson
In This Issue:
- America Burning;
- Floyd Case Bombshell;
- Post Office Peccadilloes;
- RINOS – Get to Know ‘Em.
AMERICA BURNING
The summer of destruction continues apace. The news is a daily assault on the sensibilities of average citizens as rioters rampage through major cities, assaulting people, looting, and destroying property.
It isn’t lost on these main street voters that the cities in questions are bastions of liberal, Democrat rule. They see the “space” these leaders have given rioters in order to appease the mob, comprised of people who certainly don’t vote Republican, if they are eligible to vote at all. Many of the named protesters have felony records that preclude voting rights.
It isn’t lost on these main street voters that public safety is a core responsibility of government and they see that Democrats have subordinated that obligation to the obligation to appease the mob.
And now, this lawlessness isn’t lost on DFL politicians. The disgust of voters is starting to show up in both field polling and focus groups, according to sources who spoke to the Watchdog on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats in Minnesota are starting to get hurt in the polls by their apathy towards this lawlessness.
So, when you see these Democrats starting to respond to the rioting, one has to wonder whether the response is based on public safety or politics.
A “security election” clearly favors the GOP. As one strategist told the Watchdog, “If the DFL wants to debate us on public safety, we’re more than willing.”
The Democrats are clearly caught on the horns of a political dilemma. Since the start, they have tacitly and explicitly supported these street protests-cum-riots, which has alienated the suburban voters who swung their way in 2018.
Winning back those suburban voters with a tough-on-crime message will alienate much of the urban base that has supported the riots, as evidenced by the claim that it’s a form of racial reparations, for example.
Make no mistake, Minnesota is in play this year.
The crime fiasco is one reason why.
FLOYD CASE BOMBSHELL
Our friends at @AlphaNewsMN uncorked a bombshell this week when they broke the story regarding the Hennepin County medical examiner’s conclusions regarding the George Floyd death.
The narrative from the media and many elected officials, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, is that George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers, who are now facing criminal charges in that same vein.
Not so fast, says Dr. Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner.
His autopsy report contains bombshell revelations that may prove exculpatory at trial.
First, Dr. Baker concluded that Floyd had a “fatal” level of the powerful opioid fentanyl in his system.
This is consistent with law enforcement reports that show Floyd admitted that he had been “hooping” (using drugs) the day he was arrested.
Moreover, body camera footage from officers on the scene show Floyd acting in an erratic manner consistent with drug use. In fact, the officers asked him if he was on drugs because of this behavior.
Dr. Baker’s autopsy also concluded that Floyd’s lungs were 2-3 times their normal weight, carrying excess fluid that is often caused by fentanyl overdosing, a condition known as pulmonary edema.
Baker concluded that, “If Floyd were found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes [existed], this would be acceptable to call [his death] an OD [overdose].”
Importantly, Dr. Baker also concluded that Floyd showed no evidence of a restricted airway, a vital point, as the prosecution will argue that Floyd was murdered by a restricted airway, essentially choked to death by Minneapolis police kneeling on his neck.
Baker wrote, “Mr. Floyd did not exhibit signs of petechiae, damage to his airways or thyroid, brain bleeding, bone injuries, or internal bruising.”
Surely, the prosecution will produce experts who will argue differently, but this report is one more obstacle to the prosecution’s case.
After all, the defense has the primary tactical goal of introducing reasonable doubt into the minds of the jury.
Baker’s expert medical opinion may prove to be the cornerstone of the defense’s case.
Moreover, the prosecution has chosen to charge the officers with second degree murder.
Under Minnesota law, here is what the prosecution must prove in order to win a conviction:
causes the death of a human being with intent to effect the death of that person or another, but without premeditation.
The prosecution must prove that Officer Derek Chauvin intended to kill George Floyd when he retrained him.
Proving this mental state, which lawyers call mens rea, can be difficult as the prosecution has to try to prove what was in the defendant’s head at the time.
Moreover, it is likely that the case will be removed out of the Metro area, thanks to pretrial publicity and the argument that the defendants can’t get a fair trial in Hennepin County.
This motion has been made all the easier to prove by the prejudicial statements made by politicians like Governor Walz and AG Ellison, who have already pronounced the defendants guilty by labeling the death a “murder” time and again in public settings.
Thus, proving second degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt will be no slam dunk for the prosecution.
POST OFFICE PECCADILLOES
Of the numerous hoaxes and fake issues the Democrats have perpetrated against Donald Trump and his administration (the Kavanaugh sexual assault, Russia collusion, emoluments clause), the post office hoax may the most audacious and improbable of all.
The Democrats would have us believe the United States Post Office was some efficient, well-oiled machine prior to 2020.
Really.
While the Watchdog could consume pages with facts to the contrary, consider this one news item from this week.
According to the Postal Service Inspector General, the Postal Service has been wracked with questionable overtime expenses.
The report noted that there were some $522 million in questionable overtime expenses in 2019 alone.
The report goes on to note a whopping 42% of Postal Service employees logged unauthorized overtime last year.
More than 4,000 employees made more in overtime than their salaries.
Chuck and Nancy, if you want to run with a narrative that the post office is some sort of critical service that is under attack from Donald Trump, go for it.
The only thing dumber would be to try the same narrative with the IRS.
RINOS – GET TO KNOW ‘EM
Speaking of absurdities, it’s always entertaining when the Democrats trot out retread Republicans to endorse them.
Such was the case last week when Minnesotans were supposed to be impressed by the endorsement of Joe Biden by three “Republicans”, Arne Carlson, Tom Horner, and Dave Durenberger.
Arne Carlson hasn’t endorsed a Republican for decades, hasn’t been seen at a GOP event for decades, and was kicked out of the party years ago as he was no longer a Republican.
Tom Horner left the GOP in 2010, when he ran for governor as an endorsed member of the Independence Party. As a side note, guess who endorsed him? None other than Arne Carlson.
As another side note, how did Tom Horner get his start in politics? He was a staffer for Dave Durenberger.
Dave Durenberger, a former GOP senator, hasn’t been heard from since 1994, when he left the Senate in total disgrace, indicted criminally and formally rebuked on a 96-0 censure vote for multiple violations of finance and ethics laws.
In fact, he is the last U.S. Senator to be censured and one of the few in American history to suffer such ignominy.
A real loser.
So, go ahead DFL. If these three impress you, keep them.
August 21, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up.”
Quote of the Week: “Blue lives ain’t s**t!”
Factoid of the Week: COVID-19 deaths per million residents:
New Jersey – 1,793
New York – 1,299
Florida – 469
Texas – 364
South Dakota – 155
But we’re sure looking forward to that Gov. Cuomo book that tells the rest of America how to handle the ‘Rona.
In This Issue:
DFL PRIVILEGE
There’s been a lot of talk lately about “privilege” and the shame and remorse that should accompany such status.
The one “privilege” that no one is discussing, however, is “DFL” or “Democrat” privilege.
This particular privilege involves saying and doing things that would meet with approbation (or worse) if said or done by someone other than a self-identified Democrat.
Examples of such privilege are legion and selecting a few is akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
Take the recent antics of one John Thompson, a heretofore unknown legislative candidate running under the DFL banner for a vacant seat on Saint Paul’s East Side. In other words, as the lone DFL candidate for the seat, he will win in November.
Today, Thompson is infamous and viral. As a member of Black Lives Matter, he was front and center in video footage of a mob scene that took place in front of the private home of Bob Kroll, who is the head of the Minneapolis Police Union.
In the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4HZahNuBOY&t=52s), Thompson engages in a long profanity-laced rant, carried over a loudspeaker.
Thompson’s sewer mouth also challenged neighbors to confront him, clearly attempting to intimidate and terrorize the people (including children), who were on their own property minding their own business.
Among other rants, Thompson called the residents “racist motherfu**ers” and threatened to “burn Hugo to the ground.”
No reasonable person can watch the video and come to any conclusion other than that John Thompson is utterly unqualified to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
He’s an embarrassment. He should withdraw from the race immediately.
Moreover, he should be called upon to drop out by his party and his caucus.
But that hasn’t happened and it won’t.
If a Republican had done it, the calls for dropping out would be a deluge.
But not for the DFL candidate.
That’s DFL privilege.
And what of Laura Loomer and Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Both women are highly controversial figures who won GOP primaries for Congress in their respective districts.
Loomer is a well-known media gadfly who has earned a following by confronting leftists on camera.
Greene is not so well known but has earned media approbation for her support of the QAnon movement.
The media can’t get enough of asking Republican office holders, including the president, if they support Loomer and Greene, looking for some sort of disavowal of their candidacies, which would obviously boost the Democrats in the race.
Fair enough, but what about the radicals already in Congress, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, and Ayana Pressly?
When will the press ask Biden, Schumer and Pelosi time and again if they disavow these radical America haters?
It won’t happen.
That’s Democrat privilege.
How about Joe Biden’s health?
He’s clearly dealing with a mental impairment such as dementia.
Reasonable people can see that and rightly be concerned about his ability to discharge the duties of the office should he be elected.
Thus, questions about his health are in order and a big deal.
But you don’t see the media asking, as they cover for his clear health issue.
Conversely, the media traffics in near daily gossip about the current president’s health, often invoking wild hypotheticals about his removal from office under the 25th Amendment.
Moreover, when a black journalist recently asked Biden about the issue, he got belligerent and asked the journalist if the was a “junkie” who had been drug tested.
Avoiding tough questions about the health of the Democrat candidate for president is clearly Democrat privilege. And so is avoiding criticism for bigoted comments, apparently.
And, finally, Democrat privilege certainly means that the shady dealings, bad behavior, and other problems of the Biden Clan are off limits.
Hunter Biden, for example, is a walking disaster and a poster boy for political privilege.
He’s fathered a child out of wedlock with a stripper, been booted from the military for cocaine use, and still can’t answer how he got paid millions to work for companies in professional fields in which he had no education or experience.
From the looks of it, Hunter could have been a consultant for either strip clubs or the Cali Cartel.
And that’s not the end of it. Other Biden family members have received sweetheart deals or had problems.
James Biden, Joe’s brother, has had at least 5 tax liens placed against his property.
Another brother, Frank, has had at least three, which he has blamed on his alcohol addiction.
And lest there be at least one area where Hunter isn’t a loser, tax problems are NOT one of them.
He, too, has tax problems.
Washington, DC recently filed a whopping $450,000 lien against him, which was amazingly paid off six days later.
This is amazing because Hunter recently claimed in a court filing that he is broke and has no income.
The claim of poverty was part of his legal defense in the paternity case where he denied fathering a child with a stripper, but he DNA test proved otherwise.
Where’s Maury Povich when you need him? “Hunter, you ARE the father!” It could be on the “white rich kids who had daddy give them everything but they still screwed up” episode.
Democrat privilege, people. You can be disgusted, but you can’t be surprised.
Quote of the Week: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up.”
- Barack Obama on Biden
Quote of the Week: “Blue lives ain’t s**t!”
- John Thompson, DFL candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives
Factoid of the Week: COVID-19 deaths per million residents:
New Jersey – 1,793
New York – 1,299
Florida – 469
Texas – 364
South Dakota – 155
But we’re sure looking forward to that Gov. Cuomo book that tells the rest of America how to handle the ‘Rona.
In This Issue:
- DFL Privilege.
DFL PRIVILEGE
There’s been a lot of talk lately about “privilege” and the shame and remorse that should accompany such status.
The one “privilege” that no one is discussing, however, is “DFL” or “Democrat” privilege.
This particular privilege involves saying and doing things that would meet with approbation (or worse) if said or done by someone other than a self-identified Democrat.
Examples of such privilege are legion and selecting a few is akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
Take the recent antics of one John Thompson, a heretofore unknown legislative candidate running under the DFL banner for a vacant seat on Saint Paul’s East Side. In other words, as the lone DFL candidate for the seat, he will win in November.
Today, Thompson is infamous and viral. As a member of Black Lives Matter, he was front and center in video footage of a mob scene that took place in front of the private home of Bob Kroll, who is the head of the Minneapolis Police Union.
In the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4HZahNuBOY&t=52s), Thompson engages in a long profanity-laced rant, carried over a loudspeaker.
Thompson’s sewer mouth also challenged neighbors to confront him, clearly attempting to intimidate and terrorize the people (including children), who were on their own property minding their own business.
Among other rants, Thompson called the residents “racist motherfu**ers” and threatened to “burn Hugo to the ground.”
No reasonable person can watch the video and come to any conclusion other than that John Thompson is utterly unqualified to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
He’s an embarrassment. He should withdraw from the race immediately.
Moreover, he should be called upon to drop out by his party and his caucus.
But that hasn’t happened and it won’t.
If a Republican had done it, the calls for dropping out would be a deluge.
But not for the DFL candidate.
That’s DFL privilege.
And what of Laura Loomer and Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Both women are highly controversial figures who won GOP primaries for Congress in their respective districts.
Loomer is a well-known media gadfly who has earned a following by confronting leftists on camera.
Greene is not so well known but has earned media approbation for her support of the QAnon movement.
The media can’t get enough of asking Republican office holders, including the president, if they support Loomer and Greene, looking for some sort of disavowal of their candidacies, which would obviously boost the Democrats in the race.
Fair enough, but what about the radicals already in Congress, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, and Ayana Pressly?
When will the press ask Biden, Schumer and Pelosi time and again if they disavow these radical America haters?
It won’t happen.
That’s Democrat privilege.
How about Joe Biden’s health?
He’s clearly dealing with a mental impairment such as dementia.
Reasonable people can see that and rightly be concerned about his ability to discharge the duties of the office should he be elected.
Thus, questions about his health are in order and a big deal.
But you don’t see the media asking, as they cover for his clear health issue.
Conversely, the media traffics in near daily gossip about the current president’s health, often invoking wild hypotheticals about his removal from office under the 25th Amendment.
Moreover, when a black journalist recently asked Biden about the issue, he got belligerent and asked the journalist if the was a “junkie” who had been drug tested.
Avoiding tough questions about the health of the Democrat candidate for president is clearly Democrat privilege. And so is avoiding criticism for bigoted comments, apparently.
And, finally, Democrat privilege certainly means that the shady dealings, bad behavior, and other problems of the Biden Clan are off limits.
Hunter Biden, for example, is a walking disaster and a poster boy for political privilege.
He’s fathered a child out of wedlock with a stripper, been booted from the military for cocaine use, and still can’t answer how he got paid millions to work for companies in professional fields in which he had no education or experience.
From the looks of it, Hunter could have been a consultant for either strip clubs or the Cali Cartel.
And that’s not the end of it. Other Biden family members have received sweetheart deals or had problems.
James Biden, Joe’s brother, has had at least 5 tax liens placed against his property.
Another brother, Frank, has had at least three, which he has blamed on his alcohol addiction.
And lest there be at least one area where Hunter isn’t a loser, tax problems are NOT one of them.
He, too, has tax problems.
Washington, DC recently filed a whopping $450,000 lien against him, which was amazingly paid off six days later.
This is amazing because Hunter recently claimed in a court filing that he is broke and has no income.
The claim of poverty was part of his legal defense in the paternity case where he denied fathering a child with a stripper, but he DNA test proved otherwise.
Where’s Maury Povich when you need him? “Hunter, you ARE the father!” It could be on the “white rich kids who had daddy give them everything but they still screwed up” episode.
Democrat privilege, people. You can be disgusted, but you can’t be surprised.
August 14th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.”
Factoid of the Week: Only 39% of Americans think it’s a good thing that teachers belong to a union.
Factoid of the Week:
Years in federal office:
Joe Biden: 47 years
Nancy Pelosi: 33 years
Chuck Schumer: 39 years
Donald Trump: 3 years
And Donald Trump is the problem?
In This Issue:
PRIMARY RESULTS
The big takeaway from last night’s primary here in Minnesota was the unmitigated Democrat-on-Democrat violence.
The political violence resulted in four incumbents being taken down, along with other divisive, bruising primaries that kept the incumbents.
Start with State Senate District 7, where incumbent Erik Simonson suffered a savage beatdown at the hands of newcomer Jen McEwen.
Simonson, a moderate, supported mining and pipelines and frequently crossed party lines. In short, he was an old-school blue-collar Democrat.
Moreover, Simonson had the backing of nearly the entire constellation of DFL opinion leaders, including Governor Walz and a raft of independent spending on his behalf from unions and other special interest groups.
Despite this dynamic, Simonson was crushed 74-23%, losing every single precinct in the district.
It is indeed rare that an incumbent suffers that kind of humiliating defeat, absent some sort of high-profile scandal or criminal conviction.
As is often the case these days, especially in rural Minnesota, this was a case of the environmental, liberal wing going up against the traditional, blue-collar jobs first coalition.
The environmental wing decisively won, sending the blue-collar faction headlong into retreat.
Their win takes on a very important, symbolic dimension and signals that the environmental, progressive wing is ascendant and there is little room remaining for the “labor” wing of the DFL.
Many of these “Reagan Democrats” have already fled the DFL for the GOP, a trend that will only accelerate in Northern Minnesota.
In Minneapolis, two incumbent DFL legislators were turned out in favor of more liberal challengers.
What is rather stunning is that the incumbents turned out were as liberal as one can get.
In House District 59B, Rep. Raymond Dehn was beaten by newcomer Esther Agbaje.
Let’s be clear about Rep. Dehn’s liberal, woke street cred.
Dehn is a proud ex-con, having done time for a 1976 felony burglary, presumably to feed an admitted cocaine addiction.
More importantly, Dehn can rightly proclaim that he was for defunding the police before “defunding the police” became a cause celebre.
Dehn was excoriated for his suggestion to disarm the Minneapolis Police Department, even though he was more than prescient as a liberal standard-bearer.
The problem for Ray Dehn, clearly, was that he was the wrong race and color for the Group Identity Mob.
In another section of Minneapolis, Senator Jeff Hayden lost his primary to Omar Fateh, a Democrat of a different stripe.
Fateh proudly ran against Hayden as a Democrat Socialist.
Again, Jeff Hayden wouldn’t be mistaken for a moderate anywhere.
He has earned high marks from progressive groups everywhere.
Finally, over in Saint Paul, longtime legislative fixture John Lesch was unceremoniously dumped in the most surprising result of the night, save for Simonson’s beat down.
The one DFL incumbent who was suspected to be in trouble (at least in some quarters) was Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative in District 5.
Omar’s primary challenger raised millions and ran a good campaign.
Nonetheless, she prevailed in rather convincing fashion.
The upshot here is that the crazies are firmly in control of the DFL.
The party is now fully engulfed in a conflagration of liberal, woke excess.
With the party captured by this radical fringe, it will be pulled farther and farther away from the middle, where political success resides.
Party leaders will be challenged, along with more and more incumbents.
Mayor Frey in Minneapolis will be the 2021 canary in the coal mine, with his race being carefully watched.
Having said that, it looks like 2022 will be a tough year for the DFL. Watch as candidates, starting with Governor Walz, get challenged from the Left as not being sufficiently woke, even though their policies are plenty progressive and therefore destructive.
Can they survive? Ask Simonson, Dehn, Hayden, and Lesch.
The media is trying hard to deflect, but 2020, 2021 and 2022 are shaping up to be good years for the GOP, so long as they can carry message of being the adults in the room.
THE MORAL HAZARD
You can’t help but feel for Minneapolis business owners who were impacted by the riots that the DFL couldn’t control, letting the city burn for days on end.
The business owners were deprived of the most basic governmental obligation, the obligation to provide safety.
Having said that, many of the affected business owners made the conscientious decision to either carry no insurance or too little insurance.
Thus, they have been complaining that government hasn’t provided them with the money they should have gotten through a proper insurance policy.
It may be impolitic, but these business owners have no claim to their neighbor’s resources.
If government bails out these businesses, what and who is next?
Why should any homeowner maintain a policy?
Why have health insurance?
Why have any insurance and simply make the government the backstop for all risks and losses.
If there is any recompence to be had from government, it should come in the form of lawsuit against Minneapolis for its abject and negligent failure to prevent the looting.
A lawsuit would allow for a proper assessment of fault, damages, and remedies for each plaintiff.
The distinction is important.
The courts are the only venue to properly assess these issues of fact and law.
It’s a very unfortunate situation, but simply handing money over to those who makes claims in the form of loans or grants isn’t good public policy.
Quote of the Week: “I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.”
- Kamala Harris, regarding Joe Biden’s accusers (April 2019)
Factoid of the Week: Only 39% of Americans think it’s a good thing that teachers belong to a union.
- Rasmussen Reports 8/11/20
Factoid of the Week:
Years in federal office:
Joe Biden: 47 years
Nancy Pelosi: 33 years
Chuck Schumer: 39 years
Donald Trump: 3 years
And Donald Trump is the problem?
In This Issue:
- Primary Results;
- The Moral Hazard;
PRIMARY RESULTS
The big takeaway from last night’s primary here in Minnesota was the unmitigated Democrat-on-Democrat violence.
The political violence resulted in four incumbents being taken down, along with other divisive, bruising primaries that kept the incumbents.
Start with State Senate District 7, where incumbent Erik Simonson suffered a savage beatdown at the hands of newcomer Jen McEwen.
Simonson, a moderate, supported mining and pipelines and frequently crossed party lines. In short, he was an old-school blue-collar Democrat.
Moreover, Simonson had the backing of nearly the entire constellation of DFL opinion leaders, including Governor Walz and a raft of independent spending on his behalf from unions and other special interest groups.
Despite this dynamic, Simonson was crushed 74-23%, losing every single precinct in the district.
It is indeed rare that an incumbent suffers that kind of humiliating defeat, absent some sort of high-profile scandal or criminal conviction.
As is often the case these days, especially in rural Minnesota, this was a case of the environmental, liberal wing going up against the traditional, blue-collar jobs first coalition.
The environmental wing decisively won, sending the blue-collar faction headlong into retreat.
Their win takes on a very important, symbolic dimension and signals that the environmental, progressive wing is ascendant and there is little room remaining for the “labor” wing of the DFL.
Many of these “Reagan Democrats” have already fled the DFL for the GOP, a trend that will only accelerate in Northern Minnesota.
In Minneapolis, two incumbent DFL legislators were turned out in favor of more liberal challengers.
What is rather stunning is that the incumbents turned out were as liberal as one can get.
In House District 59B, Rep. Raymond Dehn was beaten by newcomer Esther Agbaje.
Let’s be clear about Rep. Dehn’s liberal, woke street cred.
Dehn is a proud ex-con, having done time for a 1976 felony burglary, presumably to feed an admitted cocaine addiction.
More importantly, Dehn can rightly proclaim that he was for defunding the police before “defunding the police” became a cause celebre.
Dehn was excoriated for his suggestion to disarm the Minneapolis Police Department, even though he was more than prescient as a liberal standard-bearer.
The problem for Ray Dehn, clearly, was that he was the wrong race and color for the Group Identity Mob.
In another section of Minneapolis, Senator Jeff Hayden lost his primary to Omar Fateh, a Democrat of a different stripe.
Fateh proudly ran against Hayden as a Democrat Socialist.
Again, Jeff Hayden wouldn’t be mistaken for a moderate anywhere.
He has earned high marks from progressive groups everywhere.
Finally, over in Saint Paul, longtime legislative fixture John Lesch was unceremoniously dumped in the most surprising result of the night, save for Simonson’s beat down.
The one DFL incumbent who was suspected to be in trouble (at least in some quarters) was Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative in District 5.
Omar’s primary challenger raised millions and ran a good campaign.
Nonetheless, she prevailed in rather convincing fashion.
The upshot here is that the crazies are firmly in control of the DFL.
The party is now fully engulfed in a conflagration of liberal, woke excess.
With the party captured by this radical fringe, it will be pulled farther and farther away from the middle, where political success resides.
Party leaders will be challenged, along with more and more incumbents.
Mayor Frey in Minneapolis will be the 2021 canary in the coal mine, with his race being carefully watched.
Having said that, it looks like 2022 will be a tough year for the DFL. Watch as candidates, starting with Governor Walz, get challenged from the Left as not being sufficiently woke, even though their policies are plenty progressive and therefore destructive.
Can they survive? Ask Simonson, Dehn, Hayden, and Lesch.
The media is trying hard to deflect, but 2020, 2021 and 2022 are shaping up to be good years for the GOP, so long as they can carry message of being the adults in the room.
THE MORAL HAZARD
You can’t help but feel for Minneapolis business owners who were impacted by the riots that the DFL couldn’t control, letting the city burn for days on end.
The business owners were deprived of the most basic governmental obligation, the obligation to provide safety.
Having said that, many of the affected business owners made the conscientious decision to either carry no insurance or too little insurance.
Thus, they have been complaining that government hasn’t provided them with the money they should have gotten through a proper insurance policy.
It may be impolitic, but these business owners have no claim to their neighbor’s resources.
If government bails out these businesses, what and who is next?
Why should any homeowner maintain a policy?
Why have health insurance?
Why have any insurance and simply make the government the backstop for all risks and losses.
If there is any recompence to be had from government, it should come in the form of lawsuit against Minneapolis for its abject and negligent failure to prevent the looting.
A lawsuit would allow for a proper assessment of fault, damages, and remedies for each plaintiff.
The distinction is important.
The courts are the only venue to properly assess these issues of fact and law.
It’s a very unfortunate situation, but simply handing money over to those who makes claims in the form of loans or grants isn’t good public policy.
August 7, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Civil equality, in fact, is all that a reasonable man can claim. Absolute equality is a chimera; for it to exist, there would have to be absolute equality in intelligence, virtue, physical strength, education, and fortune for all men.”
Quote of the Week: "I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for...I think the mayor said, 'I request the National Guard, whew, this is great. We’re going to have massively trained troops.' No. You’re going to have 19-year olds who are cooks."
Quote of the Week: “We have to stand up for our flag, we have to stand up for our country, we have to stand up for our anthem and a lot of people agree with me. Hey, if I am wrong, then I am going to lose an election and that’s OK with me. I am always going to stand for our country and flag.”
In This Issue:
BUDGET BLUES
Last week the state’s Management and Budget Office (MMB), released a “revenue update” that revised the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2022-2023 budget deficit at $4.7 billion.
Put another way, in the next two-year budget cycle, the “out bi-ennium”, expenditures are projected to exceed revenues by $4.7 billion.
For perspective, the state’s current general fund bi-ennial budget is approximately $47 billion, which tells us that the projected deficit is about 10%.
Just as sure as the sun rises each morning, you can bet that Governor Walz and the DFL will reach into their handy bag of euphemisms to speak of “revenue enhancements” to help cover the deficit. Translated into English, a “revenue enhancement” = tax increases.
The disposal of this budget issue will begin in earnest in January, meaning that the legislative elections this November will be critical.
With Walz not on the ballot, the only hope taxpayers have to avoid being pummeled yet again will be to retain the GOP majority in the state Senate and/or flip the Minnesota House from DFL to GOP leadership.
Why not raise taxes?
Let us count the ways.
First, there is the philosophical and moral component.
For every dollar of increased taxes, that means a dollar that was taken from the family budget to spare the government budget. It’s fair to ask why the government budget is given any sort of priority over private budgets.
Next, Minnesota taxpayers are tapped out. It’s immoral to consider raising taxes on people and businesses that have been hammered by the government-induced depression in response to the Wuhan Virus.
Also consider that Minnesota is already a high-tax state. In fact, Governor Dayton and the DFL recently raised taxes yet again. There’s no place to go for the tax raisers. They’re out of runway.
By any measure, the state is always near the top of “least friendly” lists, regardless of the type of tax.
In a world where the successful and productive are more mobile than ever, jacking up taxes is only an incentive for them to leave. This is especially true when Minnesota lacks other quality of life incentives offered by other socialist states like California and New York.
Second, consider the practical aspects of the deficit.
The deficit is projected to be 10% of the budget.
While this isn’t a small number, there is no reason why the state can’t find enough savings to cover the deficit without raising taxes.
There isn’t a CEO, CFO, entrepreneur, or head of household who hasn’t balanced a budget by making cuts like this. In fact, many have been doing just that these days, thanks to the governor’s unilateral executive fiats that have choked off business activity and killed jobs.
Moreover, the state has a budget reserve in excess of $2 billion. Some or all of that tax over-collection could be used to mitigate the “draconian” (also found the handy bag of DFL euphemisms) cuts inherent in a 10% reduction.
Consider this. In the current bi-ennium, spending went up $4.2 billion over the previous bi-ennium. Thus, if $500 million was transferred from the budget reserve and cuts of $4.2 billion were made, government would be spending money at the same level as the last budget.
Even that level of spending would represent a major increase over the last decade that far outstripped inflation and population, two rational metrics that can be used to justify more government spending.
Here is the state’s bi-ennial general fund spending going back to 2010:
2010-2011: $30 billion
2012-2013: $35.3 billion
2014-2015: $39.6 billion
2016-2017: $41.5 billion
2018-2019: $44.5 billion
2020-2021: $47 billion.
Wow. That’s a nearly 60% increase in general fund spending.
During that time, the Office of the State Demographer notes that Minnesota’s population grew 7.1%.
During this same time, inflation averaged 1.9% in the Twin Cities area, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Finally, median household income in Minnesota grew by 19% during that period.
Thus, the growth of state government exponentially outpaced population growth, inflation, and taxpayer income over the past 10 years.
There is simply no way in hell Walz and Democrats are justified in any way in proposing tax increases to cover the Leviathan’s deficit.
A man going from 500 pounds to 450 pounds doesn’t represent starvation.
TAXES DON’T MATTER
Remember when the liberal mantra was that tax rates didn’t matter?
They claimed that people didn’t make decisions based on taxes, at least the patriotic ones.
That lie has been exposed and then some these days.
The most recent example is New York City, where a vile combination of COVIDiocy and crime have driven the productive class to the Hamptons and other summer retreats, leaving the great unwashed masses to fend for themselves in a dystopian world of rats, violence, and germs.
Governor Cuomo has taken to literally begging the successful to return to the city, where the tax-based beatings can resume.
But it’s not so easy, now that the Big Apple has some maggots crawling about.
Cuomo mentioned at a press conference this week that he will even buy drinks and cook dinner for members of the burgeoning uber-rich diaspora.
Said the guv, “I literally talk to people all day long who are in their Hamptons house who also lived here, or in their Hudson Valley house or in their Connecticut weekend house, and I say, you gotta come back, when are you coming back?"
Oh, the humanity.
In addition to seeing the luster wear off Gotham, two other factors are playing into the exodus.
The first technology. The proliferation of technology tools that enable remote work have freed a generation of productive Americans from the ball and chain of proximity to work.
For many of the most productive, an Internet connection and a cell phone are all they need to do their jobs.
Second, a single federal tax policy change exposed the taxes-don’t-matter lie in unmistakable fashion.
In a stroke of brilliance, the recent federal tax overhaul put a limit on “SALT” deductions, which are deductions on the federal return for “state and local taxes” paid.
The federal law change limited the SALT deduction at $10,000, which significantly hit wealthy taxpayers in high tax blue states.
These changes have led to sizable numbers of 1%ers decamping from places like New York and California to Florida and Texas.
Thus, COVIDiocy and crime only added fuel to a fire started by technology and federal tax policy.
This is why Speaker Pelosi (California) and Minority Leader Schumer (New York) are fighting so hard to either repeal or temporarily lift the SALT deduction.
There is no reason for Republicans to take them up on the offer.
First, it’s poor tax policy. Unlimited SALT deductions are simply a form of tax subsidy to blue state taxpayers from red state taxpayers.
Moreover, it’s a moral hazard in that it allows states like New York and California to jack up state taxes while insulating those states from the natural negative consequences of doing so (the flight of the successful).
Politically, there is rarely a reward for larding the rich with tax breaks like an unlimited SALT deduction.
In addition, the voters of these high-tax states should get the government they installed. They voted for these jokers and they deserve their “leadership” in spades.
You gotta come back! When are you coming back!
These words should be stenciled on the walls of the Capitol in Albany.
For many productive New Yorkers, the answer is “never.”
Quote of the Week: “Civil equality, in fact, is all that a reasonable man can claim. Absolute equality is a chimera; for it to exist, there would have to be absolute equality in intelligence, virtue, physical strength, education, and fortune for all men.”
- Boissy d’Anglas
Quote of the Week: "I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for...I think the mayor said, 'I request the National Guard, whew, this is great. We’re going to have massively trained troops.' No. You’re going to have 19-year olds who are cooks."
- Governor Tim Walz
Quote of the Week: “We have to stand up for our flag, we have to stand up for our country, we have to stand up for our anthem and a lot of people agree with me. Hey, if I am wrong, then I am going to lose an election and that’s OK with me. I am always going to stand for our country and flag.”
- President Donald J. Trump
In This Issue:
- Budget Blues;
- Taxes Don’t Matter.
BUDGET BLUES
Last week the state’s Management and Budget Office (MMB), released a “revenue update” that revised the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2022-2023 budget deficit at $4.7 billion.
Put another way, in the next two-year budget cycle, the “out bi-ennium”, expenditures are projected to exceed revenues by $4.7 billion.
For perspective, the state’s current general fund bi-ennial budget is approximately $47 billion, which tells us that the projected deficit is about 10%.
Just as sure as the sun rises each morning, you can bet that Governor Walz and the DFL will reach into their handy bag of euphemisms to speak of “revenue enhancements” to help cover the deficit. Translated into English, a “revenue enhancement” = tax increases.
The disposal of this budget issue will begin in earnest in January, meaning that the legislative elections this November will be critical.
With Walz not on the ballot, the only hope taxpayers have to avoid being pummeled yet again will be to retain the GOP majority in the state Senate and/or flip the Minnesota House from DFL to GOP leadership.
Why not raise taxes?
Let us count the ways.
First, there is the philosophical and moral component.
For every dollar of increased taxes, that means a dollar that was taken from the family budget to spare the government budget. It’s fair to ask why the government budget is given any sort of priority over private budgets.
Next, Minnesota taxpayers are tapped out. It’s immoral to consider raising taxes on people and businesses that have been hammered by the government-induced depression in response to the Wuhan Virus.
Also consider that Minnesota is already a high-tax state. In fact, Governor Dayton and the DFL recently raised taxes yet again. There’s no place to go for the tax raisers. They’re out of runway.
By any measure, the state is always near the top of “least friendly” lists, regardless of the type of tax.
In a world where the successful and productive are more mobile than ever, jacking up taxes is only an incentive for them to leave. This is especially true when Minnesota lacks other quality of life incentives offered by other socialist states like California and New York.
Second, consider the practical aspects of the deficit.
The deficit is projected to be 10% of the budget.
While this isn’t a small number, there is no reason why the state can’t find enough savings to cover the deficit without raising taxes.
There isn’t a CEO, CFO, entrepreneur, or head of household who hasn’t balanced a budget by making cuts like this. In fact, many have been doing just that these days, thanks to the governor’s unilateral executive fiats that have choked off business activity and killed jobs.
Moreover, the state has a budget reserve in excess of $2 billion. Some or all of that tax over-collection could be used to mitigate the “draconian” (also found the handy bag of DFL euphemisms) cuts inherent in a 10% reduction.
Consider this. In the current bi-ennium, spending went up $4.2 billion over the previous bi-ennium. Thus, if $500 million was transferred from the budget reserve and cuts of $4.2 billion were made, government would be spending money at the same level as the last budget.
Even that level of spending would represent a major increase over the last decade that far outstripped inflation and population, two rational metrics that can be used to justify more government spending.
Here is the state’s bi-ennial general fund spending going back to 2010:
2010-2011: $30 billion
2012-2013: $35.3 billion
2014-2015: $39.6 billion
2016-2017: $41.5 billion
2018-2019: $44.5 billion
2020-2021: $47 billion.
Wow. That’s a nearly 60% increase in general fund spending.
During that time, the Office of the State Demographer notes that Minnesota’s population grew 7.1%.
During this same time, inflation averaged 1.9% in the Twin Cities area, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Finally, median household income in Minnesota grew by 19% during that period.
Thus, the growth of state government exponentially outpaced population growth, inflation, and taxpayer income over the past 10 years.
There is simply no way in hell Walz and Democrats are justified in any way in proposing tax increases to cover the Leviathan’s deficit.
A man going from 500 pounds to 450 pounds doesn’t represent starvation.
TAXES DON’T MATTER
Remember when the liberal mantra was that tax rates didn’t matter?
They claimed that people didn’t make decisions based on taxes, at least the patriotic ones.
That lie has been exposed and then some these days.
The most recent example is New York City, where a vile combination of COVIDiocy and crime have driven the productive class to the Hamptons and other summer retreats, leaving the great unwashed masses to fend for themselves in a dystopian world of rats, violence, and germs.
Governor Cuomo has taken to literally begging the successful to return to the city, where the tax-based beatings can resume.
But it’s not so easy, now that the Big Apple has some maggots crawling about.
Cuomo mentioned at a press conference this week that he will even buy drinks and cook dinner for members of the burgeoning uber-rich diaspora.
Said the guv, “I literally talk to people all day long who are in their Hamptons house who also lived here, or in their Hudson Valley house or in their Connecticut weekend house, and I say, you gotta come back, when are you coming back?"
Oh, the humanity.
In addition to seeing the luster wear off Gotham, two other factors are playing into the exodus.
The first technology. The proliferation of technology tools that enable remote work have freed a generation of productive Americans from the ball and chain of proximity to work.
For many of the most productive, an Internet connection and a cell phone are all they need to do their jobs.
Second, a single federal tax policy change exposed the taxes-don’t-matter lie in unmistakable fashion.
In a stroke of brilliance, the recent federal tax overhaul put a limit on “SALT” deductions, which are deductions on the federal return for “state and local taxes” paid.
The federal law change limited the SALT deduction at $10,000, which significantly hit wealthy taxpayers in high tax blue states.
These changes have led to sizable numbers of 1%ers decamping from places like New York and California to Florida and Texas.
Thus, COVIDiocy and crime only added fuel to a fire started by technology and federal tax policy.
This is why Speaker Pelosi (California) and Minority Leader Schumer (New York) are fighting so hard to either repeal or temporarily lift the SALT deduction.
There is no reason for Republicans to take them up on the offer.
First, it’s poor tax policy. Unlimited SALT deductions are simply a form of tax subsidy to blue state taxpayers from red state taxpayers.
Moreover, it’s a moral hazard in that it allows states like New York and California to jack up state taxes while insulating those states from the natural negative consequences of doing so (the flight of the successful).
Politically, there is rarely a reward for larding the rich with tax breaks like an unlimited SALT deduction.
In addition, the voters of these high-tax states should get the government they installed. They voted for these jokers and they deserve their “leadership” in spades.
You gotta come back! When are you coming back!
These words should be stenciled on the walls of the Capitol in Albany.
For many productive New Yorkers, the answer is “never.”
July 31, 2020
Quote of the Week: “The risk of COVID-19 mortality for children is about 0.1 per 100,000. So another way to say that, it’s one in a million. Now, I’m not trying to belittle that. I’m just trying to make sure we look at it proportional. Because if you do the same thing for influenza deaths for school-age children over the last five years, they’re anywhere from five to 10 times greater."
Quote of the Week: “Our data indicate that children are at far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 appears to behave differently in children and adolescents than other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza, on which much of the current guidance regarding school closures is based.”
Quote of the Week: “Schools are fundamental to child development and well-being and provide our children with academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, reliable nutrition, physical/speech and mental health therapy, and opportunities for physical activity, among other benefits.”
In This Issue:
PANDEMIC PANIC PERSISTS
The mania, propaganda, misinformation, intimidation, and rejection of reason continues apace regarding the pandemic.
Just when it seems there really isn’t anything more to say, government does something stupid and the misery is propagated and perpetuated.
The latest foolishness comes to the masses in the form of Tim Jong Walz’s edict regarding school openings this coming school year.
Since the Watchdog is one of the last objective news sources in Minnesota, let’s give our Dear Leader some credit – it could have been worse.
Many readers were expecting that The Exalted One would either dictate distance learning or some sort of hybrid model for the entire state.
Thus, his Rube Goldberg matrix of rolling case averages isn’t all that bad.
No word on whether the same U of M grad students who concocted the Minnesota pandemic model crafted this matrix.
Of course, the matrix has already created a host of problems that apparently escaped the beta tests run at the gov’s manse in Saint Paul.
First, some districts cross county boundaries. How to account for cases when they are calculated on the matrix by county? Are the two to be blended? Weighted?
Second, the Saint Cloud public schools have pointed out that the prison accounts for a significant portion of cases. Should they be counted when inmates have no chance of contact with the public at large?
Third, the matrix offers no meaningful opportunity for parents to plan their work and family schedules. There is no certainty offered parents.
Fourth, while it is laudable that the policy offers a measure of local control, it is maddening for school districts that this decision was rendered in late July.
In other words, if the governor was going to essentially kick the can back at school districts, why wait until nearly August?
For the Watchdog, the school policy is a mixed bag.
This publication is pleasantly shocked that Walz didn’t knuckle under to the teacher union and shut it all down until Christmas.
But the matrix falls short on a number of fronts, especially in that it offers so much uncertainty moving forward.
QUESTIONS FOR WALZ
It’s aggravating, but not surprising that the media was treated Governor Walz and his staff with kid gloves with respect to questioning key aspects of administration decision making.
Tom Hauser of KSTP is the only journalist who has consistently represented the profession well by asking tough but fair questions.
It’s rather stunning to consider that there has been no real reporting of key issues regarding the primary issue impacting the lives of Minnesotans.
For example, why was the pandemic model so wrong?
When will the model be updated? Will it be regularly updated moving forward?
What metrics will be used to determine when you will relinquish your unilateral powers under the peacetime emergency declaration?
Why do you think it is good public policy to make decisions that are normally made in concert with the legislative branch in unilateral fashion?
What is your definition of “emergency” as that term is used in chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes?
What is the strategic goal of these peacetime unilateral executive orders? At the start, citizens were told you were exercising these powers as a resource preservation measure, to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Now, it seems that the strategic goal is virus suppression or elimination. What is the goal here? When will we know the goal has been achieved? What are the metrics you are using to determine progress towards the strategic goal?
Asking these questions and pursuing them until an answer is given would be a great place to start.
NAZI IMAGERY HYPOCRISY
The Watchdog strongly supports the long-standing practice of refraining from the use of Nazi imagery and rhetoric to attack political opponents.
Use of this imagery and rhetoric diminishes the historic and solemn place of the Holocaust as one of the darkest chapters in human history and cynically co-opts that overwhelming tragedy in the service of a political issue.
Sadly, that practice has been under assault, as the use of Nazi imagery and rhetoric has proliferated as our civil discourse becomes coarse, virulent, and vile.
It is also disturbing to see the hypocrisy surrounding the issue, as many parties to today’s political discourse are quick to call out the use of this imagery by their opponents while excusing it when used by allies.
Minnesota GOP chair Jennifer Carnahan deserves credit for quickly condemning the Wabasha County GOP for using such imagery in a recent social media post.
This publication wonders when Democrat leaders will condemn a recent statement from long-time gadfly Jesse Jackson, who recently co-opted the Holocaust by comparing federal law enforcement personnel to Hitler’s Brown shirts.
Jackson’s statement included these words:
“Hitler had his Brown shirts and Mussolini had his Black shirts, now Donald Trump has his camouflage shirts.”
“Comparisons to Hitler are always explosive, but the comparison is apt.”
“Hitler’s bullyboys operated on the fringes or outside of the law to violently intimidate Germany’s leftists and finally to exterminate Jews. Trump’s bully boys are operating on the fringes or outside the law to violently intimidate America’s progressives and people of color who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest racial injustice.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/27/21340670/president-trump-federal-police-chicago-protests-jesse-jackson/
This is especially true considering that Jackson has a well-documented history of anti-semitic and anti-Israel comments.
Waiting for Democratic condemnation.
Quote of the Week: “The risk of COVID-19 mortality for children is about 0.1 per 100,000. So another way to say that, it’s one in a million. Now, I’m not trying to belittle that. I’m just trying to make sure we look at it proportional. Because if you do the same thing for influenza deaths for school-age children over the last five years, they’re anywhere from five to 10 times greater."
- Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control
Quote of the Week: “Our data indicate that children are at far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 appears to behave differently in children and adolescents than other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza, on which much of the current guidance regarding school closures is based.”
- American Academy of Pediatrics
Quote of the Week: “Schools are fundamental to child development and well-being and provide our children with academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, reliable nutrition, physical/speech and mental health therapy, and opportunities for physical activity, among other benefits.”
- American Academy of Pediatrics
In This Issue:
- Pandemic Panic Persists;
- Questions for Walz;
- Nazi Imagery Hypocrisy.
PANDEMIC PANIC PERSISTS
The mania, propaganda, misinformation, intimidation, and rejection of reason continues apace regarding the pandemic.
Just when it seems there really isn’t anything more to say, government does something stupid and the misery is propagated and perpetuated.
The latest foolishness comes to the masses in the form of Tim Jong Walz’s edict regarding school openings this coming school year.
Since the Watchdog is one of the last objective news sources in Minnesota, let’s give our Dear Leader some credit – it could have been worse.
Many readers were expecting that The Exalted One would either dictate distance learning or some sort of hybrid model for the entire state.
Thus, his Rube Goldberg matrix of rolling case averages isn’t all that bad.
No word on whether the same U of M grad students who concocted the Minnesota pandemic model crafted this matrix.
Of course, the matrix has already created a host of problems that apparently escaped the beta tests run at the gov’s manse in Saint Paul.
First, some districts cross county boundaries. How to account for cases when they are calculated on the matrix by county? Are the two to be blended? Weighted?
Second, the Saint Cloud public schools have pointed out that the prison accounts for a significant portion of cases. Should they be counted when inmates have no chance of contact with the public at large?
Third, the matrix offers no meaningful opportunity for parents to plan their work and family schedules. There is no certainty offered parents.
Fourth, while it is laudable that the policy offers a measure of local control, it is maddening for school districts that this decision was rendered in late July.
In other words, if the governor was going to essentially kick the can back at school districts, why wait until nearly August?
For the Watchdog, the school policy is a mixed bag.
This publication is pleasantly shocked that Walz didn’t knuckle under to the teacher union and shut it all down until Christmas.
But the matrix falls short on a number of fronts, especially in that it offers so much uncertainty moving forward.
QUESTIONS FOR WALZ
It’s aggravating, but not surprising that the media was treated Governor Walz and his staff with kid gloves with respect to questioning key aspects of administration decision making.
Tom Hauser of KSTP is the only journalist who has consistently represented the profession well by asking tough but fair questions.
It’s rather stunning to consider that there has been no real reporting of key issues regarding the primary issue impacting the lives of Minnesotans.
For example, why was the pandemic model so wrong?
When will the model be updated? Will it be regularly updated moving forward?
What metrics will be used to determine when you will relinquish your unilateral powers under the peacetime emergency declaration?
Why do you think it is good public policy to make decisions that are normally made in concert with the legislative branch in unilateral fashion?
What is your definition of “emergency” as that term is used in chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes?
What is the strategic goal of these peacetime unilateral executive orders? At the start, citizens were told you were exercising these powers as a resource preservation measure, to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Now, it seems that the strategic goal is virus suppression or elimination. What is the goal here? When will we know the goal has been achieved? What are the metrics you are using to determine progress towards the strategic goal?
Asking these questions and pursuing them until an answer is given would be a great place to start.
NAZI IMAGERY HYPOCRISY
The Watchdog strongly supports the long-standing practice of refraining from the use of Nazi imagery and rhetoric to attack political opponents.
Use of this imagery and rhetoric diminishes the historic and solemn place of the Holocaust as one of the darkest chapters in human history and cynically co-opts that overwhelming tragedy in the service of a political issue.
Sadly, that practice has been under assault, as the use of Nazi imagery and rhetoric has proliferated as our civil discourse becomes coarse, virulent, and vile.
It is also disturbing to see the hypocrisy surrounding the issue, as many parties to today’s political discourse are quick to call out the use of this imagery by their opponents while excusing it when used by allies.
Minnesota GOP chair Jennifer Carnahan deserves credit for quickly condemning the Wabasha County GOP for using such imagery in a recent social media post.
This publication wonders when Democrat leaders will condemn a recent statement from long-time gadfly Jesse Jackson, who recently co-opted the Holocaust by comparing federal law enforcement personnel to Hitler’s Brown shirts.
Jackson’s statement included these words:
“Hitler had his Brown shirts and Mussolini had his Black shirts, now Donald Trump has his camouflage shirts.”
“Comparisons to Hitler are always explosive, but the comparison is apt.”
“Hitler’s bullyboys operated on the fringes or outside of the law to violently intimidate Germany’s leftists and finally to exterminate Jews. Trump’s bully boys are operating on the fringes or outside the law to violently intimidate America’s progressives and people of color who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest racial injustice.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/27/21340670/president-trump-federal-police-chicago-protests-jesse-jackson/
This is especially true considering that Jackson has a well-documented history of anti-semitic and anti-Israel comments.
Waiting for Democratic condemnation.
July 24, 2020
Quote of the Week: “We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. Trump is the first one that has.”
Quote of the Week: “Gov. Walz says it’s unclear what metrics of COVID-19 will be necessary to end mask mandate.”
Quote of the Week: “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”
In This Issue:
THOSE RACIST DEMOCRATS
So, Joe Biden claims Donald Trump is the first racist president, eh?
Putting aside the merits of the smear, let’s fact check China Joe’s recollection of U.S. history.
In particular, let’s closely examine the history of certain Democrat presidents.
Andrew Jackson. The seventh president owned over 200 slaves during his lifetime, with some estimates rising to nearly 300. Jackson was a plantation owner, using slaves to work the land.
Jackson allowed his slaves to be whipped for offenses and also posted bounties for those who escaped captivity.
Jackson was also an enthusiastic proponent of the forced removal of American Indians from their homelands. Jackson was crucial to the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Martin Van Buren. While Van Buren didn’t have same passion for owning other human beings as that of his predecessor, this Democrat was also a slave owner.
James K. Polk. Polk owned 25 slaves during his lifetime and was a supporter of slavery as a candidate and elected official. In fact, Polk secured the Democrat nomination in 1844 over Van Buren precisely because he was the pro-slavery candidate the Democrat delegates demanded.
Andrew Johnson. Like the other Democrat presidents profiled here, Johnson both owned slaves and supported slavery. As military governor of Tennessee, Johnson convinced Lincoln to exempt swaths of the state from the Emancipation Proclamation.
And while we hope Joe Biden never assumes the Oval Office, he himself has engaged in no small amount of race baiting during his lifelong tenure in The Swamp.
Some of Biden’s greatest hits:
“You can’t walk into a 7/11 or Dunkin’ Donuts without hearing a slight Indian accent.”
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American (Obama) who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
“Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle.”
“That people would come to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being ... I mean these Shylocks who took advantage of, um, these women and men while overseas."
Biden has also had many friendships with infamous bigots and racists, including:
George Wallace, a Democrat politician who served as Alabama’s governor and is remembered for declaring, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” Biden said the Democrats needed another candidate just like George Wallace.
Biden also effusively praised Sen. John Stennis of Mississippi, another Democrat segregationist, calling him “a man of character.”
Biden also cultivated a fawning friendship with James Eastland, yet another racist, segregationist Democrat senator. Eastland called segregation “God’s Law” and repeatedly referred to blacks as an “inferior race.”
We could also get into Biden’s sexism and misogyny, but will leave that for another hair smelling, personal space violating kind of day.
Joe Biden is an untalented, unserious clown.
COVIDiot
Man, where do you even start with Governor Tim Walz?
One must start with the abject failure to protect those who reside in congregate care settings, who have borne the brunt of the COVID pandemic in Minnesota.
Those Minnesotans constitute the vast majority of deaths from COVID. And weeks after the governor announced his “plan” to better protect them, they still bear that brunt.
Or we could talk about the $7 million Uber Morgue that will, thankfully, never hold a single body.
And then there’s the $1.5 million pandemic model that was off by a factor of about 1,000%. Chimps throwing poop at a chart would have had better luck.
But the centerpiece of the latest COVIDiocy is the mask mandate.
Coming months and months after the peak here in Minnesota, the mandate comes in the form of a bureaucratic tome some 15 pages in length.
Even more comical, Walz can’t even articulate the metrics that will determine when this executive order will be lifted.
The man who appeals at all times to “the science” apparently issued the mandate with no consideration other than that all the other cool governors are doing it.
There is no exit strategy, other than the benevolent despotism of Tim Walz.
This order is all the more stunning in its arrogant brazenness because the pandemic has hit so unevenly across the state.
Yet again, Walz seems incapable or unwilling to recognize that a county-by-county approach would be more humane, thoughtful, efficient, and productive.
Or he could have simply avoided governing by fiat and asked Minnesotans to do what they were already doing, using their common sense to avoid the spread of the virus, as demonstrated by the dropping numbers.
In the alternative, he could have also governed according to the model laid out in our constitution, that whole coordinate branch of government thing.
The mask mandate is further proof that there are only two ways Walz is going to give up his powers of martial law.
First, the judicial branch will rebuke him, repealing these powers in whole or part as offensive to the constitution of either the state or federal government.
Second, the voters will elect legislators who will extinguish his use of these powers.
Other than that, it appears that he will jealously guard these powers.
Perhaps it’s time for the legislature to stop negotiating on this issue.
He’s obviously not amenable.
The GOP needs to take their case directly to the people.
The GOP doesn’t need to come in at this late stage and start jointly owning this fiasco.
This will be especially true when he prevents schools from re-opening this fall.
Let him own it.
Quote of the Week: “We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. Trump is the first one that has.”
- Joe Biden
Quote of the Week: “Gov. Walz says it’s unclear what metrics of COVID-19 will be necessary to end mask mandate.”
- Tom Hauser, KSTP
Quote of the Week: “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”
- Montesquieu, The Spirit of Law
In This Issue:
- Those Racist Democrats;
- COVIDiot.
THOSE RACIST DEMOCRATS
So, Joe Biden claims Donald Trump is the first racist president, eh?
Putting aside the merits of the smear, let’s fact check China Joe’s recollection of U.S. history.
In particular, let’s closely examine the history of certain Democrat presidents.
Andrew Jackson. The seventh president owned over 200 slaves during his lifetime, with some estimates rising to nearly 300. Jackson was a plantation owner, using slaves to work the land.
Jackson allowed his slaves to be whipped for offenses and also posted bounties for those who escaped captivity.
Jackson was also an enthusiastic proponent of the forced removal of American Indians from their homelands. Jackson was crucial to the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Martin Van Buren. While Van Buren didn’t have same passion for owning other human beings as that of his predecessor, this Democrat was also a slave owner.
James K. Polk. Polk owned 25 slaves during his lifetime and was a supporter of slavery as a candidate and elected official. In fact, Polk secured the Democrat nomination in 1844 over Van Buren precisely because he was the pro-slavery candidate the Democrat delegates demanded.
Andrew Johnson. Like the other Democrat presidents profiled here, Johnson both owned slaves and supported slavery. As military governor of Tennessee, Johnson convinced Lincoln to exempt swaths of the state from the Emancipation Proclamation.
And while we hope Joe Biden never assumes the Oval Office, he himself has engaged in no small amount of race baiting during his lifelong tenure in The Swamp.
Some of Biden’s greatest hits:
“You can’t walk into a 7/11 or Dunkin’ Donuts without hearing a slight Indian accent.”
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American (Obama) who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
“Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle.”
“That people would come to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being ... I mean these Shylocks who took advantage of, um, these women and men while overseas."
Biden has also had many friendships with infamous bigots and racists, including:
George Wallace, a Democrat politician who served as Alabama’s governor and is remembered for declaring, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” Biden said the Democrats needed another candidate just like George Wallace.
Biden also effusively praised Sen. John Stennis of Mississippi, another Democrat segregationist, calling him “a man of character.”
Biden also cultivated a fawning friendship with James Eastland, yet another racist, segregationist Democrat senator. Eastland called segregation “God’s Law” and repeatedly referred to blacks as an “inferior race.”
We could also get into Biden’s sexism and misogyny, but will leave that for another hair smelling, personal space violating kind of day.
Joe Biden is an untalented, unserious clown.
COVIDiot
Man, where do you even start with Governor Tim Walz?
One must start with the abject failure to protect those who reside in congregate care settings, who have borne the brunt of the COVID pandemic in Minnesota.
Those Minnesotans constitute the vast majority of deaths from COVID. And weeks after the governor announced his “plan” to better protect them, they still bear that brunt.
Or we could talk about the $7 million Uber Morgue that will, thankfully, never hold a single body.
And then there’s the $1.5 million pandemic model that was off by a factor of about 1,000%. Chimps throwing poop at a chart would have had better luck.
But the centerpiece of the latest COVIDiocy is the mask mandate.
Coming months and months after the peak here in Minnesota, the mandate comes in the form of a bureaucratic tome some 15 pages in length.
Even more comical, Walz can’t even articulate the metrics that will determine when this executive order will be lifted.
The man who appeals at all times to “the science” apparently issued the mandate with no consideration other than that all the other cool governors are doing it.
There is no exit strategy, other than the benevolent despotism of Tim Walz.
This order is all the more stunning in its arrogant brazenness because the pandemic has hit so unevenly across the state.
Yet again, Walz seems incapable or unwilling to recognize that a county-by-county approach would be more humane, thoughtful, efficient, and productive.
Or he could have simply avoided governing by fiat and asked Minnesotans to do what they were already doing, using their common sense to avoid the spread of the virus, as demonstrated by the dropping numbers.
In the alternative, he could have also governed according to the model laid out in our constitution, that whole coordinate branch of government thing.
The mask mandate is further proof that there are only two ways Walz is going to give up his powers of martial law.
First, the judicial branch will rebuke him, repealing these powers in whole or part as offensive to the constitution of either the state or federal government.
Second, the voters will elect legislators who will extinguish his use of these powers.
Other than that, it appears that he will jealously guard these powers.
Perhaps it’s time for the legislature to stop negotiating on this issue.
He’s obviously not amenable.
The GOP needs to take their case directly to the people.
The GOP doesn’t need to come in at this late stage and start jointly owning this fiasco.
This will be especially true when he prevents schools from re-opening this fall.
Let him own it.
July 17th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world?”
Factoid of the Week: Challenger Anton Melton-Meaux outraised incumbent Ilhan Omar (D – MN 5) in the most recent quarter, raising $3.2 million against her $471,624. Melton-Meaux reports $2 million cash on hand, while Omar reports $1.1 million cash on hand. This race will be decided in an August primary.
In This Issue:
COVIDiocy
While one can easily become numb to the ocean of numbers surrounding COVID-19, there are some statistic that matter.
Of late, the Left has sought to demonize Florida, Texas, and Arizona, gleefully pointing to growing case numbers and using those cherry-picked stats as proof that states with GOP governors are rightfully reaping the bitter harvest of liberty because those states didn’t gleefully engage in martial law like their counterparts in New York and New Jersey.
Thus, here are some relevant statistics to bear in mind:
COVID-19 Deaths Per Million Residents:
New Jersey: 1,754
New York: 1,285
National Average: 388
Arizona: 321
Minnesota: 274
Florida: 210
Texas: 115
COVID-19 DEATHS (TOTAL):
New York: 24,994
New Jersey: 15,582
Florida: 4,514
Texas: 3,322
Arizona: 2,337
Minnesota: 1,548
COVID-19 DAILY CASES (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 12: 63,543 (USA Peak)
June 9: 17,670 (USA Trough)
COVID-19 DAILY DEATHS (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 6: 252 (USA Trough)
May 7: 2,372 (USA Peak)
COVID-19 DAILY TESTS (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 14: 736,566 (USA Peak)
March 18: 20,103 (USA Trough)
COVID-19 POSITIVE TESTS %
April 13: 19.6% (USA Peak)
July 14: 8.2% (USA Trough)
MINNESOTA FACTS
Fact: 39 of Minnesota’s 87 counties have zero COVID-19 deaths each.
Fact: 12 of Minnesota’s 87 counties have recorded one COVID-19 death each.
Fact: The seven county Metro accounts for 81% of all COVID-19 deaths.
Fact: 93% of all COVID-19 fatalities were age 60 or older.
Fact: Minnesota hasn’t recorded a single fatality among the age 0-19 cohort.
THE DUNCES OF DEFUNDING
Local media report that “dozens” of Minneapolis citizens showed up at city hall Tuesday night to demand that the city council’s budget committee cut $45 million from the $193 million law enforcement budget.
Many of the testifiers asked that the nine council members who pledged to “end the police department” live up to their word.
The city council should take them up on their offer, subject to conditions.
First, those who have testified in favor of these cuts and ending the police should be made to understand that any calls they make to 911 won’t be answered.
Second, the city should conduct a scientific, statistically valid survey, by ward, on the question of the $45 million cut.
Those wards that favor the cut (50% plus one) should get no law enforcement services, other than 911 call responses that will be given a lower priority than the calls to wards that don’t favor the cuts.
Let those who want no uniformed police presence live their words.
Regardless, they may get their wish, as no sane person will want to be a Minneapolis cop. With hundreds of cities and counties in Minnesota, a solid law enforcement prospect will have numerous choices regarding their employer and the work environment.
THE ELITES
A hallmark of all Leftists, from straight-up democrats to communists is the hypocritical behavior of refusing to live under the laws they make.
Whether Soviet dachas, North Korean Mercedes dealers, special health care and retirement benefits, or simply refusing to cut your grass, Leftist politicians rarely live under the laws they make.
The latest example comes from our friends on the Minneapolis City Council, who apparently want to make damn sure you know that they are a collection of clowns.
Three of the council members were granted private, taxpayer funded security details after they claimed they were threatened.
Apparently, “reimagining” law enforcement doesn’t extend to the personal safety of those doing the “reimagining.”
The real-world cost to the taxpayers is over $152,000.
Readers can be outraged, but don’t be surprised.
You knew this would happen.
Quote of the Week: “But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world?”
- Bari Weiss, Resignation Letter from the New York Times
Factoid of the Week: Challenger Anton Melton-Meaux outraised incumbent Ilhan Omar (D – MN 5) in the most recent quarter, raising $3.2 million against her $471,624. Melton-Meaux reports $2 million cash on hand, while Omar reports $1.1 million cash on hand. This race will be decided in an August primary.
In This Issue:
- COVIDiocy;
- The Dunces of Defunding;
- The Elites.
COVIDiocy
While one can easily become numb to the ocean of numbers surrounding COVID-19, there are some statistic that matter.
Of late, the Left has sought to demonize Florida, Texas, and Arizona, gleefully pointing to growing case numbers and using those cherry-picked stats as proof that states with GOP governors are rightfully reaping the bitter harvest of liberty because those states didn’t gleefully engage in martial law like their counterparts in New York and New Jersey.
Thus, here are some relevant statistics to bear in mind:
COVID-19 Deaths Per Million Residents:
New Jersey: 1,754
New York: 1,285
National Average: 388
Arizona: 321
Minnesota: 274
Florida: 210
Texas: 115
COVID-19 DEATHS (TOTAL):
New York: 24,994
New Jersey: 15,582
Florida: 4,514
Texas: 3,322
Arizona: 2,337
Minnesota: 1,548
COVID-19 DAILY CASES (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 12: 63,543 (USA Peak)
June 9: 17,670 (USA Trough)
COVID-19 DAILY DEATHS (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 6: 252 (USA Trough)
May 7: 2,372 (USA Peak)
COVID-19 DAILY TESTS (3-DAY ROLLING AVERAGE)
July 14: 736,566 (USA Peak)
March 18: 20,103 (USA Trough)
COVID-19 POSITIVE TESTS %
April 13: 19.6% (USA Peak)
July 14: 8.2% (USA Trough)
MINNESOTA FACTS
Fact: 39 of Minnesota’s 87 counties have zero COVID-19 deaths each.
Fact: 12 of Minnesota’s 87 counties have recorded one COVID-19 death each.
Fact: The seven county Metro accounts for 81% of all COVID-19 deaths.
Fact: 93% of all COVID-19 fatalities were age 60 or older.
Fact: Minnesota hasn’t recorded a single fatality among the age 0-19 cohort.
THE DUNCES OF DEFUNDING
Local media report that “dozens” of Minneapolis citizens showed up at city hall Tuesday night to demand that the city council’s budget committee cut $45 million from the $193 million law enforcement budget.
Many of the testifiers asked that the nine council members who pledged to “end the police department” live up to their word.
The city council should take them up on their offer, subject to conditions.
First, those who have testified in favor of these cuts and ending the police should be made to understand that any calls they make to 911 won’t be answered.
Second, the city should conduct a scientific, statistically valid survey, by ward, on the question of the $45 million cut.
Those wards that favor the cut (50% plus one) should get no law enforcement services, other than 911 call responses that will be given a lower priority than the calls to wards that don’t favor the cuts.
Let those who want no uniformed police presence live their words.
Regardless, they may get their wish, as no sane person will want to be a Minneapolis cop. With hundreds of cities and counties in Minnesota, a solid law enforcement prospect will have numerous choices regarding their employer and the work environment.
THE ELITES
A hallmark of all Leftists, from straight-up democrats to communists is the hypocritical behavior of refusing to live under the laws they make.
Whether Soviet dachas, North Korean Mercedes dealers, special health care and retirement benefits, or simply refusing to cut your grass, Leftist politicians rarely live under the laws they make.
The latest example comes from our friends on the Minneapolis City Council, who apparently want to make damn sure you know that they are a collection of clowns.
Three of the council members were granted private, taxpayer funded security details after they claimed they were threatened.
Apparently, “reimagining” law enforcement doesn’t extend to the personal safety of those doing the “reimagining.”
The real-world cost to the taxpayers is over $152,000.
Readers can be outraged, but don’t be surprised.
You knew this would happen.
July 10, 2020
Factoid of the Week: A Minneapolis resident has a greater chance of dying from a gunshot than COVID-19.
Quote of the Week: “It’s time to stand up in this city. It is time to tell council that utopia is a bunch of BS. We are not in Mayberry, we are in the wild, wild west.”
Quote of the Week: “It’s easy to demonize police unions. The truth is cities signed off on all these agreements.”
Headline of the Week: Minnesota Officials Project 22,000 COVID Deaths, July 13 Hospitalization Peak
In This Issue:
COVIDiocy
The “Through the Looking Glass”, dystopian life in which we find ourselves continues apace.
It doesn’t make sense, unless once understands the core of liberal ideology.
That core consists of the pursuit of raw, complete state control.
Another way to think about it is that the liberals are French Revolution, not American Revolution.
The French Revolution descended into a bloodbath precisely because the core of that revolution was establishing a collective will and not protecting natural, God-given individual rights.
When a society pursues a collective will, it means destroying those who don’t subscribe to the prevailing collective will.
The current governmental powers being exercised in the name of public safety are simply another manifestation of this political malignancy.
Look at what’s happening.
Here in Minnesota, we have the appalling spectacle of the governor continuing to extend the unilateral martial law powers the legislature handed over to him even though the rationale for exercising the powers long ago disappeared.
Recall that the reason for the exercise of these emergencies was to “flatten the curve” to prevent COVID-19 patients from overwhelming the hospital system.
A deeply flawed and grossly inaccurate pandemic model, created by graduate students over a weekend, provided a veneer of scientific legitimacy by predicting deaths and hospitalizations that overcounted exponentially.
We’re a long, long way from that rationale and those numbers, yet here we are on the verge of yet another special session to consider yet another 30-day extension of these powers that strike at the very heart of our constitutional system of government.
In fact, not only has the curve been flattened, the curve is disappearing.
Watch the subtle change in narrative from Walz and a compliant media, as the talk turns from hospital capacity to vague talk of mask mandates, second waves, and other hypothetical issues that may or may not come to fruition.
If nothing else, this whole sordid episode should be a sobering reminder to the legislative branch to be very reluctant to give away inherent check-and-balance powers to another branch.
It’s also an invitation for the judicial branch to get off its a** and start scrutinizing this situation.
Another example of the power grab is voting, as the liberals never want to let a crisis to go waste.
In rather covert fashion, the DFL Secretary of State and Governor Walz are moving Minnesota to a mail ballot only system of voting this fall.
This different than the current “no excuse” universal absentee voting method.
Under the “no excuse” model, a voter must affirmatively request a ballot.
Under universal mail-in, ballots are spewed out to each and every voter, whether they request a ballot or not.
The liberals intentionally conflate the two in an attempt to minimize the very real ballot integrity issues inherent in these mail-in schemes.
You might be thinking that the premise of this piece is inaccurate, as many Republican elected officials are doing the same in their jurisdictions.
To start, there is a difference in time and place. For example, it makes some sense for Texas to be exercising some of these powers, given their current situation.
Second, some of these Republicans may be Republicans, but they aren’t conservative.
Just because one has the “R” behind his or her name doesn’t give them a pass on this objectionable conduct.
True lovers of liberty understand the threats come from both sides, whether the justification is a pandemic or the perceived threat of certain nation-states or rogue actors.
A republic, Watchdogs, if you can keep it.
A DISASTER, INDEED
Governor Walz this week sent a letter to President Trump asking that Minneapolis be declared a disaster zone, making the city eligible for federal assistance.
At the same time, Walz and the DFL are working over Senate Republicans for state aid to clean up the mess they allowed to occur on their watch.
Not so fast.
Before any monies are handed out, it should be asked what Minneapolis is doing to help itself.
What monies will the city be kicking in to help rebuild?
After all, this is a city that doesn’t hesitate to jack up taxes for all manner of utopian programs.
Legislators and the White House should demand that Mayor Frey and his Band of Misfit Toys put down the seed money and not simply stand by and get away with doing nothing more than making on others to pay, like some petulant child.
It won’t sit well with taxpayers when they find out their tax dollars went to rebuild Minneapolis while the city continued to fund items internally like the “Cultural Outreach and Accessibility” office or the “Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.”
There’s also the 54 different boards, commissions, and advisory committees administered and funded by the city, including:
Bicycle Advisory Committee
Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council
Northside Green Zone Task Force
Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Transgender Equity Council
Southside Green Zone Council
And then there’s the Chief Resilience Officer, who is charge of creating the city’s “Resilience Strategy.”
And finally, guess which local unit of government spent the most money on lobbying services in 2019?
If you guessed Minneapolis, give yourself a prize.
Minneapolis spent $510,404 on lobbying in 2019.
Are you getting a feel for how this city spends money?
Moreover, let’s not forget that it was the city’s DFL leaders who allowed this situation to fester in both the short and long term.
In the short term, they stood by and did nothing while they failed in their basic duty to protect lives and property. You know, the aptly named and fundamental “police powers” of local government.
In the long term, the city let these issues fester by allowing their public schools to fail children by prioritizing things other than learning. The city for many years failed to negotiate police union contracts that eliminated bad cops, in much the same way many local school boards rubber stamp contracts that protect rotten teachers.
Instead, the city simply passed through contracts that offered ever more protection to bad cops, making it nearly impossible to fire them.
Most importantly, the legislature and federal government should take care to completely cut off the mayor, council, or staff from having anything to do with state and federal dollars.
The legislature would be well served to craft a tax strategy to encourage private sector investment in the affected riot areas.
Instead of turning money over to the city, the state should engage in tax expenditures that create tax incentives within the riot zone to encourage investment by private parties.
Letting Minneapolis handle these funds in any way is an invitation to inefficiency and favoritism.
The legislature should also consider the appointment of a special master to administer funds, such as low interest business loans.
In any case, the legislature must first demand that the City of Minneapolis lead the way in rebuilding and, second, under no circumstances turn over state tax dollars to Jacob Frey and company.
Factoid of the Week: A Minneapolis resident has a greater chance of dying from a gunshot than COVID-19.
Quote of the Week: “It’s time to stand up in this city. It is time to tell council that utopia is a bunch of BS. We are not in Mayberry, we are in the wild, wild west.”
- Minneapolis resident Lisa Clemons
Quote of the Week: “It’s easy to demonize police unions. The truth is cities signed off on all these agreements.”
- Stephen Rushin, Loyola University Professor of Law
Headline of the Week: Minnesota Officials Project 22,000 COVID Deaths, July 13 Hospitalization Peak
- Star Tribune, April 10, 2020
In This Issue:
- COVIDiocy;
- A Disaster, Indeed.
COVIDiocy
The “Through the Looking Glass”, dystopian life in which we find ourselves continues apace.
It doesn’t make sense, unless once understands the core of liberal ideology.
That core consists of the pursuit of raw, complete state control.
Another way to think about it is that the liberals are French Revolution, not American Revolution.
The French Revolution descended into a bloodbath precisely because the core of that revolution was establishing a collective will and not protecting natural, God-given individual rights.
When a society pursues a collective will, it means destroying those who don’t subscribe to the prevailing collective will.
The current governmental powers being exercised in the name of public safety are simply another manifestation of this political malignancy.
Look at what’s happening.
Here in Minnesota, we have the appalling spectacle of the governor continuing to extend the unilateral martial law powers the legislature handed over to him even though the rationale for exercising the powers long ago disappeared.
Recall that the reason for the exercise of these emergencies was to “flatten the curve” to prevent COVID-19 patients from overwhelming the hospital system.
A deeply flawed and grossly inaccurate pandemic model, created by graduate students over a weekend, provided a veneer of scientific legitimacy by predicting deaths and hospitalizations that overcounted exponentially.
We’re a long, long way from that rationale and those numbers, yet here we are on the verge of yet another special session to consider yet another 30-day extension of these powers that strike at the very heart of our constitutional system of government.
In fact, not only has the curve been flattened, the curve is disappearing.
Watch the subtle change in narrative from Walz and a compliant media, as the talk turns from hospital capacity to vague talk of mask mandates, second waves, and other hypothetical issues that may or may not come to fruition.
If nothing else, this whole sordid episode should be a sobering reminder to the legislative branch to be very reluctant to give away inherent check-and-balance powers to another branch.
It’s also an invitation for the judicial branch to get off its a** and start scrutinizing this situation.
Another example of the power grab is voting, as the liberals never want to let a crisis to go waste.
In rather covert fashion, the DFL Secretary of State and Governor Walz are moving Minnesota to a mail ballot only system of voting this fall.
This different than the current “no excuse” universal absentee voting method.
Under the “no excuse” model, a voter must affirmatively request a ballot.
Under universal mail-in, ballots are spewed out to each and every voter, whether they request a ballot or not.
The liberals intentionally conflate the two in an attempt to minimize the very real ballot integrity issues inherent in these mail-in schemes.
You might be thinking that the premise of this piece is inaccurate, as many Republican elected officials are doing the same in their jurisdictions.
To start, there is a difference in time and place. For example, it makes some sense for Texas to be exercising some of these powers, given their current situation.
Second, some of these Republicans may be Republicans, but they aren’t conservative.
Just because one has the “R” behind his or her name doesn’t give them a pass on this objectionable conduct.
True lovers of liberty understand the threats come from both sides, whether the justification is a pandemic or the perceived threat of certain nation-states or rogue actors.
A republic, Watchdogs, if you can keep it.
A DISASTER, INDEED
Governor Walz this week sent a letter to President Trump asking that Minneapolis be declared a disaster zone, making the city eligible for federal assistance.
At the same time, Walz and the DFL are working over Senate Republicans for state aid to clean up the mess they allowed to occur on their watch.
Not so fast.
Before any monies are handed out, it should be asked what Minneapolis is doing to help itself.
What monies will the city be kicking in to help rebuild?
After all, this is a city that doesn’t hesitate to jack up taxes for all manner of utopian programs.
Legislators and the White House should demand that Mayor Frey and his Band of Misfit Toys put down the seed money and not simply stand by and get away with doing nothing more than making on others to pay, like some petulant child.
It won’t sit well with taxpayers when they find out their tax dollars went to rebuild Minneapolis while the city continued to fund items internally like the “Cultural Outreach and Accessibility” office or the “Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.”
There’s also the 54 different boards, commissions, and advisory committees administered and funded by the city, including:
Bicycle Advisory Committee
Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council
Northside Green Zone Task Force
Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Transgender Equity Council
Southside Green Zone Council
And then there’s the Chief Resilience Officer, who is charge of creating the city’s “Resilience Strategy.”
And finally, guess which local unit of government spent the most money on lobbying services in 2019?
If you guessed Minneapolis, give yourself a prize.
Minneapolis spent $510,404 on lobbying in 2019.
Are you getting a feel for how this city spends money?
Moreover, let’s not forget that it was the city’s DFL leaders who allowed this situation to fester in both the short and long term.
In the short term, they stood by and did nothing while they failed in their basic duty to protect lives and property. You know, the aptly named and fundamental “police powers” of local government.
In the long term, the city let these issues fester by allowing their public schools to fail children by prioritizing things other than learning. The city for many years failed to negotiate police union contracts that eliminated bad cops, in much the same way many local school boards rubber stamp contracts that protect rotten teachers.
Instead, the city simply passed through contracts that offered ever more protection to bad cops, making it nearly impossible to fire them.
Most importantly, the legislature and federal government should take care to completely cut off the mayor, council, or staff from having anything to do with state and federal dollars.
The legislature would be well served to craft a tax strategy to encourage private sector investment in the affected riot areas.
Instead of turning money over to the city, the state should engage in tax expenditures that create tax incentives within the riot zone to encourage investment by private parties.
Letting Minneapolis handle these funds in any way is an invitation to inefficiency and favoritism.
The legislature should also consider the appointment of a special master to administer funds, such as low interest business loans.
In any case, the legislature must first demand that the City of Minneapolis lead the way in rebuilding and, second, under no circumstances turn over state tax dollars to Jacob Frey and company.
July 3rd, 2020
Editor’s Note: Happy Independence Day, as this is the last edition prior to America’s birthday. At least to those who celebrate, as it appears some large number of Americans don’t, no longer believing in American exceptionalism or the American dream. Troubling times.
Quote of the Week: "The plurality ultimately cast aside this jurisdictional barrier to conclude that Louisiana’s law is unconstitutional under our precedents. But those decisions created the right to abortion out of whole cloth, without a shred of support from the Constitution’s text. Our abortion precedents are grievously wrong and should be overruled."
Quote of the Week: “A state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
Factoid of the Week: On July 1st, the national death toll from COVID-19 was 645, the lowest since March 29th.
In This Issue:
SCARE TACTICS
Clearly, science and medicine have been corrupted by politics, politics of the liberal kind.
For years, science scams have plagued the American psyche, propagated by a liberal media, all in the service of enhancing government control of our lives.
Overpopulation, global cooling, global warming, acid rain, AIDS, COVID, all these “issues” have been used in recent decades to scare Americans into surrendering freedoms and liberties for the supposed security government can offer against these natural boogiemen.
The “experts” all told us that these issues were an existential threat to humankind unless drastic, immediate action was taken.
None of it turned out to be true.
Regarding COVID, the “experts” have been proven wrong by orders of magnitude.
The latest scare tactic is that positive test numbers are “exploding” and thus proof that the pandemic is out of control and America is in need of more martial law.
The reality is that while positive test numbers are rising, so are the numbers being tested. We always knew that, yet we read of hysteric headlines day after day.
The infection rate remains low, which is one important metric in assessing the lethality of COVID and thus very helpful in considering the tradeoffs inherent in shutting down the country.
More importantly, the death rate from COVID continues to fall, both nationally and here in Minnesota.
But these statistics are ignored, which is right out of the liberal play book.
Liberal policy makers cite dubious statistics to justify the need for government overreach.
Once those policies are in place and subsequent data show that the original estimates were way overblown, the statistics are ignored.
Remember the Minnesota COVID model? You know, the one thrown together by a couple of U of M grad students over a weekend? The one that hasn’t been updated in weeks? The one that has been way, way off? The one used to justify COVID martial law?
We haven’t heard about the model in a long, long, time because the model served its purpose. It was essentially a propaganda tool to justify a political outcome.
The model no longer serves the political purpose, so its been retired, so to speak.
Have you heard anything lately regarding the other models that were so wrong, including the infamous London model?
It’s really no different than other “models” like the one that inspired the Watchdog back in 2005.
Back then, the “experts” and their models purported to show that Northstar commuter rail was the best option to increase mobility in the Highway 10 corridor and showed impressive ridership numbers that any rational person would question.
Once the project got built, the ridership numbers (of course) were way off and the train was the boondoggle many thought it would be. No matter, the project got built, it runs today, and no one questions the models and the assumptions.
This is a tried and true strategy out of the liberal play book. It was here before COVID. It will stay here so long as the Left can gain power from it. And after it is no longer useful, the strategy will again be applied to another “crisis.”
POLLS
Have you figured out another old but trusty stratagem from the Left? The one called a “suppression” poll?
A suppression poll is one that shows the Republican candidate losing badly to the Democrat candidate, in order to demoralize the Republican candidate’s supporters?
It’s designed to steer volunteers, donors, and voters away from the GOP.
Want some evidence of these polls?
You bet.
2016: Nate Silver’s vaunted 538 Poll had Clinton the overwhelming favorite over Trump.
The poll had Clinton winning states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
But 538 wasn’t the only one. Most polls were wrong as heck.
2016: On October 25th, the Star Tribune’s Minnesota poll had Clinton beating Trump by 8 points. Clinton ended up winning by 1.5 points.
1980: Polls have Carter beating Reagan. Reagan won.
1988: Summer polls have George H.W. Bush down to Dukakis by an average of 19 points. Bush wins in November.
1990: On the Saturday before the election, Detroit’s liberal newspaper had Republican John Engler losing to incumbent Democratic Gov. James Blanchard by 19 points. Three days later, Engler won by more than 17,000 votes.
1994: Polls show House GOP with very little chance to take control for the first time in generations. It happened, as Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America carries the day.
For over 30 years, polls have gotten it wrong and it just gets worse. The evidence shows that believing political polling is about as realistic as believing in Santa Claus or UFOs.
Don’t believe the polls. They aren’t designed to inform or educate.
THE FIRST MINNESOTA
Since all history is in danger of being erased, it is time for some good news and a history lesson, as this week also features that anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most pivotal and costly battles in American history.
Many Minnesotans don’t know the key role one of our own volunteer infantry regiments played in the battle.
From the regiment’s Wikipedia page, read on and celebrate these true heroes:
The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment mustered for a three-year term (1861-1864) in the Union Army at the outset of the American Civil War when the prevailing enlistment period was three months. During offensive movements, it sustained high percentages of casualties at the Battles of First Bull Run (20%) and Antietam (28%) and a catastrophic 82% at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is most noted for its service on the second day at Gettysburg.
At a pivotal moment in the 1863 struggle at Gettysburg, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of II Corps, ordered the First Minnesota to charge into a situation where it would be outnumbered by at least 5 to 1. The general's purpose was to buy minutes of delay with human lives, and one survivor spoke afterward that he expected the advance to result in "death or wounds to [every single one of the attackers]." The regiment fully and instantly obeyed the order, suffering at least 82% casualties among those making the attack; this action contributed significantly to the preservation of a key Union defensive position on the heights of Cemetery Ridge.
When given the opportunity to speak about the regiment after the war, both General Hancock and U.S. President Calvin Coolidge were unrestrained in their praise. Hancock placed its heroism highest in the known annals of war and ascribed unsurpassed gallantry to the famed attack. Emphasizing the critical nature of the circumstances on July 2 at Gettysburg, President Coolidge considered, "Colonel Colvill and those eight companies of the First Minnesota are entitled to rank as the saviors of their country.
Editor’s Note: Happy Independence Day, as this is the last edition prior to America’s birthday. At least to those who celebrate, as it appears some large number of Americans don’t, no longer believing in American exceptionalism or the American dream. Troubling times.
Quote of the Week: "The plurality ultimately cast aside this jurisdictional barrier to conclude that Louisiana’s law is unconstitutional under our precedents. But those decisions created the right to abortion out of whole cloth, without a shred of support from the Constitution’s text. Our abortion precedents are grievously wrong and should be overruled."
- Justice Clarence Thomas, June Medical Services v. Russo
Quote of the Week: “A state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
- Chief Justice John Roberts, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Factoid of the Week: On July 1st, the national death toll from COVID-19 was 645, the lowest since March 29th.
In This Issue:
- Scare Tactics;
- Polls;
- The First Minnesota.
SCARE TACTICS
Clearly, science and medicine have been corrupted by politics, politics of the liberal kind.
For years, science scams have plagued the American psyche, propagated by a liberal media, all in the service of enhancing government control of our lives.
Overpopulation, global cooling, global warming, acid rain, AIDS, COVID, all these “issues” have been used in recent decades to scare Americans into surrendering freedoms and liberties for the supposed security government can offer against these natural boogiemen.
The “experts” all told us that these issues were an existential threat to humankind unless drastic, immediate action was taken.
None of it turned out to be true.
Regarding COVID, the “experts” have been proven wrong by orders of magnitude.
The latest scare tactic is that positive test numbers are “exploding” and thus proof that the pandemic is out of control and America is in need of more martial law.
The reality is that while positive test numbers are rising, so are the numbers being tested. We always knew that, yet we read of hysteric headlines day after day.
The infection rate remains low, which is one important metric in assessing the lethality of COVID and thus very helpful in considering the tradeoffs inherent in shutting down the country.
More importantly, the death rate from COVID continues to fall, both nationally and here in Minnesota.
But these statistics are ignored, which is right out of the liberal play book.
Liberal policy makers cite dubious statistics to justify the need for government overreach.
Once those policies are in place and subsequent data show that the original estimates were way overblown, the statistics are ignored.
Remember the Minnesota COVID model? You know, the one thrown together by a couple of U of M grad students over a weekend? The one that hasn’t been updated in weeks? The one that has been way, way off? The one used to justify COVID martial law?
We haven’t heard about the model in a long, long, time because the model served its purpose. It was essentially a propaganda tool to justify a political outcome.
The model no longer serves the political purpose, so its been retired, so to speak.
Have you heard anything lately regarding the other models that were so wrong, including the infamous London model?
It’s really no different than other “models” like the one that inspired the Watchdog back in 2005.
Back then, the “experts” and their models purported to show that Northstar commuter rail was the best option to increase mobility in the Highway 10 corridor and showed impressive ridership numbers that any rational person would question.
Once the project got built, the ridership numbers (of course) were way off and the train was the boondoggle many thought it would be. No matter, the project got built, it runs today, and no one questions the models and the assumptions.
This is a tried and true strategy out of the liberal play book. It was here before COVID. It will stay here so long as the Left can gain power from it. And after it is no longer useful, the strategy will again be applied to another “crisis.”
POLLS
Have you figured out another old but trusty stratagem from the Left? The one called a “suppression” poll?
A suppression poll is one that shows the Republican candidate losing badly to the Democrat candidate, in order to demoralize the Republican candidate’s supporters?
It’s designed to steer volunteers, donors, and voters away from the GOP.
Want some evidence of these polls?
You bet.
2016: Nate Silver’s vaunted 538 Poll had Clinton the overwhelming favorite over Trump.
The poll had Clinton winning states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
But 538 wasn’t the only one. Most polls were wrong as heck.
2016: On October 25th, the Star Tribune’s Minnesota poll had Clinton beating Trump by 8 points. Clinton ended up winning by 1.5 points.
1980: Polls have Carter beating Reagan. Reagan won.
1988: Summer polls have George H.W. Bush down to Dukakis by an average of 19 points. Bush wins in November.
1990: On the Saturday before the election, Detroit’s liberal newspaper had Republican John Engler losing to incumbent Democratic Gov. James Blanchard by 19 points. Three days later, Engler won by more than 17,000 votes.
1994: Polls show House GOP with very little chance to take control for the first time in generations. It happened, as Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America carries the day.
For over 30 years, polls have gotten it wrong and it just gets worse. The evidence shows that believing political polling is about as realistic as believing in Santa Claus or UFOs.
Don’t believe the polls. They aren’t designed to inform or educate.
THE FIRST MINNESOTA
Since all history is in danger of being erased, it is time for some good news and a history lesson, as this week also features that anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most pivotal and costly battles in American history.
Many Minnesotans don’t know the key role one of our own volunteer infantry regiments played in the battle.
From the regiment’s Wikipedia page, read on and celebrate these true heroes:
The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment mustered for a three-year term (1861-1864) in the Union Army at the outset of the American Civil War when the prevailing enlistment period was three months. During offensive movements, it sustained high percentages of casualties at the Battles of First Bull Run (20%) and Antietam (28%) and a catastrophic 82% at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is most noted for its service on the second day at Gettysburg.
At a pivotal moment in the 1863 struggle at Gettysburg, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of II Corps, ordered the First Minnesota to charge into a situation where it would be outnumbered by at least 5 to 1. The general's purpose was to buy minutes of delay with human lives, and one survivor spoke afterward that he expected the advance to result in "death or wounds to [every single one of the attackers]." The regiment fully and instantly obeyed the order, suffering at least 82% casualties among those making the attack; this action contributed significantly to the preservation of a key Union defensive position on the heights of Cemetery Ridge.
When given the opportunity to speak about the regiment after the war, both General Hancock and U.S. President Calvin Coolidge were unrestrained in their praise. Hancock placed its heroism highest in the known annals of war and ascribed unsurpassed gallantry to the famed attack. Emphasizing the critical nature of the circumstances on July 2 at Gettysburg, President Coolidge considered, "Colonel Colvill and those eight companies of the First Minnesota are entitled to rank as the saviors of their country.
June 26, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
Quote of the Week: “How could liberty ever establish itself amongst us? Apart from a few tragic scenes, the revolution has been nothing but a web of farcical scenes.”
Editor’s Note: It seems that America has finally jumped the shark. The overwhelming amount of collective insanity and profound stupidity displayed almost defies any sort of meaningful commentary. How does one rationally explain and analyze the stupid crap we’ve all seen the past few weeks?
In This Issue:
THE WEB OF FARCICAL SCENES
Let’s start with the indiscriminate violence surrounding the tearing down of statues.
Some simpletons are amazed that the Mob’s violence is indiscriminate and incapable of any sort of control.
These chowderheads all clapped their flippers when Christopher Columbus was torn down (still no charges filed in Saint Paul) and then scratched their tiny heads when the Mob attacked George Washington statues and burned churches.
Here’s a sampling of the Mob’s understanding of history, by their attacks:
Abe Lincoln: Defeated the Confederacy, issued the Emancipation Proclamation
General Ulysses S. Grant: Union General who defeated the Confederates. President who sent federal troops to quash the KKK. Believed to be the first president to welcome African Americans into the White House as honored guests.
George Washington: Father of the greatest pluralistic democracy in history.
Churches across America: Many of these churches were home to the abolitionist movement.
Colonel Hans Christian Heg: This one hits close to home as Heg was a Wisconsite and many thousands of Minnesotans all have the names “Hans” or “Christian” or “Heg” or some combination thereof.
Heg’s statute was torn down and thrown into a lake in Madison, Wisconsin this week during yet another pique of violent rage from the Mob.
Heg was a Norwegian immigrant who was a fervent abolitionist and member of the Free Soil Party.
He volunteered as a Union officer in the Civil War, rising to the rank of regimental commander and was on the cusp of brigade command when he was killed in battle.
The purge has also targeted organized religion, a favorite target of the Left.
Shaun King, a leader of Black Lives Matter, said of the imagery of Jesus and other religious figures, “All murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and the white friends should come down. They are a gross form of white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.”
Thus, the true motives of the Mob become known. This isn’t a protest against one tragic incident.
Rather, it’s the execution of a malignant ideology that seeks to overturn the foundations of our society and replace it with a collectivist, hardcore Leftist society.
This unilateral violence is a form of domestic terrorism and should be treated as such.
Thankfully, President Trump is working hard to stop the violence in Washington, DC. The governors and mayors should follow suit.
As if all that wasn’t enough, there was the world-class farce regarding the “noose” found in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at the Talladega Superspeedway.
As is the modus operandi for our society today, the world accepted as Gospel truth that Wallace was the victim of a cruel, brazen hate crime before there was any sort of investigation or inquiry into the matter.
We were all subjected to the passion play of drivers and crew members rushing to virtue signal their support for Wallace, who basked in the opportunity to raise his media profile.
And, as is the modus operandi for our society, those who raised legitimate questions about the matter were silenced and branded as suspected racists for daring to raise such questions.
And those legitimate questions were legion.
It simply didn’t make sense that such a vicious hate crime could be perpetrated in such a secure area, with surveillance cameras everywhere and secure, limited credentials needed for access.
After a platoon of FBI agents were deployed, it was determined that the “noose” was little more than a “garage pull,” a rope with a knot at the end that assists in helping pull down the door. Moreover, the pull was in place since at least October 2019, when no person could have known that Wallace and his crew would be assigned the garage for the Talladega race.
In short, there was no hate crime.
Only in 2020 America would a simple garage pull become a national news story.
Finally, there is the ongoing and utterly dangerous scandal regarding General Flynn, the fake Russia dossier and the surveillance of the Trump campaign.
This week was a bombshell week that should have the attention of every citizen.
First, an appeals court upheld the Rule of Law by overruling a lower court judge who had refused the Justice Department’s motion to drop the case against General Flynn.
The court ruled that the judge abused his power and discretion by refusing to accept the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the clearly flawed case against Flynn.
Second, newly released notes and documentation clearly demonstrate that the campaign against Flynn, and therefore Trump, was directed from the highest level of American government.
Those notes show that President Obama and VP Biden were the ones who directed the campaign against Flynn.
This scandal has the appearance of a situation that could make Watergate look like the filching of a pen from work.
Truly, our country is in peril.
Quote of the Week: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
- George Orwell
Quote of the Week: “How could liberty ever establish itself amongst us? Apart from a few tragic scenes, the revolution has been nothing but a web of farcical scenes.”
- Jean-Paul Marat
Editor’s Note: It seems that America has finally jumped the shark. The overwhelming amount of collective insanity and profound stupidity displayed almost defies any sort of meaningful commentary. How does one rationally explain and analyze the stupid crap we’ve all seen the past few weeks?
In This Issue:
- The Web of Farcical Scenes.
THE WEB OF FARCICAL SCENES
Let’s start with the indiscriminate violence surrounding the tearing down of statues.
Some simpletons are amazed that the Mob’s violence is indiscriminate and incapable of any sort of control.
These chowderheads all clapped their flippers when Christopher Columbus was torn down (still no charges filed in Saint Paul) and then scratched their tiny heads when the Mob attacked George Washington statues and burned churches.
Here’s a sampling of the Mob’s understanding of history, by their attacks:
Abe Lincoln: Defeated the Confederacy, issued the Emancipation Proclamation
General Ulysses S. Grant: Union General who defeated the Confederates. President who sent federal troops to quash the KKK. Believed to be the first president to welcome African Americans into the White House as honored guests.
George Washington: Father of the greatest pluralistic democracy in history.
Churches across America: Many of these churches were home to the abolitionist movement.
Colonel Hans Christian Heg: This one hits close to home as Heg was a Wisconsite and many thousands of Minnesotans all have the names “Hans” or “Christian” or “Heg” or some combination thereof.
Heg’s statute was torn down and thrown into a lake in Madison, Wisconsin this week during yet another pique of violent rage from the Mob.
Heg was a Norwegian immigrant who was a fervent abolitionist and member of the Free Soil Party.
He volunteered as a Union officer in the Civil War, rising to the rank of regimental commander and was on the cusp of brigade command when he was killed in battle.
The purge has also targeted organized religion, a favorite target of the Left.
Shaun King, a leader of Black Lives Matter, said of the imagery of Jesus and other religious figures, “All murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and the white friends should come down. They are a gross form of white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.”
Thus, the true motives of the Mob become known. This isn’t a protest against one tragic incident.
Rather, it’s the execution of a malignant ideology that seeks to overturn the foundations of our society and replace it with a collectivist, hardcore Leftist society.
This unilateral violence is a form of domestic terrorism and should be treated as such.
Thankfully, President Trump is working hard to stop the violence in Washington, DC. The governors and mayors should follow suit.
As if all that wasn’t enough, there was the world-class farce regarding the “noose” found in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at the Talladega Superspeedway.
As is the modus operandi for our society today, the world accepted as Gospel truth that Wallace was the victim of a cruel, brazen hate crime before there was any sort of investigation or inquiry into the matter.
We were all subjected to the passion play of drivers and crew members rushing to virtue signal their support for Wallace, who basked in the opportunity to raise his media profile.
And, as is the modus operandi for our society, those who raised legitimate questions about the matter were silenced and branded as suspected racists for daring to raise such questions.
And those legitimate questions were legion.
It simply didn’t make sense that such a vicious hate crime could be perpetrated in such a secure area, with surveillance cameras everywhere and secure, limited credentials needed for access.
After a platoon of FBI agents were deployed, it was determined that the “noose” was little more than a “garage pull,” a rope with a knot at the end that assists in helping pull down the door. Moreover, the pull was in place since at least October 2019, when no person could have known that Wallace and his crew would be assigned the garage for the Talladega race.
In short, there was no hate crime.
Only in 2020 America would a simple garage pull become a national news story.
Finally, there is the ongoing and utterly dangerous scandal regarding General Flynn, the fake Russia dossier and the surveillance of the Trump campaign.
This week was a bombshell week that should have the attention of every citizen.
First, an appeals court upheld the Rule of Law by overruling a lower court judge who had refused the Justice Department’s motion to drop the case against General Flynn.
The court ruled that the judge abused his power and discretion by refusing to accept the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the clearly flawed case against Flynn.
Second, newly released notes and documentation clearly demonstrate that the campaign against Flynn, and therefore Trump, was directed from the highest level of American government.
Those notes show that President Obama and VP Biden were the ones who directed the campaign against Flynn.
This scandal has the appearance of a situation that could make Watergate look like the filching of a pen from work.
Truly, our country is in peril.
June 19th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “When I was growing up, we were taught the stories of people whose inventions and scientific discoveries had expanded the lives of millions of other people. Today, students are being taught to admire those who complain, denounce and demand.”
Factoid of the Week: Statewide, 37 percent of those who responded said they strongly approved or approved of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's response to the protests that followed Floyd's death.
Editor’s Note: Just who in the h**l are these 37%? Frey displayed a rare combination of incompetence and cowardice in fiddling while Minneapolis burned. Wow.
In This Issue:
WALZ CAN’T LEAD
Any observer of Minnesota government, heck any reasonable person, understands that the governor, by definition of his office, leads the state. As the governor goes, so goes the legislature.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that the legislature, as of this writing, is poised to adjourn this special session without any resolution of the most pressing issues.
Walz is about to lead a team that is batting .000.
The reason is quite simple: the governor is utterly lacking in leadership skills.
Sure, he’s been dealt a very tough hand regarding “black swan” events (are we allowed to say that anymore?) like a pandemic and a tragic police killing.
In both cases, his response has been abysmal, as described in previous editions.
In the case of this special session, he’s failing by remaining in “campaign” mode instead of “governing” mode.
This is precisely the time the governor should be behind closed doors, working hard to find solutions and looking for the compromise inherent in successful governance when government is divided.
Instead, we have seen the governor act as the Agitator-in-Chief, holding grandstanding press conferences, engaging in Twitter antics, and publishing the contact information of individual GOP legislators, asking his “woke” constituents to harass them via phone and email.
This is hardly a recipe for results.
It’s becoming clear that Walz is engaging in a strategy of confrontation, not collaboration, in the hope that voters will blame the GOP and give the DFL total control this November.
It may be smart politics. It may be dumb politics.
What it certainly is not is what any reasonable person would call “leadership.”
COMPLAINT AS VIRTUE
We all know that the Left holds complaint as a virtue. The louder one complains about a situation, the more venerated the complainer becomes.
This virtue was on full display this week when the Senate Republicans brought to the floor a number of law enforcement reform proposals, many of them carbon copies of legislation proposed by the legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous caucus (POCI).
That fact didn’t stop three DFL senators representing Minneapolis to loudly and frequently complain that the legislation was inadequate and “weak tea.”
It used to be a widely accepted among our shared social mores that identifying a problem includes offering meaningful solutions.
Consider first some facts. The three state senators in question are Scott Dibble, Jeff Hayden, and Patricia Torres Ray, all representing Minneapolis.
According to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, these three have served in the Minnesota Legislature as follows:
Dibble: MN House (2001-2004), MN Senate (2005-Present)
Hayden: MN House (2009-2011), MN Senate (2011 – Present)
Torres Ray: MN Senate (2007 – Present)
Also consider that from 2003 to 2019, the City of Minneapolis has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle some 247 police misconduct suits.
Those suits include massive payouts, including:
$20 million to the estate of Justine Ruszczyk (2019);
$3.05 million to the estate of David Smith (2013);
$2.19 million to the estate of Dominic Felder (2011);
$4.5 million to Duy Ngo, shot by Minneapolis police but lived (2007);
Clearly, these legislators were aware of the problems and the culture within the Minneapolis Police Department years before the death of George Floyd.
So, what did they do about it?
Why weren’t the reforms they are now insistent upon enacted in 2019 or 2013 or 2011 or 2007?
This is especially true when the DFL had control of the governor’s office, the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate in the 2013-2014 legislative session.
Not only were these three in the Senate majority, their DFL counterparts were also in control of the House and executive branch.
No Republicans to blame for obstructionism there.
It’s rather appalling to watch them and other DFL senators castigate the work of the GOP majority when they had ample opportunity to institute the change they now demand.
It’s about time Republicans start asking this same question.
It’s an absolute tragedy that long before George Floyd, there was a David Smith, a Dominic Felder, and a Duy Ngo, along with so many other victims.
These DFL legislators would be better served working with the GOP majority to find compromise instead of serving up complaint.
Or maybe they’re just taking cues from their governor.
ABSURD
“Apart from a few tragic scenes, the revolution has been nothing but a web of farcical scenes.”
Jean-Paul Marat (1793)
All too often, any revolution moves from the legitimate, to the lawless, to the absurd.
Protesting the death of George Floyd was legitimate and needed. It was indeed moral.
Reform of law enforcement bad practices is needed and moral.
Lawless rioting and the wanton destruction of property was tragic.
What is now happening is the web of farcical scenes.
Whether it’s removing trade images like Aunt Jemima, widely accepted for generations, including when Obama was president, or other empty gestures, our society has clearly jumped the shark.
The latest farce is the City of Duluth’s decision to remove the word “chief” from administrative titles, so as not to offend people who apparently heretofore were never bothered by the title.
The chief administrative officer will now be the city administrator.
The chief financial officer is now the finance director.
The effort apparently was born of an effort to rewrite the language of city documents, that were holding the city back and stuck in the past.
Mayor Emily Larson said, “When a gender is identified, it’s always him.’” City staff wanted a more ‘people first’ and ‘gender-neutral’ language ‘that can better reflect the work we do now.’”
It’s not at all clear how the “work we do now” is different from the work done in 2019, 2009, or 1989.
None of this vapid virtue signaling will make a meaningful difference in moving America to a more color-blind society, where content of character, and not color of skin, is what we see.
It’s just another example of the farcical nature of our society.
Quote of the Week: “When I was growing up, we were taught the stories of people whose inventions and scientific discoveries had expanded the lives of millions of other people. Today, students are being taught to admire those who complain, denounce and demand.”
- Thomas Sowell
Factoid of the Week: Statewide, 37 percent of those who responded said they strongly approved or approved of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's response to the protests that followed Floyd's death.
- KSTP Survey 6/16/20
Editor’s Note: Just who in the h**l are these 37%? Frey displayed a rare combination of incompetence and cowardice in fiddling while Minneapolis burned. Wow.
In This Issue:
- Walz Can’t Lead;
- Complaint as Virtue;
- Absurd.
WALZ CAN’T LEAD
Any observer of Minnesota government, heck any reasonable person, understands that the governor, by definition of his office, leads the state. As the governor goes, so goes the legislature.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that the legislature, as of this writing, is poised to adjourn this special session without any resolution of the most pressing issues.
Walz is about to lead a team that is batting .000.
The reason is quite simple: the governor is utterly lacking in leadership skills.
Sure, he’s been dealt a very tough hand regarding “black swan” events (are we allowed to say that anymore?) like a pandemic and a tragic police killing.
In both cases, his response has been abysmal, as described in previous editions.
In the case of this special session, he’s failing by remaining in “campaign” mode instead of “governing” mode.
This is precisely the time the governor should be behind closed doors, working hard to find solutions and looking for the compromise inherent in successful governance when government is divided.
Instead, we have seen the governor act as the Agitator-in-Chief, holding grandstanding press conferences, engaging in Twitter antics, and publishing the contact information of individual GOP legislators, asking his “woke” constituents to harass them via phone and email.
This is hardly a recipe for results.
It’s becoming clear that Walz is engaging in a strategy of confrontation, not collaboration, in the hope that voters will blame the GOP and give the DFL total control this November.
It may be smart politics. It may be dumb politics.
What it certainly is not is what any reasonable person would call “leadership.”
COMPLAINT AS VIRTUE
We all know that the Left holds complaint as a virtue. The louder one complains about a situation, the more venerated the complainer becomes.
This virtue was on full display this week when the Senate Republicans brought to the floor a number of law enforcement reform proposals, many of them carbon copies of legislation proposed by the legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous caucus (POCI).
That fact didn’t stop three DFL senators representing Minneapolis to loudly and frequently complain that the legislation was inadequate and “weak tea.”
It used to be a widely accepted among our shared social mores that identifying a problem includes offering meaningful solutions.
Consider first some facts. The three state senators in question are Scott Dibble, Jeff Hayden, and Patricia Torres Ray, all representing Minneapolis.
According to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, these three have served in the Minnesota Legislature as follows:
Dibble: MN House (2001-2004), MN Senate (2005-Present)
Hayden: MN House (2009-2011), MN Senate (2011 – Present)
Torres Ray: MN Senate (2007 – Present)
Also consider that from 2003 to 2019, the City of Minneapolis has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle some 247 police misconduct suits.
Those suits include massive payouts, including:
$20 million to the estate of Justine Ruszczyk (2019);
$3.05 million to the estate of David Smith (2013);
$2.19 million to the estate of Dominic Felder (2011);
$4.5 million to Duy Ngo, shot by Minneapolis police but lived (2007);
Clearly, these legislators were aware of the problems and the culture within the Minneapolis Police Department years before the death of George Floyd.
So, what did they do about it?
Why weren’t the reforms they are now insistent upon enacted in 2019 or 2013 or 2011 or 2007?
This is especially true when the DFL had control of the governor’s office, the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate in the 2013-2014 legislative session.
Not only were these three in the Senate majority, their DFL counterparts were also in control of the House and executive branch.
No Republicans to blame for obstructionism there.
It’s rather appalling to watch them and other DFL senators castigate the work of the GOP majority when they had ample opportunity to institute the change they now demand.
It’s about time Republicans start asking this same question.
It’s an absolute tragedy that long before George Floyd, there was a David Smith, a Dominic Felder, and a Duy Ngo, along with so many other victims.
These DFL legislators would be better served working with the GOP majority to find compromise instead of serving up complaint.
Or maybe they’re just taking cues from their governor.
ABSURD
“Apart from a few tragic scenes, the revolution has been nothing but a web of farcical scenes.”
Jean-Paul Marat (1793)
All too often, any revolution moves from the legitimate, to the lawless, to the absurd.
Protesting the death of George Floyd was legitimate and needed. It was indeed moral.
Reform of law enforcement bad practices is needed and moral.
Lawless rioting and the wanton destruction of property was tragic.
What is now happening is the web of farcical scenes.
Whether it’s removing trade images like Aunt Jemima, widely accepted for generations, including when Obama was president, or other empty gestures, our society has clearly jumped the shark.
The latest farce is the City of Duluth’s decision to remove the word “chief” from administrative titles, so as not to offend people who apparently heretofore were never bothered by the title.
The chief administrative officer will now be the city administrator.
The chief financial officer is now the finance director.
The effort apparently was born of an effort to rewrite the language of city documents, that were holding the city back and stuck in the past.
Mayor Emily Larson said, “When a gender is identified, it’s always him.’” City staff wanted a more ‘people first’ and ‘gender-neutral’ language ‘that can better reflect the work we do now.’”
It’s not at all clear how the “work we do now” is different from the work done in 2019, 2009, or 1989.
None of this vapid virtue signaling will make a meaningful difference in moving America to a more color-blind society, where content of character, and not color of skin, is what we see.
It’s just another example of the farcical nature of our society.
June 12, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
Quote of the Week: “Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”
Factoid: The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that homicides in the city increased 250% over the previous week, and the number of people who were shot increased by 56% during the same period.
Factoid: In one 24-hour period, May 31st, 18 people were murdered in Chicago. That’s the highest number of murders in Chicago’s modern history. You have to go back 60 years to find a bloodier day.
In This Issue:
THE MOB RULES
“If you listen to fools, the mob rules.” – Ronnie James Dio
While mob violence and suppression aren’t new to the human experience, it’s nonetheless incredibly dangerous and signals a new, darker chapter of the American experience.
Don’t pretend; the decent into darkness has been happening for some time.
For example, the suppression of free speech and thought, key to imposing mob rule, has been happening for some time, with speech codes, the cancellation of unfavored speakers, and the “cancel culture” ascendant in society, as led by college campuses.
The Mob Rule is so dangerous to our republic because it is antithetical to the very idea of America.
As a constitutional republic, our government is based on the idea of natural rights, the proposition that rights inhere in individuals and are independent of government.
Government only has authority so far as individuals collectively agree to cede some portion of their natural, individual rights to the government in exchange for mutual safety and the rule of law.
Of course, what is known as “progressivism” is really just a strain of totalitarian ideology.
To be blunt, it is a cousin to communism and other collectivist government.
In other words, it is wholly incompatible with individual rights, and therefore America, precisely because it is collectivist, thus holding that the collective is superior to the individual.
Thus, all laws protecting the individual must be erased.
This is why you see the assault on free speech.
The assault on private property.
The assault on capitalism.
The assault on the Second Amendment.
This assault is best exemplified by the assault on the First Amendment.
As any reasonable citizen can see, there is no room for civil discourse or the free exchange of ideas, concepts essential to a pluralistic, diverse republic.
But free speech is inextricably intertwined with individual rights.
A common characteristic of any totalitarian state is the suppression of concepts like private property, free speech, private enterprise, the ownership of firearms, and the free exercise of religion.
And, by the way, precisely is why such concepts are enshrined in the Constitution.
Whether the mob is disorganized on the streets or organized in the halls of government as Democrats, opposition to freedom is essential.
If there was ever a time for patriots to stand up, this is it.
HISTORY
A part of the march to Mob Rule is to erase and re-write history.
We have seen that in action with the vandalizing and lawless removal of statues across the country.
To be sure, these actions amount to nothing more than lawless, violent, virtue signaling.
The tearing down of a statue of some little remembered man in a long-forgotten corner of a county park does nothing, absolutely nothing, to change the world.
It won’t feed a hungry child.
It won’t cloth the naked.
It won’t heal the sick.
It won’t provide a quality education for the children sentenced to failing public schools.
It won’t eliminate or diminish the stain of institutional racism.
It’s nothing more than the thoughtless actions of childish, self-centered men who display the maturity of toddlers.
Moreover, history, if it is to mean anything to today’s citizens, must include the dark stains as well as the bright light. Eliminating all vestiges of America’s darker chapters, such as slavery, does nothing to change that past or lead to a better future.
A dispassionate consideration of history and what it means, good and bad, leads to a better future.
THE OUTSIDER
Speaking of toddlers, the mainstream media and the gullible adults who inhale the pixie dust they peddle have been ecstatic over the news that Republicans like Mitt Romney and members of the Bush Dynasty might endorse Joe “Corn Pop” Biden for president.
Such a development would not only delight President Trump, it would benefit him greatly.
Trump’s proposition, which carried him to the White House, is that he is the ultimate outsider. He’s a disrupter who will truly fight for the masses against the bi-partisan Good Old Boys network that dominates Washington.
No two families better represent the Republican side of this unholy alliance than the Bush and Romney families.
Having them publicly repudiate Trump would provide irrefutable confirmation of his political raison d’etre.
Also, we see you, liberals.
We remember when Mitt Romney was a rapacious capitalist who destroyed jobs and lives. We remember the rumor campaign regarding his religion. We remember the “binders full of women” lie.
We remember the same treatment of President Bush. The man who lied, while others died.
How typically cynical. Men you despise become temporarily lionized to serve short-term political goals.
Stay classy, liberals.
Quote of the Week: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
- George Orwell, 1984
Quote of the Week: “Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
Factoid: The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that homicides in the city increased 250% over the previous week, and the number of people who were shot increased by 56% during the same period.
Factoid: In one 24-hour period, May 31st, 18 people were murdered in Chicago. That’s the highest number of murders in Chicago’s modern history. You have to go back 60 years to find a bloodier day.
In This Issue:
- The Mob Rules;
- History;
- The Outsider;
THE MOB RULES
“If you listen to fools, the mob rules.” – Ronnie James Dio
While mob violence and suppression aren’t new to the human experience, it’s nonetheless incredibly dangerous and signals a new, darker chapter of the American experience.
Don’t pretend; the decent into darkness has been happening for some time.
For example, the suppression of free speech and thought, key to imposing mob rule, has been happening for some time, with speech codes, the cancellation of unfavored speakers, and the “cancel culture” ascendant in society, as led by college campuses.
The Mob Rule is so dangerous to our republic because it is antithetical to the very idea of America.
As a constitutional republic, our government is based on the idea of natural rights, the proposition that rights inhere in individuals and are independent of government.
Government only has authority so far as individuals collectively agree to cede some portion of their natural, individual rights to the government in exchange for mutual safety and the rule of law.
Of course, what is known as “progressivism” is really just a strain of totalitarian ideology.
To be blunt, it is a cousin to communism and other collectivist government.
In other words, it is wholly incompatible with individual rights, and therefore America, precisely because it is collectivist, thus holding that the collective is superior to the individual.
Thus, all laws protecting the individual must be erased.
This is why you see the assault on free speech.
The assault on private property.
The assault on capitalism.
The assault on the Second Amendment.
This assault is best exemplified by the assault on the First Amendment.
As any reasonable citizen can see, there is no room for civil discourse or the free exchange of ideas, concepts essential to a pluralistic, diverse republic.
But free speech is inextricably intertwined with individual rights.
A common characteristic of any totalitarian state is the suppression of concepts like private property, free speech, private enterprise, the ownership of firearms, and the free exercise of religion.
And, by the way, precisely is why such concepts are enshrined in the Constitution.
Whether the mob is disorganized on the streets or organized in the halls of government as Democrats, opposition to freedom is essential.
If there was ever a time for patriots to stand up, this is it.
HISTORY
A part of the march to Mob Rule is to erase and re-write history.
We have seen that in action with the vandalizing and lawless removal of statues across the country.
To be sure, these actions amount to nothing more than lawless, violent, virtue signaling.
The tearing down of a statue of some little remembered man in a long-forgotten corner of a county park does nothing, absolutely nothing, to change the world.
It won’t feed a hungry child.
It won’t cloth the naked.
It won’t heal the sick.
It won’t provide a quality education for the children sentenced to failing public schools.
It won’t eliminate or diminish the stain of institutional racism.
It’s nothing more than the thoughtless actions of childish, self-centered men who display the maturity of toddlers.
Moreover, history, if it is to mean anything to today’s citizens, must include the dark stains as well as the bright light. Eliminating all vestiges of America’s darker chapters, such as slavery, does nothing to change that past or lead to a better future.
A dispassionate consideration of history and what it means, good and bad, leads to a better future.
THE OUTSIDER
Speaking of toddlers, the mainstream media and the gullible adults who inhale the pixie dust they peddle have been ecstatic over the news that Republicans like Mitt Romney and members of the Bush Dynasty might endorse Joe “Corn Pop” Biden for president.
Such a development would not only delight President Trump, it would benefit him greatly.
Trump’s proposition, which carried him to the White House, is that he is the ultimate outsider. He’s a disrupter who will truly fight for the masses against the bi-partisan Good Old Boys network that dominates Washington.
No two families better represent the Republican side of this unholy alliance than the Bush and Romney families.
Having them publicly repudiate Trump would provide irrefutable confirmation of his political raison d’etre.
Also, we see you, liberals.
We remember when Mitt Romney was a rapacious capitalist who destroyed jobs and lives. We remember the rumor campaign regarding his religion. We remember the “binders full of women” lie.
We remember the same treatment of President Bush. The man who lied, while others died.
How typically cynical. Men you despise become temporarily lionized to serve short-term political goals.
Stay classy, liberals.
June 5th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.”
Quote of the Week: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate. Most of you are weak. You have to arrest people. And you can’t do the deal where they get one week in jail. These are terrorists. These are terrorists. And they’re looking to do bad things to our country.”
Quote of the Week: “Protesters I know are saying truck driver drove into a crowd and intentionally ran into them. Confederate flags and white supremacist insignia. Protesters stopped truck. Minneapolis police have shut down 35W bridge.”
In This Issue:
A HOUSE DIVIDED
The events of the last four years have revealed that the country is once again deeply divided, a circumstance far more prevalent that most want to admit. Whether 1968, 1896, or 1861, the nation has been convulsed at times by bitter division, be it economic, social, religious, or geographic.
But there is no doubt that there is a philosophical divide that maybe tough to overcome.
It is clear that some don’t believe in American Exceptionalism.
They don’t believe in capitalism.
They don’t believe in the Rule of Law.
They don’t believe in the First Amendment.
They don’t believe in equality of opportunity, only an equality of outcome.
They don’t believe that rights are natural, inherent in individuals.
In short, they don’t believe in the precepts upon which the country was founded, unlike most Americans.
That’s an issue for a pluralistic society.
A RUDDERLESS SHIP
The past three months have shown us what poor leadership looks like.
Between COVID and the Minneapolis riots, Minnesotans have been harmed in a significant way by Governor Walz, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, and Minneapolis Mayor Jake Frey.
While Winkler hasn’t had a direct hand in the pandemic nincompoopery or fiddling while Minneapolis burned, he represents what happens when you put a middle schooler in charge.
Someone keep this guy off Twitter.
His tweet last week that the tanker truck driver on 35W who was lost and not wearing a white hood, was the epitome of juvenile, reckless leadership.
He repeated unverified, inflammatory gossip in the same way a 7th grader would tweet about the surfer guy who pulled a knife on Mr. Hand or the high schooler who heard Ferris Bueller needs a new kidney.
Don’t forget about his tweet regarding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, when he called him “Uncle Thomas,” a vile racial slur.
Despite being a slur for well over a century, Winkler plead ignorance, shrugging that, “I guess my judgement was way off.”
It still is Ryan.
And don’t forget about yet another recent episode of sophomoric behavior when Winkler was caught on camera flipping off a legislative colleague who was conducting a television interview.
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/1247604989389754368
On second thought, we apologize. We apologize to every 7th grade boy out there for insulting their maturity.
And then there’s Governor Walz.
Walz has been nothing short of a disaster regarding the primary issues he’s been tasked to handle since he took office.
A couple of sobering (and appalling statistics) tell the woeful tale of Walz’s leadership.
Take nursing homes. The administration made the fatal mistake, ongoing to this day, of forcing nursing homes to accept discharged patients recovering from COVID, placing the most vulnerable among us directly in danger.
The results have been murderous.
Over 80% of Minnesota’s COVID-related deaths have been among nursing home or long-term care patients.
By far and away, Minnesota leads the nation in the percentage of COVID deaths coming from patients in these facilities.
Worse than Florida, Georgia, Texas, and even New York, the epicenter of the pandemic.
Chew on that for a while.
Moreover, our COVID infection rate is higher than our neighbors, the same neighbors Minnesota liberals love to denigrate for their unenlightened views on issues like, well, handling COVID.
Our neighbors are open for business while Minnesota is not. Yet, we’re worse off in combating the pandemic. Go figure.
On top of that, Walz utterly failed the test regarding night upon night of mayhem and rioting in Minneapolis.
Let’s be clear. The destruction and mayhem had nothing to do with peaceful protesting. It was lawlessness, plain and simple.
In the face of this crisis, Walz dithered and delayed, resulting in unneeded destruction.
That destruction will harm, for years to come, some of the poorest Minnesotans.
For these people, the burned down grocery store means a food desert.
For them, the destruction of public transportation infrastructure means no way to get around.
It means no place close to see a doctor or dentist.
All of this because of a naïve, childish, mistaken viewpoint that these rioters were simply aggrieved people who needed “to be heard.”
Indeed, they spoke. With gas cans, bricks, and baseball bats.
The core obligation of government is the protection of life and property.
That obligation was ignored.
To make matters worse, Walz engaged in a ham-handed attempt to blame “right wing” forces for the destruction.
This was a pathetic effort to distract accountability and blame from its true source.
That source is the far Left. The same people radical Democrats cheer on when the destruction is aimed at pipelines and construction workers.
When the mob started burning the property of liberal Minneapolis, then it became a problem.
Finally, Mayor Jake Frey.
He was clearly not up to the crisis and failed miserably.
He melted down and had no answers, much less leadership.
He was effectively fired by Walz, who didn’t do much better but at least was late, as opposed to never.
Now, Frey has found his voice again, this time to begin the demands that state and federal taxpayers foot the bill for his incompetence.
This wasn’t a natural disaster like a flood or tornado.
It was a man-made disaster made all the worse by his dallying, delay, and cowardice.
Before any state aid is delivered to Minneapolis, legislators should ask what Minneapolis is prepared to do. Or is the mayor proposing that the city be held harmless, to preserve city funding to forestall layoffs to the diversity office?
What local matching dollars will the city be putting up?
What additional resources will Minnesota’s wealthiest city be putting up? Or is the expectation that the middle-class folks in Anoka, Saint Peter, and Fergus Falls pony up every dollar?
Maybe it’s time for Minneapolis to institute an income tax.
Of course, the city has no compunction about raising property taxes.
Sales taxes should be out as that tax is borne mostly by people who don’t live in the city.
Legislators need to ask if Minneapolis gets additional riot dollars, who loses?
What community loses a water treatment plant upgrade?
What community loses a planned fire station?
What students return to facilities in need of upgrade that won’t happen (if Walz lets students return to the classroom, that is.)?
The reality is that extra dollars sent to Minneapolis will come at some community’s expense.
These state expenditures may be desperately needed to counter-act the misery Walz has visited on Minnesota.
The Iron Range doesn’t have mining jobs, in part, because of his challenges to mining projects.
People are out of work because his unilateral executive orders have closed, forever, thousands of small businesses.
Medical help is needed more than ever at precisely the time health care professionals have been laid off, with thousands of Minnesotans dealing with delayed medical treatment and mental health issues brought on by the pandemic shutdowns.
Disney’s “The Lion King” is in part an allegory about feckless, oppressive leadership.
Who knew Minnesota would get both a Governor Scar and a Mayor Scar?
Quote of the Week: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.”
- Drew Brees
Quote of the Week: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate. Most of you are weak. You have to arrest people. And you can’t do the deal where they get one week in jail. These are terrorists. These are terrorists. And they’re looking to do bad things to our country.”
- President Donald Trump
Quote of the Week: “Protesters I know are saying truck driver drove into a crowd and intentionally ran into them. Confederate flags and white supremacist insignia. Protesters stopped truck. Minneapolis police have shut down 35W bridge.”
- House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley)
In This Issue:
- A House Divided;
- A Rudderless Ship;
A HOUSE DIVIDED
The events of the last four years have revealed that the country is once again deeply divided, a circumstance far more prevalent that most want to admit. Whether 1968, 1896, or 1861, the nation has been convulsed at times by bitter division, be it economic, social, religious, or geographic.
But there is no doubt that there is a philosophical divide that maybe tough to overcome.
It is clear that some don’t believe in American Exceptionalism.
They don’t believe in capitalism.
They don’t believe in the Rule of Law.
They don’t believe in the First Amendment.
They don’t believe in equality of opportunity, only an equality of outcome.
They don’t believe that rights are natural, inherent in individuals.
In short, they don’t believe in the precepts upon which the country was founded, unlike most Americans.
That’s an issue for a pluralistic society.
A RUDDERLESS SHIP
The past three months have shown us what poor leadership looks like.
Between COVID and the Minneapolis riots, Minnesotans have been harmed in a significant way by Governor Walz, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, and Minneapolis Mayor Jake Frey.
While Winkler hasn’t had a direct hand in the pandemic nincompoopery or fiddling while Minneapolis burned, he represents what happens when you put a middle schooler in charge.
Someone keep this guy off Twitter.
His tweet last week that the tanker truck driver on 35W who was lost and not wearing a white hood, was the epitome of juvenile, reckless leadership.
He repeated unverified, inflammatory gossip in the same way a 7th grader would tweet about the surfer guy who pulled a knife on Mr. Hand or the high schooler who heard Ferris Bueller needs a new kidney.
Don’t forget about his tweet regarding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, when he called him “Uncle Thomas,” a vile racial slur.
Despite being a slur for well over a century, Winkler plead ignorance, shrugging that, “I guess my judgement was way off.”
It still is Ryan.
And don’t forget about yet another recent episode of sophomoric behavior when Winkler was caught on camera flipping off a legislative colleague who was conducting a television interview.
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/1247604989389754368
On second thought, we apologize. We apologize to every 7th grade boy out there for insulting their maturity.
And then there’s Governor Walz.
Walz has been nothing short of a disaster regarding the primary issues he’s been tasked to handle since he took office.
A couple of sobering (and appalling statistics) tell the woeful tale of Walz’s leadership.
Take nursing homes. The administration made the fatal mistake, ongoing to this day, of forcing nursing homes to accept discharged patients recovering from COVID, placing the most vulnerable among us directly in danger.
The results have been murderous.
Over 80% of Minnesota’s COVID-related deaths have been among nursing home or long-term care patients.
By far and away, Minnesota leads the nation in the percentage of COVID deaths coming from patients in these facilities.
Worse than Florida, Georgia, Texas, and even New York, the epicenter of the pandemic.
Chew on that for a while.
Moreover, our COVID infection rate is higher than our neighbors, the same neighbors Minnesota liberals love to denigrate for their unenlightened views on issues like, well, handling COVID.
Our neighbors are open for business while Minnesota is not. Yet, we’re worse off in combating the pandemic. Go figure.
On top of that, Walz utterly failed the test regarding night upon night of mayhem and rioting in Minneapolis.
Let’s be clear. The destruction and mayhem had nothing to do with peaceful protesting. It was lawlessness, plain and simple.
In the face of this crisis, Walz dithered and delayed, resulting in unneeded destruction.
That destruction will harm, for years to come, some of the poorest Minnesotans.
For these people, the burned down grocery store means a food desert.
For them, the destruction of public transportation infrastructure means no way to get around.
It means no place close to see a doctor or dentist.
All of this because of a naïve, childish, mistaken viewpoint that these rioters were simply aggrieved people who needed “to be heard.”
Indeed, they spoke. With gas cans, bricks, and baseball bats.
The core obligation of government is the protection of life and property.
That obligation was ignored.
To make matters worse, Walz engaged in a ham-handed attempt to blame “right wing” forces for the destruction.
This was a pathetic effort to distract accountability and blame from its true source.
That source is the far Left. The same people radical Democrats cheer on when the destruction is aimed at pipelines and construction workers.
When the mob started burning the property of liberal Minneapolis, then it became a problem.
Finally, Mayor Jake Frey.
He was clearly not up to the crisis and failed miserably.
He melted down and had no answers, much less leadership.
He was effectively fired by Walz, who didn’t do much better but at least was late, as opposed to never.
Now, Frey has found his voice again, this time to begin the demands that state and federal taxpayers foot the bill for his incompetence.
This wasn’t a natural disaster like a flood or tornado.
It was a man-made disaster made all the worse by his dallying, delay, and cowardice.
Before any state aid is delivered to Minneapolis, legislators should ask what Minneapolis is prepared to do. Or is the mayor proposing that the city be held harmless, to preserve city funding to forestall layoffs to the diversity office?
What local matching dollars will the city be putting up?
What additional resources will Minnesota’s wealthiest city be putting up? Or is the expectation that the middle-class folks in Anoka, Saint Peter, and Fergus Falls pony up every dollar?
Maybe it’s time for Minneapolis to institute an income tax.
Of course, the city has no compunction about raising property taxes.
Sales taxes should be out as that tax is borne mostly by people who don’t live in the city.
Legislators need to ask if Minneapolis gets additional riot dollars, who loses?
What community loses a water treatment plant upgrade?
What community loses a planned fire station?
What students return to facilities in need of upgrade that won’t happen (if Walz lets students return to the classroom, that is.)?
The reality is that extra dollars sent to Minneapolis will come at some community’s expense.
These state expenditures may be desperately needed to counter-act the misery Walz has visited on Minnesota.
The Iron Range doesn’t have mining jobs, in part, because of his challenges to mining projects.
People are out of work because his unilateral executive orders have closed, forever, thousands of small businesses.
Medical help is needed more than ever at precisely the time health care professionals have been laid off, with thousands of Minnesotans dealing with delayed medical treatment and mental health issues brought on by the pandemic shutdowns.
Disney’s “The Lion King” is in part an allegory about feckless, oppressive leadership.
Who knew Minnesota would get both a Governor Scar and a Mayor Scar?
May 29, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right. ...”
Factoid of the Week: As of this printing, over 170 businesses have been destroyed by violence.
In This Issue:
1. A Nation of Laws;
2. Scenes from a Riot.
A NATION OF LAWS
The videotaped death of George Floyd is certainly shocking and disturbing. No reasonable person can see it any other way.
But the response of some, including elected officials, is unacceptable.
We are a nation of laws. Concepts like due process and trial by jury are crucial safeguards for every citizen.
Without question, the death of Mr. Floyd demands a fair, thorough, and expeditious investigation. The interests of justice demand nothing less.
That’s why the rhetoric from some elected officials declaring the guilt of the officers in question is so dangerous and irresponsible. All parties to the incident are entitled to their rights. Our system of self-governance, based on individual natural rights conferred upon each of us by virtue of existence, demands nothing less.
The Bill of Rights was crafted precisely to counter what the Framers called the “temporary passions” of the mob.
The correct and only course of action here is to follow the rule of law and prosecute a fair investigation, bring charges if warranted, and hold a trial to determine legal guilt or innocence.
Some will clearly be perturbed by the pace of such a process, but the alternative is decidedly unattractive.
Next, rioting and looting should never, ever be excused. It’s beyond outrageous to read and hear of opinion leaders excusing and even justifying the wanton destruction of property.
It’s even worse to witness the utter dereliction of duty by the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota.
THE core function of government is to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
Both have failed miserably.
The hard truth is that American government offers citizens the government they deserve.
In Minneapolis, the voters have elected year after year a collection of Left Wing loony tunes who are untethered to both reality and the basic tenets of capitalism and American governance.
Meanwhile, Governor Walz has proven himself to be in the deep end of the crisis pool and in need of swimming lessons.
Fate determines whether political leaders govern in times of ease or in times of crisis.
Unfortunately for Walz, he has been hit with two very difficult situations.
Unfortunately for Minnesotans, he has proven himself unequal to the task.
Thousands of citizens are paying a fearsome price for this incompetence.
SCENES FROM A RIOT
While often a sewer of false and vapid drivel, Twitter is often a source of real-time thought and information regarding the most important issues of our time.
Here are some key tweets regarding the rioting in Minneapolis and surrounding communities.
The more laws we pass the more knees there will be on necks. The bigger the government becomes the more it needs police for enforcement. With the law perverted the police powers of the state are perverted along with it.
@AP4Liberty
None of the key leaders at state or City of Minneapolis level have even communicated on Twitter tonight. Mayor Frey last tweeted 24 hours ago. Gov. Walz 7 hours ago. Attorney General Keith Ellison 7 hours ago. Only MN National Guard has tweeted in past 90 minutes.
@thauserkstp
For all those asking about the governor, it's now been nearly 33 hours since Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz last spoke publicly.
@TheoKeith
On Channel 9 @LydenFOX9 is asking the question that needs to be answered. Who is making these decisions to have police stand down and not arrest people who are burning the city to the ground? Elected officials or the Chiefs of Police?
@PatGarofalo
Minnesota House Minority Leader @kdaudt criticizes “disturbing lack of leadership” in response to mayhem across Twin Cities.
@Stowydad
A police precinct doesn't just get breached, abandoned and burned to the ground. Someone gave the order to evacuate. We need to know who and when.
@StribLopez
Mayor Frey is asked a simple question by @PaulBlume_FOX9. Who's in charge? What's the plan? He got a word salad.
@LydenFOX9
But, Mayor Frey could not answer some basic questions about Who's in charge? What's the plan? When did you made the decision to evacuate? And on many questions, answers he presumably knows, he punted to the chief.
@LydenFOX9
Businesses and police stations are ablaze. This is a war zone. The people of MN are afraid. Minneapolis & St. Paul are under siege. Leaders step forward, they don’t cower in place!
@LewisforMN
We need to get this under control. @govtimwalz! People need you. Hello....please lead. Now.
@KarinHousley
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), and his staff are not responding to media requests for comment as the Twin Cities burn tonight.
@Breaking911
....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
@realDonaldTrump
Quote of the Week: “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right. ...”
- President Donald J. Trump
Factoid of the Week: As of this printing, over 170 businesses have been destroyed by violence.
In This Issue:
1. A Nation of Laws;
2. Scenes from a Riot.
A NATION OF LAWS
The videotaped death of George Floyd is certainly shocking and disturbing. No reasonable person can see it any other way.
But the response of some, including elected officials, is unacceptable.
We are a nation of laws. Concepts like due process and trial by jury are crucial safeguards for every citizen.
Without question, the death of Mr. Floyd demands a fair, thorough, and expeditious investigation. The interests of justice demand nothing less.
That’s why the rhetoric from some elected officials declaring the guilt of the officers in question is so dangerous and irresponsible. All parties to the incident are entitled to their rights. Our system of self-governance, based on individual natural rights conferred upon each of us by virtue of existence, demands nothing less.
The Bill of Rights was crafted precisely to counter what the Framers called the “temporary passions” of the mob.
The correct and only course of action here is to follow the rule of law and prosecute a fair investigation, bring charges if warranted, and hold a trial to determine legal guilt or innocence.
Some will clearly be perturbed by the pace of such a process, but the alternative is decidedly unattractive.
Next, rioting and looting should never, ever be excused. It’s beyond outrageous to read and hear of opinion leaders excusing and even justifying the wanton destruction of property.
It’s even worse to witness the utter dereliction of duty by the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota.
THE core function of government is to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
Both have failed miserably.
The hard truth is that American government offers citizens the government they deserve.
In Minneapolis, the voters have elected year after year a collection of Left Wing loony tunes who are untethered to both reality and the basic tenets of capitalism and American governance.
Meanwhile, Governor Walz has proven himself to be in the deep end of the crisis pool and in need of swimming lessons.
Fate determines whether political leaders govern in times of ease or in times of crisis.
Unfortunately for Walz, he has been hit with two very difficult situations.
Unfortunately for Minnesotans, he has proven himself unequal to the task.
Thousands of citizens are paying a fearsome price for this incompetence.
SCENES FROM A RIOT
While often a sewer of false and vapid drivel, Twitter is often a source of real-time thought and information regarding the most important issues of our time.
Here are some key tweets regarding the rioting in Minneapolis and surrounding communities.
The more laws we pass the more knees there will be on necks. The bigger the government becomes the more it needs police for enforcement. With the law perverted the police powers of the state are perverted along with it.
@AP4Liberty
None of the key leaders at state or City of Minneapolis level have even communicated on Twitter tonight. Mayor Frey last tweeted 24 hours ago. Gov. Walz 7 hours ago. Attorney General Keith Ellison 7 hours ago. Only MN National Guard has tweeted in past 90 minutes.
@thauserkstp
For all those asking about the governor, it's now been nearly 33 hours since Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz last spoke publicly.
@TheoKeith
On Channel 9 @LydenFOX9 is asking the question that needs to be answered. Who is making these decisions to have police stand down and not arrest people who are burning the city to the ground? Elected officials or the Chiefs of Police?
@PatGarofalo
Minnesota House Minority Leader @kdaudt criticizes “disturbing lack of leadership” in response to mayhem across Twin Cities.
@Stowydad
A police precinct doesn't just get breached, abandoned and burned to the ground. Someone gave the order to evacuate. We need to know who and when.
@StribLopez
Mayor Frey is asked a simple question by @PaulBlume_FOX9. Who's in charge? What's the plan? He got a word salad.
@LydenFOX9
But, Mayor Frey could not answer some basic questions about Who's in charge? What's the plan? When did you made the decision to evacuate? And on many questions, answers he presumably knows, he punted to the chief.
@LydenFOX9
Businesses and police stations are ablaze. This is a war zone. The people of MN are afraid. Minneapolis & St. Paul are under siege. Leaders step forward, they don’t cower in place!
@LewisforMN
We need to get this under control. @govtimwalz! People need you. Hello....please lead. Now.
@KarinHousley
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), and his staff are not responding to media requests for comment as the Twin Cities burn tonight.
@Breaking911
....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
@realDonaldTrump
May 22nd, 2020
Quote of the Week: “We are blessed to live in a nation that guarantees the free exercise of religion. This right can only be abridged for a compelling governmental interest, and only in a way that is narrowly tailored to be the least restrictive means of achieving the desired end. That is why a large majority of states now allow in-person religious services, including many states that had previously suspended in-person religious services. We think that the executive order issued last Wednesday fails this test. An order that sweeps so broadly that it prohibits, for example, a gathering of 11 people in a Cathedral with a seating capacity of several thousand defies reason. Therefore, we have chosen to move forward in the absence of any specific timeline laid out by Governor Walz and his Administration. We cannot allow an indefinite suspension of the public celebration of the Mass.”
Quote of the Week: “What is the science that allows indoor salon services but restricts restaurants to outdoor seating? Why are churches limited to 10 people outdoors but hundreds of people can gather in the aisles of big box stores?”
In This Issue:
THIS IS WHAT INCOMPETENCE LOOKS LIKE
It’s become quite clear that Governor Tim Walz is in over his head. He’s overmatched in this crisis. He’s displayed the character traits and leadership qualities (or lack thereof) of a poor, incompetent leader.
This assessment isn’t partisan. It isn’t about name calling or scoring points. Instead, it’s a painful, morose realization that our chief executive didn’t rise to the occasion and the people of Minnesota will pay the price.
Good leaders in a crisis impose order on chaos. They provide clear direction and timely strategic guidance for staff and the troops. They inspire confidence and boost morale when the chips are down.
Walz has done none of that. There is nothing but chaos. The executive orders become more and more confusing and illogical. For example, a big box store can have hundreds inside while churches can’t have more than 10 worshipers and - unbelievably – can’t allow any singing.
There is no clear guidance or roadmap for citizens, churches, businesses and youth athletic associations regarding when and how Mother Government will let them conduct their affairs.
Instead, we get condescending and patronizing metaphors about “winter” and incoherent babbling about “switches” and “dials” that get turned back in forth in some sort of incomprehensible and mystical fashion that apparently only Tim Walz can understand.
In short, poor leaders compound the chaos and fear inherent in times of crisis.
Poor leaders are fragile and insecure. This insecurity manifests itself in a façade of bravado and arrogance. It’s evident in the leader lashing out in the face of constructive criticism and having their dictates examined.
This is typical of Tim Walz. This week, when asked about GOP leaders questioning the continued closure of houses of worship, he snapped, “I get that some people think COVID-19 isn’t a big deal.”
What a childish, petulant response. That response should be scrutinized by every citizen because it provided a window into the governor’s character. The response tells us everything we need to know about this governor.
Poor leaders also refuse to change course in the face of new information. Doing so requires the leader to admit the current course of action isn’t correct. In short, it requires a leader to admit that he’s wrong. It requires the leader to acknowledge that mission accomplishment is paramount and the leader’s ego and pride is of no consequence.
While not getting into details, this publication and many others have pointed out the inherent flaws in the information upon which the governor has made decisions, particularly the pandemic model he’s used.
One example is that Walz continues to stick with a model that predicts 1,700 COVID-related deaths in Minnesota by the end of the month. The state is at 777 total and has never had more than 30 in any given day. Thus, it strains common sense and reality to say that there will be 900 plus deaths in the next 9 days. Ridiculous.
Poor leaders also refuse to accept responsibility and acknowledge that they are accountable to the people and the organization they lead.
The Watchdog has scrutinized volumes of the governor’s statements during this pandemic. Not once has he admitted mistakes or that he was wrong. This, even though Minnesota is a national disgrace regarding our nursing homes, which are worst in the nation when it comes to protecting those who live in them.
Walz runs a subtle but telling talking point that the pain and suffering of jobs losses and freedom is because of COVID. This is true only in the same way that matches burn buildings or that guns shoot people.
No, the policies promulgated in response to COVID are to blame, just like the one who strikes the match or pulls the trigger is to blame.
Poor leaders act as innocent bystanders who are victimized by events.
This is a tragedy. As the chief executive, the governor’s successes are our successes and his failures are our failures.
It’s clear that Governor Tim Walz is failing the people of Minnesota.
Hopefully, the judicial branch will step in and protect the rights Walz continues to trammel.
There is no Pandemic Clause in either the Minnesota or federal Constitutions.
Also watch for legislative Republicans take a more confrontational approach to a governor who clearly doesn’t want to compromise.
It was right for the GOP to work hard to negotiate with Walz in good faith.
Sadly, that strategy has been rejected by Walz in favor of the kind of partisan game playing that Mark Dayton employed.
Unilaterally implementing the state employee union contracts was a final straw for many Republican legislators.
A line has been crossed and there will be an escalation and a response.
It has to be that way. Legislators took an oath and have a sacred obligation to uphold the constitution and protect the legislature as a separate, equal branch of government.
In short, don’t look for compromise and cooperation any time soon.
This is what incompetent leadership looks like. Its name is Tim Walz.
Quote of the Week: “We are blessed to live in a nation that guarantees the free exercise of religion. This right can only be abridged for a compelling governmental interest, and only in a way that is narrowly tailored to be the least restrictive means of achieving the desired end. That is why a large majority of states now allow in-person religious services, including many states that had previously suspended in-person religious services. We think that the executive order issued last Wednesday fails this test. An order that sweeps so broadly that it prohibits, for example, a gathering of 11 people in a Cathedral with a seating capacity of several thousand defies reason. Therefore, we have chosen to move forward in the absence of any specific timeline laid out by Governor Walz and his Administration. We cannot allow an indefinite suspension of the public celebration of the Mass.”
- Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Quote of the Week: “What is the science that allows indoor salon services but restricts restaurants to outdoor seating? Why are churches limited to 10 people outdoors but hundreds of people can gather in the aisles of big box stores?”
- House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt
In This Issue:
- This is What Incompetence Looks Like.
THIS IS WHAT INCOMPETENCE LOOKS LIKE
It’s become quite clear that Governor Tim Walz is in over his head. He’s overmatched in this crisis. He’s displayed the character traits and leadership qualities (or lack thereof) of a poor, incompetent leader.
This assessment isn’t partisan. It isn’t about name calling or scoring points. Instead, it’s a painful, morose realization that our chief executive didn’t rise to the occasion and the people of Minnesota will pay the price.
Good leaders in a crisis impose order on chaos. They provide clear direction and timely strategic guidance for staff and the troops. They inspire confidence and boost morale when the chips are down.
Walz has done none of that. There is nothing but chaos. The executive orders become more and more confusing and illogical. For example, a big box store can have hundreds inside while churches can’t have more than 10 worshipers and - unbelievably – can’t allow any singing.
There is no clear guidance or roadmap for citizens, churches, businesses and youth athletic associations regarding when and how Mother Government will let them conduct their affairs.
Instead, we get condescending and patronizing metaphors about “winter” and incoherent babbling about “switches” and “dials” that get turned back in forth in some sort of incomprehensible and mystical fashion that apparently only Tim Walz can understand.
In short, poor leaders compound the chaos and fear inherent in times of crisis.
Poor leaders are fragile and insecure. This insecurity manifests itself in a façade of bravado and arrogance. It’s evident in the leader lashing out in the face of constructive criticism and having their dictates examined.
This is typical of Tim Walz. This week, when asked about GOP leaders questioning the continued closure of houses of worship, he snapped, “I get that some people think COVID-19 isn’t a big deal.”
What a childish, petulant response. That response should be scrutinized by every citizen because it provided a window into the governor’s character. The response tells us everything we need to know about this governor.
Poor leaders also refuse to change course in the face of new information. Doing so requires the leader to admit the current course of action isn’t correct. In short, it requires a leader to admit that he’s wrong. It requires the leader to acknowledge that mission accomplishment is paramount and the leader’s ego and pride is of no consequence.
While not getting into details, this publication and many others have pointed out the inherent flaws in the information upon which the governor has made decisions, particularly the pandemic model he’s used.
One example is that Walz continues to stick with a model that predicts 1,700 COVID-related deaths in Minnesota by the end of the month. The state is at 777 total and has never had more than 30 in any given day. Thus, it strains common sense and reality to say that there will be 900 plus deaths in the next 9 days. Ridiculous.
Poor leaders also refuse to accept responsibility and acknowledge that they are accountable to the people and the organization they lead.
The Watchdog has scrutinized volumes of the governor’s statements during this pandemic. Not once has he admitted mistakes or that he was wrong. This, even though Minnesota is a national disgrace regarding our nursing homes, which are worst in the nation when it comes to protecting those who live in them.
Walz runs a subtle but telling talking point that the pain and suffering of jobs losses and freedom is because of COVID. This is true only in the same way that matches burn buildings or that guns shoot people.
No, the policies promulgated in response to COVID are to blame, just like the one who strikes the match or pulls the trigger is to blame.
Poor leaders act as innocent bystanders who are victimized by events.
This is a tragedy. As the chief executive, the governor’s successes are our successes and his failures are our failures.
It’s clear that Governor Tim Walz is failing the people of Minnesota.
Hopefully, the judicial branch will step in and protect the rights Walz continues to trammel.
There is no Pandemic Clause in either the Minnesota or federal Constitutions.
Also watch for legislative Republicans take a more confrontational approach to a governor who clearly doesn’t want to compromise.
It was right for the GOP to work hard to negotiate with Walz in good faith.
Sadly, that strategy has been rejected by Walz in favor of the kind of partisan game playing that Mark Dayton employed.
Unilaterally implementing the state employee union contracts was a final straw for many Republican legislators.
A line has been crossed and there will be an escalation and a response.
It has to be that way. Legislators took an oath and have a sacred obligation to uphold the constitution and protect the legislature as a separate, equal branch of government.
In short, don’t look for compromise and cooperation any time soon.
This is what incompetent leadership looks like. Its name is Tim Walz.
May 15th, 2020
Quote of the Week:
Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
Quote of the Week: “I don’t think a lot of researchers get to work on something over the weekend and have public figures talk about it and make decisions based on it three days later.”
Quote of the Week: “[In this situation] you don’t have the time to validate as much as you normally would.”
Quote of the Week: “As a modeler, you have complete control over what your results look like.”
In This Issue:
SINE DIE
It’s the end, but not really. The legislature, per the constitution, must adjourn no later than this coming Monday. Moreover, the constitution prohibits the passage of legislation on the last day, so Sunday is the last day for meaningful legislative activity.
And while there is certainly action happening, that level of activity is low, as most Capitol observers expect that there will be a special session or even multiple ones over the summer and perhaps fall.
The legislature isn’t mandated to meet in special session, but there are circumstances that make it likely:
DORM ROOM PANDEMIC PANDEMONIUM
What if we told you a story about a governor and a pandemic?
That governor caused untold damage to his state’s economy by unilaterally forcing businesses to close and people to stay in their homes.
That governor further caused untold human damage by closing schools and forcing children on to mediocre and untested distance learning platforms.
A human toll was also visited on his citizens as they couldn’t access needed surgeries, health services, or were forced to “shelter in place” in abusive or otherwise dangerous environments.
Milestones like births, funerals, weddings, graduations, birthdays, and family gatherings were summarily cancelled by executive fiat.
That same governor told his state that such actions were necessary and predicated on “science” as determined by “experts” who produced a model of the pandemic that predicted tens of thousands of deaths if this form of martial law were not declared and rights denied.
And what if we told you that the vaunted pandemic model was a bunch of total BS.
Would you say that it sounded like a tale written by The Onion?
A joke?
A tragedy?
Well, it’s true. And it happened right here in Minnesota.
We learned this week that the governor’s pandemic model was whipped up in a short matter of days by two graduate students.
That dorm room exercise became the model the governor used as a basis for his decision making to shut down the state in response to the pandemic.
The evidence is right here, in this article: https://cse.umn.edu/college/feature-stories/modeling-covid-19-minnesota.
That article tells us that two graduate students at the University of Minnesota received a call on a Friday night, asking them if they wanted to take on the project and have it done by Monday.
So here are your “experts.”
Marina Kirkeide has a BS in Mathematics and is on a gap year until she starts medical school this fall.
She has no education or expertise in pandemic modeling, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or public health.
The other “expert,” Abhinav Mehta, is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science.
There is no indication beyond that of any expertise in medicine or public health.
How about the “science?”
Again, they drummed up the model over a weekend and then shipped it over to the governor’s office, with apparently no peer review or input from true subject matter experts.
In short, the model is little more than a college project, a dorm room exercise.
The two responsible for it lack training and experience in pandemic modeling and public health.
Moreover, their work was done in a matter of hours, lacking the typical peer review and quality checks.
Hence, you get comments like, “[In this situation] you don’t have the time to validate as much as you normally would.”
It’s nothing short of outrageous to consider that this slap-dash work is the basis for a model that was used to disrupt our way of life in a manner no Minnesotan has seen in their lifetime.
Of course, the media won’t ask Walz about the dorm room model he’s using because he’s DFL.
Same goes for the fact that Minnesota leads the nation in nursing home deaths as a percentage of COVID-related deaths.
Let’s hope Republicans in the legislature raise the issue as we all contemplate that two grad students at the U of M were given the power to develop the flimsy tool that has dictated life these past weeks.
Let that sink in.
Quote of the Week:
Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Quote of the Week: “I don’t think a lot of researchers get to work on something over the weekend and have public figures talk about it and make decisions based on it three days later.”
- Marina Kirkeide
Quote of the Week: “[In this situation] you don’t have the time to validate as much as you normally would.”
- Marina Kirkeide
Quote of the Week: “As a modeler, you have complete control over what your results look like.”
- Marina Kirkeide
In This Issue:
- Sine Die;
- Dorm Room Pandemic Pandemonium.
SINE DIE
It’s the end, but not really. The legislature, per the constitution, must adjourn no later than this coming Monday. Moreover, the constitution prohibits the passage of legislation on the last day, so Sunday is the last day for meaningful legislative activity.
And while there is certainly action happening, that level of activity is low, as most Capitol observers expect that there will be a special session or even multiple ones over the summer and perhaps fall.
The legislature isn’t mandated to meet in special session, but there are circumstances that make it likely:
- Peacetime emergency extension. Governor Walz has extended the declared peacetime emergency until June 12th. According to the enabling statute, if he extends the emergency beyond this date, he will need to call the legislature into special session to give them an opportunity to overturn the extension and extinguish the emergency.
- COVID. The COVID response may require further legislative action in some regard, perhaps to appropriate monies or direct federal funds.
- Bonding. If the legislature fails to pass a bonding bill in regular session, it is almost assured there will be a special session to pass one. A bonding bill is seen by most legislators as a key job-support during the depression caused by Walz’ executive orders.
- Budget adjustment. Because the state’s biennial budget has been set, there is no requirement for the legislature to meet this summer or fall regarding the budget. Having said that, it’s obvious that state revenues won’t meet the appropriated spending passed last year. Because the state must have a balanced budget by the end of the biennium (June 30, 2021), it would make sense for the legislature to meet in special session to adjust spending downward to prevent a level of spending that is no longer supported by revenues.
DORM ROOM PANDEMIC PANDEMONIUM
What if we told you a story about a governor and a pandemic?
That governor caused untold damage to his state’s economy by unilaterally forcing businesses to close and people to stay in their homes.
That governor further caused untold human damage by closing schools and forcing children on to mediocre and untested distance learning platforms.
A human toll was also visited on his citizens as they couldn’t access needed surgeries, health services, or were forced to “shelter in place” in abusive or otherwise dangerous environments.
Milestones like births, funerals, weddings, graduations, birthdays, and family gatherings were summarily cancelled by executive fiat.
That same governor told his state that such actions were necessary and predicated on “science” as determined by “experts” who produced a model of the pandemic that predicted tens of thousands of deaths if this form of martial law were not declared and rights denied.
And what if we told you that the vaunted pandemic model was a bunch of total BS.
Would you say that it sounded like a tale written by The Onion?
A joke?
A tragedy?
Well, it’s true. And it happened right here in Minnesota.
We learned this week that the governor’s pandemic model was whipped up in a short matter of days by two graduate students.
That dorm room exercise became the model the governor used as a basis for his decision making to shut down the state in response to the pandemic.
The evidence is right here, in this article: https://cse.umn.edu/college/feature-stories/modeling-covid-19-minnesota.
That article tells us that two graduate students at the University of Minnesota received a call on a Friday night, asking them if they wanted to take on the project and have it done by Monday.
So here are your “experts.”
Marina Kirkeide has a BS in Mathematics and is on a gap year until she starts medical school this fall.
She has no education or expertise in pandemic modeling, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or public health.
The other “expert,” Abhinav Mehta, is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science.
There is no indication beyond that of any expertise in medicine or public health.
How about the “science?”
Again, they drummed up the model over a weekend and then shipped it over to the governor’s office, with apparently no peer review or input from true subject matter experts.
In short, the model is little more than a college project, a dorm room exercise.
The two responsible for it lack training and experience in pandemic modeling and public health.
Moreover, their work was done in a matter of hours, lacking the typical peer review and quality checks.
Hence, you get comments like, “[In this situation] you don’t have the time to validate as much as you normally would.”
It’s nothing short of outrageous to consider that this slap-dash work is the basis for a model that was used to disrupt our way of life in a manner no Minnesotan has seen in their lifetime.
Of course, the media won’t ask Walz about the dorm room model he’s using because he’s DFL.
Same goes for the fact that Minnesota leads the nation in nursing home deaths as a percentage of COVID-related deaths.
Let’s hope Republicans in the legislature raise the issue as we all contemplate that two grad students at the U of M were given the power to develop the flimsy tool that has dictated life these past weeks.
Let that sink in.
May 8th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “The budget is the skeleton of the state stripped of all misleading ideologies”, the truest reflection of the distribution of power and influence.”
In This Issue:
THE LEVIATHAN
As expected, the state’s interim “budget update” showed that government revenues have fallen precipitously, thanks to Governor Walz’ unilateral imposition of shutdown orders through executive fiat.
In short, he owns this.
In particular, the updated budget number show that state coffers are projected to be $2.5 billion in the red, a $4 billion swing from the February official budget forecast, which showed a $1.5 billion surplus.
Clearly, revenues will not match the appropriated expenditures for the biennial state budget that was passed last year and runs through June 30, 2021.
What that means for rational thinking people is that the state budget, like every family budget, will have to share in the pain of reduced spending.
In the minds of powerful liberal special interests, however, that means bullying their bought-and-paid-for minions under the dome into chasing tax increases to extract even more money to keep King Government whole.
If you doubt the Watchdog, take a look at what Education Minnesota, the union that calls the shots in the DFL, had to say in response to the budgetary news this week:
“But it’s also becoming clear that the wealthiest 1 percent, and the politicians who support them, see the budget deficits in our future as an opportunity not to step up and pay their fair share, but as a chance to fuel divisions in our society so they can lobby for budget cuts that will harm the people who all Minnesotans have come to depend on during this pandemic, including health care providers, first responders, state employees and educators of all kinds. It’s time for Minnesotans to join together to rewrite the rules and rebuild our state so everyone, with no exceptions, pays their fair share, earns a fair return for their work and can care for their families and feel good about sending their children to safe and welcoming public schools staffed by professional educators.”
AFL-CIO: “However, corporate special interests and their allies in the Legislature will likely use this crisis as an opportunity to enact painful cuts and slash taxes for the richest 1%. Minnesotans know better. We know that cuts to the vital services that Minnesotans depend on – especially right now – will only make this crisis worse.”
Take Action MN (liberal special interest group): “We can get through this and come out stronger, but the days of Republicans passing trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the richest 1% need to end. We deserve a government in Minnesota that’s working for the people, and that starts with a fair tax system.”
So, there you have it from those who help fund the DFL. There shouldn’t be any cuts and any funding shortfalls should be made up through tax increases on the successful, who never seem to pay their “fair share.”
Again, rational thinking taxpayers will bear some facts and principles in mind.
Government, like the taxpayers who fund government, must share in the pain and have no legitimate claim to be held harmless through this financial crisis. A crisis unnecessarily exacerbated by government’s own bungled, shotgun, draconian approach to handling the pandemic.
Thus far, government has been quite insulated from the pain, with state worker layoffs and furloughs at a bare minimum.
After all, “we’re in this together,” as goes the shopworn bromide uttered by the Left at every turn.
Similarly, there is no ethical or moral reason to elevate the government budget over the family budget. The family budget, conversely, has a claim to be a higher priority. Government exists to serve the taxpayers, not the other way around.
Next, let’s look not at revenues but expenditures. In the last biennium, FY 2018-2019, the state’s general fund expenditures were $45,401,378,000. This was a 10.1% spending increase over the previous biennium spending of $41,254,742,000.
Spending in the current biennium (FY2020-2021) is expected to be $48,463,332,000, a 6.7% increase over FY2018-2019.
In short, Minnesota could take care of the entire $2.5 billion projected deficit through spending reductions alone and STILL experience a spending increase of about $500 million biennium over biennium.
On the revenue side, let’s take a brief look at income taxes, the preferred method of confiscation for the DFL.
According to the most recent report by the MN Department of Revenue, the top decile (top 10%) of income ($156,000 per year), paid 59% of the income tax. Overall, this group bears 41% of the total state tax burden.
And some say these folks still aren’t paying enough.
By contrast, the bottom 20% pay ZERO income taxes. In fact, they show up as “negative” in this column because of refundable tax credits that can be earned, even without any tax liability.
Put another way, there are so many credits and deductions available, that group gets more back than paid in under the system.
In short, the bottom 20% make money off the income tax system.
Let’s also remember that most of Minnesota’s small businesses, the backbone of the economy, pay their taxes as individuals, called “pass through” entities.
Thus, raising the personal income tax is nothing more than a tax on small business.
Let’s also keep in mind that Minnesota is already a brutally unfriendly state when it comes to the income tax.
The state’s top bracket, 9.85%, is the fifth highest in the country, behind only CA, HI, OR and NJ.
Perhaps more shockingly, the state’s bottom income tax bracket, 5.35%, is HIGHER than the highest income tax bracket in 25 states.
In short, there is simply nowhere to go in terms of raising the income tax, unless this state wants to become the next Illinois.
If the GOP has one mission this session and in any special session, it’s to take a hard pass on any invitation to raise taxes.
PATRIOTS
It’s amazing and demoralizing to see so many citizens acquiesce to government’s abrogation of their natural rights, as recognized and enshrined in the constitution.
Truly, so many would give up their freedom to obtain a bit of security, no matter how illusory.
Across the country, chief executives are ruling by fiat, dictating the arbitrary closure and suspension of activities and institutions that support our American way of life.
Theses executive orders strike at the heart of natural rights, suspending First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble by limiting group gatherings, freely worship by closing churches, and petition government by closing government buildings to public access.
The orders are also arbitrary, picking winners and losers in illogical fashion.
For example, the local clothing store is closed but you can buy a shirt at Wal Mart.
You can’t gather at church, but you can rub elbows with hundreds at Target.
You can golf, but you can’t mini golf.
A dentist can’t work but a doctor can perform an elective abortion.
Thank goodness patriots everywhere are standing up for their rights.
The Upper Midwest Law Center is one of those organizations, having this week filed suit against Governor Walz, pleading for a vindication of the plaintiff’s God-given rights.
Here is the press release:
Minneapolis, MN – Upper Midwest Law Center, a Minnesota-based public interest law firm, filed suit on behalf of multiple Minnesota churches and small business owners to strike down Governor Tim Walz’ unilateral shutdown emergency executive orders as unconstitutional under the First, Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, and a copy of the complaint is available at www.umwlc.org.
The plaintiffs are:
- Northland Baptist Church of St. Paul, Minnesota and Pastor John Bruski, who have been prohibited from holding in-person religious services and indoor or outdoor religious gatherings while at the same time similar types of secular gatherings have been allowed under the executive orders.
- Living Word Christian Center, which has been prohibited from holding in-person religious services and indoor or outdoor religious gatherings, while at the same time similar types of secular gatherings have been allowed under the executive orders.
- Dr. Marie Joycelyn Lua, a dentist and business owner in Edina, Minnesota, who has been prohibited from seeing patients to perform major dental work and reconstruction procedures while at the same time reproductive health care workers have been allowed to perform abortions under the executive orders.
- Glow In One Mini Golf L.L.C. in Blaine, Minnesota, and its owner and operator, Aaron Kessler, who have been prohibited from operating a mini-golf business while at the same time golf courses have been allowed to operate under the executive orders.
- Myron’s Cards and Gifts, Inc. and its owner and operator Larry Evenson, which has locations in Bloomington, Coon Rapids, Roseville, Blaine and Mankato, Minnesota, who have been required to shut down five gift card stores while at the same time big box stores such as Target, Walgreens and CVS have been allowed to stay open and sell gift cards under the executive orders.
- Andrew Hulse and Gay Bunch-Hulse, owners and operators of 18 | 8 Fine Men’s Salons in Maple Grove and Wayzata, Minnesota, who have been prohibited from operating their state-licensed and infection control trained hair salons while at the same time liquor stores and pet groomers have been allowed to operate under the executive orders.
“Governor Walz’ scheme of selecting economic winners and losers by wholly shutting down some businesses while allowing others to remain open violates the Plaintiff businesses’ 14th Amendment due process and equal protection rights,” stated Doug Seaton, Esq., President of the Upper Midwest Law Center. “Governor Walz’ actions also constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment, and his prohibition on worshippers gathering violates churches’ and individuals’
First Amendment rights. The Constitution requires that the Governor respect the individual rights of all citizens at all times, narrowly tailor any restrictions, and apply the same rules to all. It is clear that his continuing lockdown executive orders fail these constitutional requirements.”
James Dickey, Esq., lead trial counsel to the Upper Midwest Law Center, added the following: “In this litigation we ask the Court to declare Governor Walz’ executive orders unconstitutional and enjoin him, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the county attorneys charged with enforcement of the executive orders from enforcing them. The Plaintiff businesses also seek money damages from Governor Walz for the tremendous losses they have faced due to the executive orders. Governor Walz’ orders exceed his statutory authority and violate fundamental rights, so we will be seeking a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court and are prepared to take this matter to the Eighth Circuit and Supreme Court if needed.”
Howard Root, Chair of the Upper Midwest Law Center, concluded: “The Upper Midwest Law Center was founded in 2019 to protect the individual rights of citizens against the overreach of government. We cannot sit idly by while the governor uses this pandemic to shred the Constitution – especially when Gov. Walz has so many alternatives to fight the spread of COVID-19 that can be fairly applied in a constitutional manner.”
Quote of the Week: “The budget is the skeleton of the state stripped of all misleading ideologies”, the truest reflection of the distribution of power and influence.”
- Joseph Schumpeter
In This Issue:
- The Leviathan;
- Patriots.
THE LEVIATHAN
As expected, the state’s interim “budget update” showed that government revenues have fallen precipitously, thanks to Governor Walz’ unilateral imposition of shutdown orders through executive fiat.
In short, he owns this.
In particular, the updated budget number show that state coffers are projected to be $2.5 billion in the red, a $4 billion swing from the February official budget forecast, which showed a $1.5 billion surplus.
Clearly, revenues will not match the appropriated expenditures for the biennial state budget that was passed last year and runs through June 30, 2021.
What that means for rational thinking people is that the state budget, like every family budget, will have to share in the pain of reduced spending.
In the minds of powerful liberal special interests, however, that means bullying their bought-and-paid-for minions under the dome into chasing tax increases to extract even more money to keep King Government whole.
If you doubt the Watchdog, take a look at what Education Minnesota, the union that calls the shots in the DFL, had to say in response to the budgetary news this week:
“But it’s also becoming clear that the wealthiest 1 percent, and the politicians who support them, see the budget deficits in our future as an opportunity not to step up and pay their fair share, but as a chance to fuel divisions in our society so they can lobby for budget cuts that will harm the people who all Minnesotans have come to depend on during this pandemic, including health care providers, first responders, state employees and educators of all kinds. It’s time for Minnesotans to join together to rewrite the rules and rebuild our state so everyone, with no exceptions, pays their fair share, earns a fair return for their work and can care for their families and feel good about sending their children to safe and welcoming public schools staffed by professional educators.”
AFL-CIO: “However, corporate special interests and their allies in the Legislature will likely use this crisis as an opportunity to enact painful cuts and slash taxes for the richest 1%. Minnesotans know better. We know that cuts to the vital services that Minnesotans depend on – especially right now – will only make this crisis worse.”
Take Action MN (liberal special interest group): “We can get through this and come out stronger, but the days of Republicans passing trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the richest 1% need to end. We deserve a government in Minnesota that’s working for the people, and that starts with a fair tax system.”
So, there you have it from those who help fund the DFL. There shouldn’t be any cuts and any funding shortfalls should be made up through tax increases on the successful, who never seem to pay their “fair share.”
Again, rational thinking taxpayers will bear some facts and principles in mind.
Government, like the taxpayers who fund government, must share in the pain and have no legitimate claim to be held harmless through this financial crisis. A crisis unnecessarily exacerbated by government’s own bungled, shotgun, draconian approach to handling the pandemic.
Thus far, government has been quite insulated from the pain, with state worker layoffs and furloughs at a bare minimum.
After all, “we’re in this together,” as goes the shopworn bromide uttered by the Left at every turn.
Similarly, there is no ethical or moral reason to elevate the government budget over the family budget. The family budget, conversely, has a claim to be a higher priority. Government exists to serve the taxpayers, not the other way around.
Next, let’s look not at revenues but expenditures. In the last biennium, FY 2018-2019, the state’s general fund expenditures were $45,401,378,000. This was a 10.1% spending increase over the previous biennium spending of $41,254,742,000.
Spending in the current biennium (FY2020-2021) is expected to be $48,463,332,000, a 6.7% increase over FY2018-2019.
In short, Minnesota could take care of the entire $2.5 billion projected deficit through spending reductions alone and STILL experience a spending increase of about $500 million biennium over biennium.
On the revenue side, let’s take a brief look at income taxes, the preferred method of confiscation for the DFL.
According to the most recent report by the MN Department of Revenue, the top decile (top 10%) of income ($156,000 per year), paid 59% of the income tax. Overall, this group bears 41% of the total state tax burden.
And some say these folks still aren’t paying enough.
By contrast, the bottom 20% pay ZERO income taxes. In fact, they show up as “negative” in this column because of refundable tax credits that can be earned, even without any tax liability.
Put another way, there are so many credits and deductions available, that group gets more back than paid in under the system.
In short, the bottom 20% make money off the income tax system.
Let’s also remember that most of Minnesota’s small businesses, the backbone of the economy, pay their taxes as individuals, called “pass through” entities.
Thus, raising the personal income tax is nothing more than a tax on small business.
Let’s also keep in mind that Minnesota is already a brutally unfriendly state when it comes to the income tax.
The state’s top bracket, 9.85%, is the fifth highest in the country, behind only CA, HI, OR and NJ.
Perhaps more shockingly, the state’s bottom income tax bracket, 5.35%, is HIGHER than the highest income tax bracket in 25 states.
In short, there is simply nowhere to go in terms of raising the income tax, unless this state wants to become the next Illinois.
If the GOP has one mission this session and in any special session, it’s to take a hard pass on any invitation to raise taxes.
PATRIOTS
It’s amazing and demoralizing to see so many citizens acquiesce to government’s abrogation of their natural rights, as recognized and enshrined in the constitution.
Truly, so many would give up their freedom to obtain a bit of security, no matter how illusory.
Across the country, chief executives are ruling by fiat, dictating the arbitrary closure and suspension of activities and institutions that support our American way of life.
Theses executive orders strike at the heart of natural rights, suspending First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble by limiting group gatherings, freely worship by closing churches, and petition government by closing government buildings to public access.
The orders are also arbitrary, picking winners and losers in illogical fashion.
For example, the local clothing store is closed but you can buy a shirt at Wal Mart.
You can’t gather at church, but you can rub elbows with hundreds at Target.
You can golf, but you can’t mini golf.
A dentist can’t work but a doctor can perform an elective abortion.
Thank goodness patriots everywhere are standing up for their rights.
The Upper Midwest Law Center is one of those organizations, having this week filed suit against Governor Walz, pleading for a vindication of the plaintiff’s God-given rights.
Here is the press release:
Minneapolis, MN – Upper Midwest Law Center, a Minnesota-based public interest law firm, filed suit on behalf of multiple Minnesota churches and small business owners to strike down Governor Tim Walz’ unilateral shutdown emergency executive orders as unconstitutional under the First, Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, and a copy of the complaint is available at www.umwlc.org.
The plaintiffs are:
- Northland Baptist Church of St. Paul, Minnesota and Pastor John Bruski, who have been prohibited from holding in-person religious services and indoor or outdoor religious gatherings while at the same time similar types of secular gatherings have been allowed under the executive orders.
- Living Word Christian Center, which has been prohibited from holding in-person religious services and indoor or outdoor religious gatherings, while at the same time similar types of secular gatherings have been allowed under the executive orders.
- Dr. Marie Joycelyn Lua, a dentist and business owner in Edina, Minnesota, who has been prohibited from seeing patients to perform major dental work and reconstruction procedures while at the same time reproductive health care workers have been allowed to perform abortions under the executive orders.
- Glow In One Mini Golf L.L.C. in Blaine, Minnesota, and its owner and operator, Aaron Kessler, who have been prohibited from operating a mini-golf business while at the same time golf courses have been allowed to operate under the executive orders.
- Myron’s Cards and Gifts, Inc. and its owner and operator Larry Evenson, which has locations in Bloomington, Coon Rapids, Roseville, Blaine and Mankato, Minnesota, who have been required to shut down five gift card stores while at the same time big box stores such as Target, Walgreens and CVS have been allowed to stay open and sell gift cards under the executive orders.
- Andrew Hulse and Gay Bunch-Hulse, owners and operators of 18 | 8 Fine Men’s Salons in Maple Grove and Wayzata, Minnesota, who have been prohibited from operating their state-licensed and infection control trained hair salons while at the same time liquor stores and pet groomers have been allowed to operate under the executive orders.
“Governor Walz’ scheme of selecting economic winners and losers by wholly shutting down some businesses while allowing others to remain open violates the Plaintiff businesses’ 14th Amendment due process and equal protection rights,” stated Doug Seaton, Esq., President of the Upper Midwest Law Center. “Governor Walz’ actions also constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment, and his prohibition on worshippers gathering violates churches’ and individuals’
First Amendment rights. The Constitution requires that the Governor respect the individual rights of all citizens at all times, narrowly tailor any restrictions, and apply the same rules to all. It is clear that his continuing lockdown executive orders fail these constitutional requirements.”
James Dickey, Esq., lead trial counsel to the Upper Midwest Law Center, added the following: “In this litigation we ask the Court to declare Governor Walz’ executive orders unconstitutional and enjoin him, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the county attorneys charged with enforcement of the executive orders from enforcing them. The Plaintiff businesses also seek money damages from Governor Walz for the tremendous losses they have faced due to the executive orders. Governor Walz’ orders exceed his statutory authority and violate fundamental rights, so we will be seeking a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court and are prepared to take this matter to the Eighth Circuit and Supreme Court if needed.”
Howard Root, Chair of the Upper Midwest Law Center, concluded: “The Upper Midwest Law Center was founded in 2019 to protect the individual rights of citizens against the overreach of government. We cannot sit idly by while the governor uses this pandemic to shred the Constitution – especially when Gov. Walz has so many alternatives to fight the spread of COVID-19 that can be fairly applied in a constitutional manner.”
May 1st, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Following the compilation of the above information, the [Crossfire Hurricane] team determined that [Flynn] was no longer a viable candidate as part of the larger CROSSFIRE HURRICANE umbrella case. A review of logical [redacted] databases did not yield any information on which to predicate further investigative efforts. The FBI is closing this investigation.”
Headline of the Week: UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) doctor argues COVID-19 not as deadly as feared, says its hospitals will shift back to normal.
In This Issue:
CAPITOL UPDATE
Don’t take your eye off the ball. The legislature is still in session and that means no taxpayer is safe.
The state’s Budget Office will be issuing an updated budget projection early next week, which will no doubt show significant deterioration of revenues (thanks to the state shutting down and cratering the economy) and an increase in COVID-related expenses.
This will surely lead to a titanic struggle to balance the state’s budget, which must be done per the constitution. The state cannot run deficits and must be balanced at the end of each biennium.
This, in turn, will lead to DFL calls to raise taxes as part of a “balanced” approach to solving the issue.
Of course, Washington could ride to the rescue after turning on the money presses yet again to issue money it doesn’t have.
If not, it’s tax increases or spending cuts.
Without question, Republicans must resist all manner of tax and fee increases.
There is simply nowhere else to go.
The state’s taxes are among the highest in the country. An increase would simply turn the state into Illinois, which is seeing an exodus of businesses and successful people who have had enough of that state’s confiscatory policies.
In addition to being among the highest in the country, the state also has a number of very regressive taxes, including taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and gasoline.
Watch Walz and the DFL attempt to increase existing regressive taxes and add some new ones, like taxes on clothing.
There is no real alternative for the GOP other than to resist all tax increases.
Moreover, the DFL continues to SPEND money, even in the face of a fiscal cliff.
For example, the DFL continues to push forward new collective bargaining agreements for state unionized employees.
These contracts will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in new expenditures.
Another example is the DFL bragging about $100 million for “supportive” housing.
They won’t tell you from where the money will be coming.
It appears that the big idea is push forward a bunch of spending to placate their never-ending list of money hungry constituencies. They will then simply blame the GOP for not passing gargantuan tax increases to sate (temporarily) the appetite for other people’s money.
Check out this awesome video of State Rep. Pat Garofalo (R – Farmington) calling out the DFL for their cynical and childish actions.
https://twitter.com/mnhousegop/status/1255559142225465347
He notes, “Part of me wants to grab this laptop … and say ‘DFL, pay attention. We don’t have any money. We’re broke.”
Indeed.
SHUT-DOWN PORN
It’s rather astonishing to see the way in which the COVID situation has become partisan and ideological.
Polling and some everyday experience show that one’s view of the response to the virus is very much influenced by that person’s political views.
In short, liberals love the heavy hand of government “protecting” them from a virus that continues to look less lethal and less virulent by the day.
They cheer for the president to fail, not understanding that his failures – and triumphs – are our failures and triumphs. They’re the country’s failures and triumphs.
They cheer the shut down and failure of businesses as they see it as some sort of blow against rapacious capitalism.
They see heavy-handed shelter in place orders as a way to shackle the right-wing people with whom they disagree and as a convenient way to avoid facing a tough situation.
We see social media filled with invective, wishing harm and even death to those who don’t follow the orthodoxy to the letter, such as not walking six feet apart, even with a spouse.
They refuse to apply a modicum of critical thinking to the governor’s actions.
The simple fact is that the modeling upon which the governor is basing his executive fiats is absolutely flawed. His modeling is wrong.
It’s nothing short of gratuitous satisfaction from both the virus and the heavy-handed governmental decisions stemming from it.
It’s “shut-down porn” and it says much about those who enjoy it.
Quote of the Week: “Following the compilation of the above information, the [Crossfire Hurricane] team determined that [Flynn] was no longer a viable candidate as part of the larger CROSSFIRE HURRICANE umbrella case. A review of logical [redacted] databases did not yield any information on which to predicate further investigative efforts. The FBI is closing this investigation.”
- FBI Report on Michael Flynn
Headline of the Week: UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) doctor argues COVID-19 not as deadly as feared, says its hospitals will shift back to normal.
In This Issue:
- Capitol Update;
- Shut-Down Porn.
CAPITOL UPDATE
Don’t take your eye off the ball. The legislature is still in session and that means no taxpayer is safe.
The state’s Budget Office will be issuing an updated budget projection early next week, which will no doubt show significant deterioration of revenues (thanks to the state shutting down and cratering the economy) and an increase in COVID-related expenses.
This will surely lead to a titanic struggle to balance the state’s budget, which must be done per the constitution. The state cannot run deficits and must be balanced at the end of each biennium.
This, in turn, will lead to DFL calls to raise taxes as part of a “balanced” approach to solving the issue.
Of course, Washington could ride to the rescue after turning on the money presses yet again to issue money it doesn’t have.
If not, it’s tax increases or spending cuts.
Without question, Republicans must resist all manner of tax and fee increases.
There is simply nowhere else to go.
The state’s taxes are among the highest in the country. An increase would simply turn the state into Illinois, which is seeing an exodus of businesses and successful people who have had enough of that state’s confiscatory policies.
In addition to being among the highest in the country, the state also has a number of very regressive taxes, including taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and gasoline.
Watch Walz and the DFL attempt to increase existing regressive taxes and add some new ones, like taxes on clothing.
There is no real alternative for the GOP other than to resist all tax increases.
Moreover, the DFL continues to SPEND money, even in the face of a fiscal cliff.
For example, the DFL continues to push forward new collective bargaining agreements for state unionized employees.
These contracts will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in new expenditures.
Another example is the DFL bragging about $100 million for “supportive” housing.
They won’t tell you from where the money will be coming.
It appears that the big idea is push forward a bunch of spending to placate their never-ending list of money hungry constituencies. They will then simply blame the GOP for not passing gargantuan tax increases to sate (temporarily) the appetite for other people’s money.
Check out this awesome video of State Rep. Pat Garofalo (R – Farmington) calling out the DFL for their cynical and childish actions.
https://twitter.com/mnhousegop/status/1255559142225465347
He notes, “Part of me wants to grab this laptop … and say ‘DFL, pay attention. We don’t have any money. We’re broke.”
Indeed.
SHUT-DOWN PORN
It’s rather astonishing to see the way in which the COVID situation has become partisan and ideological.
Polling and some everyday experience show that one’s view of the response to the virus is very much influenced by that person’s political views.
In short, liberals love the heavy hand of government “protecting” them from a virus that continues to look less lethal and less virulent by the day.
They cheer for the president to fail, not understanding that his failures – and triumphs – are our failures and triumphs. They’re the country’s failures and triumphs.
They cheer the shut down and failure of businesses as they see it as some sort of blow against rapacious capitalism.
They see heavy-handed shelter in place orders as a way to shackle the right-wing people with whom they disagree and as a convenient way to avoid facing a tough situation.
We see social media filled with invective, wishing harm and even death to those who don’t follow the orthodoxy to the letter, such as not walking six feet apart, even with a spouse.
They refuse to apply a modicum of critical thinking to the governor’s actions.
The simple fact is that the modeling upon which the governor is basing his executive fiats is absolutely flawed. His modeling is wrong.
It’s nothing short of gratuitous satisfaction from both the virus and the heavy-handed governmental decisions stemming from it.
It’s “shut-down porn” and it says much about those who enjoy it.
April 24, 2020
Quote of the Week: "[Americans] know this is a result of the virus that originated in Wuhan, China, and they know the Chinese government didn't do the things it needed to do. There will be a cost associated with that, we need to focus on here and now and there will be a time to make sure that we get this right, to make sure we are not dependent on China for our pharmaceutical goods and all the things we have seen that we just didn't have right and that President Trump identified early on as things we needed to fix in the relationship between the United States and China.”
In This Issue:
SUPREME COURT NEWS
With the Invisible Enemy dominating the news these days, one can lose sight of other important developments, which remind us that even in light of a pandemic, life goes on in many respects.
You probably weren’t paying attention when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Ramos v. Louisiana.
The case was seminal in a couple of respects.
First, the decision affirmed that the Sixth Amendment requires a unanimous jury to convict a defendant of serious, felony-level crimes.
Both Louisiana and Oregon were the only two states that allowed conviction in the absence of a unanimous jury verdict.
The opinion, a 6-3 decision, was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Justice Brett Kavanuagh, among others.
This is notable because these two Trump appointees, especially Kavanaugh, were savaged for their supposedly totalitarian judicial views and thus their lack of fitness to serve on the High Court.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Chuck Shumer, Amy Klobuchar and others to praise their jurisprudence.
The requirement of a unanimous jury to convict goes back to English common law and was well-settled law in the United States until civil rights were conferred on certain groups.
Laws such as the ability to convict with less than a unanimous jury were vestiges of Jim Crow laws passed in response.
More importantly, the decision overturned judicial precedence supporting partial jury verdicts.
This deference to previous decisions, is called the Doctrine of Precedence, or by its Latin name, Stare Decisis.
Some liberals are now freaking out because the decision can be seen as the Court’s signaling that it won’t be as respectful of precedence as earlier justices.
Think about wrongly decided laws like Roe v. Wade, made-up law that discovered a hidden right to an abortion in the Constitution, despite utterly no language in the document referencing abortion or any history at all indicating that the Framers ever considered or debated the role of abortion in American life when they wrote the Constitution.
Maybe that decision and others will be sometime soon reconsidered.
We can only hope.
COVID CAPERS
While this publication admits to a bit of COVID fatigue, it’s still definitely news.
The diversity of policy regarding shut downs and re-opening the various state economies is a good thing in many respects.
In a world that has shown so much disrespect to our political institutions, this diversity honors the important concept of federalism.
The president is right in respecting the 50 chief executives in determining what is right for their state.
The situation in Wyoming is far different than the situation in New York.
In other words, federalism is the right solution here.
This is especially true since much isn’t known regarding the behavior of COVID-19.
Clearly, some states will get it right and some won’t when it comes to responding to the virus.
Here, the 50 “laboratories of democracy” should be allowed to try the policies they deem most appropriate for their state.
All of these policies, however, are subject to constitutional limits, both federal and state.
Pandemic or not, constitutional rights remain at all times and a virus can’t change that.
Allowing such a state of affairs is exactly what our Framers intended to avoid.
Moreover, this issue is certainly taking on a partisan and ideological patina, whereby red states are tending to take a more liberal approach to opening their economies while blue states are enjoying trammeling civil liberties, hiding in basements, and otherwise emulating their totalitarian heroes in other nations.
In an atmosphere that has shown so much disrespect for history, rights and privileges, let federalism reign.
Quote of the Week: "[Americans] know this is a result of the virus that originated in Wuhan, China, and they know the Chinese government didn't do the things it needed to do. There will be a cost associated with that, we need to focus on here and now and there will be a time to make sure that we get this right, to make sure we are not dependent on China for our pharmaceutical goods and all the things we have seen that we just didn't have right and that President Trump identified early on as things we needed to fix in the relationship between the United States and China.”
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
In This Issue:
- Supreme Court News;
- COVID Capers.
SUPREME COURT NEWS
With the Invisible Enemy dominating the news these days, one can lose sight of other important developments, which remind us that even in light of a pandemic, life goes on in many respects.
You probably weren’t paying attention when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Ramos v. Louisiana.
The case was seminal in a couple of respects.
First, the decision affirmed that the Sixth Amendment requires a unanimous jury to convict a defendant of serious, felony-level crimes.
Both Louisiana and Oregon were the only two states that allowed conviction in the absence of a unanimous jury verdict.
The opinion, a 6-3 decision, was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Justice Brett Kavanuagh, among others.
This is notable because these two Trump appointees, especially Kavanaugh, were savaged for their supposedly totalitarian judicial views and thus their lack of fitness to serve on the High Court.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Chuck Shumer, Amy Klobuchar and others to praise their jurisprudence.
The requirement of a unanimous jury to convict goes back to English common law and was well-settled law in the United States until civil rights were conferred on certain groups.
Laws such as the ability to convict with less than a unanimous jury were vestiges of Jim Crow laws passed in response.
More importantly, the decision overturned judicial precedence supporting partial jury verdicts.
This deference to previous decisions, is called the Doctrine of Precedence, or by its Latin name, Stare Decisis.
Some liberals are now freaking out because the decision can be seen as the Court’s signaling that it won’t be as respectful of precedence as earlier justices.
Think about wrongly decided laws like Roe v. Wade, made-up law that discovered a hidden right to an abortion in the Constitution, despite utterly no language in the document referencing abortion or any history at all indicating that the Framers ever considered or debated the role of abortion in American life when they wrote the Constitution.
Maybe that decision and others will be sometime soon reconsidered.
We can only hope.
COVID CAPERS
While this publication admits to a bit of COVID fatigue, it’s still definitely news.
The diversity of policy regarding shut downs and re-opening the various state economies is a good thing in many respects.
In a world that has shown so much disrespect to our political institutions, this diversity honors the important concept of federalism.
The president is right in respecting the 50 chief executives in determining what is right for their state.
The situation in Wyoming is far different than the situation in New York.
In other words, federalism is the right solution here.
This is especially true since much isn’t known regarding the behavior of COVID-19.
Clearly, some states will get it right and some won’t when it comes to responding to the virus.
Here, the 50 “laboratories of democracy” should be allowed to try the policies they deem most appropriate for their state.
All of these policies, however, are subject to constitutional limits, both federal and state.
Pandemic or not, constitutional rights remain at all times and a virus can’t change that.
Allowing such a state of affairs is exactly what our Framers intended to avoid.
Moreover, this issue is certainly taking on a partisan and ideological patina, whereby red states are tending to take a more liberal approach to opening their economies while blue states are enjoying trammeling civil liberties, hiding in basements, and otherwise emulating their totalitarian heroes in other nations.
In an atmosphere that has shown so much disrespect for history, rights and privileges, let federalism reign.
April 17, 2020
Quote of the Week: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”
Quote of the Week: “The economy is clearly in ruins here.”
Factoid of the Week: March retail sales fell 8.7%, the most ever in government data, and New York regional manufacturing activity hit an all-time low, declining to a shocking negative 78.2%. Industrial production slipped 5.4%, the largest decline since 1946, and manufacturing was down 6.3%, a record reflecting in part the 28% decline in auto production as plants shut down.
In This Issue:
FUZZY MATH
As Minnesota’s economy craters (along with the national economy) and the numbers rival those of the Great Depression, it’s time for our elected leaders to acknowledge that two things are becoming very apparent.
First, the modeling upon which the decisions to shut down the economy were based are wrong.
Second, the damage to the economy is therefore far worse than the damage caused by the virus.
Consider for a moment Minnesota’s COVID-19 modeling, which was finally revealed to the public just last week.
While the model presentation consisted of some 28 Power Point slides, just one of those slides is telling.
In presenting various scenarios, the one that considered the most draconian of shut down orders still predicted a peak demand of 3,700 Intensive Care Unit beds and 22,000 deaths at the peak, predicted July 13th.
Thus far, ICU demand has never topped just over 100 beds.
The worst death toll for a single day thus far has been 11.
While these are surely welcome numbers, it strains credulity to believe that a trend line could develop over the next 80-odd days to raise ICU demand and mortality rates exponentially.
Thus far, the cumulative death toll stands at less than 100 (94). Also, don’t forget that even this number may over-count the mortality number, as Minnesota has instructed physicians to count any person diagnosed with COVID-19 at the time of death to be a COVID-caused fatality, even though an underlying condition may have been the cause.
In any case, it’s hard for any rational person to believe the model the governor is using is at all accurate.
While the reasons for the inaccuracy is the subject of speculation, some possible reasons are emerging.
First, COVID-19 is likely far less lethal than thought. Given the lack of testing and prevalence of asymptomatic cases, it is likely that far more people are/were infected with COVID-19 than known, meaning that the percentage of infected people needing hospitalization and those who have died is a far lower percentage than what is known and what is modeled.
Moreover, evidence is emerging that the virus was present in America far earlier than first thought.
Second, it appears that COVID-19 is a rather discriminatory virus. Those who are elderly, have underlying health conditions (especially heart disease or hypertension), and those who are fat are special risk.
Given all of this, the governor should be encouraged to admit that the model is likely very inaccurate.
It’s time to recalibrate the model and time to get smarter and more nuanced regarding the response, starting with opening more of the economy and tailoring restrictions based on demographic factors.
One size does not fit all.
Finally, it’s high time the modeling and statistics also start counting the collateral damage from the shutdown. The suicides, deaths from medical treatment delayed or deferred, damage to domestic partners and children unable to escape abusive relationships should all be counted and acknowledged.
COMPASSION
It’s bitterly ironic to consider the large number of politicians who pay lip service to the economic carnage visited by the shut down orders yet steadfastly hold to the status quo.
These politicians should lead by example and forgo their government pay and benefits during pandemic.
Every politician and bureaucrat who grabs a microphone to extoll the benefits of the quarantine and the necessary damage it inflicts should share in that pain.
House DFL Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is chief among those advocates for a shut down. To this publication’s knowledge, he is still collecting full legislative pay and benefits.
So is every other House DFL member who voted against lifting the peacetime emergency, to the best of our knowledge.
The governor and certain of his staff have taken a 10% pay cut.
If they all suffered a 100% pay cut and lived the life so many of their constituents are living right now, you can bet there would be far more sympathy and far more action regarding the 460,000 Minnesotans out of work and the thousands of businesses who have closed their doors, many to never open again.
KUDOS TO JIM ABELER
Loyal readers know that state Senator Jim Abeler (R – Anoka) has been a target at time for this publication’s criticism and disapprobation.
Loyal readers also know that the Watchdog gives credit wherever it is due.
Abeler deserves high praise for his powerful floor speech this week in favor of opening business and relieving the crushing burden Minnesota’s job creators are facing.
The floor speech is as follows:
Mr. President, Members, and Governor Walz,
I have the privilege of standing in this historic chamber doing my best to make a difference the people who rely on me. It is an honor and a very high responsibility.
This is a very difficult speech to give.
I have two important points to make.
First, I am critically concerned about the what is happening to Main Street and side street families and the livelihoods of those who are suddenly forbidden to work and can’t even get their boat out of storage or dock installed.
This is not a partisan debate, even though some would attempt to paint it so. A number of DFL legislators have publicly or privately agreed with me. As you know, there is great political pressure for members of any governor’s party to quietly "support their governor" even when they strongly disagree. This is how it is in both parties, unfortunately.
Governor, as you began your term I told you I would work with you to help Minnesota. Please consider my comments as candid words from a friend.
I suggest a new doctrine to guide the reopening of Minnesota. Constrained optimization. Constrained optimization.
Start reopening small and safe places and then go bigger. And begin today.
Minnesota families are interested in the safety of their neighbors and their town. They are deeply frightened about Covid-19 for their elders, their families, and themselves. And it shows.
They are good people. They care about Minnesota as much as you do. These are the locals who contribute to the middle school girl’s softball team. The ones who always give a door prize for the church bazaar. The Rotarians who always seek to help others. The people who make me proud to know them.
They have been shocked with the dozens of executive orders that have rained down over the past few weeks. They were stunned when their safe workplace was ordered locked.
Had they been asked, given the gravity of this situation, they would have stayed home, instead of needing the threat of a thousand dollar fine and prison. Had they been asked, they would have made heroic efforts to make their small business very safe for their fellow townspeople. They would have likely come up with ideas nobody in government has thought of even yet.
Your own modeling shows that we are well ahead of earlier grave projections. We have flattened the curve and built capacity to cover health care needs of the emergency we are facing together.
However, those gains could have happened without great personal expense for so many. There has been very much needless collateral damage inflicted on those who were already extremely low risk.
My Main Street is dying. It’s little mom and pop stores aren’t powerful corporations. They can’t pay their bills. My Anoka Chamber President tells me that time is running out for these businesses to survive.
In these executive orders they are being cast off like chaff.
Reopening Anoka’s automated car wash will add no deaths. Reopening Anoka’s Greenhaven unmanned golf course will endanger nobody. Allowing the local shoe and clothing stores to reopen is at least as safe as WalMart.
There should be simple guidelines that they can follow, and they are poised to do that.
No lives will be sacrificed to accomplish this. Allowing these re-openings is consistent with epidemiologist Mike Osterholm's views that we have to find a way to resume some semblance of normalcy while Covid-19 is still around. I agree with him.
My townspeople are going to continue social distancing even after the executive order expires. They will follow safe guidelines and the vulnerable people will say home.
The next state budget forecast will predict a huge devastating deficit. My personal estimate is at least $5 billion deficit. If we stay closed unnecessarily long, the deficit will be greater. We are going to need these good Minnesotans to be part of the recovery and rebuilding.
Please let them work. Constrained optimization. Start small and safe today.
My second point is why are we here? Our legislative process is decidedly broken.
The opaque method that brought this bill to the Senate Floor is too common of a practice. It is not good for Minnesota. This also happened just two weeks ago, last year, and in 2018. This dangerous pattern must be broken.
And specific to this bill, it adds to the centralization of power. I have a lot of respect for Commissioner Malcolm. However, we are awarding her the authority to suspend all or parts of 20 chapters of law including quarantine protections, without legislative approval. It is too much power for any one person.
It is time to return to the separation of powers that has made Minnesota so great for over 160 years. A thoughtful, collaborative Governor. An inclusive legislature. A transparent process that includes the people we represent.
At the train crossing by my house, there are two red lights that flash when the train comes. Governor Walz visited there last year. We know to stop when those lights flash.
Hopefully my red light on the board today will warn Minnesota that we need to do better.
Governor Walz, let’s start today on constrained optimization. Colleagues, lets commit to a more open process. On both matters, Minnesota will be the winner.
Quote of the Week: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”
- Thomas Sowell
Quote of the Week: “The economy is clearly in ruins here.”
- Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist, MUFG Union Bank
Factoid of the Week: March retail sales fell 8.7%, the most ever in government data, and New York regional manufacturing activity hit an all-time low, declining to a shocking negative 78.2%. Industrial production slipped 5.4%, the largest decline since 1946, and manufacturing was down 6.3%, a record reflecting in part the 28% decline in auto production as plants shut down.
- From CNBC
In This Issue:
- Fuzzy Math;
- Compassion;
- Kudos to Jim Abeler.
FUZZY MATH
As Minnesota’s economy craters (along with the national economy) and the numbers rival those of the Great Depression, it’s time for our elected leaders to acknowledge that two things are becoming very apparent.
First, the modeling upon which the decisions to shut down the economy were based are wrong.
Second, the damage to the economy is therefore far worse than the damage caused by the virus.
Consider for a moment Minnesota’s COVID-19 modeling, which was finally revealed to the public just last week.
While the model presentation consisted of some 28 Power Point slides, just one of those slides is telling.
In presenting various scenarios, the one that considered the most draconian of shut down orders still predicted a peak demand of 3,700 Intensive Care Unit beds and 22,000 deaths at the peak, predicted July 13th.
Thus far, ICU demand has never topped just over 100 beds.
The worst death toll for a single day thus far has been 11.
While these are surely welcome numbers, it strains credulity to believe that a trend line could develop over the next 80-odd days to raise ICU demand and mortality rates exponentially.
Thus far, the cumulative death toll stands at less than 100 (94). Also, don’t forget that even this number may over-count the mortality number, as Minnesota has instructed physicians to count any person diagnosed with COVID-19 at the time of death to be a COVID-caused fatality, even though an underlying condition may have been the cause.
In any case, it’s hard for any rational person to believe the model the governor is using is at all accurate.
While the reasons for the inaccuracy is the subject of speculation, some possible reasons are emerging.
First, COVID-19 is likely far less lethal than thought. Given the lack of testing and prevalence of asymptomatic cases, it is likely that far more people are/were infected with COVID-19 than known, meaning that the percentage of infected people needing hospitalization and those who have died is a far lower percentage than what is known and what is modeled.
Moreover, evidence is emerging that the virus was present in America far earlier than first thought.
Second, it appears that COVID-19 is a rather discriminatory virus. Those who are elderly, have underlying health conditions (especially heart disease or hypertension), and those who are fat are special risk.
Given all of this, the governor should be encouraged to admit that the model is likely very inaccurate.
It’s time to recalibrate the model and time to get smarter and more nuanced regarding the response, starting with opening more of the economy and tailoring restrictions based on demographic factors.
One size does not fit all.
Finally, it’s high time the modeling and statistics also start counting the collateral damage from the shutdown. The suicides, deaths from medical treatment delayed or deferred, damage to domestic partners and children unable to escape abusive relationships should all be counted and acknowledged.
COMPASSION
It’s bitterly ironic to consider the large number of politicians who pay lip service to the economic carnage visited by the shut down orders yet steadfastly hold to the status quo.
These politicians should lead by example and forgo their government pay and benefits during pandemic.
Every politician and bureaucrat who grabs a microphone to extoll the benefits of the quarantine and the necessary damage it inflicts should share in that pain.
House DFL Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is chief among those advocates for a shut down. To this publication’s knowledge, he is still collecting full legislative pay and benefits.
So is every other House DFL member who voted against lifting the peacetime emergency, to the best of our knowledge.
The governor and certain of his staff have taken a 10% pay cut.
If they all suffered a 100% pay cut and lived the life so many of their constituents are living right now, you can bet there would be far more sympathy and far more action regarding the 460,000 Minnesotans out of work and the thousands of businesses who have closed their doors, many to never open again.
KUDOS TO JIM ABELER
Loyal readers know that state Senator Jim Abeler (R – Anoka) has been a target at time for this publication’s criticism and disapprobation.
Loyal readers also know that the Watchdog gives credit wherever it is due.
Abeler deserves high praise for his powerful floor speech this week in favor of opening business and relieving the crushing burden Minnesota’s job creators are facing.
The floor speech is as follows:
Mr. President, Members, and Governor Walz,
I have the privilege of standing in this historic chamber doing my best to make a difference the people who rely on me. It is an honor and a very high responsibility.
This is a very difficult speech to give.
I have two important points to make.
First, I am critically concerned about the what is happening to Main Street and side street families and the livelihoods of those who are suddenly forbidden to work and can’t even get their boat out of storage or dock installed.
This is not a partisan debate, even though some would attempt to paint it so. A number of DFL legislators have publicly or privately agreed with me. As you know, there is great political pressure for members of any governor’s party to quietly "support their governor" even when they strongly disagree. This is how it is in both parties, unfortunately.
Governor, as you began your term I told you I would work with you to help Minnesota. Please consider my comments as candid words from a friend.
I suggest a new doctrine to guide the reopening of Minnesota. Constrained optimization. Constrained optimization.
Start reopening small and safe places and then go bigger. And begin today.
Minnesota families are interested in the safety of their neighbors and their town. They are deeply frightened about Covid-19 for their elders, their families, and themselves. And it shows.
They are good people. They care about Minnesota as much as you do. These are the locals who contribute to the middle school girl’s softball team. The ones who always give a door prize for the church bazaar. The Rotarians who always seek to help others. The people who make me proud to know them.
They have been shocked with the dozens of executive orders that have rained down over the past few weeks. They were stunned when their safe workplace was ordered locked.
Had they been asked, given the gravity of this situation, they would have stayed home, instead of needing the threat of a thousand dollar fine and prison. Had they been asked, they would have made heroic efforts to make their small business very safe for their fellow townspeople. They would have likely come up with ideas nobody in government has thought of even yet.
Your own modeling shows that we are well ahead of earlier grave projections. We have flattened the curve and built capacity to cover health care needs of the emergency we are facing together.
However, those gains could have happened without great personal expense for so many. There has been very much needless collateral damage inflicted on those who were already extremely low risk.
My Main Street is dying. It’s little mom and pop stores aren’t powerful corporations. They can’t pay their bills. My Anoka Chamber President tells me that time is running out for these businesses to survive.
In these executive orders they are being cast off like chaff.
Reopening Anoka’s automated car wash will add no deaths. Reopening Anoka’s Greenhaven unmanned golf course will endanger nobody. Allowing the local shoe and clothing stores to reopen is at least as safe as WalMart.
There should be simple guidelines that they can follow, and they are poised to do that.
No lives will be sacrificed to accomplish this. Allowing these re-openings is consistent with epidemiologist Mike Osterholm's views that we have to find a way to resume some semblance of normalcy while Covid-19 is still around. I agree with him.
My townspeople are going to continue social distancing even after the executive order expires. They will follow safe guidelines and the vulnerable people will say home.
The next state budget forecast will predict a huge devastating deficit. My personal estimate is at least $5 billion deficit. If we stay closed unnecessarily long, the deficit will be greater. We are going to need these good Minnesotans to be part of the recovery and rebuilding.
Please let them work. Constrained optimization. Start small and safe today.
My second point is why are we here? Our legislative process is decidedly broken.
The opaque method that brought this bill to the Senate Floor is too common of a practice. It is not good for Minnesota. This also happened just two weeks ago, last year, and in 2018. This dangerous pattern must be broken.
And specific to this bill, it adds to the centralization of power. I have a lot of respect for Commissioner Malcolm. However, we are awarding her the authority to suspend all or parts of 20 chapters of law including quarantine protections, without legislative approval. It is too much power for any one person.
It is time to return to the separation of powers that has made Minnesota so great for over 160 years. A thoughtful, collaborative Governor. An inclusive legislature. A transparent process that includes the people we represent.
At the train crossing by my house, there are two red lights that flash when the train comes. Governor Walz visited there last year. We know to stop when those lights flash.
Hopefully my red light on the board today will warn Minnesota that we need to do better.
Governor Walz, let’s start today on constrained optimization. Colleagues, lets commit to a more open process. On both matters, Minnesota will be the winner.
April 10th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump’s instincts have been far superior to the mass of government health care professionals who, to varying degrees, seem to have either their own agenda, were ill-prepared, or were trapped in a bureaucratic mindset that prevented them from addressing the crisis. This matters because we are about to engage in a full-throated debate over when to re-open the U.S. economy.”
Quote of the Week: “We have waterboarded the American economy.”
In This Issue:
A CLASS ACT
House DFL Majority Leader Ryan Winkler clearly lacks the judgment and maturity to serve as both a leader and a legislator.
Readers will recall Winkler hurling a vicious racial epithet against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his opinion in a case regarding voting rights.
Winkler tweeted, "VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas."
After a torrent of criticism, Winkler implausibly claimed he didn’t know that “Uncle Tom” was a racial epithet. This, despite his Harvard Yard pedigree and law training at the University of Minnesota.
When that didn’t work, Winkler offered a classic non-apology apology. He stated, "I didn't think it was offensive to suggest that Justice Thomas should be even more concerned about racial discrimination than colleagues, but if such a suggestion is offensive, I apologize."
This week Winkler reminded citizens of his immaturity, impulsiveness, and rank partisanship in the face of pandemic when he was caught on camera flipping off a fellow legislator while that legislator was addressing the media regarding the insulin issue.
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/1247604989389754368
As is his apparent modus operandi, the majority leader issued the ol’ non-apology apology. “My son has Type 1 diabetes. It was poor form to express myself as I did, and for that I am sorry. But after months in which Senate Republicans blocked the emergency insulin bill, it was also poor form of them to claim credit alone after we are all on the edge of a deal,” he wrote on Twitter.
The popular and operative phrase here is “There, fixed it for you.”
“My son has Type 1 diabetes. It was poor form to express myself as I did, and for that I am sorry. But after months in which Senate Republicans blocked the emergency insulin bill, it was also poor form of them to claim credit alone after we are all on the edge of a deal.”
A class act indeed.
COVIDiocy
There can be no doubt that rational, critical thinking Americans will look back at the economic, social, psychological, emotional, cultural, and institutional damage caused by the governmental response to COVID-19 and truly weep for our country.
In particular, those rational thinkers will first condemn the harmful policies that were promulgated based on deeply flawed “models” of the pandemic, which is a charitable description of the guesswork that drove policies that cratered the economy, shuttered businesses, killed jobs, isolated people, ruined countless life milestones, and broke apart families.
Don’t you wish you had a job where you could be wrong by exponential factors and still be seen as an “expert” who dictated the behavior of millions?
These so-called experts make weather forecasters and stock market analysts look like soothsayers.
Every day, we see these models consistently revised downward, with dire predictions scaled back exponentially.
We see wildly divergent data points, such as the peak infection hitting anytime between tomorrow and December 31st.
Yes, COVID-19 is serious and it’s deadly.
But so is the flu, which kills upwards of 60,000 Americans every year.
So are automobiles, which kill about 40,000 Americans every year.
How about heart disease? 630,000 Americans killed last year.
Do we shut down the economy, trammel constitutional rights, and shatter American life in the name “flattening the curve” regarding those killers?
Of course not. We encourage flu shots for the flu. We encourage people to eat well, exercise, and refrain from smoking to encourage good heart health. We mandate seat belts and criminalize drunk driving, speeding, and distracted driving to reduce road deaths.
Here in Minnesota, the COVIDiocy is running rampant as well.
The governor has issued the all-too-familiar panoply of executive orders shutting businesses and forcing people to live under what is essentially house arrest.
He has said many times his decision making is guided by one of these “models” that are all the rage.
Yet he has thus far declined to share the nuts and bolts of the model with the public, so citizens and interested parties can make their own decisions regarding the value and accuracy of the all-knowing, all-being Model.
The other true COVIDiocy here in Minnesota is the state’s tattle tale line, where busybodies can narc out their neighbors for alleged violations of the executive orders that have supplanted the rule of law.
Too many people in your neighbor’s garage? Call the line.
See your neighbor too close to his wife on a walk? Call the line.
See someone buying more tee pee than they need ? Call the line.
It’s a liberal’s dream, the ability to spy on your neighbor and use the power of government to compel them to act the way you want.
It’s like a campus speech code on steroids.
As Frank Costanza once said, “serenity now!”
A RAY OF HOPE
One silver lining in the dark cloud of pandemic is the Trump administration’s waiving of bureaucratic rules and red tape that delayed the response to COVID-19 and have hampered efforts to fight it.
Americans for Tax Reform has listed 200 of these rules that have been pushed aside. Hopefully, many of them won’t come back, having been shown to do nothing but impede the private sector and act as a detriment to the pursuit of prosperity.
You can read the list here:
https://www.atr.org/rules
Defend your God-given rights, Watchdogs.
Quote of the Week: “Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump’s instincts have been far superior to the mass of government health care professionals who, to varying degrees, seem to have either their own agenda, were ill-prepared, or were trapped in a bureaucratic mindset that prevented them from addressing the crisis. This matters because we are about to engage in a full-throated debate over when to re-open the U.S. economy.”
- Brian T. Kennedy
Quote of the Week: “We have waterboarded the American economy.”
- Sen. John Kennedy (R – LA)
In This Issue:
- A Class Act;
- COVIDiocy;
- A Ray of Hope.
A CLASS ACT
House DFL Majority Leader Ryan Winkler clearly lacks the judgment and maturity to serve as both a leader and a legislator.
Readers will recall Winkler hurling a vicious racial epithet against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his opinion in a case regarding voting rights.
Winkler tweeted, "VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas."
After a torrent of criticism, Winkler implausibly claimed he didn’t know that “Uncle Tom” was a racial epithet. This, despite his Harvard Yard pedigree and law training at the University of Minnesota.
When that didn’t work, Winkler offered a classic non-apology apology. He stated, "I didn't think it was offensive to suggest that Justice Thomas should be even more concerned about racial discrimination than colleagues, but if such a suggestion is offensive, I apologize."
This week Winkler reminded citizens of his immaturity, impulsiveness, and rank partisanship in the face of pandemic when he was caught on camera flipping off a fellow legislator while that legislator was addressing the media regarding the insulin issue.
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/1247604989389754368
As is his apparent modus operandi, the majority leader issued the ol’ non-apology apology. “My son has Type 1 diabetes. It was poor form to express myself as I did, and for that I am sorry. But after months in which Senate Republicans blocked the emergency insulin bill, it was also poor form of them to claim credit alone after we are all on the edge of a deal,” he wrote on Twitter.
The popular and operative phrase here is “There, fixed it for you.”
“My son has Type 1 diabetes. It was poor form to express myself as I did, and for that I am sorry. But after months in which Senate Republicans blocked the emergency insulin bill, it was also poor form of them to claim credit alone after we are all on the edge of a deal.”
A class act indeed.
COVIDiocy
There can be no doubt that rational, critical thinking Americans will look back at the economic, social, psychological, emotional, cultural, and institutional damage caused by the governmental response to COVID-19 and truly weep for our country.
In particular, those rational thinkers will first condemn the harmful policies that were promulgated based on deeply flawed “models” of the pandemic, which is a charitable description of the guesswork that drove policies that cratered the economy, shuttered businesses, killed jobs, isolated people, ruined countless life milestones, and broke apart families.
Don’t you wish you had a job where you could be wrong by exponential factors and still be seen as an “expert” who dictated the behavior of millions?
These so-called experts make weather forecasters and stock market analysts look like soothsayers.
Every day, we see these models consistently revised downward, with dire predictions scaled back exponentially.
We see wildly divergent data points, such as the peak infection hitting anytime between tomorrow and December 31st.
Yes, COVID-19 is serious and it’s deadly.
But so is the flu, which kills upwards of 60,000 Americans every year.
So are automobiles, which kill about 40,000 Americans every year.
How about heart disease? 630,000 Americans killed last year.
Do we shut down the economy, trammel constitutional rights, and shatter American life in the name “flattening the curve” regarding those killers?
Of course not. We encourage flu shots for the flu. We encourage people to eat well, exercise, and refrain from smoking to encourage good heart health. We mandate seat belts and criminalize drunk driving, speeding, and distracted driving to reduce road deaths.
Here in Minnesota, the COVIDiocy is running rampant as well.
The governor has issued the all-too-familiar panoply of executive orders shutting businesses and forcing people to live under what is essentially house arrest.
He has said many times his decision making is guided by one of these “models” that are all the rage.
Yet he has thus far declined to share the nuts and bolts of the model with the public, so citizens and interested parties can make their own decisions regarding the value and accuracy of the all-knowing, all-being Model.
The other true COVIDiocy here in Minnesota is the state’s tattle tale line, where busybodies can narc out their neighbors for alleged violations of the executive orders that have supplanted the rule of law.
Too many people in your neighbor’s garage? Call the line.
See your neighbor too close to his wife on a walk? Call the line.
See someone buying more tee pee than they need ? Call the line.
It’s a liberal’s dream, the ability to spy on your neighbor and use the power of government to compel them to act the way you want.
It’s like a campus speech code on steroids.
As Frank Costanza once said, “serenity now!”
A RAY OF HOPE
One silver lining in the dark cloud of pandemic is the Trump administration’s waiving of bureaucratic rules and red tape that delayed the response to COVID-19 and have hampered efforts to fight it.
Americans for Tax Reform has listed 200 of these rules that have been pushed aside. Hopefully, many of them won’t come back, having been shown to do nothing but impede the private sector and act as a detriment to the pursuit of prosperity.
You can read the list here:
https://www.atr.org/rules
Defend your God-given rights, Watchdogs.
April 3rd, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I’ve looked at all the models. I’ve spent a lot of time on the models. They don’t tell you anything. You can’t really rely upon models.”
In This Issue:
I WAS TOLD THERE WOULD BE NO MATH
Or, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. America is sadly a math-challenged country that is relying on some very fuzzy math to craft everything from governmental policy to individual decisions regarding the Chinese Virus.
The media is filled on a daily basis with bold headlines touting some horrific number of people who “could” die from COVID-19, sparking concern and clickbait for the failing and dying mainstream media.
Millions have become addicted to the latest “sick models” or “death models” that are supposed to tell us how many will get sick or die unless we hide under our kitchen tables and put our lives on hold.
These models are essentially worthless as tools of public policy, points of information, or any sort of guide regarding how to conduct oneself during this pandemic.
At best, these models are fatally flawed. At worst, they are tools of propaganda, designed to grab headlines and focus attention on personalities seeking to build their profiles and profit from pandemic.
In fact, many of these models have already been debunked, including the infamous College of London model that predicted over 1 million American deaths.
Here in Minnesota, Governor Walz publicly declared that his model of choice, from the University of Minnesota, predicted 74,000 deaths in Minnesota if we all failed to heed his executive orders closing businesses, killing jobs, and destroying civil liberties.
Think about it. Does it make sense, on its face, that COVID-19 would kill more Minnesotans – thousands more – than entire number of American combat fatalities in the entire Vietnam conflict?
Does it make sense that twice as many Minnesotans will die from COVID-19 without mitigation measures than the number of Americans killed in car accidents every year?
At a minimum, the governor should release the entirety of the model so those who think critically can evaluate the model. It’s probably too much to ask the media to do the same.
The problem with these models is that they are by definition supported by assumptions – educated guesses.
All models contain assumptions. The real question is both quantitative and qualitative.
How many assumptions?
How valid are the assumptions?
With COVID-19, there are so many critical unknown aspects of the virus that it makes it difficult to craft a reliable model.
Science simply doesn’t know enough about the virus to craft meaningful assumptions that result in reasonable, reliable models.
This doesn’t mean that the virus isn’t serious and that government shouldn’t create policy to fight it.
What is does mean is that we would all benefit from moving away from these models as the foundation of both policy decisions and decisions for daily life under the pandemic.
Our governmental leaders would be better served by crafting and sharing with citizens their strategic plan regarding this public health emergency.
What is the exit strategy? When will life return to normal? What metrics will be used to determine when various mitigation measures can be dialed back or eliminated?
So far, we have been fed little more than aspirational calendar dates that might maybe possibly could be the time when we can regain our civil liberties and right to earn a living.
It’s time to start asking questions.
THE FUNDAMENTAL RISKS
While the pandemic has rightly drawn serious attention, citizens shouldn’t take their eye off the other potential risks of this pandemic – primarily the undermining of the fundamental civil liberties and other American values like free enterprise.
The scope of governmental control and intrusion on our lives is breathtaking.
Orders to stay inside. Orders to close private commerce. Fines and arrests. High tech tracking through Big Data.
A related issue is the lack of transparency in government policy making. Laws and rules seem to spring forth on an almost daily basis, completely lacking committee hearings, public comment, and the transparency and input that is a hallmark of American legislating.
The other important issue is capitalism. While there is no doubt that many jobs and businesses are severely hurting, that hasn’t stopped every business in America, especially politically sophisticated corporations, from rushing to rent seek and get piece of the money pie whether they need it or not.
It seems many corporations are proudly capitalist when they’re making money and quietly socialist when things get tough.
There is a real moral hazard for both individuals and businesses.
There are people who lost their jobs who also made no effort to save money for a rainy day.
There are businesses that probably shouldn’t be saved because they weren’t efficient to start.
In short, there is a danger that these trillion-dollar largesse packages do little more than bailout and protect some people and some businesses that don’t deserve it.
That’s the hard truth.
SNITCH LINE
While perhaps not an existential threat to liberty, Minnesota’s “snitch line” is surely emblematic of the problems inherent in tamping down Minnesota society.
Basically, the state has set up a phone line where busybody citizens can snitch on neighbors who don’t follow the rules promulgated under the pandemic. These sins could include venturing outside for the wrong reasons, failing to maintain social distancing when getting the mail, or buying more teepee than you need at Cub.
What a joke.
CHINA
The primary lesson of this pandemic is that the world’s reliance on China for cheap labor, critical supply chain functions, and a massive consumer market to peddle goods and services is misplaced.
The world is learning that China is a communist country, and is thus an authoritarian, oppressive regime that doesn’t abide my international norms.
China doesn’t respect human rights. China doesn’t value human rights nor human life. China doesn’t respect the rule of law and engages in industrial espionage and the theft of intellectual property on a massive scale. China is a belligerent power seeking to impose its will on neighbors through military intimidation.
That America and other first world countries empower China through selling sovereign debt and trusting the Chinese to control key aspects of supply and production chains is dangerous.
The West rightly didn’t house weapons production in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Putting our economy in the hands of the communist Chinese is just as insane.
It’s time for G20 countries to demand that China abide by international norms or become a pariah.
Quote of the Week: “I’ve looked at all the models. I’ve spent a lot of time on the models. They don’t tell you anything. You can’t really rely upon models.”
- Dr. Anthony Fauci
In This Issue:
- I Was Told There Would be No Math;
- The Fundamental Risks;
- Snitch Line;
- China.
I WAS TOLD THERE WOULD BE NO MATH
Or, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. America is sadly a math-challenged country that is relying on some very fuzzy math to craft everything from governmental policy to individual decisions regarding the Chinese Virus.
The media is filled on a daily basis with bold headlines touting some horrific number of people who “could” die from COVID-19, sparking concern and clickbait for the failing and dying mainstream media.
Millions have become addicted to the latest “sick models” or “death models” that are supposed to tell us how many will get sick or die unless we hide under our kitchen tables and put our lives on hold.
These models are essentially worthless as tools of public policy, points of information, or any sort of guide regarding how to conduct oneself during this pandemic.
At best, these models are fatally flawed. At worst, they are tools of propaganda, designed to grab headlines and focus attention on personalities seeking to build their profiles and profit from pandemic.
In fact, many of these models have already been debunked, including the infamous College of London model that predicted over 1 million American deaths.
Here in Minnesota, Governor Walz publicly declared that his model of choice, from the University of Minnesota, predicted 74,000 deaths in Minnesota if we all failed to heed his executive orders closing businesses, killing jobs, and destroying civil liberties.
Think about it. Does it make sense, on its face, that COVID-19 would kill more Minnesotans – thousands more – than entire number of American combat fatalities in the entire Vietnam conflict?
Does it make sense that twice as many Minnesotans will die from COVID-19 without mitigation measures than the number of Americans killed in car accidents every year?
At a minimum, the governor should release the entirety of the model so those who think critically can evaluate the model. It’s probably too much to ask the media to do the same.
The problem with these models is that they are by definition supported by assumptions – educated guesses.
All models contain assumptions. The real question is both quantitative and qualitative.
How many assumptions?
How valid are the assumptions?
With COVID-19, there are so many critical unknown aspects of the virus that it makes it difficult to craft a reliable model.
Science simply doesn’t know enough about the virus to craft meaningful assumptions that result in reasonable, reliable models.
This doesn’t mean that the virus isn’t serious and that government shouldn’t create policy to fight it.
What is does mean is that we would all benefit from moving away from these models as the foundation of both policy decisions and decisions for daily life under the pandemic.
Our governmental leaders would be better served by crafting and sharing with citizens their strategic plan regarding this public health emergency.
What is the exit strategy? When will life return to normal? What metrics will be used to determine when various mitigation measures can be dialed back or eliminated?
So far, we have been fed little more than aspirational calendar dates that might maybe possibly could be the time when we can regain our civil liberties and right to earn a living.
It’s time to start asking questions.
THE FUNDAMENTAL RISKS
While the pandemic has rightly drawn serious attention, citizens shouldn’t take their eye off the other potential risks of this pandemic – primarily the undermining of the fundamental civil liberties and other American values like free enterprise.
The scope of governmental control and intrusion on our lives is breathtaking.
Orders to stay inside. Orders to close private commerce. Fines and arrests. High tech tracking through Big Data.
A related issue is the lack of transparency in government policy making. Laws and rules seem to spring forth on an almost daily basis, completely lacking committee hearings, public comment, and the transparency and input that is a hallmark of American legislating.
The other important issue is capitalism. While there is no doubt that many jobs and businesses are severely hurting, that hasn’t stopped every business in America, especially politically sophisticated corporations, from rushing to rent seek and get piece of the money pie whether they need it or not.
It seems many corporations are proudly capitalist when they’re making money and quietly socialist when things get tough.
There is a real moral hazard for both individuals and businesses.
There are people who lost their jobs who also made no effort to save money for a rainy day.
There are businesses that probably shouldn’t be saved because they weren’t efficient to start.
In short, there is a danger that these trillion-dollar largesse packages do little more than bailout and protect some people and some businesses that don’t deserve it.
That’s the hard truth.
SNITCH LINE
While perhaps not an existential threat to liberty, Minnesota’s “snitch line” is surely emblematic of the problems inherent in tamping down Minnesota society.
Basically, the state has set up a phone line where busybody citizens can snitch on neighbors who don’t follow the rules promulgated under the pandemic. These sins could include venturing outside for the wrong reasons, failing to maintain social distancing when getting the mail, or buying more teepee than you need at Cub.
What a joke.
CHINA
The primary lesson of this pandemic is that the world’s reliance on China for cheap labor, critical supply chain functions, and a massive consumer market to peddle goods and services is misplaced.
The world is learning that China is a communist country, and is thus an authoritarian, oppressive regime that doesn’t abide my international norms.
China doesn’t respect human rights. China doesn’t value human rights nor human life. China doesn’t respect the rule of law and engages in industrial espionage and the theft of intellectual property on a massive scale. China is a belligerent power seeking to impose its will on neighbors through military intimidation.
That America and other first world countries empower China through selling sovereign debt and trusting the Chinese to control key aspects of supply and production chains is dangerous.
The West rightly didn’t house weapons production in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Putting our economy in the hands of the communist Chinese is just as insane.
It’s time for G20 countries to demand that China abide by international norms or become a pariah.
March 27, 2020
Quote of the Week: "When people start talking about 20% of a population getting infected, it's very scary, but we don't have data that matches that based on our experience. The media make the implication that when they need a hospital bed it's not going to be there, or a ventilator, it's not going to be there, we don't have evidence of that. It's our job collectively to assure the American people. There is no model right now -- no reality on the ground where we can see that 60% to 70% of Americans are going to get infected in the next eight to 12 weeks. I want to be clear about that."
In This Issue:
EMERGENCIES BREED TYRANNY
Watchdogs, if there was ever a time for vigilance, that time is now.
While the Chinese Virus is clearly a public health emergency, it shouldn’t serve as a platform or an excuse to trammel the constitution, eliminate transparency, and pass into law all manner of things that wouldn’t pass muster during normal times.
In short, an emergency shouldn’t give government carte blanche.
Thus far, we’ve seen government seek to take increasing stakes in the private economy, impose restrictions and invade citizen privacy at an unprecedented level, and push for public policies that wouldn’t see the light of day in normal times.
While Washington is still dickering over a “stimulus” bill that has passed the Senate but not the House, it’s appalling to see what has been proposed. Here is a list of some of those things, some of which will become law and some that won’t.
Would allow certain funding to go to sanctuary cities.
Under “Overreaching Mandates on Businesses”:
Permanent changes to who can serve on corporate boards of directors for companies that receive assistance for payroll and operating costs.
Mandatory disclosure on supply chain management.
Requires board diversity disclosure for all publicly traded companies.
Ban on all federal rulemaking including non-COVID 19 proposals (extends 30 days after emergency) “in an attempt to delay the current administration from promulgating actions House Democrats disagree with.”
Under “New Permanent Mandates”:
Virtually rewrites the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policy with no reference to COVID-19 and permanently disallows rulemaking pertaining to work requirements and eligibility.
Permanent expansion of Obamacare entitlement, “putting the American taxpayer on the hook for endless and unchecked health insurance spending and would remove all incentives for insurers to reduce the cost of health insurance.”
Limits Customs and Border Patrol’s ability to shutdown processing centers if there is a health crisis on the border and requires CBP to assure the timely adjudication of asylums applications.
Requires the Homeland Security Department to automatically extend visas and work authorizations expiring within the next year, including those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, for an amount of time equal to their prior visa, authorization or status.
Mandates how states must run elections, including the nationalization of ballot harvesting, requiring early voting, same day registration, and no-excuse vote by mail.
Puts states at risk of costly litigation if they are unable to implement these stringent mandates ahead of the 2020 election.
$10,000 blanket loan forgiveness.
Includes expansive new tax-credit for solar and wind energy.
Requires all airlines that receive assistance to offset carbon emissions for domestic flights by 2025.
Includes a $1 billion “cash for clunkers” airplane program where the Transportation Department buys fuel-inefficient planes from airlines in exchange for agreeing to buy new ones.
Requires a labor union representative on every airline’s board of directors.
Multiemployer pension bailout lacking needed reforms.
Permanently raises the minimum wage to $15 for any business that receives federal aid for COVID-19.
Cancels all debt owed by the U.S. Postal Service to the Treasury.
Nullifies the White House executive orders on federal collective bargaining and codifies taxpayer-funded union official time.
Language ensuring that the FDA reviews newer and more novel ingredients for over-the-counter sunscreen products in a timely fashion.
Never let a crisis go to waste, they say.
PROFILE IN COURAGE
Kudos to State Rep. Peggy Scott (R – Andover) who took to the floor of the Minnesota House yesterday to decry Governor Walz naming abortion providers as an essential health service in one of his executive orders promulgated under a declared Peacetime Emergency.
Rep. Scott noted that this order means that doctors performing elective abortions (most are) will be using scarce medical products and equipment that could be otherwise used in emergency rooms and other facilities on the front lines of the virus fight.
She is right on the issue and courageous to stand up and say something.
GOOD READING
Given all the fake news and junk science masquerading as expert opinion, here are some articles and opinion pieces that offer a good perspective on the Chinese Virus.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-trump-understands-what-his-critics-dont-the-current-lockdown-is-unsustainable/ar-BB11L89F
https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/26/neil-ferguson-coronavirus-imperial-college-doomsday/
https://issuesinsights.com/2020/03/27/if-the-covid-19-models-are-wrong-what-does-this-mean-for-climate-models/
https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/22/the-virus-is-not-invincible-but-its-exposing-whos-irreplaceable/
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-exploit-control-of-pharmaceutical-exports-by-brahma-chellaney-2020-03
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/27/all_we_have_to_fear_is_the_msm_itself_142788.html#2
Quote of the Week: "When people start talking about 20% of a population getting infected, it's very scary, but we don't have data that matches that based on our experience. The media make the implication that when they need a hospital bed it's not going to be there, or a ventilator, it's not going to be there, we don't have evidence of that. It's our job collectively to assure the American people. There is no model right now -- no reality on the ground where we can see that 60% to 70% of Americans are going to get infected in the next eight to 12 weeks. I want to be clear about that."
- Dr. Deborah Birx
In This Issue:
- Emergencies Breed Tyranny;
- Profile in Courage;
- Good Reading.
EMERGENCIES BREED TYRANNY
Watchdogs, if there was ever a time for vigilance, that time is now.
While the Chinese Virus is clearly a public health emergency, it shouldn’t serve as a platform or an excuse to trammel the constitution, eliminate transparency, and pass into law all manner of things that wouldn’t pass muster during normal times.
In short, an emergency shouldn’t give government carte blanche.
Thus far, we’ve seen government seek to take increasing stakes in the private economy, impose restrictions and invade citizen privacy at an unprecedented level, and push for public policies that wouldn’t see the light of day in normal times.
While Washington is still dickering over a “stimulus” bill that has passed the Senate but not the House, it’s appalling to see what has been proposed. Here is a list of some of those things, some of which will become law and some that won’t.
Would allow certain funding to go to sanctuary cities.
Under “Overreaching Mandates on Businesses”:
Permanent changes to who can serve on corporate boards of directors for companies that receive assistance for payroll and operating costs.
Mandatory disclosure on supply chain management.
Requires board diversity disclosure for all publicly traded companies.
Ban on all federal rulemaking including non-COVID 19 proposals (extends 30 days after emergency) “in an attempt to delay the current administration from promulgating actions House Democrats disagree with.”
Under “New Permanent Mandates”:
Virtually rewrites the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policy with no reference to COVID-19 and permanently disallows rulemaking pertaining to work requirements and eligibility.
Permanent expansion of Obamacare entitlement, “putting the American taxpayer on the hook for endless and unchecked health insurance spending and would remove all incentives for insurers to reduce the cost of health insurance.”
Limits Customs and Border Patrol’s ability to shutdown processing centers if there is a health crisis on the border and requires CBP to assure the timely adjudication of asylums applications.
Requires the Homeland Security Department to automatically extend visas and work authorizations expiring within the next year, including those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, for an amount of time equal to their prior visa, authorization or status.
Mandates how states must run elections, including the nationalization of ballot harvesting, requiring early voting, same day registration, and no-excuse vote by mail.
Puts states at risk of costly litigation if they are unable to implement these stringent mandates ahead of the 2020 election.
$10,000 blanket loan forgiveness.
Includes expansive new tax-credit for solar and wind energy.
Requires all airlines that receive assistance to offset carbon emissions for domestic flights by 2025.
Includes a $1 billion “cash for clunkers” airplane program where the Transportation Department buys fuel-inefficient planes from airlines in exchange for agreeing to buy new ones.
Requires a labor union representative on every airline’s board of directors.
Multiemployer pension bailout lacking needed reforms.
Permanently raises the minimum wage to $15 for any business that receives federal aid for COVID-19.
Cancels all debt owed by the U.S. Postal Service to the Treasury.
Nullifies the White House executive orders on federal collective bargaining and codifies taxpayer-funded union official time.
Language ensuring that the FDA reviews newer and more novel ingredients for over-the-counter sunscreen products in a timely fashion.
Never let a crisis go to waste, they say.
PROFILE IN COURAGE
Kudos to State Rep. Peggy Scott (R – Andover) who took to the floor of the Minnesota House yesterday to decry Governor Walz naming abortion providers as an essential health service in one of his executive orders promulgated under a declared Peacetime Emergency.
Rep. Scott noted that this order means that doctors performing elective abortions (most are) will be using scarce medical products and equipment that could be otherwise used in emergency rooms and other facilities on the front lines of the virus fight.
She is right on the issue and courageous to stand up and say something.
GOOD READING
Given all the fake news and junk science masquerading as expert opinion, here are some articles and opinion pieces that offer a good perspective on the Chinese Virus.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-trump-understands-what-his-critics-dont-the-current-lockdown-is-unsustainable/ar-BB11L89F
https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/26/neil-ferguson-coronavirus-imperial-college-doomsday/
https://issuesinsights.com/2020/03/27/if-the-covid-19-models-are-wrong-what-does-this-mean-for-climate-models/
https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/22/the-virus-is-not-invincible-but-its-exposing-whos-irreplaceable/
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-exploit-control-of-pharmaceutical-exports-by-brahma-chellaney-2020-03
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/27/all_we_have_to_fear_is_the_msm_itself_142788.html#2
March 20, 2020
Quote of the Week: “We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”
Quote of the Week: “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before.”
Quote of the Week: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
In This Issue:
CHINA VIRUS
It’s all Chinese Coronavirus all the time these days.
And with good reason.
Yes, the pandemic is real and it’s serious.
And yes, the seemly unchecked power of government to run roughshod over civil rights and individual liberties is real – and serious.
To start, let’s dispense with the ridiculous notion that referring to the current virus as the “Wuhan” or “Chinese” virus is somehow racist.
That’s nothing more than enabling Chinese propaganda.
The Chinese government is working hard to deflect their culpability for suppressing and denying the pandemic in its earliest stages, when a stronger containment strategy could have saved lives and jobs.
The reality is that serious diseases and pandemics have had geographic names for many years.
1871: Japanese Encephalitis (First case reported in Japan)
1918: Spanish Flu (Spain was the first nation to report a case)
1931: Rift Valley Fever (Rift Valley in Kenya, where first reported)
1944: Crimean-Congo Fever: (First reported in Crimea, linked to similar disease in Congo)
1947: Zika Virus (First identified in the Zika Forest of Uganda)
1952: Chikungunya (A native word from Tanzania, where first identified)
1967: Marburg Virus: (First identified in Marburg, Germany)
1976: Ebola Disease (Named for the Ebola River in the Congo)
1994: Hendra Virus (First identified in Hendra, Australia)
2012: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (First identified in Saudi Arabia)
Thus, there is nothing improper about referring to the city, province, or country where this pandemic was first identified.
The mainstream media’s feigned outrage is little more then the latest manifestation of another pandemic: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
MARTIAL LAW?
It’s good see some legislative Republicans pushing back against some the Executive Orders Governor Walz has promulgated.
These are incredibly important and weighty issues, the tension between public safety and liberty in particular.
The urgency of these issues is becoming more important as Governor Walz has called a mandatory “shelter in place” executive order “on the table.”
A broader public debate should be had on these issues, one that includes the legislature.
The governor should be put to his proof on these decisions.
This isn’t to say that the governor is wrong in that his orders are illegal.
To be fair, Governor Walz is managing a difficult situation with extraordinary unknowns.
It’s simply to say that the free exchange of ideas and vigorous debate produce the best public policy.
Let’s also remember that the governor is only exercising the broad powers the legislature has granted him.
Chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes grants the governor, among other powers, the following:
(7) cooperate with the president and the heads of the armed forces, the Emergency Management Agency of the United States and other appropriate federal officers and agencies, and with the officers and agencies of other states in matters pertaining to the emergency management of the state and nation, including the direction or control of:
(iv) the conduct of persons in the state, including entrance or exit from any stricken or threatened public place, occupancy of facilities, and the movement and cessation of movement of pedestrians, vehicular traffic, and all forms of private and public transportation during, prior, and subsequent to drills or actual emergencies;
(v) public meetings or gatherings.
Moreover, the statute states:
Orders and rules promulgated by the governor under authority of section 12.21, subdivision 3, clause (1), when approved by the Executive Council and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, have, during a national security emergency, peacetime emergency, or energy supply emergency, the full force and effect of law. Rules and ordinances of any agency or political subdivision of the state inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter or with any order or rule having the force and effect of law issued under the authority of this chapter, is suspended during the period of time and to the extent that the emergency exists.
Finally, the law says:
Unless a different penalty or punishment is specifically prescribed, a person who willfully violates a provision of this chapter or a rule or order having the force and effect of law issued under authority of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days.
The only real legislative oversight is that the legislature, by a majority vote of both houses, may terminate a declared peacetime emergency after it has been in effect for 30 days.
It is thus an important public policy function of the legislature to question these orders, even if the legislature by its own hand passed legislation diminishing its traditional oversight role regarding the executive branch.
Once this peacetime emergency has passed, the legislature would be well served to re-examine the law and ask if it doesn’t make for better public policy to have the legislature exercise a more proactive role in overseeing the executive branch’s exercise of peacetime emergency powers.
Quote of the Week: “We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”
- Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Quote of the Week: “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 15, 1942
Quote of the Week: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- Benjamin Franklin
In This Issue:
- China Virus;
- Martial Law?
CHINA VIRUS
It’s all Chinese Coronavirus all the time these days.
And with good reason.
Yes, the pandemic is real and it’s serious.
And yes, the seemly unchecked power of government to run roughshod over civil rights and individual liberties is real – and serious.
To start, let’s dispense with the ridiculous notion that referring to the current virus as the “Wuhan” or “Chinese” virus is somehow racist.
That’s nothing more than enabling Chinese propaganda.
The Chinese government is working hard to deflect their culpability for suppressing and denying the pandemic in its earliest stages, when a stronger containment strategy could have saved lives and jobs.
The reality is that serious diseases and pandemics have had geographic names for many years.
1871: Japanese Encephalitis (First case reported in Japan)
1918: Spanish Flu (Spain was the first nation to report a case)
1931: Rift Valley Fever (Rift Valley in Kenya, where first reported)
1944: Crimean-Congo Fever: (First reported in Crimea, linked to similar disease in Congo)
1947: Zika Virus (First identified in the Zika Forest of Uganda)
1952: Chikungunya (A native word from Tanzania, where first identified)
1967: Marburg Virus: (First identified in Marburg, Germany)
1976: Ebola Disease (Named for the Ebola River in the Congo)
1994: Hendra Virus (First identified in Hendra, Australia)
2012: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (First identified in Saudi Arabia)
Thus, there is nothing improper about referring to the city, province, or country where this pandemic was first identified.
The mainstream media’s feigned outrage is little more then the latest manifestation of another pandemic: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
MARTIAL LAW?
It’s good see some legislative Republicans pushing back against some the Executive Orders Governor Walz has promulgated.
These are incredibly important and weighty issues, the tension between public safety and liberty in particular.
The urgency of these issues is becoming more important as Governor Walz has called a mandatory “shelter in place” executive order “on the table.”
A broader public debate should be had on these issues, one that includes the legislature.
The governor should be put to his proof on these decisions.
This isn’t to say that the governor is wrong in that his orders are illegal.
To be fair, Governor Walz is managing a difficult situation with extraordinary unknowns.
It’s simply to say that the free exchange of ideas and vigorous debate produce the best public policy.
Let’s also remember that the governor is only exercising the broad powers the legislature has granted him.
Chapter 12 of Minnesota statutes grants the governor, among other powers, the following:
(7) cooperate with the president and the heads of the armed forces, the Emergency Management Agency of the United States and other appropriate federal officers and agencies, and with the officers and agencies of other states in matters pertaining to the emergency management of the state and nation, including the direction or control of:
(iv) the conduct of persons in the state, including entrance or exit from any stricken or threatened public place, occupancy of facilities, and the movement and cessation of movement of pedestrians, vehicular traffic, and all forms of private and public transportation during, prior, and subsequent to drills or actual emergencies;
(v) public meetings or gatherings.
Moreover, the statute states:
Orders and rules promulgated by the governor under authority of section 12.21, subdivision 3, clause (1), when approved by the Executive Council and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, have, during a national security emergency, peacetime emergency, or energy supply emergency, the full force and effect of law. Rules and ordinances of any agency or political subdivision of the state inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter or with any order or rule having the force and effect of law issued under the authority of this chapter, is suspended during the period of time and to the extent that the emergency exists.
Finally, the law says:
Unless a different penalty or punishment is specifically prescribed, a person who willfully violates a provision of this chapter or a rule or order having the force and effect of law issued under authority of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days.
The only real legislative oversight is that the legislature, by a majority vote of both houses, may terminate a declared peacetime emergency after it has been in effect for 30 days.
It is thus an important public policy function of the legislature to question these orders, even if the legislature by its own hand passed legislation diminishing its traditional oversight role regarding the executive branch.
Once this peacetime emergency has passed, the legislature would be well served to re-examine the law and ask if it doesn’t make for better public policy to have the legislature exercise a more proactive role in overseeing the executive branch’s exercise of peacetime emergency powers.
March 13, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I would like to just ask the Chinese for a formal apology. This coronavirus originated in China, and I have not heard one word from the Chinese. A simple ‘I am sorry’ would do.”
Quote of the Week: “This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.”
In This Issue:
A REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY
The global pandemic rocking the world and reverberating through our home state is a sobering reminder not only of man’s limited ability to control the world around him, but also a somber tribute to the genius of the Framers, who well understood that a true democracy is a cousin to mob rule.
The irrational, panicked response of so many people to the Chinese Coronavirus is nothing short of breathtaking.
This week’s edition is dedicated to all the Minnesotans out there who are need of some facts, perspective, and reason.
It’s for the guy throwing punches in aisle 2 of the Maplewood Costco, fighting for the last roll of Charmin. There’s no evidence that the Chinese Coronavirus will shut down the toilet paper supply chain.
It’s for the woman in Wal Mart, sprinting down aisle 4 to buy the last case of Spring Mountain bottled water. The virus won’t pollute your tap water or cripple water treatment facilities.
It’s for the people buying cases of soup that you will likely be collecting dust in your pantry three years from now. Just because cream of broccoli was all that was left, it doesn’t mean you now like it.
By the way, Proctor and Gamble, Campbell’s, and other manufacturers do thank you for doing your part to stabilize share price and pricing power during the market downturn.
And while the Chinese Coronavirus is certainly a public health risk, it’s important to keep some perspective while exercising some very simple, very easy protective measures to mitigate transmission.
It’s really too bad that it takes a panic like this convince some people that they ought to wash their hands, cover their cough, and stay home if they’re sick.
This is especially true during the regular influenza season.
If you’re taking proactive protective measures now, keep these facts in mind as we will inevitably move away from this pandemic and move into the cold and flue season, a perennial burden.
The Minnesota Department of Health does an excellent job tracking public health incidents and keeping statistics.
As most people know, the current outbreak has infected 9 Minnesotans, with 8 of them recovering at home and one hospitalized.
Thankfully, we have recorded no deaths from Chinese Coronavirus.
Compare those statistics to this season’s influenza numbers.
So far, 3,577 Minnesotans have been hospitalized with influenza.
110 have died.
Medical professionals would label this season as a “mild” one for influenza.
By comparison, consider the 2017-2018 flu season.
That season, 6,446 Minnesotans were admitted to hospitals due to influenza.
440 died, including 6 children.
Were you paying $50 for a bottle of hand sanitizer then? Hording crates of toilet paper? Burying your change jar in the backyard? Many of you probably weren’t even washing your hands after using the bathroom. You had no earthly idea of the numbers.
The Chinese Coronavirus is serious, but the pandemic will pass. Our much-maligned pharmaceutical companies will likely find a vaccine. Those evil for-profit corporations will produce the health care equipment the sick will require to recover. The usual cast of characters who routinely root against America will be disappointed.
Wash your hands.
Cover your cough.
Use some common sense.
Keep it in perspective, Minnesota.
This too shall pass.
Quote of the Week: “I would like to just ask the Chinese for a formal apology. This coronavirus originated in China, and I have not heard one word from the Chinese. A simple ‘I am sorry’ would do.”
- Jesse Watters
Quote of the Week: “This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.”
- President Donald J. Trump
In This Issue:
- A Republic, not a Democracy.
A REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY
The global pandemic rocking the world and reverberating through our home state is a sobering reminder not only of man’s limited ability to control the world around him, but also a somber tribute to the genius of the Framers, who well understood that a true democracy is a cousin to mob rule.
The irrational, panicked response of so many people to the Chinese Coronavirus is nothing short of breathtaking.
This week’s edition is dedicated to all the Minnesotans out there who are need of some facts, perspective, and reason.
It’s for the guy throwing punches in aisle 2 of the Maplewood Costco, fighting for the last roll of Charmin. There’s no evidence that the Chinese Coronavirus will shut down the toilet paper supply chain.
It’s for the woman in Wal Mart, sprinting down aisle 4 to buy the last case of Spring Mountain bottled water. The virus won’t pollute your tap water or cripple water treatment facilities.
It’s for the people buying cases of soup that you will likely be collecting dust in your pantry three years from now. Just because cream of broccoli was all that was left, it doesn’t mean you now like it.
By the way, Proctor and Gamble, Campbell’s, and other manufacturers do thank you for doing your part to stabilize share price and pricing power during the market downturn.
And while the Chinese Coronavirus is certainly a public health risk, it’s important to keep some perspective while exercising some very simple, very easy protective measures to mitigate transmission.
It’s really too bad that it takes a panic like this convince some people that they ought to wash their hands, cover their cough, and stay home if they’re sick.
This is especially true during the regular influenza season.
If you’re taking proactive protective measures now, keep these facts in mind as we will inevitably move away from this pandemic and move into the cold and flue season, a perennial burden.
The Minnesota Department of Health does an excellent job tracking public health incidents and keeping statistics.
As most people know, the current outbreak has infected 9 Minnesotans, with 8 of them recovering at home and one hospitalized.
Thankfully, we have recorded no deaths from Chinese Coronavirus.
Compare those statistics to this season’s influenza numbers.
So far, 3,577 Minnesotans have been hospitalized with influenza.
110 have died.
Medical professionals would label this season as a “mild” one for influenza.
By comparison, consider the 2017-2018 flu season.
That season, 6,446 Minnesotans were admitted to hospitals due to influenza.
440 died, including 6 children.
Were you paying $50 for a bottle of hand sanitizer then? Hording crates of toilet paper? Burying your change jar in the backyard? Many of you probably weren’t even washing your hands after using the bathroom. You had no earthly idea of the numbers.
The Chinese Coronavirus is serious, but the pandemic will pass. Our much-maligned pharmaceutical companies will likely find a vaccine. Those evil for-profit corporations will produce the health care equipment the sick will require to recover. The usual cast of characters who routinely root against America will be disappointed.
Wash your hands.
Cover your cough.
Use some common sense.
Keep it in perspective, Minnesota.
This too shall pass.
March 7th, 2020
Quote of the Week:: "This morning, Senator Schumer spoke at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while a case was being argued inside. Senator Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by name and said he wanted to tell them that 'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.' Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."
Factoid of the Week: During the winter of 2017-2018, influenza killed 61,099 people in the United States alone.
In This Issue:
amy
Poor amy Klobuchar. She kicked off her campaign to much fanfare in a swirling snowstorm, only to see the dream dashed by the Establishment before she could even stand before her hometown voters on Super Tuesday.
Of course, any reasonable observer could see that the campaign wouldn’t last.
After all, what presidential campaign has ever been successful by making this proposition to the political marketplace: “Vote for me! I’m safe.”
amy was the cardboard of presidential politics. The tofu. The rice cake. The sugar free, zero calorie, zero trans fat birthday cake of American politics. Looks tasty and indulgent on the outside, tastes like cold paint.
Her supporters couldn’t offer a rationale for her candidacy beyond the “safety” factor.
Unfortunately for amy there is no “present” button to push in the White House.
It’s hard to build a movement on a resume of naming post offices and helping widows get their Social Security checks.
Hell, she was afraid to choose which state fair she liked best.
A commander in chief who can’t pick a state fair? No wonder amy was dropped like a bad habit by primary/caucus voters looking for a movement, not a moment.
While Biden and Sanders are bad bets in their own right, they offer a vision to their supporters.
Yes, it’s a vision of failed policies, but it’s a vision, nonetheless.
Perhaps she will get a payday if Corn Pop Biden wins, but’s that’s the only ticket she managed to punch in the whole process.
That can’t be satisfying, even to a senator who is satisfied with micro-incrementalism.
CORN POP
Give Joe “Corn Pop” Biden credit. Or, better yet, give the Establishment credit.
Like Weekend at Bernie’s, the Establishment flexed huge nuts this past week by clearing most of the field when the fire alarm was finally pulled at DNC headquarters (and CNN) over Bernie Sanders’ sudden and sustained rise.
While the coronation of Corn Pop isn’t a certainty, the Establishment is good at getting what it wants, even if what it wants isn’t what America wants.
They wanted Hillary Clinton in 2016 and America responded with Donald J. Trump.
Corn Pop’s sudden reversal of fortune and the palpable sighs of relief from the Establishment show just how far this party has fallen.
The party of JFK has become the party of find-the-least-socialist-elderly-white-guy-to-run party.
Let’s remember, a Corn Pop candidacy will be no walk in the park for democrats.
We’re always just one question away from a chest-poking, space-violating, push-up challenge.
That’s not authentic. That’s boorish.
And we’re never far away from some senior moments where Biden will lack the mental acuity and coherency to recall his time, place, campaign, or family members.
Who am I? Why am I here?
And then there is the whole feeding at the public trough Biden and anyone who is a cousin 5 steps removed all enjoyed during Pop’s time in office.
If he’s the nominee, expect lots of scrutiny regarding how all those untalented, inexperienced people all got rich, with no common denominator beyond having a surname that goes B-I-D-E-N.
“Burisma” will become a household name.
CAPITOL UPDATE
Lawmakers consider higher ethanol standard, E15
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14139
Starting Line: No more doggies in the window at retail pet shops
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14130
Secretary of state promises new safeguards after primary poll finder issue
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14152
House passes bill on paid family and medical benefits
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14165
State health officials: $21 million needed to address potential MN COVID-19 outbreak
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14155
Tax division hears how nearly $1 million in local aid was overpaid
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14135
Bonding division hears Northstar line extension request
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14159
Quote of the Week:: "This morning, Senator Schumer spoke at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while a case was being argued inside. Senator Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by name and said he wanted to tell them that 'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.' Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."
- Chief Justice John Roberts
Factoid of the Week: During the winter of 2017-2018, influenza killed 61,099 people in the United States alone.
In This Issue:
- amy;
- Corn Pop;
- Capitol Update.
amy
Poor amy Klobuchar. She kicked off her campaign to much fanfare in a swirling snowstorm, only to see the dream dashed by the Establishment before she could even stand before her hometown voters on Super Tuesday.
Of course, any reasonable observer could see that the campaign wouldn’t last.
After all, what presidential campaign has ever been successful by making this proposition to the political marketplace: “Vote for me! I’m safe.”
amy was the cardboard of presidential politics. The tofu. The rice cake. The sugar free, zero calorie, zero trans fat birthday cake of American politics. Looks tasty and indulgent on the outside, tastes like cold paint.
Her supporters couldn’t offer a rationale for her candidacy beyond the “safety” factor.
Unfortunately for amy there is no “present” button to push in the White House.
It’s hard to build a movement on a resume of naming post offices and helping widows get their Social Security checks.
Hell, she was afraid to choose which state fair she liked best.
A commander in chief who can’t pick a state fair? No wonder amy was dropped like a bad habit by primary/caucus voters looking for a movement, not a moment.
While Biden and Sanders are bad bets in their own right, they offer a vision to their supporters.
Yes, it’s a vision of failed policies, but it’s a vision, nonetheless.
Perhaps she will get a payday if Corn Pop Biden wins, but’s that’s the only ticket she managed to punch in the whole process.
That can’t be satisfying, even to a senator who is satisfied with micro-incrementalism.
CORN POP
Give Joe “Corn Pop” Biden credit. Or, better yet, give the Establishment credit.
Like Weekend at Bernie’s, the Establishment flexed huge nuts this past week by clearing most of the field when the fire alarm was finally pulled at DNC headquarters (and CNN) over Bernie Sanders’ sudden and sustained rise.
While the coronation of Corn Pop isn’t a certainty, the Establishment is good at getting what it wants, even if what it wants isn’t what America wants.
They wanted Hillary Clinton in 2016 and America responded with Donald J. Trump.
Corn Pop’s sudden reversal of fortune and the palpable sighs of relief from the Establishment show just how far this party has fallen.
The party of JFK has become the party of find-the-least-socialist-elderly-white-guy-to-run party.
Let’s remember, a Corn Pop candidacy will be no walk in the park for democrats.
We’re always just one question away from a chest-poking, space-violating, push-up challenge.
That’s not authentic. That’s boorish.
And we’re never far away from some senior moments where Biden will lack the mental acuity and coherency to recall his time, place, campaign, or family members.
Who am I? Why am I here?
And then there is the whole feeding at the public trough Biden and anyone who is a cousin 5 steps removed all enjoyed during Pop’s time in office.
If he’s the nominee, expect lots of scrutiny regarding how all those untalented, inexperienced people all got rich, with no common denominator beyond having a surname that goes B-I-D-E-N.
“Burisma” will become a household name.
CAPITOL UPDATE
Lawmakers consider higher ethanol standard, E15
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14139
Starting Line: No more doggies in the window at retail pet shops
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14130
Secretary of state promises new safeguards after primary poll finder issue
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14152
House passes bill on paid family and medical benefits
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14165
State health officials: $21 million needed to address potential MN COVID-19 outbreak
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14155
Tax division hears how nearly $1 million in local aid was overpaid
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14135
Bonding division hears Northstar line extension request
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/SessionDaily/Story/14159
February 21, 2020
Editor’s Note: This week’s quotes are all from the battle royal Democrat debate this week. What a circus!
"I'd like to talk about who we're running against. A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump, I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg."
"What a wonderful country we have. The best-known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses.”
“Are you mocking me? Are you saying I’m dumb?”
"Mini Mike Bloomberg's debate performance tonight was perhaps the worst in the history of debates, and there have been some really bad ones. He was stumbling, bumbling and grossly incompetent. If this doesn't knock him out of the race, nothing will. Not so easy to do what I did!"
In This Issue:
BILLIONS BACK!
As the 2020 legislative session ends its second week, Senate Republicans unveiled a major public policy proposal regarding the state’s $1.3 billion surplus.
In short, the proposal is to return the vast majority of the surplus to the taxpayers.
Every rational person in Minnesota should get behind this proposal. The massive surplus represents nothing more than the over-collection of taxes.
Of course, the DFL will wring their hands and spin all sorts of fantastic stories as to why the state just can’t part with a penny.
A recession could be just around the corner. A fat budget surplus protects the bureaucracy and prevents the need to find efficiencies during tough fiscal times. A surplus keeps government fat and happy. In other words, the DFL will always prioritize the government budget over the family budget.
The state budget doesn’t factor in inflation. This old chestnut could also be called, “let’s put the budget on auto-pilot.” There is simply no good public policy reason to presume that state spending should be automatically be afforded an increase of any type without scrutiny.
And, of course, the DFL would love nothing more than to spend the surplus, a never-ending quest to satiate the insatiable appetite of their mooching constituencies for government largesse.
Some aspects of this plan are particularly attractive.
For example, eliminating the tax on Social Security. Minnesota is only one of 13 states that hammers senior citizens with this tax, driving them out of the state and lending much heft to Minnesota’s reputation as a “least friendly” state regarding taxes.
A second example is cutting the bottom state income tax rate. Minnesota has among this highest rates for the lowest income earners in the entire nation.
The reality, like so much of human history, shows that liberal governance is not only bad for everyone, its especially bad for the people the Left claim to represent.
Another aspect of this situation is Minnesota’s highly regressive taxes, like the gas tax.
While this proposal doesn’t cut that tax, Republicans are firmly opposed to Governor Walz’s plan to raise the gas tax 70%
Kudos to Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R – Lino Lakes), the Senate Tax Chair, who is the champion of this proposal.
Folks, this is THE game this session. What to do with a massive surplus?
The Republicans will be up against a House DFL majority and liberal governor who will be opposed to this plan.
Contact your GOP legislators and tell them you’re with them and you have their back.
Find your legislators here:
https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/
Here are the details of the plan, according to a press release:
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:
Senate Republicans unveil plan to give budget surplus back to taxpayers
Senate Republicans today announced a multifaceted plan to return Minnesota’s budget surplus to taxpayers. The Senate Republican tax plan emphasizes putting money back in the pockets of families and individuals, particularly middle-income and low-income earners, so they have more security, freedom, and flexibility to chase their dreams. This is the marquee piece of Senate Republicans’ Vision 2020 Agenda, which was unveiled in January.
The Get Your Billion Back plan is built upon a massive package of tax cuts worth more than $1 billion, which will ease the burden for every single Minnesota taxpayer. The plan calls for reducing the bottom income tax rate, completely eliminating taxes on Social Security income, expanding the K-12 income tax credit, and more.
“It is time to get your billion back, Minnesota,” said Sen. Roger Chamberlain, chairman of the Senate Tax Committee. “I have met so many people who have told me what a little extra money in their pocket would mean. For some, it will be easier to afford childcare, groceries, or medical bills. For others, it means being able to go to a Wild game, a concert, or a long-overdue date night. It’s about security and flexibility for Minnesotans and their families; it’s about giving people the freedom to create their own opportunities and follow their dreams.”
Reducing the lowest rate will positively impact everyone who pays income taxes in Minnesota and help low-income and middle-income workers in particular. It will mark the second consecutive year that Senate Republicans have reduced income tax rates – an achievement that hadn’t been accomplished in almost two decades prior to 2019.
Expanding the K-12 Education Tax Credit will specifically help parents of school-age children save money when they file their taxes. More families will qualify for the expanded credit, and those who do will also see larger savings on their tax returns.
Eliminating the tax on Social Security Income is long overdue. Minnesota is one of only 13 states that imposes this tax on retirees, many of whom are on a fixed income. Throwing out the Social Security income tax will encourage more seniors to stay in Minnesota after retirement. This is one of the most popular and frequent requests made by constituents at town halls, via social media, and through emails and phone calls.
Fully conforming to Section 179 of the federal tax code will help farmers and mom-and-pop businesses grow and invest in their operations by giving them more flexibility to deduct large equipment purchases, and Expanding the Angel Tax Credit will help innovative technologies and groundbreaking ideas reach new heights by giving people a greater incentive to invest in Minnesota companies.
Reforming school Equalization Aid will provide more money to school districts that have less property wealth and provide property tax relief to property owners in those districts.
Reallocating more mortgage and deed tax revenue to affordable housing programs, as well as property tax classification rate reductions, will help more Minnesotans secure the American Dream of homeownership.
Reforms and reductions to Charitable Gaming rules will keep more money raised from gaming by local charities in the communities they support. These are games run exclusively by private nonprofits, like Little League teams. Currently, only a tiny sliver of the proceeds from these games benefits the charities’ missions. Aside from overhead, most proceeds go to state taxes.
Editor’s Note: This week’s quotes are all from the battle royal Democrat debate this week. What a circus!
"I'd like to talk about who we're running against. A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump, I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg."
- Elizabeth Warren
"What a wonderful country we have. The best-known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses.”
- Michael Bloomberg
“Are you mocking me? Are you saying I’m dumb?”
- Amy Klobuchar
"Mini Mike Bloomberg's debate performance tonight was perhaps the worst in the history of debates, and there have been some really bad ones. He was stumbling, bumbling and grossly incompetent. If this doesn't knock him out of the race, nothing will. Not so easy to do what I did!"
- Donald J. Trump
In This Issue:
BILLIONS BACK!
As the 2020 legislative session ends its second week, Senate Republicans unveiled a major public policy proposal regarding the state’s $1.3 billion surplus.
In short, the proposal is to return the vast majority of the surplus to the taxpayers.
Every rational person in Minnesota should get behind this proposal. The massive surplus represents nothing more than the over-collection of taxes.
Of course, the DFL will wring their hands and spin all sorts of fantastic stories as to why the state just can’t part with a penny.
A recession could be just around the corner. A fat budget surplus protects the bureaucracy and prevents the need to find efficiencies during tough fiscal times. A surplus keeps government fat and happy. In other words, the DFL will always prioritize the government budget over the family budget.
The state budget doesn’t factor in inflation. This old chestnut could also be called, “let’s put the budget on auto-pilot.” There is simply no good public policy reason to presume that state spending should be automatically be afforded an increase of any type without scrutiny.
And, of course, the DFL would love nothing more than to spend the surplus, a never-ending quest to satiate the insatiable appetite of their mooching constituencies for government largesse.
Some aspects of this plan are particularly attractive.
For example, eliminating the tax on Social Security. Minnesota is only one of 13 states that hammers senior citizens with this tax, driving them out of the state and lending much heft to Minnesota’s reputation as a “least friendly” state regarding taxes.
A second example is cutting the bottom state income tax rate. Minnesota has among this highest rates for the lowest income earners in the entire nation.
The reality, like so much of human history, shows that liberal governance is not only bad for everyone, its especially bad for the people the Left claim to represent.
Another aspect of this situation is Minnesota’s highly regressive taxes, like the gas tax.
While this proposal doesn’t cut that tax, Republicans are firmly opposed to Governor Walz’s plan to raise the gas tax 70%
Kudos to Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R – Lino Lakes), the Senate Tax Chair, who is the champion of this proposal.
Folks, this is THE game this session. What to do with a massive surplus?
The Republicans will be up against a House DFL majority and liberal governor who will be opposed to this plan.
Contact your GOP legislators and tell them you’re with them and you have their back.
Find your legislators here:
https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/
Here are the details of the plan, according to a press release:
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:
Senate Republicans unveil plan to give budget surplus back to taxpayers
Senate Republicans today announced a multifaceted plan to return Minnesota’s budget surplus to taxpayers. The Senate Republican tax plan emphasizes putting money back in the pockets of families and individuals, particularly middle-income and low-income earners, so they have more security, freedom, and flexibility to chase their dreams. This is the marquee piece of Senate Republicans’ Vision 2020 Agenda, which was unveiled in January.
The Get Your Billion Back plan is built upon a massive package of tax cuts worth more than $1 billion, which will ease the burden for every single Minnesota taxpayer. The plan calls for reducing the bottom income tax rate, completely eliminating taxes on Social Security income, expanding the K-12 income tax credit, and more.
“It is time to get your billion back, Minnesota,” said Sen. Roger Chamberlain, chairman of the Senate Tax Committee. “I have met so many people who have told me what a little extra money in their pocket would mean. For some, it will be easier to afford childcare, groceries, or medical bills. For others, it means being able to go to a Wild game, a concert, or a long-overdue date night. It’s about security and flexibility for Minnesotans and their families; it’s about giving people the freedom to create their own opportunities and follow their dreams.”
Reducing the lowest rate will positively impact everyone who pays income taxes in Minnesota and help low-income and middle-income workers in particular. It will mark the second consecutive year that Senate Republicans have reduced income tax rates – an achievement that hadn’t been accomplished in almost two decades prior to 2019.
Expanding the K-12 Education Tax Credit will specifically help parents of school-age children save money when they file their taxes. More families will qualify for the expanded credit, and those who do will also see larger savings on their tax returns.
Eliminating the tax on Social Security Income is long overdue. Minnesota is one of only 13 states that imposes this tax on retirees, many of whom are on a fixed income. Throwing out the Social Security income tax will encourage more seniors to stay in Minnesota after retirement. This is one of the most popular and frequent requests made by constituents at town halls, via social media, and through emails and phone calls.
Fully conforming to Section 179 of the federal tax code will help farmers and mom-and-pop businesses grow and invest in their operations by giving them more flexibility to deduct large equipment purchases, and Expanding the Angel Tax Credit will help innovative technologies and groundbreaking ideas reach new heights by giving people a greater incentive to invest in Minnesota companies.
Reforming school Equalization Aid will provide more money to school districts that have less property wealth and provide property tax relief to property owners in those districts.
Reallocating more mortgage and deed tax revenue to affordable housing programs, as well as property tax classification rate reductions, will help more Minnesotans secure the American Dream of homeownership.
Reforms and reductions to Charitable Gaming rules will keep more money raised from gaming by local charities in the communities they support. These are games run exclusively by private nonprofits, like Little League teams. Currently, only a tiny sliver of the proceeds from these games benefits the charities’ missions. Aside from overhead, most proceeds go to state taxes.
February 7th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “This Nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American Epic, the American Adventure, has only just begun.”
In This Issue:
DEMOCRAT HEROES
With the impeachment debacle behind the country, one of the outcomes is the hero status conferred on Senator Mitt Romney by fawning Democrats who are tripping over each other to praise his “courage” and “conviction” in voting in favor of one of the articles of impeachment.
Of course, any Republican who disagrees with the president is heroic in the eyes of the Democrats.
Or, we should add, the very cynical eyes of Democrats.
Romney is just another in a growing line of Republican who they once excoriated but now love.
Remember the Mitt Romney of 2012? He was, according to Democrats, a soulless and rapacious corporate raider who slashed jobs and killed companies in the name of profits.
The “King of Bain Capital” was the personification of unfettered capitalism.
To them, Romney was no heart, no soul, but all greed.
The same goes with John Bolton. Bolton today is a serious and critical witness to the alleged Trump transgressions on Ukraine.
Just a few short months ago, Bolton was a neo-conservative war monger who was going to blow up the world.
And let’s not forget John McCain, perhaps the most egregious example of this fake respect.
Prior to McCain feuding with President Trump, McCain was another war monger unfit to be president.
In the 2008 presidential campaign, the Democrats engaged in a not-so-subtle whisper campaign that McCain was mentally unfit to be commander-in-chief. In fact, McCain was probably insane, according to the smear narrative.
Please.
THOSE CRAZY DEMOCRATS
While the 2020 legislative session here in Minnesota won’t start until next week, the period to introduce bills has opened, giving us an idea of what Democrats see as priorities.
As you might guess, it isn’t pretty.
Let’s start with House File 3030, authored by Rep. Jeff Brand of Saint Peter.
This bill mandates that restaurants serve a “default beverage” with the children’s meals they sell.
That “default” beverage is the typical things kids don’t want, like sparking water, mineral water, unflavored milk, etc.
A customer may request something beside the default beverage, but must affirmatively ask.
The bill also notes that the attorney general has enforcement authority over the mandate.
Geez, Rep. Brand, thanks for the help but things like this are exactly why those who consume children’s meals have moms and dads.
It’s not government’s job to make food choices for us.
Moreover, let’s hope the state’s attorney general has more important law enforcement priorities than making sure default beverage mandates are happening.
Then there’s HF 3055, which takes money from the general fund to study the impacts of “climate change” on state assets. In other words, let’s hire some climate change alarmists to study how minimal changes in temperature impact dorm rooms at the U of MN.
House File 3061 is a sanctuary bill that prohibits local jails from taking on inmates who are there because of federal immigration violations, which is an extension of sanctuary city bills.
How about HF 3072, which makes it a crime to smoke in your car if a person under 18 is present.
HF 3084 prohibits state government from purchasing plastic bottles.
HF 3101 forces utilities to include “information about renewable energy programs” in their bills.
Our favorite may be House File 3085, which rewards light rail fare evasion by reducing the penalty. Moreover, the bill establishes a “transit ambassador” program, which is presumably designed to create an army of welcome wagons to kindly discourage people from engaging in the kind of violent and uncivil behavior plaguing the system these days.
Excuse me, sir. Could you kindly refrain from stabbing your fellow rider?
Sir, could you please defecate in a designated bathroom. That would be great.
Mandates, requirements, and more societal chaos.
These bills should disgust regular citizens but certainly shouldn’t surprise.
BITS AND PIECES
Congratulations to Paul Novotny, who won a special election this week to the Minnesota House of Representatives. The Republican will represent the Elk River area.
Congratulations to Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and his campaign finance team, who raised a whopping $1.34 million in 2019 and have an eye-popping $2.055 million cash on hand.
Gazelka wasn’t joking when he promised in 2016 that his caucus wouldn’t be grossly outspent in 2020.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk was unceremoniously ousted from his job this week and replaced by Sen. Susan Kent of Woodbury.
Bakk, a retired union carpenter and life-long Iron Ranger, was apparently too conservative, and too rural, for this urban-centric caucus.
Look for the new leader to continue the trend of the DFL becoming more urban, more liberal, and more contemptuous of people who live outside the 612 and 651 area codes.
Pretty soon, someone is going to sue the DFL for false advertising if they don’t get around to dropping the “farmer” and “labor” from their name.
Finally, the City of Saint Paul is demonstrating that there is no end to government’s appetite for money.
The city on a narrow 4-3 vote decided to move forward in exploring a plan to raise the city’s sales tax 1%.
Maybe it’s time for the state to let these local units of government do whatever they want for local taxes in exchange for giving up state aid.
There is a legitimate argument to be made that a major city like Saint Paul, with a massive tax base, shouldn’t be getting state aid regardless.
Cut them loose. If the taxpayers want to “pay for a better Saint Paul,” let them. The others will vote with their feet.
It’s telling that the vote was 4-3, showing that perhaps there is a limit to at least the political will to hammer constituents with tax and fee increase after increase.
Quote of the Week: “This Nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American Epic, the American Adventure, has only just begun.”
- President Donald J. Trump
In This Issue:
- Democrat Heroes;
- Those Crazy Democrats;
- Bits and Pieces.
DEMOCRAT HEROES
With the impeachment debacle behind the country, one of the outcomes is the hero status conferred on Senator Mitt Romney by fawning Democrats who are tripping over each other to praise his “courage” and “conviction” in voting in favor of one of the articles of impeachment.
Of course, any Republican who disagrees with the president is heroic in the eyes of the Democrats.
Or, we should add, the very cynical eyes of Democrats.
Romney is just another in a growing line of Republican who they once excoriated but now love.
Remember the Mitt Romney of 2012? He was, according to Democrats, a soulless and rapacious corporate raider who slashed jobs and killed companies in the name of profits.
The “King of Bain Capital” was the personification of unfettered capitalism.
To them, Romney was no heart, no soul, but all greed.
The same goes with John Bolton. Bolton today is a serious and critical witness to the alleged Trump transgressions on Ukraine.
Just a few short months ago, Bolton was a neo-conservative war monger who was going to blow up the world.
And let’s not forget John McCain, perhaps the most egregious example of this fake respect.
Prior to McCain feuding with President Trump, McCain was another war monger unfit to be president.
In the 2008 presidential campaign, the Democrats engaged in a not-so-subtle whisper campaign that McCain was mentally unfit to be commander-in-chief. In fact, McCain was probably insane, according to the smear narrative.
Please.
THOSE CRAZY DEMOCRATS
While the 2020 legislative session here in Minnesota won’t start until next week, the period to introduce bills has opened, giving us an idea of what Democrats see as priorities.
As you might guess, it isn’t pretty.
Let’s start with House File 3030, authored by Rep. Jeff Brand of Saint Peter.
This bill mandates that restaurants serve a “default beverage” with the children’s meals they sell.
That “default” beverage is the typical things kids don’t want, like sparking water, mineral water, unflavored milk, etc.
A customer may request something beside the default beverage, but must affirmatively ask.
The bill also notes that the attorney general has enforcement authority over the mandate.
Geez, Rep. Brand, thanks for the help but things like this are exactly why those who consume children’s meals have moms and dads.
It’s not government’s job to make food choices for us.
Moreover, let’s hope the state’s attorney general has more important law enforcement priorities than making sure default beverage mandates are happening.
Then there’s HF 3055, which takes money from the general fund to study the impacts of “climate change” on state assets. In other words, let’s hire some climate change alarmists to study how minimal changes in temperature impact dorm rooms at the U of MN.
House File 3061 is a sanctuary bill that prohibits local jails from taking on inmates who are there because of federal immigration violations, which is an extension of sanctuary city bills.
How about HF 3072, which makes it a crime to smoke in your car if a person under 18 is present.
HF 3084 prohibits state government from purchasing plastic bottles.
HF 3101 forces utilities to include “information about renewable energy programs” in their bills.
Our favorite may be House File 3085, which rewards light rail fare evasion by reducing the penalty. Moreover, the bill establishes a “transit ambassador” program, which is presumably designed to create an army of welcome wagons to kindly discourage people from engaging in the kind of violent and uncivil behavior plaguing the system these days.
Excuse me, sir. Could you kindly refrain from stabbing your fellow rider?
Sir, could you please defecate in a designated bathroom. That would be great.
Mandates, requirements, and more societal chaos.
These bills should disgust regular citizens but certainly shouldn’t surprise.
BITS AND PIECES
Congratulations to Paul Novotny, who won a special election this week to the Minnesota House of Representatives. The Republican will represent the Elk River area.
Congratulations to Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and his campaign finance team, who raised a whopping $1.34 million in 2019 and have an eye-popping $2.055 million cash on hand.
Gazelka wasn’t joking when he promised in 2016 that his caucus wouldn’t be grossly outspent in 2020.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk was unceremoniously ousted from his job this week and replaced by Sen. Susan Kent of Woodbury.
Bakk, a retired union carpenter and life-long Iron Ranger, was apparently too conservative, and too rural, for this urban-centric caucus.
Look for the new leader to continue the trend of the DFL becoming more urban, more liberal, and more contemptuous of people who live outside the 612 and 651 area codes.
Pretty soon, someone is going to sue the DFL for false advertising if they don’t get around to dropping the “farmer” and “labor” from their name.
Finally, the City of Saint Paul is demonstrating that there is no end to government’s appetite for money.
The city on a narrow 4-3 vote decided to move forward in exploring a plan to raise the city’s sales tax 1%.
Maybe it’s time for the state to let these local units of government do whatever they want for local taxes in exchange for giving up state aid.
There is a legitimate argument to be made that a major city like Saint Paul, with a massive tax base, shouldn’t be getting state aid regardless.
Cut them loose. If the taxpayers want to “pay for a better Saint Paul,” let them. The others will vote with their feet.
It’s telling that the vote was 4-3, showing that perhaps there is a limit to at least the political will to hammer constituents with tax and fee increase after increase.
January 31, 2020
Quote of the Week: “This impeachment sham is nothing more than an attempt at a soft coup against President Trump by the people who still can't get over the fact that he beat Hillary Clinton fair and square at the ballot box.”
Editor’s Note: ACTION ALERT! CITY OF ANOKA! BIG GOVERNMENT!
If you live in Anoka, pay attention! If you don’t, pay attention!
The city is attempting to takeover trash collection!
If you like what you’ve read about Saint Paul’s trash collection scheme, you’ll love the Anoka plan. If you’re a common-sense person who’s skeptical about claims that government can do things better than the free market, you’ll hate the scheme and you need to activate!
BACKGROUND
Anoka, like most Minnesota cities, currently has a free market trash system in which citizens are free to shop among the licensed haulers in the city to determine which hauler offers them the best service for the best price. The contract is between the hauler and the citizen.
Through a review of city council documents, including minutes and agendas, the Watchdog has learned that the city is far down the path towards taking over trash hauling and offering a monopoly to a single hauler, who would have a contract with the city and not citizens.
The city would negotiate price, levels of service, and the like. Citizens would have no say in the process and would simply be told who the hauler is, what the price is, and other aspects of a hauling contract.
In short, citizens lose their right to choose their hauler.
In fact, this system in some respects is worse than the awful Saint Paul system because in Saint Paul, the city worked to keep existing haulers in the city, working under a consortium model in which they didn’t lose their market share and business in the city.
Under Anoka’s plan, every hauler except one (or all of them, giving the contract to a hauler not currently in the city) would get kicked out of the city and lose their book of business, with no compensation. Government would, in effect, take business from some haulers and simply give it to a different hauler.
How distinctly un-American.
A DONE DEAL?
Even if one believes that government can do trash hauling better than the free market, no reasonable citizen should be happy with the city’s deceptive process.
The city would have you believe that there is currently a “community conversation” happening and that the city council is interested in collecting community feedback before making decisions.
The city even held an “open house” recently, where City Manager Greg Lee emphasized the city council’s interest in hearing from citizens, hawking the “feedback” form on a table in the back as well as noting the form being available on the city web site.
https://www.ci.anoka.mn.us/vertical/sites/%7B213A9A90-C8E1-49AA-AC02-51D3C4882D33%7D/uploads/Organized_Collection_Feedback_Form(1).pdf
The open house also had a Power Point presentation that purported to show the pros and cons of government-managed trash collection.
That open house was held January 23rd.
But listen to what Mayor Phil Rice had to say at an October 28th, 2019 city council workshop, stating, "Yes, it's not even a question of whether you're going to have a single hauler. It's just when are we going to have a single hauler, you know."
Another city council member, Erik Skoquist, also stated his support for moving to a single hauler at the same meeting, saying "I think an RFP (for single hauler) obviously makes the most sense for the city and one hauler. Let's get the clock rolling... we've already killed ten months."
But it doesn’t end there.
At a December council workshop, there was more talk of this being a done deal.
Mayor Phil Rice stated, “This is such a difficult — so it shouldn’t be. I think the facts speak for themselves, and although I’ve said it before, it’s not a question of if we’re going to go to organized hauling. It’s just a question of when we’re going to do it.”
Council member Mark Freeburg said, “Well, the information that you give them is going to be slanted towards one hauler, because we’re going to be telling them how bad garbage trucks are.”
And here’s one more quote from Mayor Phil Rice who knows better than the citizens, saying on the record, “I can’t think of an analogy to use, but there have to be 101 of them about us making decisions on behalf of the city for the better of the city, that we don’t care that the people know we’re biased. We are biased biased because our bias is what's best for the city."
Again, here’s city manager Greg Lee, “Right. I truly believe the writing’s on the wall. I think, Mr. Mayor, you said it right, that it’s not a question of if we go to organized hauling, it’s a matter of when.”
So not only does the council think this is a done deal, they also don’t want you to have unbiased information. That attitude is summed up nice by Mayor Phil Rice, who said a the October 28th workshop, “We have to encourage people, both that are opposed and want the freedom to choose and those that believe that this is the right thing to do and go single hauler."
Does this sound like a city council that cares what you think?
Does this sound like a city council is engaged in a process of carefully considering all options, including gathering citizen feedback?
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
If you live in Anoka and this feels like déjà vu, you would be correct.
In the spring of 2015, the city went through a legitimate, real community conversation about the trash hauling system.
The citizens then spoke loud and clear that they didn’t want government-run trash collection.
It’s too bad the city council isn’t listening.
TAKE ACTION
So what can you do?
First of all, get educated on the government-run trash situation by visiting our friends over at Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice.
Visit http://www.haulersforchoice.com/ which is an excellent web site on the subject.
Next, attend the February 3rd city council meeting, 7 PM, City Hall, during the “open mic” period and make your feelings known.
If you can’t attend, contact the city council and make your feelings known:
Phil Rice
612-702-8442
Email: [email protected]
Elizabeth Barnett
612-718-8433
Email: [email protected]
Mark Freeburg
763-421-9244
Email: [email protected]
Erik Skogquist
763-576-9219
Email: [email protected]
Brian Wesp
763-576-2718
Email: [email protected]
Fight back!
Tell them. “Hand’s off my can!”
Quote of the Week: “This impeachment sham is nothing more than an attempt at a soft coup against President Trump by the people who still can't get over the fact that he beat Hillary Clinton fair and square at the ballot box.”
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R – KY4)
Editor’s Note: ACTION ALERT! CITY OF ANOKA! BIG GOVERNMENT!
If you live in Anoka, pay attention! If you don’t, pay attention!
The city is attempting to takeover trash collection!
If you like what you’ve read about Saint Paul’s trash collection scheme, you’ll love the Anoka plan. If you’re a common-sense person who’s skeptical about claims that government can do things better than the free market, you’ll hate the scheme and you need to activate!
BACKGROUND
Anoka, like most Minnesota cities, currently has a free market trash system in which citizens are free to shop among the licensed haulers in the city to determine which hauler offers them the best service for the best price. The contract is between the hauler and the citizen.
Through a review of city council documents, including minutes and agendas, the Watchdog has learned that the city is far down the path towards taking over trash hauling and offering a monopoly to a single hauler, who would have a contract with the city and not citizens.
The city would negotiate price, levels of service, and the like. Citizens would have no say in the process and would simply be told who the hauler is, what the price is, and other aspects of a hauling contract.
In short, citizens lose their right to choose their hauler.
In fact, this system in some respects is worse than the awful Saint Paul system because in Saint Paul, the city worked to keep existing haulers in the city, working under a consortium model in which they didn’t lose their market share and business in the city.
Under Anoka’s plan, every hauler except one (or all of them, giving the contract to a hauler not currently in the city) would get kicked out of the city and lose their book of business, with no compensation. Government would, in effect, take business from some haulers and simply give it to a different hauler.
How distinctly un-American.
A DONE DEAL?
Even if one believes that government can do trash hauling better than the free market, no reasonable citizen should be happy with the city’s deceptive process.
The city would have you believe that there is currently a “community conversation” happening and that the city council is interested in collecting community feedback before making decisions.
The city even held an “open house” recently, where City Manager Greg Lee emphasized the city council’s interest in hearing from citizens, hawking the “feedback” form on a table in the back as well as noting the form being available on the city web site.
https://www.ci.anoka.mn.us/vertical/sites/%7B213A9A90-C8E1-49AA-AC02-51D3C4882D33%7D/uploads/Organized_Collection_Feedback_Form(1).pdf
The open house also had a Power Point presentation that purported to show the pros and cons of government-managed trash collection.
That open house was held January 23rd.
But listen to what Mayor Phil Rice had to say at an October 28th, 2019 city council workshop, stating, "Yes, it's not even a question of whether you're going to have a single hauler. It's just when are we going to have a single hauler, you know."
Another city council member, Erik Skoquist, also stated his support for moving to a single hauler at the same meeting, saying "I think an RFP (for single hauler) obviously makes the most sense for the city and one hauler. Let's get the clock rolling... we've already killed ten months."
But it doesn’t end there.
At a December council workshop, there was more talk of this being a done deal.
Mayor Phil Rice stated, “This is such a difficult — so it shouldn’t be. I think the facts speak for themselves, and although I’ve said it before, it’s not a question of if we’re going to go to organized hauling. It’s just a question of when we’re going to do it.”
Council member Mark Freeburg said, “Well, the information that you give them is going to be slanted towards one hauler, because we’re going to be telling them how bad garbage trucks are.”
And here’s one more quote from Mayor Phil Rice who knows better than the citizens, saying on the record, “I can’t think of an analogy to use, but there have to be 101 of them about us making decisions on behalf of the city for the better of the city, that we don’t care that the people know we’re biased. We are biased biased because our bias is what's best for the city."
Again, here’s city manager Greg Lee, “Right. I truly believe the writing’s on the wall. I think, Mr. Mayor, you said it right, that it’s not a question of if we go to organized hauling, it’s a matter of when.”
So not only does the council think this is a done deal, they also don’t want you to have unbiased information. That attitude is summed up nice by Mayor Phil Rice, who said a the October 28th workshop, “We have to encourage people, both that are opposed and want the freedom to choose and those that believe that this is the right thing to do and go single hauler."
Does this sound like a city council that cares what you think?
Does this sound like a city council is engaged in a process of carefully considering all options, including gathering citizen feedback?
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
If you live in Anoka and this feels like déjà vu, you would be correct.
In the spring of 2015, the city went through a legitimate, real community conversation about the trash hauling system.
The citizens then spoke loud and clear that they didn’t want government-run trash collection.
It’s too bad the city council isn’t listening.
TAKE ACTION
So what can you do?
First of all, get educated on the government-run trash situation by visiting our friends over at Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice.
Visit http://www.haulersforchoice.com/ which is an excellent web site on the subject.
Next, attend the February 3rd city council meeting, 7 PM, City Hall, during the “open mic” period and make your feelings known.
If you can’t attend, contact the city council and make your feelings known:
Phil Rice
612-702-8442
Email: [email protected]
Elizabeth Barnett
612-718-8433
Email: [email protected]
Mark Freeburg
763-421-9244
Email: [email protected]
Erik Skogquist
763-576-9219
Email: [email protected]
Brian Wesp
763-576-2718
Email: [email protected]
Fight back!
Tell them. “Hand’s off my can!”
January 24th, 2020
Quote of the Week: "He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
-Hillary Clinton, speaking of Bernie Sanders
Factoid of the Week: 29% of Minnesota voters can’t identify Senator Tina Smith.
In This Issue:
PETE STAUBER – WILLIAM PITTENGER
If you don’t know who Pete Stauber is, you’re living under a rock. If you know who William Pittenger is, you’re a true geek.
But did you know Pete Stauber aspires to emulate William Pittenger?
With a well-orchestrated tour and a sweet voting record to match, Republican Peter Stauber of Minnesota’s Fightin’ Eighth District kicked off his re-election bid this week, seeking to become just like William Pittenger.
Pittenger, you know, was the last Republican member of Congress in that area to win re-election, some 76 years ago. No word on how Bernie Sanders got along with Pittenger in Congress.
It was very much by design that Stauber chose as one of his announcement locations the union hall of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners in Hermantown.
A proud union member himself, Stauber hasn’t been shy about supporting and collaborating with construction trade unions during his first term.
While Stauber’s commitment to the skilled trades stems from his heartfelt belief in labor, it’s also very smart politics.
Blue collar trades folks are up for grabs. For years the DFL has steadily turned their backs on working people, the most recent example being the attacks on mining and pipelines by Democrats like Rep. Betty McCollum and Sen. Tina Smith.
Stauber, like many other Republicans, understands that members of trades typically own guns, attend church, think their taxes are too high, own lots of gas burning vehicles, and want nothing more in life than the opportunity to earn a decent living, work hard, and be left alone.
One of the reasons Minnesota is in play from the presidential race on down is that savvy leaders like Stauber, Tom Emmer, Jason Lewis, Paul Gazelka, and Kurt Daudt understand this.
Moreover, the Republicans are blessed to have two card carrying union members in the legislative ranks, Sen. Mike Goggin (Red Wing) and Sen. Jason Rarick (Pine City). Both men proudly belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). These two swing districts are locked down tight as both Goggin and Rarick are in the sweet spot of being pro-gun, pro-life, pro jobs Republicans who also have the trust and confidence of people in their districts who used to vote DFL.
Republicans in Minnesota need to face a very harsh reality. A GOP candidate hasn’t won a state-wide office here since Tim Pawlenty was re-elected in 2006. 2006. 14 years ago. 14 years ago.
One of the best ways for the state GOP to grow the base is to continue to appeal to these voters.
In turn, that means turning away from issues that alienate these skilled workers by telling them they should do the same work but bring home less money to their families.
It’s time for the GOP to shamelessly strip these voters right out of the DFL.
The GOP would be dumb not to do so.
SESSION UPDATE – IDEAS
One of the criticisms of Republicans is that they are simply the party of “no” and lack ideas.
This criticism may be unfair but is repeated by the Left because it’s effective.
Thus, the Watchdog offers some advice to fellow Watchdogs regarding this coming legislative session, which convenes February 11th.
The first is the gas tax. Once again Governor Walz is proposing a gas tax increase.
Of course, this is a ridiculous idea. The state not only has a $1.3 billion surplus, the gas tax is a very regressive tax.
In addition to opposing the gas tax, a positive alternative would be to dedicate 100% of all auto-related sales taxes to the highway funding account.
Right now, only about 50% of the taxes go into this dedicated road/bridge account, while the rest disappears into the general fund to be spent on stuff like waste, fraud, and abuse over at the Department of Human Services.
Want a way to pump an extra $400 million into roads and bridges with no tax or fee increases? Dedicate it all!
Second, there will be a bonding bill. While some of our conservative friends will argue against all state borrowing, we’re here to tell you it’s going to happen.
In addition to urging restraint (Republicans will no doubt have to be the adults in the room), let’s also urge policy makers to focus on core governmental functions such as roads, bridges, prisons, wastewater treatment plants, etc.
Moreover, let’s focus on taking care of what we own before we use state money to build more stuff.
Capital infrastructure that will last generations is more than amenable to reasonable borrowing that will spread costs over those generations who will enjoy it.
Finally, there should be some tax cuts on the agenda. Minnesota is a highly taxed state and citizens are voting with their feet.
Reducing the state’s draconian tax burden is critical to the future.
IMPEACHMENT
This publication has said little about the impeachment proceedings because this sham deserves little attention.
First, no crime has even been alleged. Instead, the vague, nebulous charges of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” have been leveled against Trump.
Three years of Deep State surveillance and investigations and this is the best Pelosi and company can come up with?
Next, if you’ve watched the impeachment case put on by the House managers, you’ve seen that their narrative is essentially “Man, we would have a great case against Trump if only we would have had access to those 78 files we wanted.”
What a joke.
What prosecutor walks into court and admits they have no case?
“Teacher, I would have had a sweet term paper if I had just researched those other sources.”
The would’ve, could’ve, should’ve impeachment.
It’s a political sham designed to do nothing more than hurt Trump politically.
The Dems will spare no political institution in their bloodlust for power.
They’ve embarrassed the legislative branch by savaging the Judicial Branch (Kavanaugh) and now the Office of the President is under attack.
Embarrassing and dangerous.
Quote of the Week: "He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
-Hillary Clinton, speaking of Bernie Sanders
Factoid of the Week: 29% of Minnesota voters can’t identify Senator Tina Smith.
In This Issue:
- Pete Stauber – William Pittenger;
- Session Update – Ideas;
- Impeachment.
PETE STAUBER – WILLIAM PITTENGER
If you don’t know who Pete Stauber is, you’re living under a rock. If you know who William Pittenger is, you’re a true geek.
But did you know Pete Stauber aspires to emulate William Pittenger?
With a well-orchestrated tour and a sweet voting record to match, Republican Peter Stauber of Minnesota’s Fightin’ Eighth District kicked off his re-election bid this week, seeking to become just like William Pittenger.
Pittenger, you know, was the last Republican member of Congress in that area to win re-election, some 76 years ago. No word on how Bernie Sanders got along with Pittenger in Congress.
It was very much by design that Stauber chose as one of his announcement locations the union hall of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners in Hermantown.
A proud union member himself, Stauber hasn’t been shy about supporting and collaborating with construction trade unions during his first term.
While Stauber’s commitment to the skilled trades stems from his heartfelt belief in labor, it’s also very smart politics.
Blue collar trades folks are up for grabs. For years the DFL has steadily turned their backs on working people, the most recent example being the attacks on mining and pipelines by Democrats like Rep. Betty McCollum and Sen. Tina Smith.
Stauber, like many other Republicans, understands that members of trades typically own guns, attend church, think their taxes are too high, own lots of gas burning vehicles, and want nothing more in life than the opportunity to earn a decent living, work hard, and be left alone.
One of the reasons Minnesota is in play from the presidential race on down is that savvy leaders like Stauber, Tom Emmer, Jason Lewis, Paul Gazelka, and Kurt Daudt understand this.
Moreover, the Republicans are blessed to have two card carrying union members in the legislative ranks, Sen. Mike Goggin (Red Wing) and Sen. Jason Rarick (Pine City). Both men proudly belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). These two swing districts are locked down tight as both Goggin and Rarick are in the sweet spot of being pro-gun, pro-life, pro jobs Republicans who also have the trust and confidence of people in their districts who used to vote DFL.
Republicans in Minnesota need to face a very harsh reality. A GOP candidate hasn’t won a state-wide office here since Tim Pawlenty was re-elected in 2006. 2006. 14 years ago. 14 years ago.
One of the best ways for the state GOP to grow the base is to continue to appeal to these voters.
In turn, that means turning away from issues that alienate these skilled workers by telling them they should do the same work but bring home less money to their families.
It’s time for the GOP to shamelessly strip these voters right out of the DFL.
The GOP would be dumb not to do so.
SESSION UPDATE – IDEAS
One of the criticisms of Republicans is that they are simply the party of “no” and lack ideas.
This criticism may be unfair but is repeated by the Left because it’s effective.
Thus, the Watchdog offers some advice to fellow Watchdogs regarding this coming legislative session, which convenes February 11th.
The first is the gas tax. Once again Governor Walz is proposing a gas tax increase.
Of course, this is a ridiculous idea. The state not only has a $1.3 billion surplus, the gas tax is a very regressive tax.
In addition to opposing the gas tax, a positive alternative would be to dedicate 100% of all auto-related sales taxes to the highway funding account.
Right now, only about 50% of the taxes go into this dedicated road/bridge account, while the rest disappears into the general fund to be spent on stuff like waste, fraud, and abuse over at the Department of Human Services.
Want a way to pump an extra $400 million into roads and bridges with no tax or fee increases? Dedicate it all!
Second, there will be a bonding bill. While some of our conservative friends will argue against all state borrowing, we’re here to tell you it’s going to happen.
In addition to urging restraint (Republicans will no doubt have to be the adults in the room), let’s also urge policy makers to focus on core governmental functions such as roads, bridges, prisons, wastewater treatment plants, etc.
Moreover, let’s focus on taking care of what we own before we use state money to build more stuff.
Capital infrastructure that will last generations is more than amenable to reasonable borrowing that will spread costs over those generations who will enjoy it.
Finally, there should be some tax cuts on the agenda. Minnesota is a highly taxed state and citizens are voting with their feet.
Reducing the state’s draconian tax burden is critical to the future.
IMPEACHMENT
This publication has said little about the impeachment proceedings because this sham deserves little attention.
First, no crime has even been alleged. Instead, the vague, nebulous charges of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” have been leveled against Trump.
Three years of Deep State surveillance and investigations and this is the best Pelosi and company can come up with?
Next, if you’ve watched the impeachment case put on by the House managers, you’ve seen that their narrative is essentially “Man, we would have a great case against Trump if only we would have had access to those 78 files we wanted.”
What a joke.
What prosecutor walks into court and admits they have no case?
“Teacher, I would have had a sweet term paper if I had just researched those other sources.”
The would’ve, could’ve, should’ve impeachment.
It’s a political sham designed to do nothing more than hurt Trump politically.
The Dems will spare no political institution in their bloodlust for power.
They’ve embarrassed the legislative branch by savaging the Judicial Branch (Kavanaugh) and now the Office of the President is under attack.
Embarrassing and dangerous.
January 10th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over. The Senate has made its decision.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R – KY)
Quote of the Week: “We’ve been spending more and more money and getting the same poor results.”
In This Issue:
REAL PROBLEM, BAD SOLUTION
Two distinguished Minnesotans, former Supreme Court justice Alan Page, and Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari, have been raising awareness of the achievement gap in Minnesota’s education system.
The achievement gap, the gap in test scores and learning between white students and minority students, is a very real and pressing problem.
Unfortunately, their proposed solution is almost as bad as the problem.
Essentially, the two have proposed amending the state’s constitution, which mandates a “uniform” system of public education, to mandate a “quality” education.
Put another way, they want to enshrine in the constitution an extremely vague mandate which in turn will open the floodgates to litigation, which in turn will empower courts, not the legislature, to run the state’s public schools.
Who knows what the outcome would be under that scenario? Courts could order all sorts of spending increases to satisfy their subjective definition of “quality.” Those spending increases, of course, would mean higher and higher taxes.
Moreover, courts have proven they would be no better than the legislature at running education policy.
And while there is no doubt that the teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, owns democrats in the legislature, let’s not forget that our judges are subject to the ballot box, meaning the union could just as easily buy judicial races in the same way they have bought legislative seats.
The bottom line is that the achievement gap hasn’t been caused by inadequate wording in the Minnesota Constitution. Instead, the problem is multi-faceted but primarily caused by a couple of big factors.
First, too many minority students are coming to school not ready to learn.
They come from broken homes wracked by substance abuse, violence and other traumas.
They come from homes that lack supportive parents. We all know that some uncomfortable societal conversations are in order to discuss why so many homes in certain communities are broken, which leads to a vicious cycle of poverty, violence, and a lack of opportunity.
Basic math shows that a child only spends about 12% of his time in any given year inside the walls of a school. While there are certainly problems with our education policy, it’s fair to point out that schools can only do so much to help kids.
Schools and staff are increasingly asked to step into the shoes of parents, family, and other governmental institutions when they should be focused on the core mission of educating students to compete in a hyper-competitive and rapidly evolving global economy.
Sentencing so many children to a life on the sidelines on the economy is an unmitigated tragedy.
Of course, the teachers’ union bears a great deal of blame as well.
Very few taxpayers believe the cynical mantra that the union is for “the children.”
The union regularly opposes school reform and works hard to protect incompetent teachers.
No reasonable citizen believes the union is anything other than a political organization that buys politicians who, in turn, protect the status quo.
Here in Minnesota, the teachers’ union has 24 registered lobbyists in Saint Paul. 24!
In 2017 and 2018, the union spent $1.8 million on lobbying activities.
In 2018, the union spent over $5.2 million on elections.
Yeah, it’s about the kids.
Between a union that owns politicians from the school board on up to Washington, DC and kids coming from broken homes, it’s very difficult for many minority children to get a quality education.
The Watchdog, however, is all for a constitutional amendment.
This amendment would guarantee the right of school choice and give parents the right to have the education dollars follow their child to the school of their choice.
Boom.
THE POOR, POOR IRS
So, what are your chances of being audited by the IRS?
According to the much-despised agency, 0.45% of tax returns were audited in 2019, down from 0.59% in 2018.
In fact, the number of audits has been declining for 8 straight years.
The IRS blames the fall in audit numbers to a reduction in employee headcount, with a reduction of nearly 30,000 employees from 2010 to 2019.
“These losses directly correlate with a steady decline in the number of individual audits during the last nine years”, whined the agency.
Yes, taxpayers need to be kept honest and that means audits.
While taxes are way too high, the law is the law.
Respect for the rule of law means following the law.
On the other hand, the IRS has suffered budget reductions at the hands of GOP legislators who are in turn holding the IRS accountable.
The IRS is paying the price for allowing itself to be weaponized by the Obama administration.
Does the name Lois Lerner ring a bell?
She was at the center of an IRS program that targeted conservative groups for maltreatment at the hands of the IRS.
In the aftermath, Republicans in Congress lost faith in the impartiality of the IRS and thus scarce taxpayer resources were directed elsewhere.
In other words, the GOP wasn’t going to countenance the IRS targeting of Americans based on their political viewpoint by giving the agency the budget it wanted.
This reminder of reprehensible IRS citizen abuse has a parallel with the current scandal engulfing the FBI, which is being investigated by a special counsel regarding very credible allegations that agents lied, mislead and withheld information from the courts in order to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign.
Already, 17 instances have been identified when the FBI mislead the courts in providing the information required to obtain permission to spy on Americans, in this case those Americans being Trump campaign officials.
The next investigation report will likely further prove that the FBI sullied its reputation through being co-opted by the Obama and Clinton teams to spy on Trump.
Is there any institution the democrats won’t trash to further their partisan goals?
The IRS (Lois Lerner).
The FBI (Spy on Trump).
The Supreme Court (Trash Brett Kavanaugh).
The Office of the President (The impeachment of the day allegation).
How utterly disgusting.
Quote of the Week: “There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over. The Senate has made its decision.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R – KY)
Quote of the Week: “We’ve been spending more and more money and getting the same poor results.”
- Former MN Supreme Court Justice Alan Page
In This Issue:
- Real Problem, Bad Solution;
- The Poor, Poor IRS.
REAL PROBLEM, BAD SOLUTION
Two distinguished Minnesotans, former Supreme Court justice Alan Page, and Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari, have been raising awareness of the achievement gap in Minnesota’s education system.
The achievement gap, the gap in test scores and learning between white students and minority students, is a very real and pressing problem.
Unfortunately, their proposed solution is almost as bad as the problem.
Essentially, the two have proposed amending the state’s constitution, which mandates a “uniform” system of public education, to mandate a “quality” education.
Put another way, they want to enshrine in the constitution an extremely vague mandate which in turn will open the floodgates to litigation, which in turn will empower courts, not the legislature, to run the state’s public schools.
Who knows what the outcome would be under that scenario? Courts could order all sorts of spending increases to satisfy their subjective definition of “quality.” Those spending increases, of course, would mean higher and higher taxes.
Moreover, courts have proven they would be no better than the legislature at running education policy.
And while there is no doubt that the teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, owns democrats in the legislature, let’s not forget that our judges are subject to the ballot box, meaning the union could just as easily buy judicial races in the same way they have bought legislative seats.
The bottom line is that the achievement gap hasn’t been caused by inadequate wording in the Minnesota Constitution. Instead, the problem is multi-faceted but primarily caused by a couple of big factors.
First, too many minority students are coming to school not ready to learn.
They come from broken homes wracked by substance abuse, violence and other traumas.
They come from homes that lack supportive parents. We all know that some uncomfortable societal conversations are in order to discuss why so many homes in certain communities are broken, which leads to a vicious cycle of poverty, violence, and a lack of opportunity.
Basic math shows that a child only spends about 12% of his time in any given year inside the walls of a school. While there are certainly problems with our education policy, it’s fair to point out that schools can only do so much to help kids.
Schools and staff are increasingly asked to step into the shoes of parents, family, and other governmental institutions when they should be focused on the core mission of educating students to compete in a hyper-competitive and rapidly evolving global economy.
Sentencing so many children to a life on the sidelines on the economy is an unmitigated tragedy.
Of course, the teachers’ union bears a great deal of blame as well.
Very few taxpayers believe the cynical mantra that the union is for “the children.”
The union regularly opposes school reform and works hard to protect incompetent teachers.
No reasonable citizen believes the union is anything other than a political organization that buys politicians who, in turn, protect the status quo.
Here in Minnesota, the teachers’ union has 24 registered lobbyists in Saint Paul. 24!
In 2017 and 2018, the union spent $1.8 million on lobbying activities.
In 2018, the union spent over $5.2 million on elections.
Yeah, it’s about the kids.
Between a union that owns politicians from the school board on up to Washington, DC and kids coming from broken homes, it’s very difficult for many minority children to get a quality education.
The Watchdog, however, is all for a constitutional amendment.
This amendment would guarantee the right of school choice and give parents the right to have the education dollars follow their child to the school of their choice.
Boom.
THE POOR, POOR IRS
So, what are your chances of being audited by the IRS?
According to the much-despised agency, 0.45% of tax returns were audited in 2019, down from 0.59% in 2018.
In fact, the number of audits has been declining for 8 straight years.
The IRS blames the fall in audit numbers to a reduction in employee headcount, with a reduction of nearly 30,000 employees from 2010 to 2019.
“These losses directly correlate with a steady decline in the number of individual audits during the last nine years”, whined the agency.
Yes, taxpayers need to be kept honest and that means audits.
While taxes are way too high, the law is the law.
Respect for the rule of law means following the law.
On the other hand, the IRS has suffered budget reductions at the hands of GOP legislators who are in turn holding the IRS accountable.
The IRS is paying the price for allowing itself to be weaponized by the Obama administration.
Does the name Lois Lerner ring a bell?
She was at the center of an IRS program that targeted conservative groups for maltreatment at the hands of the IRS.
In the aftermath, Republicans in Congress lost faith in the impartiality of the IRS and thus scarce taxpayer resources were directed elsewhere.
In other words, the GOP wasn’t going to countenance the IRS targeting of Americans based on their political viewpoint by giving the agency the budget it wanted.
This reminder of reprehensible IRS citizen abuse has a parallel with the current scandal engulfing the FBI, which is being investigated by a special counsel regarding very credible allegations that agents lied, mislead and withheld information from the courts in order to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign.
Already, 17 instances have been identified when the FBI mislead the courts in providing the information required to obtain permission to spy on Americans, in this case those Americans being Trump campaign officials.
The next investigation report will likely further prove that the FBI sullied its reputation through being co-opted by the Obama and Clinton teams to spy on Trump.
Is there any institution the democrats won’t trash to further their partisan goals?
The IRS (Lois Lerner).
The FBI (Spy on Trump).
The Supreme Court (Trash Brett Kavanaugh).
The Office of the President (The impeachment of the day allegation).
How utterly disgusting.
January 3rd, 2020
Editor’s Note: Welcome to 2020! As the Watchdog enters our 15th year of publication, we wish all our loyal readers a prosperous, healthy year. Your loyal readership is greatly appreciated.
Quote of the Week: At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.
In This Issue:
LEFTUGEES
Ever heard of a “Leftugee?” If not, don’t feel ignorant. Most people have yet to hear of this existential threat to red states, counites, and townships across Minnesota and America.
Leftugees are people who flee jurisdictions ruined by liberal policies into jurisdictions governed by conservative policies regarding all manner of government from taxes to education to transportation.
Think California, specifically San Francisco. Every day, thousands of residents flee the city (and state) to escape the high taxes, bad schools, outrageous living costs, and feces-littered sidewalks for states like Idaho and Texas, where conservative public policies have bred jobs, opportunity, and prosperity.
In short, people are voting with their feet.
While one might be tempted to welcome this development as a sign that people are turning away from collectivist policies are being victimized by those policies, that isn’t always the case.
The great (and dangerous) paradox of the Leftugee is that many of them import to their new homes the very same odious liberalism that ruined the last home.
There is ample empirical data to support this thesis as well as anecdotal evidence.
Colorado is one example. The state has trended blue for some years now, led by polling that shows recent arrivals tending to vote democrat.
The state’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) amendment, which has placed a cap of state taxing and spending, is now under assault and threat of repeal, blamed by liberals for all manner of social ills, which they claim would be ameliorated by authorizing the legislature to tax and spend at will.
Polling out of Texas showing a blue trend can be blamed, at least in part, on Leftugees coming in from California and New York.
Watchdog research has yet to find any empirical psychoanalysis data exploring the lack of cognitive dissonance in Leftugees that allows them to easily reconcile the pain of liberal policies with the continued support of those policies.
Of course, conservatives everywhere are alarmed and must be on guard against Leftugees steering their state, county, or city towards the Leftism that has plagued Illinois, New York, California, and other states and localities.
Minnesota has not been immune to this outbreak.
While anecdotal, the Watchdog has been rather surprised by the number of GOP legislators in the state who report this same phenomenon.
This exchange represents what they tell us is happening:
Legislator: Hi, I’m representative/senator XXX. I’m out door knocking today, meeting constituents and listening to their concerns.
Constituent: Thanks for stopping by. We’re new to the area. We moved here a couple of months ago.
Legislator: Welcome! From where did you move?
Constituent: Minneapolis.
Legislator: What inspired you to move here?
Constituent: Minneapolis is awful. High taxes. Crime. The schools aren’t teaching kids. The roads are crumbling.
Legislator: You’ll find our community is quite the opposite. Good schools. Low crime. Government focuses on the efficient delivery of core services.
Constituent: Yes. We did a lot of research and this community has all those things for our family.
Legislator: That’s great. I’m hoping you’ll consider supporting me in the upcoming election to help keep those policies in place.
Constituent: Are you DFL or GOP?
Legislator: GOP.
Constituent: Sorry, I’m a loyal democrat. I will be voting DFL.
Legislator: Huge facepalm.
The lesson stands, Watchdogs. Guard your community from the Leftugee. They’re here!
FREE COLLEGE FOR FELONS?
A recent article in a local newspaper is touting a new program to give prison inmates in Minnesota yet another path to earn a college degree while they are in prison.
Bored while serving that life sentence for murder?
Take a few classes.
Looking to break the monotony of serving 25 years for child molestation?
Take a few classes, enjoy the taxpayer subsidy.
According to one Department of Corrections bureaucrat, said of the program, “It’s going to be one of the best liberal arts or university colleges in the state.”
Thank goodness. Nothing but the best for our convicted violent offenders.
No word on whether the Princeton Review will be adding Oak Park Heights to its list of Best Colleges.
The irony wasn’t lost on one instructor, who noted that “these inmates can take a for-credit college class for 10 bucks. It’s amazing for them, while you and I have to pay thousands for classes.”
Indeed.
The primary purpose of prison is the retributive aspect. These people are in prison because they have visited serious harm or even death on their victims. They are serving time to repay their debt to their victims and to society at large.
Prison isn’t a reward. It isn’t an ersatz job training program. It isn’t college. It isn’t a frat house.
It’s a place to do hard time for committing crimes, some of them vile and evil.
What’s the message to society at large? If Pell Grants and savings don’t work, there’s always the “Felony Scholarship?”
While rehabilitation is certainly an aspect of prison, this crosses the line.
It’s one thing to have access to a prison library.
It’s another thing to be giving inmates smart tablets to allow them to earn college credits “when it’s convenient for them.”
It’s another thing to be offering incarcerated felons the same or similar for-credit courses that are available to Minnesota’s most promising students on our taxpayer-subsidized campuses.
Unfortunately, this is yet one more example of where Minnesota’s deep-seated liberalism is at work.
We can only imagine the outrage some crime victims and their families feel at finding out that the person who impacted their lives so horribly is now enjoying college credits on a brand-new smart tablet.
What’s next, sex change operations for inmates?
Too late.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to 2020! As the Watchdog enters our 15th year of publication, we wish all our loyal readers a prosperous, healthy year. Your loyal readership is greatly appreciated.
- Harold Hamilton
Quote of the Week: At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.
- Department of Defense press release
In This Issue:
- Leftugees;
- Free College for Felons?
LEFTUGEES
Ever heard of a “Leftugee?” If not, don’t feel ignorant. Most people have yet to hear of this existential threat to red states, counites, and townships across Minnesota and America.
Leftugees are people who flee jurisdictions ruined by liberal policies into jurisdictions governed by conservative policies regarding all manner of government from taxes to education to transportation.
Think California, specifically San Francisco. Every day, thousands of residents flee the city (and state) to escape the high taxes, bad schools, outrageous living costs, and feces-littered sidewalks for states like Idaho and Texas, where conservative public policies have bred jobs, opportunity, and prosperity.
In short, people are voting with their feet.
While one might be tempted to welcome this development as a sign that people are turning away from collectivist policies are being victimized by those policies, that isn’t always the case.
The great (and dangerous) paradox of the Leftugee is that many of them import to their new homes the very same odious liberalism that ruined the last home.
There is ample empirical data to support this thesis as well as anecdotal evidence.
Colorado is one example. The state has trended blue for some years now, led by polling that shows recent arrivals tending to vote democrat.
The state’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) amendment, which has placed a cap of state taxing and spending, is now under assault and threat of repeal, blamed by liberals for all manner of social ills, which they claim would be ameliorated by authorizing the legislature to tax and spend at will.
Polling out of Texas showing a blue trend can be blamed, at least in part, on Leftugees coming in from California and New York.
Watchdog research has yet to find any empirical psychoanalysis data exploring the lack of cognitive dissonance in Leftugees that allows them to easily reconcile the pain of liberal policies with the continued support of those policies.
Of course, conservatives everywhere are alarmed and must be on guard against Leftugees steering their state, county, or city towards the Leftism that has plagued Illinois, New York, California, and other states and localities.
Minnesota has not been immune to this outbreak.
While anecdotal, the Watchdog has been rather surprised by the number of GOP legislators in the state who report this same phenomenon.
This exchange represents what they tell us is happening:
Legislator: Hi, I’m representative/senator XXX. I’m out door knocking today, meeting constituents and listening to their concerns.
Constituent: Thanks for stopping by. We’re new to the area. We moved here a couple of months ago.
Legislator: Welcome! From where did you move?
Constituent: Minneapolis.
Legislator: What inspired you to move here?
Constituent: Minneapolis is awful. High taxes. Crime. The schools aren’t teaching kids. The roads are crumbling.
Legislator: You’ll find our community is quite the opposite. Good schools. Low crime. Government focuses on the efficient delivery of core services.
Constituent: Yes. We did a lot of research and this community has all those things for our family.
Legislator: That’s great. I’m hoping you’ll consider supporting me in the upcoming election to help keep those policies in place.
Constituent: Are you DFL or GOP?
Legislator: GOP.
Constituent: Sorry, I’m a loyal democrat. I will be voting DFL.
Legislator: Huge facepalm.
The lesson stands, Watchdogs. Guard your community from the Leftugee. They’re here!
FREE COLLEGE FOR FELONS?
A recent article in a local newspaper is touting a new program to give prison inmates in Minnesota yet another path to earn a college degree while they are in prison.
Bored while serving that life sentence for murder?
Take a few classes.
Looking to break the monotony of serving 25 years for child molestation?
Take a few classes, enjoy the taxpayer subsidy.
According to one Department of Corrections bureaucrat, said of the program, “It’s going to be one of the best liberal arts or university colleges in the state.”
Thank goodness. Nothing but the best for our convicted violent offenders.
No word on whether the Princeton Review will be adding Oak Park Heights to its list of Best Colleges.
The irony wasn’t lost on one instructor, who noted that “these inmates can take a for-credit college class for 10 bucks. It’s amazing for them, while you and I have to pay thousands for classes.”
Indeed.
The primary purpose of prison is the retributive aspect. These people are in prison because they have visited serious harm or even death on their victims. They are serving time to repay their debt to their victims and to society at large.
Prison isn’t a reward. It isn’t an ersatz job training program. It isn’t college. It isn’t a frat house.
It’s a place to do hard time for committing crimes, some of them vile and evil.
What’s the message to society at large? If Pell Grants and savings don’t work, there’s always the “Felony Scholarship?”
While rehabilitation is certainly an aspect of prison, this crosses the line.
It’s one thing to have access to a prison library.
It’s another thing to be giving inmates smart tablets to allow them to earn college credits “when it’s convenient for them.”
It’s another thing to be offering incarcerated felons the same or similar for-credit courses that are available to Minnesota’s most promising students on our taxpayer-subsidized campuses.
Unfortunately, this is yet one more example of where Minnesota’s deep-seated liberalism is at work.
We can only imagine the outrage some crime victims and their families feel at finding out that the person who impacted their lives so horribly is now enjoying college credits on a brand-new smart tablet.
What’s next, sex change operations for inmates?
Too late.
December 20, 2019
Editor’s Note: On the occasion of the last edition before Christmas, Harold Hamilton wishes all his readers a very Merry Christmas! Remember the reason for the season!
Quote of the Week: "The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable."
In this Issue:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF COLLIN PETERSON
Some people don’t know when it’s time to leave the stage. They continue to talk long after their acceptance speech has grown tiresome, the band has started to play, and it’s time to go to commercial break.
Congressman Collin Peterson has turned into that guy.
On the surface, he appears to be the kind of guy Congress needs. He seems principled, thoughtful, a bit of a maverick in an institution that prizes conformity.
His statement after voting against both impeachment articles appears to bear out this narrative:
"Throughout my career, I have worked from the guiding belief that only through bipartisan action can we address the country’s most pressing challenges. At the beginning of the impeachment debate we were told that it would only move ahead with bipartisan support in the Congress and significant support from the American people.
"After the Russia investigation, Mueller Report and official impeachment investigation by the House Intelligence and the House Judiciary Committees we became more polarized and had less consensus. How can it be that after all the testimony, every Democrat thinks the president has committed an impeachable offense and every Republican thinks he has not?
"I’m not a lawyer and am not sure what ‘high crimes and misdemeanor’ are, but I do know that this process has not convinced the people in my district we have impeachable offenses and that the president needs to be removed. I disagreed with how the Russia probe and Mueller report were handled and think it set the stage for the failed impeachment inquiry. The inquiry and hearing have been partisan and have failed in convincing the country while further placating some people who have wanted the president impeached since he was elected.
"This process has been a mistake and I will not be whipped in line by my party. I may stand alone but I stand in good conscience. History will show this to be a mistake and the Senate will make short work of an acquittal."
That’s great and all, but after being in office since 1991, the words ring a bit hollow in comparison with the actions.
Sure, Peterson has compiled a fairly conservative voting record, supporting gun rights, life, and voting against Obamacare.
But the record must also reflect that Peterson has enabled the opposite.
He voted to make Nancy Pelosi House Speaker.
He gave Adam Schiff a committee gavel.
Same with Jerry Nadler.
He is in league with the Squad, sharing the Democrat Conference with them.
Thus, he empowers time and again all the forces he votes against.
In this regard, he’s the man who gives matches and a gas can to arsonists and then claims credit for being the first to call 911.
A more cynical view is that he sold out to Nancy Pelosi to get a gavel of his own.
Peterson’s GOP opponent, Michelle Fischbach, got it exactly right when she released her social media statement on impeachment:
“Collin Peterson has more seniority than 95% of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, yet he chose not to use it to take a stand against Nancy Pelosi’s partisan #ImpeachmentSham. It’s painfully obvious that Peterson has been in Washington for too long, become complacent in its dysfunction, and at times aides it, like when he enabled this political witch hunt to continue by giving Speaker Pelosi the gavel.
Quietly voting "no" from your seat is a lot easier than taking a stand against the Trump-hating radicals in one's party, who are obsessed with undoing the will of the American people, and removing a duly-elected President of the United States from office.
Western Minnesotans support President Donald J. Trump and are sick and tired of Collin Peterson voting for Speaker Pelosi, as he has for the past two decades. They are ready for a new conservative voice who will stand against the Democrat's political witch hunt to #ImpeachAndRemove President Trump. #MN07 #Trump2020.”
The simple reality is that the citizens of Minnesota District 7 can get conservatism in both legislation and legislative process by voting Republican.
Peterson’s schtick of regularly voting against the people he empowers is trite, shopworn, and a false choice.
The whole Blue Dog Democrat era is but a memory, making Peterson an irrelevant political anachronism.
It is clear that Rep. Peterson represents a bygone era in Washington and thus no longer represents his district.
Time to leave the stage, sir. Thank you for your service.
A REAL AND FRIGHTENING SCANDAL
The real scandal, beyond the fake impeachment fiasco, is the little noted and little reported Department of Justice Inspector General report that uncovered a series of FBI instances of wrongdoing regarding federal law enforcement spying on the Trump campaign.
The domestic surveillance of a presidential campaign will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in American history and a vile, egregious abuse of power.
The FBI regularly submitted false and misleading information to the FISA court in obtaining permission to spy on the Trump campaign.
In addition, the FBI regularly withheld information that undercut their affidavits to the FISA court.
The chief judge of the FISA court had this to say about the uncovered abuses:
“The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable"
The shame doesn’t end there.
The IG report also detailed a particularly ugly incident in which the FBI set up a briefing for Trump and his senior team during the 2016 campaign solely in order to glean information from Trump and others.
The FBI told the Trump campaign it was a briefing about securing the 2016 election, when, in fact, the briefing was attended by at least one FBI agent who was spying on the campaign, looking for incriminating evidence.
That agent wrote up an investigation report on the meeting.
Of course, the Trump campaign was kept in the dark regarding the “Crossfire Hurricane” spy scheme and had no idea the campaign had been infiltrated by people who got there under the false pretenses of misleading FISA applications and the fake Steele dossier paid for by the Clinton campaign.
Investigations will surely conclude that senior federal law enforcement took sides in a presidential election and used the vast powers of federal law enforcement to attempt to achieve a partisan political goal.
Disgusting.
THE KAVANAUGH PLAYBOOK
No reasonable person should be surprised that Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles of impeachment from the Senate.
The House knows it has a thin case and will hold the articles in their possession while they “discover” more witnesses and “evidence” that will surely dictate further investigation.
We saw this playbook on full display with Brett Kavanaugh.
Just keep throwing crap against the wall and hope something sticks.
Perhaps the Democrats should do us all a favor and just recycle their “witnesses” from the Kavanaugh passion play.
Christine Blasey Ford, Judy Munro-Leighton, and Deborah Ramirez could simply reprise their roles, claiming new memories, or none at all (facts aren’t really required by Schiff and company anyway).
(By the way, the Democrats are still investigating these claims to determine the truth, right? Yes, and OJ is still looking for the real killers.)
Michael Avenatti, if he’s not in prison yet, could show up and get some face time on CNN, the only television outlet that will treat him as the serious, uncompromised person he surely is not.
Save the money. Recycle the script. Recycle the props. Recycle the set.
On with the show!
Editor’s Note: On the occasion of the last edition before Christmas, Harold Hamilton wishes all his readers a very Merry Christmas! Remember the reason for the season!
Quote of the Week: "The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable."
In this Issue:
- The Curious Case of Collin Peterson;
- A Real and Frightening Scandal;
- The Kavanaugh Playbook.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF COLLIN PETERSON
Some people don’t know when it’s time to leave the stage. They continue to talk long after their acceptance speech has grown tiresome, the band has started to play, and it’s time to go to commercial break.
Congressman Collin Peterson has turned into that guy.
On the surface, he appears to be the kind of guy Congress needs. He seems principled, thoughtful, a bit of a maverick in an institution that prizes conformity.
His statement after voting against both impeachment articles appears to bear out this narrative:
"Throughout my career, I have worked from the guiding belief that only through bipartisan action can we address the country’s most pressing challenges. At the beginning of the impeachment debate we were told that it would only move ahead with bipartisan support in the Congress and significant support from the American people.
"After the Russia investigation, Mueller Report and official impeachment investigation by the House Intelligence and the House Judiciary Committees we became more polarized and had less consensus. How can it be that after all the testimony, every Democrat thinks the president has committed an impeachable offense and every Republican thinks he has not?
"I’m not a lawyer and am not sure what ‘high crimes and misdemeanor’ are, but I do know that this process has not convinced the people in my district we have impeachable offenses and that the president needs to be removed. I disagreed with how the Russia probe and Mueller report were handled and think it set the stage for the failed impeachment inquiry. The inquiry and hearing have been partisan and have failed in convincing the country while further placating some people who have wanted the president impeached since he was elected.
"This process has been a mistake and I will not be whipped in line by my party. I may stand alone but I stand in good conscience. History will show this to be a mistake and the Senate will make short work of an acquittal."
That’s great and all, but after being in office since 1991, the words ring a bit hollow in comparison with the actions.
Sure, Peterson has compiled a fairly conservative voting record, supporting gun rights, life, and voting against Obamacare.
But the record must also reflect that Peterson has enabled the opposite.
He voted to make Nancy Pelosi House Speaker.
He gave Adam Schiff a committee gavel.
Same with Jerry Nadler.
He is in league with the Squad, sharing the Democrat Conference with them.
Thus, he empowers time and again all the forces he votes against.
In this regard, he’s the man who gives matches and a gas can to arsonists and then claims credit for being the first to call 911.
A more cynical view is that he sold out to Nancy Pelosi to get a gavel of his own.
Peterson’s GOP opponent, Michelle Fischbach, got it exactly right when she released her social media statement on impeachment:
“Collin Peterson has more seniority than 95% of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, yet he chose not to use it to take a stand against Nancy Pelosi’s partisan #ImpeachmentSham. It’s painfully obvious that Peterson has been in Washington for too long, become complacent in its dysfunction, and at times aides it, like when he enabled this political witch hunt to continue by giving Speaker Pelosi the gavel.
Quietly voting "no" from your seat is a lot easier than taking a stand against the Trump-hating radicals in one's party, who are obsessed with undoing the will of the American people, and removing a duly-elected President of the United States from office.
Western Minnesotans support President Donald J. Trump and are sick and tired of Collin Peterson voting for Speaker Pelosi, as he has for the past two decades. They are ready for a new conservative voice who will stand against the Democrat's political witch hunt to #ImpeachAndRemove President Trump. #MN07 #Trump2020.”
The simple reality is that the citizens of Minnesota District 7 can get conservatism in both legislation and legislative process by voting Republican.
Peterson’s schtick of regularly voting against the people he empowers is trite, shopworn, and a false choice.
The whole Blue Dog Democrat era is but a memory, making Peterson an irrelevant political anachronism.
It is clear that Rep. Peterson represents a bygone era in Washington and thus no longer represents his district.
Time to leave the stage, sir. Thank you for your service.
A REAL AND FRIGHTENING SCANDAL
The real scandal, beyond the fake impeachment fiasco, is the little noted and little reported Department of Justice Inspector General report that uncovered a series of FBI instances of wrongdoing regarding federal law enforcement spying on the Trump campaign.
The domestic surveillance of a presidential campaign will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in American history and a vile, egregious abuse of power.
The FBI regularly submitted false and misleading information to the FISA court in obtaining permission to spy on the Trump campaign.
In addition, the FBI regularly withheld information that undercut their affidavits to the FISA court.
The chief judge of the FISA court had this to say about the uncovered abuses:
“The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable"
The shame doesn’t end there.
The IG report also detailed a particularly ugly incident in which the FBI set up a briefing for Trump and his senior team during the 2016 campaign solely in order to glean information from Trump and others.
The FBI told the Trump campaign it was a briefing about securing the 2016 election, when, in fact, the briefing was attended by at least one FBI agent who was spying on the campaign, looking for incriminating evidence.
That agent wrote up an investigation report on the meeting.
Of course, the Trump campaign was kept in the dark regarding the “Crossfire Hurricane” spy scheme and had no idea the campaign had been infiltrated by people who got there under the false pretenses of misleading FISA applications and the fake Steele dossier paid for by the Clinton campaign.
Investigations will surely conclude that senior federal law enforcement took sides in a presidential election and used the vast powers of federal law enforcement to attempt to achieve a partisan political goal.
Disgusting.
THE KAVANAUGH PLAYBOOK
No reasonable person should be surprised that Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles of impeachment from the Senate.
The House knows it has a thin case and will hold the articles in their possession while they “discover” more witnesses and “evidence” that will surely dictate further investigation.
We saw this playbook on full display with Brett Kavanaugh.
Just keep throwing crap against the wall and hope something sticks.
Perhaps the Democrats should do us all a favor and just recycle their “witnesses” from the Kavanaugh passion play.
Christine Blasey Ford, Judy Munro-Leighton, and Deborah Ramirez could simply reprise their roles, claiming new memories, or none at all (facts aren’t really required by Schiff and company anyway).
(By the way, the Democrats are still investigating these claims to determine the truth, right? Yes, and OJ is still looking for the real killers.)
Michael Avenatti, if he’s not in prison yet, could show up and get some face time on CNN, the only television outlet that will treat him as the serious, uncompromised person he surely is not.
Save the money. Recycle the script. Recycle the props. Recycle the set.
On with the show!
December 13th, 2019
Question of the Week: Who has the more reliable electric generation grid, California or Venezuela?
Quote of the Week: “I think the activities we found here don’t vindicate anybody who touched this.”
Factoid of the Week: A recent Harvard University poll shows 2016 loser Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field.
In This Issue:
MINNEAPOLIS – THE CLOSER YOU GET TO TALL BUILDINGS
Conservative icon and mayor of Garage Logic, Joe Soucheray, likes to note that the closer you get to skyscrapers, the more liberal things become.
How true, especially in Minneapolis. Recently, all manner of violent crime has spiked in the city, schools can’t teach kids, and roads are becoming little more than bike lanes.
The response from the mayor is a proposal to hike property tax rates at a level not seen in over a decade.
If past is prologue, these massive tax increases will do little to increase the quality of life for Minneapolis residents.
While the proposed 6.95% property tax increase is newsworthy, it’s the Minneapolis Public Schools that have garnered the embarrassing headlines this week.
Once again, that beleaguered school district is facing a massive budget deficit.
The current deficit is $32 million, although listed at $19.6 million, thanks for reserve funds covering up the difference.
Recall that just last spring, the district dealt with a $33 million budget deficit.
This is all on the heels of a $30 million voter-approved tax levy increase that happened in November of 2018.
Even more galling is refusal of highly compensated district leadership to accept responsibility and provide a reasonable plan of action to align expenses with revenue, something they obviously aren’t familiar with.
A local newspaper is quoted as follows: “District officials are blaming the state and federal governments for not spending enough on local public schools.”
Really.
This current fiscal year, the state will spend $9.6 billion on K-12 education.
Ten years ago, it was $7 billion per year.
Ten years before that, it was $3.9 billion per year.
At the federal level, the story is the same, with spending going up exponentially.
During this time, student enrollment has been essentially flat.
Please.
The real story of the budget shortfall is that students are fleeing Minneapolis public schools – and taking the education funding dollars attached to them.
One of every 3 students in Minneapolis attends either a charter school or open enrolls to a different public school district.
Obviously, parents are voting with their feet and sending a stinging rebuke to the Minneapolis district.
What isn’t shrinking is the amount of money the district is lavishing on employees.
Next year, the district will increase salaries and benefits by a whopping $13 million from the current year, all to serve fewer students.
This isn’t surprising, since the teacher’s union sits on both sides of the bargaining table, having had a big hand in electing the school board.
If this district was a business, it would have been bankrupt years ago.
This is all on top of truly embarrassing test scores and dropout rates.
31% of the district’s students do not finish high school.
56% are not proficient in math.
52% do not read well.
63% are not proficient in science.
But go ahead and blame a lack of funding.
As sure as the sun rises each morning, you can count on Minneapolis and its schools to be an embarrassment of some type.
TAXES RUIN EVERYTHING
Minnesota sports fans are used to disappointment and futility.
The Vikings, Twins, and North Stars (Wild) have provided many moments of heartbreaking failure over the years.
This past season, the Twins set the major league record for home runs in a season yet were run off the field by the Yankees in the post-season.
Most baseball fans know the Twins need better pitching if they’re going to have any chance at post-season success.
Enter Zach Wheeler, a free agent pursued by the Twins.
Rumors were flying recently that Wheeler and Twins would strike a deal.
Not so fast, according to Ken Rosenthal, a widely respected baseball writer.
According to Rosenthal, Minnesota’s high-income tax rate was an issue.
He wrote, "The Twins, aggressively exploring the market for rotation help, would love to sign a starter along the lines one of Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner or Hyun-Jin Ryu. The high-income tax rate in Minnesota, though, could present something of an obstacle. The 9.85 percent rate in Minnesota is second only to California’s 13.3 percent (New York’s rate is higher than Minnesota’s when combining city and state rates, but most players live outside the city). State income tax rate usually is not a primary consideration for free agents, but in certain cases the best gross deal might not be the best net deal, complicating the decision."
This week, Wheeler signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
By the way, Pennsylvania’s state income tax rate is 3.07%, a flat rate, less than 1/3rd Minnesota’s top rate.
It seems we can’t have nice things when it comes to Minnesota sports. This is just one more reason.
And let’s not let the Gophers off the hook. Hockey and men’s basketball are in the toilet and the football team brought us close to Rose Bowl dreams before losing to Iowa and getting clobbered by Wisconsin.
JUDICIAL HELLHOLE
And the bad news just keeps on coming for the North Star State.
In addition to high taxes and brutal weather, the state was recently named a “Judicial Hellhole” by the Americans for Tort Reform foundation, a group dedicated to reducing needless and expensive litigation, especially against job creators.
Here’s what ATR had to say about Minnesota, appearing at #9 on the list of ten worst jurisdictions:
Making its first appearance on the Judicial Hellholes list in 2018, the Twin Cities continue to move in a troubling direction. The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a series of liability expanding decisions that will impact a number of industries and lead to higher insurance costs for consumers. Additionally, much-needed reforms stalled in the legislature, making prospects of improvement grim.
You can read the grim details here:
https://www.judicialhellholes.org/2019-2020/minnesota-supreme-court-twin-cities/
Question of the Week: Who has the more reliable electric generation grid, California or Venezuela?
Quote of the Week: “I think the activities we found here don’t vindicate anybody who touched this.”
- DOJ IG Michael Horowitz
Factoid of the Week: A recent Harvard University poll shows 2016 loser Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field.
In This Issue:
- Minneapolis – The Closer You Get to Tall Buildings;
- Taxes Ruin Everything;
- Judicial Hellhole.
MINNEAPOLIS – THE CLOSER YOU GET TO TALL BUILDINGS
Conservative icon and mayor of Garage Logic, Joe Soucheray, likes to note that the closer you get to skyscrapers, the more liberal things become.
How true, especially in Minneapolis. Recently, all manner of violent crime has spiked in the city, schools can’t teach kids, and roads are becoming little more than bike lanes.
The response from the mayor is a proposal to hike property tax rates at a level not seen in over a decade.
If past is prologue, these massive tax increases will do little to increase the quality of life for Minneapolis residents.
While the proposed 6.95% property tax increase is newsworthy, it’s the Minneapolis Public Schools that have garnered the embarrassing headlines this week.
Once again, that beleaguered school district is facing a massive budget deficit.
The current deficit is $32 million, although listed at $19.6 million, thanks for reserve funds covering up the difference.
Recall that just last spring, the district dealt with a $33 million budget deficit.
This is all on the heels of a $30 million voter-approved tax levy increase that happened in November of 2018.
Even more galling is refusal of highly compensated district leadership to accept responsibility and provide a reasonable plan of action to align expenses with revenue, something they obviously aren’t familiar with.
A local newspaper is quoted as follows: “District officials are blaming the state and federal governments for not spending enough on local public schools.”
Really.
This current fiscal year, the state will spend $9.6 billion on K-12 education.
Ten years ago, it was $7 billion per year.
Ten years before that, it was $3.9 billion per year.
At the federal level, the story is the same, with spending going up exponentially.
During this time, student enrollment has been essentially flat.
Please.
The real story of the budget shortfall is that students are fleeing Minneapolis public schools – and taking the education funding dollars attached to them.
One of every 3 students in Minneapolis attends either a charter school or open enrolls to a different public school district.
Obviously, parents are voting with their feet and sending a stinging rebuke to the Minneapolis district.
What isn’t shrinking is the amount of money the district is lavishing on employees.
Next year, the district will increase salaries and benefits by a whopping $13 million from the current year, all to serve fewer students.
This isn’t surprising, since the teacher’s union sits on both sides of the bargaining table, having had a big hand in electing the school board.
If this district was a business, it would have been bankrupt years ago.
This is all on top of truly embarrassing test scores and dropout rates.
31% of the district’s students do not finish high school.
56% are not proficient in math.
52% do not read well.
63% are not proficient in science.
But go ahead and blame a lack of funding.
As sure as the sun rises each morning, you can count on Minneapolis and its schools to be an embarrassment of some type.
TAXES RUIN EVERYTHING
Minnesota sports fans are used to disappointment and futility.
The Vikings, Twins, and North Stars (Wild) have provided many moments of heartbreaking failure over the years.
This past season, the Twins set the major league record for home runs in a season yet were run off the field by the Yankees in the post-season.
Most baseball fans know the Twins need better pitching if they’re going to have any chance at post-season success.
Enter Zach Wheeler, a free agent pursued by the Twins.
Rumors were flying recently that Wheeler and Twins would strike a deal.
Not so fast, according to Ken Rosenthal, a widely respected baseball writer.
According to Rosenthal, Minnesota’s high-income tax rate was an issue.
He wrote, "The Twins, aggressively exploring the market for rotation help, would love to sign a starter along the lines one of Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner or Hyun-Jin Ryu. The high-income tax rate in Minnesota, though, could present something of an obstacle. The 9.85 percent rate in Minnesota is second only to California’s 13.3 percent (New York’s rate is higher than Minnesota’s when combining city and state rates, but most players live outside the city). State income tax rate usually is not a primary consideration for free agents, but in certain cases the best gross deal might not be the best net deal, complicating the decision."
This week, Wheeler signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
By the way, Pennsylvania’s state income tax rate is 3.07%, a flat rate, less than 1/3rd Minnesota’s top rate.
It seems we can’t have nice things when it comes to Minnesota sports. This is just one more reason.
And let’s not let the Gophers off the hook. Hockey and men’s basketball are in the toilet and the football team brought us close to Rose Bowl dreams before losing to Iowa and getting clobbered by Wisconsin.
JUDICIAL HELLHOLE
And the bad news just keeps on coming for the North Star State.
In addition to high taxes and brutal weather, the state was recently named a “Judicial Hellhole” by the Americans for Tort Reform foundation, a group dedicated to reducing needless and expensive litigation, especially against job creators.
Here’s what ATR had to say about Minnesota, appearing at #9 on the list of ten worst jurisdictions:
Making its first appearance on the Judicial Hellholes list in 2018, the Twin Cities continue to move in a troubling direction. The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a series of liability expanding decisions that will impact a number of industries and lead to higher insurance costs for consumers. Additionally, much-needed reforms stalled in the legislature, making prospects of improvement grim.
You can read the grim details here:
https://www.judicialhellholes.org/2019-2020/minnesota-supreme-court-twin-cities/
November 29, 2019
Editor’s Note: As with most American traditions, Thanksgiving is under attack from the Loony Left.
Therefore, let us wish all our loyal readers a Happy Thanksgiving, as we give thanks for your loyal readership and the principles and values we share.
In This Issue:
TWO PROCLAMATIONS, ONE NATION
Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
On Thanksgiving Day, we remember with reverence and gratitude the bountiful blessings afforded to us by our Creator, and we recommit to sharing in a spirit of thanksgiving and generosity with our friends, neighbors, and families.
Nearly four centuries ago, determined individuals with a hopeful vision of a more prosperous life and an abundance of opportunities made a pilgrimage to a distant land. These Pilgrims embarked on their journey across the Atlantic at great personal risk, facing unforeseen trials and tribulations, and unforetold hardships during their passage. After their arrival in the New World, a harsh and deadly winter took the lives of nearly half their population. Those who survived remained unwavering in their faith and foresight of a future rich with liberty and freedom, enduring every impediment as they established one of our Nation’s first settlements. Through God’s divine providence, a meaningful relationship was forged with the Wampanoag Tribe, and through their unwavering resolve and resilience, the Pilgrims enjoyed a bountiful harvest the following year. The celebration of this harvest lasted 3 days and saw Pilgrims and Wampanoag seated together at the table of friendship and unity. That first Thanksgiving provided an enduring symbol of gratitude that is uniquely sewn into the fabric of our American spirit.
More than 150 years later, it was in this same spirit of unity that President George Washington declared a National Day of Thanksgiving following the Revolutionary War and the ratification of our Constitution. Less than a century later, that hard-won unity came under duress as the United States was engaged in a civil war that threatened the very existence of our Republic. Following the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, in an effort to unite the country and acknowledge “the gracious gifts of the Most High God,” President Abraham Lincoln asked the American people to come together and “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” Today, this tradition continues with millions of Americans gathering each year to give their thanks for the same blessings of liberty for which so many brave patriots have laid down their lives to defend during the Revolutionary War and in the years since.
Since the first settlers to call our country home landed on American shores, we have always been defined by our resilience and propensity to show gratitude even in the face of great adversity, always remembering the blessings we have been given in spite of the hardships we endure. This Thanksgiving, we pause and acknowledge those who will have empty seats at their table. We ask God to watch over our service members, especially those whose selfless commitment to serving our country and defending our sacred liberty has called them to duty overseas during the holiday season. We also pray for our law enforcement officials and first responders as they carry out their duties to protect and serve our communities. As a Nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to both those who take an oath to safeguard us and our way of life as well as to their families, and we salute them for their immeasurable sacrifices.
As we gather today with those we hold dear, let us give thanks to Almighty God for the many blessings we enjoy. United together as one people, in gratitude for the freedoms and prosperity that thrive across our land, we acknowledge God as the source of all good gifts. We ask Him for protection and wisdom and for opportunities this Thanksgiving to share with others some measure of what we have so providentially received.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 2019, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Editor’s Note: As with most American traditions, Thanksgiving is under attack from the Loony Left.
Therefore, let us wish all our loyal readers a Happy Thanksgiving, as we give thanks for your loyal readership and the principles and values we share.
In This Issue:
- Two Proclamations, One Nation.
TWO PROCLAMATIONS, ONE NATION
Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
On Thanksgiving Day, we remember with reverence and gratitude the bountiful blessings afforded to us by our Creator, and we recommit to sharing in a spirit of thanksgiving and generosity with our friends, neighbors, and families.
Nearly four centuries ago, determined individuals with a hopeful vision of a more prosperous life and an abundance of opportunities made a pilgrimage to a distant land. These Pilgrims embarked on their journey across the Atlantic at great personal risk, facing unforeseen trials and tribulations, and unforetold hardships during their passage. After their arrival in the New World, a harsh and deadly winter took the lives of nearly half their population. Those who survived remained unwavering in their faith and foresight of a future rich with liberty and freedom, enduring every impediment as they established one of our Nation’s first settlements. Through God’s divine providence, a meaningful relationship was forged with the Wampanoag Tribe, and through their unwavering resolve and resilience, the Pilgrims enjoyed a bountiful harvest the following year. The celebration of this harvest lasted 3 days and saw Pilgrims and Wampanoag seated together at the table of friendship and unity. That first Thanksgiving provided an enduring symbol of gratitude that is uniquely sewn into the fabric of our American spirit.
More than 150 years later, it was in this same spirit of unity that President George Washington declared a National Day of Thanksgiving following the Revolutionary War and the ratification of our Constitution. Less than a century later, that hard-won unity came under duress as the United States was engaged in a civil war that threatened the very existence of our Republic. Following the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, in an effort to unite the country and acknowledge “the gracious gifts of the Most High God,” President Abraham Lincoln asked the American people to come together and “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” Today, this tradition continues with millions of Americans gathering each year to give their thanks for the same blessings of liberty for which so many brave patriots have laid down their lives to defend during the Revolutionary War and in the years since.
Since the first settlers to call our country home landed on American shores, we have always been defined by our resilience and propensity to show gratitude even in the face of great adversity, always remembering the blessings we have been given in spite of the hardships we endure. This Thanksgiving, we pause and acknowledge those who will have empty seats at their table. We ask God to watch over our service members, especially those whose selfless commitment to serving our country and defending our sacred liberty has called them to duty overseas during the holiday season. We also pray for our law enforcement officials and first responders as they carry out their duties to protect and serve our communities. As a Nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to both those who take an oath to safeguard us and our way of life as well as to their families, and we salute them for their immeasurable sacrifices.
As we gather today with those we hold dear, let us give thanks to Almighty God for the many blessings we enjoy. United together as one people, in gratitude for the freedoms and prosperity that thrive across our land, we acknowledge God as the source of all good gifts. We ask Him for protection and wisdom and for opportunities this Thanksgiving to share with others some measure of what we have so providentially received.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 2019, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
November 22, 2019
Quotes of the Week:
“Did you receive any indication whatsoever, or anything that resembled a quid pro quo?”
“No.”
“Did anyone ever ask you to bribe or extort anyone at any time during your time in the White House?”
“No.”
“No one on this planet told you that President Trump was tying aid to investigations. Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“So, you really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for these investigations.”
“Other than my own presumption.”
“I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing.”
In This Issue:
GAME, SET, MATCH
It’s over for the Democrats. The impeachment inquiry or whatever they are calling it these days has become yet another debacle, representing another piece of political scat thrown against the wall, failing to stick.
Yet unlike the Russia collusion fairy tale, the obscure “emoluments” clause in Scotland ruse, or the other fakes, this cynical stratagem implicated on of the most serious powers given to the legislative branch, that of impeachment.
Despite promises of “bombshell” testimony, witness after witness has provided nothing other than conjecture, assumption, opinion, hearsay, and hearsay within hearsay.
When pressed, these witnesses all have one thing in common: no first-hand knowledge of any quid pro quo demands from the president to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of the Biden clan’s dealings in that country.
By the way, a couple of important facts are relevant at this point.
First, the Obama administration refused to provide lethal military aid to Ukraine. So, spare us the cries that Ukraine was an important ally in need of expedited lethal military aid.
Second, Ukraine is a slimy country mired in corruption. It’s not only acceptable, but important, to ensure that tax dollars flowing into the country are spent correctly. After all, this isn’t the Minnesota DHS department.
Third, related to point number two, Joe Biden and his no-talent kid have been credibly accused of all manner of shenanigans in Ukraine.
This impeachment scheme has been nothing short of a fiasco for the Democrats.
It’s been so bad, some strategists privately wonder if the House will even send articles of impeachment to the floor for a vote.
Over in the Senate, it seems inconceivable that 2/3rds of that body would vote to overturn the 2016 election and remove the president on nothing more than hearsay, opinion, and innuendo.
This is especially true when there is no popular will among the citizenry to impeach the president.
The public is tuned out, worn down by three straight years of constant ginning up at the hands of the media crying “wolf!” at every turn, only to move the goal posts to a new “bombshell” every few weeks or months.
Television ratings are low, polls are static, and minds are made up.
In short, the democrats have succeeded in turning impeachment into little more than everyday partisan bickering.
Shame on these democrats.
They trashed Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court in a sad and pathetic attempt to keep him off the High Court.
They have trashed Donald Trump and office of the presidency in a cynical attempt to either remove him outright or damage him for 2020 and deflect from the clown show that is the democrat presidential field.
There is a growing risk to democrats that things will blow up in their collective faces in the near future.
The investigators who are investigating the origins of the Russia collusion hoax and related FBI issues are nearly done with their work, and the results could be devastating to the dems.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has also announced he has launched an inquiry into the Biden’s slimy dealings in Ukraine.
The game will soon move to the Senate, where Pelosi and company don’t make the rules.
Moreover, the impeachment scheme has energized Republicans.
Polls show strong support for the president and opposition to impeachment.
A recent poll in Wisconsin, for example, shows the president beating all potential democrat opponents.
Looks for the dems to double down on their cynical, corrosive antics as they are the ones who are seeing the walls closing in on them.
GOVERNMENT RUN AMOK
And this is how we get Big Government.
The city of Duluth has announced that it is seeking to hire a “sustainability officer”, whatever that means.
The job, paying up to $115,000 annually (plus Cadillac benefits and about 100 paid days off every year), offers a job description that includes “improvement of city policies, programs, and initiatives that promote local environmental, energy, economic, and social sustainability.”
Social sustainability? Really?
Thus, the city aims to hire a person who will have every incentive and obligation to push all sorts of expensive, impractical, and burdensome programs on the beleaguered taxpayers of that fiscally desperate city.
For example, Mayor Emily Larson recently opined in a news article that she’s interested in figuring out how to defy gravity because the biggest sources of energy consumption in the city is the pumping of water from Lake Superior up the hills to homes and businesses.
Never mind the crumbling streets.
It’s the height of arrogance for Duluth to offer up this job while the city is falling apart, failing to deliver on core services, and walking around with its hand out down at the Capitol in Saint Paul.
Keep in mind that Duluth sucks in nearly $30 million in state aid dollars every year, which is fully 33% of the city’s operating budget.
Moreover, the city is seeking an additional $13.5 million in state dollars for bonding projects in the 2020 legislative session.
And keep in mind that Duluth takes in yet another $4 million per year in federal and other “intergovernmental” dollars.
On top of that, Duluth sports one of the highest sales tax rates in the state, coming in at a whopping 8.375%. The rake off that is $13.7 million per year.
Republicans in Saint Paul should keep all this in mind next year when Mayor Larson and her paid lobbyists (the city has three of them) come calling with hands extended.
Quotes of the Week:
“Did you receive any indication whatsoever, or anything that resembled a quid pro quo?”
“No.”
- Former envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker
“Did anyone ever ask you to bribe or extort anyone at any time during your time in the White House?”
“No.”
- Tim Morrison, former NSC official
“No one on this planet told you that President Trump was tying aid to investigations. Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“So, you really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for these investigations.”
“Other than my own presumption.”
- Ambassador to Ukraine Gordon Sondlan
“I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing.”
- President Donald J. Trump
In This Issue:
- Game, Set, Match;
- Government Run Amok.
GAME, SET, MATCH
It’s over for the Democrats. The impeachment inquiry or whatever they are calling it these days has become yet another debacle, representing another piece of political scat thrown against the wall, failing to stick.
Yet unlike the Russia collusion fairy tale, the obscure “emoluments” clause in Scotland ruse, or the other fakes, this cynical stratagem implicated on of the most serious powers given to the legislative branch, that of impeachment.
Despite promises of “bombshell” testimony, witness after witness has provided nothing other than conjecture, assumption, opinion, hearsay, and hearsay within hearsay.
When pressed, these witnesses all have one thing in common: no first-hand knowledge of any quid pro quo demands from the president to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of the Biden clan’s dealings in that country.
By the way, a couple of important facts are relevant at this point.
First, the Obama administration refused to provide lethal military aid to Ukraine. So, spare us the cries that Ukraine was an important ally in need of expedited lethal military aid.
Second, Ukraine is a slimy country mired in corruption. It’s not only acceptable, but important, to ensure that tax dollars flowing into the country are spent correctly. After all, this isn’t the Minnesota DHS department.
Third, related to point number two, Joe Biden and his no-talent kid have been credibly accused of all manner of shenanigans in Ukraine.
This impeachment scheme has been nothing short of a fiasco for the Democrats.
It’s been so bad, some strategists privately wonder if the House will even send articles of impeachment to the floor for a vote.
Over in the Senate, it seems inconceivable that 2/3rds of that body would vote to overturn the 2016 election and remove the president on nothing more than hearsay, opinion, and innuendo.
This is especially true when there is no popular will among the citizenry to impeach the president.
The public is tuned out, worn down by three straight years of constant ginning up at the hands of the media crying “wolf!” at every turn, only to move the goal posts to a new “bombshell” every few weeks or months.
Television ratings are low, polls are static, and minds are made up.
In short, the democrats have succeeded in turning impeachment into little more than everyday partisan bickering.
Shame on these democrats.
They trashed Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court in a sad and pathetic attempt to keep him off the High Court.
They have trashed Donald Trump and office of the presidency in a cynical attempt to either remove him outright or damage him for 2020 and deflect from the clown show that is the democrat presidential field.
There is a growing risk to democrats that things will blow up in their collective faces in the near future.
The investigators who are investigating the origins of the Russia collusion hoax and related FBI issues are nearly done with their work, and the results could be devastating to the dems.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has also announced he has launched an inquiry into the Biden’s slimy dealings in Ukraine.
The game will soon move to the Senate, where Pelosi and company don’t make the rules.
Moreover, the impeachment scheme has energized Republicans.
Polls show strong support for the president and opposition to impeachment.
A recent poll in Wisconsin, for example, shows the president beating all potential democrat opponents.
Looks for the dems to double down on their cynical, corrosive antics as they are the ones who are seeing the walls closing in on them.
GOVERNMENT RUN AMOK
And this is how we get Big Government.
The city of Duluth has announced that it is seeking to hire a “sustainability officer”, whatever that means.
The job, paying up to $115,000 annually (plus Cadillac benefits and about 100 paid days off every year), offers a job description that includes “improvement of city policies, programs, and initiatives that promote local environmental, energy, economic, and social sustainability.”
Social sustainability? Really?
Thus, the city aims to hire a person who will have every incentive and obligation to push all sorts of expensive, impractical, and burdensome programs on the beleaguered taxpayers of that fiscally desperate city.
For example, Mayor Emily Larson recently opined in a news article that she’s interested in figuring out how to defy gravity because the biggest sources of energy consumption in the city is the pumping of water from Lake Superior up the hills to homes and businesses.
Never mind the crumbling streets.
It’s the height of arrogance for Duluth to offer up this job while the city is falling apart, failing to deliver on core services, and walking around with its hand out down at the Capitol in Saint Paul.
Keep in mind that Duluth sucks in nearly $30 million in state aid dollars every year, which is fully 33% of the city’s operating budget.
Moreover, the city is seeking an additional $13.5 million in state dollars for bonding projects in the 2020 legislative session.
And keep in mind that Duluth takes in yet another $4 million per year in federal and other “intergovernmental” dollars.
On top of that, Duluth sports one of the highest sales tax rates in the state, coming in at a whopping 8.375%. The rake off that is $13.7 million per year.
Republicans in Saint Paul should keep all this in mind next year when Mayor Larson and her paid lobbyists (the city has three of them) come calling with hands extended.
November 15th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “I don’t know why this is a scandal.”
Quote of the Week: “We broke the law.”
In This Issue:
THE SCANDAL GROWS
For the past few weeks, the Watchdog has been reporting on the growing scandal within the Walz administration regarding hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts and grants that were paid out illegally. Moreover, in some cases, investigators couldn’t even determine who authorized those payments, leaving a cold trail regarding accountability.
The scandal continues to metastasize rapidly, with the scandal spreading to other state agencies, adding millions in illegal payments to the tally.
While the DFL-controlled House ignores the issue, the GOP-controlled Senate this week held a committee hearing to hear directly from the affected state agencies regarding the lack of internal controls and the outright flouting of laws designed to protect taxpayers.
To start, two agency heads didn’t bother to attend. The commissioner of Management and Budget and the Human Services commissioner both didn’t show up.
The numbers are appalling.
Investigators have uncovered nearly 1,800 instances of financial mismanagement and outright illegal payments regarding contracts and grants they administer.
While the Department of Human Services (DHS) has been receiving the lion’s share of scrutiny, that beleaguered agency wasn’t the worst identified offender.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), registered a whopping 584 violations of contracting law and regulations, more than double the violations at DHS.
For most bureaucrats, there was no hiding the fact that they broke the law, which didn’t stop some from making excuses.
The primary excuse was that the funded program was so important, following the law was a subordinate consideration.
The other most prevalent excuse was that timelines simply couldn’t be met.
There is nothing in Minnesota law that empowers bureaucrats to ignore the law whenever they, in their sole discretion, feel that a service can’t be delayed.
There is nothing in state law that empowers them to ignore the law because they can’t meet timelines.
1,800 violations. Hundreds of millions of dollars, hard-earned by taxpayers.
Where is House Speaker Melissa Hortman?
Her official web site hasn’t had any news on it since October 21st. Nothing mentioned about this massive scandal.
And what of the governor? He’s said nothing, too busy hanging out with PJ Fleck, accepting “game balls.”
And what of the media? Why no pressing of Walz on this issue?
If it was Tim Pawlenty, the media would have been all over it, camping out in front of his office.
The DFL silence here is as much of a scandal as the waste, fraud and abuse they are trying hard to ignore.
TWENTIETH CENTURY MOTORS
Many readers will recall that this fictional company served as a powerful metaphor in Ayn Rand’s seminal classic, “Atlas Shrugged.”
The company adopted a “compassionate” business plan under which employees were paid by their need, not their productivity.
Inevitably, the business plan led to resentment, conflict, and ultimately the collapse of the company.
The Watchdog couldn’t help but think of this fictional company when reading an opinion piece in the Star Tribune this week.
The author of that piece was arguing that rural Minnesota should be getting more government aid and that this increased aid should be achieved by cutting state aid for the Metro.
Regardless of the merits of the claim, the piece illustrates precisely the point Rand was making in the chapter regarding Twentieth Century Motors.
The simple yet powerful point is that collectivism does nothing to alter or quell man’s inherent selfishness.
The Big Government narrative is that collectivist distributionist policies eliminate this selfishness and result in a “we’re all in this together” public spiritedness.
It’s capitalism that creates a “me” mentality whereas collectivism means “we.”
Hardly.
All resources are limited, meaning that there will always need to be a mechanism to distribute those limited resources.
Moreover, the humans involved are inherently selfish (which does not mean utterly lacking in compassion or the ability to share), looking out for their own interests. This is something the Framers well understood. Human beings all have certain desires which transcend all time and place factors and the worst of these desires must be recognized and moderated with legal constraints. If men were angels, there would be no need for laws.
Thus, the question is what kind of system should govern the distribution.
Capitalism is premised on a system that recognizes individual merit and achievement as the foundation of the system.
Collectivism is premised on political power as the foundation of the system. The most politically powerful groups decide.
The throwing open of the public fisc to “solve” our problems often doesn’t work out that way. It merely moves the inherent tension in distributing limited resources into a different realm, namely one of raw political power.
After all, every government program is premised upon coercion.
Don’t believe it? Try not paying your taxes and see what happens.
Try not paying into Social Security and see what happens.
A system based on merit, or a system based on power.
Quote of the Week: “I don’t know why this is a scandal.”
- Sen. Chris Eaton (DFL – Brooklyn Park), responding to the news that the state has violated the law nearly 1,800 times in managing contracts and taxpayer money
Quote of the Week: “We broke the law.”
- Dept. of Human Services Chief Financial Officer Alexandra Kotze
In This Issue:
- The Scandal Grows;
- Twentieth Century Motors.
THE SCANDAL GROWS
For the past few weeks, the Watchdog has been reporting on the growing scandal within the Walz administration regarding hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts and grants that were paid out illegally. Moreover, in some cases, investigators couldn’t even determine who authorized those payments, leaving a cold trail regarding accountability.
The scandal continues to metastasize rapidly, with the scandal spreading to other state agencies, adding millions in illegal payments to the tally.
While the DFL-controlled House ignores the issue, the GOP-controlled Senate this week held a committee hearing to hear directly from the affected state agencies regarding the lack of internal controls and the outright flouting of laws designed to protect taxpayers.
To start, two agency heads didn’t bother to attend. The commissioner of Management and Budget and the Human Services commissioner both didn’t show up.
The numbers are appalling.
Investigators have uncovered nearly 1,800 instances of financial mismanagement and outright illegal payments regarding contracts and grants they administer.
While the Department of Human Services (DHS) has been receiving the lion’s share of scrutiny, that beleaguered agency wasn’t the worst identified offender.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), registered a whopping 584 violations of contracting law and regulations, more than double the violations at DHS.
For most bureaucrats, there was no hiding the fact that they broke the law, which didn’t stop some from making excuses.
The primary excuse was that the funded program was so important, following the law was a subordinate consideration.
The other most prevalent excuse was that timelines simply couldn’t be met.
There is nothing in Minnesota law that empowers bureaucrats to ignore the law whenever they, in their sole discretion, feel that a service can’t be delayed.
There is nothing in state law that empowers them to ignore the law because they can’t meet timelines.
1,800 violations. Hundreds of millions of dollars, hard-earned by taxpayers.
Where is House Speaker Melissa Hortman?
Her official web site hasn’t had any news on it since October 21st. Nothing mentioned about this massive scandal.
And what of the governor? He’s said nothing, too busy hanging out with PJ Fleck, accepting “game balls.”
And what of the media? Why no pressing of Walz on this issue?
If it was Tim Pawlenty, the media would have been all over it, camping out in front of his office.
The DFL silence here is as much of a scandal as the waste, fraud and abuse they are trying hard to ignore.
TWENTIETH CENTURY MOTORS
Many readers will recall that this fictional company served as a powerful metaphor in Ayn Rand’s seminal classic, “Atlas Shrugged.”
The company adopted a “compassionate” business plan under which employees were paid by their need, not their productivity.
Inevitably, the business plan led to resentment, conflict, and ultimately the collapse of the company.
The Watchdog couldn’t help but think of this fictional company when reading an opinion piece in the Star Tribune this week.
The author of that piece was arguing that rural Minnesota should be getting more government aid and that this increased aid should be achieved by cutting state aid for the Metro.
Regardless of the merits of the claim, the piece illustrates precisely the point Rand was making in the chapter regarding Twentieth Century Motors.
The simple yet powerful point is that collectivism does nothing to alter or quell man’s inherent selfishness.
The Big Government narrative is that collectivist distributionist policies eliminate this selfishness and result in a “we’re all in this together” public spiritedness.
It’s capitalism that creates a “me” mentality whereas collectivism means “we.”
Hardly.
All resources are limited, meaning that there will always need to be a mechanism to distribute those limited resources.
Moreover, the humans involved are inherently selfish (which does not mean utterly lacking in compassion or the ability to share), looking out for their own interests. This is something the Framers well understood. Human beings all have certain desires which transcend all time and place factors and the worst of these desires must be recognized and moderated with legal constraints. If men were angels, there would be no need for laws.
Thus, the question is what kind of system should govern the distribution.
Capitalism is premised on a system that recognizes individual merit and achievement as the foundation of the system.
Collectivism is premised on political power as the foundation of the system. The most politically powerful groups decide.
The throwing open of the public fisc to “solve” our problems often doesn’t work out that way. It merely moves the inherent tension in distributing limited resources into a different realm, namely one of raw political power.
After all, every government program is premised upon coercion.
Don’t believe it? Try not paying your taxes and see what happens.
Try not paying into Social Security and see what happens.
A system based on merit, or a system based on power.
November 8, 2019
Quote of the week: "Coup has started. ... We will get rid of him."
Quote of the Week: “The whistleblower’s lawyer gave away the game. It was always the Democrats’ plan to stage a coup and impeach President Trump and all they ever needed was the right scheme. They whiffed on Mueller so now they’ve settled on the perfectly fine Ukraine phone call. This proves this was orchestrated from the beginning.”
In This Issue:
THE REAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
So here we are again, loyal readers. Spending yet another week brining you the real news to counter the propaganda of the spinners, liars, prevaricators, and hucksters in the mainstream media.
It’s not journalism. It’s outright propaganda.
To read the fake news, one would be led to believe that Tuesday’s election results were a total disaster for the GOP and a personal rebuke of the president, who serves as the white whale to the media’s Captain Ahab.
Here’s what the media didn’t tell you about Tuesday’s results, which were, on the whole, spectacular for Trump, the GOP, and conservatism.
Kentucky.
Yes, Governor Matt Bevin appears to have been narrowly defeated, with a possible recount in the offing. First, the media is lying about the Kentucky race meaning that there has been both a rejection of Trump and a re-alignment in that state’s politics.
First, Bevin was remarkably unpopular. Second, Bevin’s challenger was a popular attorney general who hails from a famous political family. In fact, the challenger’s own father was the previous governor of Kentucky from 2007-2015. Third, Kentucky has had more democrat governors than GOP in recent times.
Now for the real story, which is that Republicans ran the table in all other races in Kentucky.
Take the attorney general race. The GOP flipped the seat and elected one of their own for the first time in 70 years. Moreover, the GOP candidate made history by being the first African American to be elected statewide in Kentucky – ever. Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792. If the new attorney general had been a democrat, the media would have made it a headline.
Republicans in Kentucky also flipped the secretary of state office. In addition, Republicans won state auditor, state treasurer, and the agriculture commissioner.
Finally, there was one special election to the Kentucky House. The GOP won that race as well.
Mississippi.
In the Magnolia State, the GOP won all eight state-wide offices on the ballot, including flipping the attorney general’s office.
Texas.
In Texas, a state that the Fake News crowd would like to believe is on the verge of turning blue, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit a state income tax. Imagine that happening in Minnesota! In Texas, it is now enshrined in the constitution that there shall be no state income tax.
North Carolina.
The media would like you to forget that this was another state they put into the “Republicans are losing” category. In particular, they singled out NC-9, a district that featured a disgraced GOP incumbent who was forced out, making for a special election where the media lionized the democrat.
To their chagrin, the GOP retained the seat Tuesday night.
In another district in the western part of the state, the GOP candidate crushed the democrat 70-30 in that special election.
So much for North Carolina embracing socialism.
Colorado.
We’re not done here. Republicans and conservatives scored a major victory Tuesday night, defeating a ballot measure to repeal spending caps under the Colorado’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) constitutional amendment that puts taxing and spending limits on state government.
Virginia.
About the Old Dominion. Virginia has been a blue state for some time. The state voted for Obama twice and went for Hillary in 2016. The D.C. suburbs, with many thousands of handsomely paid federal employees, has become a stronghold for the democrats. Hardly a harbinger of things to come.
Overall, the GOP and the president had a pretty damn good night Tuesday.
Fake news, indeed.
BIG GOVERNMENT
The Watchdog just ran a piece asking readers not to become desensitized to the large-scale waste, fraud, and abuse happening on Governor Walz’s watch.
We hope you took the advice to heart, as the skeletons keep falling out of the closet over at the Department of Human Services.
This week’s Hall of Shame news is that the agency broke state law over 200 times, releasing $52 million in contracts and commitments to vendors that failed to follow legal requirements.
200 times.
$52 million of YOUR dollars.
The tally of illegally spent or wasted tax dollars across state government has reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
To be fair, this isn’t just a Tim Walz problem. Much of this stupidity occurred under Mark Dayton’s watch, making it a clear DFL problem.
When you have no respect for the taxpayers, you get taxpayer abuse.
Again, this publication renews its call for Republicans in the legislature to get serious about punishing the offending employees and reducing the role of government in our lives.
If we limit their power and checkbook, they can only break fewer laws and waste less money.
Republicans in the Senate are right to hold hearings on this stunning debacle.
They need to keep at it.
SAINT PAUL
Speaking of DFL executive mismanagement, it looks like Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is right there with fellow DFL leaders.
While the city drowns in the blood of murder and violent crime victims, the mayor and council are dallying around with trash collection, something that didn’t need fixing in the first place.
While the city council haggles with waste haulers over money and contractual issues, the police department scrambles to stem a violent tide.
And voters keep returning the same DFLers to office again and again.
Perhaps its time for GOP legislators to start taking a look at both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Both cities receive tens of millions in state subsidies every year, making their problems very much the business of state government.
Over in Minneapolis, many people won’t even venture into downtown after dark, as the Warehouse district in particular has become lawless, like some rural Pakistani tribal area.
Maybe the next state subsidy should buy Kevlar flak vests for visitors.
Quote of the week: "Coup has started. ... We will get rid of him."
- Whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid
Quote of the Week: “The whistleblower’s lawyer gave away the game. It was always the Democrats’ plan to stage a coup and impeach President Trump and all they ever needed was the right scheme. They whiffed on Mueller so now they’ve settled on the perfectly fine Ukraine phone call. This proves this was orchestrated from the beginning.”
- Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh
In This Issue:
- The Real Election Night Results;
- Big Government;
- Saint Paul.
THE REAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
So here we are again, loyal readers. Spending yet another week brining you the real news to counter the propaganda of the spinners, liars, prevaricators, and hucksters in the mainstream media.
It’s not journalism. It’s outright propaganda.
To read the fake news, one would be led to believe that Tuesday’s election results were a total disaster for the GOP and a personal rebuke of the president, who serves as the white whale to the media’s Captain Ahab.
Here’s what the media didn’t tell you about Tuesday’s results, which were, on the whole, spectacular for Trump, the GOP, and conservatism.
Kentucky.
Yes, Governor Matt Bevin appears to have been narrowly defeated, with a possible recount in the offing. First, the media is lying about the Kentucky race meaning that there has been both a rejection of Trump and a re-alignment in that state’s politics.
First, Bevin was remarkably unpopular. Second, Bevin’s challenger was a popular attorney general who hails from a famous political family. In fact, the challenger’s own father was the previous governor of Kentucky from 2007-2015. Third, Kentucky has had more democrat governors than GOP in recent times.
Now for the real story, which is that Republicans ran the table in all other races in Kentucky.
Take the attorney general race. The GOP flipped the seat and elected one of their own for the first time in 70 years. Moreover, the GOP candidate made history by being the first African American to be elected statewide in Kentucky – ever. Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792. If the new attorney general had been a democrat, the media would have made it a headline.
Republicans in Kentucky also flipped the secretary of state office. In addition, Republicans won state auditor, state treasurer, and the agriculture commissioner.
Finally, there was one special election to the Kentucky House. The GOP won that race as well.
Mississippi.
In the Magnolia State, the GOP won all eight state-wide offices on the ballot, including flipping the attorney general’s office.
Texas.
In Texas, a state that the Fake News crowd would like to believe is on the verge of turning blue, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit a state income tax. Imagine that happening in Minnesota! In Texas, it is now enshrined in the constitution that there shall be no state income tax.
North Carolina.
The media would like you to forget that this was another state they put into the “Republicans are losing” category. In particular, they singled out NC-9, a district that featured a disgraced GOP incumbent who was forced out, making for a special election where the media lionized the democrat.
To their chagrin, the GOP retained the seat Tuesday night.
In another district in the western part of the state, the GOP candidate crushed the democrat 70-30 in that special election.
So much for North Carolina embracing socialism.
Colorado.
We’re not done here. Republicans and conservatives scored a major victory Tuesday night, defeating a ballot measure to repeal spending caps under the Colorado’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) constitutional amendment that puts taxing and spending limits on state government.
Virginia.
About the Old Dominion. Virginia has been a blue state for some time. The state voted for Obama twice and went for Hillary in 2016. The D.C. suburbs, with many thousands of handsomely paid federal employees, has become a stronghold for the democrats. Hardly a harbinger of things to come.
Overall, the GOP and the president had a pretty damn good night Tuesday.
Fake news, indeed.
BIG GOVERNMENT
The Watchdog just ran a piece asking readers not to become desensitized to the large-scale waste, fraud, and abuse happening on Governor Walz’s watch.
We hope you took the advice to heart, as the skeletons keep falling out of the closet over at the Department of Human Services.
This week’s Hall of Shame news is that the agency broke state law over 200 times, releasing $52 million in contracts and commitments to vendors that failed to follow legal requirements.
200 times.
$52 million of YOUR dollars.
The tally of illegally spent or wasted tax dollars across state government has reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
To be fair, this isn’t just a Tim Walz problem. Much of this stupidity occurred under Mark Dayton’s watch, making it a clear DFL problem.
When you have no respect for the taxpayers, you get taxpayer abuse.
Again, this publication renews its call for Republicans in the legislature to get serious about punishing the offending employees and reducing the role of government in our lives.
If we limit their power and checkbook, they can only break fewer laws and waste less money.
Republicans in the Senate are right to hold hearings on this stunning debacle.
They need to keep at it.
SAINT PAUL
Speaking of DFL executive mismanagement, it looks like Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is right there with fellow DFL leaders.
While the city drowns in the blood of murder and violent crime victims, the mayor and council are dallying around with trash collection, something that didn’t need fixing in the first place.
While the city council haggles with waste haulers over money and contractual issues, the police department scrambles to stem a violent tide.
And voters keep returning the same DFLers to office again and again.
Perhaps its time for GOP legislators to start taking a look at both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Both cities receive tens of millions in state subsidies every year, making their problems very much the business of state government.
Over in Minneapolis, many people won’t even venture into downtown after dark, as the Warehouse district in particular has become lawless, like some rural Pakistani tribal area.
Maybe the next state subsidy should buy Kevlar flak vests for visitors.
November 1st, 2019
Quote of the Week: "The department did not have legal authority to make the payments; it did not document why, when, and who decided it was appropriate to make the payments; no one at DHS takes responsibility for the decision; and no one at DHS can provide a rationale for the payments.”
In This Issue:
KATIE HILL IS NO VICTIM
Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned from Congress recently, is being martyred by the left as a victim of sexism, homophobia, revenge porn, and all manner of card playing and whataboutism.
Let’s take more measured look at her scandal.
Former Rep. Hill is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a staff member of her congressional office and a separate relationship with a campaign staff member.
These allegations are troubling and deserve a full investigation because the law rightly dictates that in situations of a power differential, the subordinate party often cannot legally consent to a sexual relationship.
This is why inmates can’t legally consent to a relationship with a prison guard.
This is why patients can’t legally consent to relationship with their health care provider.
This is why subordinate soldiers can’t legally consent to a relationship with a superior NCO or officer.
The same rationale holds true in this case. Rep. Hill was at the top of the chain of supervision in both her congressional office and on her campaign team. The other parties to alleged relationship were junior staffers and thus in a very unequal power dynamic, making them vulnerable to being leveraged into a relationship.
The law is absolutely correct to recognize that these kinds of relationships are inherently unequal, making one party subject to exploitation.
But has never stopped the left from excusing the behavior of certain favored people, making it clear that “MeToo” is nothing more than a political weapon for them.
Bill Clinton had a relationship with an intern (the ultimate power differential) that was “private” and thus no one’s business.
Al Franken shouldn’t have resigned.
Katie Hill is the victim here.
That she happens to be a declared bi-sexual, a woman, and a Millennial makes no difference in the eyes of the law – nor should it.
On the revenge porn account, there is a legitimate issue to be investigated regarding the unauthorized release of the tawdry photos apparently showing her engaged in sexual acts and drug use.
Having said that, her apparent lack of discretion in capturing these moments on her phone was just plain dumb.
Her apparent recording of these incidents doesn’t make her a hip, sophisticated Millennial doing something that the old folks can’t understand.
Taking photos and video of private, intimate moments is dumb. That so many narcissistic young people feel the need to capture and share these acts with others doesn’t make it less so. If you commit it to your phone or your email, you are risking dissemination to a broader audience, even the public domain.
It’s wrong, disgusting, and often illegal for people to “out” or blackmail people with the release or threatened release of embarrassing material, but the more important lesson is not put yourself in that position in the first place. This is especially true when one is a public figure.
The narrative that this was some sort of “private” relationship underserving of scrutiny is flat out wrong.
The narrative that this all about a bi-sexual woman and not a hetero-sexual man is bunk.
Any person who allegedly engages in a sexual relationship with a subordinate in cases like these should be investigated regardless of gender, orientation, etc. “Credibly accused” is the catch phrase the left likes to employ.
In this case, the left is merely playing politics and excusing the alleged bad behavior of one of their own.
If Katie Hill had an “R” behind her name, we all know that it would be a different story.
This is pandering, deflection, and whataboutism at its worst.
On with the investigation.
COMFORTABLY NUMB
With so many scandals regarding waste, fraud and taxpayer abuse in Minnesota government coming out, it can be easy to become desensitized to the fiscal carnage and resulting erosion of any remaining faith in government to operate in a responsible manner.
The latest mind-blowing revelation is that the state’s Department of Human Services kicked out $29 million in payments that were illegal and unauthorized. More shocking, the investigating agency couldn’t ever determine who authorized the payments and why.
Talk about a total and complete lack of accountability.
Of course, this all needs to stop.
It needs to stop with Republicans demanding a different course in response.
It’s time to stop demanding accountability from the offending agency and end talk of “reforming” an incorrigible government.
No one will be held accountable for this latest scandal. Even if the people responsible are identified, the “punishment” will likely consist of early retirement, or a severance package, and re-employment with some other unit of government.
Moreover, any proposed reforms will either go nowhere, be watered down, or simply not be enforced.
It’s time, in other words, for Republicans to propose a different way of dealing with this constant, ongoing crisis of waste, fraud, and abuse.
First, it’s time to declare and recognize that state government has simply become to big and unwieldy to operate in any responsible way.
It’s time to admit that government needs to be reduced in size and scope because both taxpayers and the people government programs serve are all too often not served well – or at all.
Does any reader really believe that this is the only scandal happening in state government today?
The reality is that there are scandals happening all over, just waiting for exposure.
Second, the GOP should unveil a program of deterrence that criminalizes this behavior. Bureaucrats who break the law and negligently allow this waste, fraud and abuse shouldn’t get severance or retirement. They should go to jail.
They should be barred from future employment with the state or any Minnesota local government unit. Any private entity that employs them in the future should be barred from competing for a state or local unit of government contract.
It’s time to provide a legitimate deterrent to this behavior.
Third, the state should provide good incentives and the proper protection for whistleblowers.
Employees who do the right thing to report this behavior shouldn’t be pariahs. They should be recognized as good and valued public servants.
Fourth, the Office of Legislative Auditor should be enlarged and given the resources and legal authority to root out this corruption.
The office should be given special prosecutorial powers.
Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles should be made the Elliot Ness of Minnesota government, with a mandate to stomp out corruption, negligence, and restore the serious erosion of trust in our governing institutions.
We are at a crisis point here. The scandals have reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars, with no real accountability or meaningful reform.
It’s no longer enough to expose this garbage and then hold a press conference and committee hearing about it. These deep problems have been “admired” for far too long.
It’s no longer good enough to hear agency heads make excuses and then recite the standard bromides about how seriously they take the sandal and the empty promises to restore taxpayer trust.
Most taxpayers are well beyond accepting this all-too-familiar song and dance as meaningful.
There’s an election coming next year. Republicans should stand up for taxpayers and challenge the DFL to join them in getting serious about responsible governance.
HAD ENOUGH SCANDAL?
Yes, you say?
Minnesota government says, “too bad!”
On the heels of the $29 million in authorized DHS payments comes news that another state software program is out of control and failing.
MnChoices is a software program designed to help officials properly evaluate and disburse over $3 billion in payments to people who qualify for various types of disability assistance.
The state has spent over $600 million on the software.
Would you believe it doesn’t work?
Of course you would.
The software costs over $170 million a year to operate, more than 10 times the projected cost.
Fixes to the program were supposed to be delivered this year. Now the fixes are promised for 2021.
Those who were supposed to use the system, mainly social services workers, are reduced to using pen and paper and other work arounds for a system that taxpayers shell out $170 million to operate each year.
Just like other broken programs in state government, taxpayers aren’t the only losers here.
Many of the people eligible for these payments are seriously ill people with desperate health issues.
The failure to properly evaluate their claims could result in eligible people being denied proper benefits while ineligible people may walk off with ill-gotten benefits.
The stakes are high as heck.
But we’ll all wait around until 2021 until the promised fixes arrive.
Please.
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.
Have we all had enough government for the week?
If this wasn’t all enough, a story about low and regressive math and reading test scores was omitted because of space.
The same is true of a story about a GOP legislator pursuing legislation to ban nicotine sales to anyone under age 21. You can carry a machine gun in Afghanistan. You can get married. You can enter into legal contracts. You can vote. Just don’t buy a tin of Copenhagen!
Quote of the Week: "The department did not have legal authority to make the payments; it did not document why, when, and who decided it was appropriate to make the payments; no one at DHS takes responsibility for the decision; and no one at DHS can provide a rationale for the payments.”
- Legislative Auditor James Nobles
In This Issue:
- Katie Hill is no Victim;
- Comfortably Numb;
- Had Enough Scandal?
- Had Enough Scandal?
KATIE HILL IS NO VICTIM
Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned from Congress recently, is being martyred by the left as a victim of sexism, homophobia, revenge porn, and all manner of card playing and whataboutism.
Let’s take more measured look at her scandal.
Former Rep. Hill is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a staff member of her congressional office and a separate relationship with a campaign staff member.
These allegations are troubling and deserve a full investigation because the law rightly dictates that in situations of a power differential, the subordinate party often cannot legally consent to a sexual relationship.
This is why inmates can’t legally consent to a relationship with a prison guard.
This is why patients can’t legally consent to relationship with their health care provider.
This is why subordinate soldiers can’t legally consent to a relationship with a superior NCO or officer.
The same rationale holds true in this case. Rep. Hill was at the top of the chain of supervision in both her congressional office and on her campaign team. The other parties to alleged relationship were junior staffers and thus in a very unequal power dynamic, making them vulnerable to being leveraged into a relationship.
The law is absolutely correct to recognize that these kinds of relationships are inherently unequal, making one party subject to exploitation.
But has never stopped the left from excusing the behavior of certain favored people, making it clear that “MeToo” is nothing more than a political weapon for them.
Bill Clinton had a relationship with an intern (the ultimate power differential) that was “private” and thus no one’s business.
Al Franken shouldn’t have resigned.
Katie Hill is the victim here.
That she happens to be a declared bi-sexual, a woman, and a Millennial makes no difference in the eyes of the law – nor should it.
On the revenge porn account, there is a legitimate issue to be investigated regarding the unauthorized release of the tawdry photos apparently showing her engaged in sexual acts and drug use.
Having said that, her apparent lack of discretion in capturing these moments on her phone was just plain dumb.
Her apparent recording of these incidents doesn’t make her a hip, sophisticated Millennial doing something that the old folks can’t understand.
Taking photos and video of private, intimate moments is dumb. That so many narcissistic young people feel the need to capture and share these acts with others doesn’t make it less so. If you commit it to your phone or your email, you are risking dissemination to a broader audience, even the public domain.
It’s wrong, disgusting, and often illegal for people to “out” or blackmail people with the release or threatened release of embarrassing material, but the more important lesson is not put yourself in that position in the first place. This is especially true when one is a public figure.
The narrative that this was some sort of “private” relationship underserving of scrutiny is flat out wrong.
The narrative that this all about a bi-sexual woman and not a hetero-sexual man is bunk.
Any person who allegedly engages in a sexual relationship with a subordinate in cases like these should be investigated regardless of gender, orientation, etc. “Credibly accused” is the catch phrase the left likes to employ.
In this case, the left is merely playing politics and excusing the alleged bad behavior of one of their own.
If Katie Hill had an “R” behind her name, we all know that it would be a different story.
This is pandering, deflection, and whataboutism at its worst.
On with the investigation.
COMFORTABLY NUMB
With so many scandals regarding waste, fraud and taxpayer abuse in Minnesota government coming out, it can be easy to become desensitized to the fiscal carnage and resulting erosion of any remaining faith in government to operate in a responsible manner.
The latest mind-blowing revelation is that the state’s Department of Human Services kicked out $29 million in payments that were illegal and unauthorized. More shocking, the investigating agency couldn’t ever determine who authorized the payments and why.
Talk about a total and complete lack of accountability.
Of course, this all needs to stop.
It needs to stop with Republicans demanding a different course in response.
It’s time to stop demanding accountability from the offending agency and end talk of “reforming” an incorrigible government.
No one will be held accountable for this latest scandal. Even if the people responsible are identified, the “punishment” will likely consist of early retirement, or a severance package, and re-employment with some other unit of government.
Moreover, any proposed reforms will either go nowhere, be watered down, or simply not be enforced.
It’s time, in other words, for Republicans to propose a different way of dealing with this constant, ongoing crisis of waste, fraud, and abuse.
First, it’s time to declare and recognize that state government has simply become to big and unwieldy to operate in any responsible way.
It’s time to admit that government needs to be reduced in size and scope because both taxpayers and the people government programs serve are all too often not served well – or at all.
Does any reader really believe that this is the only scandal happening in state government today?
The reality is that there are scandals happening all over, just waiting for exposure.
Second, the GOP should unveil a program of deterrence that criminalizes this behavior. Bureaucrats who break the law and negligently allow this waste, fraud and abuse shouldn’t get severance or retirement. They should go to jail.
They should be barred from future employment with the state or any Minnesota local government unit. Any private entity that employs them in the future should be barred from competing for a state or local unit of government contract.
It’s time to provide a legitimate deterrent to this behavior.
Third, the state should provide good incentives and the proper protection for whistleblowers.
Employees who do the right thing to report this behavior shouldn’t be pariahs. They should be recognized as good and valued public servants.
Fourth, the Office of Legislative Auditor should be enlarged and given the resources and legal authority to root out this corruption.
The office should be given special prosecutorial powers.
Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles should be made the Elliot Ness of Minnesota government, with a mandate to stomp out corruption, negligence, and restore the serious erosion of trust in our governing institutions.
We are at a crisis point here. The scandals have reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars, with no real accountability or meaningful reform.
It’s no longer enough to expose this garbage and then hold a press conference and committee hearing about it. These deep problems have been “admired” for far too long.
It’s no longer good enough to hear agency heads make excuses and then recite the standard bromides about how seriously they take the sandal and the empty promises to restore taxpayer trust.
Most taxpayers are well beyond accepting this all-too-familiar song and dance as meaningful.
There’s an election coming next year. Republicans should stand up for taxpayers and challenge the DFL to join them in getting serious about responsible governance.
HAD ENOUGH SCANDAL?
Yes, you say?
Minnesota government says, “too bad!”
On the heels of the $29 million in authorized DHS payments comes news that another state software program is out of control and failing.
MnChoices is a software program designed to help officials properly evaluate and disburse over $3 billion in payments to people who qualify for various types of disability assistance.
The state has spent over $600 million on the software.
Would you believe it doesn’t work?
Of course you would.
The software costs over $170 million a year to operate, more than 10 times the projected cost.
Fixes to the program were supposed to be delivered this year. Now the fixes are promised for 2021.
Those who were supposed to use the system, mainly social services workers, are reduced to using pen and paper and other work arounds for a system that taxpayers shell out $170 million to operate each year.
Just like other broken programs in state government, taxpayers aren’t the only losers here.
Many of the people eligible for these payments are seriously ill people with desperate health issues.
The failure to properly evaluate their claims could result in eligible people being denied proper benefits while ineligible people may walk off with ill-gotten benefits.
The stakes are high as heck.
But we’ll all wait around until 2021 until the promised fixes arrive.
Please.
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.
Have we all had enough government for the week?
If this wasn’t all enough, a story about low and regressive math and reading test scores was omitted because of space.
The same is true of a story about a GOP legislator pursuing legislation to ban nicotine sales to anyone under age 21. You can carry a machine gun in Afghanistan. You can get married. You can enter into legal contracts. You can vote. Just don’t buy a tin of Copenhagen!
October 25th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Listen to this. Democrats’ first target is changing the tax code so that working families across the country have to subsidize wealthy people in states like New York, New Jersey and California.”
In This Issue:
THOSE SALTY LIBERALS
In case you were wondering whether or not uber-wealthy, uber-liberal coastal elites were running the Democrat party, you need wonder no longer.
This week saw Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer of New York force a vote of the Senate to make the IRS recognize disallowed tax shelters to help wealthy coastal elites get a federal tax credit for high state and local taxes they pay.
Here’s how the “SALT” (state and local taxes) issue has changed under the new tax law passed in 2017.
Prior to 2017, taxpayers got an unlimited federal tax credit for the state and local taxes paid. This was a boon for rich people in high tax states like California, New York and New Jersey.
Of course, it was a further boon to the limousine liberals in places like New York that also have big local taxes (New York City has an income tax, for example).
In effect, the federal government was both subsidizing and encouraging big SALT taxes, giving political cover to big government legislators in these states while making working families from “fly over country” subsidize the scheme.
When Republicans crafted the historic 2017 tax reform bill, the original intent was to eliminate the SALT deduction in its entirety.
After whining and sniveling from members of both parties in these states and other high tax states, a cap of $10,000 was agreed upon, meaning that taxpayers could only deduct $10,000 of SALT taxes on their federal return.
To be clear, this change had an impact only on wealthy taxpayers, mostly in the three states mentioned above.
Moreover, even those taxpayers received other tax benefits under the new law.
In yet another example of the Left being truly exposed for who they are, an immediate push was made in these high tax states to fashion tax shelters to make up for the SALT deduction cap and continue the scheme of allowing states like California to tax the crap out of people and make everyone else subsidize them through the federal tax code.
For example, many states set up tax shelters that allowed the rich to make charitable contributions to state-sanctioned shelters and then allow a dollar for dollar credit on their state return that they could in turn use on the federal code for a deduction. A classic tax-shelter scheme to avoid the letter and intent of the SALT cap legislation.
The IRS immediately crafted rules to disallow this deduction on the federal code, giving effect to the legislative intent to cap the deduction.
Hence the vote this week. The intent from the Democrats was to give legislative approval to the state tax shelters and thereby give a tax break to wealthy taxpayers. You know, the people they constantly say need to “pay their fair share.”
Amongst the voluminous examples of liberal hypocrisy, this one really takes the cake.
Democrat senators, who never miss a chance to bark their talking points about “working families” and an economy “that works for everyone” spent political capital to take a vote to restore a tax break for the wealthy elites who truly run their party.
The resolution was defeated 52-43, with Sanders, Harris, and Warren skipping the vote.
If Republicans were smart, they would schedule a vote on this subject each and every week.
Let America see these Democrats spending their time fighting for tax breaks that only benefit the people who fund their party and have concerns such as where they will locate their homes (multiple).
The rationale is clear. After capping these deductions, real estate data clearly show that the wealthy are fleeing from places like NY to low-tax jurisdictions like Florida.
How interesting, considering that these same people constantly virtue signal to the rest of us about the importance of funding government while crowing about their enlightened view of the benefits of Big Government.
Much like mass transit, the liberal elites consider high taxes as something for other people to experience.
WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS
Have you heard this one before? School district offers property tax increase levy, justifies it by noting the “chronically underfunded” status of the district, and threatens painful cuts should the ransom not be delivered.
Yes, it’s happening again. This year, nearly 40 districts will be going out to levy, with the White Bear Lake schools seeking a record-setting $326 million bounty.
As usual, the issue in each district is opaque and unnecessarily complex, with some districts saying increased enrollment is the cause and others saying decreased enrollment is the cause.
Each levy question raises numerous questions taxpayers should be asking.
For example, what has been done with increased state funding?
For reference, the state in 1999 spent $3.8 billion on education funding. In 2009, the number was $7 billion. In 2019, the number is $9.6 billion. Inflation and student enrollment certainly have not gone up that much in 20 years. These increases are well above inflation and enrollment growth.
A related question is what the district has done to control costs. For example, personnel costs are by far the biggest expense in any school district budget. What has the school board done to control those costs? The answer is likely nothing.
How ironic that a recent news article featured quotes from a school district spokesman justifying that district’s levy. Is there some reason why the district superintendent or the board chair couldn’t be interviewed? Does that district really need an additional employee?
Moreover, it is likely that any district has substantial administrative bloat.
In any case, be an informed voter and do your homework. Many of these levees are intentionally scheduled in off years and even at off times in order to depress turn out, which gives the pro-levy side a better chance to mobilize, primarily with teacher union resources.
You may have a levy coming up next month or even in December.
STAUBER!
The political re-alignment in the 8th Congressional District is complete.
While time certainly remains, the DFL has thus far thrown in the towel in this former stronghold, as challengers to incumbent GOP rep Pete Stauber don’t offer much firepower.
One is a candidate from Baxter, MN who appears to have no platform other than complaints about the cost of insulin, a real issue but one that doesn’t rise to anywhere close to the top of voter concerns at the federal level. In fact, this candidate professes to not have a firm opinion on mining, a critical issue to the district.
The other candidate is a dude named Soren Sorenson, his legal name as far as the Watchdog can discern.
This candidate deems Dennis Kucinich a political role model.
Consistent with that sentiment, a recent news profile indicates that his platform is “war and peace, as well as progressive staples like single-payer health care, human rights, anti-poverty programs and labor-oriented causes.”
Moreover, he appears to be a serial candidate, and not a successful one at that. The same profile piece indicates that he deems this is first real race since losing the Minnesota House 2A race as well as the 8th Congressional district endorsement – way back in 2018. You know, like last year.
So, what has he been doing with his time since the calendar turned from 2018 to 2019?
He says “community activism” has been keeping him busy.
Whatever.
Congratulations on your re-election, Rep. Stauber. Well deserved.
Quote of the Week: “Listen to this. Democrats’ first target is changing the tax code so that working families across the country have to subsidize wealthy people in states like New York, New Jersey and California.”
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R – KY)
In This Issue:
- Those SALTy Liberals;
- When the Levee Breaks;
- Stauber!
THOSE SALTY LIBERALS
In case you were wondering whether or not uber-wealthy, uber-liberal coastal elites were running the Democrat party, you need wonder no longer.
This week saw Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer of New York force a vote of the Senate to make the IRS recognize disallowed tax shelters to help wealthy coastal elites get a federal tax credit for high state and local taxes they pay.
Here’s how the “SALT” (state and local taxes) issue has changed under the new tax law passed in 2017.
Prior to 2017, taxpayers got an unlimited federal tax credit for the state and local taxes paid. This was a boon for rich people in high tax states like California, New York and New Jersey.
Of course, it was a further boon to the limousine liberals in places like New York that also have big local taxes (New York City has an income tax, for example).
In effect, the federal government was both subsidizing and encouraging big SALT taxes, giving political cover to big government legislators in these states while making working families from “fly over country” subsidize the scheme.
When Republicans crafted the historic 2017 tax reform bill, the original intent was to eliminate the SALT deduction in its entirety.
After whining and sniveling from members of both parties in these states and other high tax states, a cap of $10,000 was agreed upon, meaning that taxpayers could only deduct $10,000 of SALT taxes on their federal return.
To be clear, this change had an impact only on wealthy taxpayers, mostly in the three states mentioned above.
Moreover, even those taxpayers received other tax benefits under the new law.
In yet another example of the Left being truly exposed for who they are, an immediate push was made in these high tax states to fashion tax shelters to make up for the SALT deduction cap and continue the scheme of allowing states like California to tax the crap out of people and make everyone else subsidize them through the federal tax code.
For example, many states set up tax shelters that allowed the rich to make charitable contributions to state-sanctioned shelters and then allow a dollar for dollar credit on their state return that they could in turn use on the federal code for a deduction. A classic tax-shelter scheme to avoid the letter and intent of the SALT cap legislation.
The IRS immediately crafted rules to disallow this deduction on the federal code, giving effect to the legislative intent to cap the deduction.
Hence the vote this week. The intent from the Democrats was to give legislative approval to the state tax shelters and thereby give a tax break to wealthy taxpayers. You know, the people they constantly say need to “pay their fair share.”
Amongst the voluminous examples of liberal hypocrisy, this one really takes the cake.
Democrat senators, who never miss a chance to bark their talking points about “working families” and an economy “that works for everyone” spent political capital to take a vote to restore a tax break for the wealthy elites who truly run their party.
The resolution was defeated 52-43, with Sanders, Harris, and Warren skipping the vote.
If Republicans were smart, they would schedule a vote on this subject each and every week.
Let America see these Democrats spending their time fighting for tax breaks that only benefit the people who fund their party and have concerns such as where they will locate their homes (multiple).
The rationale is clear. After capping these deductions, real estate data clearly show that the wealthy are fleeing from places like NY to low-tax jurisdictions like Florida.
How interesting, considering that these same people constantly virtue signal to the rest of us about the importance of funding government while crowing about their enlightened view of the benefits of Big Government.
Much like mass transit, the liberal elites consider high taxes as something for other people to experience.
WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS
Have you heard this one before? School district offers property tax increase levy, justifies it by noting the “chronically underfunded” status of the district, and threatens painful cuts should the ransom not be delivered.
Yes, it’s happening again. This year, nearly 40 districts will be going out to levy, with the White Bear Lake schools seeking a record-setting $326 million bounty.
As usual, the issue in each district is opaque and unnecessarily complex, with some districts saying increased enrollment is the cause and others saying decreased enrollment is the cause.
Each levy question raises numerous questions taxpayers should be asking.
For example, what has been done with increased state funding?
For reference, the state in 1999 spent $3.8 billion on education funding. In 2009, the number was $7 billion. In 2019, the number is $9.6 billion. Inflation and student enrollment certainly have not gone up that much in 20 years. These increases are well above inflation and enrollment growth.
A related question is what the district has done to control costs. For example, personnel costs are by far the biggest expense in any school district budget. What has the school board done to control those costs? The answer is likely nothing.
How ironic that a recent news article featured quotes from a school district spokesman justifying that district’s levy. Is there some reason why the district superintendent or the board chair couldn’t be interviewed? Does that district really need an additional employee?
Moreover, it is likely that any district has substantial administrative bloat.
In any case, be an informed voter and do your homework. Many of these levees are intentionally scheduled in off years and even at off times in order to depress turn out, which gives the pro-levy side a better chance to mobilize, primarily with teacher union resources.
You may have a levy coming up next month or even in December.
STAUBER!
The political re-alignment in the 8th Congressional District is complete.
While time certainly remains, the DFL has thus far thrown in the towel in this former stronghold, as challengers to incumbent GOP rep Pete Stauber don’t offer much firepower.
One is a candidate from Baxter, MN who appears to have no platform other than complaints about the cost of insulin, a real issue but one that doesn’t rise to anywhere close to the top of voter concerns at the federal level. In fact, this candidate professes to not have a firm opinion on mining, a critical issue to the district.
The other candidate is a dude named Soren Sorenson, his legal name as far as the Watchdog can discern.
This candidate deems Dennis Kucinich a political role model.
Consistent with that sentiment, a recent news profile indicates that his platform is “war and peace, as well as progressive staples like single-payer health care, human rights, anti-poverty programs and labor-oriented causes.”
Moreover, he appears to be a serial candidate, and not a successful one at that. The same profile piece indicates that he deems this is first real race since losing the Minnesota House 2A race as well as the 8th Congressional district endorsement – way back in 2018. You know, like last year.
So, what has he been doing with his time since the calendar turned from 2018 to 2019?
He says “community activism” has been keeping him busy.
Whatever.
Congratulations on your re-election, Rep. Stauber. Well deserved.
October 18th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Washington Democrats have been engaged in a three-year-long impeachment parade in search of a rationale. Prominent House Democrats were promising impeachment at the very beginning of this presidency. Fairness and due process are not their objectives here.”
In This Issue:
IMPEACHMENT: POLITICAL OR JUDICIAL?
Unfortunately, truth, logic and reason are all casualties of today’s political climate. Instead, emotion, feelings, and the echo chamber of social media self-selection are the order of the day.
Thus, it’s easy to pick just about any political or public policy issue and point out the flaws of the advocates or opponents of that particular issue.
Having said that, there are some issues that are so blatantly and fatally flawed they have to be called out.
One of those issues is the secretive, opaque, and underhanded way in which the U.S. House and Chairman Adam Schiff are conducting their impeachment “inquiry” or whatever they are calling it these days (the meaning of words being the primary casualty of the liberal dogma).
The spectacle thus far has been appalling, with secret hearings, identities hidden, transcripts delayed. There hasn’t even been a formal vote of the House to launch impeachment hearings and proceedings, a clever and corrosive stratagem to allow the Democrats to proceed as they wish while protecting swing district members from going on record.
This charade has been consistently justified by the Democrats and the media as being analogous to judicial grand jury proceedings.
What a crock. Don’t believe it.
The House’s power to impeach is nothing like grand jury proceedings.
The Constitution says absolutely nothing about the House impeachment power being similar to a grand jury process.
There is nothing in the text of the document or in the deliberations of the Framers that would indicate such a dubious intention.
What we do know is that the Framers vested the impeachment power in the legislative and not the judicial branch.
Such vestment clearly demonstrates that the Framers viewed impeachment as a fundamentally political exercise and not a judicial exercise.
Moreover, the Framers philosophically favored transparency and openness in government, especially in the legislative branch, the branch of government “closest to the people.”
The only modern impeachment inquiry and trial was that of President Bill Clinton in 1998-1999.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who presided over the Senate trial, consistently ruled in favor of a broad and open process, allowing evidence that very likely wouldn’t have been admissible in a courtroom during a criminal proceeding, lending further credence to the idea that impeachment is more political in nature than judicial.
Ultimately, the voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on impeachment in November of 2020, either before or after the fact.
It is interesting to note that the 1998 mid-term elections took place in the midst of the Clinton impeachment.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich had polling that showed the GOP gaining upwards of 30 seats on the popularity of impeaching Clinton.
That November, the GOP lost 5 House seats.
THE FOURTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT
Any rational thinking American can’t help but notice that Donald Trump’s presidency has exposed two things: the liberal bias of the media and the utter lack of accountability in the bureaucracy.
This resistance in the executive branch has been labeled the “deep state” in some quarters.
That designation, however, is inappropriate as it evokes a sort of paranoid, tinfoil hat connotation that minimizes the legitimacy of the issue.
In reality, the size, scope, and work rules surrounding the bureaucracy has turned it into a separate branch of government, untethered from any meaningful accountability.
Think about it. At core, the bureaucracy exists to assist the chief executive in both executing the laws and assisting the president in carrying out his policies.
In short, these people work for the president – at least in theory.
Now take a look at what’s happening to President Trump, where leaks and outright resistance are the order of the day.
In the earliest days of the Trump presidency, senior Justice Department bureaucrats publicly announced that they would not defend the president’s executive order restricting travel from certain countries.
A Senate investigation concluded that in Trump’s first 18 weeks in office, there were 125 leaks of classified information that were potentially damaging to national security, which is a felony.
Social media is replete with various accounts and pages dedicated to the “resistance” of the Trump administration.
These employees have no right to oppose their employer or their workplace.
The choice is to support the administration or resign.
This dismal state of affairs has two fathers.
The first father is civil service rules that have made it virtually impossible to terminate employees, thus granting lifetime employment.
While it would be absurd to advocate a return to the days of machine politics, a re-balancing of interests is in order, giving the chief executive the authority to enforce some type of loyalty and accountability to person elected to head the branch.
After all, no one elected these bureaucrats.
The second father is the inability of the legislative branch to reign in the size and scope of government. Unchecked growth in government has made the executive branch virtually unmanageable.
While it is probably too much to ask of the legislative branch to do their job, we can hopefully rely on the Supreme Court to restore the blurred lines of the Separation of Powers doctrine.
It’s high time the Court put an end to the regular practice of Congress delegating its powers to the executive and its sub-branch, the bureaucracy.
Justice Gorsuch has already shown himself to be concerned with this issue.
There really is no conspiratorial deep state. The reality is that we have a wholly out of control and unaccountable bureaucracy, which is a matter of great concern, to be sure.
MEA FOLLIES
Most Watchdogs have read news reports this week about the annual two-day school break called MEA, ostensibly to give teachers time off to attend some sort of union confab, that now has been scaled back to one day.
Of course, that one day is a Thursday, continuing to ensure maximum disruption to student learning.
Watchdogs should ask their local public school district what they plan to do in response to this scaling back.
Some districts have announced they will make no changes while others have rightly declared that these two days will be restored to regular school days, giving the two days off at another time like the end of the year or Christmas (if we can still use that term).
It’s about time school districts stopped with this charade and put those two days back into student learning.
Quote of the Week: “Washington Democrats have been engaged in a three-year-long impeachment parade in search of a rationale. Prominent House Democrats were promising impeachment at the very beginning of this presidency. Fairness and due process are not their objectives here.”
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R – KY)
In This Issue:
- Impeachment: Political or Judicial?
- The Fourth Branch of Government;
- MEA Follies.
IMPEACHMENT: POLITICAL OR JUDICIAL?
Unfortunately, truth, logic and reason are all casualties of today’s political climate. Instead, emotion, feelings, and the echo chamber of social media self-selection are the order of the day.
Thus, it’s easy to pick just about any political or public policy issue and point out the flaws of the advocates or opponents of that particular issue.
Having said that, there are some issues that are so blatantly and fatally flawed they have to be called out.
One of those issues is the secretive, opaque, and underhanded way in which the U.S. House and Chairman Adam Schiff are conducting their impeachment “inquiry” or whatever they are calling it these days (the meaning of words being the primary casualty of the liberal dogma).
The spectacle thus far has been appalling, with secret hearings, identities hidden, transcripts delayed. There hasn’t even been a formal vote of the House to launch impeachment hearings and proceedings, a clever and corrosive stratagem to allow the Democrats to proceed as they wish while protecting swing district members from going on record.
This charade has been consistently justified by the Democrats and the media as being analogous to judicial grand jury proceedings.
What a crock. Don’t believe it.
The House’s power to impeach is nothing like grand jury proceedings.
The Constitution says absolutely nothing about the House impeachment power being similar to a grand jury process.
There is nothing in the text of the document or in the deliberations of the Framers that would indicate such a dubious intention.
What we do know is that the Framers vested the impeachment power in the legislative and not the judicial branch.
Such vestment clearly demonstrates that the Framers viewed impeachment as a fundamentally political exercise and not a judicial exercise.
Moreover, the Framers philosophically favored transparency and openness in government, especially in the legislative branch, the branch of government “closest to the people.”
The only modern impeachment inquiry and trial was that of President Bill Clinton in 1998-1999.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who presided over the Senate trial, consistently ruled in favor of a broad and open process, allowing evidence that very likely wouldn’t have been admissible in a courtroom during a criminal proceeding, lending further credence to the idea that impeachment is more political in nature than judicial.
Ultimately, the voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on impeachment in November of 2020, either before or after the fact.
It is interesting to note that the 1998 mid-term elections took place in the midst of the Clinton impeachment.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich had polling that showed the GOP gaining upwards of 30 seats on the popularity of impeaching Clinton.
That November, the GOP lost 5 House seats.
THE FOURTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT
Any rational thinking American can’t help but notice that Donald Trump’s presidency has exposed two things: the liberal bias of the media and the utter lack of accountability in the bureaucracy.
This resistance in the executive branch has been labeled the “deep state” in some quarters.
That designation, however, is inappropriate as it evokes a sort of paranoid, tinfoil hat connotation that minimizes the legitimacy of the issue.
In reality, the size, scope, and work rules surrounding the bureaucracy has turned it into a separate branch of government, untethered from any meaningful accountability.
Think about it. At core, the bureaucracy exists to assist the chief executive in both executing the laws and assisting the president in carrying out his policies.
In short, these people work for the president – at least in theory.
Now take a look at what’s happening to President Trump, where leaks and outright resistance are the order of the day.
In the earliest days of the Trump presidency, senior Justice Department bureaucrats publicly announced that they would not defend the president’s executive order restricting travel from certain countries.
A Senate investigation concluded that in Trump’s first 18 weeks in office, there were 125 leaks of classified information that were potentially damaging to national security, which is a felony.
Social media is replete with various accounts and pages dedicated to the “resistance” of the Trump administration.
These employees have no right to oppose their employer or their workplace.
The choice is to support the administration or resign.
This dismal state of affairs has two fathers.
The first father is civil service rules that have made it virtually impossible to terminate employees, thus granting lifetime employment.
While it would be absurd to advocate a return to the days of machine politics, a re-balancing of interests is in order, giving the chief executive the authority to enforce some type of loyalty and accountability to person elected to head the branch.
After all, no one elected these bureaucrats.
The second father is the inability of the legislative branch to reign in the size and scope of government. Unchecked growth in government has made the executive branch virtually unmanageable.
While it is probably too much to ask of the legislative branch to do their job, we can hopefully rely on the Supreme Court to restore the blurred lines of the Separation of Powers doctrine.
It’s high time the Court put an end to the regular practice of Congress delegating its powers to the executive and its sub-branch, the bureaucracy.
Justice Gorsuch has already shown himself to be concerned with this issue.
There really is no conspiratorial deep state. The reality is that we have a wholly out of control and unaccountable bureaucracy, which is a matter of great concern, to be sure.
MEA FOLLIES
Most Watchdogs have read news reports this week about the annual two-day school break called MEA, ostensibly to give teachers time off to attend some sort of union confab, that now has been scaled back to one day.
Of course, that one day is a Thursday, continuing to ensure maximum disruption to student learning.
Watchdogs should ask their local public school district what they plan to do in response to this scaling back.
Some districts have announced they will make no changes while others have rightly declared that these two days will be restored to regular school days, giving the two days off at another time like the end of the year or Christmas (if we can still use that term).
It’s about time school districts stopped with this charade and put those two days back into student learning.
October 4th, 2019
Quote of the Week: The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Quote of the Week: The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
In This Issue:
DEEP STATE DUPLICITY
We here at the Watchdog aren’t conspiracy nuts. We don’t wear tinfoil hats and the label “deep state” isn’t thrown around the break room very often.
Moreover, this publication has frequently disapproved of President Trump’s frequent unpresidential behavior.
Having said that, there is growing evidence every day that Trump is indeed the disrupter he claims to be.
There is increasing evidence that he is indeed the subject of harassment from a bi-partisan Establishment that resents a disruptive force occupying the chief executive’s seat.
The evidence is legion.
His supreme court pick is a rapist, yet the witness has no recollection.
Trump mishandled classified material, leading to the emergency extraction of a CIA asset. Later we learn the asset was removed during the Obama administration.
An entire independent counsel investigation was launched based on a false dossier and sustained by false representations to the FISA court.
Trump is accused of steering Air Force personnel to his property in Scotland. We later learn that personnel have been staying there for years, and the number is only a small fraction of those who are lodged in the area during refueling/crew rest operations.
Here we go again.
The media has breathlessly hustled the impeachment goal posts from Mueller zone over to the Ukraine zone, where we’re told that Trump pressured that country’s president to investigate Joe Biden and his loser kid, who was making outrageous dollars to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, even though he had no expertise in the field and no experience in Ukrainian affairs.
Like most of these scandals, we just need to wait a few days for the exculpatory information to start coming out.
No matter the scandal, you can count on a different story to emerge after the initial wave of hyperbole and hysteria.
Same with this matter.
While the mainstream media isn’t reporting it, a major bombshell dropped this week when it was revealed that the rules regarding whistleblower complaints were rewritten at about the same time the Ukraine whistleblower dropped his/her complaint.
This is a big deal, so bear with us for a moment.
To start, the law governing whistleblower complaints in the intelligence community grant broad discretion to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG). Thus, most of what governs whistleblower complaints is governed by ICIG policy.
There is no dispute that when the whistleblower lodged his complaint in August, he did so under rules that explicitly demand FIRSTHAND evidence of wrongdoing.
This is important because all news reports concerning the complaint admit that it is based on second-hand, non-eyewitness information. In other words, it’s a complaint based on hearsay.
The policy under which the complaint was lodged states, in part:
FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED
In order to find an urgent concern “credible,” the IC IG must be in possession of reliable, first-hand information. The IC IG cannot transmit information via the ICWPA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge of wrongdoing. This includes information received from another person, such as when a fellow employee informs you that he/she witnessed same type of wrongdoing. (Anyone with first-hand knowledge of the allegations may file a disclosure in writing directly with IC IG.) Similarly, speculation about the existence of wrongdoing does not provide sufficient legal basis to meet the statutory requirements of the ICWPA. If you think that wrongdoing took place, but can provide nothing more than second-hand or unsubstantiated assertions, IC IG will not be able to process the complaint or information for submission as an ICWPA.
As you can see, any complaint lacking firsthand information is not credible.
This week, the ICIG admitted that this policy was changed in direct response to the Trump complaint, raising legitimate concerns that the ICIG altered policy to go after Trump.
Strangely, the ICIG dismissed this allegation by arguing that the change only “clarified” a previously ambiguous policy.
In the process of reviewing and clarifying those forms, and in response to recent press inquiries regarding the instant whistleblower complaint, the ICIG understood that certain language in those forms and, more specifically, the informational materials accompanying the forms, could be read — incorrectly — as suggesting that whistleblowers must possess first-hand information in order to file an urgent concern complaint with the congressional intelligence committees.
This response is laughable, when the policy (described above) demanding firsthand information is explicit and unambiguous.
The ICIG, like so many other actors in Washington, will have some serious questions to answer from the Senate.
SENATE IMPEACHMENT ROLE
As long as we’re on the topic of impeachment, let’s take a brief moment to understand the Senate’s role in the process, since the House has shown already that it’s “impeachment or bust” for the crew that won the majority on the promise that they wanted to actually govern and not engage in the maniacal pursuit and harassment of the president.
In simple terms, the Senate would sit as a jury of sorts, listening to evidence presented by the House and then needing a 2/3rds majority to impeach and remove from office.
But it’s far more than that. The Constitution makes clear that the Senate has the SOLE power to try all impeachments. This power is explicit and unambiguous.
There are no other requirements and no other rules, other than perhaps some custom and usage.
This means that the Senate has wide latitude governing this power.
For example, the Senate could immediately dismiss article of impeachment.
It could refuse to take up any proffered articles of impeachment.
It’s an interesting question to determine if the Senate could ban some senators from participating in an impeachment trial because those senators have already adjudged Trump guilty and have tainted their ability to serve as an impartial “juror” during an impeachment trial.
After all, the Constitution affords the Senate latitude over its members, including the power to adjudge the “election, returns, and qualifications” of its members as well as the power to expel.
Moreover, many of the rules that govern courtroom trials don’t apply to impeachment trials.
The Senate is free to consider evidence, testimony, and other items that would normally be inadmissible in a traditional courtroom.
With the irregularities that have thus far governed House proceedings against the president and his allies, the House might want to exercise some restraint, which it likely won’t.
Stay tuned.
MISS RICHFIELD
When we’re told to “check out” our local library, this isn’t what most people had in mind.
Over in Hennepin County, their library system is sponsoring a deal called “Stories Together with Drag Performers.”
According to a news report published by our friends over at Alpha News, the “stories” are as nasty and disgusting as one would imagine.
The performance offered by a dude who calls himself “Miss Richfield” is chronicled in a news story on Alpha’s web site.
Read it here: https://alphanewsmn.com/minnesota-public-library-hires-adult-entertainment-worker-to-read-to-toddlers-for-story-hour/
Quote of the Week: The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
- Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution
Quote of the Week: The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
- Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
In This Issue:
- Deep State Duplicity;
- Senate Impeachment Role;
- Miss Richfield.
DEEP STATE DUPLICITY
We here at the Watchdog aren’t conspiracy nuts. We don’t wear tinfoil hats and the label “deep state” isn’t thrown around the break room very often.
Moreover, this publication has frequently disapproved of President Trump’s frequent unpresidential behavior.
Having said that, there is growing evidence every day that Trump is indeed the disrupter he claims to be.
There is increasing evidence that he is indeed the subject of harassment from a bi-partisan Establishment that resents a disruptive force occupying the chief executive’s seat.
The evidence is legion.
His supreme court pick is a rapist, yet the witness has no recollection.
Trump mishandled classified material, leading to the emergency extraction of a CIA asset. Later we learn the asset was removed during the Obama administration.
An entire independent counsel investigation was launched based on a false dossier and sustained by false representations to the FISA court.
Trump is accused of steering Air Force personnel to his property in Scotland. We later learn that personnel have been staying there for years, and the number is only a small fraction of those who are lodged in the area during refueling/crew rest operations.
Here we go again.
The media has breathlessly hustled the impeachment goal posts from Mueller zone over to the Ukraine zone, where we’re told that Trump pressured that country’s president to investigate Joe Biden and his loser kid, who was making outrageous dollars to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, even though he had no expertise in the field and no experience in Ukrainian affairs.
Like most of these scandals, we just need to wait a few days for the exculpatory information to start coming out.
No matter the scandal, you can count on a different story to emerge after the initial wave of hyperbole and hysteria.
Same with this matter.
While the mainstream media isn’t reporting it, a major bombshell dropped this week when it was revealed that the rules regarding whistleblower complaints were rewritten at about the same time the Ukraine whistleblower dropped his/her complaint.
This is a big deal, so bear with us for a moment.
To start, the law governing whistleblower complaints in the intelligence community grant broad discretion to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG). Thus, most of what governs whistleblower complaints is governed by ICIG policy.
There is no dispute that when the whistleblower lodged his complaint in August, he did so under rules that explicitly demand FIRSTHAND evidence of wrongdoing.
This is important because all news reports concerning the complaint admit that it is based on second-hand, non-eyewitness information. In other words, it’s a complaint based on hearsay.
The policy under which the complaint was lodged states, in part:
FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED
In order to find an urgent concern “credible,” the IC IG must be in possession of reliable, first-hand information. The IC IG cannot transmit information via the ICWPA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge of wrongdoing. This includes information received from another person, such as when a fellow employee informs you that he/she witnessed same type of wrongdoing. (Anyone with first-hand knowledge of the allegations may file a disclosure in writing directly with IC IG.) Similarly, speculation about the existence of wrongdoing does not provide sufficient legal basis to meet the statutory requirements of the ICWPA. If you think that wrongdoing took place, but can provide nothing more than second-hand or unsubstantiated assertions, IC IG will not be able to process the complaint or information for submission as an ICWPA.
As you can see, any complaint lacking firsthand information is not credible.
This week, the ICIG admitted that this policy was changed in direct response to the Trump complaint, raising legitimate concerns that the ICIG altered policy to go after Trump.
Strangely, the ICIG dismissed this allegation by arguing that the change only “clarified” a previously ambiguous policy.
In the process of reviewing and clarifying those forms, and in response to recent press inquiries regarding the instant whistleblower complaint, the ICIG understood that certain language in those forms and, more specifically, the informational materials accompanying the forms, could be read — incorrectly — as suggesting that whistleblowers must possess first-hand information in order to file an urgent concern complaint with the congressional intelligence committees.
This response is laughable, when the policy (described above) demanding firsthand information is explicit and unambiguous.
The ICIG, like so many other actors in Washington, will have some serious questions to answer from the Senate.
SENATE IMPEACHMENT ROLE
As long as we’re on the topic of impeachment, let’s take a brief moment to understand the Senate’s role in the process, since the House has shown already that it’s “impeachment or bust” for the crew that won the majority on the promise that they wanted to actually govern and not engage in the maniacal pursuit and harassment of the president.
In simple terms, the Senate would sit as a jury of sorts, listening to evidence presented by the House and then needing a 2/3rds majority to impeach and remove from office.
But it’s far more than that. The Constitution makes clear that the Senate has the SOLE power to try all impeachments. This power is explicit and unambiguous.
There are no other requirements and no other rules, other than perhaps some custom and usage.
This means that the Senate has wide latitude governing this power.
For example, the Senate could immediately dismiss article of impeachment.
It could refuse to take up any proffered articles of impeachment.
It’s an interesting question to determine if the Senate could ban some senators from participating in an impeachment trial because those senators have already adjudged Trump guilty and have tainted their ability to serve as an impartial “juror” during an impeachment trial.
After all, the Constitution affords the Senate latitude over its members, including the power to adjudge the “election, returns, and qualifications” of its members as well as the power to expel.
Moreover, many of the rules that govern courtroom trials don’t apply to impeachment trials.
The Senate is free to consider evidence, testimony, and other items that would normally be inadmissible in a traditional courtroom.
With the irregularities that have thus far governed House proceedings against the president and his allies, the House might want to exercise some restraint, which it likely won’t.
Stay tuned.
MISS RICHFIELD
When we’re told to “check out” our local library, this isn’t what most people had in mind.
Over in Hennepin County, their library system is sponsoring a deal called “Stories Together with Drag Performers.”
According to a news report published by our friends over at Alpha News, the “stories” are as nasty and disgusting as one would imagine.
The performance offered by a dude who calls himself “Miss Richfield” is chronicled in a news story on Alpha’s web site.
Read it here: https://alphanewsmn.com/minnesota-public-library-hires-adult-entertainment-worker-to-read-to-toddlers-for-story-hour/
September 20, 2019
Quote of the Week: “It was totally against my alignment, what went down. The guy has a very impressive record. He has a very impressive record. So the bottom line is, you just don’t screw with the process here, I don’t think. That’s my firm belief."
WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!
Not to get all hyperbolic, but we’re all going to die – soon – according to climate prophets.
But claims regarding the impending death of Mother Earth have been around for some time. Climate alarmism is really nothing new.
In fact, it’s pretty comical.
For some Friday humor, let’s take a look back at some recent climate hysteria.
1967: Infamous apocalyptic prophet Paul Ehrlich (Stanford professor) proclaims impending famine for all. He declared that a “time of famines” was upon the world, that would reach its peak in 1975. He went on to proclaim the “battle to feed humanity will end in a route.”
1970: Professor James Lodge predicts that air pollution will obliterate sunlight, causing a new Ice Age by 2000. Furthermore, the generation of electricity will demand so much cooling water, clean water sources will run dry.
1970: Infamous Paul Ehrlich declares that the oceans will be “dead” by 1980. Sticking with the 1980 theme, he further predicts water and food rationing by that date.
1971: Columbia professor S.I. Rasool predicts a new Ice Age by 2021, predicting cooling temperatures year after year.
1974: Time magazine proclaims a coming Ice Age. “Telltale signs are everywhere. From the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving animal like the armadillo from the Midwest,” the magazine warned readers.
1974: Remember the ozone “hole?” Dozens of experts spent years warning that millions would die of skin cancer if drastic steps weren’t taken immediately. 45 years later, the ozone layer remains with its “hole” and skin cancer rates aren’t too much different.
1980: Remember acid rain? Experts predicted that our lakes and rivers would resemble a moonscape if radical action wasn’t taken. Congress commissioned a $537 million study on the subject. Ten years later, the study concluded that acid rain wasn’t an environmental crisis.
1988: Australian climate experts predict that the Maldives Island chain will be under water by 2018 because of rising ocean waters from global warming. Hasn’t happened.
1989: The United Nations predicts that entire nations will be “obliterated” by rising ocean waters, creating millions of “eco-refugees.” The UN predicts all this to happen by 2000.
2000: British professor David Viner declares that “within a few years” Britain will be completely free of snow fall in the winter because of global warming.
2004: The federal government publishes a paper declaring that Britain will have a “Siberian” climate by 2020.
2008-2015: Various climate experts predict that the Arctic will be “ice free” soon. The statistics don’t support the claim in the least.
The reality is that weather and climate alarmism is as old as mankind. It’s a sort of mysticism that has existed since time immemorial, now supported by junk science instead of mystical dogma.
Don’t worry, the world isn’t about to end. Plan your day, live your life.
THE MEDIA DEATH SPIRAL
Loyal readers may roll their eyes and give this publication a loud “duh!”, but the media continues to look more and more ridiculous, petty, venal, and downright hateful by the day.
This week, headlines went on full alert that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was yet again the subject of a sexual harassment claim.
The claim was made by a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh, who claimed that the supreme court justice thrust his naughty bits into the unwilling hand of a female party guest.
The media went wild, and it took about 2 minutes beyond that for numerous democrats to start using the “I” word. Is there anyone or anything they don’t want to impeach these days?
These days, it’s a wonderful idea to wait 24 hours before believing anything the mainstream media pedals as “news.”
Sure enough, Americans learned shortly after the story was run in the New York Times that a key fact was omitted from the story.
The woman in question has no recollection of such an event ever happening.
From there, the journalistic malpractice got worse. No recollection from the alleged victim, no eyewitness corroboration, an outing of the name of the female in question, and no mention that the FBI was made aware of the claim and declined to investigate.
By the way, the person who offered the raw, unsubstantiated allegation was a man who served as a defense lawyer to Bill Clinton.
The media just gets worse and worse.
Just yesterday, as this issue went to press, the headlines were once again screaming at us that President Trump was the subject of an anonymous whistle blower complaint regarding an unspecified “promise” to an unspecified foreign person at an unspecified time regarding an unspecified issue.
Pardon us if we’re a bit skeptical right now with respect to the veracity and validity of the complaint.
It was just a few short weeks ago that CNN went all fake news on Trump by claiming that his mishandling of classified information resulted in the CIA expeditiously removing a human asset from Russia in order to presumably save the asset from compromise and certain death.
CNN shortly reversed itself when it was revealed that the asset was removed during the Obama administration.
Oops.
The media now beclowns itself in their pursuit of this president.
BANNED WORDS AND PHRASES
The following words and phrases have been banned from the Watchdog, as they have lost all meaning and context, thanks to Democrats:
“Credibly Accused”;
“Fair Share”;
“Invest”;
“Common Sense”;
“Crisis”;
“Impeach”;
“Assault-Style”;
“They”;
“Green”;
“Free.”
Thank you.
More to follow, no doubt.
OPT-OUT
Attention public school teachers.
The month of September is your designated “opt-out” month from paying dues to Education Minnesota, your union and overlord.
As you likely know, the Supreme Court has declared your compulsory union membership to be unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, the union decided that teachers only get to opt out one month a year, which isn’t what the Court said. The Court said compulsory dues offend the constitution – period.
For assistance or more information, visit:
EducatedTeachersMN.com.
Quote of the Week: “It was totally against my alignment, what went down. The guy has a very impressive record. He has a very impressive record. So the bottom line is, you just don’t screw with the process here, I don’t think. That’s my firm belief."
- Leland Keyser, defending Brett Kavanaugh
- We’re All Going to Die!
- The Media Death Spiral;
- Banned Words and Phrases;
- Opt-Out.
WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!
Not to get all hyperbolic, but we’re all going to die – soon – according to climate prophets.
But claims regarding the impending death of Mother Earth have been around for some time. Climate alarmism is really nothing new.
In fact, it’s pretty comical.
For some Friday humor, let’s take a look back at some recent climate hysteria.
1967: Infamous apocalyptic prophet Paul Ehrlich (Stanford professor) proclaims impending famine for all. He declared that a “time of famines” was upon the world, that would reach its peak in 1975. He went on to proclaim the “battle to feed humanity will end in a route.”
1970: Professor James Lodge predicts that air pollution will obliterate sunlight, causing a new Ice Age by 2000. Furthermore, the generation of electricity will demand so much cooling water, clean water sources will run dry.
1970: Infamous Paul Ehrlich declares that the oceans will be “dead” by 1980. Sticking with the 1980 theme, he further predicts water and food rationing by that date.
1971: Columbia professor S.I. Rasool predicts a new Ice Age by 2021, predicting cooling temperatures year after year.
1974: Time magazine proclaims a coming Ice Age. “Telltale signs are everywhere. From the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving animal like the armadillo from the Midwest,” the magazine warned readers.
1974: Remember the ozone “hole?” Dozens of experts spent years warning that millions would die of skin cancer if drastic steps weren’t taken immediately. 45 years later, the ozone layer remains with its “hole” and skin cancer rates aren’t too much different.
1980: Remember acid rain? Experts predicted that our lakes and rivers would resemble a moonscape if radical action wasn’t taken. Congress commissioned a $537 million study on the subject. Ten years later, the study concluded that acid rain wasn’t an environmental crisis.
1988: Australian climate experts predict that the Maldives Island chain will be under water by 2018 because of rising ocean waters from global warming. Hasn’t happened.
1989: The United Nations predicts that entire nations will be “obliterated” by rising ocean waters, creating millions of “eco-refugees.” The UN predicts all this to happen by 2000.
2000: British professor David Viner declares that “within a few years” Britain will be completely free of snow fall in the winter because of global warming.
2004: The federal government publishes a paper declaring that Britain will have a “Siberian” climate by 2020.
2008-2015: Various climate experts predict that the Arctic will be “ice free” soon. The statistics don’t support the claim in the least.
The reality is that weather and climate alarmism is as old as mankind. It’s a sort of mysticism that has existed since time immemorial, now supported by junk science instead of mystical dogma.
Don’t worry, the world isn’t about to end. Plan your day, live your life.
THE MEDIA DEATH SPIRAL
Loyal readers may roll their eyes and give this publication a loud “duh!”, but the media continues to look more and more ridiculous, petty, venal, and downright hateful by the day.
This week, headlines went on full alert that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was yet again the subject of a sexual harassment claim.
The claim was made by a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh, who claimed that the supreme court justice thrust his naughty bits into the unwilling hand of a female party guest.
The media went wild, and it took about 2 minutes beyond that for numerous democrats to start using the “I” word. Is there anyone or anything they don’t want to impeach these days?
These days, it’s a wonderful idea to wait 24 hours before believing anything the mainstream media pedals as “news.”
Sure enough, Americans learned shortly after the story was run in the New York Times that a key fact was omitted from the story.
The woman in question has no recollection of such an event ever happening.
From there, the journalistic malpractice got worse. No recollection from the alleged victim, no eyewitness corroboration, an outing of the name of the female in question, and no mention that the FBI was made aware of the claim and declined to investigate.
By the way, the person who offered the raw, unsubstantiated allegation was a man who served as a defense lawyer to Bill Clinton.
The media just gets worse and worse.
Just yesterday, as this issue went to press, the headlines were once again screaming at us that President Trump was the subject of an anonymous whistle blower complaint regarding an unspecified “promise” to an unspecified foreign person at an unspecified time regarding an unspecified issue.
Pardon us if we’re a bit skeptical right now with respect to the veracity and validity of the complaint.
It was just a few short weeks ago that CNN went all fake news on Trump by claiming that his mishandling of classified information resulted in the CIA expeditiously removing a human asset from Russia in order to presumably save the asset from compromise and certain death.
CNN shortly reversed itself when it was revealed that the asset was removed during the Obama administration.
Oops.
The media now beclowns itself in their pursuit of this president.
BANNED WORDS AND PHRASES
The following words and phrases have been banned from the Watchdog, as they have lost all meaning and context, thanks to Democrats:
“Credibly Accused”;
“Fair Share”;
“Invest”;
“Common Sense”;
“Crisis”;
“Impeach”;
“Assault-Style”;
“They”;
“Green”;
“Free.”
Thank you.
More to follow, no doubt.
OPT-OUT
Attention public school teachers.
The month of September is your designated “opt-out” month from paying dues to Education Minnesota, your union and overlord.
As you likely know, the Supreme Court has declared your compulsory union membership to be unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, the union decided that teachers only get to opt out one month a year, which isn’t what the Court said. The Court said compulsory dues offend the constitution – period.
For assistance or more information, visit:
EducatedTeachersMN.com.
September 13, 2019
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog somberly notes this week the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. May we never forget.
Quote of the Week: “Osama bin Laden died scared s**tless. Hiding behind his wife.”
In This Issue:
SWAMP THING
News broke this week of an emerging scandal that may rank amongst the slimiest in recent Minnesota legislative history.
Would you believe it involves Democrats and the University of Minnesota?
Shocking. We know.
As this edition goes to press, questions are swirling around the manner in which State Rep. Jamie Long (DFL – Minneapolis) was hired at the University of Minnesota and who funded his salary.
This past July, Long was hired by the university’s Institute on the Environment to “conduct research on Minnesota’s clean energy system.”
The executive director of the institute, and the one who hired Long, is Ellen Anderson, a former DFL senator from Saint Paul.
Although not reported by the media, emails provided to them show another staffer, Barb Jacobs, was involved.
Jacobs, a “project manager,” is a former DFL legislative staffer.
No word on whether ANY employee at the institute isn’t a DFL activist.
Primarily, taxpayers and GOP legislators want to know if Long got a sweetheart deal in getting hired and what the motivation was for the still-anonymous donor to fund his paycheck.
According to both Long and the university, it’s all good.
“Writing a job with an individual in mind is not against University HR policy for a temporary position, which is typically built around a short-term project-based need,” said a bureaucrat from the university.
Apparently, so long as the job is “temporary,” you can bypass standard hiring protocols.
Long, for his part, claims both that his hiring was “competitive,” and that the whole affair is “politically motivated.”
Clearly, an investigation is needed to answer four questions.
First, was the job created with Long in mind or did he simply see the posting, shine in the interview, and win it all?
Let’s look at the timeline.
In March of 2019, email records indicate that Long was in touch with Anderson about the job, telling her it was his “top choice” for post-session employment.
In April, Anderson emailed Long, asking for help in creating the position description, in a way that would be “optimal” for Long’s hiring. Later that month, Long provided language that was extensively incorporated in the final position description.
In May, university staffer Barb Jacobs noted in an email, “We got $50K from [REDACTED] to hire Jamie Long for one year.”
In June, the job was publicly posted.
In July, Long was hired.
Re-read that timeline and ask yourself if it was a “public” and “competitive” process.
Second, serious questions have been raised regarding the anonymous donor who put up $50,000 to fund the position.
The donor must be publicly identified and the motivation for the donation must be determined.
Is the donor a registered lobbyist? Does the donor have business before the legislature? Is the donor a wealthy DFLer, looking to bankroll Long for some reason? Did Long author or -co-author legislation in which the donor was interested?
This may be the most important of all the questions raised.
Editor’s Note: As this edition went to press, news reports indicate that the McKnight Foundation was the organization redacted from the email which noted: “We got $50K from [REDACTED] to hire Jamie Long for one year.” While questions remain, the foundation also offered a statement noting that their grant awards prohibit lobbying or the influence of legislation.
Third, Long was in contact with university employees regarding employment during the 2019 legislative session.
Did the prospect of employment influence Long’s votes in the House? To what extent did his votes support the university’s legislative agenda? Did he author or co-author legislation to curry favor with the university, his “top choice” for post-session work?
Finally, the position description calls for Long to engage legislators. Did any of Long’s work fall under the state’s definition of “lobbying?” If so, were any laws broken?
MNLARS, DHS personnel, MnSURE, and now this.
But perhaps this isn’t new.
Former DFL legislator Joe Radinovich recently resigned from his job at another state agency, facing uncomfortable questions about how he was hired.
And don’t forget about DFL Senator David Tomassoni of Chisholm. Way back in 2015, he was hired to be the executive director of an organization representing local government units on the Iron Range.
A state legislator working for a group that lobbies the legislature for funding.
He resigned that job.
There seems to be a pattern here that calls for a law change.
Perhaps no legislator should work for any organization that receives public dollars.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY FROM TUESDAY
You’ve surely heard by now that Republicans are three for three in special elections for Congress this year.
While the Left attempts to downplay the wins, there is some very troubling data behind the wins that should cause concern for Democrats.
Take North Carolina’s 9th district, where Republican Dan Bishop won a narrow victory over his Democrat opponent.
Of course, there was a lot of crowing in defeat about the thin margin.
But buried in the numbers are some interesting data points.
Take Robeson County, where 74% of residents are non-white.
Democrat Dan McCready, who also ran in 2018, saw his margin of victory go from 15% in 2018 down to 1% on Tuesday.
Cumberland County, also in the district, is 60% non-white. McCready won it in 2018. He lost it on Tuesday.
The answer might have something to do with the economy, where polling has consistently shown black and Hispanic voters giving the economy high marks.
Black and Hispanic unemployment is at a generational low.
Jobs matter. Or, to borrow a phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Perhaps this is also why the legacy media is running stories about the impending collapse of the economy and why President Trump doesn’t deserve credit for a robust economy.
After all, these were the same pundits who claimed a Trump victory would crash the stock market.
It would probably also surprise the white, urban, liberal elites to learn that non-white Americans want many of the same things that white Americans want.
Jobs, opportunity, safe streets, and a better life for their kids.
Imagine that.
Many of these same stunned faces that couldn’t comprehend Trump in 2016 are headed for a harsh case of déjà vu.
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog somberly notes this week the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. May we never forget.
Quote of the Week: “Osama bin Laden died scared s**tless. Hiding behind his wife.”
- Robert J. O’Neill, the Navy SEAL who killed him
In This Issue:
- Swamp Thing;
- The Big Takeaway from Tuesday.
SWAMP THING
News broke this week of an emerging scandal that may rank amongst the slimiest in recent Minnesota legislative history.
Would you believe it involves Democrats and the University of Minnesota?
Shocking. We know.
As this edition goes to press, questions are swirling around the manner in which State Rep. Jamie Long (DFL – Minneapolis) was hired at the University of Minnesota and who funded his salary.
This past July, Long was hired by the university’s Institute on the Environment to “conduct research on Minnesota’s clean energy system.”
The executive director of the institute, and the one who hired Long, is Ellen Anderson, a former DFL senator from Saint Paul.
Although not reported by the media, emails provided to them show another staffer, Barb Jacobs, was involved.
Jacobs, a “project manager,” is a former DFL legislative staffer.
No word on whether ANY employee at the institute isn’t a DFL activist.
Primarily, taxpayers and GOP legislators want to know if Long got a sweetheart deal in getting hired and what the motivation was for the still-anonymous donor to fund his paycheck.
According to both Long and the university, it’s all good.
“Writing a job with an individual in mind is not against University HR policy for a temporary position, which is typically built around a short-term project-based need,” said a bureaucrat from the university.
Apparently, so long as the job is “temporary,” you can bypass standard hiring protocols.
Long, for his part, claims both that his hiring was “competitive,” and that the whole affair is “politically motivated.”
Clearly, an investigation is needed to answer four questions.
First, was the job created with Long in mind or did he simply see the posting, shine in the interview, and win it all?
Let’s look at the timeline.
In March of 2019, email records indicate that Long was in touch with Anderson about the job, telling her it was his “top choice” for post-session employment.
In April, Anderson emailed Long, asking for help in creating the position description, in a way that would be “optimal” for Long’s hiring. Later that month, Long provided language that was extensively incorporated in the final position description.
In May, university staffer Barb Jacobs noted in an email, “We got $50K from [REDACTED] to hire Jamie Long for one year.”
In June, the job was publicly posted.
In July, Long was hired.
Re-read that timeline and ask yourself if it was a “public” and “competitive” process.
Second, serious questions have been raised regarding the anonymous donor who put up $50,000 to fund the position.
The donor must be publicly identified and the motivation for the donation must be determined.
Is the donor a registered lobbyist? Does the donor have business before the legislature? Is the donor a wealthy DFLer, looking to bankroll Long for some reason? Did Long author or -co-author legislation in which the donor was interested?
This may be the most important of all the questions raised.
Editor’s Note: As this edition went to press, news reports indicate that the McKnight Foundation was the organization redacted from the email which noted: “We got $50K from [REDACTED] to hire Jamie Long for one year.” While questions remain, the foundation also offered a statement noting that their grant awards prohibit lobbying or the influence of legislation.
Third, Long was in contact with university employees regarding employment during the 2019 legislative session.
Did the prospect of employment influence Long’s votes in the House? To what extent did his votes support the university’s legislative agenda? Did he author or co-author legislation to curry favor with the university, his “top choice” for post-session work?
Finally, the position description calls for Long to engage legislators. Did any of Long’s work fall under the state’s definition of “lobbying?” If so, were any laws broken?
MNLARS, DHS personnel, MnSURE, and now this.
But perhaps this isn’t new.
Former DFL legislator Joe Radinovich recently resigned from his job at another state agency, facing uncomfortable questions about how he was hired.
And don’t forget about DFL Senator David Tomassoni of Chisholm. Way back in 2015, he was hired to be the executive director of an organization representing local government units on the Iron Range.
A state legislator working for a group that lobbies the legislature for funding.
He resigned that job.
There seems to be a pattern here that calls for a law change.
Perhaps no legislator should work for any organization that receives public dollars.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY FROM TUESDAY
You’ve surely heard by now that Republicans are three for three in special elections for Congress this year.
While the Left attempts to downplay the wins, there is some very troubling data behind the wins that should cause concern for Democrats.
Take North Carolina’s 9th district, where Republican Dan Bishop won a narrow victory over his Democrat opponent.
Of course, there was a lot of crowing in defeat about the thin margin.
But buried in the numbers are some interesting data points.
Take Robeson County, where 74% of residents are non-white.
Democrat Dan McCready, who also ran in 2018, saw his margin of victory go from 15% in 2018 down to 1% on Tuesday.
Cumberland County, also in the district, is 60% non-white. McCready won it in 2018. He lost it on Tuesday.
The answer might have something to do with the economy, where polling has consistently shown black and Hispanic voters giving the economy high marks.
Black and Hispanic unemployment is at a generational low.
Jobs matter. Or, to borrow a phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Perhaps this is also why the legacy media is running stories about the impending collapse of the economy and why President Trump doesn’t deserve credit for a robust economy.
After all, these were the same pundits who claimed a Trump victory would crash the stock market.
It would probably also surprise the white, urban, liberal elites to learn that non-white Americans want many of the same things that white Americans want.
Jobs, opportunity, safe streets, and a better life for their kids.
Imagine that.
Many of these same stunned faces that couldn’t comprehend Trump in 2016 are headed for a harsh case of déjà vu.
September 6th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “After much consultation and prayer with my family, I have decided to run for Congress. Western Minnesota families deserve a representative who will fight for their values in Washington and support President Trump’s agenda – not the socialist agenda of Nancy Pelosi, Ilhan Omar, and the rest of the squad. People here believe in our constitutional rights. They believe in the right to life. They believe in making sure the next generation has the opportunity to pursue the American dream right here in Western Minnesota.”
In This Issue:
FISCHBACH THROWS IN HER HAT
Former state senator, lieutenant governor, and Pawlenty running mate Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville this week announced her congressional candidacy for Minnesota’s Seventh District.
Her announcement is noteworthy because she is the first “tier 1” candidate to run for the seat in some time. Moreover, the district is interesting because it is one of those rural districts that has seen a political re-alignment in recent years, with Donald Trump taking the district by a whopping 31 points in 2016.
On top of that, the district has been represented by a moderate “blue dog” democrat, Colin Peterson, for many years.
This race will be one to watch for sure.
First, Fishbach is an excellent candidate, experienced, articulate, and dialed into both the Minnesota donor base and sure to receive attention from national GOP and aligned groups.
Second, as mentioned, the district has become distinctly red over the years. The district boasts the biggest winning margin for Trump in a district won by a democrat in 2016 – by far.
Will Colin Peterson yet again defy the district’s GOP margin, especially now that he faces a serious, credible challenger?
In Peterson’s favor is his long history in the district, giving him name recognition and relationships that have in the past overcome the low DFL index, making him “bigger” than the DFL in the district.
Next, 2020 isn’t 2016. Will Trump remain highly popular? Clearly, the tariff issue is hurting farmers across the district, much like the rest of the nation. Moreover, presidents running for re-election often see a dip in popularity, as the burden of governing weighs on favorability ratings.
This race will be one of the most closely watched in the country, much like Minnesota’s Eighth District in 2018, where Republican Pete Stauber took over a district that turned from deep blue to red over the years.
With the Trump campaign team already targeting Minnesota, it appears that our state will once again be a battleground, which is amazing considering that we were a bit of a political backwater for so many years.
DOWN-BALLOT MATTERS
Don’t forget that the stakes are higher than normal at the legislative level.
The legislature elected in 2020 will be charged with re-drawing legislative district maps for the next decade.
Governor Walz won’t be on the ballot, so the DFL already has a leg up on the GOP.
If the DFL further succeeds in retaining their House majority and then flipping the senate, where the GOP has a slim 35-32 majority, the DFL will draw the maps as they please, subject only to potential litigation.
While the unfortunate fact is that every election matters, thanks to government’s size and scope, this one matters in a big, big way.
CALIFORNIA KOO-KOO
One advantage that the GOP will have in 2020 is that the Democrats are in full-tilt crazy mode, promulgating ideas and policies that are way, way out of step with main street America.
The Green New Deal, reparations, free college, free health care, climate change as a national security threat, confiscating guns, abortion-cum-infanticide, impeachment, no plastic straws, banning meat, no reliable electricity, and on and on.
As they say, fads all start on the west coast. The latest from Crazy California comes from the epicenter of insanity, San Francisco.
This week, their board of supervisors (city/county council) unanimously passed a resolution labeling the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “domestic terrorism organization.”
That’s right, America’s premier firearms advocacy organization has been labeled a bunch of terrorists.
The resolution, of course, if filled with hyperbolic tripe wholly unsupported by fact.
"The National Rifle Association through its advocacy has armed those individuals who would and have committed acts of terrorism."
There apparently isn’t anything going on in San Francisco these days that demands attention.
Never mind that the city resembles a Dark Ages city-state, with ruling elites bathed in opulence while legions of citizens contend with homelessness, malnutrition, and health issues that have been eradicated in the vast majority of First World countries.
The city may be the only one in America that has smartphone apps that pinpoint areas of human excrement, so the well-heeled may avoid it and allow the city’s dedicated team of human pooper scoopers to pick it up.
San Francisco is clearly pointing out the sliver in the NRA’s eye while ignoring the log in its own.
STATE FAIR POLL
The always popular, although unscientific, state fair poll results have been released.
So how do Minnesotans feel about the issues of the day?
Here you go:
FULL RESULTS (All percentages are rounded to the nearest one-tenth. Totals are for those who actually voted on the question.)
1. Should Minnesota residents be required to provide proof of citizenship or lawful presence in the country to obtain a state driver’s license or identification card?
Yes — 42.6% (4,738)
No — 50.4% (5,607)
Undecided/No opinion — 7% (774)
2. School districts are prohibited by state statute from beginning classes before Labor Day. Should that prohibition be repealed?
Yes — 41% (4,547)
No — 42.4% (4,699)
Undecided/No opinion — 16.7% (1,847)
3. Should criminal background checks be required on all gun sales, including private transactions and at gun shows?
Yes — 89% (9,914)
No — 9% (998)
Undecided/No opinion — 2% (219)
4. Should the state provide a tax credit for donations that fund scholarships to private K-12 schools?
Yes — 36% (3,974)
No — 52.3% (5,763)
Undecided/No opinion — 11.7% (1,292)
5. Should high school students be required to take a class in personal finance, even if it means they have to give up another elective or postsecondary enrollment course option?
Yes — 70.1% (7,781)
No — 18.9% (2,101)
Undecided/No opinion — 11% (1,211)
6. Should the state ban abortions for women who are more than 20 weeks into their pregnancy?
Yes — 29.9 % (3,316)
No — 61.7% (6,847)
Undecided/No opinion — 8.4% (932)
7. Should Minnesota allow the recreational use of marijuana for those age 21 and over?
Yes — 56.3% (6,272)
No — 33.8% (3,761)
Undecided/No opinion — 9.9% (1,102)
8. Would you support a quarter-cent sales tax increase in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area to fund transit improvements and expansions?
Yes — 65.5% (7,264)
No — 26.8% (2,972)
Undecided/No opinion — 7.8% (862)
9. Should the state create an insurance program to provide workers with up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, to be funded by a new tax on employers and employees?
Yes — 53.3% (5,899)
No — 31.7% (3,504)
Undecided/No opinion — 15.1% (1,666)
10. A person convicted of a felony is not eligible to vote while serving any part of their sentence, including time in a correctional facility and while on probation, parole or other supervised release. Should the law be changed so a person convicted of a felony regains their right to vote immediately upon release from a correctional facility?
Yes — 60.3% (6,699)
No — 32.5% (3,607)
Undecided/No opinion — 7.3% (807)
11. Should Minnesota ban “conversion therapy” for vulnerable adults and those under the age of 18 by prohibiting mental health practitioners or professionals from seeking to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity?
Yes — 74.4% (8,200)
No — 16.7% (1,844)
Undecided/No opinion — 8.9% (979)
12. Should elementary school students be required to learn cursive writing?
Yes — 55.1% (6,135)
No — 28.7% (3,194)
Undecided/No opinion — 16.2% (1,798)
Quote of the Week: “After much consultation and prayer with my family, I have decided to run for Congress. Western Minnesota families deserve a representative who will fight for their values in Washington and support President Trump’s agenda – not the socialist agenda of Nancy Pelosi, Ilhan Omar, and the rest of the squad. People here believe in our constitutional rights. They believe in the right to life. They believe in making sure the next generation has the opportunity to pursue the American dream right here in Western Minnesota.”
- Michelle Fischbach
In This Issue:
- Fischbach Throws in Her Hat;
- Down-ballot Matters;
- California Koo-Koo;
- State Fair Poll.
FISCHBACH THROWS IN HER HAT
Former state senator, lieutenant governor, and Pawlenty running mate Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville this week announced her congressional candidacy for Minnesota’s Seventh District.
Her announcement is noteworthy because she is the first “tier 1” candidate to run for the seat in some time. Moreover, the district is interesting because it is one of those rural districts that has seen a political re-alignment in recent years, with Donald Trump taking the district by a whopping 31 points in 2016.
On top of that, the district has been represented by a moderate “blue dog” democrat, Colin Peterson, for many years.
This race will be one to watch for sure.
First, Fishbach is an excellent candidate, experienced, articulate, and dialed into both the Minnesota donor base and sure to receive attention from national GOP and aligned groups.
Second, as mentioned, the district has become distinctly red over the years. The district boasts the biggest winning margin for Trump in a district won by a democrat in 2016 – by far.
Will Colin Peterson yet again defy the district’s GOP margin, especially now that he faces a serious, credible challenger?
In Peterson’s favor is his long history in the district, giving him name recognition and relationships that have in the past overcome the low DFL index, making him “bigger” than the DFL in the district.
Next, 2020 isn’t 2016. Will Trump remain highly popular? Clearly, the tariff issue is hurting farmers across the district, much like the rest of the nation. Moreover, presidents running for re-election often see a dip in popularity, as the burden of governing weighs on favorability ratings.
This race will be one of the most closely watched in the country, much like Minnesota’s Eighth District in 2018, where Republican Pete Stauber took over a district that turned from deep blue to red over the years.
With the Trump campaign team already targeting Minnesota, it appears that our state will once again be a battleground, which is amazing considering that we were a bit of a political backwater for so many years.
DOWN-BALLOT MATTERS
Don’t forget that the stakes are higher than normal at the legislative level.
The legislature elected in 2020 will be charged with re-drawing legislative district maps for the next decade.
Governor Walz won’t be on the ballot, so the DFL already has a leg up on the GOP.
If the DFL further succeeds in retaining their House majority and then flipping the senate, where the GOP has a slim 35-32 majority, the DFL will draw the maps as they please, subject only to potential litigation.
While the unfortunate fact is that every election matters, thanks to government’s size and scope, this one matters in a big, big way.
CALIFORNIA KOO-KOO
One advantage that the GOP will have in 2020 is that the Democrats are in full-tilt crazy mode, promulgating ideas and policies that are way, way out of step with main street America.
The Green New Deal, reparations, free college, free health care, climate change as a national security threat, confiscating guns, abortion-cum-infanticide, impeachment, no plastic straws, banning meat, no reliable electricity, and on and on.
As they say, fads all start on the west coast. The latest from Crazy California comes from the epicenter of insanity, San Francisco.
This week, their board of supervisors (city/county council) unanimously passed a resolution labeling the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “domestic terrorism organization.”
That’s right, America’s premier firearms advocacy organization has been labeled a bunch of terrorists.
The resolution, of course, if filled with hyperbolic tripe wholly unsupported by fact.
"The National Rifle Association through its advocacy has armed those individuals who would and have committed acts of terrorism."
There apparently isn’t anything going on in San Francisco these days that demands attention.
Never mind that the city resembles a Dark Ages city-state, with ruling elites bathed in opulence while legions of citizens contend with homelessness, malnutrition, and health issues that have been eradicated in the vast majority of First World countries.
The city may be the only one in America that has smartphone apps that pinpoint areas of human excrement, so the well-heeled may avoid it and allow the city’s dedicated team of human pooper scoopers to pick it up.
San Francisco is clearly pointing out the sliver in the NRA’s eye while ignoring the log in its own.
STATE FAIR POLL
The always popular, although unscientific, state fair poll results have been released.
So how do Minnesotans feel about the issues of the day?
Here you go:
FULL RESULTS (All percentages are rounded to the nearest one-tenth. Totals are for those who actually voted on the question.)
1. Should Minnesota residents be required to provide proof of citizenship or lawful presence in the country to obtain a state driver’s license or identification card?
Yes — 42.6% (4,738)
No — 50.4% (5,607)
Undecided/No opinion — 7% (774)
2. School districts are prohibited by state statute from beginning classes before Labor Day. Should that prohibition be repealed?
Yes — 41% (4,547)
No — 42.4% (4,699)
Undecided/No opinion — 16.7% (1,847)
3. Should criminal background checks be required on all gun sales, including private transactions and at gun shows?
Yes — 89% (9,914)
No — 9% (998)
Undecided/No opinion — 2% (219)
4. Should the state provide a tax credit for donations that fund scholarships to private K-12 schools?
Yes — 36% (3,974)
No — 52.3% (5,763)
Undecided/No opinion — 11.7% (1,292)
5. Should high school students be required to take a class in personal finance, even if it means they have to give up another elective or postsecondary enrollment course option?
Yes — 70.1% (7,781)
No — 18.9% (2,101)
Undecided/No opinion — 11% (1,211)
6. Should the state ban abortions for women who are more than 20 weeks into their pregnancy?
Yes — 29.9 % (3,316)
No — 61.7% (6,847)
Undecided/No opinion — 8.4% (932)
7. Should Minnesota allow the recreational use of marijuana for those age 21 and over?
Yes — 56.3% (6,272)
No — 33.8% (3,761)
Undecided/No opinion — 9.9% (1,102)
8. Would you support a quarter-cent sales tax increase in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area to fund transit improvements and expansions?
Yes — 65.5% (7,264)
No — 26.8% (2,972)
Undecided/No opinion — 7.8% (862)
9. Should the state create an insurance program to provide workers with up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, to be funded by a new tax on employers and employees?
Yes — 53.3% (5,899)
No — 31.7% (3,504)
Undecided/No opinion — 15.1% (1,666)
10. A person convicted of a felony is not eligible to vote while serving any part of their sentence, including time in a correctional facility and while on probation, parole or other supervised release. Should the law be changed so a person convicted of a felony regains their right to vote immediately upon release from a correctional facility?
Yes — 60.3% (6,699)
No — 32.5% (3,607)
Undecided/No opinion — 7.3% (807)
11. Should Minnesota ban “conversion therapy” for vulnerable adults and those under the age of 18 by prohibiting mental health practitioners or professionals from seeking to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity?
Yes — 74.4% (8,200)
No — 16.7% (1,844)
Undecided/No opinion — 8.9% (979)
12. Should elementary school students be required to learn cursive writing?
Yes — 55.1% (6,135)
No — 28.7% (3,194)
Undecided/No opinion — 16.2% (1,798)
August 30th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “It’s too easy to drive in this city. We want to reach the riders that left and get to the new ones as well. And part of that has to do with actually making driving harder. Sometimes you have to tell people what’s good for them.”
Quote of the Week: “They’re stupid questions. Do you understand what ‘no comment’ means?”
In This Issue:
THE PATERNALISTIC SOVEREIGN
In case you forgot, you would be well served to recall that the heart of the liberal dogma is a belief that government is needed to properly direct the lives of the governed. There is a smug, paternalistic, arrogant belief that properly bred and educated bureaucrats are needed to provide direction and guidance to the great unwashed masses who would otherwise live pathetic, brutish lives.
The logical outcome of such a belief is total governmental control of our lives, totally antithetical to Founding principle of natural rights and the principle that government possess only those limited powers delegated by the people.
Nowhere is this arrogance on display more than in the field of mass transit. Oh, did you think that mass transit was about “options” and “choice?”
How quaint.
Transit, much like housing and education, is a titanic battle over who shall control citizens. Shall government dictate, or shall citizens govern themselves?
These issues are playing out in very direct ways, with California and New York seeing these issues come to a head.
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted the mass transit fight in Los Angeles, where private automobiles and ride sharing programs are beating the snot out of mass transit in the marketplace.
Since 2013, public transportation in LA has seen a 24% decline, as commuters migrate to either their own cars to ride shares like Uber and Lyft.
The reason is quite clear: mass transit is slower, less direct, and often entails sharing a bus with people who range from annoying to dangerous. In today’s LA, that person sitting next to you on the bus could be carrying typhus, scurvy, or the bubonic plague.
This is all very frustrating, of course, to the erudite bureaucrats who have been charged with getting the hoi polloi out of cars on to busses.
This is especially true since the city is in the midst of a 40-year, $120 billion Maoist “master plan” to create a mass transit utopia.
Basically, there are two ways to influence consumer choice. You can either provide a superior product or service and entice change, or you can coerce people through the explicit or implicit threat of negative government sanction.
In the eyes of the bureaucrat, there is only one way.
Thus, those in charge of LA Metro, the city’s transit authority, are contemplating ways to force people out of cars.
Of course, those options must be examined and vetted by a well-paid outside consultant.
These options center on eliminating road lanes in favor of bike lanes as well as eliminating parking spaces, which is hardly new or innovative.
What’s interesting is that in uber-liberal LA, a rebellion is brewing, with crowds showing up at public hearings to protest these exercises in central planning.
As Phil Washington, the bureaucrat in charge will lecture us, “Sometimes you have to tell people what’s good for them.”
And sometimes, Mr. Washington, the people have to tell the government to get bent.
THE PATERNALISTIC EDUCATION SOVEREIGN
Right here in Minneapolis, the fight for educational choice is coming down to a similar decision regarding who will control the education of a child.
This year, the Minneapolis public schools lost over 1,500 students to charter schools or open enrollment into neighboring districts.
Over 80% of those students are students of color, leaving behind failing public schools in search of a better education.
In fact, over 1/3rd of Minneapolis school age children attend a school other than their local public school.
The flight out of Minneapolis public schools are been a long-term trend and a growing one.
In 2003, 4,669 students attended school outside a district school. Those attending a local public school numbered 45,443.
In 2018, 18,044 students attended a school outside their local public school. Those attending a local public school in Minneapolis numbered 35,141.
Clearly, parents, particularly parents of color, are voting with their feet and sending their children to a charter school, a private school, or an open enrollment option in a neighboring district.
Just like in transportation, the response has been to either restrict or outright prohibit charter schools and open enrollment options.
Led by the powerful teachers’ union, California and New York are leading the charge in this regard.
While the obvious reason is to force students into school district where their union members work, the ostensible reason to force children into failing schools is that these children bring funding with them, which will “properly” fund those failing schools.
To believe this tripe, one must engage in the suspension of disbelief and believe that the reason many public schools are failing is merely because they haven’t been “adequately” funded.
Right. Funding for public education has skyrocketed in recent decades while the outcomes have plummeted.
Public schools are failing for reasons that are both within and out of the control of government.
In any case, parents deserve the right to have a choice in education.
This choice is a fundamental right and absolutely critical to any chance at upward mobility for many of these children.
Sentencing a child to a failing school is a moral crime.
Republicans would be well served make a public fight with Democrats over this issue.
Let parents see who supports parents and who supports political donors.
While the fight isn’t quite here yet, it’s coming.
With 2020 just around the corner, the DFL and Education Minnesota are no doubt contemplating what the legislative agenda will look like if the DFL controls everything.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ILHAN OMAR
The Watchdog needs help. We admit it.
We can’t keep up with the love life of Ilhan Omar. We need a wire chart.
To whom is she married. What does she mean by “married?” “Married” as recognized by her faith? “Married” in the eyes of the law?
For a first-term member of Congress, it appears she’s been loving more than legislating.
What bill has she passed?
How many town halls has she held?
The state’s campaign finance board, the Department of Revenue, and the Minnesota House have all been pulled into the business of trying to figure out who’s been spending time with Ilhan.
Now it appears that the Congress, the Federal Elections Commission, and the IRS may all get their turn in wrestling with this brain teaser.
Yet another romantic bombshell exploded this week as divorce papers filed in DC claim that Omar has been stepping out with a married man.
This married man also happens to be a campaign consultant who works for a political consulting firm that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Omar’s campaign.
This all begs the very important question of whether monies were paid for legitimate campaign work or whether the payments facilitated the alleged affair.
Regardless, Omar should be grateful she lives in a country that not only afforded her the privilege of serving in Congress, it also practices religious freedom and pluralism. Most importantly, those adjudged guilty of engaging in extramarital affairs aren’t killed.
In her home country of Somalia, social norms and cultural mores are decidedly a bit different – and medieval.
Consider:
Somalia’s Islamist group al-Shabaab has publicly stoned a woman to death in a town in the south for cheating on her husband, an official told Reuters.
Sheikh Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al-Shabaab’s governor for Somalia’s Jubba regions in the south, said Habiba Ali Isak, a 30-year-old mother of eight children, was killed by stoning in Sakow on Thursday afternoon.
Or:
Somali Islamist insurgents stoned a man to death on Sunday as punishment for alleged adultery, they said, a reminder that the militia is still strong enough to carry out public executions despite losing its grip on most towns and cities.
Hundreds of witnesses watched the death of 44-year-old Dayow Mohamed Hassan in Ramo Adey village in the south-central Bay region, the regional governor representing the al Qaeda-linked insurgency said.
Moalim Geedow told Reuters that Hassan was buried neck-deep in a hole then pelted with stones.
America, what a country!
Quote of the Week: “It’s too easy to drive in this city. We want to reach the riders that left and get to the new ones as well. And part of that has to do with actually making driving harder. Sometimes you have to tell people what’s good for them.”
- Phil Washington, executive director of Los Angeles Metro
Quote of the Week: “They’re stupid questions. Do you understand what ‘no comment’ means?”
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D – MN5)
In This Issue:
- The Paternalistic Transit Sovereign;
- The Paternalistic Education Sovereign;
- The Curious Case of Ilhan Omar.
THE PATERNALISTIC SOVEREIGN
In case you forgot, you would be well served to recall that the heart of the liberal dogma is a belief that government is needed to properly direct the lives of the governed. There is a smug, paternalistic, arrogant belief that properly bred and educated bureaucrats are needed to provide direction and guidance to the great unwashed masses who would otherwise live pathetic, brutish lives.
The logical outcome of such a belief is total governmental control of our lives, totally antithetical to Founding principle of natural rights and the principle that government possess only those limited powers delegated by the people.
Nowhere is this arrogance on display more than in the field of mass transit. Oh, did you think that mass transit was about “options” and “choice?”
How quaint.
Transit, much like housing and education, is a titanic battle over who shall control citizens. Shall government dictate, or shall citizens govern themselves?
These issues are playing out in very direct ways, with California and New York seeing these issues come to a head.
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted the mass transit fight in Los Angeles, where private automobiles and ride sharing programs are beating the snot out of mass transit in the marketplace.
Since 2013, public transportation in LA has seen a 24% decline, as commuters migrate to either their own cars to ride shares like Uber and Lyft.
The reason is quite clear: mass transit is slower, less direct, and often entails sharing a bus with people who range from annoying to dangerous. In today’s LA, that person sitting next to you on the bus could be carrying typhus, scurvy, or the bubonic plague.
This is all very frustrating, of course, to the erudite bureaucrats who have been charged with getting the hoi polloi out of cars on to busses.
This is especially true since the city is in the midst of a 40-year, $120 billion Maoist “master plan” to create a mass transit utopia.
Basically, there are two ways to influence consumer choice. You can either provide a superior product or service and entice change, or you can coerce people through the explicit or implicit threat of negative government sanction.
In the eyes of the bureaucrat, there is only one way.
Thus, those in charge of LA Metro, the city’s transit authority, are contemplating ways to force people out of cars.
Of course, those options must be examined and vetted by a well-paid outside consultant.
These options center on eliminating road lanes in favor of bike lanes as well as eliminating parking spaces, which is hardly new or innovative.
What’s interesting is that in uber-liberal LA, a rebellion is brewing, with crowds showing up at public hearings to protest these exercises in central planning.
As Phil Washington, the bureaucrat in charge will lecture us, “Sometimes you have to tell people what’s good for them.”
And sometimes, Mr. Washington, the people have to tell the government to get bent.
THE PATERNALISTIC EDUCATION SOVEREIGN
Right here in Minneapolis, the fight for educational choice is coming down to a similar decision regarding who will control the education of a child.
This year, the Minneapolis public schools lost over 1,500 students to charter schools or open enrollment into neighboring districts.
Over 80% of those students are students of color, leaving behind failing public schools in search of a better education.
In fact, over 1/3rd of Minneapolis school age children attend a school other than their local public school.
The flight out of Minneapolis public schools are been a long-term trend and a growing one.
In 2003, 4,669 students attended school outside a district school. Those attending a local public school numbered 45,443.
In 2018, 18,044 students attended a school outside their local public school. Those attending a local public school in Minneapolis numbered 35,141.
Clearly, parents, particularly parents of color, are voting with their feet and sending their children to a charter school, a private school, or an open enrollment option in a neighboring district.
Just like in transportation, the response has been to either restrict or outright prohibit charter schools and open enrollment options.
Led by the powerful teachers’ union, California and New York are leading the charge in this regard.
While the obvious reason is to force students into school district where their union members work, the ostensible reason to force children into failing schools is that these children bring funding with them, which will “properly” fund those failing schools.
To believe this tripe, one must engage in the suspension of disbelief and believe that the reason many public schools are failing is merely because they haven’t been “adequately” funded.
Right. Funding for public education has skyrocketed in recent decades while the outcomes have plummeted.
Public schools are failing for reasons that are both within and out of the control of government.
In any case, parents deserve the right to have a choice in education.
This choice is a fundamental right and absolutely critical to any chance at upward mobility for many of these children.
Sentencing a child to a failing school is a moral crime.
Republicans would be well served make a public fight with Democrats over this issue.
Let parents see who supports parents and who supports political donors.
While the fight isn’t quite here yet, it’s coming.
With 2020 just around the corner, the DFL and Education Minnesota are no doubt contemplating what the legislative agenda will look like if the DFL controls everything.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ILHAN OMAR
The Watchdog needs help. We admit it.
We can’t keep up with the love life of Ilhan Omar. We need a wire chart.
To whom is she married. What does she mean by “married?” “Married” as recognized by her faith? “Married” in the eyes of the law?
For a first-term member of Congress, it appears she’s been loving more than legislating.
What bill has she passed?
How many town halls has she held?
The state’s campaign finance board, the Department of Revenue, and the Minnesota House have all been pulled into the business of trying to figure out who’s been spending time with Ilhan.
Now it appears that the Congress, the Federal Elections Commission, and the IRS may all get their turn in wrestling with this brain teaser.
Yet another romantic bombshell exploded this week as divorce papers filed in DC claim that Omar has been stepping out with a married man.
This married man also happens to be a campaign consultant who works for a political consulting firm that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Omar’s campaign.
This all begs the very important question of whether monies were paid for legitimate campaign work or whether the payments facilitated the alleged affair.
Regardless, Omar should be grateful she lives in a country that not only afforded her the privilege of serving in Congress, it also practices religious freedom and pluralism. Most importantly, those adjudged guilty of engaging in extramarital affairs aren’t killed.
In her home country of Somalia, social norms and cultural mores are decidedly a bit different – and medieval.
Consider:
Somalia’s Islamist group al-Shabaab has publicly stoned a woman to death in a town in the south for cheating on her husband, an official told Reuters.
Sheikh Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al-Shabaab’s governor for Somalia’s Jubba regions in the south, said Habiba Ali Isak, a 30-year-old mother of eight children, was killed by stoning in Sakow on Thursday afternoon.
Or:
Somali Islamist insurgents stoned a man to death on Sunday as punishment for alleged adultery, they said, a reminder that the militia is still strong enough to carry out public executions despite losing its grip on most towns and cities.
Hundreds of witnesses watched the death of 44-year-old Dayow Mohamed Hassan in Ramo Adey village in the south-central Bay region, the regional governor representing the al Qaeda-linked insurgency said.
Moalim Geedow told Reuters that Hassan was buried neck-deep in a hole then pelted with stones.
America, what a country!
August 23rd, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Sea level increases are going to continue no matter what we do now. But we can prevent much larger sea level increases. Much more rapid increases in temperature. The heat wave was in Europe. Now it’s in Arctic. We’re seeing huge melting of the ice there. So, the warnings of the scientists 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, unfortunately were accurate.”
Quote of the Week: “I’m hearing from people questions about what’s been achieved, and I realized that impeachment, trade wars, the racist tweets, they command these news cycles.”
In This Issue:
INCONVENIENT FACTS
Did you forget that you’re supposed to be scared of global-warming-climate-change-climate-disruption?
You would be forgiven for having done so, even though 42 of the 44 Democrats running for president have named this menace the biggest threat to national security.
China, anyone? Iran? North Korea? Russia? Anyone?
With interest in global warming at an all time low (not even half of independents think global warming will be a problem in their lifetime), the media has been doing much to keep the issue alive. After all, Al Gore has only made about $200 million off the issue and a man has to feed his family, so says Latrell Sprewell.
So, where does Mother Earth stand after Gore made his predictions of the apocalypse back in 2006?
Sea levels will rise as much as 20 feet. That pitch, as they say, was just a bit outside. Sea levels have risen, on average, 1/8th of an inch per year, for the last 10,000 years. Thus, your big toe may be underwater since 2006, but probably not your house.
Storms will grow more powerful and frequent. Hurricane activity has slowed down. Moreover, many climate experts say that it’s nearly impossible to blame global warming for recent hurricanes.
In fact, there have been no named Atlantic Ocean storms so far this hurricane season, which hasn’t happened since 1982, some 24 years before Gore’s 2006 pronouncements.
Mount Kilimanjaro is losing its snowcap. Wrong. The snow cap is increasing.
Polar bears, according to Gore, are “being forced off the planet.” Not true. There are four times as many polar bears now as in the 1960s.
Gore also claimed that summer sea ice in the Arctic could be completely gone by 2013. While Arctic ice is shrinking, Antarctic ice is increasing.
In short, climate change is becoming just another sci fi scare tactic that will go the way of global cooling, over-population, acid rain, AIDS killing everyone, alar, and Ebola.
BELIEVE HER
Believer her. If he’s Republican. It’s been a tough few weeks for the real #metoo movement, as it continues to be weaponized by the Left.
First, we had the recent puff piece in the New Yorker, portraying erstwhile senator Al Franken as the avuncular, disheveled nice guy from Minnesota who got ruffed up by the ladies in DC and was bullied into giving up his Senate seat.
Now he’s relegated to moping around his million-dollar manse, looking for purpose in life and forlornly spending his hours staring out the window, wondering what might have been – if only he hadn’t been caught.
Never mind the rape jokes and the photographic evidence of his piggery.
As a democrat, there is a certain amount of rehabilitation to which he is entitled from the media.
Now comes Mark Halperin, a disgraced democrat and erstwhile media mogul (synonymous) who dashed out the public eye in 2017 when over a dozen women came forward alleging his sexual harassment, including exposing himself to women and using violence to make unwanted advances.
But that was waaaayyy back in 2017.
Plus, Halperin is about to publish a book about how to beat Trump in 2020.
Some things are just too important, apparently.
The book was written with the help of liberal stalwarts like Donna Brazile, James Carville, David Axelrod, Kathleen Sebelius, Bob Shrum and Mark Mellman.
No word on whether Anthony “Carlos Danger” Weiner chimed in on the book.
Many of Halperin’s alleged victims are outraged, saying they’re being victimized again.
“Men like him don’t change. He spent decades using his position of power in the media to sexually assault women. He hasn’t even apologized to his victims!”
“Every person who’s helping him regain power and a public platform is complicit in retraumatizing all the victims.”
“He leveraged his position as a prominent journalist to prey on women.”
“He has yet to take responsibility for his actions by apologizing to his victims or demonstrating genuine contrition. Giving him a book once again puts him in a position of authority and that is a slap to all the women that he has victimized.”
This publication has written before regarding the shameful co-opting of this issue by political opportunists who want to turn a very serious social and legal issue into a political weapon.
Sexual harassers must be identified and punished, regardless of politics or station in life.
Selective outrage on the part of the Left in the name of partisan politics demeans the experience of many victims and undermines broad-based support for needed public policy changes.
Unfortunately, sexual harassment is found across the political spectrum. It should be off limits to partisanship and political game playing. And it should be stamped out wherever it is found.
DENIED
It’s apparently controversial for a sovereign nation to deny entrance to people who have made controversial remarks about that nation and also support measures to harm and weaken that nation.
This is apparently true, even when that nation is the subject of regular attacks from neighbors who publicly avow to destroy that nation and refuse to recognize its right to even exist.
Welcome to the Jewish state of Israel, which this week denied travel visas to two members of Congress, Minnesota’s own Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
This publication has no trouble with the decision.
As a sovereign nation-state, Israel can admit anyone it wants and deny admission to anyone.
For any reason or no reason at all. That’s what sovereignty is all about.
In this case, however, there was ample justification.
This is all explained best by the words of, get ready for it, liberal comedian Bill Maher.
Said Maher, "It’s predicated on this notion, I think — it’s very shallow thinking — that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied"
He further noted, “Congresswoman Omar has said things like ‘It’s all about the Benjamins,’ ‘Israel has hypnotized the world,’ ‘May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.’ She apologized for it, but it’s out there: Jews control the world, control the money. I can see why they don’t get a hero’s welcome."
So can we.
Quote of the Week: “Sea level increases are going to continue no matter what we do now. But we can prevent much larger sea level increases. Much more rapid increases in temperature. The heat wave was in Europe. Now it’s in Arctic. We’re seeing huge melting of the ice there. So, the warnings of the scientists 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, unfortunately were accurate.”
- Al Gore 8/11/19
Quote of the Week: “I’m hearing from people questions about what’s been achieved, and I realized that impeachment, trade wars, the racist tweets, they command these news cycles.”
- Rep. Dean Phillips (D – MN3)
In This Issue:
- Inconvenient Facts;
- Believe Her;
- Denied.
INCONVENIENT FACTS
Did you forget that you’re supposed to be scared of global-warming-climate-change-climate-disruption?
You would be forgiven for having done so, even though 42 of the 44 Democrats running for president have named this menace the biggest threat to national security.
China, anyone? Iran? North Korea? Russia? Anyone?
With interest in global warming at an all time low (not even half of independents think global warming will be a problem in their lifetime), the media has been doing much to keep the issue alive. After all, Al Gore has only made about $200 million off the issue and a man has to feed his family, so says Latrell Sprewell.
So, where does Mother Earth stand after Gore made his predictions of the apocalypse back in 2006?
Sea levels will rise as much as 20 feet. That pitch, as they say, was just a bit outside. Sea levels have risen, on average, 1/8th of an inch per year, for the last 10,000 years. Thus, your big toe may be underwater since 2006, but probably not your house.
Storms will grow more powerful and frequent. Hurricane activity has slowed down. Moreover, many climate experts say that it’s nearly impossible to blame global warming for recent hurricanes.
In fact, there have been no named Atlantic Ocean storms so far this hurricane season, which hasn’t happened since 1982, some 24 years before Gore’s 2006 pronouncements.
Mount Kilimanjaro is losing its snowcap. Wrong. The snow cap is increasing.
Polar bears, according to Gore, are “being forced off the planet.” Not true. There are four times as many polar bears now as in the 1960s.
Gore also claimed that summer sea ice in the Arctic could be completely gone by 2013. While Arctic ice is shrinking, Antarctic ice is increasing.
In short, climate change is becoming just another sci fi scare tactic that will go the way of global cooling, over-population, acid rain, AIDS killing everyone, alar, and Ebola.
BELIEVE HER
Believer her. If he’s Republican. It’s been a tough few weeks for the real #metoo movement, as it continues to be weaponized by the Left.
First, we had the recent puff piece in the New Yorker, portraying erstwhile senator Al Franken as the avuncular, disheveled nice guy from Minnesota who got ruffed up by the ladies in DC and was bullied into giving up his Senate seat.
Now he’s relegated to moping around his million-dollar manse, looking for purpose in life and forlornly spending his hours staring out the window, wondering what might have been – if only he hadn’t been caught.
Never mind the rape jokes and the photographic evidence of his piggery.
As a democrat, there is a certain amount of rehabilitation to which he is entitled from the media.
Now comes Mark Halperin, a disgraced democrat and erstwhile media mogul (synonymous) who dashed out the public eye in 2017 when over a dozen women came forward alleging his sexual harassment, including exposing himself to women and using violence to make unwanted advances.
But that was waaaayyy back in 2017.
Plus, Halperin is about to publish a book about how to beat Trump in 2020.
Some things are just too important, apparently.
The book was written with the help of liberal stalwarts like Donna Brazile, James Carville, David Axelrod, Kathleen Sebelius, Bob Shrum and Mark Mellman.
No word on whether Anthony “Carlos Danger” Weiner chimed in on the book.
Many of Halperin’s alleged victims are outraged, saying they’re being victimized again.
“Men like him don’t change. He spent decades using his position of power in the media to sexually assault women. He hasn’t even apologized to his victims!”
“Every person who’s helping him regain power and a public platform is complicit in retraumatizing all the victims.”
“He leveraged his position as a prominent journalist to prey on women.”
“He has yet to take responsibility for his actions by apologizing to his victims or demonstrating genuine contrition. Giving him a book once again puts him in a position of authority and that is a slap to all the women that he has victimized.”
This publication has written before regarding the shameful co-opting of this issue by political opportunists who want to turn a very serious social and legal issue into a political weapon.
Sexual harassers must be identified and punished, regardless of politics or station in life.
Selective outrage on the part of the Left in the name of partisan politics demeans the experience of many victims and undermines broad-based support for needed public policy changes.
Unfortunately, sexual harassment is found across the political spectrum. It should be off limits to partisanship and political game playing. And it should be stamped out wherever it is found.
DENIED
It’s apparently controversial for a sovereign nation to deny entrance to people who have made controversial remarks about that nation and also support measures to harm and weaken that nation.
This is apparently true, even when that nation is the subject of regular attacks from neighbors who publicly avow to destroy that nation and refuse to recognize its right to even exist.
Welcome to the Jewish state of Israel, which this week denied travel visas to two members of Congress, Minnesota’s own Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
This publication has no trouble with the decision.
As a sovereign nation-state, Israel can admit anyone it wants and deny admission to anyone.
For any reason or no reason at all. That’s what sovereignty is all about.
In this case, however, there was ample justification.
This is all explained best by the words of, get ready for it, liberal comedian Bill Maher.
Said Maher, "It’s predicated on this notion, I think — it’s very shallow thinking — that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied"
He further noted, “Congresswoman Omar has said things like ‘It’s all about the Benjamins,’ ‘Israel has hypnotized the world,’ ‘May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.’ She apologized for it, but it’s out there: Jews control the world, control the money. I can see why they don’t get a hero’s welcome."
So can we.
August 16, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
In This Issue:
THE LEVIATHAN COMETH
Finding and documenting waste, fraud and abuse in Minnesota government is like shooting fish in a barrel.
It may be easy, but it’s very important.
The state will spend this biennium over $45 billion of your hard-earned money.
Of that amount, over $13 billion will be spent on health and human services by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
DHS has been in the news quite a bit lately, as scandal after scandal has engulfed the beleaguered agency.
It seems as if the story of Minnesota government is simply a revolving door of agencies trading places and rotating the title of “worst agency.”
The busiest man in government has to be Jim Nobles, who runs the Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA), which is responsible for investigating and auditing state government.
He is now in the process of firing up an investigation into how HHS overpaid two Indian tribes over $25 over the course of about 5 years, according to initial estimates.
It’s nothing short of appalling to consider the turmoil and scandal emanating from HHS in the recent past:
October 2013: MnSURE (Obamacare) web site launch failure. Ultimately, the web site would cost $190 million to get up and running.
January 2016: A failure to properly determine eligibility for various programs results in at least $271 million in improper benefits being paid.
July 2017: $7.7 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments discovered.
April 2018: DHS writes off over $30 million in Minnesota Care premiums because of software problems.
May 2018: The OLA reports significant problems with oversight of the DHS Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP). OLA noted, “DHS did not implement sufficient program integrity controls for licensing childcare providers and lacked some key controls to identify errors and to inhibit, track, and recover improper payments.”
July 2018: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 21,000 citizens.
September 2018: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 3,000 citizens.
April 2019: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 11,000 citizens.
June 2019: Medical director at DHS demands more agency accountability measures – gets fired.
July 2019: After placing the DHS Inspector General on investigatory leave, it’s revealed that the investigation has yet to even begin.
July 2019: Top deputies resign.
July 2019: DHS commissioner resigns after only months on the job.
August 2019: DHS overpays two Indian tribes over $25 million, OLA starts investigation.
It’s hard to believe that so many taxpayers want to give the DFL total control, resulting in more unaccountable money being spent, along with no real desire to exercise the legislature’s oversight obligations.
GREEN’S DIRTY SECRET
The “renewable” energy crowd has long gotten away with propagating an image of the industry as pristine, clean, and nothing but beneficial for the environment.
Not true.
Take the wind industry, which is dominated by massive, and growing, wind turbines that dot America’s prairie’s and coast lines.
To start, the turbines are an eyesore, which is why so many liberal NIMBY’s don’t want them in their own backyards.
The vista from the veranda of summer homes on Martha’s Vineyard surely can’t be sullied, even if in the name of saving the planet from the ravages of global cooling, er, global warming, er, climate “disruption.”
Moreover, the turbines every year kill and maim increasing numbers of federally protected birds, including the Bald Eagle.
Most importantly, these turbines are filled with a great deal of metals, much of it mined from jurisdictions with appalling environmental records.
While different models require different amounts of these metals, the “ballpark” estimate of one 3 mega-watt turbine is as follows:
335 tons of steel;
4.7 tons of copper;
1,200 tons of concrete;
3 tons of aluminum;
2 tons of rare earth elements, including neodymium and dysprosium.
Much of these elements and their constituent parts must be mined, which is normally anathema to eco-nut crowd, who spend a lot of time opposing mining.
More troubling, the necessary rare earth metals are mined and processed in China, a country both hostile to American national security and a country sporting a reprehensible environmental record.
It is estimated that China controls over 95% of the world’s rare earth deposits, and has the market cornered in large part because most first world countries won’t issue permits for such mining.
The U.S. wind industry requires between 5 and 6 million pounds of rare earth metals each year.
Note that the mining of neodymium and dysprosium produces radioactive waste on a one to one basis.
For every ton of the mineral mined, it produces a ton of radioactive waste, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Science.
As one can appreciate, China doesn’t have disposal safeguards in place that even come close to protecting people and the environment. Horror stories of Chinese citizens near these mines becoming sick and dying are legion.
Compare that to America, where radioactive waste storage is so thick with standards and safeguards, we can’t even get a permanent storage site in desolate Nevada approved.
Solar panels aren’t a whole lot better.
These panels contain materials like cadmium telluride, copper indium selenide, cadmium gallium (di)selenide, copper indium gallium (di)selenide, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride. Additionally, silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon, is highly toxic.
There are increasing concerns that these chemicals can be washed out of panels by rainwater. Moreover, they certainly get washed into the ground when panels are broken during severe weather outbreaks like thunderstorms and hurricanes.
In any case, despite the presence of these chemicals, solar panels are currently disposed of by chucking them in landfills.
It is estimated that in 2016, 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste was produced world-wide.
Moreover, the economics of recycling solar panels don’t turn a profit, meaning that there is no market incentive to recycle the panels in the absence of subsidies.
The bottom line is that “clean” energy isn’t so clean and comes with its own trade-offs.
It isn’t just coal, nuclear, and natural gas that comes with a downside.
Quote of the Week: “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
- “Sleepy” Joe Biden
In This Issue:
- The Leviathan Cometh;
- Green’s Dirty Secret.
THE LEVIATHAN COMETH
Finding and documenting waste, fraud and abuse in Minnesota government is like shooting fish in a barrel.
It may be easy, but it’s very important.
The state will spend this biennium over $45 billion of your hard-earned money.
Of that amount, over $13 billion will be spent on health and human services by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
DHS has been in the news quite a bit lately, as scandal after scandal has engulfed the beleaguered agency.
It seems as if the story of Minnesota government is simply a revolving door of agencies trading places and rotating the title of “worst agency.”
The busiest man in government has to be Jim Nobles, who runs the Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA), which is responsible for investigating and auditing state government.
He is now in the process of firing up an investigation into how HHS overpaid two Indian tribes over $25 over the course of about 5 years, according to initial estimates.
It’s nothing short of appalling to consider the turmoil and scandal emanating from HHS in the recent past:
October 2013: MnSURE (Obamacare) web site launch failure. Ultimately, the web site would cost $190 million to get up and running.
January 2016: A failure to properly determine eligibility for various programs results in at least $271 million in improper benefits being paid.
July 2017: $7.7 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments discovered.
April 2018: DHS writes off over $30 million in Minnesota Care premiums because of software problems.
May 2018: The OLA reports significant problems with oversight of the DHS Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP). OLA noted, “DHS did not implement sufficient program integrity controls for licensing childcare providers and lacked some key controls to identify errors and to inhibit, track, and recover improper payments.”
July 2018: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 21,000 citizens.
September 2018: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 3,000 citizens.
April 2019: Data breach at DHS exposes the personal data of 11,000 citizens.
June 2019: Medical director at DHS demands more agency accountability measures – gets fired.
July 2019: After placing the DHS Inspector General on investigatory leave, it’s revealed that the investigation has yet to even begin.
July 2019: Top deputies resign.
July 2019: DHS commissioner resigns after only months on the job.
August 2019: DHS overpays two Indian tribes over $25 million, OLA starts investigation.
It’s hard to believe that so many taxpayers want to give the DFL total control, resulting in more unaccountable money being spent, along with no real desire to exercise the legislature’s oversight obligations.
GREEN’S DIRTY SECRET
The “renewable” energy crowd has long gotten away with propagating an image of the industry as pristine, clean, and nothing but beneficial for the environment.
Not true.
Take the wind industry, which is dominated by massive, and growing, wind turbines that dot America’s prairie’s and coast lines.
To start, the turbines are an eyesore, which is why so many liberal NIMBY’s don’t want them in their own backyards.
The vista from the veranda of summer homes on Martha’s Vineyard surely can’t be sullied, even if in the name of saving the planet from the ravages of global cooling, er, global warming, er, climate “disruption.”
Moreover, the turbines every year kill and maim increasing numbers of federally protected birds, including the Bald Eagle.
Most importantly, these turbines are filled with a great deal of metals, much of it mined from jurisdictions with appalling environmental records.
While different models require different amounts of these metals, the “ballpark” estimate of one 3 mega-watt turbine is as follows:
335 tons of steel;
4.7 tons of copper;
1,200 tons of concrete;
3 tons of aluminum;
2 tons of rare earth elements, including neodymium and dysprosium.
Much of these elements and their constituent parts must be mined, which is normally anathema to eco-nut crowd, who spend a lot of time opposing mining.
More troubling, the necessary rare earth metals are mined and processed in China, a country both hostile to American national security and a country sporting a reprehensible environmental record.
It is estimated that China controls over 95% of the world’s rare earth deposits, and has the market cornered in large part because most first world countries won’t issue permits for such mining.
The U.S. wind industry requires between 5 and 6 million pounds of rare earth metals each year.
Note that the mining of neodymium and dysprosium produces radioactive waste on a one to one basis.
For every ton of the mineral mined, it produces a ton of radioactive waste, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Science.
As one can appreciate, China doesn’t have disposal safeguards in place that even come close to protecting people and the environment. Horror stories of Chinese citizens near these mines becoming sick and dying are legion.
Compare that to America, where radioactive waste storage is so thick with standards and safeguards, we can’t even get a permanent storage site in desolate Nevada approved.
Solar panels aren’t a whole lot better.
These panels contain materials like cadmium telluride, copper indium selenide, cadmium gallium (di)selenide, copper indium gallium (di)selenide, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride. Additionally, silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon, is highly toxic.
There are increasing concerns that these chemicals can be washed out of panels by rainwater. Moreover, they certainly get washed into the ground when panels are broken during severe weather outbreaks like thunderstorms and hurricanes.
In any case, despite the presence of these chemicals, solar panels are currently disposed of by chucking them in landfills.
It is estimated that in 2016, 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste was produced world-wide.
Moreover, the economics of recycling solar panels don’t turn a profit, meaning that there is no market incentive to recycle the panels in the absence of subsidies.
The bottom line is that “clean” energy isn’t so clean and comes with its own trade-offs.
It isn’t just coal, nuclear, and natural gas that comes with a downside.
August 9th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “We have been raising alarms about the accounting and costs in DHS for years. Today just shows that the agency’s mismanagement, underperformance, and incompetence has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. This is actual money we’ve robbed from the taxpayers for at least five years.”
Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
In This Issue:
THE GHOST OF MARK BRANDT DAYTON
When this publication labeled Mark Dayton a “failed” governor, we didn’t think it was overstating the situation.
Given the ongoing excavation of skeletons from his administration, it isn’t hyperbole to consider Dayton this state’s worst governor – ever.
Tim Walz probably didn’t think he would spend his first year in office walking around with a massive fiscal pooper-scooper, cleaning up the piles of elephant dung Dayton left for him after eight years of what was apparently a free-for-all down at the executive branch.
It’s stunning to look back at the legacy of incompetence, waste, fraud, and abuse tolerated by the Dayton administration.
What’s the over/under on the number of scandals Walz and the legislature will uncover and then clean-up over the next three years – or longer?
The latest turd in the fiscal punch bowl is the discovery of over $25 million in illegal payments from the Department of Human Services to two tribal nations regarding opioid treatment programs.
While an investigation is ongoing to determine whether a mistake or intentional, there is no dispute that at least $25 million in illegal payments went out the door for at least the past 5 years.
One or two major scandals in an administration is breathtaking. To consider what happened (and has recently been uncovered) shocks the conscience.
And to think the people of this state a) elected him after a disastrous tenure as U.S. senator; and b) re-elected him after four years of tomfoolery.
While it hurts, let’s review Dayton Hall of Shame career. The man may be gone from office, but his Ghost of Blunders Past (and Future) haunts the halls of Saint Paul.
MNLARS
Under Dayton, the state attempted to craft software to update the state’s vehicle licensing system, used by the DMV.
It should have been pretty easy. 49 other states, including Mississippi and Arkansas, manage to do it.
The roll-out was a miserable failure and a boondoggle.
Long lines, glitches, and bugs galore led to the outright ditching of the system.
All told, the taxpayers will have spent over $153 million on a failed system that delivered nothing.
The state will soon simply start over, developing a new system with the acronym “VTRS,” which stands for Vehicle Title and Registration System.
MnSURE
This is a unique scandal in that there are multiple skeletons in this closet.
MnSURE is the state’s cute name for our version of Obamacare, the government take over of our healthcare that promised to lower costs, expand care, and allow us to keep our healthcare plans and our doctors.
A recent audit of the program, rolled out under Dayton, estimates that massive error rates in determining eligibility have resulted in illegal payments of upwards of $271 million.
Then there’s the MnSURE web portal, the “Travelocity” style web site that government promised would make for easy, simple Obamacare policy/plan choices.
In the end, taxpayers ended up spending $190 million to develop the web site, that to this day is plagued with problems.
And that’s not all. Despite the massive problems with MnSURE, 14 managers in the program received bonuses! All told, 14 managers received cash payments that equaled 1.5% to 2.5% of the annual salaries.
All for a job decidedly not well done.
COMMISSIONER SALARIES
Dayton incurred the wrath of both Republicans and Democrats when he jacked up the pay of his political appointees, some of them getting 100% pay raises.
Dayton proudly declared that since he wasn’t running again, he could grant these pay raises and not face political consequences.
Here’s the pay structure Dayton implemented:
• Administration, $144,991
•Agriculture, $144,991
• Commerce, $144,991
• Corrections, $150,002
• Education, $150,002
• Employment and Economic Development, $150,002
• Health, $150,002
• Housing Finance, $144,991
• Human Rights, $144,991
• Human Services, $154,992
• Labor and Industry, $144,991
• Management and Budget, $154,992
• Natural Resources, $154,992
• Higher Education, $144,991
• Pollution Control, $150,002
• Public Safety, $154,992
• Revenue, $154,992
• Transportation, $154,992
• Veterans Affairs, $144,991
• Commissioner, Bureau of Mediation Services, $140,000
• Executive director, Gambling Control Board, $119,997
• Commissioner, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board, $140,000
• Chair, Metropolitan Council, $144,991
• School Trust Lands Director, $125,009
• Ombudsman for Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities, $119,997
• Commissioner, Public Utilities Commission, $140,000
• Executive Director of Pari-mutuel Racing, $115,988
I SIGNED WHAT?
What can you say about a chief executive who doesn’t know what’s in the bills to which he affixes his signature, transforming proposed legislation into the law of the land?
Among the many instances of Dayton admitting he didn’t know what was in the bills he signed, two in particular stand out.
The first was a bill that applied the sales tax to the repair of farm equipment like combines and grain wagons.
Understandably, the bill caused a great deal of anger in farmland, where equipment repairs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
After running into a maelstrom of criticism from angry farmers, Dayton admitted that he didn’t know about the tax “until it was too late.”
Really. The constitution gives the governor three days (excluding Sundays) to consider any bill that reaches his desk.
Moreover, a governor has dozens of staffers and attorney who review the legislation and provide guidance and counsel to the governor before he signs or vetoes.
In other words, there’s really no excuse.
The second infamous “I signed what?” incident occurred around the Vikings stadium bill.
The bill contained permission for the team to charge “personal seat licenses” to season ticket holders and keep all the revenue.
These “PSLs” are essentially flat fees a season ticket holder pays for the “right” to buy season tickets.
When PSLs became a flashpoint around the stadium, as the funding mechanisms fell flat, Dayton claimed that he didn’t know of the PSLs and that the legislature “snuck” them into the bill he signed.
Embarrassing.
CHARITY IS FOR OTHERS
Finally, there was the episode where it was revealed that Dayton gave virtually nothing to charity, as reflected in his tax returns.
Dayton’s tax returns from 2012 and 2011 revealed that he gave a total of $2,750 to charity during that time, despite income of $685,000 over that time, for a giving rate of .4% of his income.
This is relevant for two reasons.
One, a large chunk of Dayton’s income wasn’t earned, it was income from trust funds set up for him. A true silver spoon affair.
Second, like all Dems, Dayton loved to engage the rhetoric of higher taxes in the name of the wealthy “paying their fair share.”
Thus, Dayton practiced charity at the point of a gun for others, yet voluntarily gave virtually nothing when it came to his own charitable practices.
You elected this guy governor, Minnesota.
Twice.
Quote of the Week: “We have been raising alarms about the accounting and costs in DHS for years. Today just shows that the agency’s mismanagement, underperformance, and incompetence has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. This is actual money we’ve robbed from the taxpayers for at least five years.”
Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
In This Issue:
- The Ghost of Mark Brandt Dayton.
THE GHOST OF MARK BRANDT DAYTON
When this publication labeled Mark Dayton a “failed” governor, we didn’t think it was overstating the situation.
Given the ongoing excavation of skeletons from his administration, it isn’t hyperbole to consider Dayton this state’s worst governor – ever.
Tim Walz probably didn’t think he would spend his first year in office walking around with a massive fiscal pooper-scooper, cleaning up the piles of elephant dung Dayton left for him after eight years of what was apparently a free-for-all down at the executive branch.
It’s stunning to look back at the legacy of incompetence, waste, fraud, and abuse tolerated by the Dayton administration.
What’s the over/under on the number of scandals Walz and the legislature will uncover and then clean-up over the next three years – or longer?
The latest turd in the fiscal punch bowl is the discovery of over $25 million in illegal payments from the Department of Human Services to two tribal nations regarding opioid treatment programs.
While an investigation is ongoing to determine whether a mistake or intentional, there is no dispute that at least $25 million in illegal payments went out the door for at least the past 5 years.
One or two major scandals in an administration is breathtaking. To consider what happened (and has recently been uncovered) shocks the conscience.
And to think the people of this state a) elected him after a disastrous tenure as U.S. senator; and b) re-elected him after four years of tomfoolery.
While it hurts, let’s review Dayton Hall of Shame career. The man may be gone from office, but his Ghost of Blunders Past (and Future) haunts the halls of Saint Paul.
MNLARS
Under Dayton, the state attempted to craft software to update the state’s vehicle licensing system, used by the DMV.
It should have been pretty easy. 49 other states, including Mississippi and Arkansas, manage to do it.
The roll-out was a miserable failure and a boondoggle.
Long lines, glitches, and bugs galore led to the outright ditching of the system.
All told, the taxpayers will have spent over $153 million on a failed system that delivered nothing.
The state will soon simply start over, developing a new system with the acronym “VTRS,” which stands for Vehicle Title and Registration System.
MnSURE
This is a unique scandal in that there are multiple skeletons in this closet.
MnSURE is the state’s cute name for our version of Obamacare, the government take over of our healthcare that promised to lower costs, expand care, and allow us to keep our healthcare plans and our doctors.
A recent audit of the program, rolled out under Dayton, estimates that massive error rates in determining eligibility have resulted in illegal payments of upwards of $271 million.
Then there’s the MnSURE web portal, the “Travelocity” style web site that government promised would make for easy, simple Obamacare policy/plan choices.
In the end, taxpayers ended up spending $190 million to develop the web site, that to this day is plagued with problems.
And that’s not all. Despite the massive problems with MnSURE, 14 managers in the program received bonuses! All told, 14 managers received cash payments that equaled 1.5% to 2.5% of the annual salaries.
All for a job decidedly not well done.
COMMISSIONER SALARIES
Dayton incurred the wrath of both Republicans and Democrats when he jacked up the pay of his political appointees, some of them getting 100% pay raises.
Dayton proudly declared that since he wasn’t running again, he could grant these pay raises and not face political consequences.
Here’s the pay structure Dayton implemented:
• Administration, $144,991
•Agriculture, $144,991
• Commerce, $144,991
• Corrections, $150,002
• Education, $150,002
• Employment and Economic Development, $150,002
• Health, $150,002
• Housing Finance, $144,991
• Human Rights, $144,991
• Human Services, $154,992
• Labor and Industry, $144,991
• Management and Budget, $154,992
• Natural Resources, $154,992
• Higher Education, $144,991
• Pollution Control, $150,002
• Public Safety, $154,992
• Revenue, $154,992
• Transportation, $154,992
• Veterans Affairs, $144,991
• Commissioner, Bureau of Mediation Services, $140,000
• Executive director, Gambling Control Board, $119,997
• Commissioner, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board, $140,000
• Chair, Metropolitan Council, $144,991
• School Trust Lands Director, $125,009
• Ombudsman for Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities, $119,997
• Commissioner, Public Utilities Commission, $140,000
• Executive Director of Pari-mutuel Racing, $115,988
I SIGNED WHAT?
What can you say about a chief executive who doesn’t know what’s in the bills to which he affixes his signature, transforming proposed legislation into the law of the land?
Among the many instances of Dayton admitting he didn’t know what was in the bills he signed, two in particular stand out.
The first was a bill that applied the sales tax to the repair of farm equipment like combines and grain wagons.
Understandably, the bill caused a great deal of anger in farmland, where equipment repairs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
After running into a maelstrom of criticism from angry farmers, Dayton admitted that he didn’t know about the tax “until it was too late.”
Really. The constitution gives the governor three days (excluding Sundays) to consider any bill that reaches his desk.
Moreover, a governor has dozens of staffers and attorney who review the legislation and provide guidance and counsel to the governor before he signs or vetoes.
In other words, there’s really no excuse.
The second infamous “I signed what?” incident occurred around the Vikings stadium bill.
The bill contained permission for the team to charge “personal seat licenses” to season ticket holders and keep all the revenue.
These “PSLs” are essentially flat fees a season ticket holder pays for the “right” to buy season tickets.
When PSLs became a flashpoint around the stadium, as the funding mechanisms fell flat, Dayton claimed that he didn’t know of the PSLs and that the legislature “snuck” them into the bill he signed.
Embarrassing.
CHARITY IS FOR OTHERS
Finally, there was the episode where it was revealed that Dayton gave virtually nothing to charity, as reflected in his tax returns.
Dayton’s tax returns from 2012 and 2011 revealed that he gave a total of $2,750 to charity during that time, despite income of $685,000 over that time, for a giving rate of .4% of his income.
This is relevant for two reasons.
One, a large chunk of Dayton’s income wasn’t earned, it was income from trust funds set up for him. A true silver spoon affair.
Second, like all Dems, Dayton loved to engage the rhetoric of higher taxes in the name of the wealthy “paying their fair share.”
Thus, Dayton practiced charity at the point of a gun for others, yet voluntarily gave virtually nothing when it came to his own charitable practices.
You elected this guy governor, Minnesota.
Twice.
August 2nd, 2019
Quote of the Week: "Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you're in a wealthy nation. You would think that you were in a Third World country.”
Quote of the Week: "But today what we're talking about is a community in which half of the people don't have jobs. We're talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable."
Quote of the Week: “Residents of Baltimore’s poorest boroughs have lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea. That is a disgrace.”
In This Issue:
BALTIMORE
With Baltimore dominating the news cycle this week accompanied by near fist fights over the city’s quality of life, the staff thought it would be interesting to bestow our readers with some fun facts regarding America’s self-anointed “Charm City.”
Fact: Baltimore’s last three mayors have left office in disgrace.
Way back on May 2nd, 2019, Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned from office after it was revealed she earned over $800,000 in book deals from organizations that she either had influence over or were looking for contracts from the city.
The books, a series geared towards children and healthy habits, were entitled “Healthy Holly,” which critics panned as unreadable.
Pugh was given a $500,000 contract for 100,000 copies by the University of Maryland Medical System. Pugh sat on the board of directors for the system.
Some 50,000 copies were never accounted for by authorities during the criminal investigation. In fact, authorities are trying to determine if any of the 100,000 copies were ever delivered.
In addition, Pugh earned a $300,000 contract from health insurance carriers who were seeking contracts with the city.
One of the carriers subsequently earned a $48 million contract from the city.
Prior to Pugh, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake decided not to run for re-election after she was widely criticized for handling riots that broke out in 2015.
The governor revealed that she failed to return phone calls for two hours from him regarding needed permission to activate the national guard.
Moreover, she was severely criticized for subsequent remarks about the need to give rioters “space” to destroy things.
And prior to Rawlings-Blake, Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned after she was convicted by a jury for stealing gift cards that were meant for underprivileged children.
Fact: Law enforcement leaders have also been convicted.
In 2004, police commissioner Edward Norris plead guilty to federal charges of corruption and tax cheating.
In December of 2018, police commissioner Daryl DeSousa plead guilty to tax cheating as well.
Fact: Baltimore is one of most unlivable cities in the country.
For example, USA Today ranked the city #9 on its most recent hall of shame list.
Fact: Baltimore is rat infested.
Orkin, a large pest control company, recently listed the city as the 9th “rattiest” city in America.
Fact: Baltimore is a dangerous city.
Federal uniform crime statistics show it. Many publications listed Baltimore the country’s most dangerous city for 2018.
One recent list showed that 6 of the nation’s 25 most dangerous neighborhoods are in Baltimore.
In fact, Baltimore is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
The city’s murder rate is comparable to violent cities in Mexico, Venezuela, and El Salvador.
Fact: Baltimore is an impoverished city.
24% of city residents live below the poverty line.
28% of the city’s high school students never graduate.
Fact: Baltimore has over 16,000 abandoned homes.
Fact: People are leaving Baltimore.
In 1950, 950,000 people called the city home. Today, just over 600,000 call it home, a decline of over 1/3rd.
So there you have it, loyal readers. Decide for yourself.
PUT A NUMBER ON IT
Pundits, political observers, and normal people of all stripes have seen the Democrat presidential candidates, at least the front-runners, propose policies that are breathtaking in scope and represent a hard-core lurch to the left.
So much will all those proposal cost?
According to the Free Beacon publication, those proposals in the aggregate would cost a staggering $210 trillion.
For perspective, the entire GDP for the country was less than 1/10th that amount last year, coming in at $20 trillion.
Bernie Sanders leads the pack with spending plans that would cost over $36 trillion, with his “Medicare for all” plan projected to cost a whopping $32 trillion over 10 years.
Little known Andrew Yang comes in second, as his plan to provide every American with $12,000 in guaranteed basic income projected to cost $30 trillion.
Little known Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand comes in at $10.8 trillion, with $10 trillion earmarked for her Green New Deal plan.
Actually, Elizabeth Warren looks like a piker, as her spending is projected to cost “only” $4.6 trillion, with a large part eaten up by her plan to relieve students of their decisions to take out loans to get a degree in art history.
It’s interesting that even moderate Dems like former Rep. Delaney and current Rep. Tim Ryan are seeing this crazy spending as both an opportunity for them personally and a mortal threat to any hope Dems have re-capture the White House or keep their House majority.
Truly, these plans are radical, unprecedented, and out of the mainstream.
These are the kind of ideas that cause Dems to lead with their collective chins and ask to get knocked out.
Not only is the spending outrageous and unrealistic, the policies underpinning them are hard sells on main street America.
Medicare for All, for example, entails abolishing private health insurance.
The Green New Deal would reorder American life, making energy expensive, killing jobs, and imposing hardships such limiting or outright eliminating air travel.
Combined with other radical ideas like decriminalizing border crossings and slavery reparations, and you have a formula for overall defeat, even though the coastal elites would bask in it all.
The current state of affairs is a battle for control of the Democrat party. It’s the Biden-Pelosi axis versus the Squad and Bernie Sanders.
When Nancy Pelosi is your voice of reason, alarm bells should be ringing.
Quote of the Week: "Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you're in a wealthy nation. You would think that you were in a Third World country.”
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
Quote of the Week: "But today what we're talking about is a community in which half of the people don't have jobs. We're talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable."
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
Quote of the Week: “Residents of Baltimore’s poorest boroughs have lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea. That is a disgrace.”
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
In This Issue:
- Baltimore;
- Put a Number on it.
BALTIMORE
With Baltimore dominating the news cycle this week accompanied by near fist fights over the city’s quality of life, the staff thought it would be interesting to bestow our readers with some fun facts regarding America’s self-anointed “Charm City.”
Fact: Baltimore’s last three mayors have left office in disgrace.
Way back on May 2nd, 2019, Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned from office after it was revealed she earned over $800,000 in book deals from organizations that she either had influence over or were looking for contracts from the city.
The books, a series geared towards children and healthy habits, were entitled “Healthy Holly,” which critics panned as unreadable.
Pugh was given a $500,000 contract for 100,000 copies by the University of Maryland Medical System. Pugh sat on the board of directors for the system.
Some 50,000 copies were never accounted for by authorities during the criminal investigation. In fact, authorities are trying to determine if any of the 100,000 copies were ever delivered.
In addition, Pugh earned a $300,000 contract from health insurance carriers who were seeking contracts with the city.
One of the carriers subsequently earned a $48 million contract from the city.
Prior to Pugh, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake decided not to run for re-election after she was widely criticized for handling riots that broke out in 2015.
The governor revealed that she failed to return phone calls for two hours from him regarding needed permission to activate the national guard.
Moreover, she was severely criticized for subsequent remarks about the need to give rioters “space” to destroy things.
And prior to Rawlings-Blake, Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned after she was convicted by a jury for stealing gift cards that were meant for underprivileged children.
Fact: Law enforcement leaders have also been convicted.
In 2004, police commissioner Edward Norris plead guilty to federal charges of corruption and tax cheating.
In December of 2018, police commissioner Daryl DeSousa plead guilty to tax cheating as well.
Fact: Baltimore is one of most unlivable cities in the country.
For example, USA Today ranked the city #9 on its most recent hall of shame list.
Fact: Baltimore is rat infested.
Orkin, a large pest control company, recently listed the city as the 9th “rattiest” city in America.
Fact: Baltimore is a dangerous city.
Federal uniform crime statistics show it. Many publications listed Baltimore the country’s most dangerous city for 2018.
One recent list showed that 6 of the nation’s 25 most dangerous neighborhoods are in Baltimore.
In fact, Baltimore is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
The city’s murder rate is comparable to violent cities in Mexico, Venezuela, and El Salvador.
Fact: Baltimore is an impoverished city.
24% of city residents live below the poverty line.
28% of the city’s high school students never graduate.
Fact: Baltimore has over 16,000 abandoned homes.
Fact: People are leaving Baltimore.
In 1950, 950,000 people called the city home. Today, just over 600,000 call it home, a decline of over 1/3rd.
So there you have it, loyal readers. Decide for yourself.
PUT A NUMBER ON IT
Pundits, political observers, and normal people of all stripes have seen the Democrat presidential candidates, at least the front-runners, propose policies that are breathtaking in scope and represent a hard-core lurch to the left.
So much will all those proposal cost?
According to the Free Beacon publication, those proposals in the aggregate would cost a staggering $210 trillion.
For perspective, the entire GDP for the country was less than 1/10th that amount last year, coming in at $20 trillion.
Bernie Sanders leads the pack with spending plans that would cost over $36 trillion, with his “Medicare for all” plan projected to cost a whopping $32 trillion over 10 years.
Little known Andrew Yang comes in second, as his plan to provide every American with $12,000 in guaranteed basic income projected to cost $30 trillion.
Little known Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand comes in at $10.8 trillion, with $10 trillion earmarked for her Green New Deal plan.
Actually, Elizabeth Warren looks like a piker, as her spending is projected to cost “only” $4.6 trillion, with a large part eaten up by her plan to relieve students of their decisions to take out loans to get a degree in art history.
It’s interesting that even moderate Dems like former Rep. Delaney and current Rep. Tim Ryan are seeing this crazy spending as both an opportunity for them personally and a mortal threat to any hope Dems have re-capture the White House or keep their House majority.
Truly, these plans are radical, unprecedented, and out of the mainstream.
These are the kind of ideas that cause Dems to lead with their collective chins and ask to get knocked out.
Not only is the spending outrageous and unrealistic, the policies underpinning them are hard sells on main street America.
Medicare for All, for example, entails abolishing private health insurance.
The Green New Deal would reorder American life, making energy expensive, killing jobs, and imposing hardships such limiting or outright eliminating air travel.
Combined with other radical ideas like decriminalizing border crossings and slavery reparations, and you have a formula for overall defeat, even though the coastal elites would bask in it all.
The current state of affairs is a battle for control of the Democrat party. It’s the Biden-Pelosi axis versus the Squad and Bernie Sanders.
When Nancy Pelosi is your voice of reason, alarm bells should be ringing.
July 26, 2019
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog apologizes for the recent interruption in weekly commentary.
We’ve experienced some technical difficulties, the result of Russian interference, no doubt.
The Watchdog today resumes the normal weekly commentary. Having said that, the morning news aggregation service will be terminated. The rise of paywall content has made the task of assembling free, newsworthy content quite difficult.
Quote of the Week: “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Quote of the Week: “I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D – MN 5)
In This Issue:
A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN
Washington, DC finally gave up the ghost this week and dropped all remaining pretense of fiscal responsibility by striking a bi-partisan deal on the only subject that unites the parties in DC these days: spending money.
The deal “suspends” the debt ceiling until 2021, allowing all incumbents to safely ignore the national debt and the budget deficit until after the 2020 elections.
Note that the deal “suspends” the debt ceiling and doesn’t raise it. It’s not like raising the limit on your credit card. It’s like the bank lifting ANY limit on your credit card for two years.
Moreover, the deal raises federal spending by $320 billion over limits set in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
That spending level is projected to equate to $1.7 trillion in additional spending over the next decade above what was projected with the budgetary caps.
Federal debt is projected to be 97% of GDP by 2029.
That’s more than the debt to GDP ratio in 1944, the height of World War II, when it was 91% of GDP.
It’s official. Barack Obama was more fiscally responsible that Donald Trump.
It’s a fact. And a sad one at that.
No wonder House Republicans rebelled.
Of the 197 Republicans in the House, 132 voted against the budget agreement.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky perhaps summed it up best when he introduced an amendment to rename the legislation “A Bill to Kick the Can Down the Road and For Other Purposes.”
The amendment failed.
For those of you looking for bi-partisanship and cooperation, here you go.
Washington is united in spending money the government doesn’t have.
GOVERNMENT LOBBYING GOVERNMENT
Most of our long-time readers know that government spends money to lobby government.
In other words, taxpayer dollars spent by one level of government to obtain tax dollars from another level of government.
It’s about as attractive as government suing government – the risk all being borne by the taxpayer.
Thankfully, Minnesota law requires that these local units of government provide information each year regarding how much they spend on lobbying services.
This year’s report, compiled by the State Auditor, was recently released for 2018 spending.
Last year, local units of government spent $8.7 million of your tax dollars on lobbying and lobbyists.
In all, 113 local units of government reported spending money lobbyists and lobbying. It makes one wonder how all the other ones get by without lobbyists.
Per tradition, we now unveil the infamous “top ten” list of the biggest spenders on these services.
Any guesses? We’ll take “Minneapolis” for $1,000, Alex.
One: Hennepin County ($331,564)
Two: City of Minneapolis ($274,339)
Three: Minneapolis Park Board ($215,762)
Four: City of Saint Paul ($208,796)
Five: City of Bloomington ($165,000)
Six: Ramsey County ($159,356)
Seven: Saint Louis County ($152,661)
Eight: City of Moorhead ($123,192)
Nine: Dakota County ($118,167)
Ten: Anoka County: ($114,300). Disappointing. Fiscal restraint?
Further evidence that spending is out of control everywhere, from Washington to your park board.
Will the real fiscal conservatives please stand up?
THE WAR ON MINING – AGAIN
The DFL’s war on mining – and on rural Minnesota – continues apace.
This week, a cabal of 18 DFL legislators sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz, asking him to suspend state-issued permits for the Polymet mining project.
The primary reason for the letter is an allegation that the process for reviewing and issuing the permits didn’t follow procedures.
The letter drew an immediate, bi-partisan response from both legislative Republicans and some (remaining) rural DFLers.
House GOP Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said, “It’s disappointing that Metro Democrats are spreading misleading and false information about the environmental review process in an effort to derail this project and its tremendous benefits for Minnesota jobs and Minnesota’s economy. PolyMet is the most thoroughly reviewed industrial project in Minnesota history and has been going through the environmental review process for 14 years.”
It's true that Metro Democrats continue to wage a war on rural Minnesota’s jobs, economy, and way of life.
Truly, the DFL believes what Barack Obama said out loud: rural Americans, in their view, bitterly cling to their guns and religion.
BEYOND THE PALE
Remember when invoking the Holocaust through political imagery and rhetoric was off limits?
For many generations, American politics rightly respected Holocaust victims by refraining from calling opponents “Nazis” or labeling things as “concentration camps.”
No longer.
It’s clear that Democrats have rescinded that political custom.
Many have referred to immigrant detention centers as “concentration camps.”
“Nazi” is a label freely and carelessly thrown about.
Just this past week, failing presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke attempted to call attention to himself by calling President Trump’s recent political rally a “Nuremberg” event, comparing it to the rallies Adolf Hitler held in that city in the 1930s.
It’s appalling that this rhetoric isn’t called out and condemned.
The Holocaust should never be used as a political prop by politicians who are seeking to shock Americans into paying attention to their unrealistic, selfish political ambitions.
Disgusting.
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog apologizes for the recent interruption in weekly commentary.
We’ve experienced some technical difficulties, the result of Russian interference, no doubt.
The Watchdog today resumes the normal weekly commentary. Having said that, the morning news aggregation service will be terminated. The rise of paywall content has made the task of assembling free, newsworthy content quite difficult.
Quote of the Week: “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
- The Mueller Report
Quote of the Week: “I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D – MN 5)
In This Issue:
- A Faustian Bargain;
- Government Lobbying Government;
- The War on Mining – Again;
- Beyond the Pale.
A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN
Washington, DC finally gave up the ghost this week and dropped all remaining pretense of fiscal responsibility by striking a bi-partisan deal on the only subject that unites the parties in DC these days: spending money.
The deal “suspends” the debt ceiling until 2021, allowing all incumbents to safely ignore the national debt and the budget deficit until after the 2020 elections.
Note that the deal “suspends” the debt ceiling and doesn’t raise it. It’s not like raising the limit on your credit card. It’s like the bank lifting ANY limit on your credit card for two years.
Moreover, the deal raises federal spending by $320 billion over limits set in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
That spending level is projected to equate to $1.7 trillion in additional spending over the next decade above what was projected with the budgetary caps.
Federal debt is projected to be 97% of GDP by 2029.
That’s more than the debt to GDP ratio in 1944, the height of World War II, when it was 91% of GDP.
It’s official. Barack Obama was more fiscally responsible that Donald Trump.
It’s a fact. And a sad one at that.
No wonder House Republicans rebelled.
Of the 197 Republicans in the House, 132 voted against the budget agreement.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky perhaps summed it up best when he introduced an amendment to rename the legislation “A Bill to Kick the Can Down the Road and For Other Purposes.”
The amendment failed.
For those of you looking for bi-partisanship and cooperation, here you go.
Washington is united in spending money the government doesn’t have.
GOVERNMENT LOBBYING GOVERNMENT
Most of our long-time readers know that government spends money to lobby government.
In other words, taxpayer dollars spent by one level of government to obtain tax dollars from another level of government.
It’s about as attractive as government suing government – the risk all being borne by the taxpayer.
Thankfully, Minnesota law requires that these local units of government provide information each year regarding how much they spend on lobbying services.
This year’s report, compiled by the State Auditor, was recently released for 2018 spending.
Last year, local units of government spent $8.7 million of your tax dollars on lobbying and lobbyists.
In all, 113 local units of government reported spending money lobbyists and lobbying. It makes one wonder how all the other ones get by without lobbyists.
Per tradition, we now unveil the infamous “top ten” list of the biggest spenders on these services.
Any guesses? We’ll take “Minneapolis” for $1,000, Alex.
One: Hennepin County ($331,564)
Two: City of Minneapolis ($274,339)
Three: Minneapolis Park Board ($215,762)
Four: City of Saint Paul ($208,796)
Five: City of Bloomington ($165,000)
Six: Ramsey County ($159,356)
Seven: Saint Louis County ($152,661)
Eight: City of Moorhead ($123,192)
Nine: Dakota County ($118,167)
Ten: Anoka County: ($114,300). Disappointing. Fiscal restraint?
Further evidence that spending is out of control everywhere, from Washington to your park board.
Will the real fiscal conservatives please stand up?
THE WAR ON MINING – AGAIN
The DFL’s war on mining – and on rural Minnesota – continues apace.
This week, a cabal of 18 DFL legislators sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz, asking him to suspend state-issued permits for the Polymet mining project.
The primary reason for the letter is an allegation that the process for reviewing and issuing the permits didn’t follow procedures.
The letter drew an immediate, bi-partisan response from both legislative Republicans and some (remaining) rural DFLers.
House GOP Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said, “It’s disappointing that Metro Democrats are spreading misleading and false information about the environmental review process in an effort to derail this project and its tremendous benefits for Minnesota jobs and Minnesota’s economy. PolyMet is the most thoroughly reviewed industrial project in Minnesota history and has been going through the environmental review process for 14 years.”
It's true that Metro Democrats continue to wage a war on rural Minnesota’s jobs, economy, and way of life.
Truly, the DFL believes what Barack Obama said out loud: rural Americans, in their view, bitterly cling to their guns and religion.
BEYOND THE PALE
Remember when invoking the Holocaust through political imagery and rhetoric was off limits?
For many generations, American politics rightly respected Holocaust victims by refraining from calling opponents “Nazis” or labeling things as “concentration camps.”
No longer.
It’s clear that Democrats have rescinded that political custom.
Many have referred to immigrant detention centers as “concentration camps.”
“Nazi” is a label freely and carelessly thrown about.
Just this past week, failing presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke attempted to call attention to himself by calling President Trump’s recent political rally a “Nuremberg” event, comparing it to the rallies Adolf Hitler held in that city in the 1930s.
It’s appalling that this rhetoric isn’t called out and condemned.
The Holocaust should never be used as a political prop by politicians who are seeking to shock Americans into paying attention to their unrealistic, selfish political ambitions.
Disgusting.
June 21st, 2019
Quote of the Week: “The Southern institution of racial segregation or racial separation was the correct, self-evident truth which arose from the chaos and confusion of the Reconstruction period. Separation promotes racial harmony. It permits each race to follow its own pursuits, and its own civilization. Segregation is not discrimination.”
Quote of the Week: “I want you to know that I very much appreciate your help during this week’s committee meeting in attempting to bring my anti-bussing legislation to a vote.”
In This Issue:
SUPER CREEPY JOE BIDEN
“My cable’s out, so I’m down at the rec center, watching folks swim.” “And I love the smell of other people’s hair.”
The famous words of Super Creepy Rob Lowe could easily be mistaken for the words (and creepy actions) of Sleepy Joe Biden. There has to be a campaign commercial in here somewhere.
They say that timing is everything, which is true in life and especially politics.
It’s appearing thus far that Joe Biden, the Super Creepy Septuagenarian (trademark pending), has picked the wrong time to make yet another run for president of the United States.
Videos demonstrating his long and ignoble record of feeling up women, smelling their hair, and otherwise acting the lecherous fool didn’t age so well, much like his shopworn and tiresome gaffes.
Such words and actions do much to paint Biden as an unwelcome reminder of a past we would all like to forget. It’s like he’s a living mullet, pair of leg warmers, and Member’s Only jacket all rolled into one. A history that evokes nervous laughter and eye rolls all around.
Biden’s anachronistic status was boosted this week by his own bizarre boasting of working in the U.S. Senate with avowed white supremacist colleagues like the infamous James Easton and Herman Talmadge (D-GA).
(Editor’s Note: These southern white supremacists were all Democrats.)
In particular, it has come to light that Biden teamed up with them to oppose mandatory bussing, a primary tool in desegregating public schools to reverse the shameful history of Jim Crow laws that proliferated in the aftermath of federal action to abolish slavery.
Joe Biden may go down as one of the worst presidential candidates in modern times regarding timing.
First, today’s democrats want nothing to do with a candidate who preaches pragmatism and centrism. The crazier the better. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are clearly the candidates who fit the times for the tin foil hats who control the modern democrat party.
Second, Democrats went with the consummate establishment candidate in 2016 and suffered an embarrassing loss, to Donald Trump no less.
Sleazy Hillary Clinton and her sex offender husband personified the money-grubbing, nihilistic, focus-group driven, politically malleable establishment.
Biden is so 1996.
Or 1956, as the case may be.
In short, this publication says Joe Biden won’t be the front runner by the end this calendar year.
In terms of credibility as a presidential candidate, he just a step above Amy Klobuchar, who can’t even take sides on her favorite ice cream (is “comb” a flavor?).
MURDER BOAT
Oh, those patriotic Democrats.
On the occasion of the launching of the Navy’s newest ship, the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, William Davis, who works as the Deputy Communication Director for the Minnesota DFL, took to Twitter to say the following: “I think it’s gross that they’re using the name of our fine cities for a murder boat.”
So, as murder is war crime when committed by members of the Armed Forces, Davis condemned every sailor on the ship as prospective war criminal.
What a deeply insulting slap in the face to the men and women who will proudly serve our country aboard this ship.
There has been a deafening silence emanating from the state DFL headquarters down on Plato Boulevard since this explosive tweet.
To his credit, Governor Walz, a veteran himself, strongly criticized Davis’s tweet.
Too bad the DFL chairman could only be troubled to note that this clown will no longer handle “public-facing communications” for the DFL.
Moreover, this isn’t the first time Davis’s lack of social media maturity has landed him in trouble.
He was suspended by the DFL just last October after remarking on his Facebook page that Republicans should be “brought to the guillotines.”
Stay classy, DFL.
CORRUPTING MONEY
Progressives, by definition, are hypocrites. Regardless of the issue, there is a “good for thee, not for me” arrogance in their behavior.
Campaign finance is one of those issues, where the shopworn bromides against Citizen’s United, the Koch Brothers, and “dark money” are thrown about with regularity.
None of it is true.
Fake news.
Recent Minnesota campaign finance reports for 2018 show that monied, outside liberals are funding (and tilting) elections in this state towards DFL candidates.
Take a look at the biggest donors. Guess the ideology and guess the home address:
Alida Messigner (the former Mrs. Dayton): $2.2 million;
Jenifer Allen-Soros: $1 million
Jonathan Soros: $1 million
George Soros: $250,000
Almost $4.5 million donated by liberal out-of-towners with infamous, radical agendas.
Another indicator of the corrupting influence of liberal money are the independent expenditures run for or against candidates:
Tim Walz: $6.3 million FOR;
Jeff Johnson: $5.8 million AGAINST;
= $12.1 million to tilt the race for the DFL candidate.
Keith Ellison: $715,000 FOR;
Doug Wardlow: $1.6 million AGAINST.
= $2.3 million to tilt the race towards the DFL candidate.
Putting a thumb on the scale? How about standing on it?
Don’t ever let liberal co-workers or family take the moral high ground regarding the buying of elections.
Dems do it better than anybody.
RADIO SILENCE
Where’s the news these days regarding Ilhan Omar’s fraudulent tax returns?
It must be buried along with the continuing coverage regarding the Democrat quest to find Christine Blasey Ford’s assaulters or OJ’s quest to find the real killers.
Funny how quiet that item has become already.
Quote of the Week: “The Southern institution of racial segregation or racial separation was the correct, self-evident truth which arose from the chaos and confusion of the Reconstruction period. Separation promotes racial harmony. It permits each race to follow its own pursuits, and its own civilization. Segregation is not discrimination.”
- Sen. James Eastland (D-MS)
Quote of the Week: “I want you to know that I very much appreciate your help during this week’s committee meeting in attempting to bring my anti-bussing legislation to a vote.”
- Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) in a letter to the aforementioned Sen. Eastland
In This Issue:
- Super Creepy Joe Biden;
- Murder Boat;
- Corrupting Money;
- Radio Silence.
SUPER CREEPY JOE BIDEN
“My cable’s out, so I’m down at the rec center, watching folks swim.” “And I love the smell of other people’s hair.”
The famous words of Super Creepy Rob Lowe could easily be mistaken for the words (and creepy actions) of Sleepy Joe Biden. There has to be a campaign commercial in here somewhere.
They say that timing is everything, which is true in life and especially politics.
It’s appearing thus far that Joe Biden, the Super Creepy Septuagenarian (trademark pending), has picked the wrong time to make yet another run for president of the United States.
Videos demonstrating his long and ignoble record of feeling up women, smelling their hair, and otherwise acting the lecherous fool didn’t age so well, much like his shopworn and tiresome gaffes.
Such words and actions do much to paint Biden as an unwelcome reminder of a past we would all like to forget. It’s like he’s a living mullet, pair of leg warmers, and Member’s Only jacket all rolled into one. A history that evokes nervous laughter and eye rolls all around.
Biden’s anachronistic status was boosted this week by his own bizarre boasting of working in the U.S. Senate with avowed white supremacist colleagues like the infamous James Easton and Herman Talmadge (D-GA).
(Editor’s Note: These southern white supremacists were all Democrats.)
In particular, it has come to light that Biden teamed up with them to oppose mandatory bussing, a primary tool in desegregating public schools to reverse the shameful history of Jim Crow laws that proliferated in the aftermath of federal action to abolish slavery.
Joe Biden may go down as one of the worst presidential candidates in modern times regarding timing.
First, today’s democrats want nothing to do with a candidate who preaches pragmatism and centrism. The crazier the better. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are clearly the candidates who fit the times for the tin foil hats who control the modern democrat party.
Second, Democrats went with the consummate establishment candidate in 2016 and suffered an embarrassing loss, to Donald Trump no less.
Sleazy Hillary Clinton and her sex offender husband personified the money-grubbing, nihilistic, focus-group driven, politically malleable establishment.
Biden is so 1996.
Or 1956, as the case may be.
In short, this publication says Joe Biden won’t be the front runner by the end this calendar year.
In terms of credibility as a presidential candidate, he just a step above Amy Klobuchar, who can’t even take sides on her favorite ice cream (is “comb” a flavor?).
MURDER BOAT
Oh, those patriotic Democrats.
On the occasion of the launching of the Navy’s newest ship, the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, William Davis, who works as the Deputy Communication Director for the Minnesota DFL, took to Twitter to say the following: “I think it’s gross that they’re using the name of our fine cities for a murder boat.”
So, as murder is war crime when committed by members of the Armed Forces, Davis condemned every sailor on the ship as prospective war criminal.
What a deeply insulting slap in the face to the men and women who will proudly serve our country aboard this ship.
There has been a deafening silence emanating from the state DFL headquarters down on Plato Boulevard since this explosive tweet.
To his credit, Governor Walz, a veteran himself, strongly criticized Davis’s tweet.
Too bad the DFL chairman could only be troubled to note that this clown will no longer handle “public-facing communications” for the DFL.
Moreover, this isn’t the first time Davis’s lack of social media maturity has landed him in trouble.
He was suspended by the DFL just last October after remarking on his Facebook page that Republicans should be “brought to the guillotines.”
Stay classy, DFL.
CORRUPTING MONEY
Progressives, by definition, are hypocrites. Regardless of the issue, there is a “good for thee, not for me” arrogance in their behavior.
Campaign finance is one of those issues, where the shopworn bromides against Citizen’s United, the Koch Brothers, and “dark money” are thrown about with regularity.
None of it is true.
Fake news.
Recent Minnesota campaign finance reports for 2018 show that monied, outside liberals are funding (and tilting) elections in this state towards DFL candidates.
Take a look at the biggest donors. Guess the ideology and guess the home address:
Alida Messigner (the former Mrs. Dayton): $2.2 million;
Jenifer Allen-Soros: $1 million
Jonathan Soros: $1 million
George Soros: $250,000
Almost $4.5 million donated by liberal out-of-towners with infamous, radical agendas.
Another indicator of the corrupting influence of liberal money are the independent expenditures run for or against candidates:
Tim Walz: $6.3 million FOR;
Jeff Johnson: $5.8 million AGAINST;
= $12.1 million to tilt the race for the DFL candidate.
Keith Ellison: $715,000 FOR;
Doug Wardlow: $1.6 million AGAINST.
= $2.3 million to tilt the race towards the DFL candidate.
Putting a thumb on the scale? How about standing on it?
Don’t ever let liberal co-workers or family take the moral high ground regarding the buying of elections.
Dems do it better than anybody.
RADIO SILENCE
Where’s the news these days regarding Ilhan Omar’s fraudulent tax returns?
It must be buried along with the continuing coverage regarding the Democrat quest to find Christine Blasey Ford’s assaulters or OJ’s quest to find the real killers.
Funny how quiet that item has become already.
June 14th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “It’s very clear there are huge ethical problems with Rep. Omar.”
Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R – Mazeppa)
Factoid of the Week: Northstar commuter rail subsidizes each rider approximately $13,000 per year.
Factoid of the Week: One can lease a brand-new BMW for less than half that amount per year.
In This Issue:
GAFFES, WHOPPERS, AND LIES
The Legacy Media, the Left, and the politicians who pander to them take great delight in pointing out every perceived gaffe or incorrect statement uttered by President Trump.
No statement is beyond their scrutiny, such as them claiming that the recent agreement with Mexico to crack down on migrants in that country was already in progress, thus making the president a liar for taking credit.
Not surprisingly, these same folks don’t, and never have, held their fellow liberals to the same standards, instead fawning over them and churning out propaganda on their behalf.
Let’s play a game, below are listed 10 statements from politicians. You guess who uttered the nonsense.
Quote: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
Person: Al Gore, who is credited nowhere for taking the initiative to create the Internet.
Quote: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Person: Hillary Clinton, who later had to admit she “misspoke,” which is Clinton-speak for “I lied and got caught.”
Quote: “If you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor; if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan.”
Person: Barack Obama, but you knew that.
Quote: “I remember hearing about the Iowa Caucuses when I was a young boy.”
Person: Bill Clinton, who was 30 years old when the Iowa Caucuses became a national political event in 1976.
Quote: “It’s almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem.”
Person: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Quote: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinski.”
Person: You know that answer to this one.
Quote: "Over the last fifteen months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states, I think — one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii I was not allowed to go to … my staff could not justify it.”
Person: Barack Obama
Quote: “The number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S.”
Person: Joe Biden
Quote: “Stand up, Chuck, let them see you!”
Person: Joe Biden, referring to State Senator Chuck Graham, who is a paraplegic.
Quote: "A zebra does not change its spots."
Person: Al Gore
Indeed, Mr. Gore. Indeed.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
While there is always a plethora of candidates, this week’s winner is the Saint Paul Schools district.
A recent article in the Pioneer Press explains that capital improvement projects in the district are experiencing massive cost overruns, even by government standards.
There are 18 such projects that are running a collective $180 million over the projected budget of just two years ago.
In what could have been the quote of the week, a former school district official observed, “Every contractor wants to come work for St. Paul Public Schools because it’s frickin’ open checkbook.”
As is so typical in government, it appears that oversight and expertise were woefully lacking in this case.
Another school official said of the man in charge of the debacle, “The (Facilities Master Plan) would be a challenging and ambitious undertaking for a well-seasoned, experienced public-sector facility director who managed a similarly large portfolio of properties. Tom Parent was neither.”
An accountant for the district noted, “Tom Parent (the man in charge) pushed ahead with construction at several schools at once but paid little attention to how he’d pay for the work.”
What an indictment. Any private sector employee who wasted resources like that would be fired.
Any public official who does so should be prosecuted.
Odds are that this man won’t even be disciplined and will likely parachute out with a nice severance package or early retirement.
Perhaps the most egregious example of the waste is at Humboldt High School, where a $14.4 million project estimate now sits at $48 million, just two years later.
And what are taxpayers getting for their considerable investment in these schools and the district?
At Humboldt, 28% of their students don’t graduate.
Only 19% are proficient in reading.
Only 10% are proficient in math.
A dismal 6.5% are proficient in science.
The legislature should refuse to subsidize this failure and demand strict accountability for both spending and results in the classroom.
Frankly, a school where 9 out of 10 aren’t proficient in math isn’t worth a $48 million facelift.
It’s lipstick on a pig.
AGAIN?!
Less than a month after dealing with their latest scandal, the much-maligned, scandal-plagued Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) is once again in the news for financial mismanagement.
The state agency was in hot water last month for circumventing hiring rules to give a $100,000 plus job to a DFL political crony, who subsequently resigned under pressure.
Even Governor Walz had to rebuke the agency’s leader for his lapse in judgement and order that hiring rules be equally applied.
This week, it was revealed that the agency paid a long-time staffer $166,000 to retire early and then hired him back as a consultant just one month later for up to $43,000 per year.
The retirement payoff consisted in $66,000 in unused vacation and sick days as well as nearly $100,000 in cash!
Why there is no cap on the unused vacation and sick days is inexplicable.
Why state law simply authorizes the IRRRB to offer cash incentives for early retirement with no cap or payment structure is inexcusable.
The legislature, when it passed this early retirement law specifically for the IRRRB in 2017, should have “scandal proofed” it, understanding that they were giving spending authority to an agency notorious for DFL cronyism, waste, and taxpayer abuse.
As would be expected, the DFL apologists for the sweetheart arrangement stood tall.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL – Cook) who sits on the IRRRB executive board, dismissed the scandal with a cavalier statement that “State agencies to this all the time.”
Yes, and that’s exactly the problem.
While this news is no longer surprising, it still jolts the collective conscience of Minnesota taxpayers.
This behavior has been tolerated for years. It’s time to put a hard stop on it.
All of it.
Quote of the Week: “It’s very clear there are huge ethical problems with Rep. Omar.”
Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R – Mazeppa)
Factoid of the Week: Northstar commuter rail subsidizes each rider approximately $13,000 per year.
Factoid of the Week: One can lease a brand-new BMW for less than half that amount per year.
In This Issue:
- Gaffes, Whoppers, and Lies;
- Outrage of the Week;
- Again?!
GAFFES, WHOPPERS, AND LIES
The Legacy Media, the Left, and the politicians who pander to them take great delight in pointing out every perceived gaffe or incorrect statement uttered by President Trump.
No statement is beyond their scrutiny, such as them claiming that the recent agreement with Mexico to crack down on migrants in that country was already in progress, thus making the president a liar for taking credit.
Not surprisingly, these same folks don’t, and never have, held their fellow liberals to the same standards, instead fawning over them and churning out propaganda on their behalf.
Let’s play a game, below are listed 10 statements from politicians. You guess who uttered the nonsense.
Quote: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
Person: Al Gore, who is credited nowhere for taking the initiative to create the Internet.
Quote: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Person: Hillary Clinton, who later had to admit she “misspoke,” which is Clinton-speak for “I lied and got caught.”
Quote: “If you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor; if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan.”
Person: Barack Obama, but you knew that.
Quote: “I remember hearing about the Iowa Caucuses when I was a young boy.”
Person: Bill Clinton, who was 30 years old when the Iowa Caucuses became a national political event in 1976.
Quote: “It’s almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem.”
Person: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Quote: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinski.”
Person: You know that answer to this one.
Quote: "Over the last fifteen months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states, I think — one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii I was not allowed to go to … my staff could not justify it.”
Person: Barack Obama
Quote: “The number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S.”
Person: Joe Biden
Quote: “Stand up, Chuck, let them see you!”
Person: Joe Biden, referring to State Senator Chuck Graham, who is a paraplegic.
Quote: "A zebra does not change its spots."
Person: Al Gore
Indeed, Mr. Gore. Indeed.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
While there is always a plethora of candidates, this week’s winner is the Saint Paul Schools district.
A recent article in the Pioneer Press explains that capital improvement projects in the district are experiencing massive cost overruns, even by government standards.
There are 18 such projects that are running a collective $180 million over the projected budget of just two years ago.
In what could have been the quote of the week, a former school district official observed, “Every contractor wants to come work for St. Paul Public Schools because it’s frickin’ open checkbook.”
As is so typical in government, it appears that oversight and expertise were woefully lacking in this case.
Another school official said of the man in charge of the debacle, “The (Facilities Master Plan) would be a challenging and ambitious undertaking for a well-seasoned, experienced public-sector facility director who managed a similarly large portfolio of properties. Tom Parent was neither.”
An accountant for the district noted, “Tom Parent (the man in charge) pushed ahead with construction at several schools at once but paid little attention to how he’d pay for the work.”
What an indictment. Any private sector employee who wasted resources like that would be fired.
Any public official who does so should be prosecuted.
Odds are that this man won’t even be disciplined and will likely parachute out with a nice severance package or early retirement.
Perhaps the most egregious example of the waste is at Humboldt High School, where a $14.4 million project estimate now sits at $48 million, just two years later.
And what are taxpayers getting for their considerable investment in these schools and the district?
At Humboldt, 28% of their students don’t graduate.
Only 19% are proficient in reading.
Only 10% are proficient in math.
A dismal 6.5% are proficient in science.
The legislature should refuse to subsidize this failure and demand strict accountability for both spending and results in the classroom.
Frankly, a school where 9 out of 10 aren’t proficient in math isn’t worth a $48 million facelift.
It’s lipstick on a pig.
AGAIN?!
Less than a month after dealing with their latest scandal, the much-maligned, scandal-plagued Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) is once again in the news for financial mismanagement.
The state agency was in hot water last month for circumventing hiring rules to give a $100,000 plus job to a DFL political crony, who subsequently resigned under pressure.
Even Governor Walz had to rebuke the agency’s leader for his lapse in judgement and order that hiring rules be equally applied.
This week, it was revealed that the agency paid a long-time staffer $166,000 to retire early and then hired him back as a consultant just one month later for up to $43,000 per year.
The retirement payoff consisted in $66,000 in unused vacation and sick days as well as nearly $100,000 in cash!
Why there is no cap on the unused vacation and sick days is inexplicable.
Why state law simply authorizes the IRRRB to offer cash incentives for early retirement with no cap or payment structure is inexcusable.
The legislature, when it passed this early retirement law specifically for the IRRRB in 2017, should have “scandal proofed” it, understanding that they were giving spending authority to an agency notorious for DFL cronyism, waste, and taxpayer abuse.
As would be expected, the DFL apologists for the sweetheart arrangement stood tall.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL – Cook) who sits on the IRRRB executive board, dismissed the scandal with a cavalier statement that “State agencies to this all the time.”
Yes, and that’s exactly the problem.
While this news is no longer surprising, it still jolts the collective conscience of Minnesota taxpayers.
This behavior has been tolerated for years. It’s time to put a hard stop on it.
All of it.
June 7, 2019
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog solemnly observes this week the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord, a pivotal moment in American history. May we never forget the brave men who stormed the beaches, landed in drop zones behind enemy lines, and the others who supported them by air, land, and sea to defeat tyranny.
Quote of the Week: “We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.”
In This Issue:
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
While the legislature has gone home until 2020 (probably), there is always news to report, for better or worse.
This week, House Speaker Melissa Hortman said she was open to a September special session to tackle an insulin price regulation bill as well as a “modest” capital investment bill, otherwise known as a “bonding” bill.
This sentiment on the part of the speaker is a bit strange.
One, if the insulin issue is truly a health care emergency as it’s been described, why wait three months to do something?
Either it needs to happen now or it can wait until February.
That’s some bizarre messaging. “This is an emergency we will tackle once we get back from the cabin and wolf down some cheese curds at the State Fair.”
Moreover, a bonding bill certainly isn’t needed in special session.
One reason is that there are plenty of bonding projects still in the pipeline that have been authorized in previous bonding bills but have yet to come to fruition.
According to Minnesota Management and Budget, the state has over $103 million in authorized yet unspent bonding that is in danger of cancellation because they were authorized in 2014 or earlier and will cancel under state law unless given further dispensation.
So, when you have $103 million in aged money about to cancel, a $500 million bill isn’t any kind of priority.
Speaking of bonding, Rep. Patrick Garofalo (R – Farmington) this week released a proposal that would increase transparency and result in better projects by breaking the bonding bill into five separate bills, allocated by subject area.
Instead of one, all-or-nothing bonding bill, there would instead by five: higher education, transportation, infrastructure, asset preservation, and a “miscellaneous” category.
This process would hopefully reintroduce a meaningful role for the committees of competent jurisdiction to exercise authority, lending their subject matter expertise.
It would good public policy to have the transportation committee have a role in deciding which bonding projects to fund.
The break-up would also reduce the practice of jamming meritless projects into one large bill, forcing legislators to swallow bad projects (e.g. snow making machines) in order to secure core function funding (e.g. building prisons).
Finally, such reforms would hopefully put an end to the bi-partisan practice of assembling bonding bills behind closed doors and then simply producing one, much in the same way Athena was born.
Over in the executive branch, it’s worth noting that Governor Walz issued not a single veto this session, something that hasn’t happened since 1978.
While this publication doesn’t share the governor’s world view, it is nonetheless a pleasant surprise to see a chief executive properly assume the role, giving respect to the legislature and the legislative process.
This is a marked contract to Mark B. Dayton, who conducted himself as a petulant, spoiled child for eight years.
It’s almost as if Mr. Dayton was some sort of trust fund rich kid.
Finally, the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week upheld the Walz administration appeal, begun under Mark Dayton, of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) granted to the Line 3 pipeline replacement project.
Apparently, the 13,500-page FEIS was lacking in the mind of the three-judge panel (2-1 decision) that overruled the judgement of the Public Utilities Commission, which deemed the FEIS adequate.
The most studied pipeline in world history will now undergo further revision and review to better assess the impact of an oil spill in the Lake Superior Watershed.
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
As Attorney General William Barr conducts his investigation into the domestic spying operation against the Trump Campaign, it’s helpful to take in various aspects of this appalling and pervasive hoax that cost taxpayers $35 million and failed to prove its raison d’etre, collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Start with the fact that over a dozen of Special Counsel Mueller’s prosecutors are registered Democrats, including Jeannie Rhee, who served in the Obama Administration.
Also consider what happened to various targets of the witch hunt, er, investigation.
Jerome Corsi. Corsi, 72, endured more than 40 hours of interrogation in a windowless room and racked up over $100,000 in legal fees.
Corsi’s friends and family were subjected to unannounced FBI visits and Corsi himself suffered heart troubles.
In the end, he was never indicted and is no longer the subject of active investigation.
Jason Fishbein. Fishbein, an attorney, had once done legal work for WikiLeaks.
The FBI grilled him for over 6 hours and gathered more than 500 pages of documents from him.
He was asked about his foreign travels and a poker friend with a “Russian-sounding” name.
Fishbein was never charged.
Carter Page. In many ways a central figure in the spying scandal, Page was put under surveillance during the campaign and subsequently interrogated before a grand jury.
Now nearly bankrupt because of legal fees, Page was never charged with a crime.
Joseph Schmitz. A Trump campaign staffer, Schmitz was never implicated by Mueller, yet was the subject of leaks and media pursuit.
In particular, CNN came after him, staking out his home and confronting him on camera with questions about the now-debunked bogus dossier.
CNN then ran a story insinuating Mueller might be investigation Schmitz.
This publicity tarnished Schmitz’s reputation.
He was never charged.
Freedom loving people everywhere are eagerly anticipating the Barr investigation.
Watchdog sources in Washington tell the publication that the attorney general’s investigation will soon bear fruit and news will be forthcoming “soon.”
Amen.
MEDIEVAL, CA
The Watchdog is considering creating a trivia game entitled, “Medieval Times or 2019 California?”
Consider that Los Angeles is currently facing a typhus outbreak, a disease carried by infected fleas and transmitted by rats.
Over 1,000 people in the area have been sickened by Hepatitis A, a disease spread through fecal matter.
Piles of trash and garbage openly fester on the streets.
Instead of hosting a “Skid Row”, the entire town has become one, save for the bucolic lands of the rich, hidden behind iron gates and security guards.
Up in San Francisco, the situation is similar, except that the city has benefited from the immense talents of tech industry wunderkinds, who have developed apps that show where piles of human feces have been laid down, kind of like a traffic app for poop.
“Avoid Main Street at Fourth. Stinky mess. Use Maple Street.”
No wonder people are fleeing the state like the plague has come.
Give it time.
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog solemnly observes this week the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord, a pivotal moment in American history. May we never forget the brave men who stormed the beaches, landed in drop zones behind enemy lines, and the others who supported them by air, land, and sea to defeat tyranny.
Quote of the Week: “We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.”
- President Ronald Reagan 6/6/1984
In This Issue:
- Legislative News;
- Prosecutorial Misconduct;
- Medieval, CA
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
While the legislature has gone home until 2020 (probably), there is always news to report, for better or worse.
This week, House Speaker Melissa Hortman said she was open to a September special session to tackle an insulin price regulation bill as well as a “modest” capital investment bill, otherwise known as a “bonding” bill.
This sentiment on the part of the speaker is a bit strange.
One, if the insulin issue is truly a health care emergency as it’s been described, why wait three months to do something?
Either it needs to happen now or it can wait until February.
That’s some bizarre messaging. “This is an emergency we will tackle once we get back from the cabin and wolf down some cheese curds at the State Fair.”
Moreover, a bonding bill certainly isn’t needed in special session.
One reason is that there are plenty of bonding projects still in the pipeline that have been authorized in previous bonding bills but have yet to come to fruition.
According to Minnesota Management and Budget, the state has over $103 million in authorized yet unspent bonding that is in danger of cancellation because they were authorized in 2014 or earlier and will cancel under state law unless given further dispensation.
So, when you have $103 million in aged money about to cancel, a $500 million bill isn’t any kind of priority.
Speaking of bonding, Rep. Patrick Garofalo (R – Farmington) this week released a proposal that would increase transparency and result in better projects by breaking the bonding bill into five separate bills, allocated by subject area.
Instead of one, all-or-nothing bonding bill, there would instead by five: higher education, transportation, infrastructure, asset preservation, and a “miscellaneous” category.
This process would hopefully reintroduce a meaningful role for the committees of competent jurisdiction to exercise authority, lending their subject matter expertise.
It would good public policy to have the transportation committee have a role in deciding which bonding projects to fund.
The break-up would also reduce the practice of jamming meritless projects into one large bill, forcing legislators to swallow bad projects (e.g. snow making machines) in order to secure core function funding (e.g. building prisons).
Finally, such reforms would hopefully put an end to the bi-partisan practice of assembling bonding bills behind closed doors and then simply producing one, much in the same way Athena was born.
Over in the executive branch, it’s worth noting that Governor Walz issued not a single veto this session, something that hasn’t happened since 1978.
While this publication doesn’t share the governor’s world view, it is nonetheless a pleasant surprise to see a chief executive properly assume the role, giving respect to the legislature and the legislative process.
This is a marked contract to Mark B. Dayton, who conducted himself as a petulant, spoiled child for eight years.
It’s almost as if Mr. Dayton was some sort of trust fund rich kid.
Finally, the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week upheld the Walz administration appeal, begun under Mark Dayton, of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) granted to the Line 3 pipeline replacement project.
Apparently, the 13,500-page FEIS was lacking in the mind of the three-judge panel (2-1 decision) that overruled the judgement of the Public Utilities Commission, which deemed the FEIS adequate.
The most studied pipeline in world history will now undergo further revision and review to better assess the impact of an oil spill in the Lake Superior Watershed.
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
As Attorney General William Barr conducts his investigation into the domestic spying operation against the Trump Campaign, it’s helpful to take in various aspects of this appalling and pervasive hoax that cost taxpayers $35 million and failed to prove its raison d’etre, collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Start with the fact that over a dozen of Special Counsel Mueller’s prosecutors are registered Democrats, including Jeannie Rhee, who served in the Obama Administration.
Also consider what happened to various targets of the witch hunt, er, investigation.
Jerome Corsi. Corsi, 72, endured more than 40 hours of interrogation in a windowless room and racked up over $100,000 in legal fees.
Corsi’s friends and family were subjected to unannounced FBI visits and Corsi himself suffered heart troubles.
In the end, he was never indicted and is no longer the subject of active investigation.
Jason Fishbein. Fishbein, an attorney, had once done legal work for WikiLeaks.
The FBI grilled him for over 6 hours and gathered more than 500 pages of documents from him.
He was asked about his foreign travels and a poker friend with a “Russian-sounding” name.
Fishbein was never charged.
Carter Page. In many ways a central figure in the spying scandal, Page was put under surveillance during the campaign and subsequently interrogated before a grand jury.
Now nearly bankrupt because of legal fees, Page was never charged with a crime.
Joseph Schmitz. A Trump campaign staffer, Schmitz was never implicated by Mueller, yet was the subject of leaks and media pursuit.
In particular, CNN came after him, staking out his home and confronting him on camera with questions about the now-debunked bogus dossier.
CNN then ran a story insinuating Mueller might be investigation Schmitz.
This publicity tarnished Schmitz’s reputation.
He was never charged.
Freedom loving people everywhere are eagerly anticipating the Barr investigation.
Watchdog sources in Washington tell the publication that the attorney general’s investigation will soon bear fruit and news will be forthcoming “soon.”
Amen.
MEDIEVAL, CA
The Watchdog is considering creating a trivia game entitled, “Medieval Times or 2019 California?”
Consider that Los Angeles is currently facing a typhus outbreak, a disease carried by infected fleas and transmitted by rats.
Over 1,000 people in the area have been sickened by Hepatitis A, a disease spread through fecal matter.
Piles of trash and garbage openly fester on the streets.
Instead of hosting a “Skid Row”, the entire town has become one, save for the bucolic lands of the rich, hidden behind iron gates and security guards.
Up in San Francisco, the situation is similar, except that the city has benefited from the immense talents of tech industry wunderkinds, who have developed apps that show where piles of human feces have been laid down, kind of like a traffic app for poop.
“Avoid Main Street at Fourth. Stinky mess. Use Maple Street.”
No wonder people are fleeing the state like the plague has come.
Give it time.
May 31st, 2019
Quote of the Week: “… A city’s charter is, in effect, its local constitution. Here, there is no evidence in the record that the petition presented in October 2018 was deficient in anyway. [City leaders] concede that the petition was sufficient. Consequently, it was an improper exercise of power for the Council to refuse to place the Referendum on the November 2019 ballot.”
- Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro
In This Issue:
JUDGE TAKES OUT THE TRASH
A significant legal ruling was handed down from Ramsey County District Court yesterday, holding implications for both Minnesota’s environmental laws and the legal rights of charter cities.
The ruling centered on the policy of so-called “organized collection” of residential waste in the City of Saint Paul.
Readers will recall that this publication has examined “organized collection” many times in recent years and found it to be a rather odious public policy.
Briefly, it is a state law that empowers cities and counties to essentially take over trash collection, granting either a monopoly license to one hauler or entering into a contract with a cartel of multiple haulers that divide the jurisdiction into fiefdoms.
In short, government steps into the shoes of the citizen, picking their hauler for them, including all the terms and conditions of the hauling contract.
This displacement of haulers provides no compensation for the haulers who lose their business, not because of marketplace actions, but because government decided by fiat to take their business and give it to a competitor.
The proffered public policy benefits underpinning the law are reduced truck traffic, increased safety, reduced road deterioration, the ability to direct where trash is offloaded, lower costs to residents and other environmental and citizen benefits.
These supposed benefits have been long debunked. Our friends at Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice have an excellent, easy to read web site that explains why “organized collection” doesn’t deliver on its promises. Visit haulersforchoice.com for more information.
In Saint Paul, the city followed the statutory process to implement organized collection, entering into a contract with a cartel of haulers to deliver residential waste collection services, with each member hauler getting a slice of the city in rough proportion to what they had under the prior free market system.
Many licensed haulers, particularly small, independent haulers, complained that the city offered little more than a contract of adhesion (a “take it or leave it” contract), leaving them to either take the deal and prepare to sell their company at a discount or refuse to sign and simply abandon their book of business in Saint Paul.
Many residents were unhappy with the system, either because they simply disliked their freedom to choose their hauler being abrogated or because the system was a one-size-fits-all proposition that failed to meet their unique circumstances. For example, the city requires that every homeowner have a contract with their assigned hauler. Many residents don’t have service because they don’t generate enough trash to justify having service (think ultra-environmentalists, elderly residents who share a can with neighbors, or people allowed to throw their trash in a dumpster at work).
Because Saint Paul is a charter city, these residents did the time-honored American thing and they followed a charter provision that allows for a voter referendum to reverse city ordinances. For the uninitiated, a city charter is essentially a city constitution. Most cities in Minnesota are “statutory” cities that are governed by state statute. Some are charter cities, which follow state law but self-govern in areas where the state allows it.
The citizens presented the requisite number signatures to put the organized collection ordinance on the ballot for reversal.
The city, for a number of reasons, denied the petition while acknowledging that the requisite number of valid signatures was presented to the city council.
In response, the citizens formed an ad hoc group and sued the city to vindicate their rights under the charter.
This week’s ruling was the response to that plea for justice.
Judge Castro in no uncertain terms found in favor of the citizen’s group while strongly rebuking the city.
Regarding the charter question, the judge wrote, “… A city’s charter is, in effect, its local constitution. Here, there is no evidence in the record that the petition presented in October 2018 was deficient in anyway. [City leaders] concede that the petition was sufficient. Consequently, it was an improper exercise of power for the Council to refuse to place the Referendum on the November 2019 ballot.”
Moreover, the judge had little sympathy for Saint Paul’s related claims, such as the ruling impairing the contract with the hauler cartel. “The suspension of [the trash ordinance] will undoubtedly present an inconvenience to the City and its departments. However, this inconvenience cannot justify the circumvention of the plain language of the City’s Charter and the right of the citizens to cast a vote.”
Next, the organized collection ordinance will be suspended June 30th until the city holds the required referendum vote.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of both the campaign and the final vote, which is expected to coincide with Election Day 2019, although the city can hold a special election at a different time.
REPUBLICANS SAVED ME HOW MUCH?
You’ve no doubt heard that the DFL proposed some $12 billion in tax increases this past legislative session.
So, what did some of those taxes look like?
Here’s a sampling of some of the biggest hikes.
Paid Family Leave. This bill would mandate paid leave for all employees. Employers would pay taxes to fund the paid leave. The total would cost employers $1.6 billion each fiscal biennium and result in 316 new state employees to administer the program.
House DFL Transportation Omnibus Bill. This one is a doozy.
While the massive 70% increase in the gas tax got the lion’s share of attention, it was one of only many tax and fee increases.
Electric vehicle surcharge increase to $200.
MNLARS surcharge of $4.75 on vehicle tab renewals.
$2.50 increase to $8.50 for tab renewals.
Filing fee increase to $13.50 for new vehicles.
A $4.50 fee increase for driver’s license renewals.
A $4.75 technology surcharge to renew a driver’s license.
A $4 “filing fee” increase to renew a driver’s license.
The motor vehicle sales tax would increase from 6.5% to 6.875%.
Gas tax increase of 20 cents per gallon, indexed to inflation.
Tax on electric vehicle charging stations of 5 cents per kilowatt hour.
A .5% sales tax increase in the Metro area.
A vehicle registration tax increase from 1.25% of value to 1.5%.
These increases total some $1.1 billion, once fully phased in.
House Omnibus Tax Bill.
This bill raised taxes by about $1.2 billion, despite Minnesota earning the dubious distinction of the least tax-friendly state in the nation for 2018 by Kiplinger’s, perhaps the country’s foremost financial news outlet.
The majority of the $1.2 billion increase came from taxing corporate earnings from overseas when brought back to Minnesota, as if the state’s job creators didn’t face high taxes here as well.
Moreover, this tax falls into the old trap of the DFL basing their tax assumptions on “static” as opposed to “dynamic” scoring.
This is a gimmick whereby the rake from a particular tax looks bigger than it likely will be because it presumes the same taxpayer behavior in the face of a tax increase.
This flies in the face of human nature and long experience, which dictates that the more you tax something, the less you get of it.
If you jack up taxes on foreign income, more of that income will stay overseas.
The Sick Tax. The biggest victory for the DFL, in their eyes, is the maintenance of a tax on health care services.
Set to expire this year, the sunset on the tax was abolished, although the tax was cut from 2% to 1.8%.
Ostensible dedicated to health care, this tax in recent years has become another revenue stream for the general fund, raided to pay for all manner of things.
The DFL has been upfront in stating that they see this tax revenue as the pot of money to fund single-payer health care.
This item will cost taxpayer about $1 billion each biennium.
When you see a Republican legislator, thank him or her for saving you from tax Armageddon.
Quote of the Week: “… A city’s charter is, in effect, its local constitution. Here, there is no evidence in the record that the petition presented in October 2018 was deficient in anyway. [City leaders] concede that the petition was sufficient. Consequently, it was an improper exercise of power for the Council to refuse to place the Referendum on the November 2019 ballot.”
- Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro
In This Issue:
- Judge Takes Out the Trash;
- Republicans Saved Me How Much?
JUDGE TAKES OUT THE TRASH
A significant legal ruling was handed down from Ramsey County District Court yesterday, holding implications for both Minnesota’s environmental laws and the legal rights of charter cities.
The ruling centered on the policy of so-called “organized collection” of residential waste in the City of Saint Paul.
Readers will recall that this publication has examined “organized collection” many times in recent years and found it to be a rather odious public policy.
Briefly, it is a state law that empowers cities and counties to essentially take over trash collection, granting either a monopoly license to one hauler or entering into a contract with a cartel of multiple haulers that divide the jurisdiction into fiefdoms.
In short, government steps into the shoes of the citizen, picking their hauler for them, including all the terms and conditions of the hauling contract.
This displacement of haulers provides no compensation for the haulers who lose their business, not because of marketplace actions, but because government decided by fiat to take their business and give it to a competitor.
The proffered public policy benefits underpinning the law are reduced truck traffic, increased safety, reduced road deterioration, the ability to direct where trash is offloaded, lower costs to residents and other environmental and citizen benefits.
These supposed benefits have been long debunked. Our friends at Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice have an excellent, easy to read web site that explains why “organized collection” doesn’t deliver on its promises. Visit haulersforchoice.com for more information.
In Saint Paul, the city followed the statutory process to implement organized collection, entering into a contract with a cartel of haulers to deliver residential waste collection services, with each member hauler getting a slice of the city in rough proportion to what they had under the prior free market system.
Many licensed haulers, particularly small, independent haulers, complained that the city offered little more than a contract of adhesion (a “take it or leave it” contract), leaving them to either take the deal and prepare to sell their company at a discount or refuse to sign and simply abandon their book of business in Saint Paul.
Many residents were unhappy with the system, either because they simply disliked their freedom to choose their hauler being abrogated or because the system was a one-size-fits-all proposition that failed to meet their unique circumstances. For example, the city requires that every homeowner have a contract with their assigned hauler. Many residents don’t have service because they don’t generate enough trash to justify having service (think ultra-environmentalists, elderly residents who share a can with neighbors, or people allowed to throw their trash in a dumpster at work).
Because Saint Paul is a charter city, these residents did the time-honored American thing and they followed a charter provision that allows for a voter referendum to reverse city ordinances. For the uninitiated, a city charter is essentially a city constitution. Most cities in Minnesota are “statutory” cities that are governed by state statute. Some are charter cities, which follow state law but self-govern in areas where the state allows it.
The citizens presented the requisite number signatures to put the organized collection ordinance on the ballot for reversal.
The city, for a number of reasons, denied the petition while acknowledging that the requisite number of valid signatures was presented to the city council.
In response, the citizens formed an ad hoc group and sued the city to vindicate their rights under the charter.
This week’s ruling was the response to that plea for justice.
Judge Castro in no uncertain terms found in favor of the citizen’s group while strongly rebuking the city.
Regarding the charter question, the judge wrote, “… A city’s charter is, in effect, its local constitution. Here, there is no evidence in the record that the petition presented in October 2018 was deficient in anyway. [City leaders] concede that the petition was sufficient. Consequently, it was an improper exercise of power for the Council to refuse to place the Referendum on the November 2019 ballot.”
Moreover, the judge had little sympathy for Saint Paul’s related claims, such as the ruling impairing the contract with the hauler cartel. “The suspension of [the trash ordinance] will undoubtedly present an inconvenience to the City and its departments. However, this inconvenience cannot justify the circumvention of the plain language of the City’s Charter and the right of the citizens to cast a vote.”
Next, the organized collection ordinance will be suspended June 30th until the city holds the required referendum vote.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of both the campaign and the final vote, which is expected to coincide with Election Day 2019, although the city can hold a special election at a different time.
REPUBLICANS SAVED ME HOW MUCH?
You’ve no doubt heard that the DFL proposed some $12 billion in tax increases this past legislative session.
So, what did some of those taxes look like?
Here’s a sampling of some of the biggest hikes.
Paid Family Leave. This bill would mandate paid leave for all employees. Employers would pay taxes to fund the paid leave. The total would cost employers $1.6 billion each fiscal biennium and result in 316 new state employees to administer the program.
House DFL Transportation Omnibus Bill. This one is a doozy.
While the massive 70% increase in the gas tax got the lion’s share of attention, it was one of only many tax and fee increases.
Electric vehicle surcharge increase to $200.
MNLARS surcharge of $4.75 on vehicle tab renewals.
$2.50 increase to $8.50 for tab renewals.
Filing fee increase to $13.50 for new vehicles.
A $4.50 fee increase for driver’s license renewals.
A $4.75 technology surcharge to renew a driver’s license.
A $4 “filing fee” increase to renew a driver’s license.
The motor vehicle sales tax would increase from 6.5% to 6.875%.
Gas tax increase of 20 cents per gallon, indexed to inflation.
Tax on electric vehicle charging stations of 5 cents per kilowatt hour.
A .5% sales tax increase in the Metro area.
A vehicle registration tax increase from 1.25% of value to 1.5%.
These increases total some $1.1 billion, once fully phased in.
House Omnibus Tax Bill.
This bill raised taxes by about $1.2 billion, despite Minnesota earning the dubious distinction of the least tax-friendly state in the nation for 2018 by Kiplinger’s, perhaps the country’s foremost financial news outlet.
The majority of the $1.2 billion increase came from taxing corporate earnings from overseas when brought back to Minnesota, as if the state’s job creators didn’t face high taxes here as well.
Moreover, this tax falls into the old trap of the DFL basing their tax assumptions on “static” as opposed to “dynamic” scoring.
This is a gimmick whereby the rake from a particular tax looks bigger than it likely will be because it presumes the same taxpayer behavior in the face of a tax increase.
This flies in the face of human nature and long experience, which dictates that the more you tax something, the less you get of it.
If you jack up taxes on foreign income, more of that income will stay overseas.
The Sick Tax. The biggest victory for the DFL, in their eyes, is the maintenance of a tax on health care services.
Set to expire this year, the sunset on the tax was abolished, although the tax was cut from 2% to 1.8%.
Ostensible dedicated to health care, this tax in recent years has become another revenue stream for the general fund, raided to pay for all manner of things.
The DFL has been upfront in stating that they see this tax revenue as the pot of money to fund single-payer health care.
This item will cost taxpayer about $1 billion each biennium.
When you see a Republican legislator, thank him or her for saving you from tax Armageddon.
May 24th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “The dynamic of five individuals meeting behind closed doors has to stop. We need a new construct for our conversations that brings the give and take and debate fully into public view.”
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans stopped a 20-cent gas tax increase, delivered middle class tax cuts, and boosted spending for education in this budget deal.”
In This Issue:
WHERE WE STAND
Many or our loyal readers have jobs, families, and other obligations that prevent them from closely following the play-by-play at the legislature.
Here’s where things stand as this edition goes to publication.
On Sunday evening, May 19th, legislative leaders and the governor reached a global budget agreement that set the overall biennial spending number and the spending “targets” for each major finance committee.
In addition, certain small spending and other policy items were settled by the leadership at that time.
Speaker Hortman then stated that the conference committees would work “in public” at “breakneck speed” to resolve the difference between House and Senate bills and appropriate money to meet the spending targets.
Because the state constitution mandates that the legislature adjourn this year by midnight Monday, May 21st, the legislative conference committees had little time to act.
The conference committee meetings didn’t happen.
Instead, conference committee chairs met privately or traded offers privately.
Most conference committees were unable to reach agreement, leaving the higher education spending bill as the only one that passed the legislature prior to the midnight Monday deadline.
The rest of it was left undone.
With the “regular” legislative session adjourned and the legislature not yet in a special session (only the governor can call a special session), the legislature and governor were in a bit of a no man’s land to resolve the outstanding issues.
The process used to resolve the many outstanding spending and policy issues the conference committees didn’t resolve was for the governor, House speaker, and the Senate majority leader, along with conference committee chairs, to privately resolve those issues.
Critics of the process derisively referred to the group as the “leadership tribunal.”
Regardless, the leadership group has closed out all bills, with most of them posted for public review.
As of Thursday of this week, all of the relevant legislative committees, called “working groups” since the legislature isn’t in session, have met, have staff walk through the agreements, and allow for committee questions.
The only exception as of this writing is the Health and Human Services area.
Nonetheless, the governor has issued a proclamation for the special session to convene.
Two major issues also remain unresolved.
First, it is unknown whether or not there will be a capital investment or “bonding” bill.
It takes a 3/5ths super majority to pass one, meaning that the minority caucuses would need to provide votes.
In the House, Minority Leader Kurt Daudt has stated that his caucus isn’t interested in providing those votes.
Two, the special session will last at least three days, barring a successful motion to suspend the rules for a one-day special session.
Again, a super majority is needed to suspend the rules and thus far the minority caucuses have not agreed.
The deals are cut, the committees have met, and we are awaiting the special session.
YES, THE REPUBLICANS WON
As with any decent compromise, there is grumbling all the way around.
This compromise agreement is no different.
Having said that, it’s hard to understand the loud grumbling of some Republicans.
After getting smoked on Election Day last November, legislative Republicans began the legislative session with their backs against the wall.
A sizable House majority evaporated as the DFL romped, including many strong Republican districts in places like Savage, Shakopee, Lake Elmo, Rosemount, and Eden Prairie.
Governor Tim Walz won a convincing victory for governor.
Senate Republicans, nursing a narrow one seat majority, added to that majority by winning a special election early in 2019, making for a 35-32 majority.
Despite that, Majority Leader Paul Gazelka not only won victories, prevented bad legislation, and did it all essentially on time.
Here’s what Gazelka won:
Here’s what Governor Walz and Speaker Hortman won:
For only having one leg of the three-legged stool, Sen. Gazelka did very well.
Moreover, the deal wasn’t going to get better.
Whether in May, June, or September, the DFL was going to get something.
In fact, Gazelka managed to defeat the long-standing aphorism that “governors get most of what they want.”
With a massive budget deal, there are of course other smaller issues that one could classify as either a win or a loss for Republicans.
But the bottom line is that if you have laid out this scenario back in January and asked Republicans if they would take it, the answer would have been a resounding “yes.”
Let’s recognize a win.
If you don’t think it was enough, then work harder in 2020 to elect and re-elect Republicans.
Knock more doors.
Give more money.
Pound more signs.
Get more neighbors out to vote.
We won. Embrace it.
Quote of the Week: “The dynamic of five individuals meeting behind closed doors has to stop. We need a new construct for our conversations that brings the give and take and debate fully into public view.”
- House Speaker Melissa Hortman 11/16/17
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans stopped a 20-cent gas tax increase, delivered middle class tax cuts, and boosted spending for education in this budget deal.”
- Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka
In This Issue:
- Where We Stand;
- Yes, the Republicans Won;
WHERE WE STAND
Many or our loyal readers have jobs, families, and other obligations that prevent them from closely following the play-by-play at the legislature.
Here’s where things stand as this edition goes to publication.
On Sunday evening, May 19th, legislative leaders and the governor reached a global budget agreement that set the overall biennial spending number and the spending “targets” for each major finance committee.
In addition, certain small spending and other policy items were settled by the leadership at that time.
Speaker Hortman then stated that the conference committees would work “in public” at “breakneck speed” to resolve the difference between House and Senate bills and appropriate money to meet the spending targets.
Because the state constitution mandates that the legislature adjourn this year by midnight Monday, May 21st, the legislative conference committees had little time to act.
The conference committee meetings didn’t happen.
Instead, conference committee chairs met privately or traded offers privately.
Most conference committees were unable to reach agreement, leaving the higher education spending bill as the only one that passed the legislature prior to the midnight Monday deadline.
The rest of it was left undone.
With the “regular” legislative session adjourned and the legislature not yet in a special session (only the governor can call a special session), the legislature and governor were in a bit of a no man’s land to resolve the outstanding issues.
The process used to resolve the many outstanding spending and policy issues the conference committees didn’t resolve was for the governor, House speaker, and the Senate majority leader, along with conference committee chairs, to privately resolve those issues.
Critics of the process derisively referred to the group as the “leadership tribunal.”
Regardless, the leadership group has closed out all bills, with most of them posted for public review.
As of Thursday of this week, all of the relevant legislative committees, called “working groups” since the legislature isn’t in session, have met, have staff walk through the agreements, and allow for committee questions.
The only exception as of this writing is the Health and Human Services area.
Nonetheless, the governor has issued a proclamation for the special session to convene.
Two major issues also remain unresolved.
First, it is unknown whether or not there will be a capital investment or “bonding” bill.
It takes a 3/5ths super majority to pass one, meaning that the minority caucuses would need to provide votes.
In the House, Minority Leader Kurt Daudt has stated that his caucus isn’t interested in providing those votes.
Two, the special session will last at least three days, barring a successful motion to suspend the rules for a one-day special session.
Again, a super majority is needed to suspend the rules and thus far the minority caucuses have not agreed.
The deals are cut, the committees have met, and we are awaiting the special session.
YES, THE REPUBLICANS WON
As with any decent compromise, there is grumbling all the way around.
This compromise agreement is no different.
Having said that, it’s hard to understand the loud grumbling of some Republicans.
After getting smoked on Election Day last November, legislative Republicans began the legislative session with their backs against the wall.
A sizable House majority evaporated as the DFL romped, including many strong Republican districts in places like Savage, Shakopee, Lake Elmo, Rosemount, and Eden Prairie.
Governor Tim Walz won a convincing victory for governor.
Senate Republicans, nursing a narrow one seat majority, added to that majority by winning a special election early in 2019, making for a 35-32 majority.
Despite that, Majority Leader Paul Gazelka not only won victories, prevented bad legislation, and did it all essentially on time.
Here’s what Gazelka won:
- Stopped $12 billion in tax increases;
- Stopped a 20 cent per gallon gas tax;
- Cut the second-tier income tax;
- Cut the “sick tax”;
- Stopped gun control legislation;
- Stopped government-run health care;
- Stopped an ultra-expensive paid family leave bill;
- Kept a dedication of auto-related sales taxes to road and bridges;
- Stopped loony energy legislation like the MN Green New Deal’;
- Held the Education-Industrial Complex to 2% increase each year.
Here’s what Governor Walz and Speaker Hortman won:
- A continued sick tax, albeit at 1.8%, not 2%.
For only having one leg of the three-legged stool, Sen. Gazelka did very well.
Moreover, the deal wasn’t going to get better.
Whether in May, June, or September, the DFL was going to get something.
In fact, Gazelka managed to defeat the long-standing aphorism that “governors get most of what they want.”
With a massive budget deal, there are of course other smaller issues that one could classify as either a win or a loss for Republicans.
But the bottom line is that if you have laid out this scenario back in January and asked Republicans if they would take it, the answer would have been a resounding “yes.”
Let’s recognize a win.
If you don’t think it was enough, then work harder in 2020 to elect and re-elect Republicans.
Knock more doors.
Give more money.
Pound more signs.
Get more neighbors out to vote.
We won. Embrace it.
May 17th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “No money shall be paid out of the treasury of this state except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.”
Quote of the Week: “This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”
In This Issue:
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Here we are again. Minnesota government on the verge of a special session, perhaps moving to a shut down.
If the governor and legislature fail to reach agreement on a budget prior to midnight Monday night, a special session will be needed to finish work.
Practically speaking, a special session will be needed regardless, as any agreement reached now wouldn’t allow enough time for non-partisan staff to revise and assemble the agreement into the proper legislative format, which would then require a very short special session to ratify.
Barring any type of late agreement, the next practical deadline for the governor and legislative leaders is July 1st, when the new fiscal biennium begins.
If no agreement is in place by then, a government shutdown would begin.
Thus, the governor and legislature really have another six weeks until they have to get serious about resolving differences.
The only real driver of a timely budget agreement in the regular session is the desire of Speaker Hortman and Governor Walz to demonstrate that they can do things differently, as they both campaigned on such a promise.
Let’s also take a moment to note that Speaker Hortman in particular railed against the closed-door budget negotiation process. A process she has now happily embraced.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
Four legs good, two legs better!
On the other hand, Majority Leader Gazelka really has nothing he and his caucus want from government.
Instead, he wants to deliver on the promise all Republicans offer with respect to fiscal restraint.
In this regard, the DFL has given him much material.
With the state sitting in a sizable budget surplus, a huge budget reserve, and a booming economy, the DFL has nonetheless proposed tax increases. No, they have proposed massive tax increases, such as a 70% increase in the gas tax.
Pandering to the far Left has created a big political headache for Walz and company.
Gazelka and Republicans are occupying the political high ground, offering both spending increases and no tax increases, other than the mistake of advocating for tax increases on pain killing medicines (there’s still time to kill that).
In short, Gazelka is the responsible adult in this room and the public sees it.
This brave band of 35 GOP senators needs to stand firm. The cacophony inside the Capitol will no doubt resound with the faux outrage of paid protestors banging pans and chanting vapid talking points about taxing the rich or honoring the grievances of some special interest group.
But outside the dome, far away from the bussed in protestors from Minneapolis, the average voter, the forgotten taxpayer, is toiling at work, balancing the family budget, and raising children to be responsible adults.
This forgotten taxpayer has no paid lobbyist. He has no special connections in Saint Paul. He doesn’t know what an omnibus bill is or when the next conference committee meets.
What he does know is that government is too big and takes too much. He knows government has no compassion. He knows many legislators don’t give a damn about his job or his family.
This is the man the Senate GOP and their House GOP colleagues are fighting for.
Remember him.
ABORTION AT THE FORE
Abortion politics, essentially dormant for a number of years, has exploded to the fore, with states passing laws to push for both expanded abortion options and robust restrictions on the practice.
This isn’t real surprising, considering that the country is once again swinging into a cycle of the culture war heating up.
With the nation so politically polarized, it was only a matter of time until the abortion debate joined the gun control and gay rights debates in occupying the nation’s attention.
While reasonable minds can differ regarding abortion, what can’t be debated is the simple yet powerful fact that Roe vs. Wade is bad law.
The meltdown of many on the Left over the prospect of the Supreme Court revisiting the case is unjustified.
Overturning the ruling would honor the court’s constitutionally assigned role to interpret the law, not make it.
Moreover, vacating the case would respect federalism by returning abortion laws to the states, where such health and welfare issues rightly belong.
The Court’s radical decision to take pull abortion away from the state’s and under the ambit of federal courts was perhaps the most egregious example of judicial overreach and severely damaged the court’s reputation and eroded its credibility as a democratic institution.
After overturning the decision, the issue would rightly return to the 50 “laboratories of democracy” where each state would decide for itself abortion laws and regulations.
There is little doubt that many states would outlaw or severely restrict the practice while some states would maintain and expand it. Imagine California and New York competing with each other for the title of Abortion Capital. Can you say “infanticide?”
The undeniable reality is that there is no right to an abortion under the federal constitution.
The word is nowhere to be found within and there is no reference to it.
Furthermore, there is nothing in the history of the constitutional debate amongst the Framers indicating that they even contemplated abortion, much less enshrined the right to one in the constitution.
In short, the Roe majority simply made up the right to an abortion.
Moreover, their legal reasoning, expressed by Justice Blackmon, was sophomoric and facile. A law school exam featuring such reasoning would have likely failed to earn a passing grade.
First, the Roe majority declared that there is a “right to privacy” under the federal constitution. They did this shortly after admitting that the constitution doesn’t speak to a right to privacy.
Through a number of cases, the Supreme Court has found that the right to privacy “does exist” even though one can’t find it in the text.
Next, the Court pointed to a second quantum leap of logical gymnastics in its recent jurisprudence by reminding the country that there are “penumbras” of privacy rights, meaning small, tiny areas of privacy rights that can be found in the constitution if you squint really hard when reading it.
Such was the reasoning behind the Court’s similar ruling that the constitution guarantees the right to birth control.
Thus, the Supreme Court turned the country upside down by finding that there is an abortion “penumbra” somewhere down the block from the made-up right to privacy that says abortion rights are guaranteed. And despite the fact that there exists not a shred of historical evidence that the Framers contemplated abortion in their deliberations.
The bottom line is that Roe vs. Wade is bad law. It’s bad law because it’s made up law. It’s pretend law.
It is little more than judicial fiat, an edict that there shall be abortions, that the laws of the 50 states, decided by popularly elected governors and legislators, shall be invalid.
Overturning Roe v. Wade, which would make liberals sob, would do much to restore the sacred concept of federalism, honor the 10th Amendment, and help restore the credibility of the Supreme Court as a political institution.
Let us hope that any one or a number of recent abortion laws passed in various states leads to such a result.
Quote of the Week: “No money shall be paid out of the treasury of this state except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.”
- Article 11, Section 1 of the Minnesota Constitution
Quote of the Week: “This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”
- Justice Blackmun
In This Issue:
- Déjà Vu All Over Again;
- Abortion at the Fore.
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Here we are again. Minnesota government on the verge of a special session, perhaps moving to a shut down.
If the governor and legislature fail to reach agreement on a budget prior to midnight Monday night, a special session will be needed to finish work.
Practically speaking, a special session will be needed regardless, as any agreement reached now wouldn’t allow enough time for non-partisan staff to revise and assemble the agreement into the proper legislative format, which would then require a very short special session to ratify.
Barring any type of late agreement, the next practical deadline for the governor and legislative leaders is July 1st, when the new fiscal biennium begins.
If no agreement is in place by then, a government shutdown would begin.
Thus, the governor and legislature really have another six weeks until they have to get serious about resolving differences.
The only real driver of a timely budget agreement in the regular session is the desire of Speaker Hortman and Governor Walz to demonstrate that they can do things differently, as they both campaigned on such a promise.
Let’s also take a moment to note that Speaker Hortman in particular railed against the closed-door budget negotiation process. A process she has now happily embraced.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
Four legs good, two legs better!
On the other hand, Majority Leader Gazelka really has nothing he and his caucus want from government.
Instead, he wants to deliver on the promise all Republicans offer with respect to fiscal restraint.
In this regard, the DFL has given him much material.
With the state sitting in a sizable budget surplus, a huge budget reserve, and a booming economy, the DFL has nonetheless proposed tax increases. No, they have proposed massive tax increases, such as a 70% increase in the gas tax.
Pandering to the far Left has created a big political headache for Walz and company.
Gazelka and Republicans are occupying the political high ground, offering both spending increases and no tax increases, other than the mistake of advocating for tax increases on pain killing medicines (there’s still time to kill that).
In short, Gazelka is the responsible adult in this room and the public sees it.
This brave band of 35 GOP senators needs to stand firm. The cacophony inside the Capitol will no doubt resound with the faux outrage of paid protestors banging pans and chanting vapid talking points about taxing the rich or honoring the grievances of some special interest group.
But outside the dome, far away from the bussed in protestors from Minneapolis, the average voter, the forgotten taxpayer, is toiling at work, balancing the family budget, and raising children to be responsible adults.
This forgotten taxpayer has no paid lobbyist. He has no special connections in Saint Paul. He doesn’t know what an omnibus bill is or when the next conference committee meets.
What he does know is that government is too big and takes too much. He knows government has no compassion. He knows many legislators don’t give a damn about his job or his family.
This is the man the Senate GOP and their House GOP colleagues are fighting for.
Remember him.
ABORTION AT THE FORE
Abortion politics, essentially dormant for a number of years, has exploded to the fore, with states passing laws to push for both expanded abortion options and robust restrictions on the practice.
This isn’t real surprising, considering that the country is once again swinging into a cycle of the culture war heating up.
With the nation so politically polarized, it was only a matter of time until the abortion debate joined the gun control and gay rights debates in occupying the nation’s attention.
While reasonable minds can differ regarding abortion, what can’t be debated is the simple yet powerful fact that Roe vs. Wade is bad law.
The meltdown of many on the Left over the prospect of the Supreme Court revisiting the case is unjustified.
Overturning the ruling would honor the court’s constitutionally assigned role to interpret the law, not make it.
Moreover, vacating the case would respect federalism by returning abortion laws to the states, where such health and welfare issues rightly belong.
The Court’s radical decision to take pull abortion away from the state’s and under the ambit of federal courts was perhaps the most egregious example of judicial overreach and severely damaged the court’s reputation and eroded its credibility as a democratic institution.
After overturning the decision, the issue would rightly return to the 50 “laboratories of democracy” where each state would decide for itself abortion laws and regulations.
There is little doubt that many states would outlaw or severely restrict the practice while some states would maintain and expand it. Imagine California and New York competing with each other for the title of Abortion Capital. Can you say “infanticide?”
The undeniable reality is that there is no right to an abortion under the federal constitution.
The word is nowhere to be found within and there is no reference to it.
Furthermore, there is nothing in the history of the constitutional debate amongst the Framers indicating that they even contemplated abortion, much less enshrined the right to one in the constitution.
In short, the Roe majority simply made up the right to an abortion.
Moreover, their legal reasoning, expressed by Justice Blackmon, was sophomoric and facile. A law school exam featuring such reasoning would have likely failed to earn a passing grade.
First, the Roe majority declared that there is a “right to privacy” under the federal constitution. They did this shortly after admitting that the constitution doesn’t speak to a right to privacy.
Through a number of cases, the Supreme Court has found that the right to privacy “does exist” even though one can’t find it in the text.
Next, the Court pointed to a second quantum leap of logical gymnastics in its recent jurisprudence by reminding the country that there are “penumbras” of privacy rights, meaning small, tiny areas of privacy rights that can be found in the constitution if you squint really hard when reading it.
Such was the reasoning behind the Court’s similar ruling that the constitution guarantees the right to birth control.
Thus, the Supreme Court turned the country upside down by finding that there is an abortion “penumbra” somewhere down the block from the made-up right to privacy that says abortion rights are guaranteed. And despite the fact that there exists not a shred of historical evidence that the Framers contemplated abortion in their deliberations.
The bottom line is that Roe vs. Wade is bad law. It’s bad law because it’s made up law. It’s pretend law.
It is little more than judicial fiat, an edict that there shall be abortions, that the laws of the 50 states, decided by popularly elected governors and legislators, shall be invalid.
Overturning Roe v. Wade, which would make liberals sob, would do much to restore the sacred concept of federalism, honor the 10th Amendment, and help restore the credibility of the Supreme Court as a political institution.
Let us hope that any one or a number of recent abortion laws passed in various states leads to such a result.
May 10th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Between 2016 and 2023 our state budget is forecast to grow $11.5 billion. The Governor and House want to add $12 billion in new spending”
- Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
Quote of the Week: “As people are tweeting about budget negotiations, keep in mind the 1,000 new employees added to the Department of Human Services since 2016.”
- Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
In This Issue:
BUDGET BATTLE
The difference between Democrats and Republicans down at the Capitol isn’t just a donnybrook over numbers. It’s more than just haggling over how much the state will spend over the next two years.
Instead, it’s an important clash of ideas regarding both how government approaches both taxing and spending. It’s a deep philosophical clash over the direction of state government.
Thus, the resistance of the Senate Republican majority to tax increases isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction to the DFL budget proposals. It’s a deeply felt concern that this proposed budget, combined with the state’s spending trajectory over the past years, is simply unworkable and unsustainable in positioning Minnesota for a future in which capital is hyper-mobile.
Here are the reasons why Republicans are right to reject tax increases – all of them.
Minnesota is Already Taxed Too Much.
Every reputable organization that analyzes tax burdens ranks Minnesota among the least tax-friendly states in the nation.
With respect to overall tax burden, Minnesota is in the top 5 of every reputable ranking, including being the dubious distinction of #1 overall in Kiplinger’s rankings.
No matter the metric, Minnesota punishes its taxpayers.
Kiplinger’s also ranked Minnesota as the least friendly state in the nation for retiree income.
For example, it’s one of the few states in the nation to tax Social Security income.
Add to that high estate taxes, and retirees have little reason to live here, other than the magnificent weather.
The North Star state also has a nasty reputation for punitive taxes on the working poor through high regressive taxes.
Regressive taxes fall particularly hard on the poor.
The primary regressive taxes are on tobacco, alcohol, and gasoline.
For tobacco, Minnesota again makes the top 10, standing at #7 for highest taxes in this area.
For alcohol, the state is just outside the top 10, at number 12.
With respect to the gas tax, Minnesota is about average, but the Democrats aim to fix that. Their proposed 70% increase would boost the state into the top 5, with the 4th highest gas tax in the nation.
Perhaps most disgusting is Minnesota’s bottom income tax bracket. The state’s poorest income earners have their income taxed at a rate higher than the highest tax rate in 21 other states.
Capital is Mobile – And it Will Flee.
When taxes are too high, taxpayers will flee to lower taxed jurisdictions. This is especially true for higher net worth taxpayers, who generally have the resources and sophistication to engage in careful tax planning.
High tax states are falling into a fiscal death spiral as they raise taxes to cover more and more spending while at the same time fewer and fewer taxpayers remain to shoulder the burden.
Connecticut is the poster child for this liber-induced fiscal death spiral.
New York is becoming so. Recent changes to the federal tax code limited the deductibility of state taxes, which was essentially a federal subsidy for wealthy people living in those high-tax states.
Both tax and real estate data are showing that wealth New Yorkers are leaving the state and establishing domicile in tax friendly jurisdictions like Florida.
Minnesota Spends Too Much.
In addition to limits on taxation, there are limits on spending. The state is on an unsustainable trajectory, with a day of reckoning coming because taxes simply can’t be raised high enough to support DFL spending desires.
Last week’s edition showed the massive and exponential growth of the state’s “all funds” spending over the past 50 years. This growth has far exceeded population growth and inflation over time.
As recently as 2001, the state spent $37 billion in that biennium.
This biennium will see all funds spending of $83 billion.
Entitlement spending is on a runaway course as well. This spending, which the state authorizes regardless of cost, is out of control, especially in the area of health and human services.
Spending that radically outstrips inflation, population growth, and wealth enhancement is simply unsustainable.
Minnesota Wastes Money.
Before asking taxpayers to kick in an additional $12 billion in tax increases, government ought to make sure its house is in order, which it is most decidedly not.
Examples of wasted taxpayer resources abound:
Regardless of tax increases or any spending increases within the current budget, Republicans are right to demand greater fiscal accountability.
There is No Mandate.
Governor Walz has made claims that his tax and spend policies have been endorsed and ratified by the taxpayers because he won the governor’s race. He further brags that he received a record number of votes.
That may be true, but it’s also true that Republican Jeff Johnson received a record number of votes. In fact, he received more votes than successful GOP gubernatorial candidates like Tim Pawlenty, Arne Carlson, and Al Quie.
Moreover, Senate Republicans have their own mandate. There have been two special elections in the state Senate recently. The GOP won both, including a seat that had been in DFL hands for over 20 years.
Let’s also be realistic. Many voters in 2018 were casting a referendum vote on the president. The fact that Walz made a vague promise to raise the gas tax can hardly be seen as a motivating voter issue unless the governor can provide detailed exit polling of which this publication is unaware.
It’s more than a disingenuous stretch for the governor to claim some sort of universal mandate for his tax and spend chicanery.
Of course, at least 33% of voters indeed voted for all this. They’re voters who reflexively vote DFL in Pavlovian fashion. The crude appeal to class envy, group identity politics, and the culture of complaint is all that’s needed.
Republicans are right to stand against these DFL taxing and spending proposals.
Quote of the Week: “Between 2016 and 2023 our state budget is forecast to grow $11.5 billion. The Governor and House want to add $12 billion in new spending”
- Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
Quote of the Week: “As people are tweeting about budget negotiations, keep in mind the 1,000 new employees added to the Department of Human Services since 2016.”
- Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake)
In This Issue:
- Budget Battle.
BUDGET BATTLE
The difference between Democrats and Republicans down at the Capitol isn’t just a donnybrook over numbers. It’s more than just haggling over how much the state will spend over the next two years.
Instead, it’s an important clash of ideas regarding both how government approaches both taxing and spending. It’s a deep philosophical clash over the direction of state government.
Thus, the resistance of the Senate Republican majority to tax increases isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction to the DFL budget proposals. It’s a deeply felt concern that this proposed budget, combined with the state’s spending trajectory over the past years, is simply unworkable and unsustainable in positioning Minnesota for a future in which capital is hyper-mobile.
Here are the reasons why Republicans are right to reject tax increases – all of them.
Minnesota is Already Taxed Too Much.
Every reputable organization that analyzes tax burdens ranks Minnesota among the least tax-friendly states in the nation.
With respect to overall tax burden, Minnesota is in the top 5 of every reputable ranking, including being the dubious distinction of #1 overall in Kiplinger’s rankings.
No matter the metric, Minnesota punishes its taxpayers.
Kiplinger’s also ranked Minnesota as the least friendly state in the nation for retiree income.
For example, it’s one of the few states in the nation to tax Social Security income.
Add to that high estate taxes, and retirees have little reason to live here, other than the magnificent weather.
The North Star state also has a nasty reputation for punitive taxes on the working poor through high regressive taxes.
Regressive taxes fall particularly hard on the poor.
The primary regressive taxes are on tobacco, alcohol, and gasoline.
For tobacco, Minnesota again makes the top 10, standing at #7 for highest taxes in this area.
For alcohol, the state is just outside the top 10, at number 12.
With respect to the gas tax, Minnesota is about average, but the Democrats aim to fix that. Their proposed 70% increase would boost the state into the top 5, with the 4th highest gas tax in the nation.
Perhaps most disgusting is Minnesota’s bottom income tax bracket. The state’s poorest income earners have their income taxed at a rate higher than the highest tax rate in 21 other states.
Capital is Mobile – And it Will Flee.
When taxes are too high, taxpayers will flee to lower taxed jurisdictions. This is especially true for higher net worth taxpayers, who generally have the resources and sophistication to engage in careful tax planning.
High tax states are falling into a fiscal death spiral as they raise taxes to cover more and more spending while at the same time fewer and fewer taxpayers remain to shoulder the burden.
Connecticut is the poster child for this liber-induced fiscal death spiral.
New York is becoming so. Recent changes to the federal tax code limited the deductibility of state taxes, which was essentially a federal subsidy for wealthy people living in those high-tax states.
Both tax and real estate data are showing that wealth New Yorkers are leaving the state and establishing domicile in tax friendly jurisdictions like Florida.
Minnesota Spends Too Much.
In addition to limits on taxation, there are limits on spending. The state is on an unsustainable trajectory, with a day of reckoning coming because taxes simply can’t be raised high enough to support DFL spending desires.
Last week’s edition showed the massive and exponential growth of the state’s “all funds” spending over the past 50 years. This growth has far exceeded population growth and inflation over time.
As recently as 2001, the state spent $37 billion in that biennium.
This biennium will see all funds spending of $83 billion.
Entitlement spending is on a runaway course as well. This spending, which the state authorizes regardless of cost, is out of control, especially in the area of health and human services.
Spending that radically outstrips inflation, population growth, and wealth enhancement is simply unsustainable.
Minnesota Wastes Money.
Before asking taxpayers to kick in an additional $12 billion in tax increases, government ought to make sure its house is in order, which it is most decidedly not.
Examples of wasted taxpayer resources abound:
- Over $100 million for the broken MNLARS vehicle licensing system;
- $271 million of ineligible Obamacare subsidies;
- Over $150 million spent on the Obamacare state web site;
- Subsidies for child care that are “high risk for fraud and error”;
- A $100,000 plus sweetheart job for a political crony at the IRRRB;
- Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses and severance pay for marginal political appointees of Governor Dayton;
- $10,000 for a vile painting depicting law enforcement as Nazis and Klansmen.
Regardless of tax increases or any spending increases within the current budget, Republicans are right to demand greater fiscal accountability.
There is No Mandate.
Governor Walz has made claims that his tax and spend policies have been endorsed and ratified by the taxpayers because he won the governor’s race. He further brags that he received a record number of votes.
That may be true, but it’s also true that Republican Jeff Johnson received a record number of votes. In fact, he received more votes than successful GOP gubernatorial candidates like Tim Pawlenty, Arne Carlson, and Al Quie.
Moreover, Senate Republicans have their own mandate. There have been two special elections in the state Senate recently. The GOP won both, including a seat that had been in DFL hands for over 20 years.
Let’s also be realistic. Many voters in 2018 were casting a referendum vote on the president. The fact that Walz made a vague promise to raise the gas tax can hardly be seen as a motivating voter issue unless the governor can provide detailed exit polling of which this publication is unaware.
It’s more than a disingenuous stretch for the governor to claim some sort of universal mandate for his tax and spend chicanery.
Of course, at least 33% of voters indeed voted for all this. They’re voters who reflexively vote DFL in Pavlovian fashion. The crude appeal to class envy, group identity politics, and the culture of complaint is all that’s needed.
Republicans are right to stand against these DFL taxing and spending proposals.
May 3rd, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Working people who have got to get to their job, get their kid to a medical appointment, shouldn’t get hit again.”
Quote of the Week: “Notably, an amendment to incorporate the Governor’s fee increases on tabs and massive gas tax failed without a single vote of support. Every member of the Senate, including 32 Democrats, voted against the Governor’s transportation plan.”
In This Issue:
BUDGET BATTLE BREWS
Loyal readers, we are now in the danger zone. The legislature and Governor Walz are now moving into the final phase of the 2019 legislative session, deciding how much to tax and spend.
As you read this edition, the governor and legislative leaders are meeting to negotiate “targets”, meaning how much money the conference committees will be permitted to appropriate as they negotiate the state’s upcoming bi-ennial budget.
Although Minnesota is already among the worst states with respect to tax burden (arguably the highest), Walz and the DFL legislators are looking for more, ignoring the clear and growing evidence that capital flight is real.
Of course, this rapacious and audacious money grab is clothed in the rhetorical garb of “investments” and “fair share” and emotional, intellectually vapid cries of “equity.”
As the debate intensifies, it would be prudent to review recent state budget history.
Let’s take the case of a young man or woman who will reach the age of majority this year, born in 2001.
When that person was born, the state’s “all funds” bi-ennial budget was thus:
$37 billion
Ten years later, that budget was:
$58.4 billion
The latest budget spent:
$83 billion
This rapid and breathtaking expansion of government spending is well beyond inflation and population growth.
Worse, it’s unsustainable.
For Republicans, the issue isn’t simply a knee-jerk reaction against tax increase proposals.
Instead, it’s a very thoughtful and deep concern that the state cannot simply continue to shovel money at favored DFL constituencies and expect anything other than a fiscal day of reckoning.
The warning signs are everywhere, from Connecticut to Venezuela.
Even the profligate spenders who mismanage New York are pulling back, realizing that they are close to killing to goose that lays the golden egg, otherwise known as productive and successful citizens.
They are clearly admitting that mooching and looting has its limits.
Republicans need to do what they can to resist tax increases.
If no budget agreement is reached by May 20th, the legislature will go into special session to resolve the budget.
If no budget is reached by July 1st, state government will shut down.
What is interesting is that a state shutdown will be a true shutdown.
Shutdowns in the past were only partial shutdowns, as the judicial branch mandated that certain funding continue.
Recently, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled, correctly, that the judicial branch has no authority to compel the legislative branch to appropriate money.
Thus, any shutdown will be a true shutdown.
DFL SOPHISTRY ABOUNDS
And if the legislature is to finish its work on time, the DFL must not only drop its tax and spend proposals, they must also quit with the gimmickry and tricks.
Let’s start with budget gimmickry.
Readers will recall that nearly half of the DFL’s proposed gas tax isn’t new money. Instead, it’s merely money to back fill taking money out of the transportation budget that comes from the general fund.
Put another way, there are general fund monies that are today allocated to transportation (auto-related sales tax revenue).
The DFL proposes to take that money back into the general fund to spend on favored constituencies, such as the education-industrial complex.
The DFL gas tax increase is a sham and side-show.
Democrats at the state federal level are already back-tracking, repudiating the tax as regressive and harmful to the working poor.
The unanimous vote this week in the Minnesota Senate against the governor’s gas tax plan proves it.
The second budget scam involves the healthcare provider tax, otherwise known as the sick tax.
The DFL talking point is that this tax, set to expire this year, must be continued in order to provide government-subsidized health care.
Bunk.
Did you know that 77% of the sick tax simply goes to the general fund?
That’s right, over 3/4th of the sick tax disappears into the general fund, to be spent on all the things the legislature likes to buy.
Finally, if these conference committees are to be productive, the House must respect the process while also respecting their colleagues in the Senate.
The House DFL is already playing games with the committees, as best explained by the letter below from Sen. Eric Pratt (R – Prior Lake) to Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL – Saint Paul):
“Following up on our conversation from earlier this evening, I respectfully decline to commence the Jobs & Economic Development, Energy and Commerce conference committee on Friday, May 3. This is to inform you that the Senate conferees will not be able to participate… The fact that testifiers for this hearing were contacted before Members of the Senate were named to the Conference Committee points to an unusually hyper-partisan process… Informing me that you are scheduling a conference committee meeting before the Senate conferees were assigned disrespects our chamber, disrespects our members, and is the wrong way to begin effective negotiations. We sincerely hope that you and Speaker Hortman reconsider your decision.”
It's time to get serious.
THE SOUND AND FURY
Much has been written, and will be written, about President Trump and the Mueller investigation and its aftermath.
This publication believes that this affair will ultimately show the worst scandal and abuse of power in American political history.
Not on the part of Donald Trump, but on the part of Barack Obama.
Now that collusion has been disproven, and now that obstruction of justice has been disproven, it is time for the American people to focus on the investigations of the fake dossier that led to the Mueller investigation.
The investigations will show, we believe, that Obama administration politicized and weaponized federal law enforcement to spy not only on the Trump campaign, but to spy on all political opponents.
The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (DOJ/FBI) likely, if informed speculation is to be believed, lied to the FISA court to obtain surveillance warrants to put political opponents under surveillance years before Trump became the GOP nominee.
If this speculation turns out to be fact, it will be a scandal that will rock this nation to its very core and demonstrate that there is indeed a “Deep State” political infrastructure that subverted our political institutions and engaged in an egregious abuse of power.
This is perhaps why Democrats have become so unhinged over Trump and other officials like attorney general Barr.
In Donald Trump and his team, the Democrats have come up against a man who is willing to play the dirty game they play and do it better than they do it.
Now that gang is scared. Very scared.
Quote of the Week: “Working people who have got to get to their job, get their kid to a medical appointment, shouldn’t get hit again.”
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D – OR) on a federal gas tax increase
Quote of the Week: “Notably, an amendment to incorporate the Governor’s fee increases on tabs and massive gas tax failed without a single vote of support. Every member of the Senate, including 32 Democrats, voted against the Governor’s transportation plan.”
- Senate Republican Press Release
In This Issue:
- Budget Battle Brews;
- DFL Sophistry Abounds;
- The Sound and Fury.
BUDGET BATTLE BREWS
Loyal readers, we are now in the danger zone. The legislature and Governor Walz are now moving into the final phase of the 2019 legislative session, deciding how much to tax and spend.
As you read this edition, the governor and legislative leaders are meeting to negotiate “targets”, meaning how much money the conference committees will be permitted to appropriate as they negotiate the state’s upcoming bi-ennial budget.
Although Minnesota is already among the worst states with respect to tax burden (arguably the highest), Walz and the DFL legislators are looking for more, ignoring the clear and growing evidence that capital flight is real.
Of course, this rapacious and audacious money grab is clothed in the rhetorical garb of “investments” and “fair share” and emotional, intellectually vapid cries of “equity.”
As the debate intensifies, it would be prudent to review recent state budget history.
Let’s take the case of a young man or woman who will reach the age of majority this year, born in 2001.
When that person was born, the state’s “all funds” bi-ennial budget was thus:
$37 billion
Ten years later, that budget was:
$58.4 billion
The latest budget spent:
$83 billion
This rapid and breathtaking expansion of government spending is well beyond inflation and population growth.
Worse, it’s unsustainable.
For Republicans, the issue isn’t simply a knee-jerk reaction against tax increase proposals.
Instead, it’s a very thoughtful and deep concern that the state cannot simply continue to shovel money at favored DFL constituencies and expect anything other than a fiscal day of reckoning.
The warning signs are everywhere, from Connecticut to Venezuela.
Even the profligate spenders who mismanage New York are pulling back, realizing that they are close to killing to goose that lays the golden egg, otherwise known as productive and successful citizens.
They are clearly admitting that mooching and looting has its limits.
Republicans need to do what they can to resist tax increases.
If no budget agreement is reached by May 20th, the legislature will go into special session to resolve the budget.
If no budget is reached by July 1st, state government will shut down.
What is interesting is that a state shutdown will be a true shutdown.
Shutdowns in the past were only partial shutdowns, as the judicial branch mandated that certain funding continue.
Recently, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled, correctly, that the judicial branch has no authority to compel the legislative branch to appropriate money.
Thus, any shutdown will be a true shutdown.
DFL SOPHISTRY ABOUNDS
And if the legislature is to finish its work on time, the DFL must not only drop its tax and spend proposals, they must also quit with the gimmickry and tricks.
Let’s start with budget gimmickry.
Readers will recall that nearly half of the DFL’s proposed gas tax isn’t new money. Instead, it’s merely money to back fill taking money out of the transportation budget that comes from the general fund.
Put another way, there are general fund monies that are today allocated to transportation (auto-related sales tax revenue).
The DFL proposes to take that money back into the general fund to spend on favored constituencies, such as the education-industrial complex.
The DFL gas tax increase is a sham and side-show.
Democrats at the state federal level are already back-tracking, repudiating the tax as regressive and harmful to the working poor.
The unanimous vote this week in the Minnesota Senate against the governor’s gas tax plan proves it.
The second budget scam involves the healthcare provider tax, otherwise known as the sick tax.
The DFL talking point is that this tax, set to expire this year, must be continued in order to provide government-subsidized health care.
Bunk.
Did you know that 77% of the sick tax simply goes to the general fund?
That’s right, over 3/4th of the sick tax disappears into the general fund, to be spent on all the things the legislature likes to buy.
Finally, if these conference committees are to be productive, the House must respect the process while also respecting their colleagues in the Senate.
The House DFL is already playing games with the committees, as best explained by the letter below from Sen. Eric Pratt (R – Prior Lake) to Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL – Saint Paul):
“Following up on our conversation from earlier this evening, I respectfully decline to commence the Jobs & Economic Development, Energy and Commerce conference committee on Friday, May 3. This is to inform you that the Senate conferees will not be able to participate… The fact that testifiers for this hearing were contacted before Members of the Senate were named to the Conference Committee points to an unusually hyper-partisan process… Informing me that you are scheduling a conference committee meeting before the Senate conferees were assigned disrespects our chamber, disrespects our members, and is the wrong way to begin effective negotiations. We sincerely hope that you and Speaker Hortman reconsider your decision.”
It's time to get serious.
THE SOUND AND FURY
Much has been written, and will be written, about President Trump and the Mueller investigation and its aftermath.
This publication believes that this affair will ultimately show the worst scandal and abuse of power in American political history.
Not on the part of Donald Trump, but on the part of Barack Obama.
Now that collusion has been disproven, and now that obstruction of justice has been disproven, it is time for the American people to focus on the investigations of the fake dossier that led to the Mueller investigation.
The investigations will show, we believe, that Obama administration politicized and weaponized federal law enforcement to spy not only on the Trump campaign, but to spy on all political opponents.
The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (DOJ/FBI) likely, if informed speculation is to be believed, lied to the FISA court to obtain surveillance warrants to put political opponents under surveillance years before Trump became the GOP nominee.
If this speculation turns out to be fact, it will be a scandal that will rock this nation to its very core and demonstrate that there is indeed a “Deep State” political infrastructure that subverted our political institutions and engaged in an egregious abuse of power.
This is perhaps why Democrats have become so unhinged over Trump and other officials like attorney general Barr.
In Donald Trump and his team, the Democrats have come up against a man who is willing to play the dirty game they play and do it better than they do it.
Now that gang is scared. Very scared.
April 26th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Certainly we’re far apart, but it’s my job to make the case that the resources we have is what we need to live within. We’re already a high tax state…and so I’ll make the case that we have enough resources if we just use them wisely.”
Quote of the Week: “We’ve taken the position that there’s enough money. But I don’t think there is.”
Factoid of the Week: Minnesota is the least tax-friendly state in the nation.
In This Issue:
THOSE REGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS
The so-called party of working people continues to screw those same working people as the party shows itself as one controlled by coastal elites at the national level and urban elites at the state level.
After the DFL has proposed to hammer the working poor with a 70% increase in the gasoline tax, one of the most regressive taxes, they are at it again.
This week, the governor’s own Department of Revenue released an analysis of his overall tax proposal, showing the “state and local burden” of his proposal.
One would think, hearing all the rhetoric about “One Minnesota” and the usual pablum about “working families” that the governor’s tax proposal would be progressive in nature.
Not.
The bottom half of Minnesota income earners would see an average tax increase of 10%.
The top half of Minnesota income earners would see an average tax increase of 6%.
In other words, the person who makes $30,000 per year would see a tax increase of 10% under the Walz plan while the person who makes $200,000 would see a 6% tax increase.
So, the Walz plan hits the bottom half almost twice as hard as the top half.
Also recall that Minnesota is a state where the bottom income tax bracket is higher than the highest income tax bracket in 23 states.
Also recall that Walz (and some Republicans) are also supporting tax increases on pain medication, another highly regressive tax.
Tax increases on gasoline, medicine, income, real property, personal property, and the other things we buy.
THOSE HYPOCRITICAL DEMOCRATS
It’s probably superfluous to place “hypocritical” next to “Democrats” but the evidence just keeps piling up.
This is no surprise, since today’s Democrats are quite similar to Soviet apparatchiks and Third World ruling juntas in both ideology and contempt for the masses.
Given the recent obsession with tax returns, candidates have been stumbling over each other to see who can out-disclose whom with tax information the average voter doesn’t care about.
The bad news for some Democrats is that the hypocrisy is further exposed.
Of course, that exposure only matters if one has enough integrity to be ashamed by the publication of the embarrassing information.
Cranky old “get off my lawn!” Bernie Sanders released tax returns that showed that he is both wealthy and incredibly parsimonious with respect to charitable contributions.
And Beto (what’s a Beto?) O’Rourke, who tries too hard to be cool, learned he is just like Old Man Bernie in that they are both big time cheap skates with respect to charities.
In 2017, O’Rourke and wife made $370,412 but only donated $1,166 to charity, a miserly 1/3rd of 1% of their income.
Realizing that running for office requires at least the appearance of caring, O’Rourke assured the public the he has instructed his wife to go back through shoe boxes and file cabinets to see if there aren’t some donations that escaped the tax return.
Perhaps Mark Dayton can give him a call and let him know it doesn’t matter. Hyper-partisan liberals will vote liberal no matter what. Even a didn’t-earn-it-born-on-third-base-silver-spoon-South-Dakota-trust-fund governor can donate pennies to charity and still earn the adoration of the sheeple who call themselves “progressive.”
Bernie Sanders wasn’t much better. $566,000 in household income only yielded $17,000 in charitable contributions.
By the way, the median household income in America is $63,688.
By the way, the average amount of charitable giving in America is $5,800 per person.
The lesson here is both clear and disgusting.
Moochers and looters like Sanders and O’Rourke et. al. will steal your money in a heartbeat but aren’t so willing to offer their own funds.
This hypocritical display is just as disgusting as the liberal politicians who sentence kids to failing public schools while sending their own children to elite schools, all in the name of placating their public union pals in education.
Here in Minnesota, DFL legislators have sent kids to Saint Paul Academy, Breck, Blake, and other elite college preparatory schools that boast tuition rates in excess of what many people earn each year.
These Democrats are nothing more than arrogant elites who don’t give a damn about people. They tax them, sentence them to bad schools and bad neighborhoods, and kill their jobs in the name of climate fanaticism.
IRON RANGE RESIGNATION
Readers of this publication, and just about any other Minnesota outlet, know that a scandal erupted recently over the questionable hiring of a DFL political hack at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB).
This political crony of the governor was hired into a high-paying executive job in a manner that bypassed the regular and normal process for these types of civil service jobs.
Yesterday, the person hired into that job resigned.
Joe Radinovich, who most recently ran as a Democrat for Congress in the Eighth District, stepped aside in a resignation letter to the IRRRB commissioner.
While the right thing was done here, it will be interesting to watch the follow up.
Specifically, will Radinovich end up in another government job, appointed by some DFL politician?
Moreover, what will Governor Walz do to ensure that this won’t happen again?
Finally, the IRRRB commissioner was the one who broke hiring rules to get Radinovich hired.
Will Walz hold him accountable?
TRUMP WINS AGAIN
Here’s another fact that the mainstream media won’t tell you.
Trump employs more women as senior advisors than presidents Obama, Bush, or Clinton did at the same point in their administrations.
Trump has eight female senior advisors.
Obama had five.
Bush had three.
Clinton had five (no word on how many he tried grope).
This fact is similar to other facts such as the record economic prosperity being experienced by communities of color under Trump.
Just like with charitable contributions school choice, and jobs, it’s Republicans who walk the walk and Democrats who only talk the talk.
Quote of the Week: “Certainly we’re far apart, but it’s my job to make the case that the resources we have is what we need to live within. We’re already a high tax state…and so I’ll make the case that we have enough resources if we just use them wisely.”
- Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R – Nisswa)
Quote of the Week: “We’ve taken the position that there’s enough money. But I don’t think there is.”
- Sen. Jim Abeler (R – Anoka)
Factoid of the Week: Minnesota is the least tax-friendly state in the nation.
- Kiplinger
In This Issue:
- Those Regressive Democrats;
- Those Hypocritical Democrats;
- Iron Range Resignation;
- Trump Wins Again.
THOSE REGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS
The so-called party of working people continues to screw those same working people as the party shows itself as one controlled by coastal elites at the national level and urban elites at the state level.
After the DFL has proposed to hammer the working poor with a 70% increase in the gasoline tax, one of the most regressive taxes, they are at it again.
This week, the governor’s own Department of Revenue released an analysis of his overall tax proposal, showing the “state and local burden” of his proposal.
One would think, hearing all the rhetoric about “One Minnesota” and the usual pablum about “working families” that the governor’s tax proposal would be progressive in nature.
Not.
The bottom half of Minnesota income earners would see an average tax increase of 10%.
The top half of Minnesota income earners would see an average tax increase of 6%.
In other words, the person who makes $30,000 per year would see a tax increase of 10% under the Walz plan while the person who makes $200,000 would see a 6% tax increase.
So, the Walz plan hits the bottom half almost twice as hard as the top half.
Also recall that Minnesota is a state where the bottom income tax bracket is higher than the highest income tax bracket in 23 states.
Also recall that Walz (and some Republicans) are also supporting tax increases on pain medication, another highly regressive tax.
Tax increases on gasoline, medicine, income, real property, personal property, and the other things we buy.
THOSE HYPOCRITICAL DEMOCRATS
It’s probably superfluous to place “hypocritical” next to “Democrats” but the evidence just keeps piling up.
This is no surprise, since today’s Democrats are quite similar to Soviet apparatchiks and Third World ruling juntas in both ideology and contempt for the masses.
Given the recent obsession with tax returns, candidates have been stumbling over each other to see who can out-disclose whom with tax information the average voter doesn’t care about.
The bad news for some Democrats is that the hypocrisy is further exposed.
Of course, that exposure only matters if one has enough integrity to be ashamed by the publication of the embarrassing information.
Cranky old “get off my lawn!” Bernie Sanders released tax returns that showed that he is both wealthy and incredibly parsimonious with respect to charitable contributions.
And Beto (what’s a Beto?) O’Rourke, who tries too hard to be cool, learned he is just like Old Man Bernie in that they are both big time cheap skates with respect to charities.
In 2017, O’Rourke and wife made $370,412 but only donated $1,166 to charity, a miserly 1/3rd of 1% of their income.
Realizing that running for office requires at least the appearance of caring, O’Rourke assured the public the he has instructed his wife to go back through shoe boxes and file cabinets to see if there aren’t some donations that escaped the tax return.
Perhaps Mark Dayton can give him a call and let him know it doesn’t matter. Hyper-partisan liberals will vote liberal no matter what. Even a didn’t-earn-it-born-on-third-base-silver-spoon-South-Dakota-trust-fund governor can donate pennies to charity and still earn the adoration of the sheeple who call themselves “progressive.”
Bernie Sanders wasn’t much better. $566,000 in household income only yielded $17,000 in charitable contributions.
By the way, the median household income in America is $63,688.
By the way, the average amount of charitable giving in America is $5,800 per person.
The lesson here is both clear and disgusting.
Moochers and looters like Sanders and O’Rourke et. al. will steal your money in a heartbeat but aren’t so willing to offer their own funds.
This hypocritical display is just as disgusting as the liberal politicians who sentence kids to failing public schools while sending their own children to elite schools, all in the name of placating their public union pals in education.
Here in Minnesota, DFL legislators have sent kids to Saint Paul Academy, Breck, Blake, and other elite college preparatory schools that boast tuition rates in excess of what many people earn each year.
These Democrats are nothing more than arrogant elites who don’t give a damn about people. They tax them, sentence them to bad schools and bad neighborhoods, and kill their jobs in the name of climate fanaticism.
IRON RANGE RESIGNATION
Readers of this publication, and just about any other Minnesota outlet, know that a scandal erupted recently over the questionable hiring of a DFL political hack at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB).
This political crony of the governor was hired into a high-paying executive job in a manner that bypassed the regular and normal process for these types of civil service jobs.
Yesterday, the person hired into that job resigned.
Joe Radinovich, who most recently ran as a Democrat for Congress in the Eighth District, stepped aside in a resignation letter to the IRRRB commissioner.
While the right thing was done here, it will be interesting to watch the follow up.
Specifically, will Radinovich end up in another government job, appointed by some DFL politician?
Moreover, what will Governor Walz do to ensure that this won’t happen again?
Finally, the IRRRB commissioner was the one who broke hiring rules to get Radinovich hired.
Will Walz hold him accountable?
TRUMP WINS AGAIN
Here’s another fact that the mainstream media won’t tell you.
Trump employs more women as senior advisors than presidents Obama, Bush, or Clinton did at the same point in their administrations.
Trump has eight female senior advisors.
Obama had five.
Bush had three.
Clinton had five (no word on how many he tried grope).
This fact is similar to other facts such as the record economic prosperity being experienced by communities of color under Trump.
Just like with charitable contributions school choice, and jobs, it’s Republicans who walk the walk and Democrats who only talk the talk.
April 19th, 2019
Quote of the Week: "I am deeply troubled by a hiring process at the IRRRB that lacked transparency and fairness. As a former IRRRB Commissioner and a member of the board now as a legislator, I have spent years working to improve the image of the agency. This kind of political maneuvering undermines public confidence in the agency and reinforces the worst impressions people hold—fairly or not—about the IRRRB.”
Quote of the Week: “I don’t see the issue.”
Factoid of the Week: Nearly two-thirds of voters statewide oppose Governor Walz’s 20 cents-per-gallon gas tax increase, and more than half (54%) strongly oppose it.
31% support
65% oppose (54% strongly)
In This Issue:
A MAJOR SCANDAL
The first major scandal of the Walz administration erupted this week when the Timberjay newspaper published a thorough investigative report on the hiring of a DFL political crony to a plumb $100,000 per year job at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation agency (IRRR or IRRRB), a state agency.
https://timberjay.com/stories/irrr-hiring-decision-comes-under-fire,15002
The scandal centers on the hiring of Joe Radinovich, a DFL political flack with little experience for the job into which he was hired.
So why is this a scandal?
First, it appears that IRRR leadership circumvented state hiring laws to ensure that Radinovich was the one hired.
It’s very important to understand that this job is a civil service job and not one of the handful of jobs in state government that are exempted from hiring laws and reserved for political appointees.
These civil service jobs are governed by state laws designed precisely to avoid them being turned into political patronage jobs. The public policy is to ensure that these jobs go to the best qualified applicants and not to well-connected political cronies.
It appears that this is exactly what happened.
For example, the job was only posted for 24 hours, which is highly unusual. State policy calls for posting these jobs for 21 days.
Moreover, email and other correspondence uncovered by the Timberjay show that IRRR leadership clearly expected the job to go to Radinovich. In fact, an internal organizational chart showed Radinovich in the job even before it was posted.
Furthermore, a well-qualified woman (lacking political connections) applied but didn’t get the job, raising further suspicions about the hiring.
The existence of certain state jobs that are exempt from hiring laws is a fair subject for debate.
What isn’t up for debate is the perversion of permanent civil service jobs converted to political patronage slots. Bad news.
The Senate GOP majority would be well-served to launch public hearings into this scandal, calling to the witness table the IRRR commissioner, the HR director, and Mr. Radinovich himself.
This underhanded chicanery erodes what little faith remains in government and fuels long-standing suspicions of both the IRRR and the DFL.
The appearance here is that Joe Radinovich, who has publicly acknowledged that he is contemplating another run for Congress in the 8th district, was handed a cushy government job to provide an income and benefits while he prepared another run for political office.
Prove us wrong, Governor Walz.
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
It’s happened, loyal readers.
The most consequential bill of the 2019 session has been introduced.
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL – Minneapolis) has introduced HF2836, an act relating to climate change; establishing the “Minnesota Green New Deal Act.”
That’s right, the DFL has finally jumped the shark and introduced their own version of the Green New Deal.
And as you might expect, it’s chock-full of the same job-killing, economy-killing, prosperity-killing central planning found in the federal Green New Deal.
In fact, the author proudly calls the bill the “Minnesota New Green Deal Act.”
Here are just a couple of choice excepts from the bill:
The urgency to address the challenge of climate change compels the state to accelerate the greenhouse gas emissions-reduction goal established under Minnesota Statutes, section 216H.02, subdivision 1, by establishing a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The commissioner must approve job training programs in occupations that are heavily represented in industries that produce green products and services, and must target the programs to youth, communities of color, indigenous people, individuals with low incomes, workers in fossil fuel industries, and released prisoners. A state agency is prohibited from issuing a permit to construct a facility to transport, store, or process coal, crude oil or its derivative products, propane, or natural gas. The commission is prohibited from issuing a certificate of need to construct an electric generating plant powered by coal, products refined from crude oil, or natural gas. The commission is prohibited from issuing a certificate of need to construct a facility that transports or stores coal, crude oil, or derivative products.
On April 23rd, House Republicans will offer amendments that put this legislation before the entire Minnesota House for a vote.
In short, every member of the Minnesota House will be put on record next week regarding their stance on this legislation.
Grab the popcorn.
ABOUT THAT GAS TAX
Democrats are crowing that a number of red states have increased their gasoline taxes of late, using those increases as a justification for their support of Governor Walz’s 20 cents per gallon tax increase.
Let’s compare these new tax rates, and the overall tax ranking of those states, to see where Minnesota currently compares, before the consideration of both the gas tax and other assorted tax increases the DFL is proposing.
Gas Tax:
MN 28.5 cents/gallon (48.5 under the Walz plan)
OH: 38.5 cents/gallon (2019)
IN: 28 cents/gallon (2017)
AL: 28 cents/gallon (2019)
TN: 27.4 cents/gallon (2017)
AR: 24.5 cents/gallon (2019)
OK: 19 cents/gallon (2018)
In other words, Minnesota’s gas tax is already higher than 6 of the 7 states that recently raised their tax.
Overall Tax Burden Ranking (Wallethub – 2019)
MN: 5th
OH: 12th
AR: 17th
IN: 31st
AL: 42nd
OK: 45th
TN: 48th
Here’s a suggestion: If Governor Walz agrees to adopt Tennessee’s income tax structure, the GOP will agree to adopt Walz’s gas tax.
To say the DFL is cherry picking on the gas tax issue would be a gross understatement.
Quote of the Week: "I am deeply troubled by a hiring process at the IRRRB that lacked transparency and fairness. As a former IRRRB Commissioner and a member of the board now as a legislator, I have spent years working to improve the image of the agency. This kind of political maneuvering undermines public confidence in the agency and reinforces the worst impressions people hold—fairly or not—about the IRRRB.”
- Rep. Sandy Layman (R – Grand Rapids)
Quote of the Week: “I don’t see the issue.”
- Mark Phillips, IRRRB Commissioner
Factoid of the Week: Nearly two-thirds of voters statewide oppose Governor Walz’s 20 cents-per-gallon gas tax increase, and more than half (54%) strongly oppose it.
31% support
65% oppose (54% strongly)
- MN Chamber of Commerce Poll (4/7/19)
In This Issue:
- A Major Scandal;
- The Eagle has Landed;
- About That Gas Tax.
A MAJOR SCANDAL
The first major scandal of the Walz administration erupted this week when the Timberjay newspaper published a thorough investigative report on the hiring of a DFL political crony to a plumb $100,000 per year job at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation agency (IRRR or IRRRB), a state agency.
https://timberjay.com/stories/irrr-hiring-decision-comes-under-fire,15002
The scandal centers on the hiring of Joe Radinovich, a DFL political flack with little experience for the job into which he was hired.
So why is this a scandal?
First, it appears that IRRR leadership circumvented state hiring laws to ensure that Radinovich was the one hired.
It’s very important to understand that this job is a civil service job and not one of the handful of jobs in state government that are exempted from hiring laws and reserved for political appointees.
These civil service jobs are governed by state laws designed precisely to avoid them being turned into political patronage jobs. The public policy is to ensure that these jobs go to the best qualified applicants and not to well-connected political cronies.
It appears that this is exactly what happened.
For example, the job was only posted for 24 hours, which is highly unusual. State policy calls for posting these jobs for 21 days.
Moreover, email and other correspondence uncovered by the Timberjay show that IRRR leadership clearly expected the job to go to Radinovich. In fact, an internal organizational chart showed Radinovich in the job even before it was posted.
Furthermore, a well-qualified woman (lacking political connections) applied but didn’t get the job, raising further suspicions about the hiring.
The existence of certain state jobs that are exempt from hiring laws is a fair subject for debate.
What isn’t up for debate is the perversion of permanent civil service jobs converted to political patronage slots. Bad news.
The Senate GOP majority would be well-served to launch public hearings into this scandal, calling to the witness table the IRRR commissioner, the HR director, and Mr. Radinovich himself.
This underhanded chicanery erodes what little faith remains in government and fuels long-standing suspicions of both the IRRR and the DFL.
The appearance here is that Joe Radinovich, who has publicly acknowledged that he is contemplating another run for Congress in the 8th district, was handed a cushy government job to provide an income and benefits while he prepared another run for political office.
Prove us wrong, Governor Walz.
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
It’s happened, loyal readers.
The most consequential bill of the 2019 session has been introduced.
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL – Minneapolis) has introduced HF2836, an act relating to climate change; establishing the “Minnesota Green New Deal Act.”
That’s right, the DFL has finally jumped the shark and introduced their own version of the Green New Deal.
And as you might expect, it’s chock-full of the same job-killing, economy-killing, prosperity-killing central planning found in the federal Green New Deal.
In fact, the author proudly calls the bill the “Minnesota New Green Deal Act.”
Here are just a couple of choice excepts from the bill:
The urgency to address the challenge of climate change compels the state to accelerate the greenhouse gas emissions-reduction goal established under Minnesota Statutes, section 216H.02, subdivision 1, by establishing a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The commissioner must approve job training programs in occupations that are heavily represented in industries that produce green products and services, and must target the programs to youth, communities of color, indigenous people, individuals with low incomes, workers in fossil fuel industries, and released prisoners. A state agency is prohibited from issuing a permit to construct a facility to transport, store, or process coal, crude oil or its derivative products, propane, or natural gas. The commission is prohibited from issuing a certificate of need to construct an electric generating plant powered by coal, products refined from crude oil, or natural gas. The commission is prohibited from issuing a certificate of need to construct a facility that transports or stores coal, crude oil, or derivative products.
On April 23rd, House Republicans will offer amendments that put this legislation before the entire Minnesota House for a vote.
In short, every member of the Minnesota House will be put on record next week regarding their stance on this legislation.
Grab the popcorn.
ABOUT THAT GAS TAX
Democrats are crowing that a number of red states have increased their gasoline taxes of late, using those increases as a justification for their support of Governor Walz’s 20 cents per gallon tax increase.
Let’s compare these new tax rates, and the overall tax ranking of those states, to see where Minnesota currently compares, before the consideration of both the gas tax and other assorted tax increases the DFL is proposing.
Gas Tax:
MN 28.5 cents/gallon (48.5 under the Walz plan)
OH: 38.5 cents/gallon (2019)
IN: 28 cents/gallon (2017)
AL: 28 cents/gallon (2019)
TN: 27.4 cents/gallon (2017)
AR: 24.5 cents/gallon (2019)
OK: 19 cents/gallon (2018)
In other words, Minnesota’s gas tax is already higher than 6 of the 7 states that recently raised their tax.
Overall Tax Burden Ranking (Wallethub – 2019)
MN: 5th
OH: 12th
AR: 17th
IN: 31st
AL: 42nd
OK: 45th
TN: 48th
Here’s a suggestion: If Governor Walz agrees to adopt Tennessee’s income tax structure, the GOP will agree to adopt Walz’s gas tax.
To say the DFL is cherry picking on the gas tax issue would be a gross understatement.
April 12th, 2019
Editor’s Note: The Minnesota legislature will be on their annual Easter – Passover break next week. Enjoy your respite from the DFL’s $12 billion tax hike. We also trust House Speaker Melissa Hortman is looking forward to the break. She’s had a tough month, what with the broken promises about omnibus bills, the packing of incendiary policy issues crammed into spending bills, and the internal strife in her own caucus between the far Left and the far, far Left members.
Quote of the Week: “The House tax plan is a disaster. The state simply cannot endure this level of taxation and spending and hope to succeed. This will not bring people here. This will not increase investment. This will not grow jobs. The House and Senate’s tax proposals are about as stark a contrast as you will find – their proposal is oppressive and abusive, and while our tax bill will make people’s lives simpler and easier, relieve their burdens, and give them opportunity and hope.”
Quote of the Week: “It appears the House DFL is out to prove they can raise every tax in Minnesota – and with the release of their tax bill today they’re awfully close to that goal. With a $1 billion surplus, Senate Republicans believe we can meet the state’s priorities without raising taxes on the families and small businesses that too often get forgotten in the rush to spend more money and grow the bureaucracy.”
In This Issue:
THE OMNIBUS THAT ATE SAINT PAUL
Among the biggest headaches for Minnesota’s rookie House speaker is the abject hypocrisy regarding promises to avoid omnibus spending bills, especially those that combine into larger “omnibus prime” bills and especially those that contain poison pills of highly controversial policy provisions.
After campaigning on a promise to reform the system, Hortman and company have become the system.
Readers will recall from last week’s installment that the House DFL in 2018 railed against a House GOP omnibus bill that contained multiple spending areas. That bill was 998 pages long.
Readers will also recall that the House DFL Health and Human Services (HHS) omnibus bill alone is over 1100 pages.
Moreover, the House DFL is now combining omnibus bills with other omnibus bills, creating the so-called “omnibus prime” effect.
For example, the House DFL this week rolled their omnibus housing finance bill into the agriculture omnibus bill (so much for keeping bills to a single subject).
They also rolled two energy omnibus bills into their Jobs bill.
As if this wasn’t enough, the House also cynically crammed controversial policy bills into these finance bills in order to keep them alive against the Senate, where these bills don’t have enough support to become law.
One example is their gun confiscation bills and their legislation to give drivers’ licenses to people who are in this country illegally (so much for the Rule of Law).
Speaker Hortman is obviously feeling the heat and hypocrisy on the issue, as she took to social media this past week in a weak attempt to explain away the issue.
She wrote, As we move toward the end of the time when the Minnesota House is posting, debating, amending & passing its omnibus finance bills out of committee and move into the time where (hopefully) the Minnesota Senate will be moving theirs, I offer the following food for thought on the topic of omnibus bills.
There are 2 kinds of omnibus bills - (1) single subject ones that are a normal & necessary part of the legislative process and (2) Frankenstein omnibus bills that throw multiple unrelated subjects together. Single subject omnibus bills do not violate the MN Constitution, Frankenstein omnibus bills do.
Last year's Omnibus Prime was an example of the second. Worse, its 998 pages were constructed in the closing days of the 2018 session. It mixed noncontroversial items with highly controversial items, and legislators were not given the chance to review its contents before having to vote.
We will not construct omnibus bills of that kind, or in that manner.
Normal omnibus appropriation and omnibus policy bills that obey the single subject clause of the MN Constitution help get things done in an efficient manner.
The problem in recent sessions has not been long bills or the existence of omnibus bills. It has been Republicans using that mechanism to try to force Gov. Dayton to sign provisions he opposed into law, rather than negotiating and compromising.
When the MN legislature appropriates $18 billion to fund Health and Human Services for example, it is, by necessity, always a long bill. The process is the important part. The Minnesota House DFL bills are being put together in public with full notice. And long before the end of session.
All this sophistry can be summed up as follows:
In 2018, four legs good, two legs bad!
In 2019, four legs good, two legs better!
THE ROAD CRISIS THAT WAS NOT
As Republicans in the legislature have pointed out, the DFL proposal to jack up the gas tax 70% is regressive, oppressive, and un-needed.
Confirmation of that viewpoint came from an unlikely source this week when the Star Tribune ran an excellent article pointing out the financing and statistics underpinning the state’s recent road and bridge funding.
Since 2012, for example, appropriations to the state’s Transportation Department (MnDOT) are up 35%, far outpacing inflation and population growth.
So much for not funding transportation. Moreover, three of those years of spending increases happened during the Pawlenty administration, a favorite boogeyman of the Left.
Since 2007, the state has spent $2.5 billion on bridge maintenance and replacement, leading to a dramatic drop in the number of deficient bridges, according to the article.
The article further pointed out that the state’s roads are better shape than in 2011 and are in better shape than Iowa and Wisconsin.
Finally, commute times in the Twin Cities are flat over the past few years and far lower than many metropolitan areas.
The simple reality is that despite the cries of the DFL, and attendant attempt to yet again raise taxes, our roads and bridges are in good shape.
ANOTHER BAD WEEK FOR GOVERNMENT
Rational, reasonable people recognize that government is inherently inefficient, unresponsive, and often times abjectly incompetent.
Lately, that incompetence has shown itself in the information management realm.
Put simply, the state of Minnesota has found it nearly impossible to safeguard the information it collects on citizens.
The state revealed this week that the personal data of 11,000 citizens was compromised, including last names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, and medical treatment information.
This is the third known data breach in the past year, affecting 35,000 citizens.
Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake) summed it up best, “This begs a larger question: how serious is DHS about data security? Three breaches in a year affecting 35,000 people. This is unacceptable. It was in February of this year that DHS purchased software to prevent phishing emails from going through our system. So, we have some questions that need to be answered to restore trust.”
As if that turd wasn’t enough for taxpayers to swallow, the non-partisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) this week released its report regarding the state’s program integrity regarding the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
Readers will recall that news reports last year highlighted widespread fraud and taxpayer abuse in the program.
Predictably, the Democrats dismissed the reports.
So, what did the OLA find?
This:
CONCLUSIONS
The Department of Human Services’ (DHS) program integrity controls are insufficient to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate fraud in Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). Both DHS and local human services agencies must do more to develop, coordinate, and implement policies, processes, and resources to identify and respond to the risk of fraud in CCAP.
FINDINGS
Finding 1. DHS and county agencies did not sufficiently leverage independent, external data sources to verify recipient eligibility for CCAP.
Finding 2. DHS had weak processes to validate that CCAP provider billings aligned with actual child care provided.
Finding 3. Among other functions, MEC2 was developed to accurately process provider billings and payments; however, MEC2 lacked some key controls to identify errors and to inhibit, track, and recover improper payments.
Finding 4. DHS did not implement sufficient program integrity controls for licensing child care providers.
Finding 5. DHS did not adequately identify and analyze the risk of fraud in CCAP and had weak processes to coordinate investigations statewide.
To the Republicans serving us in the legislature: Not a penny more!
Editor’s Note: The Minnesota legislature will be on their annual Easter – Passover break next week. Enjoy your respite from the DFL’s $12 billion tax hike. We also trust House Speaker Melissa Hortman is looking forward to the break. She’s had a tough month, what with the broken promises about omnibus bills, the packing of incendiary policy issues crammed into spending bills, and the internal strife in her own caucus between the far Left and the far, far Left members.
Quote of the Week: “The House tax plan is a disaster. The state simply cannot endure this level of taxation and spending and hope to succeed. This will not bring people here. This will not increase investment. This will not grow jobs. The House and Senate’s tax proposals are about as stark a contrast as you will find – their proposal is oppressive and abusive, and while our tax bill will make people’s lives simpler and easier, relieve their burdens, and give them opportunity and hope.”
- Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R – Lino Lakes)
Quote of the Week: “It appears the House DFL is out to prove they can raise every tax in Minnesota – and with the release of their tax bill today they’re awfully close to that goal. With a $1 billion surplus, Senate Republicans believe we can meet the state’s priorities without raising taxes on the families and small businesses that too often get forgotten in the rush to spend more money and grow the bureaucracy.”
- Sen. Paul Gazelka, Senate Majority Leader (R – Nisswa)
In This Issue:
- The Omnibus That Ate Saint Paul;
- The Road Crisis That Was Not;
- Another Bad Week for Government.
THE OMNIBUS THAT ATE SAINT PAUL
Among the biggest headaches for Minnesota’s rookie House speaker is the abject hypocrisy regarding promises to avoid omnibus spending bills, especially those that combine into larger “omnibus prime” bills and especially those that contain poison pills of highly controversial policy provisions.
After campaigning on a promise to reform the system, Hortman and company have become the system.
Readers will recall from last week’s installment that the House DFL in 2018 railed against a House GOP omnibus bill that contained multiple spending areas. That bill was 998 pages long.
Readers will also recall that the House DFL Health and Human Services (HHS) omnibus bill alone is over 1100 pages.
Moreover, the House DFL is now combining omnibus bills with other omnibus bills, creating the so-called “omnibus prime” effect.
For example, the House DFL this week rolled their omnibus housing finance bill into the agriculture omnibus bill (so much for keeping bills to a single subject).
They also rolled two energy omnibus bills into their Jobs bill.
As if this wasn’t enough, the House also cynically crammed controversial policy bills into these finance bills in order to keep them alive against the Senate, where these bills don’t have enough support to become law.
One example is their gun confiscation bills and their legislation to give drivers’ licenses to people who are in this country illegally (so much for the Rule of Law).
Speaker Hortman is obviously feeling the heat and hypocrisy on the issue, as she took to social media this past week in a weak attempt to explain away the issue.
She wrote, As we move toward the end of the time when the Minnesota House is posting, debating, amending & passing its omnibus finance bills out of committee and move into the time where (hopefully) the Minnesota Senate will be moving theirs, I offer the following food for thought on the topic of omnibus bills.
There are 2 kinds of omnibus bills - (1) single subject ones that are a normal & necessary part of the legislative process and (2) Frankenstein omnibus bills that throw multiple unrelated subjects together. Single subject omnibus bills do not violate the MN Constitution, Frankenstein omnibus bills do.
Last year's Omnibus Prime was an example of the second. Worse, its 998 pages were constructed in the closing days of the 2018 session. It mixed noncontroversial items with highly controversial items, and legislators were not given the chance to review its contents before having to vote.
We will not construct omnibus bills of that kind, or in that manner.
Normal omnibus appropriation and omnibus policy bills that obey the single subject clause of the MN Constitution help get things done in an efficient manner.
The problem in recent sessions has not been long bills or the existence of omnibus bills. It has been Republicans using that mechanism to try to force Gov. Dayton to sign provisions he opposed into law, rather than negotiating and compromising.
When the MN legislature appropriates $18 billion to fund Health and Human Services for example, it is, by necessity, always a long bill. The process is the important part. The Minnesota House DFL bills are being put together in public with full notice. And long before the end of session.
All this sophistry can be summed up as follows:
In 2018, four legs good, two legs bad!
In 2019, four legs good, two legs better!
THE ROAD CRISIS THAT WAS NOT
As Republicans in the legislature have pointed out, the DFL proposal to jack up the gas tax 70% is regressive, oppressive, and un-needed.
Confirmation of that viewpoint came from an unlikely source this week when the Star Tribune ran an excellent article pointing out the financing and statistics underpinning the state’s recent road and bridge funding.
Since 2012, for example, appropriations to the state’s Transportation Department (MnDOT) are up 35%, far outpacing inflation and population growth.
So much for not funding transportation. Moreover, three of those years of spending increases happened during the Pawlenty administration, a favorite boogeyman of the Left.
Since 2007, the state has spent $2.5 billion on bridge maintenance and replacement, leading to a dramatic drop in the number of deficient bridges, according to the article.
The article further pointed out that the state’s roads are better shape than in 2011 and are in better shape than Iowa and Wisconsin.
Finally, commute times in the Twin Cities are flat over the past few years and far lower than many metropolitan areas.
The simple reality is that despite the cries of the DFL, and attendant attempt to yet again raise taxes, our roads and bridges are in good shape.
ANOTHER BAD WEEK FOR GOVERNMENT
Rational, reasonable people recognize that government is inherently inefficient, unresponsive, and often times abjectly incompetent.
Lately, that incompetence has shown itself in the information management realm.
Put simply, the state of Minnesota has found it nearly impossible to safeguard the information it collects on citizens.
The state revealed this week that the personal data of 11,000 citizens was compromised, including last names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, and medical treatment information.
This is the third known data breach in the past year, affecting 35,000 citizens.
Sen. Michelle Benson (R – Ham Lake) summed it up best, “This begs a larger question: how serious is DHS about data security? Three breaches in a year affecting 35,000 people. This is unacceptable. It was in February of this year that DHS purchased software to prevent phishing emails from going through our system. So, we have some questions that need to be answered to restore trust.”
As if that turd wasn’t enough for taxpayers to swallow, the non-partisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) this week released its report regarding the state’s program integrity regarding the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
Readers will recall that news reports last year highlighted widespread fraud and taxpayer abuse in the program.
Predictably, the Democrats dismissed the reports.
So, what did the OLA find?
This:
CONCLUSIONS
The Department of Human Services’ (DHS) program integrity controls are insufficient to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate fraud in Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). Both DHS and local human services agencies must do more to develop, coordinate, and implement policies, processes, and resources to identify and respond to the risk of fraud in CCAP.
FINDINGS
Finding 1. DHS and county agencies did not sufficiently leverage independent, external data sources to verify recipient eligibility for CCAP.
Finding 2. DHS had weak processes to validate that CCAP provider billings aligned with actual child care provided.
Finding 3. Among other functions, MEC2 was developed to accurately process provider billings and payments; however, MEC2 lacked some key controls to identify errors and to inhibit, track, and recover improper payments.
Finding 4. DHS did not implement sufficient program integrity controls for licensing child care providers.
Finding 5. DHS did not adequately identify and analyze the risk of fraud in CCAP and had weak processes to coordinate investigations statewide.
To the Republicans serving us in the legislature: Not a penny more!
April 5th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “But I'll tell you right now, I'll tell you right now the story that can be told, and the story that not just Minnesota needs but the country needs is a bipartisan and a split government that came together in the good of the people and moved things forward for Minnesota. That's what we can do.”
Quote of the Week: “Governor Walz's speech called for us to work together to get things done for Minnesotans, but those words are going to have to be followed-up with actions. We hope the Governor will work in good-faith with Republicans and back off his 70 percent gas tax increase, his plans to increase health care costs, and his opposition to the Line 3 pipeline.”
Quote of the Week: “The legislative failures of the past four years have revealed that the Legislature needs to reform the way it conducts business. I am hopeful the Minnesota Senate will partner with us to make the legislature more efficient, effective, and transparent.”
In This Issue:
STATE OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION
As is the norm in politics, rhetoric rarely matches actions.
Such is the case these days at the Capitol in Saint Paul, where the talk is happy and optimistic. Visions of bi-partisan compromise and vapid platitudes about “One Minnesota” and exhortations to “do the people’s work” are thrown about like pennies into the wishing well.
Such is not the reality.
The reality is the Democrats, who campaigned on themes of bi-partisanship and transparent law making, have done none of that.
Of course, the media has done nothing to shine the light of truth and accountability of the hypocrisy.
Yes, democracy dies in darkness. Whatever.
Thus far, our governor has demonstrated his commitment to bi-partisanship by proposing a radical, confrontational budget that offends Republican principles and values regarding fiscal restraint and policy considerations.
Readers are also mindful of the governor’s ham-handed attempts to confront Republicans by showing up in their districts to fear-monger transportation safety issues and his wife’s threats to GOP senators regarding gun control.
Even worse is the House DFL’s unmitigated hypocrisy and arrogance regarding their own campaign promises, especially as they relate to transparency and accountability.
Let’s get in the way-back machine and all the way back to 2018 to review what current House Speaker Melissa Hortman was saying about the GOP majority in the House.
Hortman’s promise regarding these reforms was captured in an interview in Minnesota Lawyer, given just after her election as Speaker of the House.
Quoting Hortman, the interview piece noted, “She said that she will schedule more bipartisan activities and foster collegiality between the caucuses. And she will direct committee chairs to avoid constructing Omnibus Prime-styled mega-bills like the one Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed in May.”
Further, Hortman stated, “What I hope we will do—which we used to do under Republican and Democratic speakers—is pass a bunch of little bills. If we can pass a bunch of bills by 120-14 votes in the early going, we can get a pattern of working together and then use that later to attack the bigger, harder issues.”
So, how’s that going?
This publication has contacted GOP House members, none of whom could point to any these proffered bi-partisan activities. Perhaps the media will ask for a list of these events.
More importantly, the new House DFL unveiled with much fanfare a Subcommittee on Legislative Process Reform.
The purpose of this committee is to review and implement reforms to eliminate the very problems Hortman and her team ran on in 2018.
The subcommittee has not met once.
Again: THE SUBCOMMITTEE HAS NOT MET ONCE.
No meetings. No documents. No hearings. No bills. No reform.
How about that promise to pass “a bunch of little bills” and establish that pattern of working together?
So far, Governor Walz has signed a grand total of six bills into law.
Six bills. Out of over 5,000 introduced.
While this publication doesn’t see legislative action as an unqualified public good, the promise to get a bunch little bills done is malarkey.
And what of the complaint about massive, omnibus bills?
In 2018, Hortman criticized a 990-page bill that contained all GOP spending bills.
For comparison, here is the page total for each House DFL spending bill unveiled so far.
Health and Human Services: 998 pages
Transportation: 113 pages
Jobs: 237 pages
Agriculture: 50 pages
Education: 243 pages
Judiciary: 63 pages
Environment: 87 pages
All of this does not include other omnibus bills forthcoming like taxes and public safety, which will no doubt entail many hundreds of additional pages.
In any case, these are bills that total well over the 990 pages the DFL complained about in 2018.
The HHS omnibus bill alone beats that number.
The only metric left to fail is to have negotiations go behind closed doors in late May, where the governor and the two caucus leaders decide the budget, far from the transparency of the committee process and public input.
Said Hortman earlier this year, "It gets difficult when you have four guys solving issues in a backroom. I think Minnesota will be far better off having all 201 legislators engaged in the lawmaking process."
We will see.
Thus far, the House DFL has utterly failed to deliver on their promises.
The House GOP must do more to hold them accountable for these failures.
Moreover, the DFL’s outrageous budget proposals are setting up the legislature for gridlock, budget failure, and a special session which could lead to a partial government shut down.
In short, the DFL proposes to spend the surplus (over-taxation amount) and raise taxes on top of it, all in a state that is the most taxpayer-unfriendly in the nation.
The Senate GOP must hold the line on these tax and fee increases.
The Senate GOP has done well in this regard, other than the $20 million tax on FDA approved opioid pain medication, a remarkably cruel and regressive tax disguised as a “fee.”
The road to GOP success in 2020 will start with arresting flagrant DFL overreach in 2019.
DFL process and policy is out of step with the majority of Minnesota and is reflective of the outrageous Democrat overreach at the national level.
Voters are poised to check this overreach. The GOP must reassure voters that they are with the majority of Americans who favor center-right governance.
Quote of the Week: “But I'll tell you right now, I'll tell you right now the story that can be told, and the story that not just Minnesota needs but the country needs is a bipartisan and a split government that came together in the good of the people and moved things forward for Minnesota. That's what we can do.”
- Governor Tim Walz
Quote of the Week: “Governor Walz's speech called for us to work together to get things done for Minnesotans, but those words are going to have to be followed-up with actions. We hope the Governor will work in good-faith with Republicans and back off his 70 percent gas tax increase, his plans to increase health care costs, and his opposition to the Line 3 pipeline.”
- Rep. Kurt Daudt, House GOP Leader
Quote of the Week: “The legislative failures of the past four years have revealed that the Legislature needs to reform the way it conducts business. I am hopeful the Minnesota Senate will partner with us to make the legislature more efficient, effective, and transparent.”
- House Speaker Melissa Hortman
In This Issue:
- State of the Legislative Session;
STATE OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION
As is the norm in politics, rhetoric rarely matches actions.
Such is the case these days at the Capitol in Saint Paul, where the talk is happy and optimistic. Visions of bi-partisan compromise and vapid platitudes about “One Minnesota” and exhortations to “do the people’s work” are thrown about like pennies into the wishing well.
Such is not the reality.
The reality is the Democrats, who campaigned on themes of bi-partisanship and transparent law making, have done none of that.
Of course, the media has done nothing to shine the light of truth and accountability of the hypocrisy.
Yes, democracy dies in darkness. Whatever.
Thus far, our governor has demonstrated his commitment to bi-partisanship by proposing a radical, confrontational budget that offends Republican principles and values regarding fiscal restraint and policy considerations.
Readers are also mindful of the governor’s ham-handed attempts to confront Republicans by showing up in their districts to fear-monger transportation safety issues and his wife’s threats to GOP senators regarding gun control.
Even worse is the House DFL’s unmitigated hypocrisy and arrogance regarding their own campaign promises, especially as they relate to transparency and accountability.
Let’s get in the way-back machine and all the way back to 2018 to review what current House Speaker Melissa Hortman was saying about the GOP majority in the House.
Hortman’s promise regarding these reforms was captured in an interview in Minnesota Lawyer, given just after her election as Speaker of the House.
Quoting Hortman, the interview piece noted, “She said that she will schedule more bipartisan activities and foster collegiality between the caucuses. And she will direct committee chairs to avoid constructing Omnibus Prime-styled mega-bills like the one Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed in May.”
Further, Hortman stated, “What I hope we will do—which we used to do under Republican and Democratic speakers—is pass a bunch of little bills. If we can pass a bunch of bills by 120-14 votes in the early going, we can get a pattern of working together and then use that later to attack the bigger, harder issues.”
So, how’s that going?
This publication has contacted GOP House members, none of whom could point to any these proffered bi-partisan activities. Perhaps the media will ask for a list of these events.
More importantly, the new House DFL unveiled with much fanfare a Subcommittee on Legislative Process Reform.
The purpose of this committee is to review and implement reforms to eliminate the very problems Hortman and her team ran on in 2018.
The subcommittee has not met once.
Again: THE SUBCOMMITTEE HAS NOT MET ONCE.
No meetings. No documents. No hearings. No bills. No reform.
How about that promise to pass “a bunch of little bills” and establish that pattern of working together?
So far, Governor Walz has signed a grand total of six bills into law.
Six bills. Out of over 5,000 introduced.
While this publication doesn’t see legislative action as an unqualified public good, the promise to get a bunch little bills done is malarkey.
And what of the complaint about massive, omnibus bills?
In 2018, Hortman criticized a 990-page bill that contained all GOP spending bills.
For comparison, here is the page total for each House DFL spending bill unveiled so far.
Health and Human Services: 998 pages
Transportation: 113 pages
Jobs: 237 pages
Agriculture: 50 pages
Education: 243 pages
Judiciary: 63 pages
Environment: 87 pages
All of this does not include other omnibus bills forthcoming like taxes and public safety, which will no doubt entail many hundreds of additional pages.
In any case, these are bills that total well over the 990 pages the DFL complained about in 2018.
The HHS omnibus bill alone beats that number.
The only metric left to fail is to have negotiations go behind closed doors in late May, where the governor and the two caucus leaders decide the budget, far from the transparency of the committee process and public input.
Said Hortman earlier this year, "It gets difficult when you have four guys solving issues in a backroom. I think Minnesota will be far better off having all 201 legislators engaged in the lawmaking process."
We will see.
Thus far, the House DFL has utterly failed to deliver on their promises.
The House GOP must do more to hold them accountable for these failures.
Moreover, the DFL’s outrageous budget proposals are setting up the legislature for gridlock, budget failure, and a special session which could lead to a partial government shut down.
In short, the DFL proposes to spend the surplus (over-taxation amount) and raise taxes on top of it, all in a state that is the most taxpayer-unfriendly in the nation.
The Senate GOP must hold the line on these tax and fee increases.
The Senate GOP has done well in this regard, other than the $20 million tax on FDA approved opioid pain medication, a remarkably cruel and regressive tax disguised as a “fee.”
The road to GOP success in 2020 will start with arresting flagrant DFL overreach in 2019.
DFL process and policy is out of step with the majority of Minnesota and is reflective of the outrageous Democrat overreach at the national level.
Voters are poised to check this overreach. The GOP must reassure voters that they are with the majority of Americans who favor center-right governance.
March 29th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Today House Democrats joined the Walz/Flannagan administration in a contest to see who could tax and spend the most and unfortunately, Minnesota families and taxpayers will be the ultimate losers.”
- Sen. Paul Gazelka (R – Nisswa)
Quote of the Week: “Minnesota has a $1 billion surplus, and hundreds of million in fraud in our public welfare programs, but House Democrats answer is always the same: raise taxes, take more money, and make life more expensive for every family in Minnesota.”
- Rep. Kurt Daudt (R – Crown)
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans will produce a budget for the next two years that funds our priorities without raising taxes. We want to help people with accessibility and affordability, and hold government accountable, because those qualities can co-exist.”
In This Issue:
BUDGET BATTLE BREWS
Senate Republicans yesterday released their budget targets for each major spending area, thus adding their budget blueprint to the conversation.
House Democrats and the governor earlier released their budget targets, meaning that the House, Senate, and chief executive have all now released their overall spending plans.
Two of the three are ugly. Can you guess which two?
The bottom line is that the Senate GOP plan doesn’t raise taxes.
The other two budgets raise taxes, be it a 70% increase in the gas tax, a $900 million tax increase on health care, or corporate tax increases that will only be passed on to Minnesotans in the form of higher costs and fewer jobs.
That the House DFL and governor would propose tax increases in this environment demonstrates just how radical they’ve become.
Minnesota is already the most tax-unfriendly state in the union.
The state is sitting on a $1 billion budget surplus.
And yet no compunction about confiscating more wealth from the people who earned it – and own it.
By most measures of tax-friendliness, Minnesota lags far behind, be it Social Security taxation, the income tax, regressive taxes, or sales taxes.
The Senate GOP majority is committed to holding the line on taxes and is freedom-loving Minnesotans last line of defense.
It is clear that the new governor and new DFL House majority will engage in massive overreach.
The GOP must hold firm and will be rewarded for that commitment.
This massive spending overreach isn’t what most taxpayers want and is outside the mainstream.
AMY’S VERY BAD, ROTTEN, NO GOOD WEEK
Our Senator of Small Things is finding out that running for president is tough.
There tends to be actual scrutiny of your words, actions (or lack thereof) and record.
Earlier, it was scrutiny of Klobuchar’s abuse of staff and unprofessional conduct towards them.
This week was arguably tougher.
First, she voted “present” and refused to take a stand on the Green New Deal, a centerpiece of the liberal agenda to transform America.
Even worse, Klobuchar is a sponsor of the legislation.
That’s right. The Senator of Small Things chickened out on a vote on her own legislation.
Oh, Amy.
And then the media did some actual research and reporting on Klobuchar’s time as the Hennepin County attorney.
During her tenure, a spate of police civilian shootings and police misconduct cases were either not prosecuted by her or turned over to a grand jury, a process widely criticized for not skewing in favor of law enforcement and government.
Not good for a person running for the Democrat nomination for president, where minority voters are a critical constituency.
Of the six U.S. Senators running for president, Klobuchar introduced the fewest criminal justice reform bills.
Which isn’t surprising, considering she was busy leading the pack in writing bills to rename post offices, declare evil to be, well, evil, and name Spumoni as the national ice cream.
No wonder she’s down in the low single digits in poll after poll.
Frankly, there’s not much to like about Amy Klobuchar.
As this publication has noted, she’s only a big deal in her own zip code.
SPEAKING OF BAD WEEKS
It was also a really nasty bad week for Democrats in Washington.
The aforementioned Green New Deal vote in the Senate embarrassed Dems by actually forcing them to vote on one of their public policy priorities – and it wasn’t pretty.
Not one senator voted for advancing the legislation. 57 voted “no” and 42 voted “present” including presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris.
Four Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the legislation.
Many Democrats tried to dismiss the vote as a “farce” or a “sham” vote.
The farce here is that Democrats got behind this legislation and then ran for the hills when it was time to cast the vote.
Over in the House of Representatives, things didn’t get much better for the Dems.
It has become increasingly likely that the new Democrat majority won’t bother to write a budget this year.
No big deal, the core job of the legislative branch is only to appropriate money.
The problem is that writing a budget would force Dems into a corner by forcing them to either scale back their insatiable appetite for government spending or keep the budget wishes and reveal the deficits it would cause.
This is all problematic since the current leadership has called writing a budget a “prerequisite for governing.”
Oops.
And then there was the big honkin’ massive big a$$ news that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
After two year, $25 million in taxpayer dollars, 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, 500 witness interviews, and thousands of subpoenas, the special counsel came up empty.
Of course, this was the cruelest of blows to the Dems, who were hoping that this exercise in “justice” would produce a favorable political outcome.
Expect Democrats to whine for months moving forward that more investigations are needed.
Yes, much like their ongoing investigation to find the real perpetrator of the Brett Kavanaugh assaults who turned out to be someone other than Kavanaugh.
Or like working with OJ to find the real killers.
The Watchdog staff will spend this weekend lighting up a fat cigar, pouring a fine scotch, and enjoying a hearty laugh at the expense of liberals.
HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Quote of the Week: “Today House Democrats joined the Walz/Flannagan administration in a contest to see who could tax and spend the most and unfortunately, Minnesota families and taxpayers will be the ultimate losers.”
- Sen. Paul Gazelka (R – Nisswa)
Quote of the Week: “Minnesota has a $1 billion surplus, and hundreds of million in fraud in our public welfare programs, but House Democrats answer is always the same: raise taxes, take more money, and make life more expensive for every family in Minnesota.”
- Rep. Kurt Daudt (R – Crown)
Quote of the Week: “Senate Republicans will produce a budget for the next two years that funds our priorities without raising taxes. We want to help people with accessibility and affordability, and hold government accountable, because those qualities can co-exist.”
- MN Senate GOP
In This Issue:
- Budget Battle Brews;
- Amy’s Very Bad, Rotten, No Good Week;
- Speaking of Bad Weeks.
BUDGET BATTLE BREWS
Senate Republicans yesterday released their budget targets for each major spending area, thus adding their budget blueprint to the conversation.
House Democrats and the governor earlier released their budget targets, meaning that the House, Senate, and chief executive have all now released their overall spending plans.
Two of the three are ugly. Can you guess which two?
The bottom line is that the Senate GOP plan doesn’t raise taxes.
The other two budgets raise taxes, be it a 70% increase in the gas tax, a $900 million tax increase on health care, or corporate tax increases that will only be passed on to Minnesotans in the form of higher costs and fewer jobs.
That the House DFL and governor would propose tax increases in this environment demonstrates just how radical they’ve become.
Minnesota is already the most tax-unfriendly state in the union.
The state is sitting on a $1 billion budget surplus.
And yet no compunction about confiscating more wealth from the people who earned it – and own it.
By most measures of tax-friendliness, Minnesota lags far behind, be it Social Security taxation, the income tax, regressive taxes, or sales taxes.
The Senate GOP majority is committed to holding the line on taxes and is freedom-loving Minnesotans last line of defense.
It is clear that the new governor and new DFL House majority will engage in massive overreach.
The GOP must hold firm and will be rewarded for that commitment.
This massive spending overreach isn’t what most taxpayers want and is outside the mainstream.
AMY’S VERY BAD, ROTTEN, NO GOOD WEEK
Our Senator of Small Things is finding out that running for president is tough.
There tends to be actual scrutiny of your words, actions (or lack thereof) and record.
Earlier, it was scrutiny of Klobuchar’s abuse of staff and unprofessional conduct towards them.
This week was arguably tougher.
First, she voted “present” and refused to take a stand on the Green New Deal, a centerpiece of the liberal agenda to transform America.
Even worse, Klobuchar is a sponsor of the legislation.
That’s right. The Senator of Small Things chickened out on a vote on her own legislation.
Oh, Amy.
And then the media did some actual research and reporting on Klobuchar’s time as the Hennepin County attorney.
During her tenure, a spate of police civilian shootings and police misconduct cases were either not prosecuted by her or turned over to a grand jury, a process widely criticized for not skewing in favor of law enforcement and government.
Not good for a person running for the Democrat nomination for president, where minority voters are a critical constituency.
Of the six U.S. Senators running for president, Klobuchar introduced the fewest criminal justice reform bills.
Which isn’t surprising, considering she was busy leading the pack in writing bills to rename post offices, declare evil to be, well, evil, and name Spumoni as the national ice cream.
No wonder she’s down in the low single digits in poll after poll.
Frankly, there’s not much to like about Amy Klobuchar.
As this publication has noted, she’s only a big deal in her own zip code.
SPEAKING OF BAD WEEKS
It was also a really nasty bad week for Democrats in Washington.
The aforementioned Green New Deal vote in the Senate embarrassed Dems by actually forcing them to vote on one of their public policy priorities – and it wasn’t pretty.
Not one senator voted for advancing the legislation. 57 voted “no” and 42 voted “present” including presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris.
Four Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the legislation.
Many Democrats tried to dismiss the vote as a “farce” or a “sham” vote.
The farce here is that Democrats got behind this legislation and then ran for the hills when it was time to cast the vote.
Over in the House of Representatives, things didn’t get much better for the Dems.
It has become increasingly likely that the new Democrat majority won’t bother to write a budget this year.
No big deal, the core job of the legislative branch is only to appropriate money.
The problem is that writing a budget would force Dems into a corner by forcing them to either scale back their insatiable appetite for government spending or keep the budget wishes and reveal the deficits it would cause.
This is all problematic since the current leadership has called writing a budget a “prerequisite for governing.”
Oops.
And then there was the big honkin’ massive big a$$ news that special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
After two year, $25 million in taxpayer dollars, 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, 500 witness interviews, and thousands of subpoenas, the special counsel came up empty.
Of course, this was the cruelest of blows to the Dems, who were hoping that this exercise in “justice” would produce a favorable political outcome.
Expect Democrats to whine for months moving forward that more investigations are needed.
Yes, much like their ongoing investigation to find the real perpetrator of the Brett Kavanaugh assaults who turned out to be someone other than Kavanaugh.
Or like working with OJ to find the real killers.
The Watchdog staff will spend this weekend lighting up a fat cigar, pouring a fine scotch, and enjoying a hearty laugh at the expense of liberals.
HA HA HA HA HA HA!
March 22nd, 2019
Quote of the Week: “The funds to solve this problem do not require raising the gas tax, the sales tax or car tab fees.”
Legal Factoid: No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or any law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
Legal Factoid: "The Bill of Attainder Clause was intended not as a narrow, technical (and therefore soon to be outmoded) prohibition, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function or more simply - trial by legislature."
In This Issue:
ROOKIE MISTAKES
If you had any doubt that Tim Walz is a rookie governor with no experience at the Capitol in Saint Paul, just check his past couple of weeks.
Obviously, the governor hasn’t had an opportunity to read “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
For a governor who promised “One Minnesota”, including those districts represented by Republicans, he’s failing – big time.
First, you had the spectacle of the governor’s wife, who doesn’t own an election certificate, threatening certain GOP senators over Second Amendment issues.
Specifically, she threatened GOP senators who represent districts won by her husband, conveniently failing to acknowledge that her dude won those districts only once while the senators in question have won them multiple times.
Moreover, threats just don’t work that well to influence people, unless you work for the mob.
This is especially true when the threat is issued by a person with miniscule name ID.
Pop quiz, what’s the First Lady of Minnesota’s first name?
Next, there was the spectacle this week of the governor visiting some of these same districts to “call out” the hometown senator over education or transportation issues.
For example, the governor showed up in Anoka at a congested rail crossing to “pressure” Republican Jim Abeler over his opposition to the governor’s proposed 70% increase in the gas tax.
The message from the governor, apparently, is “despite the highest taxes in the nation and a $1 billon surplus, you better give me a gas tax or basic governmental functions won’t be delivered.”
All this while he and his party support things like a $250,000 mural exalting Prince and another taxpayer funded painting depicting law enforcement as Nazis and Klansmen.
The stunt went over like a fart in church.
Even Abeler, who has in the past supported gas taxes, called the event a “stunt” that wouldn’t change his position.
Apparently, coming into a legislator’s backyard and trying to embarrass them isn’t a way to build trust and establish rapport.
In fact, Abeler just this afternoon released a statement worth re-printing:
Gov. Tim Walz traveled to a hazardous railroad crossing 4 blocks from our house in Anoka on Tuesday to push for his transportation package, which includes a 20-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax, a 1/8 cent sales tax and increases in car tab fees to fix and improve Minnesota roads, bridges and transit.
It is widely accepted that we are at least $10 billion short of what it would take to add lanes across the Metro and statewide that most would agree are necessary, and that we still have many bridges that need repair.
FYI: Every penny of a gas tax, which raises about $33 million a year per one cent of tax, goes to roads and bridges. As part of it's effort to fund roads without raising the gas tax, the Legislature transferred $230 million a year to the highway fund in 2017, equivalent to 6.8 cents on a gas tax, worth over $2.3 billion over the upcoming decade. The Walz proposal undoes that transfer, meaning that the first 6.8 cents of his gas tax would not fix a single pothole, but would be used for other purposes, like education, health care, and the like.
The Anoka intersection of Hwy. 47 and Ferry Street carries more than 18,000 vehicles and up to 80 trains per day. In 2003, a young driver at the intersection collided with a train, killing four people.
“I appreciate Gov. Walz’s visit to my neighborhood in Anoka and his concern about the most dangerous rail crossing in the state at Ferry Street and Highway 47. The funds to solve this problem will not require raising the gas tax, the sales tax or car tab fees. I will continue pushing to make this crossing a priority and hope to work with the Walz administration to get it done.”
Governor Walz is still in “DC” mode, we guess.
The governor should realize the election ended many months ago.
He has hobbled his new administration by filling its ranks with inexperienced political flacks who know campaigns but don’t know the legislature.
He has surrounded himself with an echo chamber that is looking to the next election and not the current legislative session.
He had better start listening to some different voices if he’s to avoid a governing disaster this session.
SMELLS LIKE VICTORY
You may have missed it if you read the legacy media, but there was another huge GOP victory this week in Minnesota.
Republican Nathan Nelson scored a decisive 68-32% win over his DFL opponent in the Senate District 11 special election.
This election was to replace Rep. Jason Rarick, who won a historic special election victory in his own right when he captured a state Senate seat that had been in DFL hands for decades.
Republicans have been winning special elections nation-wide since November.
The party can do well, so long as the president can refrain from ridiculous, inflammatory, narcissistic comments.
This week wasn’t so great, as Trump continued to attack the ghost of John McCain.
Attacking a dead man, particularly a war hero, doesn’t play so well.
This is especially true when your complaint is that the family didn’t thank you enough for the state funeral.
AN UGLY BILL
Every Watchdog should be following, and opposing, Senate File 751, perhaps the worst bill of the 2019 legislative session.
Authored by Republican Senator Julie Rosen, the bill imposes a significant tax on opioid pain medication.
The bill violates nearly every anti-conservative governing philosophy.
First, it’s a $20 million tax increase during a time of surplus. Any “needs” of government can easily be addressed with surplus dollars.
Second, it’s a tax on pharmaceutical companies, which means a tax on their customers – sick people.
Taxing medicine is horribly regressive and remarkably cruel.
Republicans shouldn’t be about growing government on the backs of the sick and dying.
Even the United Nations is on record opposing taxes on medicine as regressive and cruel.
Excuse us, but are not Republicans against raising the cost of health care?
Third, the tax relies on the old trick of calling it a “fee.”
A “fee” is the price government charges to cover its costs in administering a license or other activity.
The “tax” in this case comes in the form of an enhanced license fee levied against pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers operating in Minnesota.
The bill raises those fees exponentially to fund certain programs.
Clearly, the lion’s share of the money will go to activities and purposes other than government’s cost to administer the license fee.
That makes the “fee” a “TAX.”
Importantly, the bill is a blatant violation of the state constitution’s prohibition on Bills of Attainder.
While the subject matter may sound arcane and irrelevant to today’s life, it isn’t.
Basically, the prohibition prevents trials and conviction by the legislative branch.
It’s a separation of powers issue designed to protect rights and ensure basic, fundamental concepts such a fair trial and equal protection under the law.
In short, it’s a big deal.
In this case, there is no question the bill’s $20 million in fees is designed as some sort of “damages” for the alleged crimes of opioid manufacturers in particular.
The legislative record is filled with references to holding them “accountable” and “forcing them to the table” and “making them pay” for a perceived role in the opioid crisis.
To be clear, this publication offers no opinion regarding that perceived guilt.
Instead, the point is that any determination of guilt, apportionment of damages, findings of fact, and conclusions of law should be carried out by the judicial branch, which is uniquely equipped to administer justice.
The legislative branch is political in nature and primarily equipped to make law, not interpret and administer it.
This is an important distinction that goes to the heart of the bedrock principle that America is a Nation of Laws.
Either we believe in the rule of law or we don’t.
There is no in between.
While opioid companies are unsympathetic actors, they are for that reason precisely why we believe in the Rule of Law.
Every actor deserves equal protection under the law.
If we start walking down the road of believing that certain citizens aren’t worthy of equal protection, we are further along the road to serfdom.
Maybe these companies are guilty as hell.
Maybe not.
That is for a court to decide.
No Republican should vote for this bill, much less author such a bill.
Quote of the Week: “The funds to solve this problem do not require raising the gas tax, the sales tax or car tab fees.”
- Sen. Jim Abeler (R – Anoka)
Legal Factoid: No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or any law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
- Article I, Section 7 of the Minnesota State Constitution
Legal Factoid: "The Bill of Attainder Clause was intended not as a narrow, technical (and therefore soon to be outmoded) prohibition, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function or more simply - trial by legislature."
- U.S. v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 440 (1965)
In This Issue:
- Rookie Mistakes;
- Smells Like Victory;
- An Ugly Bill
ROOKIE MISTAKES
If you had any doubt that Tim Walz is a rookie governor with no experience at the Capitol in Saint Paul, just check his past couple of weeks.
Obviously, the governor hasn’t had an opportunity to read “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
For a governor who promised “One Minnesota”, including those districts represented by Republicans, he’s failing – big time.
First, you had the spectacle of the governor’s wife, who doesn’t own an election certificate, threatening certain GOP senators over Second Amendment issues.
Specifically, she threatened GOP senators who represent districts won by her husband, conveniently failing to acknowledge that her dude won those districts only once while the senators in question have won them multiple times.
Moreover, threats just don’t work that well to influence people, unless you work for the mob.
This is especially true when the threat is issued by a person with miniscule name ID.
Pop quiz, what’s the First Lady of Minnesota’s first name?
Next, there was the spectacle this week of the governor visiting some of these same districts to “call out” the hometown senator over education or transportation issues.
For example, the governor showed up in Anoka at a congested rail crossing to “pressure” Republican Jim Abeler over his opposition to the governor’s proposed 70% increase in the gas tax.
The message from the governor, apparently, is “despite the highest taxes in the nation and a $1 billon surplus, you better give me a gas tax or basic governmental functions won’t be delivered.”
All this while he and his party support things like a $250,000 mural exalting Prince and another taxpayer funded painting depicting law enforcement as Nazis and Klansmen.
The stunt went over like a fart in church.
Even Abeler, who has in the past supported gas taxes, called the event a “stunt” that wouldn’t change his position.
Apparently, coming into a legislator’s backyard and trying to embarrass them isn’t a way to build trust and establish rapport.
In fact, Abeler just this afternoon released a statement worth re-printing:
Gov. Tim Walz traveled to a hazardous railroad crossing 4 blocks from our house in Anoka on Tuesday to push for his transportation package, which includes a 20-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax, a 1/8 cent sales tax and increases in car tab fees to fix and improve Minnesota roads, bridges and transit.
It is widely accepted that we are at least $10 billion short of what it would take to add lanes across the Metro and statewide that most would agree are necessary, and that we still have many bridges that need repair.
FYI: Every penny of a gas tax, which raises about $33 million a year per one cent of tax, goes to roads and bridges. As part of it's effort to fund roads without raising the gas tax, the Legislature transferred $230 million a year to the highway fund in 2017, equivalent to 6.8 cents on a gas tax, worth over $2.3 billion over the upcoming decade. The Walz proposal undoes that transfer, meaning that the first 6.8 cents of his gas tax would not fix a single pothole, but would be used for other purposes, like education, health care, and the like.
The Anoka intersection of Hwy. 47 and Ferry Street carries more than 18,000 vehicles and up to 80 trains per day. In 2003, a young driver at the intersection collided with a train, killing four people.
“I appreciate Gov. Walz’s visit to my neighborhood in Anoka and his concern about the most dangerous rail crossing in the state at Ferry Street and Highway 47. The funds to solve this problem will not require raising the gas tax, the sales tax or car tab fees. I will continue pushing to make this crossing a priority and hope to work with the Walz administration to get it done.”
Governor Walz is still in “DC” mode, we guess.
The governor should realize the election ended many months ago.
He has hobbled his new administration by filling its ranks with inexperienced political flacks who know campaigns but don’t know the legislature.
He has surrounded himself with an echo chamber that is looking to the next election and not the current legislative session.
He had better start listening to some different voices if he’s to avoid a governing disaster this session.
SMELLS LIKE VICTORY
You may have missed it if you read the legacy media, but there was another huge GOP victory this week in Minnesota.
Republican Nathan Nelson scored a decisive 68-32% win over his DFL opponent in the Senate District 11 special election.
This election was to replace Rep. Jason Rarick, who won a historic special election victory in his own right when he captured a state Senate seat that had been in DFL hands for decades.
Republicans have been winning special elections nation-wide since November.
The party can do well, so long as the president can refrain from ridiculous, inflammatory, narcissistic comments.
This week wasn’t so great, as Trump continued to attack the ghost of John McCain.
Attacking a dead man, particularly a war hero, doesn’t play so well.
This is especially true when your complaint is that the family didn’t thank you enough for the state funeral.
AN UGLY BILL
Every Watchdog should be following, and opposing, Senate File 751, perhaps the worst bill of the 2019 legislative session.
Authored by Republican Senator Julie Rosen, the bill imposes a significant tax on opioid pain medication.
The bill violates nearly every anti-conservative governing philosophy.
First, it’s a $20 million tax increase during a time of surplus. Any “needs” of government can easily be addressed with surplus dollars.
Second, it’s a tax on pharmaceutical companies, which means a tax on their customers – sick people.
Taxing medicine is horribly regressive and remarkably cruel.
Republicans shouldn’t be about growing government on the backs of the sick and dying.
Even the United Nations is on record opposing taxes on medicine as regressive and cruel.
Excuse us, but are not Republicans against raising the cost of health care?
Third, the tax relies on the old trick of calling it a “fee.”
A “fee” is the price government charges to cover its costs in administering a license or other activity.
The “tax” in this case comes in the form of an enhanced license fee levied against pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers operating in Minnesota.
The bill raises those fees exponentially to fund certain programs.
Clearly, the lion’s share of the money will go to activities and purposes other than government’s cost to administer the license fee.
That makes the “fee” a “TAX.”
Importantly, the bill is a blatant violation of the state constitution’s prohibition on Bills of Attainder.
While the subject matter may sound arcane and irrelevant to today’s life, it isn’t.
Basically, the prohibition prevents trials and conviction by the legislative branch.
It’s a separation of powers issue designed to protect rights and ensure basic, fundamental concepts such a fair trial and equal protection under the law.
In short, it’s a big deal.
In this case, there is no question the bill’s $20 million in fees is designed as some sort of “damages” for the alleged crimes of opioid manufacturers in particular.
The legislative record is filled with references to holding them “accountable” and “forcing them to the table” and “making them pay” for a perceived role in the opioid crisis.
To be clear, this publication offers no opinion regarding that perceived guilt.
Instead, the point is that any determination of guilt, apportionment of damages, findings of fact, and conclusions of law should be carried out by the judicial branch, which is uniquely equipped to administer justice.
The legislative branch is political in nature and primarily equipped to make law, not interpret and administer it.
This is an important distinction that goes to the heart of the bedrock principle that America is a Nation of Laws.
Either we believe in the rule of law or we don’t.
There is no in between.
While opioid companies are unsympathetic actors, they are for that reason precisely why we believe in the Rule of Law.
Every actor deserves equal protection under the law.
If we start walking down the road of believing that certain citizens aren’t worthy of equal protection, we are further along the road to serfdom.
Maybe these companies are guilty as hell.
Maybe not.
That is for a court to decide.
No Republican should vote for this bill, much less author such a bill.
March 15, 2019
Quote of the Week: “If they do not put it (gun control) up for a vote, there are seven senators sitting in seats where Tim Walz won — and we are coming.”
Quote of the Week: “Bring it on.”
Factoid of the Week: The Minnesota legislature has introduced over 5,000 bills this session, a record. Legislators may continue to introduce bills until May 21st.
In This Issue:
TAX AVOIDANCE: IT’S GOOD
While Star Tribune is often a repository of the inane and banal, an opinion column this week was ridiculous enough to earn a spot in the Watchdog’s weekly commentary.
The thesis of the opinion piece was that “tax avoidance” is an “unseemly” activity that is “unfair.”
“Unseemly” how and “unfair” to whom were questions left unanswered, perhaps because the answer would have been as ridiculous as the question.
To be clear, “tax avoidance “isn’t “tax evasion.” Tax evasion is the intentional underpayment of taxes owed and due by the letter of the law.
“Tax avoidance” is the reduction of one’s tax bill through legal means.
To begin, the question is rather foolish because the tax code isn’t a moral document, nor should it be.
The tax code, ideally, is nothing more than a device to raise revenue for the government.
In many respects, it’s a math exercise. Punch in the numbers, get the result.
Of course, there are elements of morality underpinning the crafting of tax law.
We have a progressive tax because it is “fair” in the eyes of some policy makers to punish success.
We tax tobacco at a high level because it’s part of the family of “sin” taxes.
On the other hand, drug dealers are allowed to write off business expenses.
Gambling losses are tax deductible.
Moreover, many aspects of tax avoidance are arguably a public good and certainly are viewed in the eyes of many as “right” and simply “good.”
The tax code offers a tax deduction or credit for the activity, thus reducing the tax obligation, thus making it “tax avoidance.”
Donation to a qualified charity.
Purchase of a tax-exempt bond for a school.
The deduction of expenses associated with the adoption of a child.
The deduction of expenses associated with organ donation.
These are all “tax avoidance schemes.”
How nefarious.
At another level, it’s simply no one’s business, including government, what legal and legitimate actions taxpayers undertake to reduce their liability.
Moving from Minnesota to Texas (or pretty much any state in the union) to lower one’s tax burden is a private matter.
The same holds true for a business.
In fact, it could be argued that a company moving from Minnesota to Texas to avoid high taxes is not only not unseemly, it’s a good thing.
The extra money the firm retains by not paying confiscatory taxes means more retained earnings to increase pay, enhance worker training, buy more equipment and otherwise put that money to work in the private economy.
Yes, it’s sad and tragic that government won’t get as much money to squander on public art and failed software architecture, but somehow government will survive.
At core, if government is worried about tax flight, government can certainly do something about it.
Quit taxing people at a level that causes them to alter their behavior.
It’s been nothing short of high comedy these days watching liberal states with high taxes whine and complain that people and businesses won’t sit still and take a taxation beating from them.
Oh, yeah. If any taxpayer feels that they’re paying too little, they can always write an extra check to government.
The problem is that liberals always envision higher taxes being paid by someone else.
Now get out there and avoid those taxes, Watchdogs.
MOST RIDICULOUS ITEM OF THE WEEK
There’s no shortage of candidates for this category while the legislature is in session.
This week “winner” is a taxpayer funded painting that depicts law enforcement as Nazis and Klansmen while showing President Trump molesting a woman.
The painting also portrays the eco-terrorists who disrupted the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock as heroes.
Again, this is a taxpayer-funded project.
In addition to the offensive subject matter, the painting utterly lacks artistic merit.
To say it looks like a third grader painted it would be an insult to third graders.
In fact, it looks like something a bored teenager would scribble on a notepad while sitting in detention.
The painter who swindled the taxpayers out of $10,000 is named Jim Denomie, we think his real name is John Bender.
Of course, the bureaucrats who offered up the money have bleated “free speech” and blathered on about the value of the arts in our culture.
That’s true, but not the point.
The simple point is that if anyone wants to produce trash like this, have at it. Just don’t do it with taxpayer money.
By the way, just what did this guy spend $10,000 on regarding the painting?
Your tax dollars at work.
http://www.fox9.com/news/politics/police-as-nazis-klan-taxpayer-funded-painting-ignites-debate
This tripe won’t be hanging in the Louvre anytime soon.
ALL ABOARD, STONERS!
Taxpayers got bad news this week when Amtrak revealed that it’s considering renewing service between Saint Paul and Duluth.
Amtrak, never known for sound fiscal decisions, abandoned that route in 1985 because the route was such a financial loser even Amtrak couldn’t hack it.
Here we go again.
How timely it was this week when the Wall Street Journal ran a report that Amtrak, not surprisingly, is having a tough time screening its employees for drugs and alcohol.
If you didn’t figure it out, having railroad employees high or drunk at work is kind of a safety hazard.
The article stated that some 322 Amtrak employees in “safety sensitive” positions tested positive for drugs or alcohol or had medical claims indicating such use.
The article further noted that Amtrak has failed to follow through on testing and screening requirements.
Government can’t even run a railroad.
But let’s have them run healthcare.
Quote of the Week: “If they do not put it (gun control) up for a vote, there are seven senators sitting in seats where Tim Walz won — and we are coming.”
- First Lady Gwen Walz
Quote of the Week: “Bring it on.”
- Sen. Warren Limmer (R – Maple Grove)
Factoid of the Week: The Minnesota legislature has introduced over 5,000 bills this session, a record. Legislators may continue to introduce bills until May 21st.
In This Issue:
- Tax Avoidance: It’s Good;
- Most Ridiculous Item of the Week;
- All Aboard, Stoners!
TAX AVOIDANCE: IT’S GOOD
While Star Tribune is often a repository of the inane and banal, an opinion column this week was ridiculous enough to earn a spot in the Watchdog’s weekly commentary.
The thesis of the opinion piece was that “tax avoidance” is an “unseemly” activity that is “unfair.”
“Unseemly” how and “unfair” to whom were questions left unanswered, perhaps because the answer would have been as ridiculous as the question.
To be clear, “tax avoidance “isn’t “tax evasion.” Tax evasion is the intentional underpayment of taxes owed and due by the letter of the law.
“Tax avoidance” is the reduction of one’s tax bill through legal means.
To begin, the question is rather foolish because the tax code isn’t a moral document, nor should it be.
The tax code, ideally, is nothing more than a device to raise revenue for the government.
In many respects, it’s a math exercise. Punch in the numbers, get the result.
Of course, there are elements of morality underpinning the crafting of tax law.
We have a progressive tax because it is “fair” in the eyes of some policy makers to punish success.
We tax tobacco at a high level because it’s part of the family of “sin” taxes.
On the other hand, drug dealers are allowed to write off business expenses.
Gambling losses are tax deductible.
Moreover, many aspects of tax avoidance are arguably a public good and certainly are viewed in the eyes of many as “right” and simply “good.”
The tax code offers a tax deduction or credit for the activity, thus reducing the tax obligation, thus making it “tax avoidance.”
Donation to a qualified charity.
Purchase of a tax-exempt bond for a school.
The deduction of expenses associated with the adoption of a child.
The deduction of expenses associated with organ donation.
These are all “tax avoidance schemes.”
How nefarious.
At another level, it’s simply no one’s business, including government, what legal and legitimate actions taxpayers undertake to reduce their liability.
Moving from Minnesota to Texas (or pretty much any state in the union) to lower one’s tax burden is a private matter.
The same holds true for a business.
In fact, it could be argued that a company moving from Minnesota to Texas to avoid high taxes is not only not unseemly, it’s a good thing.
The extra money the firm retains by not paying confiscatory taxes means more retained earnings to increase pay, enhance worker training, buy more equipment and otherwise put that money to work in the private economy.
Yes, it’s sad and tragic that government won’t get as much money to squander on public art and failed software architecture, but somehow government will survive.
At core, if government is worried about tax flight, government can certainly do something about it.
Quit taxing people at a level that causes them to alter their behavior.
It’s been nothing short of high comedy these days watching liberal states with high taxes whine and complain that people and businesses won’t sit still and take a taxation beating from them.
Oh, yeah. If any taxpayer feels that they’re paying too little, they can always write an extra check to government.
The problem is that liberals always envision higher taxes being paid by someone else.
Now get out there and avoid those taxes, Watchdogs.
MOST RIDICULOUS ITEM OF THE WEEK
There’s no shortage of candidates for this category while the legislature is in session.
This week “winner” is a taxpayer funded painting that depicts law enforcement as Nazis and Klansmen while showing President Trump molesting a woman.
The painting also portrays the eco-terrorists who disrupted the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock as heroes.
Again, this is a taxpayer-funded project.
In addition to the offensive subject matter, the painting utterly lacks artistic merit.
To say it looks like a third grader painted it would be an insult to third graders.
In fact, it looks like something a bored teenager would scribble on a notepad while sitting in detention.
The painter who swindled the taxpayers out of $10,000 is named Jim Denomie, we think his real name is John Bender.
Of course, the bureaucrats who offered up the money have bleated “free speech” and blathered on about the value of the arts in our culture.
That’s true, but not the point.
The simple point is that if anyone wants to produce trash like this, have at it. Just don’t do it with taxpayer money.
By the way, just what did this guy spend $10,000 on regarding the painting?
Your tax dollars at work.
http://www.fox9.com/news/politics/police-as-nazis-klan-taxpayer-funded-painting-ignites-debate
This tripe won’t be hanging in the Louvre anytime soon.
ALL ABOARD, STONERS!
Taxpayers got bad news this week when Amtrak revealed that it’s considering renewing service between Saint Paul and Duluth.
Amtrak, never known for sound fiscal decisions, abandoned that route in 1985 because the route was such a financial loser even Amtrak couldn’t hack it.
Here we go again.
How timely it was this week when the Wall Street Journal ran a report that Amtrak, not surprisingly, is having a tough time screening its employees for drugs and alcohol.
If you didn’t figure it out, having railroad employees high or drunk at work is kind of a safety hazard.
The article stated that some 322 Amtrak employees in “safety sensitive” positions tested positive for drugs or alcohol or had medical claims indicating such use.
The article further noted that Amtrak has failed to follow through on testing and screening requirements.
Government can’t even run a railroad.
But let’s have them run healthcare.
March 8, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful.”
Quote of the Week: “The Republicans just won a special election in Kentucky State Senate district 31. District is 60% Democrat. This year, in 2019, Republicans have won four such take overs of a long-time democrat held state legislative seat.”
- Grover Norquist
In This Issue:
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME
If you needed any proof that our politics has gone completely tribal, take a look at the recent incidents involving two of Minnesota’s liberal darlings, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Numerous and well-publicized tropes prove that Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite, plain and simple.
The tribal politics gripping our nation, and the DFL, won’t let them properly hold her accountable.
It was nothing short of embarrassing to watch the House Democrats collectively wring their hands and vacillate over the easy to decision to hold her accountable for her words.
They failed.
Instead, Nancy Pelosi and company ducked the issue while pretending to do something.
They passed a mealy-mouthed, feel-good resolution that simply condemned “hate” in general.
(No word on how a similar resolution is coming along to condemn puppy kicking. Word has it Democrats who own cats, parakeets and chia pet goats are uncomfortable voting for it.)
The resolution failed in the central purpose of condemning Ilhan’s specific words and thus holding her directly accountable.
We won’t even get into the issue of Rep. Omar continuing to hold her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Moreover, the excuses coming from the Left are laughable.
It’s a constant stream of “what about anti-muslim rhetoric?” and “Donald Trump says mean things, too.”
Didn’t we all learn in grade school that other kids running in the hall doesn’t make it okay for you?
Same with chewing gum in class.
Same with throwing snow balls on the playground.
Same with vile, anti-Semitic commentary.
To be clear, unacceptable speech should be called to account regardless of the stature of the one who utters the words.
But the unacceptable speech of one does not excuse the unacceptable speech of another.
In this case, we were all once again exposed to one person’s anti-Semitism.
The U.S. House had an opportunity, and an obligation, to condemn.
Group identity politics, gutless leadership, and a total disregard for the concept of personal accountability (long absent from the Left) led to a fiasco that will further harm the thread-bare moral authority of one of our bedrock political institutions.
And then there’s Amy Klobuchar, the presidential contender whose lane appears to be vote-for-me-because-I’m-mild-and-unaccomplished.
She’s avoiding accountability for her boorish and abusive behavior by playing the gender card.
Instead of contrition and accountability, the insinuation is that any questioning of her abuse is a sign of sexism on the part of the questioner and not a sign of a bad person on her part.
Klobuchar would have you believe that throwing objects at staff and publicly calling into question their intelligence is really a sign of leadership.
Only Leona Helmsley and Marge Schott would have agreed.
If Marge Schott were only a Democrat in Congress. She could have avoided any accountability for her behavior.
And there’s more.
For many years, Klobuchar has been rightly and derisively known as the “Senator of Small Things” for her almost obsessive desire to avoid difficult issues.
As you would guess, those who point out that the empress has no accomplishment clothes are labeled as sexist.
She and her apologists can play this card all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s really a shallow, petty, and essentially semi-talented person.
In addition to all that, she’s also going to soon face a bigger question: If she can’t maintain self-control in the face of typographical errors and missing forks, how can she possibly maintain self-control when facing national security crises and negotiating with foreign leaders?
This publication somehow doesn’t think JFK threw binders during the Cuban Missile Crisis or that Abe Lincoln screamed at staff during the Civil War or that FDR had staff arrange his sock drawer at Yalta.
CAPITOL CAPERS
It was another week of taxpayer abuse down at the puzzle palace this week.
Let’s start with the gas tax, where the media-assisted spin was jacked up this week after a disastrous roll-out of the proposed 70% increase in this regressive tax was properly met with a high dose of skepticism from all but the most fanatical legislators.
The media spun the narrative this week that the gas tax isn’t that bad because the 20 cents per gallon won’t happen all at once.
Similar to the fact that having your limbs cut off won’t be that bad because it will happen one limb at a time.
But here’s a very important point that both the GOP and conservative media have missed!
A full 7 cents of the twenty cents will NOT be new money.
Instead, that money will backfill current road and bridge money that will go back to the general fund, to support all manner of reckless spending.
Let us say that once again. Over 1/3rd of the proposed gas tax increase will NOT be new money into the road and bridge fund.
That’s $450 million diverted from roads and bridges into the general fund (AKA “play money” for the DFL).
In other news, the Governor Walz responded to the drop in projected revenues by announcing that the only thing he was willing to drop from his bloated budget proposal was $700,000 to boost his office staff. Wow, thanks.
Finally, the DFL, despite record low unemployment, is seeking to increase welfare payments, thereby keeping welfare “pay” competitive with real work.
MANAFORT VS. MUELLER
Finally, let’s acknowledge that special counsel Robert Mueller has again struck out in his quixotic quest to hammer the president.
This week, a federal judge sentenced Paul Manafort to a mere 47 months in prison, far less than the 19-24 years sought by the prosecution.
Judge T.S. Ellis called the proposed sentence “unwarranted” and “excessive.”
And still no proof of collusion with the Russians.
Quote of the Week: “Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful.”
- Rep. Nita Lowey (D – NY 17)
Quote of the Week: “The Republicans just won a special election in Kentucky State Senate district 31. District is 60% Democrat. This year, in 2019, Republicans have won four such take overs of a long-time democrat held state legislative seat.”
- Grover Norquist
In This Issue:
- Accountability for Thee, Not for Me;
- Capitol Capers;
- Manafort vs. Mueller.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME
If you needed any proof that our politics has gone completely tribal, take a look at the recent incidents involving two of Minnesota’s liberal darlings, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Numerous and well-publicized tropes prove that Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite, plain and simple.
The tribal politics gripping our nation, and the DFL, won’t let them properly hold her accountable.
It was nothing short of embarrassing to watch the House Democrats collectively wring their hands and vacillate over the easy to decision to hold her accountable for her words.
They failed.
Instead, Nancy Pelosi and company ducked the issue while pretending to do something.
They passed a mealy-mouthed, feel-good resolution that simply condemned “hate” in general.
(No word on how a similar resolution is coming along to condemn puppy kicking. Word has it Democrats who own cats, parakeets and chia pet goats are uncomfortable voting for it.)
The resolution failed in the central purpose of condemning Ilhan’s specific words and thus holding her directly accountable.
We won’t even get into the issue of Rep. Omar continuing to hold her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Moreover, the excuses coming from the Left are laughable.
It’s a constant stream of “what about anti-muslim rhetoric?” and “Donald Trump says mean things, too.”
Didn’t we all learn in grade school that other kids running in the hall doesn’t make it okay for you?
Same with chewing gum in class.
Same with throwing snow balls on the playground.
Same with vile, anti-Semitic commentary.
To be clear, unacceptable speech should be called to account regardless of the stature of the one who utters the words.
But the unacceptable speech of one does not excuse the unacceptable speech of another.
In this case, we were all once again exposed to one person’s anti-Semitism.
The U.S. House had an opportunity, and an obligation, to condemn.
Group identity politics, gutless leadership, and a total disregard for the concept of personal accountability (long absent from the Left) led to a fiasco that will further harm the thread-bare moral authority of one of our bedrock political institutions.
And then there’s Amy Klobuchar, the presidential contender whose lane appears to be vote-for-me-because-I’m-mild-and-unaccomplished.
She’s avoiding accountability for her boorish and abusive behavior by playing the gender card.
Instead of contrition and accountability, the insinuation is that any questioning of her abuse is a sign of sexism on the part of the questioner and not a sign of a bad person on her part.
Klobuchar would have you believe that throwing objects at staff and publicly calling into question their intelligence is really a sign of leadership.
Only Leona Helmsley and Marge Schott would have agreed.
If Marge Schott were only a Democrat in Congress. She could have avoided any accountability for her behavior.
And there’s more.
For many years, Klobuchar has been rightly and derisively known as the “Senator of Small Things” for her almost obsessive desire to avoid difficult issues.
As you would guess, those who point out that the empress has no accomplishment clothes are labeled as sexist.
She and her apologists can play this card all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s really a shallow, petty, and essentially semi-talented person.
In addition to all that, she’s also going to soon face a bigger question: If she can’t maintain self-control in the face of typographical errors and missing forks, how can she possibly maintain self-control when facing national security crises and negotiating with foreign leaders?
This publication somehow doesn’t think JFK threw binders during the Cuban Missile Crisis or that Abe Lincoln screamed at staff during the Civil War or that FDR had staff arrange his sock drawer at Yalta.
CAPITOL CAPERS
It was another week of taxpayer abuse down at the puzzle palace this week.
Let’s start with the gas tax, where the media-assisted spin was jacked up this week after a disastrous roll-out of the proposed 70% increase in this regressive tax was properly met with a high dose of skepticism from all but the most fanatical legislators.
The media spun the narrative this week that the gas tax isn’t that bad because the 20 cents per gallon won’t happen all at once.
Similar to the fact that having your limbs cut off won’t be that bad because it will happen one limb at a time.
But here’s a very important point that both the GOP and conservative media have missed!
A full 7 cents of the twenty cents will NOT be new money.
Instead, that money will backfill current road and bridge money that will go back to the general fund, to support all manner of reckless spending.
Let us say that once again. Over 1/3rd of the proposed gas tax increase will NOT be new money into the road and bridge fund.
That’s $450 million diverted from roads and bridges into the general fund (AKA “play money” for the DFL).
In other news, the Governor Walz responded to the drop in projected revenues by announcing that the only thing he was willing to drop from his bloated budget proposal was $700,000 to boost his office staff. Wow, thanks.
Finally, the DFL, despite record low unemployment, is seeking to increase welfare payments, thereby keeping welfare “pay” competitive with real work.
MANAFORT VS. MUELLER
Finally, let’s acknowledge that special counsel Robert Mueller has again struck out in his quixotic quest to hammer the president.
This week, a federal judge sentenced Paul Manafort to a mere 47 months in prison, far less than the 19-24 years sought by the prosecution.
Judge T.S. Ellis called the proposed sentence “unwarranted” and “excessive.”
And still no proof of collusion with the Russians.
March 1, 2019
Quote of the Week: “I believe that impeachment is inevitable. It also is a terrifying notion. Pence is an ideologue, and the ideology he holds is more terrifying to me and my constituents. And we have not had a full impeachment that removes the president from office. Nations struggle any time [they] overthrow a dictator, and Trump really has the markings of a dictator.”
Quote of the Week: “This is the same Michael Cohen who has admitted he lied to Congress previously. Why did the Democrats even bother to swear him in?”
In This Issue:
CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Republicans, freedom-loving peoples, and the sane should all rejoice this week.
They should rejoice because Democrats continue to walk down a path that will surely lead to defeat in 2020 at both the congressional and presidential level.
To start, let’s recall that while Republicans lost 40 seats, the average margin of victory in those seats was a measly 1%.
Moreover, history proves that a sitting president is tough to beat.
Finally, American political history shows that voters want to vote “for” something, as opposed to “against” something.
While protest votes are certainly present in some elections, like 2018, the appeal and power are ephemeral.
As many predicted, the gang of liberals in Washington isn’t about a pro-jobs, pro-prosperity agenda.
Instead, Pelosi and company are on a maniacal quest to destroy Donald Trump.
Indeed, Pelosi has become the Ahab to Trump’s White Whale.
It’s hard to believe, but the latest edition of Captain Pelosi has only been in power for about a month.
In that time, the vast majority of their time has been spent pursuing and harassing the president.
We witnessed the outrageous spectacle this week of a disbarred, convicted perjurer testifying before Congress.
Think about it. A man convicted of lying to Congress being sworn to tell the truth in front of the very Congress he lied to in the first place.
And lest anyone think that the Swamp Gang has given up on investigating their target’s childhood, think again.
Much like Judge Kavanaugh, Trump’s college transcripts and high school grades are an object of obsession.
Never mind that President Obama steadfastly refused to release his grades and transcripts, perhaps to hide affirmative action favoritism or damage the narrative of Obama as intellectual giant.
This in addition to the obsession with tax returns.
And don’t forget Congressman Adam Schiff declaring that even if the never-ending Mueller probe one day wraps up and concludes there was no conclusion, the Swamp Gang will continue the hunt aboard the USS Pequod.
Thus far, the Democrats even pretended to offer public policy solutions increase opportunity and prosperity, even for favored constituencies.
There’s the “Green New Deal”, which promises to do nothing more than force us all to live the way radical socialists want us to live. That is, meat-free, airplane-free, fossil fuel-free, liberty-free, prosperity-free and free of farting cows.
Beyond that, the Dems have offered nothing beyond the tired bromides about punishing successful people.
The old class-envy chestnuts that one rich man equals one poor man.
That prosperity is a fixed pie that when sliced, means one man gets a big one and the other guy a small one.
It’s interesting that the Republicans have never identified this theory as the corollary of the liberal screed against “trickle down” tax cuts.
The Dems have long brayed that tax cuts for job creators are “trickle down” economics that mean big benefits for those at the top and crumbs for those at the bottom.
And why not the same for radically progressive tax increases?
How does government confiscation of the resources of the wealthy result in widespread prosperity for the poor?
Isn’t this “trickle down” taxation?
Why doesn’t this theory mean nothing more than tax revenue for the bureaucrats and politicians to support their jobs and crumbs for the people their programs purport to serve?
We’ve been 50 plus years into large scale government welfare programs.
By any metric, those programs have not met their stated goals.
BUDGET BLUES
Big spenders at the Capitol got a taste of harsh reality today when the state’s latest budget forecast came in $500 million below previous estimates.
The state’s projected budget surplus, which had been projected at $1.5 billion in the last forecast, came in at about $1 billion even, plummeting by 1/3rd.
The news must have been a blow to freshman governor Tim Walz, who has been on a spending spree as big as any kid in a candy store.
After seeing the new governor in action, it’s easier to understand how Washington, DC blows through so much money.
The news was a sobering reminder that what goes up must come down.
It’s time for the governor to rethink his budget plans.
The news certainly lends credence to GOP calls for spending restraint.
We can start with agreeing that there should be no “bonding” bill in 2019, especially one weighing in at $1.2 billion.
To be clear, that’s $1.2 billion in debt.
To be clear, Walz’s own budget office forecast bonding this year in the amount of $265 million, about $1 billion under their governor’s own proposal.
Know your history, folks. Up until the early 1970s, the legislature only met every other year.
Even-year sessions were added specifically to consider bonding bills.
If bonding is going to be done in odd-number years, the trade-off should be an agreement to have no session in 2020.
And, by the way, not a penny for the failed MNLARS driver license system.
It’s a black hole by any objective measure, and there should be no additional appropriation without more stringent oversight.
KLOBUCHAR
Let’s get a couple of things straight about Sen. Klobuchar.
One, she’s an abusive boss, plain and simple.
She’s not “demanding” or “assertive” or “tough.”
She’s abusive and her behavior is unacceptable by any reasonable standards of human decency.
Second, she’s not presidential material.
She’s had no meaningful accomplishments in the Senate.
She has nothing in her background that stands out in the field.
Her narrative is little more than that she’s not nuts and she knows how to sit in the middle, or at least pretend to be in the middle.
This isn’t what the crazies on the Left want.
She’ll flame out in Iowa, at the latest, and that will be that.
Quote of the Week: “I believe that impeachment is inevitable. It also is a terrifying notion. Pence is an ideologue, and the ideology he holds is more terrifying to me and my constituents. And we have not had a full impeachment that removes the president from office. Nations struggle any time [they] overthrow a dictator, and Trump really has the markings of a dictator.”
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN5)
Quote of the Week: “This is the same Michael Cohen who has admitted he lied to Congress previously. Why did the Democrats even bother to swear him in?”
- Kayleigh McEnany, Trump Press Secretary
In This Issue:
- Circus Maximus;
- Budget Blues;
- Klobuchar.
CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Republicans, freedom-loving peoples, and the sane should all rejoice this week.
They should rejoice because Democrats continue to walk down a path that will surely lead to defeat in 2020 at both the congressional and presidential level.
To start, let’s recall that while Republicans lost 40 seats, the average margin of victory in those seats was a measly 1%.
Moreover, history proves that a sitting president is tough to beat.
Finally, American political history shows that voters want to vote “for” something, as opposed to “against” something.
While protest votes are certainly present in some elections, like 2018, the appeal and power are ephemeral.
As many predicted, the gang of liberals in Washington isn’t about a pro-jobs, pro-prosperity agenda.
Instead, Pelosi and company are on a maniacal quest to destroy Donald Trump.
Indeed, Pelosi has become the Ahab to Trump’s White Whale.
It’s hard to believe, but the latest edition of Captain Pelosi has only been in power for about a month.
In that time, the vast majority of their time has been spent pursuing and harassing the president.
We witnessed the outrageous spectacle this week of a disbarred, convicted perjurer testifying before Congress.
Think about it. A man convicted of lying to Congress being sworn to tell the truth in front of the very Congress he lied to in the first place.
And lest anyone think that the Swamp Gang has given up on investigating their target’s childhood, think again.
Much like Judge Kavanaugh, Trump’s college transcripts and high school grades are an object of obsession.
Never mind that President Obama steadfastly refused to release his grades and transcripts, perhaps to hide affirmative action favoritism or damage the narrative of Obama as intellectual giant.
This in addition to the obsession with tax returns.
And don’t forget Congressman Adam Schiff declaring that even if the never-ending Mueller probe one day wraps up and concludes there was no conclusion, the Swamp Gang will continue the hunt aboard the USS Pequod.
Thus far, the Democrats even pretended to offer public policy solutions increase opportunity and prosperity, even for favored constituencies.
There’s the “Green New Deal”, which promises to do nothing more than force us all to live the way radical socialists want us to live. That is, meat-free, airplane-free, fossil fuel-free, liberty-free, prosperity-free and free of farting cows.
Beyond that, the Dems have offered nothing beyond the tired bromides about punishing successful people.
The old class-envy chestnuts that one rich man equals one poor man.
That prosperity is a fixed pie that when sliced, means one man gets a big one and the other guy a small one.
It’s interesting that the Republicans have never identified this theory as the corollary of the liberal screed against “trickle down” tax cuts.
The Dems have long brayed that tax cuts for job creators are “trickle down” economics that mean big benefits for those at the top and crumbs for those at the bottom.
And why not the same for radically progressive tax increases?
How does government confiscation of the resources of the wealthy result in widespread prosperity for the poor?
Isn’t this “trickle down” taxation?
Why doesn’t this theory mean nothing more than tax revenue for the bureaucrats and politicians to support their jobs and crumbs for the people their programs purport to serve?
We’ve been 50 plus years into large scale government welfare programs.
By any metric, those programs have not met their stated goals.
BUDGET BLUES
Big spenders at the Capitol got a taste of harsh reality today when the state’s latest budget forecast came in $500 million below previous estimates.
The state’s projected budget surplus, which had been projected at $1.5 billion in the last forecast, came in at about $1 billion even, plummeting by 1/3rd.
The news must have been a blow to freshman governor Tim Walz, who has been on a spending spree as big as any kid in a candy store.
After seeing the new governor in action, it’s easier to understand how Washington, DC blows through so much money.
The news was a sobering reminder that what goes up must come down.
It’s time for the governor to rethink his budget plans.
The news certainly lends credence to GOP calls for spending restraint.
We can start with agreeing that there should be no “bonding” bill in 2019, especially one weighing in at $1.2 billion.
To be clear, that’s $1.2 billion in debt.
To be clear, Walz’s own budget office forecast bonding this year in the amount of $265 million, about $1 billion under their governor’s own proposal.
Know your history, folks. Up until the early 1970s, the legislature only met every other year.
Even-year sessions were added specifically to consider bonding bills.
If bonding is going to be done in odd-number years, the trade-off should be an agreement to have no session in 2020.
And, by the way, not a penny for the failed MNLARS driver license system.
It’s a black hole by any objective measure, and there should be no additional appropriation without more stringent oversight.
KLOBUCHAR
Let’s get a couple of things straight about Sen. Klobuchar.
One, she’s an abusive boss, plain and simple.
She’s not “demanding” or “assertive” or “tough.”
She’s abusive and her behavior is unacceptable by any reasonable standards of human decency.
Second, she’s not presidential material.
She’s had no meaningful accomplishments in the Senate.
She has nothing in her background that stands out in the field.
Her narrative is little more than that she’s not nuts and she knows how to sit in the middle, or at least pretend to be in the middle.
This isn’t what the crazies on the Left want.
She’ll flame out in Iowa, at the latest, and that will be that.
February 22, 2019
Quote of the Week: “The North Star State’s top tax rate of 9.85% is one of the highest in the U.S. But what makes Minnesota really stand out—and not in a good way—is its income tax rate of 5.35% even for the state’s lowest earners.”
Quote of the Week:
With your head down in the pig bin
Saying 'Keep on digging'
Pig stain on your fat chin
What do you hope to find
Down in the pig mine?
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry
In This Issue:
SHOCKING AND RIDICULOUS
Pursuant to state law, Governor Walz released his proposed state budget for the upcoming two-year budget cycle, which will start on July 1st.
We wish he hadn’t. Clearly, the man who campaigned in buffalo plaid as the avuncular, paunchy, white, middle-aged, harmless public servant next door has revealed himself to be little more than yet another incarnation of Mark Dayton.
Simply put, the Walz budget is a shocking and ridiculous orgy of taxing and spending, throwing taxpayer slop at every constituency in the DFL universe.
As a political document, Walz hit another home run with ultra-leftists who are clearly his overlords, they of Line 3, infanticide, and Green New Deal infamy.
Main street taxpayers are likely to see the budget in a different light.
As a public policy document, the proposal is a disaster that shows this governor is out of his depth as a leader and chief executive.
In short, this isn’t a serious proposal. Hell, even the Star Tribune editorial board thinks it’s too much.
Did Nicolas Maduro write this budget?
Here are the three most ridiculous items from the Walz budget.
#1: THE GAS TAX
Despite a $1.5 billion surplus, Walz has proposed a 70% increase in the gas tax, which would vault Minnesota into the top 5 with respect to this tax.
That’s a $1.3 billion rake from taxpayer pockets.
We guess it’s not acceptable that there be at least one tax where this state isn’t in the top 5.
This publication has many, many times over the years pointed out the problems with the gas tax (regressive, geographically inequitable, a declining source of revenue) from a public policy perspective.
The fatal conceit with this particular proposal is that it’s political theater plain and simple. It’s merely a political gimmick designed to position the DFL to blame the GOP for a lack of progress on transportation issues at the next election.
Here’s why we know that.
The DFL could have passed a gas tax recently and declined to do so.
Let’s go back to 2013. After the 2012 elections, the DFL controlled the levers of state government, with Dayton in the governor’s chair and majorities in both the House and Senate.
Predictably, this gang raided taxpayer pockets, jacking up taxes and fees, including a multi-billion increase in the income tax, moving Minnesota into the top 5 in that taxation category.
A gas tax increase that year? Conspicuous by its absence.
The DFL is interested in talking about a gas tax increase only when the GOP is in a position to block it. Politics at its worst.
Need more evidence? Go all the way back to earlier this month, during the special election campaign in Senate District 11.
The Left attempted to smear Republican Jason Rarick for – you guessed it – supporting a gas tax.
They did this by distorting and misrepresenting his position on the issue.
The Left has tipped its hand by showing that they intend to attack any Republican who supports a gas tax increase, especially in rural Minnesota.
Moreover, Governor Walz should be ashamed (and called out) for his use of the 35W bridge collapse to hawk his transportation tax increases.
On his one-page “fact sheet” on transportation, his administration states, “The governor’s budget proposes a common-sense increase in the gas tax to make Minnesotans safer, help businesses and farmers get goods to market, and ensure nothing like the I-35 bridge collapse happens again.” (Emphasis original).
Even with today’s biased media, it’s troubling that Walz hasn’t been called to account for his shameless politicization of this tragedy, much less calling him to account for perpetuating the long-debunked agitprop that the bridge collapse occurred because of a lack of funding (the investigation laid blame for the collapse solely on a faulty engineering design of the bridge’s gusset plates).
#2: THE SICK TAX
Governor Walz proposes repealing the expiration of the immoral, hated “sick tax,” which would result in a $992 million tax on sick people in the next biennium alone.
Since 2003, the state has levied a tax on revenue from patient services at hospitals, surgical centers and health care providers.
In other words, when you visit the doctor, surgeon, or other provider to be made well (or have your life saved), the state taxes the visit.
Thanks to Republicans, the tax is scheduled to expire this year, which Walz wants to stop.
Taxing sick people is bad public policy. It’s also immoral.
It should also be noted that the proposed repeal of this tax contains some budget chicanery as well.
Because of tax and budget interactions, the repeal would trigger a transfer of $122 million of this amount to the state’s general fund, where it would no doubt serve as yet another trough from which DFL constituent groups can feed.
A billion-dollar sick tax. Have at it, Governor Walz.
This has to be a non-starter with the GOP.
#3: GROWING THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
The governor is seeking $700,000 to create a new “Office of Public Engagement” within the governor’s office.
This office would be staffed with 7 full-time employees, who would “help open the two-way dialogue, ensuring that the issues impacting our state’s proud and diverse communities have a receptive team dedicated to making their voices heard within state government and helping their concerns be translated into action by the appropriate state agencies.” Furthermore, “The Office of Public Engagement will actively work to remove obstacles and barriers for engagement and to improve public awareness and involvement in the work of the Walz- Flanagan Administration.”
In short, Walz proposes to use taxpayer dollars to open a taxpayer funded campaign operation to support engagement with Walz’s overlord constituencies and pave the way for the 2022 re-election campaign.
The GOP would be well served to simply dig up the legislation, and accompanying rhetoric, of DFL House Majority Leader Tony Sertich.
When the DFL controlled the House and Senate during 2009-2010, Sertich took the lead in blasting all the “political appointees” in both Governor Pawlenty’s office and the state agencies.
He introduced legislation to reduce these numbers and took delight in publicly denouncing the “fat” in the governor’s office.
The GOP need only to find the Sertich files, dust them off, and go to town.
In many ways, the Walz budget is a political gift, much like the Green New Deal, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Maxine Waters, and Anthony Weiner (now a registered sex offender).
If you haven’t, take a moment to offer a prayer of thanks that the GOP has control of the Senate.
Quote of the Week: “The North Star State’s top tax rate of 9.85% is one of the highest in the U.S. But what makes Minnesota really stand out—and not in a good way—is its income tax rate of 5.35% even for the state’s lowest earners.”
- Kiplinger’s Newsletter, designating Minnesota as the #1 “Least Tax Friendly State” for 2018
Quote of the Week:
With your head down in the pig bin
Saying 'Keep on digging'
Pig stain on your fat chin
What do you hope to find
Down in the pig mine?
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry
- Roger Waters
In This Issue:
- Shocking and Ridiculous.
SHOCKING AND RIDICULOUS
Pursuant to state law, Governor Walz released his proposed state budget for the upcoming two-year budget cycle, which will start on July 1st.
We wish he hadn’t. Clearly, the man who campaigned in buffalo plaid as the avuncular, paunchy, white, middle-aged, harmless public servant next door has revealed himself to be little more than yet another incarnation of Mark Dayton.
Simply put, the Walz budget is a shocking and ridiculous orgy of taxing and spending, throwing taxpayer slop at every constituency in the DFL universe.
As a political document, Walz hit another home run with ultra-leftists who are clearly his overlords, they of Line 3, infanticide, and Green New Deal infamy.
Main street taxpayers are likely to see the budget in a different light.
As a public policy document, the proposal is a disaster that shows this governor is out of his depth as a leader and chief executive.
In short, this isn’t a serious proposal. Hell, even the Star Tribune editorial board thinks it’s too much.
Did Nicolas Maduro write this budget?
Here are the three most ridiculous items from the Walz budget.
#1: THE GAS TAX
Despite a $1.5 billion surplus, Walz has proposed a 70% increase in the gas tax, which would vault Minnesota into the top 5 with respect to this tax.
That’s a $1.3 billion rake from taxpayer pockets.
We guess it’s not acceptable that there be at least one tax where this state isn’t in the top 5.
This publication has many, many times over the years pointed out the problems with the gas tax (regressive, geographically inequitable, a declining source of revenue) from a public policy perspective.
The fatal conceit with this particular proposal is that it’s political theater plain and simple. It’s merely a political gimmick designed to position the DFL to blame the GOP for a lack of progress on transportation issues at the next election.
Here’s why we know that.
The DFL could have passed a gas tax recently and declined to do so.
Let’s go back to 2013. After the 2012 elections, the DFL controlled the levers of state government, with Dayton in the governor’s chair and majorities in both the House and Senate.
Predictably, this gang raided taxpayer pockets, jacking up taxes and fees, including a multi-billion increase in the income tax, moving Minnesota into the top 5 in that taxation category.
A gas tax increase that year? Conspicuous by its absence.
The DFL is interested in talking about a gas tax increase only when the GOP is in a position to block it. Politics at its worst.
Need more evidence? Go all the way back to earlier this month, during the special election campaign in Senate District 11.
The Left attempted to smear Republican Jason Rarick for – you guessed it – supporting a gas tax.
They did this by distorting and misrepresenting his position on the issue.
The Left has tipped its hand by showing that they intend to attack any Republican who supports a gas tax increase, especially in rural Minnesota.
Moreover, Governor Walz should be ashamed (and called out) for his use of the 35W bridge collapse to hawk his transportation tax increases.
On his one-page “fact sheet” on transportation, his administration states, “The governor’s budget proposes a common-sense increase in the gas tax to make Minnesotans safer, help businesses and farmers get goods to market, and ensure nothing like the I-35 bridge collapse happens again.” (Emphasis original).
Even with today’s biased media, it’s troubling that Walz hasn’t been called to account for his shameless politicization of this tragedy, much less calling him to account for perpetuating the long-debunked agitprop that the bridge collapse occurred because of a lack of funding (the investigation laid blame for the collapse solely on a faulty engineering design of the bridge’s gusset plates).
#2: THE SICK TAX
Governor Walz proposes repealing the expiration of the immoral, hated “sick tax,” which would result in a $992 million tax on sick people in the next biennium alone.
Since 2003, the state has levied a tax on revenue from patient services at hospitals, surgical centers and health care providers.
In other words, when you visit the doctor, surgeon, or other provider to be made well (or have your life saved), the state taxes the visit.
Thanks to Republicans, the tax is scheduled to expire this year, which Walz wants to stop.
Taxing sick people is bad public policy. It’s also immoral.
It should also be noted that the proposed repeal of this tax contains some budget chicanery as well.
Because of tax and budget interactions, the repeal would trigger a transfer of $122 million of this amount to the state’s general fund, where it would no doubt serve as yet another trough from which DFL constituent groups can feed.
A billion-dollar sick tax. Have at it, Governor Walz.
This has to be a non-starter with the GOP.
#3: GROWING THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
The governor is seeking $700,000 to create a new “Office of Public Engagement” within the governor’s office.
This office would be staffed with 7 full-time employees, who would “help open the two-way dialogue, ensuring that the issues impacting our state’s proud and diverse communities have a receptive team dedicated to making their voices heard within state government and helping their concerns be translated into action by the appropriate state agencies.” Furthermore, “The Office of Public Engagement will actively work to remove obstacles and barriers for engagement and to improve public awareness and involvement in the work of the Walz- Flanagan Administration.”
In short, Walz proposes to use taxpayer dollars to open a taxpayer funded campaign operation to support engagement with Walz’s overlord constituencies and pave the way for the 2022 re-election campaign.
The GOP would be well served to simply dig up the legislation, and accompanying rhetoric, of DFL House Majority Leader Tony Sertich.
When the DFL controlled the House and Senate during 2009-2010, Sertich took the lead in blasting all the “political appointees” in both Governor Pawlenty’s office and the state agencies.
He introduced legislation to reduce these numbers and took delight in publicly denouncing the “fat” in the governor’s office.
The GOP need only to find the Sertich files, dust them off, and go to town.
In many ways, the Walz budget is a political gift, much like the Green New Deal, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Maxine Waters, and Anthony Weiner (now a registered sex offender).
If you haven’t, take a moment to offer a prayer of thanks that the GOP has control of the Senate.
February 15, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Heaven has walls, a gate, and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders.”
Quote of the Week: “While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.”
Quote of the Week: “Ultimately, we concluded that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Office of Minnesota Information Technology Services (MNIT) must share responsibility for the system’s (MNLARS, the state driver licensing system) unsatisfactory release. Leaders of these agencies and the project did not provide the oversight and direction necessary to ensure, in the end, that the system would meet user needs.”
In This Issue:
ATLAS SHRUGGED
In a week filled with big news, perhaps the biggest news came from corporate behemoth Amazon.
The company summarily withdrew plans for a second headquarters in New York City, thanks to persistent and vocal criticism of the company, which didn’t bode well for a positive relationship with the host jurisdiction.
The move left the city a jilted bride, standing at the altar as the groom drove off with billions in economic development and 25,000 jobs in the back seat.
This publication salutes Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who demonstrated the courage to walk away from ignorant, tyrannical left-wing politicians who have grown quite accustomed to holding up job creators as a rhetorical pinata and a piggy bank to fund their utopian social policies.
In short, Bezos refused to allow looters and moochers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D – NY 14) own him, proving that capital is highly mobile and will not tolerate heavy-handed tactics, if the owner of that capital is willing to show some courage – and fiduciary duty.
Having said that, who in the heck is advising Bezos? Apparently, Amazon was surprised that New York politicians gave Amazon a hostile reception and immediately fashioned plans to put the company under the yoke of high taxes and heavy regulation.
Any dude off the street could have predicted this outcome. Talk about walking around blind without a cane. In this case, a $2.5 billion cane.
On the other hand, the Watchdog will concede that these liberals do make one good point.
Amazon was lured to NYC with a massive government subsidy in the neighborhood of $3 billion.
Critics make a very fair point regarding the propriety of offering massive tax breaks to corporate interests, which is nothing short of crony capitalism.
The public policy of government bidding against government to offer sweetheart deals to lure jobs is a very debatable subject.
Too often, these subsidies are nothing more than market – distorting giveaways that in the final analysis are a net negative for the taxpayer.
The bottom line here is that Jeff Bezos is to be congratulated for telling the looters and moochers to take a hike.
NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
Some readers will recall the early days of the comedy show “Saturday Night Live” and its cast, which called themselves the “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players.”
That title has been unwittingly revived by the cast of Democrats in the new Congress.
Some of these antics are simply funny and entertaining. Some are dangerous and troubling. Many are both.
We start with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D – MN5), who has continued to display her anti-Semitic world view in a brazen and public way.
Multiple instances of this behavior demonstrate that this isn’t a case of a rookie politician making rhetorical mistakes or displaying an ignorance of the tragic history of the Jewish people.
It’s clear to any reasonable observer that there is animus here.
It’s too bad that Jewish DFL leaders like Sen. Ron Latz (DFL – St. Louis Park) seem surprised that their efforts to educate her have failed.
Regardless of political affiliation, anti-Semitism in all its forms should be roundly condemned always and forever.
That Speaker Pelosi would put Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is a slap in the face.
Then there is Amy Klobuchar, who has been outed by multiple former staffer for multiple instances of abuse.
Despite the spin of liberal allies who want to dismiss the abuse as nothing more than a strong female being a strong and demanding leader, this is abuse – period.
Throwing binders at staff or making them arrange her underwear at home is abuse, regardless of the gender of the abuser.
Moreover, let’s all get off this fantasy that she’s presidential material.
Klobuchar has done nothing in the Senate other than successfully lay low and crow about small successes like helping a constituent find their car keys or get a travel voucher for a late flight.
She has no accomplishments.
She also is the wrong candidate at the wrong time. The Democrat base wants crazy and socialist. Her narrative is just the opposite.
She is neither, only abusive and boring.
But the piece de resistance has to be the so-called Green New Deal (GND).
This may one the craziest ideas every floated by someone who wasn’t wasted at the time it was said.
To start, the cost of is so astronomical that it would cost more than the moon landing, the Interstate Highway System, the new Deal, and the cost to fight World War II – combined!
And then there is the matter of the content of the GND, which is little more than a compendium of profoundly stupid ideas.
Of the many profoundly stupid ideas, these are the 5 worst, as voted upon by the Watchdog staff and tabulated by Pricewaterhousecoopers.
One: “Economic security” for those “unwilling” to work. You read that right. Not “unable” but “unwilling” to work. How distinctly un-American yet so distinctly Democrat.
Two: Building a high-speed rail network so that “air travel becomes unnecessary.” No word on how this utopian ideal will overcome the geographical reality of reaching Hawaii or Japan, for example. Well, that would be one hell of a tunnel to Tokyo.
Three: A “government-guaranteed” job for every American that includes a sweet wage, family and medical leave, vacations, and a pension. It’s a mystery regarding who would be left in the private sector to pay the taxes to pay for this Postal-Service-on-steroids proposal.
Four: Ban meat. The document actually blames “farting cows” for the problem, at least in part. How prosaic. Sure, cows fart out their backsides and contribute greenhouse gasses to the equation. On the other hand, many politicians fart out of their mouths, polluting both the atmosphere and our political discourse simultaneously.
Five: All the “free” stuff. These provisions could have come straight from the wishes of any first grader who has become aware of life’s inequities. And it’s just as naïve. Free education, free food, free house, and free money. Again, we want to meet the people who would be stuck with the tab for providing everybody else with this free stuff. Suckers.
But the real suckers are the voters who put these people in power.
SEMI-FREE SAUNAS!
And in case you were thinking Democrats in Minnesota were actually working on serious issues, we present for your consideration House File 1192, authored by Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – Sough Saint Paul).
This bill would provide a tax credit to install a sauna in your house.
You heard that right. A tax credit for a sauna.
No word on any bills forthcoming for a tax credit to install a hot tub, wet bar, bowling lane, or skeeball ramp in the ol’ man cave.
Come to think of it, you could enjoy the sauna in your free government-provided house where you will spend a lot of time because you are unwilling to work.
It’s all good.
Quote of the Week: “Heaven has walls, a gate, and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders.”
- Attributed to an ad for a grocery store in Arkansas
Quote of the Week: “While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.”
- Amazon Statement
Quote of the Week: “Ultimately, we concluded that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Office of Minnesota Information Technology Services (MNIT) must share responsibility for the system’s (MNLARS, the state driver licensing system) unsatisfactory release. Leaders of these agencies and the project did not provide the oversight and direction necessary to ensure, in the end, that the system would meet user needs.”
- MN Office of the Legislative Auditor
In This Issue:
- Atlas Shrugged;
- Not Ready for Prime Time;
- Semi-Free Saunas!
ATLAS SHRUGGED
In a week filled with big news, perhaps the biggest news came from corporate behemoth Amazon.
The company summarily withdrew plans for a second headquarters in New York City, thanks to persistent and vocal criticism of the company, which didn’t bode well for a positive relationship with the host jurisdiction.
The move left the city a jilted bride, standing at the altar as the groom drove off with billions in economic development and 25,000 jobs in the back seat.
This publication salutes Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who demonstrated the courage to walk away from ignorant, tyrannical left-wing politicians who have grown quite accustomed to holding up job creators as a rhetorical pinata and a piggy bank to fund their utopian social policies.
In short, Bezos refused to allow looters and moochers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D – NY 14) own him, proving that capital is highly mobile and will not tolerate heavy-handed tactics, if the owner of that capital is willing to show some courage – and fiduciary duty.
Having said that, who in the heck is advising Bezos? Apparently, Amazon was surprised that New York politicians gave Amazon a hostile reception and immediately fashioned plans to put the company under the yoke of high taxes and heavy regulation.
Any dude off the street could have predicted this outcome. Talk about walking around blind without a cane. In this case, a $2.5 billion cane.
On the other hand, the Watchdog will concede that these liberals do make one good point.
Amazon was lured to NYC with a massive government subsidy in the neighborhood of $3 billion.
Critics make a very fair point regarding the propriety of offering massive tax breaks to corporate interests, which is nothing short of crony capitalism.
The public policy of government bidding against government to offer sweetheart deals to lure jobs is a very debatable subject.
Too often, these subsidies are nothing more than market – distorting giveaways that in the final analysis are a net negative for the taxpayer.
The bottom line here is that Jeff Bezos is to be congratulated for telling the looters and moochers to take a hike.
NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
Some readers will recall the early days of the comedy show “Saturday Night Live” and its cast, which called themselves the “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players.”
That title has been unwittingly revived by the cast of Democrats in the new Congress.
Some of these antics are simply funny and entertaining. Some are dangerous and troubling. Many are both.
We start with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D – MN5), who has continued to display her anti-Semitic world view in a brazen and public way.
Multiple instances of this behavior demonstrate that this isn’t a case of a rookie politician making rhetorical mistakes or displaying an ignorance of the tragic history of the Jewish people.
It’s clear to any reasonable observer that there is animus here.
It’s too bad that Jewish DFL leaders like Sen. Ron Latz (DFL – St. Louis Park) seem surprised that their efforts to educate her have failed.
Regardless of political affiliation, anti-Semitism in all its forms should be roundly condemned always and forever.
That Speaker Pelosi would put Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is a slap in the face.
Then there is Amy Klobuchar, who has been outed by multiple former staffer for multiple instances of abuse.
Despite the spin of liberal allies who want to dismiss the abuse as nothing more than a strong female being a strong and demanding leader, this is abuse – period.
Throwing binders at staff or making them arrange her underwear at home is abuse, regardless of the gender of the abuser.
Moreover, let’s all get off this fantasy that she’s presidential material.
Klobuchar has done nothing in the Senate other than successfully lay low and crow about small successes like helping a constituent find their car keys or get a travel voucher for a late flight.
She has no accomplishments.
She also is the wrong candidate at the wrong time. The Democrat base wants crazy and socialist. Her narrative is just the opposite.
She is neither, only abusive and boring.
But the piece de resistance has to be the so-called Green New Deal (GND).
This may one the craziest ideas every floated by someone who wasn’t wasted at the time it was said.
To start, the cost of is so astronomical that it would cost more than the moon landing, the Interstate Highway System, the new Deal, and the cost to fight World War II – combined!
And then there is the matter of the content of the GND, which is little more than a compendium of profoundly stupid ideas.
Of the many profoundly stupid ideas, these are the 5 worst, as voted upon by the Watchdog staff and tabulated by Pricewaterhousecoopers.
One: “Economic security” for those “unwilling” to work. You read that right. Not “unable” but “unwilling” to work. How distinctly un-American yet so distinctly Democrat.
Two: Building a high-speed rail network so that “air travel becomes unnecessary.” No word on how this utopian ideal will overcome the geographical reality of reaching Hawaii or Japan, for example. Well, that would be one hell of a tunnel to Tokyo.
Three: A “government-guaranteed” job for every American that includes a sweet wage, family and medical leave, vacations, and a pension. It’s a mystery regarding who would be left in the private sector to pay the taxes to pay for this Postal-Service-on-steroids proposal.
Four: Ban meat. The document actually blames “farting cows” for the problem, at least in part. How prosaic. Sure, cows fart out their backsides and contribute greenhouse gasses to the equation. On the other hand, many politicians fart out of their mouths, polluting both the atmosphere and our political discourse simultaneously.
Five: All the “free” stuff. These provisions could have come straight from the wishes of any first grader who has become aware of life’s inequities. And it’s just as naïve. Free education, free food, free house, and free money. Again, we want to meet the people who would be stuck with the tab for providing everybody else with this free stuff. Suckers.
But the real suckers are the voters who put these people in power.
SEMI-FREE SAUNAS!
And in case you were thinking Democrats in Minnesota were actually working on serious issues, we present for your consideration House File 1192, authored by Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – Sough Saint Paul).
This bill would provide a tax credit to install a sauna in your house.
You heard that right. A tax credit for a sauna.
No word on any bills forthcoming for a tax credit to install a hot tub, wet bar, bowling lane, or skeeball ramp in the ol’ man cave.
Come to think of it, you could enjoy the sauna in your free government-provided house where you will spend a lot of time because you are unwilling to work.
It’s all good.
February 8th, 2019
Quote of the Week: "No issue better illustrates the divide between America's WORKING CLASS and America's POLITICAL CLASS than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards."
Quote of the Week: “A great deal of America’s economic progress has resulted from people’s aspiration to make more and live better. Take that away and what do we have? The people at the bottom won’t have as many at the top to resent.”
Quote of the Week: “Does the left understand the long-term consequences of the majority imposing confiscatory taxes on the rich, and do they really want them? Will reducing the incentive to earn more (or incentivizing successful Americans to transfer their citizenship to other nations) really result in the betterment of most people? Americans generally accept the concept of progressive tax rates. But they must not be punitive and de-motivating.”
In This Issue:
RARICK!
A political earthquake rocked Minnesota Tuesday night when state Rep. Jason Rarick (R – Pine City) decisively topped DFLer Stu Lourey to win the state Senate seat vacated by DFLer Tony Lourey, Stu’s daddy.
Despite massive DFL spending, Rarick won by six points, and flipped a blue seat to red.
One cannot overestimate the value of this victory, both in the near and long term.
In the near term, the win gives the Senate GOP a critical 35-32 majority, which is important because the Senate will need to act as a check and balance against the DFL governor and the crazy DFL rabble now running the House (think DC. Same style).
The win also gives the GOP a morale boost after a tough 2018 election.
Moreover, it gives the Red Team some momentum moving forward, especially as the House mow prepares for a special election to fill Rarick’s soon-to-be-vacant House seat.
In the longer term, the win provides further confirmation of a political re-alignment that flipping rural Minnesota into the GOP camp, and isn’t simply a temporary phenomenon.
The Senate seat had been in DFL hands for many decades before Rarick’s win.
This win continues a GOP win streak in long-held DFL seats in rural Minnesota.
While Donald Trump and Pete Stauber won the district, Tina Smith and Tim Walz also won it.
Obama won it twice as well.
The loss of this clearly represents a long-term trend on rural Minnesotans not only voting GOP, but identifying with the GOP platform.
The victory was also an unmitigated disaster for the DFL and frankly, uncharacteristic of their normally squared away campaign operation.
First, why did the governor create an open seat (and special election) in a swing district that has been trending Republican? It was an unnecessary risk, especially given that the Senate was so closely divided at 34-33.
Second, candidate quality matters and the GOP won that battle big time. Stu Lourey is a twenty-something kid with no work history other than working out in DC for politicians. No worldly experience, not married, no kids, no understanding of life issues like paying the mortgage, worrying about sick kids, or retirement. In fact, if he would have had any other last name, he wouldn’t have had a second look by the DFL. Instead, he flew home from DC to run like a prince would come home to claim a vacant crown.
On the other hand, the GOP ran a card-carrying union electrician who owned his own business, loves to hunt, ride snowmobiles, and knows what it’s like to work with your hands.
In fact, sources tell the Watchdog that senior DFLers didn’t even know Rarick was a union electrician, when any B-grade operative could have told you Rarick was going to be the GOP candidate if the seat became vacant. Some of these same people then lost their minds when many trade unions do what they often do, they endorsed a union brother, party affiliation being irrelevant to the brotherhood.
Third, Rarick was attacked by Lourey supporters for supporting a gas tax increase, which was a total misrepresentation of his position on the issue.
In the end, it didn’t matter to the election but will have big ramifications at the Capitol.
The DFL has been touting a gas tax increase as an essential part of the transportation plan.
By attacking a Republican for supporting a gas tax increase (while untrue), every single moderate Republican who may have been open to a gas tax has now been put on notice that the Left may attack them for it.
The gas tax is now dead as a door nail, which is just fine.
It was truly a horrible, nasty, really bad week for the DFL.
BIG MONEY
This is your regular reminder that despite all their claims of “getting money out of politics,” the Democrats are the biggest practitioners of election buying in the history of the universe.
Here are the latest numbers regarding the influence of money in politics.
Third party groups spent nearly $12 million to support Tim Walz or oppose Jeff Johnson for governor.
Johnson was the beneficiary of only $2.6 million of similar spending.
All told, over $33 million in independent expenditures on behalf of candidates happened in 2018.
Of the amount, $17.4 million was spent by three groups, the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, the Minnesota DFL, and the Minnesota Victory PAC.
Guess the political affiliation of all three groups.
And despite holding a sizable majority, the House GOP was outraised by the House DFL by a 2 to 1 margin.
In the attorney general’s race, outside groups favored Keith Ellison in spending by a whopping 12 to 1 margin.
The only bright spot last year?
In the sole state Senate race, a special election, Republican Jeff Howe won despite outside groups helping his opponent by a 2 to 1 margin.
Outside groups spent a remarkable $1.6 million trying to elect Howe’s opponent. For a state Senate seat!
NEW YORK BLUES
In the same way that Venezuela has served as a canary in the coal mine regarding socialism, Ne York is now acting as that canary regarding high taxes.
In short, hard evidence is mounting that wealthy people are fleeing New York to lower tax jurisdictions.
Of course, New York democrats are stunned by the idea that capital would flee high tax jurisdictions to lower.
The first wake up call came when the state realized income tax collections would fall short by $2.8 billion, scotching plans to jack up spending on a host of programs demanded mostly by those who don’t pay income taxes.
The next wake up came in the form of greatly increased home purchases in Florida by people from Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
Real estate data show that Florida buying has spiked, with many buyers coming from New York and the other two states mentioned above.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo correctly “blamed” changes in the federal tax code for the spoiling of his schemes.
The new federal tax code, in a stroke of genius, limited the deductibility of state and local taxes to a maximum of $10,000.
Since states like New York impose taxes in an amount much higher than this, taxpayers are now feeling the pain of these taxes now that other federal payers aren’t there to subsidize New York’s tax policies.
Under the tax changes, a wealth taxpayer in New York City would pay a combined tax rate of 50.4% of income.
No wonder the productive are fleeing to states like Florida, with no income tax.
We guess the rich aren’t happy to pay for a better New York.
The New York situation should serve as a reminder for Tim Walz and the DFL here in Minnesota.
Capital is highly mobile and will move when taxes become punitive and confiscatory.
Moreover, Minnesota isn’t New York. We don’t have Wall Street, Broadway, and the cosmopolitan draw of Gotham.
Tim Walz has made all sorts of expensive promises to make it to the governor’s mansion.
He would be well served to look to New York as he fashions his proposed budget.
Quote of the Week: "No issue better illustrates the divide between America's WORKING CLASS and America's POLITICAL CLASS than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards."
- President Donald J. Trump
Quote of the Week: “A great deal of America’s economic progress has resulted from people’s aspiration to make more and live better. Take that away and what do we have? The people at the bottom won’t have as many at the top to resent.”
- Howard Marks
Quote of the Week: “Does the left understand the long-term consequences of the majority imposing confiscatory taxes on the rich, and do they really want them? Will reducing the incentive to earn more (or incentivizing successful Americans to transfer their citizenship to other nations) really result in the betterment of most people? Americans generally accept the concept of progressive tax rates. But they must not be punitive and de-motivating.”
- Howard Marks
In This Issue:
- Rarick!
- Big Money;
- New York Blues.
RARICK!
A political earthquake rocked Minnesota Tuesday night when state Rep. Jason Rarick (R – Pine City) decisively topped DFLer Stu Lourey to win the state Senate seat vacated by DFLer Tony Lourey, Stu’s daddy.
Despite massive DFL spending, Rarick won by six points, and flipped a blue seat to red.
One cannot overestimate the value of this victory, both in the near and long term.
In the near term, the win gives the Senate GOP a critical 35-32 majority, which is important because the Senate will need to act as a check and balance against the DFL governor and the crazy DFL rabble now running the House (think DC. Same style).
The win also gives the GOP a morale boost after a tough 2018 election.
Moreover, it gives the Red Team some momentum moving forward, especially as the House mow prepares for a special election to fill Rarick’s soon-to-be-vacant House seat.
In the longer term, the win provides further confirmation of a political re-alignment that flipping rural Minnesota into the GOP camp, and isn’t simply a temporary phenomenon.
The Senate seat had been in DFL hands for many decades before Rarick’s win.
This win continues a GOP win streak in long-held DFL seats in rural Minnesota.
While Donald Trump and Pete Stauber won the district, Tina Smith and Tim Walz also won it.
Obama won it twice as well.
The loss of this clearly represents a long-term trend on rural Minnesotans not only voting GOP, but identifying with the GOP platform.
The victory was also an unmitigated disaster for the DFL and frankly, uncharacteristic of their normally squared away campaign operation.
First, why did the governor create an open seat (and special election) in a swing district that has been trending Republican? It was an unnecessary risk, especially given that the Senate was so closely divided at 34-33.
Second, candidate quality matters and the GOP won that battle big time. Stu Lourey is a twenty-something kid with no work history other than working out in DC for politicians. No worldly experience, not married, no kids, no understanding of life issues like paying the mortgage, worrying about sick kids, or retirement. In fact, if he would have had any other last name, he wouldn’t have had a second look by the DFL. Instead, he flew home from DC to run like a prince would come home to claim a vacant crown.
On the other hand, the GOP ran a card-carrying union electrician who owned his own business, loves to hunt, ride snowmobiles, and knows what it’s like to work with your hands.
In fact, sources tell the Watchdog that senior DFLers didn’t even know Rarick was a union electrician, when any B-grade operative could have told you Rarick was going to be the GOP candidate if the seat became vacant. Some of these same people then lost their minds when many trade unions do what they often do, they endorsed a union brother, party affiliation being irrelevant to the brotherhood.
Third, Rarick was attacked by Lourey supporters for supporting a gas tax increase, which was a total misrepresentation of his position on the issue.
In the end, it didn’t matter to the election but will have big ramifications at the Capitol.
The DFL has been touting a gas tax increase as an essential part of the transportation plan.
By attacking a Republican for supporting a gas tax increase (while untrue), every single moderate Republican who may have been open to a gas tax has now been put on notice that the Left may attack them for it.
The gas tax is now dead as a door nail, which is just fine.
It was truly a horrible, nasty, really bad week for the DFL.
BIG MONEY
This is your regular reminder that despite all their claims of “getting money out of politics,” the Democrats are the biggest practitioners of election buying in the history of the universe.
Here are the latest numbers regarding the influence of money in politics.
Third party groups spent nearly $12 million to support Tim Walz or oppose Jeff Johnson for governor.
Johnson was the beneficiary of only $2.6 million of similar spending.
All told, over $33 million in independent expenditures on behalf of candidates happened in 2018.
Of the amount, $17.4 million was spent by three groups, the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, the Minnesota DFL, and the Minnesota Victory PAC.
Guess the political affiliation of all three groups.
And despite holding a sizable majority, the House GOP was outraised by the House DFL by a 2 to 1 margin.
In the attorney general’s race, outside groups favored Keith Ellison in spending by a whopping 12 to 1 margin.
The only bright spot last year?
In the sole state Senate race, a special election, Republican Jeff Howe won despite outside groups helping his opponent by a 2 to 1 margin.
Outside groups spent a remarkable $1.6 million trying to elect Howe’s opponent. For a state Senate seat!
NEW YORK BLUES
In the same way that Venezuela has served as a canary in the coal mine regarding socialism, Ne York is now acting as that canary regarding high taxes.
In short, hard evidence is mounting that wealthy people are fleeing New York to lower tax jurisdictions.
Of course, New York democrats are stunned by the idea that capital would flee high tax jurisdictions to lower.
The first wake up call came when the state realized income tax collections would fall short by $2.8 billion, scotching plans to jack up spending on a host of programs demanded mostly by those who don’t pay income taxes.
The next wake up came in the form of greatly increased home purchases in Florida by people from Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
Real estate data show that Florida buying has spiked, with many buyers coming from New York and the other two states mentioned above.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo correctly “blamed” changes in the federal tax code for the spoiling of his schemes.
The new federal tax code, in a stroke of genius, limited the deductibility of state and local taxes to a maximum of $10,000.
Since states like New York impose taxes in an amount much higher than this, taxpayers are now feeling the pain of these taxes now that other federal payers aren’t there to subsidize New York’s tax policies.
Under the tax changes, a wealth taxpayer in New York City would pay a combined tax rate of 50.4% of income.
No wonder the productive are fleeing to states like Florida, with no income tax.
We guess the rich aren’t happy to pay for a better New York.
The New York situation should serve as a reminder for Tim Walz and the DFL here in Minnesota.
Capital is highly mobile and will move when taxes become punitive and confiscatory.
Moreover, Minnesota isn’t New York. We don’t have Wall Street, Broadway, and the cosmopolitan draw of Gotham.
Tim Walz has made all sorts of expensive promises to make it to the governor’s mansion.
He would be well served to look to New York as he fashions his proposed budget.
February 1st, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Today, thanks to Roe, getting an abortion is safer than getting your tonsils out.”
Editor’s Note: Unless, of course, you are the aborted child. Then, a tonsillectomy looks quite appealing.
Quote of the Week: “We can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities. So, 70 percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent. So, that’s a place we can start.”
In This Issue:
SWITCHING TEAMS
There has been a great deal of media fanfare (of course) over the past month, as the always-objective Fourth Estate covered the party switching of a number of politicians from the GOP to the Democrats.
The icing on the cake is that these politicians happen to be women (bonus!).
The icing on the icing of the cake is that these women also happen to represent suburban legislative districts.
All of this fits neatly into the media’s narrative that the Republican Party is doomed because of troubles in the suburbs and from women (where have we heard that before? 1992, 2000, 2008, 2012 to name a few).
Four members of the Kansas legislature and one from New Jersey switched because (are you sitting?) the Democrats are more “moderate.”
According to Kansas State Senator Barbara Bollier, the GOP rewarded purity and punished independence.
Colleague Dinah Sykes thought the GOP too divisive.
So, what of the party they are joining?
Perhaps some enterprising journalist might continue to cover the story by asking the five if they agree with their party on the following:
Late-term abortion, up the point the child graduates high school, apparently;
Marginal tax rates hitting Venezuela-type rates;
Total firearm confiscation;
No private health insurance;
Anti-Semitism;
Radical group identity politics.
How moderate. Good luck with all that, ladies.
SPECIAL ELECTION – THE MONEY CHASE
Next Tuesday, there will be a special election in Northeast Minnesota to determine who will fill a state Senate seat left vacant when the DFL incumbent was appointed to a position in the Walz administration.
The race already has many interesting angles that make the outcome a true tossup.
The seat has been in the hands of the DFL for many decades.
On the other hand, Donald Trump won the district handily.
Pete Stauber also won the district in his successful run for Congress.
The “A” side of the district leans DFL and has a DFL state Representative.
On the other hand, the “B” side of the district has a Republican state Representative.
The DFL candidate is the scion of a DFL political dynasty, the Loureys, that have held the seat for decades.
The GOP candidate is a union electrician who proudly wears his union and blue-collar credentials.
Handicapping the race is difficult because it’s just really hard to predict who is going to leave the house on a cold February night to cast a single vote for one office.
Having said that, fundraising is one proxy we can use for candidate strength.
This week, the “pre-general election” fundraising totals were released.
Stu Lourey (DFL)
Cash Raised: $60,000
Spent: $44,000
Cash on Hand: $16,000
Jason Rarick (GOP)
Cash Raised: $50,000
Spent: $29,000
Cash on Hand: $21,000
The money race tells what most observers have divined: the race is likely to be close, just like the cash report.
The district is one of those rural seats that safe DFL just a few years ago but has been trending towards the GOP in recent times, thanks to the DFL’s leftward drift at the behest of the liberal urban donors who call the shots.
Stay tuned Tuesday night!
AFL-CIO VS. CONSTRUCTION TRADES
And while we’re on this race, let’s address the scam some liberals are pulling by claiming Jason Rarick isn’t a true union brother because he has a poor AFL-CIO scorecard.
Let’s be clear: The AFL-CIO isn’t the construction trades union.
The AFL is dominated by public sector unions like the teachers, government office workers, and bus drivers.
These aren’t the hard-working private sector hard hats who earn a living with their hands, building Minnesota and America.
Rarick received a 28% score from the AFL-CIO for the 2018, indicating he voted “wrong” and “against working people” 72% of the time.
So, what were some of those “Wrong” votes?
Nearly all of them were his support of funding bills for state government, which the AFL-CIO deemed inadequate.
In other words, all the public union people who run the AFL-CIO dinged him because he didn’t spend enough money to grow government for them and their jobs.
Never mind that most of these bills had bi-partisan support and were signed into law by Governor Dayton.
Here’s another alleged vote against working people: Rarick voted in favor of a bill increasing penalties for the jokers who have been shutting down freeways and the airport.
The AFL-CIO considered voting against the bill important because “Working people have used disruptive protest as a necessary tool to achieve positive social change.”
Right.
When was the last time you saw a group of electricians or pipe fitters blocking I-94?
Most likely you did see them on I-94, working on the roadways to make them safer and more efficient.
Odds are, if you walked into any watering hole and asked the blue-collar guys at the bar if taxes are too high and government too large, they would agree with Rarick.
Ask those same guys if they want tougher penalties on the people shutting down the freeways with their protests, the guys would be with Rarick.
We seriously doubt they would opine that “disruptive protest” is a tool for social change.
For too long, the AFL-CIO has pretended to be a hard hat union because they know most people long ago got sick of public unions and their schtick.
In fact, many construction trade unions don’t even belong to the AFL-CIO.
The simple fact is that Rarick is very representative of his fellow trades members.
They pay too much in taxes.
They think government is out of control.
They drive fossil-fuel burning things.
They own guns.
They go to church on Sunday.
They are the reason the DFL is a dying species in rural Minnesota.
The DFL left them long ago to suckle at the teet of the monied liberal elites who populate one or two zip codes in Minneapolis and look down their noses at people who earn a living with their hands and have “unenlightened” views of guns, abortion, climate change, and homosexuality.
Put Jason Rarick at any trade union meeting and the whole room would shake their heads in approval of his voting record and views of the world.
Quote of the Week: “Today, thanks to Roe, getting an abortion is safer than getting your tonsils out.”
- Elizabeth Warren (D – MA)
Editor’s Note: Unless, of course, you are the aborted child. Then, a tonsillectomy looks quite appealing.
Quote of the Week: “We can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities. So, 70 percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent. So, that’s a place we can start.”
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN -5)
In This Issue:
- Switching Teams;
- Special Election – the Money Chase;
- AFL-CIO vs. Construction Trades.
SWITCHING TEAMS
There has been a great deal of media fanfare (of course) over the past month, as the always-objective Fourth Estate covered the party switching of a number of politicians from the GOP to the Democrats.
The icing on the cake is that these politicians happen to be women (bonus!).
The icing on the icing of the cake is that these women also happen to represent suburban legislative districts.
All of this fits neatly into the media’s narrative that the Republican Party is doomed because of troubles in the suburbs and from women (where have we heard that before? 1992, 2000, 2008, 2012 to name a few).
Four members of the Kansas legislature and one from New Jersey switched because (are you sitting?) the Democrats are more “moderate.”
According to Kansas State Senator Barbara Bollier, the GOP rewarded purity and punished independence.
Colleague Dinah Sykes thought the GOP too divisive.
So, what of the party they are joining?
Perhaps some enterprising journalist might continue to cover the story by asking the five if they agree with their party on the following:
Late-term abortion, up the point the child graduates high school, apparently;
Marginal tax rates hitting Venezuela-type rates;
Total firearm confiscation;
No private health insurance;
Anti-Semitism;
Radical group identity politics.
How moderate. Good luck with all that, ladies.
SPECIAL ELECTION – THE MONEY CHASE
Next Tuesday, there will be a special election in Northeast Minnesota to determine who will fill a state Senate seat left vacant when the DFL incumbent was appointed to a position in the Walz administration.
The race already has many interesting angles that make the outcome a true tossup.
The seat has been in the hands of the DFL for many decades.
On the other hand, Donald Trump won the district handily.
Pete Stauber also won the district in his successful run for Congress.
The “A” side of the district leans DFL and has a DFL state Representative.
On the other hand, the “B” side of the district has a Republican state Representative.
The DFL candidate is the scion of a DFL political dynasty, the Loureys, that have held the seat for decades.
The GOP candidate is a union electrician who proudly wears his union and blue-collar credentials.
Handicapping the race is difficult because it’s just really hard to predict who is going to leave the house on a cold February night to cast a single vote for one office.
Having said that, fundraising is one proxy we can use for candidate strength.
This week, the “pre-general election” fundraising totals were released.
Stu Lourey (DFL)
Cash Raised: $60,000
Spent: $44,000
Cash on Hand: $16,000
Jason Rarick (GOP)
Cash Raised: $50,000
Spent: $29,000
Cash on Hand: $21,000
The money race tells what most observers have divined: the race is likely to be close, just like the cash report.
The district is one of those rural seats that safe DFL just a few years ago but has been trending towards the GOP in recent times, thanks to the DFL’s leftward drift at the behest of the liberal urban donors who call the shots.
Stay tuned Tuesday night!
AFL-CIO VS. CONSTRUCTION TRADES
And while we’re on this race, let’s address the scam some liberals are pulling by claiming Jason Rarick isn’t a true union brother because he has a poor AFL-CIO scorecard.
Let’s be clear: The AFL-CIO isn’t the construction trades union.
The AFL is dominated by public sector unions like the teachers, government office workers, and bus drivers.
These aren’t the hard-working private sector hard hats who earn a living with their hands, building Minnesota and America.
Rarick received a 28% score from the AFL-CIO for the 2018, indicating he voted “wrong” and “against working people” 72% of the time.
So, what were some of those “Wrong” votes?
Nearly all of them were his support of funding bills for state government, which the AFL-CIO deemed inadequate.
In other words, all the public union people who run the AFL-CIO dinged him because he didn’t spend enough money to grow government for them and their jobs.
Never mind that most of these bills had bi-partisan support and were signed into law by Governor Dayton.
Here’s another alleged vote against working people: Rarick voted in favor of a bill increasing penalties for the jokers who have been shutting down freeways and the airport.
The AFL-CIO considered voting against the bill important because “Working people have used disruptive protest as a necessary tool to achieve positive social change.”
Right.
When was the last time you saw a group of electricians or pipe fitters blocking I-94?
Most likely you did see them on I-94, working on the roadways to make them safer and more efficient.
Odds are, if you walked into any watering hole and asked the blue-collar guys at the bar if taxes are too high and government too large, they would agree with Rarick.
Ask those same guys if they want tougher penalties on the people shutting down the freeways with their protests, the guys would be with Rarick.
We seriously doubt they would opine that “disruptive protest” is a tool for social change.
For too long, the AFL-CIO has pretended to be a hard hat union because they know most people long ago got sick of public unions and their schtick.
In fact, many construction trade unions don’t even belong to the AFL-CIO.
The simple fact is that Rarick is very representative of his fellow trades members.
They pay too much in taxes.
They think government is out of control.
They drive fossil-fuel burning things.
They own guns.
They go to church on Sunday.
They are the reason the DFL is a dying species in rural Minnesota.
The DFL left them long ago to suckle at the teet of the monied liberal elites who populate one or two zip codes in Minneapolis and look down their noses at people who earn a living with their hands and have “unenlightened” views of guns, abortion, climate change, and homosexuality.
Put Jason Rarick at any trade union meeting and the whole room would shake their heads in approval of his voting record and views of the world.
January 25th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “Rep. Omar is an embarrassment to Minnesota, and it’s time for the rest of the Minnesota delegation to denounce her anti-Semitic views and support of hate groups.”
Quote of the Week: “In New York, you are not allowed to give a lethal injection to convicted serial killers, pedophiles, rapists, school shooters, or any other species of monster. But you can give a lethal injection to an infant. Indeed, you can only give lethal injections to infants in New York. The crime of child rape will not earn you the needle. The crime of being conceived in the wrong womb might. It is a capital offense, and you may well be made to suffer dearly for it.”
In This Issue:
POP QUIZ
Alright, it’s a pop quiz. Pick the Democrat candidate, based on the biographical information of each.
Candidate #1: Union electrician. Started his own electrical contracting company, which is also union. Never went to college; educated in the electrician’s apprenticeship training program. Likes to snowmobile, ice fish, and hunt deer. Lives in a rural area of the district and drives a pick-up.
Candidate #2: Lists a work history in politics. No private sector experience. Graduate of Carleton College. Has been living in Washington, DC (AKA The Swamp) for the past year. Comes from a political dynasty that has been in political office for decades.
If you guessed that the Democrat was candidate #1, you would be WRONG.
Candidate #1 is Jason Rarick, who is the Republican candidate for Senate District 11.
This district will elect a new state Senator on February 5th to replace the incumbent, who was appointed to a political patronage job by Governor Tim Walz.
Jason Rarick doesn’t come from a background of any prominence or privilege. His daddy was no one of any note.
He didn’t go to an elite private college, where the tuition is $55,000 per year, which is more than the median annual household income in Senate District 11 by a long shot.
Instead, Rarick graduated high school and enrolled in the electrician’s apprenticeship program, where he learned to become a skilled tradesman and work with his hands.
After mastering the craft of the electrician, he took the risk of starting his own company, Rarick Electric.
He started out like every entrepreneur, with one truck, one employee, and big dreams.
He knows what it means to worry about feeding a family.
He knows what it’s like to worry about work and where the next job will come from.
He knows what it’s like to work with your hands.
He knows how to assemble, disassemble, and perform a functions check on a deer rifle.
He knows how to change the oil in truck and a snowmobile.
The Democrat, Stu Lourey, couldn’t be more different.
After graduating from Carleton College, he immediately went to work in politics, working for both Senator Al “happy hands” Franken and Senator Tina Smith.
Beyond that, Lourey has no work history.
His only real credentials for serving the people the Senate District 11 is that he has the correct last name.
You see, Stu’s dad has been the state Senator for some years.
And before that, Stu’s grand mama was the senator.
In short, he comes from a political dynasty. And dynasties always believe that DNA is really the only qualification to propagate dynasties.
Put another way, if Stu’s last name was “Jones” or “Lundquist” or “O’Leary”, he wouldn’t have had a shot at this office.
How ironic that the party of the “working man” is backing a privileged kid who has a powerful daddy for office over a true working man who boasts of nothing more than a belief that an honest day’s work will get you an honest day’s pay.
If the parties were reversed, if Rarick had the Carleton degree and the Lourey pedigree, there would be no end to howls of “rich kid, entitled kid” protestations emanating from DFL headquarters.
Kind of like the selective concern over wealth (Dayton unearned wealth OK, Romney earned wealth not OK) they hypocritically trot out when it suits them.
To get a great visual presentation of what we’re describing, head on over to Stu’s web site.
Take a look at the photos.
You see him all dressed up in Carhart work gear and Gamehide hunting gear.
There’s just one minor problem.
None of the gear has a single rip or stain.
No coffee stains. No blood stains. No mud. No dust.
It looks like Stu borrowed the gear from John Kerry.
https://www.stulourey.com/meet/
This race is a microcosm of the problem the DFL has with rural voters.
The Republican is authentic and a true representation of the district.
The Democrat is not. The Democrat has rolled in from Washington, DC by way of Carleton, to lay claim to the senate seat like it’s some sort of family heirloom.
We will see if the good people of Senate District 11 think that any man is entitled to inherit political office.
Pine City is a world away from Hyannis Port.
ANOTHER WEEK
It just wouldn’t be a normal week if we didn’t spill some ink describing DFL lunacy and hypocrisy.
And we will do so without even mentioning the anti-Semitic bigotry of Ilhan Omar, the shocking economic illiteracy of AOC, or the foul-mouthed mendacity of Rashida Tlaib.
Let’s start in Saint Paul, where DFLers on the House Taxes Committee fretted aloud this week over possible tax increases for Minnesotans should the state tax code “conform” to recent federal changes.
We will remember that selective concern regarding tax increases when those same Dems call for gas tax increases, tobacco tax increases, and a repeal of the scheduled sunset of the $600 million tax on healthcare services, which is to expire this year.
Out in Washington, could it be any more obvious that the Dems are playing politics with the shutdown?
They think they are “winning” the shutdown, so they show no compunction about extending the pain.
Hell, they don’t even pretend to care.
They run out of town to party in Puerto Rico with lobbyists.
They leave town, to fundraise, run for president, or just hang out at home.
They vote against no-strings-attached bills to pay federal workers.
They brazenly state that the only path to a solution is to give them what they want, in exchange for beginning negotiations on what the president wants.
The only problem for Chuck and Nancy is that this president has shown, in spades, that he is willing to bear a heavy price to vindicate his position.
This isn’t the GOP of old, the party that shrank from every fight and showed a political glass jaw.
This president can take a punch.
Good luck with that, Dems.
Quote of the Week: “Rep. Omar is an embarrassment to Minnesota, and it’s time for the rest of the Minnesota delegation to denounce her anti-Semitic views and support of hate groups.”
- National Republican Congressional Committee
Quote of the Week: “In New York, you are not allowed to give a lethal injection to convicted serial killers, pedophiles, rapists, school shooters, or any other species of monster. But you can give a lethal injection to an infant. Indeed, you can only give lethal injections to infants in New York. The crime of child rape will not earn you the needle. The crime of being conceived in the wrong womb might. It is a capital offense, and you may well be made to suffer dearly for it.”
- Matt Walsh
In This Issue:
- Pop Quiz;
- Another Week.
POP QUIZ
Alright, it’s a pop quiz. Pick the Democrat candidate, based on the biographical information of each.
Candidate #1: Union electrician. Started his own electrical contracting company, which is also union. Never went to college; educated in the electrician’s apprenticeship training program. Likes to snowmobile, ice fish, and hunt deer. Lives in a rural area of the district and drives a pick-up.
Candidate #2: Lists a work history in politics. No private sector experience. Graduate of Carleton College. Has been living in Washington, DC (AKA The Swamp) for the past year. Comes from a political dynasty that has been in political office for decades.
If you guessed that the Democrat was candidate #1, you would be WRONG.
Candidate #1 is Jason Rarick, who is the Republican candidate for Senate District 11.
This district will elect a new state Senator on February 5th to replace the incumbent, who was appointed to a political patronage job by Governor Tim Walz.
Jason Rarick doesn’t come from a background of any prominence or privilege. His daddy was no one of any note.
He didn’t go to an elite private college, where the tuition is $55,000 per year, which is more than the median annual household income in Senate District 11 by a long shot.
Instead, Rarick graduated high school and enrolled in the electrician’s apprenticeship program, where he learned to become a skilled tradesman and work with his hands.
After mastering the craft of the electrician, he took the risk of starting his own company, Rarick Electric.
He started out like every entrepreneur, with one truck, one employee, and big dreams.
He knows what it means to worry about feeding a family.
He knows what it’s like to worry about work and where the next job will come from.
He knows what it’s like to work with your hands.
He knows how to assemble, disassemble, and perform a functions check on a deer rifle.
He knows how to change the oil in truck and a snowmobile.
The Democrat, Stu Lourey, couldn’t be more different.
After graduating from Carleton College, he immediately went to work in politics, working for both Senator Al “happy hands” Franken and Senator Tina Smith.
Beyond that, Lourey has no work history.
His only real credentials for serving the people the Senate District 11 is that he has the correct last name.
You see, Stu’s dad has been the state Senator for some years.
And before that, Stu’s grand mama was the senator.
In short, he comes from a political dynasty. And dynasties always believe that DNA is really the only qualification to propagate dynasties.
Put another way, if Stu’s last name was “Jones” or “Lundquist” or “O’Leary”, he wouldn’t have had a shot at this office.
How ironic that the party of the “working man” is backing a privileged kid who has a powerful daddy for office over a true working man who boasts of nothing more than a belief that an honest day’s work will get you an honest day’s pay.
If the parties were reversed, if Rarick had the Carleton degree and the Lourey pedigree, there would be no end to howls of “rich kid, entitled kid” protestations emanating from DFL headquarters.
Kind of like the selective concern over wealth (Dayton unearned wealth OK, Romney earned wealth not OK) they hypocritically trot out when it suits them.
To get a great visual presentation of what we’re describing, head on over to Stu’s web site.
Take a look at the photos.
You see him all dressed up in Carhart work gear and Gamehide hunting gear.
There’s just one minor problem.
None of the gear has a single rip or stain.
No coffee stains. No blood stains. No mud. No dust.
It looks like Stu borrowed the gear from John Kerry.
https://www.stulourey.com/meet/
This race is a microcosm of the problem the DFL has with rural voters.
The Republican is authentic and a true representation of the district.
The Democrat is not. The Democrat has rolled in from Washington, DC by way of Carleton, to lay claim to the senate seat like it’s some sort of family heirloom.
We will see if the good people of Senate District 11 think that any man is entitled to inherit political office.
Pine City is a world away from Hyannis Port.
ANOTHER WEEK
It just wouldn’t be a normal week if we didn’t spill some ink describing DFL lunacy and hypocrisy.
And we will do so without even mentioning the anti-Semitic bigotry of Ilhan Omar, the shocking economic illiteracy of AOC, or the foul-mouthed mendacity of Rashida Tlaib.
Let’s start in Saint Paul, where DFLers on the House Taxes Committee fretted aloud this week over possible tax increases for Minnesotans should the state tax code “conform” to recent federal changes.
We will remember that selective concern regarding tax increases when those same Dems call for gas tax increases, tobacco tax increases, and a repeal of the scheduled sunset of the $600 million tax on healthcare services, which is to expire this year.
Out in Washington, could it be any more obvious that the Dems are playing politics with the shutdown?
They think they are “winning” the shutdown, so they show no compunction about extending the pain.
Hell, they don’t even pretend to care.
They run out of town to party in Puerto Rico with lobbyists.
They leave town, to fundraise, run for president, or just hang out at home.
They vote against no-strings-attached bills to pay federal workers.
They brazenly state that the only path to a solution is to give them what they want, in exchange for beginning negotiations on what the president wants.
The only problem for Chuck and Nancy is that this president has shown, in spades, that he is willing to bear a heavy price to vindicate his position.
This isn’t the GOP of old, the party that shrank from every fight and showed a political glass jaw.
This president can take a punch.
Good luck with that, Dems.
January 18th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “They got to him, he is compromised!”
Quote of the Week: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?"
In This Issue:
Washington is an easy target these days, but the insanity has reached a new a new over the past week, which is perhaps a reflection of what we’ve become as a nation.
Citizens love to heap condemnation on DC, but we get the government we deserve.
We elected these folks, after all.
Where to start.
Let’s start with Speaker Pelosi’s not so veiled threat to cancel the House of Representatives as the traditional venue for the president’s State of Union Address.
Even the biased legacy media had to admit it was political theater and a harsh escalation of the war of words over the partial government shutdown.
A shutdown precipitated by Democrat’s refusal to agree to roughly $5 billion in funding for a border wall many of them supported in the past.
For the wall before being against it, it appears.
For reference, the entire federal budget is over $4 TRILLION dollars.
Since the president only has a constitutional duty to describe the state of the Union, he is free to do so in virtually any manner he wishes, thus making this stunt little more than just that.
It’s little more than another tawdry sop to Pelosi’s base.
The president, never one to take the high road, responded by cancelling the use of military aircraft for the speaker’s planned trip to Belgium and Afghanistan.
At the outset, perhaps the president did Pelosi a favor. The optics of skipping town during a shutdown aren’t very good.
On the other hand, Democrats were recently down in Puerto Rico partying with lobbyists, so what’s the difference?
After all, the trip to Afghanistan is little more than junketeering and photo op anyway.
How about staying in town and negotiating, Madam Speaker?
It appears that Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN3) is one of the few freshman Democrats who understands that many voters aren’t real interested in partisan bomb throwing and are very willing to vote the other way.
On the other hand, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) hasn’t gotten the memo. She’s been on social media bragging about her confrontational stunts such has marching on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office.
Unproductive and juvenile tactics from her aren’t really a surprise and won’t go over very well in the swing district she represents.
We hope Jason Lewis hasn’t hung up his congressional cleats just yet.
Washington has also been afflicted by all sorts of hateful and offensive speech.
What to do about it?
After Rep. Steve King wondered aloud why the phrase “white supremacist” was no longer in fashion (was it ever, in Iowa?), fellow Republicans stripped him of his committee assignments and Democrats moved a resolution condemning his words.
Over the Democrat side, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota continues to spout inane and hateful ramblings.
Readers will recall her infamous 2012 tweet in which she observed, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Now, she’s propagating baseless, unproven homophobic rumors against a sitting U.S. Senator.
For some time, Left Wing groups have been doubling down on rumors regarding Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sexual orientation by intimating that his rumored orientation has caused him to be blackmailed by the president into supporting administration policies.
Apparently, homophobic rhetoric is cool if the target is Republican.
Just like sexual harassment is okay if the perp is a Democrat (e.g. Clinton, Franken, Weiner).
This is the basis of Omar’s tweet, “They got to him, he is compromised!” This tweet propagated this rumor.
And what is Omar’s punishment from her fellow Democrats?
A seat on the Foreign Relations Committee, where she has a platform for her anti-Israel platform.
This on top of Speaker’s Pelosi’s refusal to act upon another Democrat’s reference to the president as a “motherfu**er.”
Thus, for Democrats, the rules regarding speech are clear.
“White supremacy” bad, anti-Semitism in any form okay.
Homophobic speech is okay, so long as directed at a Republican.
“Motherfu**er” also okay.
Finally, the Left went bananas on social media this week when some posters questioned why federal workers, who missed a pay check this week, didn’t have any money in savings.
This was in response to flood of comments regarding how many federal workers were now visiting food shelves after missing one pay check (which is solely President Trump’s fault).
And while being asked to work without pay is unfortunate and troubling, it’s more than fair for taxpayers to wonder why so many federal workers can’t feed themselves after missing one paycheck.
After all, the average federal employee makes more than $80,000 per year, with excellent fringe benefits.
By contrast, the median household income in America is $59,000.
Moreover, all federal employees see their pay boosted by locality pay increases that run anywhere from 15% - 40%.
On top of that, bonuses are also available.
Thus, it’s not cruel or unfeeling to suggest that poor financial planning or lifestyle choices may be behind an inability to pay bills or handle basic expenses after one missed pay day.
Personal responsibility is most certainly out of favor in today’s society. It is seen as impolitic to ever suggest that a person is to blame in any fashion for their circumstances.
Whether poor, addicted, un-educated, criminal, or simply uncouth, it’s somebody else’s fault.
This isn’t to say that important issues like poverty and addiction have many causes or that people sometimes are victimized by circumstances beyond their control.
It is simply to note that the element of personal responsibility and the role of behavioral choice has been virtually eliminated as one of those causes.
And when that element is raised, the one who raises it is shouted down and castigated as cruel.
What is forgotten is that personal responsibility is an essential element of self-governance and a free society.
Quote of the Week: “They got to him, he is compromised!”
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN5)
Quote of the Week: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?"
- Rep. Steve King (R-IA4)
In This Issue:
- DC Madness
Washington is an easy target these days, but the insanity has reached a new a new over the past week, which is perhaps a reflection of what we’ve become as a nation.
Citizens love to heap condemnation on DC, but we get the government we deserve.
We elected these folks, after all.
Where to start.
Let’s start with Speaker Pelosi’s not so veiled threat to cancel the House of Representatives as the traditional venue for the president’s State of Union Address.
Even the biased legacy media had to admit it was political theater and a harsh escalation of the war of words over the partial government shutdown.
A shutdown precipitated by Democrat’s refusal to agree to roughly $5 billion in funding for a border wall many of them supported in the past.
For the wall before being against it, it appears.
For reference, the entire federal budget is over $4 TRILLION dollars.
Since the president only has a constitutional duty to describe the state of the Union, he is free to do so in virtually any manner he wishes, thus making this stunt little more than just that.
It’s little more than another tawdry sop to Pelosi’s base.
The president, never one to take the high road, responded by cancelling the use of military aircraft for the speaker’s planned trip to Belgium and Afghanistan.
At the outset, perhaps the president did Pelosi a favor. The optics of skipping town during a shutdown aren’t very good.
On the other hand, Democrats were recently down in Puerto Rico partying with lobbyists, so what’s the difference?
After all, the trip to Afghanistan is little more than junketeering and photo op anyway.
How about staying in town and negotiating, Madam Speaker?
It appears that Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN3) is one of the few freshman Democrats who understands that many voters aren’t real interested in partisan bomb throwing and are very willing to vote the other way.
On the other hand, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) hasn’t gotten the memo. She’s been on social media bragging about her confrontational stunts such has marching on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office.
Unproductive and juvenile tactics from her aren’t really a surprise and won’t go over very well in the swing district she represents.
We hope Jason Lewis hasn’t hung up his congressional cleats just yet.
Washington has also been afflicted by all sorts of hateful and offensive speech.
What to do about it?
After Rep. Steve King wondered aloud why the phrase “white supremacist” was no longer in fashion (was it ever, in Iowa?), fellow Republicans stripped him of his committee assignments and Democrats moved a resolution condemning his words.
Over the Democrat side, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota continues to spout inane and hateful ramblings.
Readers will recall her infamous 2012 tweet in which she observed, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Now, she’s propagating baseless, unproven homophobic rumors against a sitting U.S. Senator.
For some time, Left Wing groups have been doubling down on rumors regarding Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sexual orientation by intimating that his rumored orientation has caused him to be blackmailed by the president into supporting administration policies.
Apparently, homophobic rhetoric is cool if the target is Republican.
Just like sexual harassment is okay if the perp is a Democrat (e.g. Clinton, Franken, Weiner).
This is the basis of Omar’s tweet, “They got to him, he is compromised!” This tweet propagated this rumor.
And what is Omar’s punishment from her fellow Democrats?
A seat on the Foreign Relations Committee, where she has a platform for her anti-Israel platform.
This on top of Speaker’s Pelosi’s refusal to act upon another Democrat’s reference to the president as a “motherfu**er.”
Thus, for Democrats, the rules regarding speech are clear.
“White supremacy” bad, anti-Semitism in any form okay.
Homophobic speech is okay, so long as directed at a Republican.
“Motherfu**er” also okay.
Finally, the Left went bananas on social media this week when some posters questioned why federal workers, who missed a pay check this week, didn’t have any money in savings.
This was in response to flood of comments regarding how many federal workers were now visiting food shelves after missing one pay check (which is solely President Trump’s fault).
And while being asked to work without pay is unfortunate and troubling, it’s more than fair for taxpayers to wonder why so many federal workers can’t feed themselves after missing one paycheck.
After all, the average federal employee makes more than $80,000 per year, with excellent fringe benefits.
By contrast, the median household income in America is $59,000.
Moreover, all federal employees see their pay boosted by locality pay increases that run anywhere from 15% - 40%.
On top of that, bonuses are also available.
Thus, it’s not cruel or unfeeling to suggest that poor financial planning or lifestyle choices may be behind an inability to pay bills or handle basic expenses after one missed pay day.
Personal responsibility is most certainly out of favor in today’s society. It is seen as impolitic to ever suggest that a person is to blame in any fashion for their circumstances.
Whether poor, addicted, un-educated, criminal, or simply uncouth, it’s somebody else’s fault.
This isn’t to say that important issues like poverty and addiction have many causes or that people sometimes are victimized by circumstances beyond their control.
It is simply to note that the element of personal responsibility and the role of behavioral choice has been virtually eliminated as one of those causes.
And when that element is raised, the one who raises it is shouted down and castigated as cruel.
What is forgotten is that personal responsibility is an essential element of self-governance and a free society.
January 11th, 2019
Quote of the Week: “We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherfu**er.”
In This Issue:
MINI-SWAMP
The Walz administration is off to rather unremarkable, status-quo ante start.
Whenever a new governor assumes office, he signals the strategic direction of the new administration by the selection of high-ranking cabinet officials and other staffers who will assist in crafting and executing policy.
Unfortunately, many of those picks are current or former registered lobbyists, current politicians, and recycled politicians, a DFL favorite. Some are both.
Let’s review who has been selected so far, with the designation of “lobbyist” or “politician” meaning current or former:
Transportation Commissioner: Margaret Anderson-Kelliher (politician, lobbyist);
Health and Human Services Commissioner: Tony Lourey (politician);
Met Council Chair: Nora Slawik (politician);
Agriculture Commissioner: Thom Peterson (lobbyist);
Pollution Control Commissioner: Laura Bishop (lobbyist);
Natural Resources Commissioner: Sarah Strommen (lobbyist);
Human Rights Commissioner: Rebecca Lucero (lobbyist);
Public Safety Commissioner: John Harrington (politician);
Commerce Commissioner: Steve Kelly (politician);
Housing Finance Commissioner: Jennifer Ho (lobbyist);
Education Commissioner: Mary Cathryn Ricker (teacher union leader, which is worse than lobbyist or politician. The teachers’ union owns the Walz administration);
To be fair, other Walz picks were people who aren’t politicians or lobbyists.
Having said that, nearly half of his picks (11 of 23) are of this ilk.
It didn’t have to be this way, since his transition team announced that they received over 500 applicants for the 23 cabinet-level appointments.
Picking a bunch of political insiders to run the administration isn’t the way to go.
The status quo means nothing more than more government, less efficiency, more spending, and less freedom.
LINE 3 RECKONING
Just days into the Walz administration, the pipeline chickens have come home to roost.
This publication has noted throughout the gubernatorial campaign the difficulty Walz was inviting by playing both sides of a very intense, passionate fight between pipeline proponents and opponents.
On the one hand, Walz assiduously courted construction trade unions, rural counties and cities that want pipeline tax revenue, and companies that stand to gain from building and maintaining them.
On the other hand, Walz selected a running mate who is a vocal, active opponent of pipelines. He also assiduously courted tribal nations who passionately oppose pipelines.
The strategy of being both things to all parties worked great in the campaign.
Now he sits hoisted on that same petard as a sitting governor.
This cynical, hypocritical ploy has been forced to decision by one last incompetent move by Mark Dayton, who left a steaming Line 3 turd in Walz’s lap.
That turd comes in the form of a legal appeal filed late last year by Dayton’s own Department of Commerce.
The legal appeal essentially asks the Minnesota Court of Appeals to review permits granted the Line 3 pipeline project by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.
Both sides are now pushing Walz to either withdraw the appeal or to sustain it.
For example, pipeline advocates this week delivered a petition with 2,500 signatures asking him to withdraw the appeal.
There is nowhere for Walz to run on this issue and he will now have to choose, leaving one side more than ticked off at the governor they thought was on their side.
That’s too bad.
Both sides knew the game Walz was playing and took the gamble they would win.
This publication has spoken with sources who opine that Walz will side with pipeline opponents.
Regardless of the outcome of this particular issue, the pipeline controversy will remain front and center at the legislature.
Governor Walz’s choices for cabinet positions are subject to Senate confirmation.
The Watchdog has spoken with a number of Republican senators who are preparing to ask important, pointed questions of commissioner-designees for public safety, the National Guard, and the PCA about pipelines, and Line 3 in particular.
Among the questions, those designees will be asked about what they are doing to maintain order and guarantee public safety once Line 3 construction begins.
Pipeline opponents have already vowed to visit the same violence, intimidation, and property destruction on Line 3 that they did at Standing Rock in North Dakota, where the Dakota Access Pipeline was disrupted time and again.
For reference, the Standing Rock debacle resulted in nearly 700 arrests and over 300 injuries.
Nearly $40 million was spent in law enforcement costs attempting to maintain order.
Millions more was lost to equipment destruction and vandalism.
It cost another $250,000 to clean up the environmental mess left at the protest camp, where over 1,000 tons of waste was removed.
How ironic that the “Earth Protectors” trashed the very place where they lived while terrorizing those working on the pipeline.
Rest assured, Republican senators will demand answers from Walz and his commissioners about their plans to guarantee law and order once Line 3 has the required permits and begins construction.
In addition, Republicans in the Senate (the House won’t do anything) should hold hearings to take testimony from state and local law enforcement regarding what resources and appropriations they will need to address the anticipated unrest.
The legislature should also proactively consider legislation to increase penalties for pipeline violence to deter anyone who is contemplating violence.
Now is the time for choosing regarding Line 3.
Republicans need to make their choice clear.
CRONY CAPITALISM
Will we never learn. Government intervention on behalf of favored industries and actors is never as efficient and just as letting the free market decide how to best allocate scarce resources.
Minnesota got another harsh lesson in this regard this week as the state learned that a beneficiary of crony capitalism decided to seek rent in another jurisdiction.
The rent seeking actor in this case is a company called Tru Shrimp, which engages in the practice of factory farming shrimp in indoor “harbors” where the shrimp are bred and raised.
Strangely enough, South Dakota and far Southwestern Minnesota were the jurisdictions competing for privilege to host a “harbor.”
In Minnesota, the state spent over $2 million on ancillary infrastructure for the anticipated “harbor,” to be located in Luverne.
Moreover, the City of Luverne spent an additional $600,000 of taxpayer money.
Apparently Tru Shrimp was also shaking down South Dakota for taxpayer monies to locate in that state.
In the end, South Dakota won and Minnesota has been left holding the bag, with roads and utilities built to serve – nothing.
Tru Shrimp has blamed Minnesota’s environmental permitting process, which may or may not be true.
The real story here is that the state and Luverne had no business spending over $2.6 million to lure the business in the first place.
This sort of market-distorting activity, often dressed up as “public-private partnership,” is really nothing more than business extorting taxpayer subsidies from government.
There is much empirical data to demonstrate that even when the deal happens, the net effect is negative for taxpayers.
In other words, the benefit of having a business come to a particular jurisdiction is outweighed by the cost to taxpayers.
In this case, it’s nothing short of an outright embarrassment, as there was apparently no contract to compel Tru Shrimp to perform their end of the deal.
Watch for the next chapter in this sordid tale to be yet more taxpayer monies offered up to either get Tru Shrimp to build another “harbor” in Luverne or some scheme to get another business at the Luverne site.
Maybe a chopstick factory?
Quote of the Week: “We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherfu**er.”
- Rashida Tlaib (D, MI-13), referring to President Trump
In This Issue:
- Mini-Swamp;
- Line 3 Reckoning;
- Crony Capitalism.
MINI-SWAMP
The Walz administration is off to rather unremarkable, status-quo ante start.
Whenever a new governor assumes office, he signals the strategic direction of the new administration by the selection of high-ranking cabinet officials and other staffers who will assist in crafting and executing policy.
Unfortunately, many of those picks are current or former registered lobbyists, current politicians, and recycled politicians, a DFL favorite. Some are both.
Let’s review who has been selected so far, with the designation of “lobbyist” or “politician” meaning current or former:
Transportation Commissioner: Margaret Anderson-Kelliher (politician, lobbyist);
Health and Human Services Commissioner: Tony Lourey (politician);
Met Council Chair: Nora Slawik (politician);
Agriculture Commissioner: Thom Peterson (lobbyist);
Pollution Control Commissioner: Laura Bishop (lobbyist);
Natural Resources Commissioner: Sarah Strommen (lobbyist);
Human Rights Commissioner: Rebecca Lucero (lobbyist);
Public Safety Commissioner: John Harrington (politician);
Commerce Commissioner: Steve Kelly (politician);
Housing Finance Commissioner: Jennifer Ho (lobbyist);
Education Commissioner: Mary Cathryn Ricker (teacher union leader, which is worse than lobbyist or politician. The teachers’ union owns the Walz administration);
To be fair, other Walz picks were people who aren’t politicians or lobbyists.
Having said that, nearly half of his picks (11 of 23) are of this ilk.
It didn’t have to be this way, since his transition team announced that they received over 500 applicants for the 23 cabinet-level appointments.
Picking a bunch of political insiders to run the administration isn’t the way to go.
The status quo means nothing more than more government, less efficiency, more spending, and less freedom.
LINE 3 RECKONING
Just days into the Walz administration, the pipeline chickens have come home to roost.
This publication has noted throughout the gubernatorial campaign the difficulty Walz was inviting by playing both sides of a very intense, passionate fight between pipeline proponents and opponents.
On the one hand, Walz assiduously courted construction trade unions, rural counties and cities that want pipeline tax revenue, and companies that stand to gain from building and maintaining them.
On the other hand, Walz selected a running mate who is a vocal, active opponent of pipelines. He also assiduously courted tribal nations who passionately oppose pipelines.
The strategy of being both things to all parties worked great in the campaign.
Now he sits hoisted on that same petard as a sitting governor.
This cynical, hypocritical ploy has been forced to decision by one last incompetent move by Mark Dayton, who left a steaming Line 3 turd in Walz’s lap.
That turd comes in the form of a legal appeal filed late last year by Dayton’s own Department of Commerce.
The legal appeal essentially asks the Minnesota Court of Appeals to review permits granted the Line 3 pipeline project by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.
Both sides are now pushing Walz to either withdraw the appeal or to sustain it.
For example, pipeline advocates this week delivered a petition with 2,500 signatures asking him to withdraw the appeal.
There is nowhere for Walz to run on this issue and he will now have to choose, leaving one side more than ticked off at the governor they thought was on their side.
That’s too bad.
Both sides knew the game Walz was playing and took the gamble they would win.
This publication has spoken with sources who opine that Walz will side with pipeline opponents.
Regardless of the outcome of this particular issue, the pipeline controversy will remain front and center at the legislature.
Governor Walz’s choices for cabinet positions are subject to Senate confirmation.
The Watchdog has spoken with a number of Republican senators who are preparing to ask important, pointed questions of commissioner-designees for public safety, the National Guard, and the PCA about pipelines, and Line 3 in particular.
Among the questions, those designees will be asked about what they are doing to maintain order and guarantee public safety once Line 3 construction begins.
Pipeline opponents have already vowed to visit the same violence, intimidation, and property destruction on Line 3 that they did at Standing Rock in North Dakota, where the Dakota Access Pipeline was disrupted time and again.
For reference, the Standing Rock debacle resulted in nearly 700 arrests and over 300 injuries.
Nearly $40 million was spent in law enforcement costs attempting to maintain order.
Millions more was lost to equipment destruction and vandalism.
It cost another $250,000 to clean up the environmental mess left at the protest camp, where over 1,000 tons of waste was removed.
How ironic that the “Earth Protectors” trashed the very place where they lived while terrorizing those working on the pipeline.
Rest assured, Republican senators will demand answers from Walz and his commissioners about their plans to guarantee law and order once Line 3 has the required permits and begins construction.
In addition, Republicans in the Senate (the House won’t do anything) should hold hearings to take testimony from state and local law enforcement regarding what resources and appropriations they will need to address the anticipated unrest.
The legislature should also proactively consider legislation to increase penalties for pipeline violence to deter anyone who is contemplating violence.
Now is the time for choosing regarding Line 3.
Republicans need to make their choice clear.
CRONY CAPITALISM
Will we never learn. Government intervention on behalf of favored industries and actors is never as efficient and just as letting the free market decide how to best allocate scarce resources.
Minnesota got another harsh lesson in this regard this week as the state learned that a beneficiary of crony capitalism decided to seek rent in another jurisdiction.
The rent seeking actor in this case is a company called Tru Shrimp, which engages in the practice of factory farming shrimp in indoor “harbors” where the shrimp are bred and raised.
Strangely enough, South Dakota and far Southwestern Minnesota were the jurisdictions competing for privilege to host a “harbor.”
In Minnesota, the state spent over $2 million on ancillary infrastructure for the anticipated “harbor,” to be located in Luverne.
Moreover, the City of Luverne spent an additional $600,000 of taxpayer money.
Apparently Tru Shrimp was also shaking down South Dakota for taxpayer monies to locate in that state.
In the end, South Dakota won and Minnesota has been left holding the bag, with roads and utilities built to serve – nothing.
Tru Shrimp has blamed Minnesota’s environmental permitting process, which may or may not be true.
The real story here is that the state and Luverne had no business spending over $2.6 million to lure the business in the first place.
This sort of market-distorting activity, often dressed up as “public-private partnership,” is really nothing more than business extorting taxpayer subsidies from government.
There is much empirical data to demonstrate that even when the deal happens, the net effect is negative for taxpayers.
In other words, the benefit of having a business come to a particular jurisdiction is outweighed by the cost to taxpayers.
In this case, it’s nothing short of an outright embarrassment, as there was apparently no contract to compel Tru Shrimp to perform their end of the deal.
Watch for the next chapter in this sordid tale to be yet more taxpayer monies offered up to either get Tru Shrimp to build another “harbor” in Luverne or some scheme to get another business at the Luverne site.
Maybe a chopstick factory?
January 4th, 2019
Editor’s Note: Welcome to 2019! The Watchdog begins publication on this, our 14th year of the newsletter. We ring 2019 with a retrospective on 2018 and the year that was. It was, of course, an interesting year in politics here in Minnesota. There was the governor’s race, two state Senate special elections, a lawsuit to throw another senator out of office, and big changes in many offices at the state and local level.
Any one of those issues could have served as our “issue of the year” for 2018 as we choose which update best reflects 2018.
All of those issues, however, best point to what might come in 2019.
2018 in Minnesota politics is best reflected by our May 24th issue, which was written just after the legislative session concluded.
That update included an analysis of the news that a Minnesota business, Mosaic, was leaving the state in favor of Florida.
The update also included an analysis of Governor Dayton’s leadership during the session.
High taxes are perhaps Dayton’s biggest legacy item as governor, as Minnesota now has the highest tax burden of any state on the union.
This tax burden is sure to harm the state’s economic health in the long run if something isn’t done.
And while this publication has certainly spent time reviewing Mark Dayton’s tenure as governor, there’s no doubt that his final year in office had a big impact in the state’s politics.
We’ve never seen a governor with Dayton’s style, and one that Tim Walz will likely not imitate.
Here’s what we said about those issues back on May 25th:
May 25th, 2018
Editor’s Note: We pause this week to remember those courageous Americans who gave all in the defense of this Great Nation. We are free because of their sacrifice.
Quote of the Week: “I can’t answer why Governor Dayton wasn’t engaged during session. He’ll have to answer those questions. His parking spot sits empty almost every day – he doesn’t even come to the Capitol. He hasn’t been engaged at all in his job here.”
Quote of the month: “This session wasn’t a failure. Our governor was a failure.”
Quote of the Year: “The governor is behaving like a toddler – emotional, impulsive, and unreasonable. It is just another part of his legacy of chaos and failure.”
In This Issue:
AN EXPENSIVE SMUGNESS
Liberals have always displayed a not-so-subtle disdain for capitalism and business. It’s similar to the smug disdain they show for working people like electricians and pipefitters.
Here in Minnesota, that smugness is amplified by a certain elitism that holds our brand of liberalism over that of other jurisdictions and other people of all ideological stripes.
“We don’t want to become a cold ____ (fill in the blank)” goes the mantra, usually chanted in the context of jacking up taxes to fund some government program that apparently underpins Minnesota’s entire quality of life and the absence of which makes the comparative jurisdiction an inferior loser.
That smarmy, condescending attitude was on display again this week when Mosaic, a large corporation, announced it was leaving the Minnesota tundra for sunnier, more tax friendly climes.
“Good riddance” was the reply from the North Star Elite. The attitude of those folks was that if Mosaic can’t smell Minnesota’s qualifications, it’s no big deal. Some other corporation will come along to gladly pay the high taxes that make Minnesota a magical, fantastical utopia.
Unlike many business leaders who are frequently cowed by liberal politicians and the threat of further political harassment and persecution, CEO Fritz Corrigan penned a passionate and brilliant indictment of the arrogance plaguing our hometown liberals.
Just a couple of excerpts well illustrate what Corrigan is talking about, which every taxpayer should be thinking about:
“Minnesota’s high state and local taxes, now not deductible on federal tax returns, make it more difficult to hire and retain top-quality executives to manage Mosaic. By comparison, Florida has no state income tax.”
“Minnesota’s vaunted quality of life isn’t that great, particularly in the winter. Don’t forget that most days of the year, Florida has friendlier weather. That is a factor in many snowbirds’ decisions to head south. Don’t delude yourselves.”
“Minnesota is losing 150 well-paid executives. If the average salary of Mosaic’s headquarters office is $175,000 and state income taxes are 9.85 percent, that is $2.6 million. Property taxes these people pay probably average $20,000 per person. That is another $3 million lost until 150 other well-paid executives move to Minnesota.”
“Surely Amazon didn’t give Minnesota a second look. Not even a follow-up phone call. And nobody at the Star Tribune and in government seemed to care. How many jobs has Minnesota failed to attract and because of its smugness doesn’t even know or care?”
“I wish Mosaic would stay in Minnesota, but the company is making the right choice. To be competitive in a very competitive global industry, it can’t afford this wintry place when it can choose a lower-tax, warmer clime.”
Well-said. Very well-said.
A LEGACY OF FAILURE AND PERFIDY
As readers well know by now, Governor Dayton has vetoed the two biggest bills of the legislative session, the omnibus tax conformity bill and the omnibus supplemental finance bill.
Other publications have well explained what was in those bills and why they were important pieces of legislation for Minnesota taxpayers.
What they really represent is the final chapter in the failed tenure of Governor Dayton.
Once again, Dayton demonstrated that he really isn’t up to the job of being chief executive of the state.
Thus, he leaves a legacy of failure, a legacy of failing to lead and unite a divided state.
Beyond that, he has no legacy. He has no signature achievements he or his liberal brethren can brag up.
MnSURE failed. His desire for universal Pre-K didn’t happen.
He is really left with only the dubious claim that presided over a massive increase in the state income tax, a sort of Holy Grail for liberals that visits upon the successful the misery of bearing their “fair share” of income taxes, which really means somewhere around 70 of the total burden.
It will be interesting to see how an artist will construct the governor’s portrait.
If it’s at all accurate, it will show Dayton bug-eyed, waving a finger as he attacks legislators both Republican and Democrat in vicious terms, slurring his words the entire way.
The background, if honest, would surely show his empty parking space at the Capitol, evidence of disengagement and a bunker mentality.
It would include football goal posts, emblematic of an erratic governor who could never clearly articulate his priorities and communicate them to the legislature.
It would surely show the school children he used as props in his veto theater over the 2018 tax bill.
Such propaganda is usually reserved for totalitarian strong men.
The background would also show long lines and people waiting anxiously on hold, as they beg the bureaucracy for a measure of mercy in their quest for health insurance information or license tabs.
A final touch would show his political appointees flashing wads of cash, the result of obscene pay raises and bonuses not earned but handed out nonetheless.
That Dayton failed as a governor should come as no surprise.
There was nothing in his privileged background that prepared him to lead strong political personalities and manage the Leviathan-like state budget.
When that lack of leadership acumen and managerial experience is combined with the angry embarrassment of a man who knows he has enjoyed privilege far beyond what he’s earned, it’s a recipe for failure.
All good leaders share certain personality traits.
They are poised. They are patient. They are focused. They are mature. They are skilled at finding solutions to difficult problems. They know how to find common ground.
Mark Dayton is none of this.
The utter lack of talent is best illustrated by Dayton’s regular and frequent name calling of both the legislature in general and certain legislators in particular.
Dayton frequently labeled those with whom he disagreed as “vile” or “untrustworthy” or “unfit to govern.”
He labeled the efforts of others as “the worst he’s ever seen” or “totally mismanaged.”
He said of the Senate Minority Leader, a fellow Democrat, that he could never trust him again and would never meet with him alone.
He lashed out at those around him in a vicious and juvenile way that hasn’t been seen in Minnesota politics, ever.
Even Jesse Ventura, the eternal man-child, treated those around him in better fashion.
It was clear that Mark Dayton failed to lead the state precisely because he didn’t know how to lead the state.
Instead, he covered for his lack of talent and experience by seeking to tear down those around him. If one can’t rise up by building up, rise up by tearing down those around you.
The image any thinking Minnesotan will have of Mark Dayton’s tenure is that of this week’s press conference after he vetoed the big bills.
When asked to name the reasons for his veto, he fumbled over his words, made a weak attempt to name a reason or two, then stared off into space for an uncomfortable period of silence.
He finally said simply, “It’s on a sheet I left in my office.”
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/999397025014865920
A failed governor.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to 2019! The Watchdog begins publication on this, our 14th year of the newsletter. We ring 2019 with a retrospective on 2018 and the year that was. It was, of course, an interesting year in politics here in Minnesota. There was the governor’s race, two state Senate special elections, a lawsuit to throw another senator out of office, and big changes in many offices at the state and local level.
Any one of those issues could have served as our “issue of the year” for 2018 as we choose which update best reflects 2018.
All of those issues, however, best point to what might come in 2019.
2018 in Minnesota politics is best reflected by our May 24th issue, which was written just after the legislative session concluded.
That update included an analysis of the news that a Minnesota business, Mosaic, was leaving the state in favor of Florida.
The update also included an analysis of Governor Dayton’s leadership during the session.
High taxes are perhaps Dayton’s biggest legacy item as governor, as Minnesota now has the highest tax burden of any state on the union.
This tax burden is sure to harm the state’s economic health in the long run if something isn’t done.
And while this publication has certainly spent time reviewing Mark Dayton’s tenure as governor, there’s no doubt that his final year in office had a big impact in the state’s politics.
We’ve never seen a governor with Dayton’s style, and one that Tim Walz will likely not imitate.
Here’s what we said about those issues back on May 25th:
May 25th, 2018
Editor’s Note: We pause this week to remember those courageous Americans who gave all in the defense of this Great Nation. We are free because of their sacrifice.
Quote of the Week: “I can’t answer why Governor Dayton wasn’t engaged during session. He’ll have to answer those questions. His parking spot sits empty almost every day – he doesn’t even come to the Capitol. He hasn’t been engaged at all in his job here.”
- House Speaker Kurt Daudt
Quote of the month: “This session wasn’t a failure. Our governor was a failure.”
- House Speaker Kurt Daudt
Quote of the Year: “The governor is behaving like a toddler – emotional, impulsive, and unreasonable. It is just another part of his legacy of chaos and failure.”
- Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R – Lino Lakes)
In This Issue:
- An Expensive Smugness;
- A Legacy of Failure and Perfidy.
AN EXPENSIVE SMUGNESS
Liberals have always displayed a not-so-subtle disdain for capitalism and business. It’s similar to the smug disdain they show for working people like electricians and pipefitters.
Here in Minnesota, that smugness is amplified by a certain elitism that holds our brand of liberalism over that of other jurisdictions and other people of all ideological stripes.
“We don’t want to become a cold ____ (fill in the blank)” goes the mantra, usually chanted in the context of jacking up taxes to fund some government program that apparently underpins Minnesota’s entire quality of life and the absence of which makes the comparative jurisdiction an inferior loser.
That smarmy, condescending attitude was on display again this week when Mosaic, a large corporation, announced it was leaving the Minnesota tundra for sunnier, more tax friendly climes.
“Good riddance” was the reply from the North Star Elite. The attitude of those folks was that if Mosaic can’t smell Minnesota’s qualifications, it’s no big deal. Some other corporation will come along to gladly pay the high taxes that make Minnesota a magical, fantastical utopia.
Unlike many business leaders who are frequently cowed by liberal politicians and the threat of further political harassment and persecution, CEO Fritz Corrigan penned a passionate and brilliant indictment of the arrogance plaguing our hometown liberals.
Just a couple of excerpts well illustrate what Corrigan is talking about, which every taxpayer should be thinking about:
“Minnesota’s high state and local taxes, now not deductible on federal tax returns, make it more difficult to hire and retain top-quality executives to manage Mosaic. By comparison, Florida has no state income tax.”
“Minnesota’s vaunted quality of life isn’t that great, particularly in the winter. Don’t forget that most days of the year, Florida has friendlier weather. That is a factor in many snowbirds’ decisions to head south. Don’t delude yourselves.”
“Minnesota is losing 150 well-paid executives. If the average salary of Mosaic’s headquarters office is $175,000 and state income taxes are 9.85 percent, that is $2.6 million. Property taxes these people pay probably average $20,000 per person. That is another $3 million lost until 150 other well-paid executives move to Minnesota.”
“Surely Amazon didn’t give Minnesota a second look. Not even a follow-up phone call. And nobody at the Star Tribune and in government seemed to care. How many jobs has Minnesota failed to attract and because of its smugness doesn’t even know or care?”
“I wish Mosaic would stay in Minnesota, but the company is making the right choice. To be competitive in a very competitive global industry, it can’t afford this wintry place when it can choose a lower-tax, warmer clime.”
Well-said. Very well-said.
A LEGACY OF FAILURE AND PERFIDY
As readers well know by now, Governor Dayton has vetoed the two biggest bills of the legislative session, the omnibus tax conformity bill and the omnibus supplemental finance bill.
Other publications have well explained what was in those bills and why they were important pieces of legislation for Minnesota taxpayers.
What they really represent is the final chapter in the failed tenure of Governor Dayton.
Once again, Dayton demonstrated that he really isn’t up to the job of being chief executive of the state.
Thus, he leaves a legacy of failure, a legacy of failing to lead and unite a divided state.
Beyond that, he has no legacy. He has no signature achievements he or his liberal brethren can brag up.
MnSURE failed. His desire for universal Pre-K didn’t happen.
He is really left with only the dubious claim that presided over a massive increase in the state income tax, a sort of Holy Grail for liberals that visits upon the successful the misery of bearing their “fair share” of income taxes, which really means somewhere around 70 of the total burden.
It will be interesting to see how an artist will construct the governor’s portrait.
If it’s at all accurate, it will show Dayton bug-eyed, waving a finger as he attacks legislators both Republican and Democrat in vicious terms, slurring his words the entire way.
The background, if honest, would surely show his empty parking space at the Capitol, evidence of disengagement and a bunker mentality.
It would include football goal posts, emblematic of an erratic governor who could never clearly articulate his priorities and communicate them to the legislature.
It would surely show the school children he used as props in his veto theater over the 2018 tax bill.
Such propaganda is usually reserved for totalitarian strong men.
The background would also show long lines and people waiting anxiously on hold, as they beg the bureaucracy for a measure of mercy in their quest for health insurance information or license tabs.
A final touch would show his political appointees flashing wads of cash, the result of obscene pay raises and bonuses not earned but handed out nonetheless.
That Dayton failed as a governor should come as no surprise.
There was nothing in his privileged background that prepared him to lead strong political personalities and manage the Leviathan-like state budget.
When that lack of leadership acumen and managerial experience is combined with the angry embarrassment of a man who knows he has enjoyed privilege far beyond what he’s earned, it’s a recipe for failure.
All good leaders share certain personality traits.
They are poised. They are patient. They are focused. They are mature. They are skilled at finding solutions to difficult problems. They know how to find common ground.
Mark Dayton is none of this.
The utter lack of talent is best illustrated by Dayton’s regular and frequent name calling of both the legislature in general and certain legislators in particular.
Dayton frequently labeled those with whom he disagreed as “vile” or “untrustworthy” or “unfit to govern.”
He labeled the efforts of others as “the worst he’s ever seen” or “totally mismanaged.”
He said of the Senate Minority Leader, a fellow Democrat, that he could never trust him again and would never meet with him alone.
He lashed out at those around him in a vicious and juvenile way that hasn’t been seen in Minnesota politics, ever.
Even Jesse Ventura, the eternal man-child, treated those around him in better fashion.
It was clear that Mark Dayton failed to lead the state precisely because he didn’t know how to lead the state.
Instead, he covered for his lack of talent and experience by seeking to tear down those around him. If one can’t rise up by building up, rise up by tearing down those around you.
The image any thinking Minnesotan will have of Mark Dayton’s tenure is that of this week’s press conference after he vetoed the big bills.
When asked to name the reasons for his veto, he fumbled over his words, made a weak attempt to name a reason or two, then stared off into space for an uncomfortable period of silence.
He finally said simply, “It’s on a sheet I left in my office.”
https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/999397025014865920
A failed governor.
December 21, 2018
Editor’s Note: In recognition of Christmas, the Watchdog will not publish next week.
Merry Christmas!
Quote of the Week: “The House for most of my tenure was controlled by extreme right-wing ideologues who view intransigence as a virtue and any kind of rational compromise as a weakness.”
Quote of the Week: “When he (Dayton) drew a line in the sand there was no talking with him, no working with him.”
Quote of the Week: "Sometimes people do things without my full knowledge."
In This Issue:
A LEGACY OF FAILURE
As Mark Dayton finishes his term and final year in public office, the retrospectives have begun to appear, putting the coda on his career and attempting to give some sort of letter grade to his gubernatorial tenure.
For this publication, Dayton surely is a failed governor.
He is rated a failure not because of policy differences, but because of missed opportunities and his fundamental failure to understand the true nature of his role in leading the state.
Those missed opportunities, by the way, run both ways. Dayton cannot in good conscience point to “his” legacy in any meaningful way as most of his stated legacy initiatives didn’t become law.
Moreover, reflexively pointing to Dayton’s purported budgetary skills won’t cut it.
When government has unlimited taxing power and a compliant legislature, it doesn’t take any particular fiscal acumen to simply take what government is perceived to “need” and throw some extra loot on top for good measure.
Second, regardless of party, chief executives are always given too much credit or blame for economic conditions and the governmental revenues (or lack thereof) they produce.
At core, the cause of Dayton’s failure is that he utterly lacked the negotiation skills required of a political leader to reach agreement in a check-and-balance system designed to diffuse power frustrate efficiency.
It also didn’t help that he frequently and publicly excoriated his negotiating partners in the harshest terms, at times labeling them “unfit to govern” and “untrustworthy.”
Democrats were not immune to this public humiliation.
Readers will recall the very public feud between Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk and Dayton.
At one point, the governor publicly stated that he couldn’t trust Bakk to the extent that he would no longer meet individually with him.
In a business underpinned by relationships, torching your negotiating partners in public is a recipe for failure.
A pillar of American political philosophy, as reflected in our political institutions, is the desire to enshrine stability and check tyranny at the price of expediency and efficiency.
In writing this piece, the Watchdog called upon eight years of conversations with both Democrats and Republicans who were in a position to deal with Dayton and observe his relationship with the legislature. The Watchdog also spoke with former Pawlenty staffers who served in his administration.
There is no disagreement among these people that the governor wields tremendous power (and responsibility) vis-à-vis the legislature.
The governor holds the bully pulpit and is seen by citizens as the embodiment of state government.
He also holds a negotiating advantage in that he is essentially a team of one, united in purpose and strategy, unlike legislative leaders who must find common ground among the often fractured and unruly caucuses they lead.
In addition, the chief executive controls the resources of a massive bureaucracy that he can employ in strategic ways to gain leverage over legislative counter-parts.
Said a former Pawlenty staffer, “We had the advantage because we were at the Capitol year-round. The legislature would go home and set aside legislating for months on end. At the same time, we were crafting an agenda and using the resources of the bureaucracy to hone our strategy to a fine point. We had inherent advantages with respect to information, expertise, and team unity.”
Dayton squandered those advantages and confounded those around him by frequently failing to negotiate as expected by both political custom and normal American expectations about the give and take inherent in finding solutions among competing interests.
Both legislative leaders and Dayton’s own staff were frequently exasperated by his unwillingness to negotiate at times and his proclivity to radically change his negotiating stance without notice or explanation.
For example, one source recalls that Dayton would sometimes simply walk away from the negotiating table and it would later be announced that he wouldn’t be returning that day. Another time, this staffer recalls that Dayton left the table and after many minutes, was observed in the backyard of the governor’s residence playing with his dogs.
Another source points to the 2011 state government shutdown, the longest in Minnesota history.
That source opined, “There was an offer on the table for weeks. Dayton steadfastly refused to take it. He then went on a fly-around throughout the state, heard an earful, and came back and essentially agreed to the same offer he refused again and again. Bizarre.”
Perhaps the best window into Dayton’s view of political relationships was offered by a political operative who frequents Washington, DC and has worked Capitol Hill for many years.
This source tells the Watchdog of an anecdote told to him by another person.
That story goes like this: Dayton is a collector of sports memorabilia and would frequent a particular memorabilia shop in DC when he was a U.S. Senator.
The source’s friend also frequented this shop and knew the owner.
The owner once observed to the friend that Dayton was very unique in that he would never negotiate over price. He would either buy an item at face value or he would decline and walk away.
This modus operandi is virtually unheard of in this realm, where it is universally acknowledged that the sticker price is nothing more than a starting point for haggling a price, similar to swap meets or garage sales.
The source went on to opine that Dayton views many relationships as all-or-nothing situations.
You either have the power or you don’t.
When you have it, you get to dictate the terms.
When you don’t, you concede and capitulate.
This anecdote would explain why Dayton sometimes signed bills and agreed to offers that he immediately repudiated in the strongest terms.
Hopefully, historians and biographers will at some point explore this issue in detail, looking for those life experiences that shaped Dayton’s view of negotiations and political relationships, which were undoubtedly unique.
In the end, however, the inability to master negotiations and act as a catalyst for compromise and resolution sentenced Minnesota to needless political pain and resulted in possible victories for all parties to go unrealized.
Finally, although the Watchdog takes a decidedly dim view of Dayton’s gubernatorial tenure, we wish him the best in retirement.
Mark Dayton dedicated large portions of his life to public service and certainly governed with good intentions and a desire to make life better for those he served.
Moreover, we wish him a speedy recovery from his recent health issues and pray for his good health to enjoy the fruits of retired life.
Thank you for your service, Mark Dayton.
Editor’s Note: In recognition of Christmas, the Watchdog will not publish next week.
Merry Christmas!
Quote of the Week: “The House for most of my tenure was controlled by extreme right-wing ideologues who view intransigence as a virtue and any kind of rational compromise as a weakness.”
- Governor Mark Dayton
Quote of the Week: “When he (Dayton) drew a line in the sand there was no talking with him, no working with him.”
- State Rep. Greg Davids (R – Preston)
Quote of the Week: "Sometimes people do things without my full knowledge."
- Governor Mark Dayton
In This Issue:
- A Legacy of Failure.
A LEGACY OF FAILURE
As Mark Dayton finishes his term and final year in public office, the retrospectives have begun to appear, putting the coda on his career and attempting to give some sort of letter grade to his gubernatorial tenure.
For this publication, Dayton surely is a failed governor.
He is rated a failure not because of policy differences, but because of missed opportunities and his fundamental failure to understand the true nature of his role in leading the state.
Those missed opportunities, by the way, run both ways. Dayton cannot in good conscience point to “his” legacy in any meaningful way as most of his stated legacy initiatives didn’t become law.
Moreover, reflexively pointing to Dayton’s purported budgetary skills won’t cut it.
When government has unlimited taxing power and a compliant legislature, it doesn’t take any particular fiscal acumen to simply take what government is perceived to “need” and throw some extra loot on top for good measure.
Second, regardless of party, chief executives are always given too much credit or blame for economic conditions and the governmental revenues (or lack thereof) they produce.
At core, the cause of Dayton’s failure is that he utterly lacked the negotiation skills required of a political leader to reach agreement in a check-and-balance system designed to diffuse power frustrate efficiency.
It also didn’t help that he frequently and publicly excoriated his negotiating partners in the harshest terms, at times labeling them “unfit to govern” and “untrustworthy.”
Democrats were not immune to this public humiliation.
Readers will recall the very public feud between Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk and Dayton.
At one point, the governor publicly stated that he couldn’t trust Bakk to the extent that he would no longer meet individually with him.
In a business underpinned by relationships, torching your negotiating partners in public is a recipe for failure.
A pillar of American political philosophy, as reflected in our political institutions, is the desire to enshrine stability and check tyranny at the price of expediency and efficiency.
In writing this piece, the Watchdog called upon eight years of conversations with both Democrats and Republicans who were in a position to deal with Dayton and observe his relationship with the legislature. The Watchdog also spoke with former Pawlenty staffers who served in his administration.
There is no disagreement among these people that the governor wields tremendous power (and responsibility) vis-à-vis the legislature.
The governor holds the bully pulpit and is seen by citizens as the embodiment of state government.
He also holds a negotiating advantage in that he is essentially a team of one, united in purpose and strategy, unlike legislative leaders who must find common ground among the often fractured and unruly caucuses they lead.
In addition, the chief executive controls the resources of a massive bureaucracy that he can employ in strategic ways to gain leverage over legislative counter-parts.
Said a former Pawlenty staffer, “We had the advantage because we were at the Capitol year-round. The legislature would go home and set aside legislating for months on end. At the same time, we were crafting an agenda and using the resources of the bureaucracy to hone our strategy to a fine point. We had inherent advantages with respect to information, expertise, and team unity.”
Dayton squandered those advantages and confounded those around him by frequently failing to negotiate as expected by both political custom and normal American expectations about the give and take inherent in finding solutions among competing interests.
Both legislative leaders and Dayton’s own staff were frequently exasperated by his unwillingness to negotiate at times and his proclivity to radically change his negotiating stance without notice or explanation.
For example, one source recalls that Dayton would sometimes simply walk away from the negotiating table and it would later be announced that he wouldn’t be returning that day. Another time, this staffer recalls that Dayton left the table and after many minutes, was observed in the backyard of the governor’s residence playing with his dogs.
Another source points to the 2011 state government shutdown, the longest in Minnesota history.
That source opined, “There was an offer on the table for weeks. Dayton steadfastly refused to take it. He then went on a fly-around throughout the state, heard an earful, and came back and essentially agreed to the same offer he refused again and again. Bizarre.”
Perhaps the best window into Dayton’s view of political relationships was offered by a political operative who frequents Washington, DC and has worked Capitol Hill for many years.
This source tells the Watchdog of an anecdote told to him by another person.
That story goes like this: Dayton is a collector of sports memorabilia and would frequent a particular memorabilia shop in DC when he was a U.S. Senator.
The source’s friend also frequented this shop and knew the owner.
The owner once observed to the friend that Dayton was very unique in that he would never negotiate over price. He would either buy an item at face value or he would decline and walk away.
This modus operandi is virtually unheard of in this realm, where it is universally acknowledged that the sticker price is nothing more than a starting point for haggling a price, similar to swap meets or garage sales.
The source went on to opine that Dayton views many relationships as all-or-nothing situations.
You either have the power or you don’t.
When you have it, you get to dictate the terms.
When you don’t, you concede and capitulate.
This anecdote would explain why Dayton sometimes signed bills and agreed to offers that he immediately repudiated in the strongest terms.
Hopefully, historians and biographers will at some point explore this issue in detail, looking for those life experiences that shaped Dayton’s view of negotiations and political relationships, which were undoubtedly unique.
In the end, however, the inability to master negotiations and act as a catalyst for compromise and resolution sentenced Minnesota to needless political pain and resulted in possible victories for all parties to go unrealized.
Finally, although the Watchdog takes a decidedly dim view of Dayton’s gubernatorial tenure, we wish him the best in retirement.
Mark Dayton dedicated large portions of his life to public service and certainly governed with good intentions and a desire to make life better for those he served.
Moreover, we wish him a speedy recovery from his recent health issues and pray for his good health to enjoy the fruits of retired life.
Thank you for your service, Mark Dayton.
December 14th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they can’t give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?”
Quote of the Week: “We don’t understand why the Democrats are so wholeheartedly against it. They voted for it in 2006, then-Senator Obama voted for it. Senator Schumer voted for, Senator Clinton voted for it. So, I don’t understand why Democrats apply in politics just because Donald Trump is in office.”
In This Issue:
DON’T CHANGE
Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me
Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me
In the aftermath of the GOP’s rather mundane and typical losses (and the history-defying success in the Senate) last month, liberal pundits have delighted in crafting all sorts of click-bait worthy missives regarding the “dying” and “obsolete” GOP and the need for the party to radically change in order to remain relevant.
This tripe is in large part little more than the dog whistle of group-identity politics, inviting yet another round of tired, shop-worn bashing of Old White Males and those who lack a bachelor’s degree in Womyn’s Studies or Psychology.
Since the last major obituaries were written for the Republican Party back in 2008, the party did quite well during the Obama Era.
The U.S. Senate had 60 Democrat senators in 2008. They went to 46.
The House had 257 Democrats, which plummeted to 188.
The news in state legislatures was even worse for Democrats.
During the Reign of Obama, the Dems lost a whopping 910 legislative seats.
Thirty-five states saw Dems lose double-digit seats in their legislatures.
They lost over 50 legislative seats in states like Arkansas, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.
In fact, Obama’s losses were far worse and more pronounced than those of other modern-era presidents.
Those losses also include 11 governorships.
According to famed political scientist Larry Sabato, Obama’s losses were twice the average of presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush.
Yet the media scrutiny of the losses this past November have spawned a frenzy of anti-GOP and anti-Trump rhetoric, crowing over the impending demise of the GOP.
Funny, those same obituaries were conspicuously absent from 2008-2016.
Moreover, the media focuses on the splinter in the GOP eye while conveniently ignoring the log in the DFL eye.
The unruly Democrat mob won’t take over the U.S. House until next month.
At that point, Nancy Pelosi will be in charge of that mob and have the responsibility to manage it through their Article I obligations.
Think about it. Pelosi is accused by many of these incoming representatives of being too conservative.
Many Americans will soon get a full dose of what they voted for in November.
This publication suspects that there will be no shortage of voter remorse, especially in the suburbs, when the true agenda of this rabble is revealed.
Many of them are fiercely loyal to group identity politics, don’t believe in personal accountability, eschew individual liberty, are hostile to wealth creation and success, and dismissive of free enterprise and capitalism.
Put another way, there were a lot of suburban voters who thought it was cute to flirt with Democrats because of an aversion (well founded) to Donald Trump’s boorish and juvenile narcissism.
The downside is that the Democrats they put in charge are a new and very radical breed.
The party of Scoop Jackson, Sam Nunn, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been relegated to the deep ash heap of American history.
The coming Democrat civil war isn’t limited to Washington.
That day of reckoning is coming to Minnesota in just a few short weeks, in both the legislative and executive branches.
In one corner of the Capitol, Governor Tim Walz will begin his tenure and will face tough choices between his moderate claims of “One Minnesota” and the radicalism of his lieutenant governor, who is fully in the camp of the hard Left.
It was a cute strategy to get elected, but now those opposing and conflicting chickens will come home to roost now that it’s time to govern.
A prime example will be mining and pipe lines.
Soon, construction will begin on the Line 3 pipeline replacement project.
As promised by opponents, that project will bring all the violence and vandalism that we all saw at Standing Rock regarding the Dakota Access pipeline.
Throughout the campaign for governor, Tim Walz promised rural Minnesotans and construction trade unions that he would support that and other projects like it.
His lieutenant governor pick, Peggy Flanagan, is enrolled member of a native American tribe and has been a vocal, passionate opponent of Line 3.
So, when the bricks and rocks start flying, where will the Walz administration stand?
Where will Walz stand on a host of issues he will face like sulfate standards in water, buffer strips on farm land, and other environmental issues.
And let’s not forget all the social issues, where rural Minnesota feels quite differently than citizens in the urban core.
It’s easy to bask in the glory of electoral victory today.
In about three weeks, the harsh reality of governance is going to smack the DFL square in the face.
POT COMMITTED
Perhaps the biggest non-issue of the 2019 has been the media’s obsession over the possibility of recreational, adult-use marijuana becoming legal in Minnesota.
We say “non-issue” for two reasons.
One, it’s unlikely the issue will become law in 2019.
It’s easy to count noses and determine that the state Senate lacks the votes to pass such a law right now and that’s unlikely to change.
Two, recreational marijuana is inevitable and will happen at some point in the near future.
The momentum behind such a public policy change is large and irreversible.
A strong majority of Americans favors legal marijuana.
Moreover, millions of Americans live in states where marijuana is legal and the ludicrous claims of opponents have not come to fruition.
While the finer points of legal marijuana can be debated, the fact remains that the buildings are still standing in these states and most people go about their business as they had before.
Finally, our conservative friends would do well to simply step back and recognize that many of their neighbors will make the choice to use marijuana and it’s none of their business.
The choice of what substances we choose to put into our bodies is none of government’s business.
Whether it’s alcohol, tobacco, red meat, sugar, or marijuana, one can’t logically support adult choice with one but not another.
Complaining about taxes on sugary drinks doesn’t mesh well with supporting jail time for choosing to use marijuana.
Of course, reasonable laws and regulations around that usage should be crafted, especially to ensure that the rights of others aren’t impacted.
The bottom line is that legal marijuana is coming to Minnesota, but 2019 won’t be the year.
ZOMBIE POLITICIAN
An unfortunate reality of politics is that some people just can’t stay away.
They apparently have no life outside of the fake adulation and insincere back-slapping inherent in the transactional nature of relationships in politics.
When erstwhile Anoka County commissioner Dan Erhart was booted from office over a decade ago after years of taxpayer abuse, we thought we had seen the last of him.
To be honest, we thought he was dead or relegated to playing shuffleboard in south Florida.
We were wrong.
Multiple sources tell the Watchdog that Erhart is pushing to be appointed to the Met Council.
These same sources say that a wealthy DFL donor is behind the push, which gives the application some heft.
The good news is that the GOP-controlled Senate must confirm Met Council appointees.
The Senate GOP would be well served to carefully examine Erhart’s record and think long and hard about confirmation.
After all, Erhart proudly supported the failed Northstar rail project.
He pushed for onerous taxes to support a publicly-funded Vikings stadium in Anoka County.
Most concerning, the Senate should review Erhart’s expense accounts from his commissioner days.
His junketeering and other expenses should be carefully examined.
For example, his junket to Hawaii for a NaCO conference was an issue in the campaign that led to his defeat.
Tim Walz can surely do better than Dan Erhart.
Quote of the Week: “The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they can’t give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?”
- President Donald J. Trump
Quote of the Week: “We don’t understand why the Democrats are so wholeheartedly against it. They voted for it in 2006, then-Senator Obama voted for it. Senator Schumer voted for, Senator Clinton voted for it. So, I don’t understand why Democrats apply in politics just because Donald Trump is in office.”
- White House OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on the Border Wall
In This Issue:
- Don’t Change;
- Pot Committed;
- Zombie Politician.
DON’T CHANGE
Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me
Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me
- Michael Hutchence
In the aftermath of the GOP’s rather mundane and typical losses (and the history-defying success in the Senate) last month, liberal pundits have delighted in crafting all sorts of click-bait worthy missives regarding the “dying” and “obsolete” GOP and the need for the party to radically change in order to remain relevant.
This tripe is in large part little more than the dog whistle of group-identity politics, inviting yet another round of tired, shop-worn bashing of Old White Males and those who lack a bachelor’s degree in Womyn’s Studies or Psychology.
Since the last major obituaries were written for the Republican Party back in 2008, the party did quite well during the Obama Era.
The U.S. Senate had 60 Democrat senators in 2008. They went to 46.
The House had 257 Democrats, which plummeted to 188.
The news in state legislatures was even worse for Democrats.
During the Reign of Obama, the Dems lost a whopping 910 legislative seats.
Thirty-five states saw Dems lose double-digit seats in their legislatures.
They lost over 50 legislative seats in states like Arkansas, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.
In fact, Obama’s losses were far worse and more pronounced than those of other modern-era presidents.
Those losses also include 11 governorships.
According to famed political scientist Larry Sabato, Obama’s losses were twice the average of presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush.
Yet the media scrutiny of the losses this past November have spawned a frenzy of anti-GOP and anti-Trump rhetoric, crowing over the impending demise of the GOP.
Funny, those same obituaries were conspicuously absent from 2008-2016.
Moreover, the media focuses on the splinter in the GOP eye while conveniently ignoring the log in the DFL eye.
The unruly Democrat mob won’t take over the U.S. House until next month.
At that point, Nancy Pelosi will be in charge of that mob and have the responsibility to manage it through their Article I obligations.
Think about it. Pelosi is accused by many of these incoming representatives of being too conservative.
Many Americans will soon get a full dose of what they voted for in November.
This publication suspects that there will be no shortage of voter remorse, especially in the suburbs, when the true agenda of this rabble is revealed.
Many of them are fiercely loyal to group identity politics, don’t believe in personal accountability, eschew individual liberty, are hostile to wealth creation and success, and dismissive of free enterprise and capitalism.
Put another way, there were a lot of suburban voters who thought it was cute to flirt with Democrats because of an aversion (well founded) to Donald Trump’s boorish and juvenile narcissism.
The downside is that the Democrats they put in charge are a new and very radical breed.
The party of Scoop Jackson, Sam Nunn, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been relegated to the deep ash heap of American history.
The coming Democrat civil war isn’t limited to Washington.
That day of reckoning is coming to Minnesota in just a few short weeks, in both the legislative and executive branches.
In one corner of the Capitol, Governor Tim Walz will begin his tenure and will face tough choices between his moderate claims of “One Minnesota” and the radicalism of his lieutenant governor, who is fully in the camp of the hard Left.
It was a cute strategy to get elected, but now those opposing and conflicting chickens will come home to roost now that it’s time to govern.
A prime example will be mining and pipe lines.
Soon, construction will begin on the Line 3 pipeline replacement project.
As promised by opponents, that project will bring all the violence and vandalism that we all saw at Standing Rock regarding the Dakota Access pipeline.
Throughout the campaign for governor, Tim Walz promised rural Minnesotans and construction trade unions that he would support that and other projects like it.
His lieutenant governor pick, Peggy Flanagan, is enrolled member of a native American tribe and has been a vocal, passionate opponent of Line 3.
So, when the bricks and rocks start flying, where will the Walz administration stand?
Where will Walz stand on a host of issues he will face like sulfate standards in water, buffer strips on farm land, and other environmental issues.
And let’s not forget all the social issues, where rural Minnesota feels quite differently than citizens in the urban core.
It’s easy to bask in the glory of electoral victory today.
In about three weeks, the harsh reality of governance is going to smack the DFL square in the face.
POT COMMITTED
Perhaps the biggest non-issue of the 2019 has been the media’s obsession over the possibility of recreational, adult-use marijuana becoming legal in Minnesota.
We say “non-issue” for two reasons.
One, it’s unlikely the issue will become law in 2019.
It’s easy to count noses and determine that the state Senate lacks the votes to pass such a law right now and that’s unlikely to change.
Two, recreational marijuana is inevitable and will happen at some point in the near future.
The momentum behind such a public policy change is large and irreversible.
A strong majority of Americans favors legal marijuana.
Moreover, millions of Americans live in states where marijuana is legal and the ludicrous claims of opponents have not come to fruition.
While the finer points of legal marijuana can be debated, the fact remains that the buildings are still standing in these states and most people go about their business as they had before.
Finally, our conservative friends would do well to simply step back and recognize that many of their neighbors will make the choice to use marijuana and it’s none of their business.
The choice of what substances we choose to put into our bodies is none of government’s business.
Whether it’s alcohol, tobacco, red meat, sugar, or marijuana, one can’t logically support adult choice with one but not another.
Complaining about taxes on sugary drinks doesn’t mesh well with supporting jail time for choosing to use marijuana.
Of course, reasonable laws and regulations around that usage should be crafted, especially to ensure that the rights of others aren’t impacted.
The bottom line is that legal marijuana is coming to Minnesota, but 2019 won’t be the year.
ZOMBIE POLITICIAN
An unfortunate reality of politics is that some people just can’t stay away.
They apparently have no life outside of the fake adulation and insincere back-slapping inherent in the transactional nature of relationships in politics.
When erstwhile Anoka County commissioner Dan Erhart was booted from office over a decade ago after years of taxpayer abuse, we thought we had seen the last of him.
To be honest, we thought he was dead or relegated to playing shuffleboard in south Florida.
We were wrong.
Multiple sources tell the Watchdog that Erhart is pushing to be appointed to the Met Council.
These same sources say that a wealthy DFL donor is behind the push, which gives the application some heft.
The good news is that the GOP-controlled Senate must confirm Met Council appointees.
The Senate GOP would be well served to carefully examine Erhart’s record and think long and hard about confirmation.
After all, Erhart proudly supported the failed Northstar rail project.
He pushed for onerous taxes to support a publicly-funded Vikings stadium in Anoka County.
Most concerning, the Senate should review Erhart’s expense accounts from his commissioner days.
His junketeering and other expenses should be carefully examined.
For example, his junket to Hawaii for a NaCO conference was an issue in the campaign that led to his defeat.
Tim Walz can surely do better than Dan Erhart.
December 7th, 2018
Editor’s Note: We pause to remember the 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
Quote of the Week: “Last Friday, when I was told he had minutes to live, I called him. I said, ‘Dad, I love you, and you’ve been a wonderful father.’ And the last words he would ever say on Earth were, ‘I love you, too.’”
In This Issue:
THEY LOVE THEM – WHEN THEY’RE GONE
The cynicism and fecklessness of the Left is a daily lesson, a reminder taught each and every day that the Left’s ideology is a dogged pursuit of vapid power. Power for the sake of power.
This week, everyday Americans were treated to chapter 2 of “We love that guy! Now that he’s dead.”
Just weeks ago, the Left canonized John S. McCain. War hero, statesman, patriot.
Years before that, the Left labeled him a war criminal for bombing North Vietnam and engaged in a whisper campaign questioning his mental fitness. You know, being a prisoner of war for all those years.
Then McCain provided transactional value to the Left for his vitriolic hatred of Donald Trump, including the possibility that it was McCain himself who provided the fake Russian dossier to the FBI.
It was déjà vu all over again this week as the Left rushed to heap nostalgic praise on George H.W. Bush, a man who represented, to them, a time when Republicans could be punched and not punch back.
Bush was a man they never praised as president.
He was “extreme” because he was pro-life.
He was complicit in all things Reagan.
He presided over economic policies that were wrong and could be cured by the man the Left universally supported against Bush – William Jefferson Clinton.
Bush, although not as useful to the Left as McCain as a cudgel to bash Trump, nonetheless served his purpose as a contrast to Trump’s sharp elbowed politics and sharper tongue.
Make no mistake. John McCain and George H.W. Bush deserve sincere praise and authentic fond remembrance.
Their service to country was remarkable and model for all Americans to follow.
Excuse us if we’re just a little skeptical of the Left’s crocodile tears.
SAINT PAUL, FRANCE
It’s not often that this publication can run a direct line between socialist France and Saint Paul.
This week is a different story.
Paris has been set ablaze and sacked in spectacular fashion (even by French riot standards) over the implementation of gasoline taxes.
Apparently, the yellow-vested rioters giving new meaning to “City of Lights” were thoroughly unimpressed that the basis for the new taxes was slavish worship at the altar of climate change.
This in a country where high taxes are usually borne with snotty approbation for just about any reason or even no reason at all.
A tax increase? Cest la vie!
When the French have concerns about a tax, you know it’s real.
Across the pond in the New World, New Age governor-elect Tim Walz has spent the past few days touting tax increases. Tax increases on gasoline, to be specific.
Steeped in the Northern European culture of stoic endurance, there is really no threat that we will see overturned Blue Line cars or burning Saabs in Uptown.
But we have seen consistent polling that shows gas taxes in Minnesota being as popular as gas taxes in France.
A proposed gas tax in the highest taxed state in the union, in a time a billion-dollar budget surpluses, has already handed the GOP a winning political issue.
Minnesotans continually oppose gas tax increases, as seen in the most recent polling.
But wait! That’s not all.
We also learned this week that Xcel Energy, provider of electricity and natural gas to over 3 million customers across eight states (including Minnesota), has promised to be a zero emissions utility by 2050.
What that promise will do to utility bills will make the gas tax look like a puppet show.
Check utility rates in Germany or California for guidance.
It’s almost as if the elites have forgotten that 2016 ever existed.
The lesson of politics across the globe over the past few years has been that the masses have grown tired of the elites and their social engineering.
They have grown tired of paying the price for their utopian policies and cynical financial self-dealing in the process.
Any politician looking for trouble in 2020 should continue to talk about making gasoline, electricity and other staples of life more expensive.
CLIMATE SAME
There has been a lot of blame laid on “climate change” for the tragic wildfires that have plagued California in recent years, including the deadly fires this fall.
“Never let a crisis go to waste” says the Left.
The unfortunate reality is that many reputable climate scientists are positing that the droughts (along with poor forest management policies) creating the tinder-dry conditions are a reversion to a more normal climate for the western United States.
Put another way, many of these scientists believe that the 20th Century was a remarkably wet and aberrational century.
During that century, of course, the population exploded and more and more homes and cities were built in heavily forested areas.
If this theory holds true, the western U.S. will revert to a much drier weather pattern over the coming one hundred years, posing real challenges regarding forest management, water resource management, and planning/zoning issues.
While some want to blame every adverse weather event on “climate change”, that’s simply not the case.
Here, it appears that the climate change is simply a reversion to the mean.
Of course, the climate changes. It always has and always will.
The real issues are the causes of climate change and the practical impacts on humans.
Some changes are challenging (e.g. drought) while other are positive (e.g. land becoming arable).
It is height of liberal arrogance to presume that government can simply pass laws that will tame the Earth’s constant climate evolution.
Of course, there needs to be an environmental crisis to manage at any given time. A crisis that, of course, demands government intervention.
Global warming, global cooling, acid rain, the ozone layer, too many hurricanes, too little water, too much water, etc.
In reality, much the ideology underlying these issues is little more than human self-loathing.
Editor’s Note: We pause to remember the 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
Quote of the Week: “Last Friday, when I was told he had minutes to live, I called him. I said, ‘Dad, I love you, and you’ve been a wonderful father.’ And the last words he would ever say on Earth were, ‘I love you, too.’”
- President George W. Bush
In This Issue:
- They Love Them – When They’re Gone;
- Saint Paul, France;
- Climate Same.
THEY LOVE THEM – WHEN THEY’RE GONE
The cynicism and fecklessness of the Left is a daily lesson, a reminder taught each and every day that the Left’s ideology is a dogged pursuit of vapid power. Power for the sake of power.
This week, everyday Americans were treated to chapter 2 of “We love that guy! Now that he’s dead.”
Just weeks ago, the Left canonized John S. McCain. War hero, statesman, patriot.
Years before that, the Left labeled him a war criminal for bombing North Vietnam and engaged in a whisper campaign questioning his mental fitness. You know, being a prisoner of war for all those years.
Then McCain provided transactional value to the Left for his vitriolic hatred of Donald Trump, including the possibility that it was McCain himself who provided the fake Russian dossier to the FBI.
It was déjà vu all over again this week as the Left rushed to heap nostalgic praise on George H.W. Bush, a man who represented, to them, a time when Republicans could be punched and not punch back.
Bush was a man they never praised as president.
He was “extreme” because he was pro-life.
He was complicit in all things Reagan.
He presided over economic policies that were wrong and could be cured by the man the Left universally supported against Bush – William Jefferson Clinton.
Bush, although not as useful to the Left as McCain as a cudgel to bash Trump, nonetheless served his purpose as a contrast to Trump’s sharp elbowed politics and sharper tongue.
Make no mistake. John McCain and George H.W. Bush deserve sincere praise and authentic fond remembrance.
Their service to country was remarkable and model for all Americans to follow.
Excuse us if we’re just a little skeptical of the Left’s crocodile tears.
SAINT PAUL, FRANCE
It’s not often that this publication can run a direct line between socialist France and Saint Paul.
This week is a different story.
Paris has been set ablaze and sacked in spectacular fashion (even by French riot standards) over the implementation of gasoline taxes.
Apparently, the yellow-vested rioters giving new meaning to “City of Lights” were thoroughly unimpressed that the basis for the new taxes was slavish worship at the altar of climate change.
This in a country where high taxes are usually borne with snotty approbation for just about any reason or even no reason at all.
A tax increase? Cest la vie!
When the French have concerns about a tax, you know it’s real.
Across the pond in the New World, New Age governor-elect Tim Walz has spent the past few days touting tax increases. Tax increases on gasoline, to be specific.
Steeped in the Northern European culture of stoic endurance, there is really no threat that we will see overturned Blue Line cars or burning Saabs in Uptown.
But we have seen consistent polling that shows gas taxes in Minnesota being as popular as gas taxes in France.
A proposed gas tax in the highest taxed state in the union, in a time a billion-dollar budget surpluses, has already handed the GOP a winning political issue.
Minnesotans continually oppose gas tax increases, as seen in the most recent polling.
But wait! That’s not all.
We also learned this week that Xcel Energy, provider of electricity and natural gas to over 3 million customers across eight states (including Minnesota), has promised to be a zero emissions utility by 2050.
What that promise will do to utility bills will make the gas tax look like a puppet show.
Check utility rates in Germany or California for guidance.
It’s almost as if the elites have forgotten that 2016 ever existed.
The lesson of politics across the globe over the past few years has been that the masses have grown tired of the elites and their social engineering.
They have grown tired of paying the price for their utopian policies and cynical financial self-dealing in the process.
Any politician looking for trouble in 2020 should continue to talk about making gasoline, electricity and other staples of life more expensive.
CLIMATE SAME
There has been a lot of blame laid on “climate change” for the tragic wildfires that have plagued California in recent years, including the deadly fires this fall.
“Never let a crisis go to waste” says the Left.
The unfortunate reality is that many reputable climate scientists are positing that the droughts (along with poor forest management policies) creating the tinder-dry conditions are a reversion to a more normal climate for the western United States.
Put another way, many of these scientists believe that the 20th Century was a remarkably wet and aberrational century.
During that century, of course, the population exploded and more and more homes and cities were built in heavily forested areas.
If this theory holds true, the western U.S. will revert to a much drier weather pattern over the coming one hundred years, posing real challenges regarding forest management, water resource management, and planning/zoning issues.
While some want to blame every adverse weather event on “climate change”, that’s simply not the case.
Here, it appears that the climate change is simply a reversion to the mean.
Of course, the climate changes. It always has and always will.
The real issues are the causes of climate change and the practical impacts on humans.
Some changes are challenging (e.g. drought) while other are positive (e.g. land becoming arable).
It is height of liberal arrogance to presume that government can simply pass laws that will tame the Earth’s constant climate evolution.
Of course, there needs to be an environmental crisis to manage at any given time. A crisis that, of course, demands government intervention.
Global warming, global cooling, acid rain, the ozone layer, too many hurricanes, too little water, too much water, etc.
In reality, much the ideology underlying these issues is little more than human self-loathing.
November 30, 2018
Quote of the Week: “I got to get inside a brand-new Chevy Volt fresh off the line. Even though Secret Service wouldn’t let me drive it. But I liked sitting in it. It was nice. I’ll bet it drives real good. And five years from now when I’m not president anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself.”
President Obama, bragging up taxpayer subsidies for the Chevy Volt
Quote of the Week: “It was some s**t.”
Representative-elect Aisha Gomez (DFL – Minneapolis) artfully describing her childhood
In This Issue:
DFL IN CONTROL; GRAB THE POPCORN
In picking through the wreckage of the 2018 election in the seven county Metro area, it’s already looking like many voters will be hitting their dictionary apps to learn more about “caveat emptor.”
It’s only November, and the mob voters put in charge of the Minnesota House is already providing citizens a three-ring circus.
Long experience and theories of organizational management will tell us that organizations adopt the characteristics of their leaders.
And when that leader is none other than Melissa Hortman, the trust fund liberal feminist of well-known infamy to readers of this publication, you just knew an island of misfit toys was in the offing.
Let’s start with the party of Big Government laying a claim as the party of Big Legislature.
In organizing their new majority, the House DFL grew the committee structure by 30%, announcing a whopping 34 committees and sub-committees.
With 75 members, that’s a committee gavel for nearly half of their caucus.
Is it a committee gavel or a participation ribbon?
The redundancy of the committee structure is a sea of red tape that resembles the bureaucracy the DFL has built in Minnesota over the past many years to harass the people of this great state (tried to renew your license tabs lately? Tried to get a permit for your business? Tried to get a hold of someone in the government-healthcare office?).
For example, if there is a bill that deals with water permits for farmers, it would likely need to travel through Agriculture, Environment Policy, Environment Finance, Energy/Climate Finance and the subcommittee on water.
There is also a Labor committee, a greater Minnesota Jobs Committee, a Jobs and Economic Development Committee, and a Commerce Committee.
In an ironic twist, this Leviathan will prove to be the undoing of their Big Government agenda, as many bills will struggle to get through this byzantine maze before legislative deadlines.
Get ready for some serious sausage making during “deadline” weeks, as committees rush to churn through bill after bill, with the system choking on the expansive agenda they will surely pursue.
There are also some interesting new legislators, to put it mildly.
This week’s edition of City Pages, Minnesota’s left-wing publication of record, published a fawning profile of four of them, with the obsequious sub-headline “Get ready to fall in love.”
We learn from the piece that Hodan Hassan (DFL – Minneapolis) is concerned with mental health issues, which is a serious and timely public policy issue, to be sure.
That legitimate issue of concern, however, was juxtaposed with the bizarre claim that she knows what people experiencing in these struggles because of her own.
And what, pray tell, is the experience she has with mental health issues?
Apparently, it’s watching television.
As the article explains, “Hassan understands what those people are going through: She works in mental health and social work, and has struggled some herself. In 2017, she stopped watching TV news; what she was seeing every day was simply too upsetting, and she needed to shield herself from it to protect her psyche.”
Um. Okay.
Next up is Aisha Gomez (DFL – Minneapolis), who is introduced to readers as one who possesses a really neat skill that impresses no one.
“She doesn’t talk like most legislators – be warned old timers, she knows how to use slang!”
City Pages apparently thinks that speaking professionally is now some sort of antiquated skill, like falconing or blacksmithing.
We also learn from the article that “slang” is synonymous with profanity.
In describing her childhood, Gomez insightfully observes, “It was some s**t.”
This “slang”, combined with hair of an interesting seaweed-green hue, will surely put her in the professional, adult company of Jack Considine (DFL – Mankato). Considine treats every day at the legislature as if it were Friday at Innitech, complete with Hawaiian shirts and jeans.
Is Rep. Considine going to the floor of the Minnesota House or down to the bowling alley?
No one can really tell.
Grab the popcorn, folks. This session will be a doozy.
When it’s all over, many taxpayers will surely say of the 2019 session, “It was some s**t.”
YOU MEAN MARKETS ACTUALLY WORK?
Liberals got a double dose of reality recently regarding the difficulty of government to either control free markets or compete with them.
The first slap in the face happened right here in Minneapolis.
Did you know that the city requires some businesses to offer certain kinds of foods?
You heard that right.
Chapter 295.45 of the city code dictates:
All mobile food stores licensed under this chapter must offer for sale at least fifty (50) items total of fresh fruits and vegetables in at least seven (7) varieties, and with no more than fifty (50) percent of the total selection being from a single variety. (2014-Or-022, § 6, 5-23-14).
And yes, city inspectors come around and count out the kiwis and carrots to make sure small business owners are towing the line.
City leaders apparently believe that if you make vendors offer the “right” foods, people will buy them.
If government mandates it, in other words, it will happen.
Like magic.
As any rational person might have guessed, it isn’t working out that way.
Vendors are complaining that most of the food is going to waste, causing them to lose money from food not sold, and scarce shelf space being occupied by items that don’t sell.
It doesn’t take an economist to conclude that if customers wanted at least 50 items total in at least seven varieties with not more than 50% of the total selection being from a single variety, they would have asked for it and the vendor would have provided it.
It’s astonishing that the Minneapolis City Council doesn’t know that the foundation of commercial markets is the voluntary transaction by which a party sells something that another party wants and is willing to pay for at a mutually agreed upon price.
Moreover, this mandate violates the theory of allocative efficiency, which dictates that goods and services under a free market system will be delivered to a destination of highest and best use.
In other words, all the rotting food that no one wants at these locations would have been sold to a different buyer who wanted them in order to meet true customer demand somewhere else.
It is the height of arrogance to believe that government fiat can suddenly make citizen desire a good they otherwise don’t want.
Next, Chevrolet announced this week that they will no longer make the Volt, a much-ballyhooed Obama-era subsidized car that runs primarily on an electric battery.
It was just another in a long line of feel-good policy mandates that emanated from the Obama administration.
The reality is that despite the big subsidies, customers didn’t want the Volt and that spelled the end of the car.
Instead, GM and other manufacturers can’t keep up with demand for SUVs and other trucks, which must drive the liberals mad, inspiring them to call for making these big vehicles as undesirable as “assault” rifles, sugary drinks, and other high-demand products your liberal neighbors don’t want you to have.
Quote of the Week: “I got to get inside a brand-new Chevy Volt fresh off the line. Even though Secret Service wouldn’t let me drive it. But I liked sitting in it. It was nice. I’ll bet it drives real good. And five years from now when I’m not president anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself.”
President Obama, bragging up taxpayer subsidies for the Chevy Volt
Quote of the Week: “It was some s**t.”
Representative-elect Aisha Gomez (DFL – Minneapolis) artfully describing her childhood
In This Issue:
- DFL in Control; Grab the Popcorn;
- You Mean Markets Actually Work?
DFL IN CONTROL; GRAB THE POPCORN
In picking through the wreckage of the 2018 election in the seven county Metro area, it’s already looking like many voters will be hitting their dictionary apps to learn more about “caveat emptor.”
It’s only November, and the mob voters put in charge of the Minnesota House is already providing citizens a three-ring circus.
Long experience and theories of organizational management will tell us that organizations adopt the characteristics of their leaders.
And when that leader is none other than Melissa Hortman, the trust fund liberal feminist of well-known infamy to readers of this publication, you just knew an island of misfit toys was in the offing.
Let’s start with the party of Big Government laying a claim as the party of Big Legislature.
In organizing their new majority, the House DFL grew the committee structure by 30%, announcing a whopping 34 committees and sub-committees.
With 75 members, that’s a committee gavel for nearly half of their caucus.
Is it a committee gavel or a participation ribbon?
The redundancy of the committee structure is a sea of red tape that resembles the bureaucracy the DFL has built in Minnesota over the past many years to harass the people of this great state (tried to renew your license tabs lately? Tried to get a permit for your business? Tried to get a hold of someone in the government-healthcare office?).
For example, if there is a bill that deals with water permits for farmers, it would likely need to travel through Agriculture, Environment Policy, Environment Finance, Energy/Climate Finance and the subcommittee on water.
There is also a Labor committee, a greater Minnesota Jobs Committee, a Jobs and Economic Development Committee, and a Commerce Committee.
In an ironic twist, this Leviathan will prove to be the undoing of their Big Government agenda, as many bills will struggle to get through this byzantine maze before legislative deadlines.
Get ready for some serious sausage making during “deadline” weeks, as committees rush to churn through bill after bill, with the system choking on the expansive agenda they will surely pursue.
There are also some interesting new legislators, to put it mildly.
This week’s edition of City Pages, Minnesota’s left-wing publication of record, published a fawning profile of four of them, with the obsequious sub-headline “Get ready to fall in love.”
We learn from the piece that Hodan Hassan (DFL – Minneapolis) is concerned with mental health issues, which is a serious and timely public policy issue, to be sure.
That legitimate issue of concern, however, was juxtaposed with the bizarre claim that she knows what people experiencing in these struggles because of her own.
And what, pray tell, is the experience she has with mental health issues?
Apparently, it’s watching television.
As the article explains, “Hassan understands what those people are going through: She works in mental health and social work, and has struggled some herself. In 2017, she stopped watching TV news; what she was seeing every day was simply too upsetting, and she needed to shield herself from it to protect her psyche.”
Um. Okay.
Next up is Aisha Gomez (DFL – Minneapolis), who is introduced to readers as one who possesses a really neat skill that impresses no one.
“She doesn’t talk like most legislators – be warned old timers, she knows how to use slang!”
City Pages apparently thinks that speaking professionally is now some sort of antiquated skill, like falconing or blacksmithing.
We also learn from the article that “slang” is synonymous with profanity.
In describing her childhood, Gomez insightfully observes, “It was some s**t.”
This “slang”, combined with hair of an interesting seaweed-green hue, will surely put her in the professional, adult company of Jack Considine (DFL – Mankato). Considine treats every day at the legislature as if it were Friday at Innitech, complete with Hawaiian shirts and jeans.
Is Rep. Considine going to the floor of the Minnesota House or down to the bowling alley?
No one can really tell.
Grab the popcorn, folks. This session will be a doozy.
When it’s all over, many taxpayers will surely say of the 2019 session, “It was some s**t.”
YOU MEAN MARKETS ACTUALLY WORK?
Liberals got a double dose of reality recently regarding the difficulty of government to either control free markets or compete with them.
The first slap in the face happened right here in Minneapolis.
Did you know that the city requires some businesses to offer certain kinds of foods?
You heard that right.
Chapter 295.45 of the city code dictates:
All mobile food stores licensed under this chapter must offer for sale at least fifty (50) items total of fresh fruits and vegetables in at least seven (7) varieties, and with no more than fifty (50) percent of the total selection being from a single variety. (2014-Or-022, § 6, 5-23-14).
And yes, city inspectors come around and count out the kiwis and carrots to make sure small business owners are towing the line.
City leaders apparently believe that if you make vendors offer the “right” foods, people will buy them.
If government mandates it, in other words, it will happen.
Like magic.
As any rational person might have guessed, it isn’t working out that way.
Vendors are complaining that most of the food is going to waste, causing them to lose money from food not sold, and scarce shelf space being occupied by items that don’t sell.
It doesn’t take an economist to conclude that if customers wanted at least 50 items total in at least seven varieties with not more than 50% of the total selection being from a single variety, they would have asked for it and the vendor would have provided it.
It’s astonishing that the Minneapolis City Council doesn’t know that the foundation of commercial markets is the voluntary transaction by which a party sells something that another party wants and is willing to pay for at a mutually agreed upon price.
Moreover, this mandate violates the theory of allocative efficiency, which dictates that goods and services under a free market system will be delivered to a destination of highest and best use.
In other words, all the rotting food that no one wants at these locations would have been sold to a different buyer who wanted them in order to meet true customer demand somewhere else.
It is the height of arrogance to believe that government fiat can suddenly make citizen desire a good they otherwise don’t want.
Next, Chevrolet announced this week that they will no longer make the Volt, a much-ballyhooed Obama-era subsidized car that runs primarily on an electric battery.
It was just another in a long line of feel-good policy mandates that emanated from the Obama administration.
The reality is that despite the big subsidies, customers didn’t want the Volt and that spelled the end of the car.
Instead, GM and other manufacturers can’t keep up with demand for SUVs and other trucks, which must drive the liberals mad, inspiring them to call for making these big vehicles as undesirable as “assault” rifles, sugary drinks, and other high-demand products your liberal neighbors don’t want you to have.
November 22, 2018
SPECIAL THANKSGIVING EDITION
Editor’s Note: Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, giving us an opportunity to reflect upon our collective good fortune as Americans. It is also an invitation for personal reflection, embracing the increasingly rare concept of gratitude. Our appalling culture of complaint, group identity grievances, and juvenile entitlement mentality makes it all the more imperative that all who read this note give thanks for what they have, which is likely more than 99% of the rest of the world.
In other words, buck up snowflake. It’s not that bad. Actually, it’s all pretty damn good.
Today’s special edition is dedicated to the men and women who deployed around the world in the Armed Forces, protecting our freedoms.
Below are Thanksgiving stories as told by these men and women, culled from a variety of public sources.
“I spent two Thanksgivings in Fallujah and they weren’t bad at all. You had your brothers to the left and right which might as well be family. And the leadership did everything they could to give us a proper Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. I’m grateful.”
“The Navy cooks made sure Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were extra special back in the 60s, and we did have our buddies that were just as homesick to share that, too! I SURVIVED!”
“I spent many Thanksgivings away from home, either state side or overseas. Sure, it wasn’t like home, but you make the best of the situation and enjoy it with others in the same situation as you are. I always enjoyed spending them with my military family!”
“It sucks, horrible food, you miss your family, and although you’re proud to be there, the conditions you’re under usually suck too. Overseas a holiday is just like any other day.”
“I spent two in Iraq. The guys next to me are more family than my family. The chain of command did everything to give us a great meal. It was probably some of the best Holiday memories I have. Good times.”
“1952 in Korea. After getting off the truck, It was a cold snowy trek to the corrugated hut where they served it. One piece of turkey, one large spoon of lumpy mashed potatoes, one spoon of thick gravy with gizzard bits and one of corn. One slice of bread. It was lukewarm, but it was good. And hot coffee. And I was thankful for it. As I ate it, my memories of home at my mother’s table gave me a greater appreciation for everything we had at home and what the poor South Koreans did not. But they have it now. That year molded my character.”
“I remember Thanksgiving Day, 1971. Our unit, 1/327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, was waiting on the helipad in Da Nang for Chinook helicopters to take our unit back to Camp Eagle, about 60 miles north. One Sergeant was lying on the ground. He was shivering and the whites of his eyes were yellow. I told someone in his squad they had better get a medic. The guy was really sick. Then then rain came. Severe downpour for about an hour. I sat on my rucksack with my feet off the flooded ground. The rain stopped and the sun came out. Someone came around and said the guy had hepatitis. There was only enough hepatitis vaccine to do the guys that slept in the same bunker with the guy. They had talked about hepatitis shots for the whole unit. The first Chinook finally took off filled with soldiers. Ten minutes later, I heard on the radio. ‘Lost contact, lost contact.’ The helicopter had been shot down with 23 on board. About an hour later, I was riding on another Chinook helicopter back to Camp Eagle near Hue, Vietnam. Just stare out the window and tell yourself, ‘No, a bullet is not going to rip through the floor.’ That is what I did on Thanksgiving Day, 1971.”
“Korea 1967; Vietnam 1969. All I remember is that the mess halls both times tried their best to give us the nicest, old fashioned Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings that they could. Wasn’t the same as my Mom but I was still thankful … and wishing I was back home.”
“Ya buddy! Nothing like birthdays, Thanksgiving and other holidays with a nice c-rat meal (yum yum) beef and rocks. All ya old timers know what I mean. Enjoy them dinners boys. I hear MREs are a lot worse than c-rats ever were. SEMPER FI. People should know its not home cooking for ya guys every day.”
“Spent several holidays overseas. In 1966, my mother sent me a plastic Christmas free that was hung in our DiAn Vietnam barracks. Returned home 46 years ago next Sunday in time for Thanksgiving Day,1968.”
OIF 2004 - on a small team north of Mosul living among the Kurds, spending a lot of time in villages tucked away in the mountains. Leading up to Thursday, it's not likely that we're going to convoy w our Pesh down to Mosul for a turkey meal, so we just figure we're missing out this year. Family had sent packs of stuffing mix and canned cranberries, but it would be useless replacing turkey with goat. Then we notice two actual turkeys in one of the villages (near Turkish border..ha!), and remark to our terp "oh wow, we didn't realize there were turkeys in Iraq?" This leads to an explanation about Thanksgiving. Within minutes one of our Pesh bodyguards walks over, shoots both turkeys, and loads them in a truck.
On Thanksgiving day we throw a huge feast at our safe house, feed all the Pesh guards, give scraps to the local kids who think cranberries are weird. We taught them how to play American football in the gravel that day.
Late that afternoon, while siting around I'm a food coma, the radios come alive with word that a general is flying into our AO to deliver a turkey meal. We live in a city block and don't have an HLZ for anything bigger than a Littlebird. So we load up and roll over to meet the,at a big Pesh compound across town. We load him, his detail, and a shit ton of mermites into vehicles and take him back to our neighborhood. He's kind of amazed we aren't all that jazzed about the visit until he sees the wreckage of our turkey meal, complete with bags full of turkey feathers and innards. "Looks like you boys had a real thanksgiving."
For Thanksgiving 2003 I was on deployment in Kuwait at Camp Udairi as part of the second wave (May '03) of deployments after the invasion of Iraq.
As a thank you to America, there was a family in Kuwait City that had started a tradition of inviting US Troops over to their house for thanksgiving. There was a sign-up roster going around and I managed to get on it (they could only take about 60 or so). We almost didn't make it because some dumbasses lost a 50 cal in another unit and the base was going into lockdown but one of my unit's pilots made a successful roll to intimidate the privates at the gate so we got out.
So we get there and this place is huge. Oil money, apparently. The house takes up a block and it's 4 stories high, and the couple just lets us wander around in it. Everything inside is marble or gold. It's got 3 kitchens (2 fully staffed and one for the wife), multiple elevators, the first plasma screen TV I'd ever seen, a massive garage that looks like something from Grand Theft Auto (a BMW, a Porsche, a Ferrari, etc). Out back in the yard there's two giant circus type tents set up with every food you could ask for, including shrimp the size of bananas, and servant dudes fresh squeezing 30 types of fruits to make fresh juice for us.
My birthday is just before thanksgiving and I had just turned 21 but Kuwait is a nominally dry country so some dudes in the unit gave me shitty non-alcoholic beer which I remember I poured the majority down a sink in a unused bedroom of the house.
Korea 1982 - Thanksgiving Day did company change of command at 0600 the went on 12 mile road march - should have been back in time to eat lunch at the messhall but some smartass officers decided to give new company cdr a bad map so instead of 6 out and 6 back on the hardball we went about 3 miles then took a left turn up a mountain trail - new cdr wasn’t listening to no one who was telling him we were going the wrong direction so we went up over and down the mountain at arrive at the normal 6 mile turn around point at noon - the the new cdr sent the 2 1/2 ton back to bring us chow - we got lukewarm spaghetti after freezing on the side of the road for an hour for our thanksgiving dinner - got back to the company area about 1600 - was hoping for leftover turkey for supper- only got cheeseburgers- 5 months later cdr got relieved as this was only day one of how screwed he was.
SPECIAL THANKSGIVING EDITION
Editor’s Note: Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, giving us an opportunity to reflect upon our collective good fortune as Americans. It is also an invitation for personal reflection, embracing the increasingly rare concept of gratitude. Our appalling culture of complaint, group identity grievances, and juvenile entitlement mentality makes it all the more imperative that all who read this note give thanks for what they have, which is likely more than 99% of the rest of the world.
In other words, buck up snowflake. It’s not that bad. Actually, it’s all pretty damn good.
Today’s special edition is dedicated to the men and women who deployed around the world in the Armed Forces, protecting our freedoms.
Below are Thanksgiving stories as told by these men and women, culled from a variety of public sources.
“I spent two Thanksgivings in Fallujah and they weren’t bad at all. You had your brothers to the left and right which might as well be family. And the leadership did everything they could to give us a proper Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. I’m grateful.”
“The Navy cooks made sure Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were extra special back in the 60s, and we did have our buddies that were just as homesick to share that, too! I SURVIVED!”
“I spent many Thanksgivings away from home, either state side or overseas. Sure, it wasn’t like home, but you make the best of the situation and enjoy it with others in the same situation as you are. I always enjoyed spending them with my military family!”
“It sucks, horrible food, you miss your family, and although you’re proud to be there, the conditions you’re under usually suck too. Overseas a holiday is just like any other day.”
“I spent two in Iraq. The guys next to me are more family than my family. The chain of command did everything to give us a great meal. It was probably some of the best Holiday memories I have. Good times.”
“1952 in Korea. After getting off the truck, It was a cold snowy trek to the corrugated hut where they served it. One piece of turkey, one large spoon of lumpy mashed potatoes, one spoon of thick gravy with gizzard bits and one of corn. One slice of bread. It was lukewarm, but it was good. And hot coffee. And I was thankful for it. As I ate it, my memories of home at my mother’s table gave me a greater appreciation for everything we had at home and what the poor South Koreans did not. But they have it now. That year molded my character.”
“I remember Thanksgiving Day, 1971. Our unit, 1/327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, was waiting on the helipad in Da Nang for Chinook helicopters to take our unit back to Camp Eagle, about 60 miles north. One Sergeant was lying on the ground. He was shivering and the whites of his eyes were yellow. I told someone in his squad they had better get a medic. The guy was really sick. Then then rain came. Severe downpour for about an hour. I sat on my rucksack with my feet off the flooded ground. The rain stopped and the sun came out. Someone came around and said the guy had hepatitis. There was only enough hepatitis vaccine to do the guys that slept in the same bunker with the guy. They had talked about hepatitis shots for the whole unit. The first Chinook finally took off filled with soldiers. Ten minutes later, I heard on the radio. ‘Lost contact, lost contact.’ The helicopter had been shot down with 23 on board. About an hour later, I was riding on another Chinook helicopter back to Camp Eagle near Hue, Vietnam. Just stare out the window and tell yourself, ‘No, a bullet is not going to rip through the floor.’ That is what I did on Thanksgiving Day, 1971.”
“Korea 1967; Vietnam 1969. All I remember is that the mess halls both times tried their best to give us the nicest, old fashioned Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings that they could. Wasn’t the same as my Mom but I was still thankful … and wishing I was back home.”
“Ya buddy! Nothing like birthdays, Thanksgiving and other holidays with a nice c-rat meal (yum yum) beef and rocks. All ya old timers know what I mean. Enjoy them dinners boys. I hear MREs are a lot worse than c-rats ever were. SEMPER FI. People should know its not home cooking for ya guys every day.”
“Spent several holidays overseas. In 1966, my mother sent me a plastic Christmas free that was hung in our DiAn Vietnam barracks. Returned home 46 years ago next Sunday in time for Thanksgiving Day,1968.”
OIF 2004 - on a small team north of Mosul living among the Kurds, spending a lot of time in villages tucked away in the mountains. Leading up to Thursday, it's not likely that we're going to convoy w our Pesh down to Mosul for a turkey meal, so we just figure we're missing out this year. Family had sent packs of stuffing mix and canned cranberries, but it would be useless replacing turkey with goat. Then we notice two actual turkeys in one of the villages (near Turkish border..ha!), and remark to our terp "oh wow, we didn't realize there were turkeys in Iraq?" This leads to an explanation about Thanksgiving. Within minutes one of our Pesh bodyguards walks over, shoots both turkeys, and loads them in a truck.
On Thanksgiving day we throw a huge feast at our safe house, feed all the Pesh guards, give scraps to the local kids who think cranberries are weird. We taught them how to play American football in the gravel that day.
Late that afternoon, while siting around I'm a food coma, the radios come alive with word that a general is flying into our AO to deliver a turkey meal. We live in a city block and don't have an HLZ for anything bigger than a Littlebird. So we load up and roll over to meet the,at a big Pesh compound across town. We load him, his detail, and a shit ton of mermites into vehicles and take him back to our neighborhood. He's kind of amazed we aren't all that jazzed about the visit until he sees the wreckage of our turkey meal, complete with bags full of turkey feathers and innards. "Looks like you boys had a real thanksgiving."
For Thanksgiving 2003 I was on deployment in Kuwait at Camp Udairi as part of the second wave (May '03) of deployments after the invasion of Iraq.
As a thank you to America, there was a family in Kuwait City that had started a tradition of inviting US Troops over to their house for thanksgiving. There was a sign-up roster going around and I managed to get on it (they could only take about 60 or so). We almost didn't make it because some dumbasses lost a 50 cal in another unit and the base was going into lockdown but one of my unit's pilots made a successful roll to intimidate the privates at the gate so we got out.
So we get there and this place is huge. Oil money, apparently. The house takes up a block and it's 4 stories high, and the couple just lets us wander around in it. Everything inside is marble or gold. It's got 3 kitchens (2 fully staffed and one for the wife), multiple elevators, the first plasma screen TV I'd ever seen, a massive garage that looks like something from Grand Theft Auto (a BMW, a Porsche, a Ferrari, etc). Out back in the yard there's two giant circus type tents set up with every food you could ask for, including shrimp the size of bananas, and servant dudes fresh squeezing 30 types of fruits to make fresh juice for us.
My birthday is just before thanksgiving and I had just turned 21 but Kuwait is a nominally dry country so some dudes in the unit gave me shitty non-alcoholic beer which I remember I poured the majority down a sink in a unused bedroom of the house.
Korea 1982 - Thanksgiving Day did company change of command at 0600 the went on 12 mile road march - should have been back in time to eat lunch at the messhall but some smartass officers decided to give new company cdr a bad map so instead of 6 out and 6 back on the hardball we went about 3 miles then took a left turn up a mountain trail - new cdr wasn’t listening to no one who was telling him we were going the wrong direction so we went up over and down the mountain at arrive at the normal 6 mile turn around point at noon - the the new cdr sent the 2 1/2 ton back to bring us chow - we got lukewarm spaghetti after freezing on the side of the road for an hour for our thanksgiving dinner - got back to the company area about 1600 - was hoping for leftover turkey for supper- only got cheeseburgers- 5 months later cdr got relieved as this was only day one of how screwed he was.
November 16, 2018
Quote of the Week: “Last Tuesday night, despite offering no vision for the future of this great country, they won, but time is ticking on their short-term tactics. To drown out the cries of ‘Resist!’ our side needs to have a clear and unified message.”
In This Issue:
GAS PAINS
Governor-elect Tim Walz is already feeling the bloated, painful feeling in his gut from proposing a yet-to-be-defined gas tax increase for the already over-taxed subjects of the People’s Republic of Minnesota.
He won’t even take the oath of office for many weeks and he’s already throwing down the tax increase gauntlet.
How confidence inspiring.
Unfortunately, this pronouncement points to two troubling developments concerning our soon-to-be official governor.
One, despite years spent in Washington, he’s going to face a steep learning curve in mastering the job of chief executive.
Two, he may not be the pragmatic, solutions-oriented moderate he claims to be.
His statement on the gas tax, lacking any definition or context, was clearly an unforced error that immediately set up a confrontation with both Republicans and those DFLers who understand that if you’re going to be re-elected, there are some taxes that simply can’t be done.
The political and public policy obstacles to a gas tax increase are numerous. Someone should pull the governor-elect aside and educate him.
In case either Walz or staffers are reading this excellent publication, here you go.
One, for the reasons explained below, a gas tax increase is a nearly impossible lift. The only time it was raised in modern Minnesota times was over a decade ago, when it was increased over Governor Pawlenty’s veto by strong DFL majorities and six wayward House Republicans, two of whom remain (Rep. Rod Hamilton and now Sen. Jim Abeler).
Recall that even Democrats seem to support a gas tax increase only when they’re in a position to do nothing about it.
When the DFL controlled all of state government recently, they declined to institute a gas tax increase, knowing the political consequences.
That justified trepidation on both sides of the aisle remains.
This is especially true in divided government. The fundamental rule of tax increases is that you never vote for a tax increase unless you know it will happen.
Voting for a tax increase that doesn’t happen is the worst of both political worlds.
Thus, it is quite likely Speaker-elect Hortman will kindly defer any vote on a gas tax unless and until Majority Leader Gazelka pushes one through the Senate. For the record, Gazelka is quite unlikely to do that, although the DFL if unified only needs one wayward Republican (Paging Jim Abeler) to make it happen.
It will also be hard to sell a gas tax increase in a time of surplus. The state may have a budget surplus that exceeds $1 billion in the next forecast.
A gas tax is always a hard sell. It will be an even harder sell when the state has over-collected a cool billion from the tax payers.
Moreover, the gas tax is a declining source of revenue. Fuel efficiency gains, coupled with the rise of alternative fuels, has resulted in a decline in revenues that is likely to only accelerate.
Why have a political brawl over a tax that is dying?
Of course, the gas tax is also highly regressive, hitting the poor much harder than the wealthy.
A rich person can easily absorb a few hundred bucks more in gas expenses.
Not so much for a poor person or someone on a fixed income.
Walz is hardly burnishing his “working man” flannel image with this tax.
The gas is tax is also unfair, hitting rural Minnesotans harder than their Metro brethren.
Rural residents often times have long drives to necessary destinations like the grocery store, the school, the doctor, or the job site.
A gas tax increase is a tone-deaf proposal, especially coming from the man who campaigned on a “One Minnesota” slogan.
Polling in Minnesota, including a very recent poll, has consistently shown opposition to a gas tax.
Walz is misreading his victory to divine a mandate to jack up the gas tax.
Thus, the governor-elect has already handed the GOP an issue.
It will be interesting to watch Speaker Hortman put up 68 votes to increase the gas tax.
Go for it.
THE LEVIATHAN
Here’s example #999 of stupid Big Government “fixing” what was never broken.
Down in Saint Paul, city leaders apparently think the city is working so well that the time and resources were available for the city to take over trash collection, under the euphemistically named enabling law called “organized collection.”
Under organized collection, the haulers in a city are forced into a cartel and assigned a portion of the city and the same number of customers as what they had prior to the government takeover.
Importantly, government takes over trash collection by forcing the cartel to have a hauling contract with the city, and not with each individual customer.
This contract spells out (or attempts to spell out) all the many complex aspects of the trash business.
That contract, of course, replaces the individual customer, making trash service a utility.
And like any utility, there is no longer any choice for the customer.
The government picks your hauler, picks the prices, picks the day of service, and picks every other aspect of trash service.
And wouldn’t you know it? Some haulers have apparently taken advantage of captive customers to leverage them in a way they likely wouldn’t have in the free market system, where service providers get fired when they screw up.
While examples of this mistreatment are legion in organized collection cities, Saint Paul provides two examples.
According to news reports, when residents were assigned a particular hauler, that hauler immediately sent out payment notices demanding payment within days.
When payment wasn’t made timely, the hauler sacked late payers with late fees.
The uproar has caused the city, the contract holder, to establish a web site where citizens can go complain about the fees.
No word on what recourse the city has, since it appears that the contract is silent on billing issues like this.
Second, a major uproar was caused when that same hauler demanded all sorts of proof that a person was indeed going to be out of town when they requested a stop in service.
For example, it the customer begged a stop of medical reasons, a note from the attending physician is required.
If travel is the reason, proof travel is required, including flight numbers, if flying.
Submission of a request, of course, is no guarantee that the service stop will be provided.
Appeal rights for a denial? Ha Ha!!!!!!
Readers should know that these organized collection schemes encourage these kinds of fees and game playing.
You see, cities will brag that their take over of trash will result in lower rates.
The game is that haulers agree to these lower “headline” rates and then seek to make up the money elsewhere.
If a citizen has service stopped for six months because they are a snowbird in Florida, that’s six months of revenue lost to the hauler.
Thus, the incentive to chisel service stop requests.
Another scam is “lid fees”, whereby any can that can’t fully close is charged an up fee.
Another scam is forcing every address to have service.
Many addresses don’t have service because they share a can with a neighbor, bring trash to work and toss it in a dumpster, or have kids come by and take the trash to their can.
These options are especially popular amongst seniors and those who take great pride in reducing their waste footprint.
Now, regardless of need for service, they must take it – and pay for it.
If you believe that government can take over trash and do it better than the free market, you probably also believe that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, and you believe that OJ is still looking for the real killers.
If you catch wind that your city is considering taking over trash hauling, run (very fast) down to city hall and bring your pitch fork.
You’re about to get screwed.
Quote of the Week: “Last Tuesday night, despite offering no vision for the future of this great country, they won, but time is ticking on their short-term tactics. To drown out the cries of ‘Resist!’ our side needs to have a clear and unified message.”
- Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN 6), who has been elected chairman of the National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC), and will head up efforts to return his conference to the majority in 2020
In This Issue:
- Gas Pains;
- The Leviathan;
GAS PAINS
Governor-elect Tim Walz is already feeling the bloated, painful feeling in his gut from proposing a yet-to-be-defined gas tax increase for the already over-taxed subjects of the People’s Republic of Minnesota.
He won’t even take the oath of office for many weeks and he’s already throwing down the tax increase gauntlet.
How confidence inspiring.
Unfortunately, this pronouncement points to two troubling developments concerning our soon-to-be official governor.
One, despite years spent in Washington, he’s going to face a steep learning curve in mastering the job of chief executive.
Two, he may not be the pragmatic, solutions-oriented moderate he claims to be.
His statement on the gas tax, lacking any definition or context, was clearly an unforced error that immediately set up a confrontation with both Republicans and those DFLers who understand that if you’re going to be re-elected, there are some taxes that simply can’t be done.
The political and public policy obstacles to a gas tax increase are numerous. Someone should pull the governor-elect aside and educate him.
In case either Walz or staffers are reading this excellent publication, here you go.
One, for the reasons explained below, a gas tax increase is a nearly impossible lift. The only time it was raised in modern Minnesota times was over a decade ago, when it was increased over Governor Pawlenty’s veto by strong DFL majorities and six wayward House Republicans, two of whom remain (Rep. Rod Hamilton and now Sen. Jim Abeler).
Recall that even Democrats seem to support a gas tax increase only when they’re in a position to do nothing about it.
When the DFL controlled all of state government recently, they declined to institute a gas tax increase, knowing the political consequences.
That justified trepidation on both sides of the aisle remains.
This is especially true in divided government. The fundamental rule of tax increases is that you never vote for a tax increase unless you know it will happen.
Voting for a tax increase that doesn’t happen is the worst of both political worlds.
Thus, it is quite likely Speaker-elect Hortman will kindly defer any vote on a gas tax unless and until Majority Leader Gazelka pushes one through the Senate. For the record, Gazelka is quite unlikely to do that, although the DFL if unified only needs one wayward Republican (Paging Jim Abeler) to make it happen.
It will also be hard to sell a gas tax increase in a time of surplus. The state may have a budget surplus that exceeds $1 billion in the next forecast.
A gas tax is always a hard sell. It will be an even harder sell when the state has over-collected a cool billion from the tax payers.
Moreover, the gas tax is a declining source of revenue. Fuel efficiency gains, coupled with the rise of alternative fuels, has resulted in a decline in revenues that is likely to only accelerate.
Why have a political brawl over a tax that is dying?
Of course, the gas tax is also highly regressive, hitting the poor much harder than the wealthy.
A rich person can easily absorb a few hundred bucks more in gas expenses.
Not so much for a poor person or someone on a fixed income.
Walz is hardly burnishing his “working man” flannel image with this tax.
The gas is tax is also unfair, hitting rural Minnesotans harder than their Metro brethren.
Rural residents often times have long drives to necessary destinations like the grocery store, the school, the doctor, or the job site.
A gas tax increase is a tone-deaf proposal, especially coming from the man who campaigned on a “One Minnesota” slogan.
Polling in Minnesota, including a very recent poll, has consistently shown opposition to a gas tax.
Walz is misreading his victory to divine a mandate to jack up the gas tax.
Thus, the governor-elect has already handed the GOP an issue.
It will be interesting to watch Speaker Hortman put up 68 votes to increase the gas tax.
Go for it.
THE LEVIATHAN
Here’s example #999 of stupid Big Government “fixing” what was never broken.
Down in Saint Paul, city leaders apparently think the city is working so well that the time and resources were available for the city to take over trash collection, under the euphemistically named enabling law called “organized collection.”
Under organized collection, the haulers in a city are forced into a cartel and assigned a portion of the city and the same number of customers as what they had prior to the government takeover.
Importantly, government takes over trash collection by forcing the cartel to have a hauling contract with the city, and not with each individual customer.
This contract spells out (or attempts to spell out) all the many complex aspects of the trash business.
That contract, of course, replaces the individual customer, making trash service a utility.
And like any utility, there is no longer any choice for the customer.
The government picks your hauler, picks the prices, picks the day of service, and picks every other aspect of trash service.
And wouldn’t you know it? Some haulers have apparently taken advantage of captive customers to leverage them in a way they likely wouldn’t have in the free market system, where service providers get fired when they screw up.
While examples of this mistreatment are legion in organized collection cities, Saint Paul provides two examples.
According to news reports, when residents were assigned a particular hauler, that hauler immediately sent out payment notices demanding payment within days.
When payment wasn’t made timely, the hauler sacked late payers with late fees.
The uproar has caused the city, the contract holder, to establish a web site where citizens can go complain about the fees.
No word on what recourse the city has, since it appears that the contract is silent on billing issues like this.
Second, a major uproar was caused when that same hauler demanded all sorts of proof that a person was indeed going to be out of town when they requested a stop in service.
For example, it the customer begged a stop of medical reasons, a note from the attending physician is required.
If travel is the reason, proof travel is required, including flight numbers, if flying.
Submission of a request, of course, is no guarantee that the service stop will be provided.
Appeal rights for a denial? Ha Ha!!!!!!
Readers should know that these organized collection schemes encourage these kinds of fees and game playing.
You see, cities will brag that their take over of trash will result in lower rates.
The game is that haulers agree to these lower “headline” rates and then seek to make up the money elsewhere.
If a citizen has service stopped for six months because they are a snowbird in Florida, that’s six months of revenue lost to the hauler.
Thus, the incentive to chisel service stop requests.
Another scam is “lid fees”, whereby any can that can’t fully close is charged an up fee.
Another scam is forcing every address to have service.
Many addresses don’t have service because they share a can with a neighbor, bring trash to work and toss it in a dumpster, or have kids come by and take the trash to their can.
These options are especially popular amongst seniors and those who take great pride in reducing their waste footprint.
Now, regardless of need for service, they must take it – and pay for it.
If you believe that government can take over trash and do it better than the free market, you probably also believe that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, and you believe that OJ is still looking for the real killers.
If you catch wind that your city is considering taking over trash hauling, run (very fast) down to city hall and bring your pitch fork.
You’re about to get screwed.
November 9th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “The biggest problem, for me, is not as much gender as it is that in politics today, it’s really a mark against you if you know what you’re doing.”
Claire McCaskill (D-MO), soon to be a former senator from Missouri
Editor’s Note: This, of course, is the election wrap-up issue. It was a fascinating election, to say the least.
In This Issue:
FACTS AND FIGURES
For the first time since 1914, only one legislature has split control, that being Minnesota.
For the first time since 1875, Florida has two Republican senators.
Republicans experienced the following losses Tuesday night:
Around 35 House seats
7 governorships
330 state legislators
A GAIN of 3 U.S. Senate seats
For comparison, here’s what Barack Obama lost in 2010, his first mid-term election:
63 House seats
6 U.S. Senate seats
700 legislative seats
Since 1862, the president’s party has lost an average of 32 House seats and two Senate seats in mid-term elections.
All told, Democrats and allied special interest groups are estimated to have spent in excess of $2.5 billion on the federal mid-term races.
With all precincts reporting, turnout in Minnesota reached 63.66%, nearly 2.6 million total votes.
Keith Ellison won only 14 of 87 counties, yet still won the office.
On average, the party opposite the president’s picks up 17 seats in the Minnesota House in mid-term elections.
The GOP lost 18 seats Tuesday night, with one recount pending.
THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS
After this election, there are two things we never again want to hear from Democrat politicians.
The first is, “We need to get money out of politics.”
Democrats raked in piles of special interest cash both in Minnesota and across the nation.
They hypocritically spoke in worried tones about “money” in politics, while their hands couldn’t move fast enough to grab the cash from billionaires like Bloomberg, Steyer, and Soros.
We will be watching to see what measures Minnesota’s DFL federal delegation introduce to reduce money in politics.
We’re especially watching Angie Craig, who made the most of this issue.
The second issue is the “Me Too” movement and the associated faux sympathy and outrage associated with it.
After the Brett Kavanaugh character assassination and the support for Keith Ellison, it’s clear that “Me Too” is nothing more than a cheap political prop for DFLers.
It’s nothing more than a false narrative to generate voter sympathy.
The Kavanaugh attack will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in American political history.
At the end of the day, the allegations against a man deemed “well qualified” by the American Bar Association were at best uncorroborated and at worst outright fabricated.
How interesting that Democrats in Washington haven’t lifted a finger after the nomination to “get justice” for the Kavanaugh accusers.
What is the bigger crock of horse manure? Dems continuing to investigate the claims against Kavanaugh or OJ continuing to look for the real killers?
The election of Keith Ellison is one of the most shameful chapters in Minnesota political history.
Ellison has a long and proven history of associating with virulent Jew haters.
Ellison stands today as a credibly accused abuser of women.
We now have as our chief law enforcement officer in the state a man who has admitted to calling a woman “bitch.”
We’re so proud.
It will be interesting to see how candidates who won congressional seats in the suburbs navigate the inherent conflict between their campaign promises to find compromise solutions and the natural inclination of the leaders they will empower to do little more than attack the president they hate.
In other words, how will Angie Craig and Dean Phillips handle the impending clash between legislating and investigating?
Despite all sorts of campaign promises about repudiating Nancy Pelosi, the first betrayal for many new members of Congress will be their vote make Pelosi Speaker of the House.
In short order, the U.S. House of Representatives will be led by radical liberals like Pelosi (CA), Maxine Waters (CA), Adam Schiff (CA) and Jerry Nadler (NY).
This Insane Clown Posse (ICP) of politics couldn’t care less about the high-minded, idealistic campaign promises of no-rank freshman colleagues representing Flyover Country.
They are on a mission to seek and destroy.
Their coastal districts reward ideological excess and insist upon dogmatic victory over the conservatives they deem enemies.
It is quite likely that many of the 35 or so newbies who won purplish, suburban swing districts will come home empty handed in 2020, forced to abandon the ramparts of pragmatic compromise and dive head-long into the gutter of partisan blame.
The ICP would have it no other way.
At the state level, the big take away from the night is that Minnesota has undergone a political re-alignment.
The Metro area continues to trend blue while Greater Minnesota is now firmly in the GOP orbit.
That trend was confirmed across the board Tuesday night.
The Metro-based Second and Third districts flipped blue while the First and Eighth flipped red.
In the state Senate, a rural red district stayed red in a special election, giving the GOP a whopping 15-point victory and keeping that body at a 34-33 spilt in favor of the GOP.
By the way, the Senate DFL should consider firing their pollsters. Sources insisted to the Watchdog throughout the campaign that DFL candidate Joe Perske was within or close to the margin of error in polling.
To the contrary, the GOP was privately adamant that their candidate, Jeff Howe, was ahead and would stay there.
In the House, 16 of 18 flipped seats were in the Metro.
Of the two rural seats, one wasn’t contested as the GOP candidate suspended his campaign to deal with a family issue.
The other seat, centered on Bemidji, saw the Republican incumbent lose by 4 votes. A recount is pending.
For sure, the GOP is going to have to find a way to regain footing in the suburbs, where women with college degrees have drifted into the DFL camp.
The GOP must also find a way to move the needle in the urban core, if that’s at all possible, given the radical insanity that prevails under our skyscrapers.
On election night, some Minneapolis House districts saw the DFL legislator win with over 90% of the vote.
The GOP will have to find a way to at least move the needle, primarily to give state-wide candidates a fighting chance.
It’s a real black eye that the GOP hasn’t won a single state-wide race in this state since 2006.
Conversely, the DFL has a big rural problem.
For all his ballyhooed “One Minnesota” message, Walz lost 66 of 87 counties. This for a guy who hails from rural Minnesota.
Keith Ellison fared worse, losing 73 of 87 counties.
Of their incoming caucus of 75, only 15 House DFLers represent a district outside of the Metro.
Of those 15, seven represent a regional center like Duluth, Rochester, Saint Cloud, and Mankato.
While the media would never focus on the story, there are scores of legislative districts across the state that are firmly in GOP hands that the DFL used to outright own for generations.
RUMORS
A great album, but even better as political fodder.
There’s a lot of speculation that state Senator Tony Lourey will be named Health and Human Services commissioner.
There’s credence to this rumor as Lourey is a universally acknowledged expert on HHS issues and has long political experience.
Plus, there’s the boost in pay.
If Lourey left, it would trigger a special election, forcing the DFL to defend the seat and giving the GOP a chance to pad their thin majority.
Lourey’s rural district is a classic swing district, with the “A” side more DFL and the “B” side more Republican.
If that happens, current state Rep. Jason Rarick is the dream candidate for the GOP.
House Republicans meet today to pick their minority leader. Look for Kurt Daudt to continue leading the caucus.
Not a rumor but fact that Paul Gazelka has been re-elected Senate Majority Leader and Jeremy Miller the President of the Senate.
Congratulations to those two!
Republicans are cautiously optimistic they can work with Walz.
At least in style, Walz will be a far cry better than Dayton.
Frankly, Dayton lacked the skills required to be a successful governor and simply resorted to juvenile attacks and incessant flip-flopping regarding critical compromises.
Sources tell this publication that Walz is interested in achieving results and knows that he needs to work with Republicans to make it happen.
The first test will come with staff and cabinet choices. If Walz chooses people known more for partisanship than policy, it will be a bad start.
On the other hand, choosing well-qualified and respected people will auger well for getting things done.
It also doesn’t hurt that Walz feels no allegiance to the radical left. They denied him the endorsement and forced him into a primary.
The rumors of various Lefties like Erin Murphy assuming cabinet positions seems more aspirational on their part than actual consideration on the part of Walz.
We will see.
Quote of the Week: “The biggest problem, for me, is not as much gender as it is that in politics today, it’s really a mark against you if you know what you’re doing.”
Claire McCaskill (D-MO), soon to be a former senator from Missouri
Editor’s Note: This, of course, is the election wrap-up issue. It was a fascinating election, to say the least.
In This Issue:
- Facts and Figures;
- Thoughts and Analysis;
- Rumors.
FACTS AND FIGURES
For the first time since 1914, only one legislature has split control, that being Minnesota.
For the first time since 1875, Florida has two Republican senators.
Republicans experienced the following losses Tuesday night:
Around 35 House seats
7 governorships
330 state legislators
A GAIN of 3 U.S. Senate seats
For comparison, here’s what Barack Obama lost in 2010, his first mid-term election:
63 House seats
6 U.S. Senate seats
700 legislative seats
Since 1862, the president’s party has lost an average of 32 House seats and two Senate seats in mid-term elections.
All told, Democrats and allied special interest groups are estimated to have spent in excess of $2.5 billion on the federal mid-term races.
With all precincts reporting, turnout in Minnesota reached 63.66%, nearly 2.6 million total votes.
Keith Ellison won only 14 of 87 counties, yet still won the office.
On average, the party opposite the president’s picks up 17 seats in the Minnesota House in mid-term elections.
The GOP lost 18 seats Tuesday night, with one recount pending.
THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS
After this election, there are two things we never again want to hear from Democrat politicians.
The first is, “We need to get money out of politics.”
Democrats raked in piles of special interest cash both in Minnesota and across the nation.
They hypocritically spoke in worried tones about “money” in politics, while their hands couldn’t move fast enough to grab the cash from billionaires like Bloomberg, Steyer, and Soros.
We will be watching to see what measures Minnesota’s DFL federal delegation introduce to reduce money in politics.
We’re especially watching Angie Craig, who made the most of this issue.
The second issue is the “Me Too” movement and the associated faux sympathy and outrage associated with it.
After the Brett Kavanaugh character assassination and the support for Keith Ellison, it’s clear that “Me Too” is nothing more than a cheap political prop for DFLers.
It’s nothing more than a false narrative to generate voter sympathy.
The Kavanaugh attack will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in American political history.
At the end of the day, the allegations against a man deemed “well qualified” by the American Bar Association were at best uncorroborated and at worst outright fabricated.
How interesting that Democrats in Washington haven’t lifted a finger after the nomination to “get justice” for the Kavanaugh accusers.
What is the bigger crock of horse manure? Dems continuing to investigate the claims against Kavanaugh or OJ continuing to look for the real killers?
The election of Keith Ellison is one of the most shameful chapters in Minnesota political history.
Ellison has a long and proven history of associating with virulent Jew haters.
Ellison stands today as a credibly accused abuser of women.
We now have as our chief law enforcement officer in the state a man who has admitted to calling a woman “bitch.”
We’re so proud.
It will be interesting to see how candidates who won congressional seats in the suburbs navigate the inherent conflict between their campaign promises to find compromise solutions and the natural inclination of the leaders they will empower to do little more than attack the president they hate.
In other words, how will Angie Craig and Dean Phillips handle the impending clash between legislating and investigating?
Despite all sorts of campaign promises about repudiating Nancy Pelosi, the first betrayal for many new members of Congress will be their vote make Pelosi Speaker of the House.
In short order, the U.S. House of Representatives will be led by radical liberals like Pelosi (CA), Maxine Waters (CA), Adam Schiff (CA) and Jerry Nadler (NY).
This Insane Clown Posse (ICP) of politics couldn’t care less about the high-minded, idealistic campaign promises of no-rank freshman colleagues representing Flyover Country.
They are on a mission to seek and destroy.
Their coastal districts reward ideological excess and insist upon dogmatic victory over the conservatives they deem enemies.
It is quite likely that many of the 35 or so newbies who won purplish, suburban swing districts will come home empty handed in 2020, forced to abandon the ramparts of pragmatic compromise and dive head-long into the gutter of partisan blame.
The ICP would have it no other way.
At the state level, the big take away from the night is that Minnesota has undergone a political re-alignment.
The Metro area continues to trend blue while Greater Minnesota is now firmly in the GOP orbit.
That trend was confirmed across the board Tuesday night.
The Metro-based Second and Third districts flipped blue while the First and Eighth flipped red.
In the state Senate, a rural red district stayed red in a special election, giving the GOP a whopping 15-point victory and keeping that body at a 34-33 spilt in favor of the GOP.
By the way, the Senate DFL should consider firing their pollsters. Sources insisted to the Watchdog throughout the campaign that DFL candidate Joe Perske was within or close to the margin of error in polling.
To the contrary, the GOP was privately adamant that their candidate, Jeff Howe, was ahead and would stay there.
In the House, 16 of 18 flipped seats were in the Metro.
Of the two rural seats, one wasn’t contested as the GOP candidate suspended his campaign to deal with a family issue.
The other seat, centered on Bemidji, saw the Republican incumbent lose by 4 votes. A recount is pending.
For sure, the GOP is going to have to find a way to regain footing in the suburbs, where women with college degrees have drifted into the DFL camp.
The GOP must also find a way to move the needle in the urban core, if that’s at all possible, given the radical insanity that prevails under our skyscrapers.
On election night, some Minneapolis House districts saw the DFL legislator win with over 90% of the vote.
The GOP will have to find a way to at least move the needle, primarily to give state-wide candidates a fighting chance.
It’s a real black eye that the GOP hasn’t won a single state-wide race in this state since 2006.
Conversely, the DFL has a big rural problem.
For all his ballyhooed “One Minnesota” message, Walz lost 66 of 87 counties. This for a guy who hails from rural Minnesota.
Keith Ellison fared worse, losing 73 of 87 counties.
Of their incoming caucus of 75, only 15 House DFLers represent a district outside of the Metro.
Of those 15, seven represent a regional center like Duluth, Rochester, Saint Cloud, and Mankato.
While the media would never focus on the story, there are scores of legislative districts across the state that are firmly in GOP hands that the DFL used to outright own for generations.
RUMORS
A great album, but even better as political fodder.
There’s a lot of speculation that state Senator Tony Lourey will be named Health and Human Services commissioner.
There’s credence to this rumor as Lourey is a universally acknowledged expert on HHS issues and has long political experience.
Plus, there’s the boost in pay.
If Lourey left, it would trigger a special election, forcing the DFL to defend the seat and giving the GOP a chance to pad their thin majority.
Lourey’s rural district is a classic swing district, with the “A” side more DFL and the “B” side more Republican.
If that happens, current state Rep. Jason Rarick is the dream candidate for the GOP.
House Republicans meet today to pick their minority leader. Look for Kurt Daudt to continue leading the caucus.
Not a rumor but fact that Paul Gazelka has been re-elected Senate Majority Leader and Jeremy Miller the President of the Senate.
Congratulations to those two!
Republicans are cautiously optimistic they can work with Walz.
At least in style, Walz will be a far cry better than Dayton.
Frankly, Dayton lacked the skills required to be a successful governor and simply resorted to juvenile attacks and incessant flip-flopping regarding critical compromises.
Sources tell this publication that Walz is interested in achieving results and knows that he needs to work with Republicans to make it happen.
The first test will come with staff and cabinet choices. If Walz chooses people known more for partisanship than policy, it will be a bad start.
On the other hand, choosing well-qualified and respected people will auger well for getting things done.
It also doesn’t hurt that Walz feels no allegiance to the radical left. They denied him the endorsement and forced him into a primary.
The rumors of various Lefties like Erin Murphy assuming cabinet positions seems more aspirational on their part than actual consideration on the part of Walz.
We will see.
November 2nd, 2018
Quote of the Week: “Well, I'd like to be president."
Quote of the Week: “This ad is despicable, based on a flat-out lie and is everything people complain about in negative campaigning - it makes me sick to my stomach. To portray this young man in a political ad this way does a disservice to disabled people across the state who really do need our support. There’s a special place in hell for the people who designed this ad.”
In This Issue:
AROUND THE HORN
With this being the last Watchdog edition before the election, we’ll spend this week traveling around the state, digesting the latest news and gossip from key races.
BARRY’S BIG EGO
Before we get to the state level, erstwhile chief executive (and pot head) Barak “Barry” Obama should be recognized for his remarkably crass and unpresidential comments late last week.
Campaigning in Wisconsin, Obama called out Republicans and President Trump for "blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly, lying."
That’s pretty rich, coming from a guy who told us that if we liked our doctor, we could keep our doctor.
Or the guy who said that if we like our health plan, we can keep it.
Or the guy who said he wouldn’t run up the federal deficit, because doing so would be “unpatriotic.”
More importantly, it was a serious breach of an important protocol, that of former presidents respecting and supporting the current president, regardless of political, policy, or stylistic differences.
Of course, Obama had to also engage his narcissism by reminding the assembled sheep that he, not Trump, is to thank for our current economic fortune.
Never mind that our economy has been pulled out of malaise because Trump reversed Obama’s regulatory state and cut taxes, two things anathema to Obama.
This shameless hyper-partisanship on the part of a former president is more confirmation that Democrats have abandoned any pretense of concern for the country.
For them, it’s simply about who gets to wield power.
Just like the Brett Kavanaugh affair, it shows nothing more than a zealous pursuit of power.
AG RACE
And speaking of the Brett Kavanaugh playbook, the DFL has borrowed a few pages from it in their desperate bid to elect the ultra-flawed, ultra-hateful Keith Ellison attorney general.
Doug Wardlow, Ellison’s opponent, has now been accused of bullying a gay classmate back in high school – 26 years ago.
Yes, Wardlow is now being accused of bad behavior back when didn’t even have a driver’s license.
Sound familiar?
These allegations have never before been aired, including back in 2009, when Wardlow was a candidate for the Minnesota House (a race he won).
Suddenly, days before an election Wardlow is projected to win, allegations suddenly surface from behavior that would have happened back in his adolescence – if it happened at all.
Of course, this is a convenient distraction from Ellison’s more contemporary allegations of violence against women (he has already admitted calling one woman a “bitch.”) and his association with merchants of hate like Louis Farrakhan.
Wardlow’s response to this Kavanaugh-like attack is worth reading:
“I categorically deny these allegations about me when I was 14 years old. I never did or said anything remotely like the things alleged—not 26 years ago when I was 14, not ever. Voters are tired of these 11th hour dirty tricks by career politicians like Keith Ellison. Clearly, Ryan Durant is politically motivated. In late 2009, before I held any political office and just after I announced my candidacy for State House, Durant posted on Facebook that he would consider voting for me, wished me luck, complimented me, and congratulated me on my engagement. Now, Durant frequently compares Republicans to Nazis on his Facebook page, and he recently “liked” Ellison attack dog William Davis’s Facebook comment that Republicans should be sent to the guillotines. The change demonstrates that the allegations are politically motivated lies. Ellison has shopped this story to multiple media outlets as a last-minute “Hail Mary” to save his failing campaign. It will not succeed. This is a new low for Keith Ellison and Minnesota politics, and Ellison should be ashamed. As a father of three young children, I absolutely condemn all forms of bullying.”
HEY JOE
The Minnesota Senate isn’t on the ballot this year, except for one very important race.
Because of the resignation of Michelle Fischbach (R – Paynesville), there will be a special election on November 6th to determine control of the senate, as that body now stands tied at 33-33.
In this Republican-leaning district, Democrat Joe Perske has done his best Republican impersonation, touting his support for the Second Amendment, opposition to abortion, and sacred duty to stand up to the DFL.
Besides wondering why one would vote for a fake Republican when one can vote for a real one (Jeff Howe), voters in this district would be well served to remember that electing Joe Perske would enable his fellow Democrats to be a barrier to the things he professes to embrace.
He would no doubt vote for a Senate majority leader who favored abortion rights and gay rights.
He would then likely empower Sen. Ron Latz (DFL – Saint Louis Park) to chair the Judiciary Committee, where he would push radical gun control measures.
Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL – Kerrick) would likely chair Health and Human Services, where abortion would be honored.
You get the picture.
In short, a vote for Perske is a vote for an agenda at odds with what that conservative district wants in a legislator.
It isn’t enough for Perske to claim he’s personally for those things.
If he’s serious about his professed agenda, he needs to commit to voting for DFL leadership that share his view on these issues.
We’re waiting.
TINA’S HYPOCRISY
In a little noticed news item this week, Karin Housley rightly pointed out that her opponent’s husband, owns stock (and therefore profits) in a company that produces and sells opioids.
Some news outlets have panned the claim, stating that her husband’s ownership of the stock (Johnson and Johnson), doesn’t provide enough of a connection to make political hay.
BS.
Tina Smith has been front and center in the Dayton administration’s vilification of opioid companies.
She has decried their role in the opioid crisis time and again.
For her husband (and therefore her) to profit from the very situation she’s decrying is the height of hypocrisy.
Housley is right to call out what has become an all-too-familiar pattern from the DFL: Do as I say, not as I do.
LUCKY 7
The noted political web site Real Clear Politics this week moved the 7thCongressional District race from “lean Dem” to “Tossup.”
This is a significant move, especially since incumbent DFLer Collin Peterson has represented the district since just after state-hood in 1858.
Trump carried the district by a wide margin and the partisan index is a whopping R + 34.
While it would be a huge upset, don’t be surprised to see the GOP finally take this district on election night.
You heard it here first.
Quote of the Week: “Well, I'd like to be president."
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
Quote of the Week: “This ad is despicable, based on a flat-out lie and is everything people complain about in negative campaigning - it makes me sick to my stomach. To portray this young man in a political ad this way does a disservice to disabled people across the state who really do need our support. There’s a special place in hell for the people who designed this ad.”
- Jeff Johnson, GOP candidate for governor, referring to a special interest group ad targeting his position on health care
In This Issue:
- Around the Horn.
AROUND THE HORN
With this being the last Watchdog edition before the election, we’ll spend this week traveling around the state, digesting the latest news and gossip from key races.
BARRY’S BIG EGO
Before we get to the state level, erstwhile chief executive (and pot head) Barak “Barry” Obama should be recognized for his remarkably crass and unpresidential comments late last week.
Campaigning in Wisconsin, Obama called out Republicans and President Trump for "blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly, lying."
That’s pretty rich, coming from a guy who told us that if we liked our doctor, we could keep our doctor.
Or the guy who said that if we like our health plan, we can keep it.
Or the guy who said he wouldn’t run up the federal deficit, because doing so would be “unpatriotic.”
More importantly, it was a serious breach of an important protocol, that of former presidents respecting and supporting the current president, regardless of political, policy, or stylistic differences.
Of course, Obama had to also engage his narcissism by reminding the assembled sheep that he, not Trump, is to thank for our current economic fortune.
Never mind that our economy has been pulled out of malaise because Trump reversed Obama’s regulatory state and cut taxes, two things anathema to Obama.
This shameless hyper-partisanship on the part of a former president is more confirmation that Democrats have abandoned any pretense of concern for the country.
For them, it’s simply about who gets to wield power.
Just like the Brett Kavanaugh affair, it shows nothing more than a zealous pursuit of power.
AG RACE
And speaking of the Brett Kavanaugh playbook, the DFL has borrowed a few pages from it in their desperate bid to elect the ultra-flawed, ultra-hateful Keith Ellison attorney general.
Doug Wardlow, Ellison’s opponent, has now been accused of bullying a gay classmate back in high school – 26 years ago.
Yes, Wardlow is now being accused of bad behavior back when didn’t even have a driver’s license.
Sound familiar?
These allegations have never before been aired, including back in 2009, when Wardlow was a candidate for the Minnesota House (a race he won).
Suddenly, days before an election Wardlow is projected to win, allegations suddenly surface from behavior that would have happened back in his adolescence – if it happened at all.
Of course, this is a convenient distraction from Ellison’s more contemporary allegations of violence against women (he has already admitted calling one woman a “bitch.”) and his association with merchants of hate like Louis Farrakhan.
Wardlow’s response to this Kavanaugh-like attack is worth reading:
“I categorically deny these allegations about me when I was 14 years old. I never did or said anything remotely like the things alleged—not 26 years ago when I was 14, not ever. Voters are tired of these 11th hour dirty tricks by career politicians like Keith Ellison. Clearly, Ryan Durant is politically motivated. In late 2009, before I held any political office and just after I announced my candidacy for State House, Durant posted on Facebook that he would consider voting for me, wished me luck, complimented me, and congratulated me on my engagement. Now, Durant frequently compares Republicans to Nazis on his Facebook page, and he recently “liked” Ellison attack dog William Davis’s Facebook comment that Republicans should be sent to the guillotines. The change demonstrates that the allegations are politically motivated lies. Ellison has shopped this story to multiple media outlets as a last-minute “Hail Mary” to save his failing campaign. It will not succeed. This is a new low for Keith Ellison and Minnesota politics, and Ellison should be ashamed. As a father of three young children, I absolutely condemn all forms of bullying.”
HEY JOE
The Minnesota Senate isn’t on the ballot this year, except for one very important race.
Because of the resignation of Michelle Fischbach (R – Paynesville), there will be a special election on November 6th to determine control of the senate, as that body now stands tied at 33-33.
In this Republican-leaning district, Democrat Joe Perske has done his best Republican impersonation, touting his support for the Second Amendment, opposition to abortion, and sacred duty to stand up to the DFL.
Besides wondering why one would vote for a fake Republican when one can vote for a real one (Jeff Howe), voters in this district would be well served to remember that electing Joe Perske would enable his fellow Democrats to be a barrier to the things he professes to embrace.
He would no doubt vote for a Senate majority leader who favored abortion rights and gay rights.
He would then likely empower Sen. Ron Latz (DFL – Saint Louis Park) to chair the Judiciary Committee, where he would push radical gun control measures.
Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL – Kerrick) would likely chair Health and Human Services, where abortion would be honored.
You get the picture.
In short, a vote for Perske is a vote for an agenda at odds with what that conservative district wants in a legislator.
It isn’t enough for Perske to claim he’s personally for those things.
If he’s serious about his professed agenda, he needs to commit to voting for DFL leadership that share his view on these issues.
We’re waiting.
TINA’S HYPOCRISY
In a little noticed news item this week, Karin Housley rightly pointed out that her opponent’s husband, owns stock (and therefore profits) in a company that produces and sells opioids.
Some news outlets have panned the claim, stating that her husband’s ownership of the stock (Johnson and Johnson), doesn’t provide enough of a connection to make political hay.
BS.
Tina Smith has been front and center in the Dayton administration’s vilification of opioid companies.
She has decried their role in the opioid crisis time and again.
For her husband (and therefore her) to profit from the very situation she’s decrying is the height of hypocrisy.
Housley is right to call out what has become an all-too-familiar pattern from the DFL: Do as I say, not as I do.
LUCKY 7
The noted political web site Real Clear Politics this week moved the 7thCongressional District race from “lean Dem” to “Tossup.”
This is a significant move, especially since incumbent DFLer Collin Peterson has represented the district since just after state-hood in 1858.
Trump carried the district by a wide margin and the partisan index is a whopping R + 34.
While it would be a huge upset, don’t be surprised to see the GOP finally take this district on election night.
You heard it here first.
October 26, 2018
Quote of the Week: “Tim Walz loves to talk about One Minnesota. He wants One California folks. Actually, he wants One Venezuela.”
Quote of the Week: "We conducted an outside, independent investigation, and that investigation showed we could not substantiate her claim of domestic abuse. And so I do not believe her, I believe our investigation."
Factoid of the Week: More than half of Americans receive more money in various types of government transfer payments (Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security) than they pay in federal taxes.
In This Issue:
#METOO = #METOOGOP
That didn’t take long. The Democrat’s “Believe Her” and “Me Too” movement has been exposed as little more than a cynical, cruel ploy to damage or destroy political opponents.
It is crystal clear that Democrats have fecklessly weaponized the very serious subject of sexual harassment and assault for raw political gain.
With Brett Kavanaugh confirmed, the plaintive cries to “believe her” have gone strangely silent.
With no GOP targets on the front burner, the volume has been turned down, especially since the weapon is now focused on Democrats like Keith Ellison.
In fact, the hypocrisy is shameless and appalling.
The faces of Minnesota’s feminist movement, including Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and erstwhile gubernatorial candidate Erin Murphy (she of the corny and childish “politics of joy” campaign) have all voiced their support for Keith Ellison and his campaign for attorney general.
There is no shortage of photos and video of these leaders happily standing with this credibly accused assaulter and friend of anti-Semites.
You also have the spectacle of a paunchy, bloated DFL chairman Ken Martin telling us he doesn’t believe her. Instead, we are implausibly expected to believe the DFL’s own “outside” investigation of the matter.
Yes, the fox has definitely concluded that there is no evidence he was in the hen house on the night in question.
Worse, the Watchdog has spoken with multiple DFL activists and opinion leaders who have privately conceded that the importance of winning the attorney general’s office outweighs the interests of the accuser and requires overlooking this and other inconvenient matters regarding Keith Ellison.
What a turn of events.
Just weeks ago, we were told that Brett Kavanaugh was unfit to serve on the nation’s highest court because he was accused of an incident that occurred 30 years prior, was never reported to law enforcement, couldn’t be corroborated in any manner by multiple named witnesses, during a month, season, and year that couldn’t be recalled, in a home that the accuser couldn’t name in a neighborhood the accuser couldn’t name.
The contrast between the way Democrats have treated Kavanaugh versus Ellison is one of the most blatant instances of cynical hypocrisy we’ve ever seen out of Democrats, and that’s saying a lot. A hell of a lot.
Chalk this up to another self-inflicted wound for the DFL this cycle.
The sense of revulsion and disgust Republican and independent voters feel will deliver the first Republican Minnesota attorney general in over 45 years.
Moreover, many other races will be won by Republicans who will win by a margin that can be attributed to energized voters sending a message about the way the DFL has weaponized the issue.
TIM WALZ AND THE TRIPLE LINDY
Memo to the Walz campaign: your candidate is vaporizing his narrative with all the flip-flops on key issues.
There was more verbal gymnastics from Tim Walz this week as he struggled to articulate his position on a $15 minimum wage.
Walz turned a routine question about the issue into a day-long brush fire after he hemmed and hawed about wage when his own campaign web site clearly states his support for such a public policy.
Unfortunately for Walz, this is turning into a narrative in and of itself.
On issues large and small, Walz has consistently contorted himself into a rhetorical pretzel, trying to appease the disparate and conflicted constituencies of today’s DFL.
First it was guns. The long-time NRA champion and A+ rated member of Congress suddenly repudiated the NRA once he discovered that the Urban Liberal Elite had a lot to say about who gets to run for governor on the DFL ticket.
As if the Second Amendment is some sort of nebulous, vague public policy subject that is open to nuanced positions.
You’re for the Second Amendment or you aren’t.
Then it was pipelines and mining.
Walz himself claims to support mining and pipelines.
Having said that, he chose a running mate who has vocally and passionately protested both, going so far as to testify against pipelines, on the record, at the Public Utilities Commission.
Then there’s the small issue of taxes. Walz has promised the never-satisfied spending crowd that he will fund their every Big Government wish.
On the other hand, he recently said he wouldn’t raise taxes.
Walz is either lying or he’s in over his head.
If he wins, someone is going to be the victim of a big lie.
Either he’s going to confiscate guns or he’s going to protect the Second Amendment.
Someone is getting lied to.
He’s either going to approve pipelines and mining or he’s going to obstruct.
Someone is going to be mighty ticked off – either the construction trade unions that backed him to the hilt or the environmental crowd that has joined his running mate in protesting these projects.
He’s either going to raise taxes or he’s going to backtrack on the orgy of increased spending he’s promised.
In the short term, he’s damaging the carefully crafted image of the paunchy, balding avuncular middle-aged white dude in flannel who shoots straight and tells it like it is.
Instead, he’s more and more like a typical politician telling people what they want to hear. He’s looking like a man who isn’t ready for prime time, discovering that mollifying the diverse and vocal DFL base state-wide is a lot harder than representing a homogeneous congressional district united by ag issues and common mores and folkways.
Walz has provided Jeff Johnson with a great closing argument to hammer Walz as a typical politician. He’s a flip-flopper who will say anything to anyone.
And what will he do as governor? Who knows. All we know is that we can’t trust him because he hasn’t been upfront about what he will do on critical issues like taxes, spending, pipelines, mining, healthcare, and the Second Amendment.
The good news is that years ago, a willing media would have shielded him from these equivocations by saying nothing.
In the digital age, Johnson has alternative platforms to call him out.
STATE OF THE RACE
The Watchdog has spoken to both GOP and DFL contacts this week regarding Minnesota House races.
What’s most interesting is that it appears that the GOP continues to benefit from a political re-alignment in rural Minnesota.
Seats that were held by the DFL for generations but have gone GOP in recent cycles are being cemented as Republican.
Said one GOP operative, “There isn’t a single rural seat we’re concerned about keeping.”*
*This statement doesn’t include 14B in Saint Cloud, where incumbent Jim Knoblach has withdrawn from the race.
This confidence extends to District 5B, a Grand Rapids-based seat that has been in DFL hands for most of the past 50 years.
The DFL had high hopes for retaking the seat, especially since their candidate is highly regarded and well-known.
The race has definitely shifted to the suburbs, where the fight has focused on GOP-held seats that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.
This publication is told that polling shows many of the seats within the margin or error, although a handful of those seats are likely gone at this point and will become DFL pick-ups.
Having said that, Republicans are confident that the path to a DFL takeover of the House is becoming narrower by the week.
While it’s difficult to predict House races because of the large number often decided by razor-thin margins, it appears that there may be an abnormally large amount decided by less than 1%.
For now, it looks like the fight for the House has narrowed to districts 33B,36A,38B, 42A,44A,49A,52B,53B,54A,54B,55A,56B,and 57A.
Quote of the Week: “Tim Walz loves to talk about One Minnesota. He wants One California folks. Actually, he wants One Venezuela.”
- Jeff Johnson
Quote of the Week: "We conducted an outside, independent investigation, and that investigation showed we could not substantiate her claim of domestic abuse. And so I do not believe her, I believe our investigation."
- Ken Martin, DFL State Chairman, on Keith Ellison’s accuser
Factoid of the Week: More than half of Americans receive more money in various types of government transfer payments (Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security) than they pay in federal taxes.
In This Issue:
- #Metoo = #MetooGOP;
- Tim Walz and the Triple Lindy;
- State of the Race.
#METOO = #METOOGOP
That didn’t take long. The Democrat’s “Believe Her” and “Me Too” movement has been exposed as little more than a cynical, cruel ploy to damage or destroy political opponents.
It is crystal clear that Democrats have fecklessly weaponized the very serious subject of sexual harassment and assault for raw political gain.
With Brett Kavanaugh confirmed, the plaintive cries to “believe her” have gone strangely silent.
With no GOP targets on the front burner, the volume has been turned down, especially since the weapon is now focused on Democrats like Keith Ellison.
In fact, the hypocrisy is shameless and appalling.
The faces of Minnesota’s feminist movement, including Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and erstwhile gubernatorial candidate Erin Murphy (she of the corny and childish “politics of joy” campaign) have all voiced their support for Keith Ellison and his campaign for attorney general.
There is no shortage of photos and video of these leaders happily standing with this credibly accused assaulter and friend of anti-Semites.
You also have the spectacle of a paunchy, bloated DFL chairman Ken Martin telling us he doesn’t believe her. Instead, we are implausibly expected to believe the DFL’s own “outside” investigation of the matter.
Yes, the fox has definitely concluded that there is no evidence he was in the hen house on the night in question.
Worse, the Watchdog has spoken with multiple DFL activists and opinion leaders who have privately conceded that the importance of winning the attorney general’s office outweighs the interests of the accuser and requires overlooking this and other inconvenient matters regarding Keith Ellison.
What a turn of events.
Just weeks ago, we were told that Brett Kavanaugh was unfit to serve on the nation’s highest court because he was accused of an incident that occurred 30 years prior, was never reported to law enforcement, couldn’t be corroborated in any manner by multiple named witnesses, during a month, season, and year that couldn’t be recalled, in a home that the accuser couldn’t name in a neighborhood the accuser couldn’t name.
The contrast between the way Democrats have treated Kavanaugh versus Ellison is one of the most blatant instances of cynical hypocrisy we’ve ever seen out of Democrats, and that’s saying a lot. A hell of a lot.
Chalk this up to another self-inflicted wound for the DFL this cycle.
The sense of revulsion and disgust Republican and independent voters feel will deliver the first Republican Minnesota attorney general in over 45 years.
Moreover, many other races will be won by Republicans who will win by a margin that can be attributed to energized voters sending a message about the way the DFL has weaponized the issue.
TIM WALZ AND THE TRIPLE LINDY
Memo to the Walz campaign: your candidate is vaporizing his narrative with all the flip-flops on key issues.
There was more verbal gymnastics from Tim Walz this week as he struggled to articulate his position on a $15 minimum wage.
Walz turned a routine question about the issue into a day-long brush fire after he hemmed and hawed about wage when his own campaign web site clearly states his support for such a public policy.
Unfortunately for Walz, this is turning into a narrative in and of itself.
On issues large and small, Walz has consistently contorted himself into a rhetorical pretzel, trying to appease the disparate and conflicted constituencies of today’s DFL.
First it was guns. The long-time NRA champion and A+ rated member of Congress suddenly repudiated the NRA once he discovered that the Urban Liberal Elite had a lot to say about who gets to run for governor on the DFL ticket.
As if the Second Amendment is some sort of nebulous, vague public policy subject that is open to nuanced positions.
You’re for the Second Amendment or you aren’t.
Then it was pipelines and mining.
Walz himself claims to support mining and pipelines.
Having said that, he chose a running mate who has vocally and passionately protested both, going so far as to testify against pipelines, on the record, at the Public Utilities Commission.
Then there’s the small issue of taxes. Walz has promised the never-satisfied spending crowd that he will fund their every Big Government wish.
On the other hand, he recently said he wouldn’t raise taxes.
Walz is either lying or he’s in over his head.
If he wins, someone is going to be the victim of a big lie.
Either he’s going to confiscate guns or he’s going to protect the Second Amendment.
Someone is getting lied to.
He’s either going to approve pipelines and mining or he’s going to obstruct.
Someone is going to be mighty ticked off – either the construction trade unions that backed him to the hilt or the environmental crowd that has joined his running mate in protesting these projects.
He’s either going to raise taxes or he’s going to backtrack on the orgy of increased spending he’s promised.
In the short term, he’s damaging the carefully crafted image of the paunchy, balding avuncular middle-aged white dude in flannel who shoots straight and tells it like it is.
Instead, he’s more and more like a typical politician telling people what they want to hear. He’s looking like a man who isn’t ready for prime time, discovering that mollifying the diverse and vocal DFL base state-wide is a lot harder than representing a homogeneous congressional district united by ag issues and common mores and folkways.
Walz has provided Jeff Johnson with a great closing argument to hammer Walz as a typical politician. He’s a flip-flopper who will say anything to anyone.
And what will he do as governor? Who knows. All we know is that we can’t trust him because he hasn’t been upfront about what he will do on critical issues like taxes, spending, pipelines, mining, healthcare, and the Second Amendment.
The good news is that years ago, a willing media would have shielded him from these equivocations by saying nothing.
In the digital age, Johnson has alternative platforms to call him out.
STATE OF THE RACE
The Watchdog has spoken to both GOP and DFL contacts this week regarding Minnesota House races.
What’s most interesting is that it appears that the GOP continues to benefit from a political re-alignment in rural Minnesota.
Seats that were held by the DFL for generations but have gone GOP in recent cycles are being cemented as Republican.
Said one GOP operative, “There isn’t a single rural seat we’re concerned about keeping.”*
*This statement doesn’t include 14B in Saint Cloud, where incumbent Jim Knoblach has withdrawn from the race.
This confidence extends to District 5B, a Grand Rapids-based seat that has been in DFL hands for most of the past 50 years.
The DFL had high hopes for retaking the seat, especially since their candidate is highly regarded and well-known.
The race has definitely shifted to the suburbs, where the fight has focused on GOP-held seats that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.
This publication is told that polling shows many of the seats within the margin or error, although a handful of those seats are likely gone at this point and will become DFL pick-ups.
Having said that, Republicans are confident that the path to a DFL takeover of the House is becoming narrower by the week.
While it’s difficult to predict House races because of the large number often decided by razor-thin margins, it appears that there may be an abnormally large amount decided by less than 1%.
For now, it looks like the fight for the House has narrowed to districts 33B,36A,38B, 42A,44A,49A,52B,53B,54A,54B,55A,56B,and 57A.
October 19th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “When they go low, we kick them.”
Quote of the Week: “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”
In This Issue;
WE’RE NUMBER 1 – OR NUMBER 50
It all depends upon one’s perspective. For the liberal, Minnesota is yet again number 1. For the correct thinking person, Minnesota is umber 50, or dead last.
The metric of which we speak concerns the state that has earned the dubious distinction for 2018 as the “least tax friendly state.”
Liberals are no doubt ecstatic that Mark Dayton and the erstwhile DFL legislative majorities moved Minnesota to the top of the tax heap, proving progressive credentials and showing that the North Star state can out-fair-share even Vermont, California, New York, and Illinois.
This, according to Kiplinger’s annual analysis and ranking of state tax burdens.
Happy to make someone else pay for a better Minnesota, as they say.
Here’s what Kiplinger’s had to say about Minnesota’s nasty, skanky rating:
The North Star State’s top tax rate of 9.85% is one of the highest in the U.S. But what makes Minnesota really stand out—and not in a good way—is its income tax rate of 5.35% even for the state’s lowest earners.
And thanks to the federal tax overhaul, it could get worse. Minnesota uses federal taxable income as the starting point for calculating state taxes. An estimated 300,000 Minnesotans will pay higher state taxes due to the loss of personal and dependent exemptions on their federal tax returns. Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton were unable to agree on a fix during the 2018 legislative session, which ended in May. For that reason, Minnesota moves to the top of our least-friendly list.
The median property tax on Minnesota's median home value of $191,500 is $2,234, slightly above the average for the U.S.
Food, clothing, and prescription and nonprescription drugs are exempt from the state sales tax of 6.9%. A few cities and counties add their own local sales tax, bringing the average combined state and local sales tax rate to 7.42%. The sales tax for vehicles is 6.5%, slightly lower than the overall state sales tax, and vehicles are not subject to local sales taxes. Gas taxes are below the national average of 34 cents per gallon.
Minnesota offers some property-tax relief for qualified homeowners. Homeowners whose property taxes are high relative to their incomes are eligible for a property tax refund.
Note that Kiplinger’s in particular calls out Minnesota for its bottom income tax bracket of 5.35%. which is higher than the top income tax bracket in a whopping 24 states (six states do not have an income tax).
What a total lie the DFL utters when it speaks of being the party of working people.
High bottom tax brackets, taxes on regressive items like gasoline and tobacco, proposed taxes on pain medications.
The DFL only pays lip service to the poor in order to make them dependent on government and then extract votes from them in order to keep the spigot of dependency and governmental largesse open.
There is nothing more fearful to the DFL than citizen empowerment.
That’s why they oppose welfare reform, school choice, and the elimination of mandatory union dues.
The common thread is empowerment, primarily the empowerment of lower income people.
When given choices, people often choose self-reliance and freedom, at the expense of government and those who wield governmental power – Democrats.
WORKER FRIENDLY – NOT
There is a labor dispute brewing in Washington, DC.
In many ways, the issues are rather common and mundane.
The union accuses management of not caring about their employees, as evidenced by management proposing a three-year wage freeze, cuts to sick leave benefits, a reduction in seniority rights, and fewer guaranteed work hours.
In one way, this dispute is really unique.
It’s unique in the sense that management is a union. In fact, it’s America’s largest union, the AFL-CIO.
That’s right. The AFL-CIO is accused of being a greedy, uncaring employer.
Those feelings have been expressed by the union that represents employees of the AFL-CIO who work at AFL-CIO headquarters, doing office and administrative work.
The union voted to authorize a strike after AFL-CIO management unilaterally imposed the contract containing the wage freeze and reduction in benefits.
A spokesman for the workers’ union said, “It’s absolutely hypocritical. How do we expect people to take us seriously when we’re not providing employees the benefits we think our union members need?”
How utterly ironic, and rich, to see a union that routinely blasts corporations for unfair worker treatment putting the screws to the janitors, secretaries, and other staff members who toil on behalf of AFL-CIO bigwigs.
Apparently, the AFL-CIO doesn’t practice what it preaches.
How shocking.
JOBS VS. MOBS
That’s the choice this election – jobs vs. mobs.
With the DFL, it’s all about mobs and tomfoolery.
With the GOP, it’s all about jobs and so much winning.
Here in Minnesota, we have mobs getting violent with Republican legislative candidates.
We have the spectacle of Senator Elizabeth Warren trying to claim she’s Native American by releasing a DNA test that shows she very likely has less of that blood than the average American!
The media ignores the outrageous statements made by Hillary Clinton that Monica Lewinsky wasn’t sexually abused by President Bill Clinton, dismissing the charge by saying that Lewinsky “was an adult.”
Lewinsky was a 22 year-old White House intern, many years junior the president.
More importantly, the president was in her chain of supervision, creating a massive imbalance of power and authority, making Lewinsky’s age totally irrelevant.
Then you have Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi leading their own mob in Congress, promising nothing more than partisan investigations and gridlock should they win.
It would be Portland in every corner of America if this crew wins.
Or you can go Republican and win.
A booming stock market.
Higher wages, more take home pay.
More jobs open than people looking to work.
22 federal regulations repealed for every 1 created.
Renegotiated trade deals.
America once again at the top of economic hill.
Economic confidence at an all-time high.
3 million jobs created.
Hostages returned, renewed respect for America on the world stage.
Conservative judges appointed who will interpret law, not make it.
So much winning.
Quote of the Week: “When they go low, we kick them.”
- Obama Attorney General Eric Holder
Quote of the Week: “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
In This Issue;
- We’re Number 1 – or Number 50;
- Worker Friendly – Not;
- Jobs vs. Mobs.
WE’RE NUMBER 1 – OR NUMBER 50
It all depends upon one’s perspective. For the liberal, Minnesota is yet again number 1. For the correct thinking person, Minnesota is umber 50, or dead last.
The metric of which we speak concerns the state that has earned the dubious distinction for 2018 as the “least tax friendly state.”
Liberals are no doubt ecstatic that Mark Dayton and the erstwhile DFL legislative majorities moved Minnesota to the top of the tax heap, proving progressive credentials and showing that the North Star state can out-fair-share even Vermont, California, New York, and Illinois.
This, according to Kiplinger’s annual analysis and ranking of state tax burdens.
Happy to make someone else pay for a better Minnesota, as they say.
Here’s what Kiplinger’s had to say about Minnesota’s nasty, skanky rating:
The North Star State’s top tax rate of 9.85% is one of the highest in the U.S. But what makes Minnesota really stand out—and not in a good way—is its income tax rate of 5.35% even for the state’s lowest earners.
And thanks to the federal tax overhaul, it could get worse. Minnesota uses federal taxable income as the starting point for calculating state taxes. An estimated 300,000 Minnesotans will pay higher state taxes due to the loss of personal and dependent exemptions on their federal tax returns. Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton were unable to agree on a fix during the 2018 legislative session, which ended in May. For that reason, Minnesota moves to the top of our least-friendly list.
The median property tax on Minnesota's median home value of $191,500 is $2,234, slightly above the average for the U.S.
Food, clothing, and prescription and nonprescription drugs are exempt from the state sales tax of 6.9%. A few cities and counties add their own local sales tax, bringing the average combined state and local sales tax rate to 7.42%. The sales tax for vehicles is 6.5%, slightly lower than the overall state sales tax, and vehicles are not subject to local sales taxes. Gas taxes are below the national average of 34 cents per gallon.
Minnesota offers some property-tax relief for qualified homeowners. Homeowners whose property taxes are high relative to their incomes are eligible for a property tax refund.
Note that Kiplinger’s in particular calls out Minnesota for its bottom income tax bracket of 5.35%. which is higher than the top income tax bracket in a whopping 24 states (six states do not have an income tax).
What a total lie the DFL utters when it speaks of being the party of working people.
High bottom tax brackets, taxes on regressive items like gasoline and tobacco, proposed taxes on pain medications.
The DFL only pays lip service to the poor in order to make them dependent on government and then extract votes from them in order to keep the spigot of dependency and governmental largesse open.
There is nothing more fearful to the DFL than citizen empowerment.
That’s why they oppose welfare reform, school choice, and the elimination of mandatory union dues.
The common thread is empowerment, primarily the empowerment of lower income people.
When given choices, people often choose self-reliance and freedom, at the expense of government and those who wield governmental power – Democrats.
WORKER FRIENDLY – NOT
There is a labor dispute brewing in Washington, DC.
In many ways, the issues are rather common and mundane.
The union accuses management of not caring about their employees, as evidenced by management proposing a three-year wage freeze, cuts to sick leave benefits, a reduction in seniority rights, and fewer guaranteed work hours.
In one way, this dispute is really unique.
It’s unique in the sense that management is a union. In fact, it’s America’s largest union, the AFL-CIO.
That’s right. The AFL-CIO is accused of being a greedy, uncaring employer.
Those feelings have been expressed by the union that represents employees of the AFL-CIO who work at AFL-CIO headquarters, doing office and administrative work.
The union voted to authorize a strike after AFL-CIO management unilaterally imposed the contract containing the wage freeze and reduction in benefits.
A spokesman for the workers’ union said, “It’s absolutely hypocritical. How do we expect people to take us seriously when we’re not providing employees the benefits we think our union members need?”
How utterly ironic, and rich, to see a union that routinely blasts corporations for unfair worker treatment putting the screws to the janitors, secretaries, and other staff members who toil on behalf of AFL-CIO bigwigs.
Apparently, the AFL-CIO doesn’t practice what it preaches.
How shocking.
JOBS VS. MOBS
That’s the choice this election – jobs vs. mobs.
With the DFL, it’s all about mobs and tomfoolery.
With the GOP, it’s all about jobs and so much winning.
Here in Minnesota, we have mobs getting violent with Republican legislative candidates.
We have the spectacle of Senator Elizabeth Warren trying to claim she’s Native American by releasing a DNA test that shows she very likely has less of that blood than the average American!
The media ignores the outrageous statements made by Hillary Clinton that Monica Lewinsky wasn’t sexually abused by President Bill Clinton, dismissing the charge by saying that Lewinsky “was an adult.”
Lewinsky was a 22 year-old White House intern, many years junior the president.
More importantly, the president was in her chain of supervision, creating a massive imbalance of power and authority, making Lewinsky’s age totally irrelevant.
Then you have Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi leading their own mob in Congress, promising nothing more than partisan investigations and gridlock should they win.
It would be Portland in every corner of America if this crew wins.
Or you can go Republican and win.
A booming stock market.
Higher wages, more take home pay.
More jobs open than people looking to work.
22 federal regulations repealed for every 1 created.
Renegotiated trade deals.
America once again at the top of economic hill.
Economic confidence at an all-time high.
3 million jobs created.
Hostages returned, renewed respect for America on the world stage.
Conservative judges appointed who will interpret law, not make it.
So much winning.
October 5th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “Democrats may be trying to move the goalposts every five minutes, but their goal has not moved an inch. They will not be satisfied unless they bring down Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.”
Quote of the Week: “This change was made unilaterally by Democrats in the Dayton administration, without legislative approval, and I have questions about its legality. More importantly, I’m concerned that law enforcement may not have been consulted. Will this change hamper law enforcement’s ability to properly identify suspects, or hinder the investigative process in any way? The public deserves answers to these questions, or at least a dialogue about the potential repercussions.”
Factoid of the Week: In the most recent reporting period, the Minnesota House DFL Caucus reported $2.7 million in cash contributions. Of those contributions, nearly $1 million came from public sector unions.
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog will not publish next week, October 12th, as the staff will be on the annual Fall Retreat, debating topics such as Keith Ellison’s free pass from the DFL, when Governor Dayton will fix MNLARS, and exactly how many genders can be discovered.
In This Issue:
DARK AGES
Readers are well-ware of the titanic political struggle over the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.
Readers know that the fight has nothing to do with allegations against him, but rather has everything to do with simply working to keep him off the High Court, regardless of the significant collateral damage to Kavanaugh’s reputation, the Senate, and the Supreme Court itself.
Democrats couldn’t care less about destroying a man’s reputation or undermining faith in our governing institutions.
First, liberals have never cared about individual rights. The rule of the collective has always been far more important. After all, liberalism-socialism-communism-totalitarianism is simply a continuum premised upon collectivist rule and enslavement of people.
Think that’s a bit extreme? Name the liberal policy initiative not underpinned by coercion, by the threat of negative government sanction if one doesn’t want to participate.
Second, liberals don’t care about undermining faith in political institutions because citizen support of those institutions is a concept for believers in individual liberties.
Liberals would force citizens to live under the yoke of collectivism, so it doesn’t matter if citizens support those institutions. Masters don’t care what the enslaved think or feel.
Just like forced unionization. Public employee unions hemorrhage membership when given their freedom just like totalitarian regimes hemorrhage citizens when escape becomes possible.
Individuals don’t matter to them, so individuals leave when offered a choice.
Take a look at Wisconsin’s teacher union membership numbers after Governor Walker liberated most public employees from the yoke of compulsory union membership.
The same thing will surely happen here in Minnesota and around the country, thanks to the Supreme Court liberating every public employee, regardless of the state where they work.
But we won’t know Minnesota’s numbers, at least for public school teachers, for a long time.
Education Minnesota has already declared that they won’t reveal membership numbers and the federal reporting that requires it won’t provide a full picture until about 2020, thanks to the timing of the reports.
More importantly, the Rule of Law itself is under assault and at risk of becoming collateral damage in the Kavanaugh hearings.
Putting aside all the rhetoric and emotion, the simple fact remains that all three allegations against him remain just that – raw accusations.
Despite the utter lack of corroborating evidence, the persecution continues.
This, despite the fact that two out of the three allegations have essentially disappeared.
This, despite the fact that the primary accuser, Dr. Ford, can’t remember even the slightest essential details of her claim.
There isn’t a prosecutor in any county in America who would bring charges under these circumstances.
There isn’t a jury in America that would convict.
Yet the accused stands under a cloud of angry threats, his reputation in tatters, his chance to realize a lifetime of hard-work resulting in ascension to the nation’s highest court in doubt.
Day after day, the assault continues, the liberals maximizing their opportunity to goon it up, and sully the entire process in a stark display of the pursuit of power.
While Republicans in the Senate are doing their best to manage the process while dealing with Democrat stool pigeons like Flake, Collins, and Murkowski, the delay has only helped their foes.
It’s not as if some development during this delay will cause any Democrat senator to change his mind.
Those minds have been made up.
The only calculation left is for some of those Democrats to decide if opposing Kavanaugh helps or hurts re-election. We’re looking at you, Sen. Manchin and Sen. Heitkamp.
The Rule of Law isn’t the only bedrock American value under a full-frontal assault these days.
Among the most egregious attacks are those on the First Amendment.
Free speech is under assault on all fronts, but especially in academia.
It’s ironic that the institutions that have traditionally been the bedrock of the free exchange of ideas have no become the scene of “speech codes” “trigger words” “safe spaces” and speakers becoming “disinvited” because a mob of Leftists has deemed their speech (and even their safety) to unworthy of protection.
The same holds true for many aspects of our society, where people can be punished in various ways for simply engaging in their right to Free Speech.
Don’t want to bake a cake for a gay couple? Too bad.
Want to express your religion at work? No way, unless it’s a certain religion.
The suppression of certain points of view is a very intentional strategy of the Left in their quest to destroy the principles and values underpinning our society.
Another active front in this war is the battle over gender roles and gender identity.
Gay marriage is now on the same legal plane as traditional marriage.
Gender identity, which used to be a pretty simple and straightforward exercise, has become a virtual Tower of Babel, with more and more sub-groups stepping forward to claim a gender label.
We must now wade through a cacophony of ever-expanding and ever-vague gender labels, such as “non-binary”, “queer”, “transgender”, “agender”, “bi-gender”, “cisgender”, “demisexual”, “genderqueer”, “intersex”, “pansexual”, “skoliosexual”, “third gender”, “transman”, “transwoman”, “bigender”, “BlaQueer”, “furry”, “gender fluid”, “Non-monosexual”, and “omnigender”.
Again, this strategy isn’t by happenstance.
You can also add the Second Amendment to that list, where the Left wants to blame guns for violence, instead of the lawlessness they have created with social policies that have destroyed families, drugged up our youth, and destroyed life-affirming values.
History shows that confiscating guns is a condition precedent to totalitarian rule.
For our gun-grabbing DFL friends, they would be well-served to remember this statistic about kids and guns.
In Minnesota last year, 349 high school sent 11,200 students to the state trap shooting tournament in Alexandria.
There wasn’t a single gun-safety incident, much less outright violence.
Far from a “gun free” zone, this zone had hundreds of guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and all of it was wielded by young men and women – without incident.
In sum, our country is moving beyond culture wars and into a true Dark Age, where conservatives must come together and fight for the principles and values that we once took for granted, the principles and values that built a great nation.
Those principles and values aren’t just under heavy assault. We’re losing the battle.
Having said that, there must be faith that truth will prevail and we will once again as a nation cherish and celebrate values that include individual liberties, limited government, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and the affirmation of life.
Today, skies are darkening and many tough battles lay ahead.
Quote of the Week: “Democrats may be trying to move the goalposts every five minutes, but their goal has not moved an inch. They will not be satisfied unless they bring down Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.”
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Quote of the Week: “This change was made unilaterally by Democrats in the Dayton administration, without legislative approval, and I have questions about its legality. More importantly, I’m concerned that law enforcement may not have been consulted. Will this change hamper law enforcement’s ability to properly identify suspects, or hinder the investigative process in any way? The public deserves answers to these questions, or at least a dialogue about the potential repercussions.”
- Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson), Chairman of the MN Senate Transportation Committee, on the decision to allow Minnesotans to check “X” on a driver’s license, as opposed to “M” or “F”
Factoid of the Week: In the most recent reporting period, the Minnesota House DFL Caucus reported $2.7 million in cash contributions. Of those contributions, nearly $1 million came from public sector unions.
Editor’s Note: The Watchdog will not publish next week, October 12th, as the staff will be on the annual Fall Retreat, debating topics such as Keith Ellison’s free pass from the DFL, when Governor Dayton will fix MNLARS, and exactly how many genders can be discovered.
In This Issue:
- Dark Ages.
DARK AGES
Readers are well-ware of the titanic political struggle over the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.
Readers know that the fight has nothing to do with allegations against him, but rather has everything to do with simply working to keep him off the High Court, regardless of the significant collateral damage to Kavanaugh’s reputation, the Senate, and the Supreme Court itself.
Democrats couldn’t care less about destroying a man’s reputation or undermining faith in our governing institutions.
First, liberals have never cared about individual rights. The rule of the collective has always been far more important. After all, liberalism-socialism-communism-totalitarianism is simply a continuum premised upon collectivist rule and enslavement of people.
Think that’s a bit extreme? Name the liberal policy initiative not underpinned by coercion, by the threat of negative government sanction if one doesn’t want to participate.
Second, liberals don’t care about undermining faith in political institutions because citizen support of those institutions is a concept for believers in individual liberties.
Liberals would force citizens to live under the yoke of collectivism, so it doesn’t matter if citizens support those institutions. Masters don’t care what the enslaved think or feel.
Just like forced unionization. Public employee unions hemorrhage membership when given their freedom just like totalitarian regimes hemorrhage citizens when escape becomes possible.
Individuals don’t matter to them, so individuals leave when offered a choice.
Take a look at Wisconsin’s teacher union membership numbers after Governor Walker liberated most public employees from the yoke of compulsory union membership.
The same thing will surely happen here in Minnesota and around the country, thanks to the Supreme Court liberating every public employee, regardless of the state where they work.
But we won’t know Minnesota’s numbers, at least for public school teachers, for a long time.
Education Minnesota has already declared that they won’t reveal membership numbers and the federal reporting that requires it won’t provide a full picture until about 2020, thanks to the timing of the reports.
More importantly, the Rule of Law itself is under assault and at risk of becoming collateral damage in the Kavanaugh hearings.
Putting aside all the rhetoric and emotion, the simple fact remains that all three allegations against him remain just that – raw accusations.
Despite the utter lack of corroborating evidence, the persecution continues.
This, despite the fact that two out of the three allegations have essentially disappeared.
This, despite the fact that the primary accuser, Dr. Ford, can’t remember even the slightest essential details of her claim.
There isn’t a prosecutor in any county in America who would bring charges under these circumstances.
There isn’t a jury in America that would convict.
Yet the accused stands under a cloud of angry threats, his reputation in tatters, his chance to realize a lifetime of hard-work resulting in ascension to the nation’s highest court in doubt.
Day after day, the assault continues, the liberals maximizing their opportunity to goon it up, and sully the entire process in a stark display of the pursuit of power.
While Republicans in the Senate are doing their best to manage the process while dealing with Democrat stool pigeons like Flake, Collins, and Murkowski, the delay has only helped their foes.
It’s not as if some development during this delay will cause any Democrat senator to change his mind.
Those minds have been made up.
The only calculation left is for some of those Democrats to decide if opposing Kavanaugh helps or hurts re-election. We’re looking at you, Sen. Manchin and Sen. Heitkamp.
The Rule of Law isn’t the only bedrock American value under a full-frontal assault these days.
Among the most egregious attacks are those on the First Amendment.
Free speech is under assault on all fronts, but especially in academia.
It’s ironic that the institutions that have traditionally been the bedrock of the free exchange of ideas have no become the scene of “speech codes” “trigger words” “safe spaces” and speakers becoming “disinvited” because a mob of Leftists has deemed their speech (and even their safety) to unworthy of protection.
The same holds true for many aspects of our society, where people can be punished in various ways for simply engaging in their right to Free Speech.
Don’t want to bake a cake for a gay couple? Too bad.
Want to express your religion at work? No way, unless it’s a certain religion.
The suppression of certain points of view is a very intentional strategy of the Left in their quest to destroy the principles and values underpinning our society.
Another active front in this war is the battle over gender roles and gender identity.
Gay marriage is now on the same legal plane as traditional marriage.
Gender identity, which used to be a pretty simple and straightforward exercise, has become a virtual Tower of Babel, with more and more sub-groups stepping forward to claim a gender label.
We must now wade through a cacophony of ever-expanding and ever-vague gender labels, such as “non-binary”, “queer”, “transgender”, “agender”, “bi-gender”, “cisgender”, “demisexual”, “genderqueer”, “intersex”, “pansexual”, “skoliosexual”, “third gender”, “transman”, “transwoman”, “bigender”, “BlaQueer”, “furry”, “gender fluid”, “Non-monosexual”, and “omnigender”.
Again, this strategy isn’t by happenstance.
You can also add the Second Amendment to that list, where the Left wants to blame guns for violence, instead of the lawlessness they have created with social policies that have destroyed families, drugged up our youth, and destroyed life-affirming values.
History shows that confiscating guns is a condition precedent to totalitarian rule.
For our gun-grabbing DFL friends, they would be well-served to remember this statistic about kids and guns.
In Minnesota last year, 349 high school sent 11,200 students to the state trap shooting tournament in Alexandria.
There wasn’t a single gun-safety incident, much less outright violence.
Far from a “gun free” zone, this zone had hundreds of guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and all of it was wielded by young men and women – without incident.
In sum, our country is moving beyond culture wars and into a true Dark Age, where conservatives must come together and fight for the principles and values that we once took for granted, the principles and values that built a great nation.
Those principles and values aren’t just under heavy assault. We’re losing the battle.
Having said that, there must be faith that truth will prevail and we will once again as a nation cherish and celebrate values that include individual liberties, limited government, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and the affirmation of life.
Today, skies are darkening and many tough battles lay ahead.
September 28th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “We look upon the importation of communistic and like European notions as abominations. Their notions and theories that the government should be paternal and take care of the welfare of its subjects and provide them with labor, is un-American. It is the form in which oppression has had its most disastrous scope in the world. The American doctrine is that it is the duty of the government merely to protect the people while they are taking care of themselves – nothing more than that. ‘Hands off,’ we say to the government. ‘See to it that we are protected in our rights and our individuality. No more than that.’”
Quote of the Week: “Forty-five percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Republican Party, a nine-point gain from last September's 36%. It is the party's most positive image since it registered 47% in January 2011, shortly after taking control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. Forty-four percent give the Democratic Party a favorable rating.”
Quote of the Week: “I’ve spent 40-plus years up here doing every goddamn thing I could to bring jobs to the Iron Range with one exception: Twin Metals. Everything else I’ve supported.”
Factoid of the Week: Denise Specht, President of Education Minnesota makes over $206,000 a year. Specht's gross salary increased $5,794 in 2016. Almost 70 executives and other staff at Education Minnesota make over $100,000 in salary. The union has 26 lobbyists registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.
In This Issue:
OPTING OUT
Attention public school teachers. In the wake of the seminal Janus Supreme Court decision (which declared that public employees can no longer be compelled to belong to a union), there have been various roadblocks thrown in the way of teachers who want to exercise their constitutional right to be free from coerced union dues and membership.
Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union, will only allow teachers to opt out the union during a very narrow window, September 24-30. In short, you are running out of time to exercise your First Amendment rights.
Moreover, it is being reported that some teachers attempting to opt out are being told that they first need to meet with a union representative before opting out.
It isn’t clear if this is an official policy position of Education Minnesota or if this misinformation is coming from other quarters. In any case, it is untrue. No meeting is required prior to opting out.
Of course, this narrow window (of dubious constitutionality) is designed to make it difficult for teachers to opt out of the union and is emblematic of the arrogance and unresponsiveness that will cause so many teachers to stop paying union dues that they feel offer zero return.
It will be interesting to see how Education Minnesota adapts to the new reality of no longer possessing the tool of coerced membership to keep numbers high and coffers filled.
Will the union learn to be a value-added proposition to members, or will it simply become a small band of hard-core believers who blame a vast, right-wing conspiracy for their problems?
We bet on the latter.
Teachers and interested persons can read more about all of this at www.educatedteachersmn.com to learn more.
This web site, chock full of great information, is a product of our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment (CAE), Minnesota’s premier conservative think tank.
Kudos to CAE for having the foresight – and compassion – to assist educators who are being bombarded with false and misleading information regarding their sacred First Amendment rights as well as their sacred right to offer their labor in an environment free from coercion and intimidation.
And speaking of Janus, it will also be interesting to see how the exodus of dues paying members will affect the massive political spending in which these unions engage every election cycle.
That amount shouldn’t be underestimated.
Between 2014 and 2017, public sector unions in Minnesota shelled out $73 million in donations to state level candidates and committees, a sum that excludes federal giving and independent expenditures.
That amount comprised 7.5% of all political donations of that type in Minnesota during that time frame, which was the highest percentage in any state in the nation, surpassing other high-density union states like California (6.5%), New York (5%), and Illinois (4%).
Make no mistake, the Supreme Court’s liberation of public employees from the yoke of public unions will hurt the partisan political operations of these unions and their DFL beneficiaries.
DAYTON FAILS AGAIN
It’s just mind-blowing to consider that Republicans in Minnesota are fighting so hard to retain legislative majorities and hold congressional seats in the Second and Third districts.
Faith in the competency of government is at an all-time low, and Democrats are offering what they always offer – more government.
The epitome of failed government is none other than Mark B. Dayton, who is still the state’s chief executive until the next guy (go Jeff Johnson) can be sworn in.
While the list of Dayton’s failures is long and ignoble, the MNLARS fiasco continues to stand out as a particularly epic failure.
The system’s problems have been so pronounced and ongoing, the legislature prevailed upon the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), a non-partisan investigative agency, to examine the system to identify issues and suggest solutions.
The OLA this week released their long-awaited report, finding, among other problems, that the system has been overcharging citizens for the taxes they pay to register a vehicle.
What is MNLARS? The Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) is Minnesota’s system to process a wide variety and large number of motor vehicle transactions, such as vehicle registrations and license plate purchases. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Driver and Vehicle Services Division administers motor vehicle services statewide for residents.
In July of 2017, the Dayton Administration implemented MNLARS, which has been a total disaster ever since.
Over $90 million has been spent on the failed program, enough to buy another Senate Office Building for DFL senators.
And while the $90 million number is shocking, it’s not the end, with Dayton having been rebuffed in the legislative session regarding his request for tens of millions more.
More troubling, no one even knows what is needed to fix the system or how much the fix will cost.
Back to the OLA report. As mentioned above, the report uncovered problems with taxpayers being charged inaccurate registration taxes when they register a recently purchased vehicle, often times being over-charged.
Said the report, “MNLARS appears to have generally calculated certain types of transactions correctly, such as wheelage tax, sales tax, and most license plate transactions. However, we found significant inaccuracies in other transactions, such as vehicle registration transactions for newly registered passenger vehicles and heavy non-passenger vehicles.”
Those “significant inaccuracies” have produced an error rate that for some categories of vehicles runs upwards of a whopping 46% of transactions.
This is yet another black eye for Dayton, the bureaucracy, and the belief of some that Minnesota government is some sort of exception to inefficiency and inertia that plagues government in general.
THE ACCUSER
As this issue goes to press, the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to hear from Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser regarding allegations that he groped her at a high school gathering 36 years ago.
As you read this issue, the Committee should have conducted that hearing.
Here are some of the issues that we would like to see the committee address regarding those accusations.
First, his accuser can’t remember the house where the alleged assault took place, who owned the house, the address, or even the neighborhood.
Second, she can’t remember the even the year the alleged assault took place.
Third, every witness named by the accuser as having been present at the party has no recollection of such a gathering, including one witness the accuser describes as a “lifelong friend.”
In fact, that friend, Lleland Keyser through her attorney has stated, “Simply put, Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with or without Dr. Ford.”
Moreover, two of the named witnesses have denied any recollection of such a gathering in interviews with committee investigators, denying having any recollections under penalty of perjury.
Fourth, the accuser brought forward the allegations in a peculiar manner, having contacted the Washington Post “tip line” and certain Judiciary Committee Democrats. Never before had the allegations been made over the course of 36 years and despite the fact that Brett Kavanaugh had been in the public spotlight before, having served in a White House and been appointed a federal judge.
Fifth, the accuser’s political affiliations make the point immediately above more suspicious. The accuser is a democrat who has marched against President Trump and has hired a well-known democrat activist attorney.
With all the talk of “fairness” among liberals, it’s important to remember that Judge Kavanaugh is also entitled to fairness and due process.
Already, this thin allegation wouldn’t be taken up by any respectable prosecutor in the country.
At this point, it is hard for any objective person to see these allegations as anything other than a smear campaign designed to wound Judge Kavanaugh, diminish the credibility of a conservative Supreme Court majority, and hurt Republicans at the polls in November.
Quote of the Week: “We look upon the importation of communistic and like European notions as abominations. Their notions and theories that the government should be paternal and take care of the welfare of its subjects and provide them with labor, is un-American. It is the form in which oppression has had its most disastrous scope in the world. The American doctrine is that it is the duty of the government merely to protect the people while they are taking care of themselves – nothing more than that. ‘Hands off,’ we say to the government. ‘See to it that we are protected in our rights and our individuality. No more than that.’”
- Henry Ward Beecher, 1874
Quote of the Week: “Forty-five percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Republican Party, a nine-point gain from last September's 36%. It is the party's most positive image since it registered 47% in January 2011, shortly after taking control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. Forty-four percent give the Democratic Party a favorable rating.”
- Gallup, 9/24/18
Quote of the Week: “I’ve spent 40-plus years up here doing every goddamn thing I could to bring jobs to the Iron Range with one exception: Twin Metals. Everything else I’ve supported.”
- Governor Mark Dayton
Factoid of the Week: Denise Specht, President of Education Minnesota makes over $206,000 a year. Specht's gross salary increased $5,794 in 2016. Almost 70 executives and other staff at Education Minnesota make over $100,000 in salary. The union has 26 lobbyists registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.
In This Issue:
- Opting Out;
- Dayton Fails Again;
- The Accuser.
OPTING OUT
Attention public school teachers. In the wake of the seminal Janus Supreme Court decision (which declared that public employees can no longer be compelled to belong to a union), there have been various roadblocks thrown in the way of teachers who want to exercise their constitutional right to be free from coerced union dues and membership.
Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union, will only allow teachers to opt out the union during a very narrow window, September 24-30. In short, you are running out of time to exercise your First Amendment rights.
Moreover, it is being reported that some teachers attempting to opt out are being told that they first need to meet with a union representative before opting out.
It isn’t clear if this is an official policy position of Education Minnesota or if this misinformation is coming from other quarters. In any case, it is untrue. No meeting is required prior to opting out.
Of course, this narrow window (of dubious constitutionality) is designed to make it difficult for teachers to opt out of the union and is emblematic of the arrogance and unresponsiveness that will cause so many teachers to stop paying union dues that they feel offer zero return.
It will be interesting to see how Education Minnesota adapts to the new reality of no longer possessing the tool of coerced membership to keep numbers high and coffers filled.
Will the union learn to be a value-added proposition to members, or will it simply become a small band of hard-core believers who blame a vast, right-wing conspiracy for their problems?
We bet on the latter.
Teachers and interested persons can read more about all of this at www.educatedteachersmn.com to learn more.
This web site, chock full of great information, is a product of our friends over at the Center of the American Experiment (CAE), Minnesota’s premier conservative think tank.
Kudos to CAE for having the foresight – and compassion – to assist educators who are being bombarded with false and misleading information regarding their sacred First Amendment rights as well as their sacred right to offer their labor in an environment free from coercion and intimidation.
And speaking of Janus, it will also be interesting to see how the exodus of dues paying members will affect the massive political spending in which these unions engage every election cycle.
That amount shouldn’t be underestimated.
Between 2014 and 2017, public sector unions in Minnesota shelled out $73 million in donations to state level candidates and committees, a sum that excludes federal giving and independent expenditures.
That amount comprised 7.5% of all political donations of that type in Minnesota during that time frame, which was the highest percentage in any state in the nation, surpassing other high-density union states like California (6.5%), New York (5%), and Illinois (4%).
Make no mistake, the Supreme Court’s liberation of public employees from the yoke of public unions will hurt the partisan political operations of these unions and their DFL beneficiaries.
DAYTON FAILS AGAIN
It’s just mind-blowing to consider that Republicans in Minnesota are fighting so hard to retain legislative majorities and hold congressional seats in the Second and Third districts.
Faith in the competency of government is at an all-time low, and Democrats are offering what they always offer – more government.
The epitome of failed government is none other than Mark B. Dayton, who is still the state’s chief executive until the next guy (go Jeff Johnson) can be sworn in.
While the list of Dayton’s failures is long and ignoble, the MNLARS fiasco continues to stand out as a particularly epic failure.
The system’s problems have been so pronounced and ongoing, the legislature prevailed upon the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), a non-partisan investigative agency, to examine the system to identify issues and suggest solutions.
The OLA this week released their long-awaited report, finding, among other problems, that the system has been overcharging citizens for the taxes they pay to register a vehicle.
What is MNLARS? The Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) is Minnesota’s system to process a wide variety and large number of motor vehicle transactions, such as vehicle registrations and license plate purchases. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Driver and Vehicle Services Division administers motor vehicle services statewide for residents.
In July of 2017, the Dayton Administration implemented MNLARS, which has been a total disaster ever since.
Over $90 million has been spent on the failed program, enough to buy another Senate Office Building for DFL senators.
And while the $90 million number is shocking, it’s not the end, with Dayton having been rebuffed in the legislative session regarding his request for tens of millions more.
More troubling, no one even knows what is needed to fix the system or how much the fix will cost.
Back to the OLA report. As mentioned above, the report uncovered problems with taxpayers being charged inaccurate registration taxes when they register a recently purchased vehicle, often times being over-charged.
Said the report, “MNLARS appears to have generally calculated certain types of transactions correctly, such as wheelage tax, sales tax, and most license plate transactions. However, we found significant inaccuracies in other transactions, such as vehicle registration transactions for newly registered passenger vehicles and heavy non-passenger vehicles.”
Those “significant inaccuracies” have produced an error rate that for some categories of vehicles runs upwards of a whopping 46% of transactions.
This is yet another black eye for Dayton, the bureaucracy, and the belief of some that Minnesota government is some sort of exception to inefficiency and inertia that plagues government in general.
THE ACCUSER
As this issue goes to press, the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to hear from Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser regarding allegations that he groped her at a high school gathering 36 years ago.
As you read this issue, the Committee should have conducted that hearing.
Here are some of the issues that we would like to see the committee address regarding those accusations.
First, his accuser can’t remember the house where the alleged assault took place, who owned the house, the address, or even the neighborhood.
Second, she can’t remember the even the year the alleged assault took place.
Third, every witness named by the accuser as having been present at the party has no recollection of such a gathering, including one witness the accuser describes as a “lifelong friend.”
In fact, that friend, Lleland Keyser through her attorney has stated, “Simply put, Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with or without Dr. Ford.”
Moreover, two of the named witnesses have denied any recollection of such a gathering in interviews with committee investigators, denying having any recollections under penalty of perjury.
Fourth, the accuser brought forward the allegations in a peculiar manner, having contacted the Washington Post “tip line” and certain Judiciary Committee Democrats. Never before had the allegations been made over the course of 36 years and despite the fact that Brett Kavanaugh had been in the public spotlight before, having served in a White House and been appointed a federal judge.
Fifth, the accuser’s political affiliations make the point immediately above more suspicious. The accuser is a democrat who has marched against President Trump and has hired a well-known democrat activist attorney.
With all the talk of “fairness” among liberals, it’s important to remember that Judge Kavanaugh is also entitled to fairness and due process.
Already, this thin allegation wouldn’t be taken up by any respectable prosecutor in the country.
At this point, it is hard for any objective person to see these allegations as anything other than a smear campaign designed to wound Judge Kavanaugh, diminish the credibility of a conservative Supreme Court majority, and hurt Republicans at the polls in November.
September 21st, 2018
Quote of the Week: “It's just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way.”
Quote of the Week: "I have no memory of this alleged incident. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford's letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes."
Quote of the Week: “I Can’t spare this man. He fights!”
In This Issue:
THE FIGHT
The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation has, without any shadow of a doubt, demonstrated what the Democrats are all about.
The process has laid bare their nihilistic, collectivist, raw power dogma.
We all know that the decades-old allegation against Judge Kavanaugh aren’t about what is alleged to have happened.
It’s all about destroying Brett Kavanaugh.
It’s about de-legitimizing the man and the Supreme Court.
It’s about sullying the man and the institution.
We know all about the dubious nature of the allegation.
Decades old, uncorroborated, undiscovered through previous vettings of Judge Kavanaugh, gathered dust for months on Senator Feinstein’s desk, the FBI claiming that such an allegation falls outside their investigative purview.
If you thought our modern politics was something less than blood sport, think again.
We have the spectacle of Minnesota’s own Senator Tina Smith declaring her opposition to Kavanaugh while declaring her unwavering support for Keith Ellison, a man credibly accused of both misogyny and anti-Semitism.
We have the spectacle of other Democrat senators claiming that Kavanaugh should withdraw, “based on what we know,” which is next to nothing.
We have the spectacle of these senators calling on the FBI to conduct an “investigation” even though there is no allegation of a federal crime and is it well-settled that the FBI has nothing to do with confirmations other than conducting basic background checks.
We have the spectacle of an allegation unleashed months after Democrats became aware of it.
Put another way, there is no longer even a pretense of acting in the public interest.
It’s only about delaying, obstructing, sullying, staining, destroying.
This confirmation fight proves, yet again, whey Donald Trump is so enormously popular with Republicans, despite policy differences and the desire of many of his party that he lay off the Twitter a bit.
In short, he fights. Party faithful understand that we are locked in a battle over the very soul of our country.
They are sick and tired of their elected officials bringing a plastic spork to this gun fight.
Trump fights. Trump gets it. Trump, despite the mainstream media protestations, wins far more than he loses.
At this time in our politics, Republicans want fighters who match the Democrats blow for blow.
Brett Kavanaugh’s persecution proves the point.
Republicans can’t spare Donald Trump. He fights.
GALLOWS POLLS
Polls run rampant in our society and become less reliable by the day.
Having said that, they are nonetheless interesting and provide a window into our thinking, at least at some level.
That window into our thinking generally stands for the proposition that we are really unsuited for self-governance.
Take the recent Star Tribune poll dealing with President Trump, his favorability and standing regarding the issues of the day.
In the poll, 40% of respondents disapproved of the president’s handling of jobs and the economy.
Are you kidding us?
Like or dislike Trump, the economy is firing on all cylinders. Jobs are in great supply, the GDP is way up, and inflation is low.
If you’re unhappy about the economy, you are either blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome or a low-functioning person with less than a rudimentary understanding of economics.
In fact, a recent Gallup poll showed that economy, as an issue of voter concern, had dropped to its lowest level ever.
Only 12% of respondents listed “jobs and the economy” as an issue of concern.
Finally, the Watchdog would be remiss if we didn’t include at least one question from the famous (infamous?) State Fair Poll from the recently concluded Great Minnesota Get Together.
Question: Should adults between the ages of 18 and 60 – who do not have a disability and are not the sole caregivers of a child or incapacitated family member – be required to work at least 80 hours per month in order to receive Medicaid benefits?
Astoundingly, a plurality of 46.5% of respondents said “no.”
Really? We have thousands of Minnesotans who think it’s okay to be on welfare as an able-bodied adult with no caregiver responsibilities and not work?
Beam us up, Scotty. There’s no intelligent life down here.
AFL-CIO-DUM
As readers know, some unions are way out there, acting as little more than mouthpieces for the Democrats and pursuing whacky issues that have nothing to do with the terms and conditions of employment for their membership.
The AFL-CIO is one of those organizations.
The Minnesota chapter recently released their 2018 legislative report.
Among the votes “scored” by them was the “freeway protest bill” that raised penalties for those who block freeways, airports and other critical transportation corridors in the name of some pet political cause.
One can’t help but wonder what shutting down freeways has to do with wages or working conditions for their members.
Oh, yeah. It doesn’t, much like many of the other issues they push down at the Capitol.
This is one reason why groups like this have become a joke, a joke that will soon be on them as public employees vote with their paychecks and leave the union, courtesy of their liberation under the recent Janus Supreme Court decision.
Perhaps union dues being spent on irrelevant issues like freeway shutdown bills is a reason why some of those thousands will soon leave.
And speaking of their hardcore partisanship, it probably won’t surprise readers to learn that the AFL-CIO of Minnesota didn’t endorse a single Republican this year at the state or federal level.
Not a single one.
But they saw fit to endorse Keith Ellison. In fact, their web site proudly proclaims the fact.
They claim to be the “voice of working people.”
No, they at best are the voice of working liberal people, who probably aren’t working.
They likely those able-bodied adults who don’t have any work requirements.
Anyone out there still wondering how Donald Trump got elected?
Quote of the Week: “It's just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way.”
- Mark Judge, the only named eyewitness to the alleged Brett Kavanaugh assault
Quote of the Week: "I have no memory of this alleged incident. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford's letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes."
- Mark Judge
Quote of the Week: “I Can’t spare this man. He fights!”
- Abraham Lincoln on General Grant
In This Issue:
- The Fight;
- Gallows Polls;
- AFL-CIO-DUM
THE FIGHT
The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation has, without any shadow of a doubt, demonstrated what the Democrats are all about.
The process has laid bare their nihilistic, collectivist, raw power dogma.
We all know that the decades-old allegation against Judge Kavanaugh aren’t about what is alleged to have happened.
It’s all about destroying Brett Kavanaugh.
It’s about de-legitimizing the man and the Supreme Court.
It’s about sullying the man and the institution.
We know all about the dubious nature of the allegation.
Decades old, uncorroborated, undiscovered through previous vettings of Judge Kavanaugh, gathered dust for months on Senator Feinstein’s desk, the FBI claiming that such an allegation falls outside their investigative purview.
If you thought our modern politics was something less than blood sport, think again.
We have the spectacle of Minnesota’s own Senator Tina Smith declaring her opposition to Kavanaugh while declaring her unwavering support for Keith Ellison, a man credibly accused of both misogyny and anti-Semitism.
We have the spectacle of other Democrat senators claiming that Kavanaugh should withdraw, “based on what we know,” which is next to nothing.
We have the spectacle of these senators calling on the FBI to conduct an “investigation” even though there is no allegation of a federal crime and is it well-settled that the FBI has nothing to do with confirmations other than conducting basic background checks.
We have the spectacle of an allegation unleashed months after Democrats became aware of it.
Put another way, there is no longer even a pretense of acting in the public interest.
It’s only about delaying, obstructing, sullying, staining, destroying.
This confirmation fight proves, yet again, whey Donald Trump is so enormously popular with Republicans, despite policy differences and the desire of many of his party that he lay off the Twitter a bit.
In short, he fights. Party faithful understand that we are locked in a battle over the very soul of our country.
They are sick and tired of their elected officials bringing a plastic spork to this gun fight.
Trump fights. Trump gets it. Trump, despite the mainstream media protestations, wins far more than he loses.
At this time in our politics, Republicans want fighters who match the Democrats blow for blow.
Brett Kavanaugh’s persecution proves the point.
Republicans can’t spare Donald Trump. He fights.
GALLOWS POLLS
Polls run rampant in our society and become less reliable by the day.
Having said that, they are nonetheless interesting and provide a window into our thinking, at least at some level.
That window into our thinking generally stands for the proposition that we are really unsuited for self-governance.
Take the recent Star Tribune poll dealing with President Trump, his favorability and standing regarding the issues of the day.
In the poll, 40% of respondents disapproved of the president’s handling of jobs and the economy.
Are you kidding us?
Like or dislike Trump, the economy is firing on all cylinders. Jobs are in great supply, the GDP is way up, and inflation is low.
If you’re unhappy about the economy, you are either blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome or a low-functioning person with less than a rudimentary understanding of economics.
In fact, a recent Gallup poll showed that economy, as an issue of voter concern, had dropped to its lowest level ever.
Only 12% of respondents listed “jobs and the economy” as an issue of concern.
Finally, the Watchdog would be remiss if we didn’t include at least one question from the famous (infamous?) State Fair Poll from the recently concluded Great Minnesota Get Together.
Question: Should adults between the ages of 18 and 60 – who do not have a disability and are not the sole caregivers of a child or incapacitated family member – be required to work at least 80 hours per month in order to receive Medicaid benefits?
Astoundingly, a plurality of 46.5% of respondents said “no.”
Really? We have thousands of Minnesotans who think it’s okay to be on welfare as an able-bodied adult with no caregiver responsibilities and not work?
Beam us up, Scotty. There’s no intelligent life down here.
AFL-CIO-DUM
As readers know, some unions are way out there, acting as little more than mouthpieces for the Democrats and pursuing whacky issues that have nothing to do with the terms and conditions of employment for their membership.
The AFL-CIO is one of those organizations.
The Minnesota chapter recently released their 2018 legislative report.
Among the votes “scored” by them was the “freeway protest bill” that raised penalties for those who block freeways, airports and other critical transportation corridors in the name of some pet political cause.
One can’t help but wonder what shutting down freeways has to do with wages or working conditions for their members.
Oh, yeah. It doesn’t, much like many of the other issues they push down at the Capitol.
This is one reason why groups like this have become a joke, a joke that will soon be on them as public employees vote with their paychecks and leave the union, courtesy of their liberation under the recent Janus Supreme Court decision.
Perhaps union dues being spent on irrelevant issues like freeway shutdown bills is a reason why some of those thousands will soon leave.
And speaking of their hardcore partisanship, it probably won’t surprise readers to learn that the AFL-CIO of Minnesota didn’t endorse a single Republican this year at the state or federal level.
Not a single one.
But they saw fit to endorse Keith Ellison. In fact, their web site proudly proclaims the fact.
They claim to be the “voice of working people.”
No, they at best are the voice of working liberal people, who probably aren’t working.
They likely those able-bodied adults who don’t have any work requirements.
Anyone out there still wondering how Donald Trump got elected?
September 14th, 2018
Factoid of the Week: California has the highest poverty rate, 19%, of any state in the nation.
Quote of the Week: “There’s a difference in how some of our leadership talk about how we should handle all of this. They say, ‘Maxine, please don’t say impeachment anymore.' And when they say that, I say ‘impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.’ All I can think about is I’m going to get him."
Quote of the Week: “Joe Radinovich wants to go to Congress to make laws, but he’s spent his life running from the law.”
In This Issue:
THOSE TRICKY, MEAN LIBERALS
It just never ends. Each week, the Watchdog could write a column devoted to the ways liberals embarrass themselves with behavior that is boorish, sometimes criminal, and always hypocritical as compared to their high-minded rhetoric.
Let’s start over in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, where booze magnate Dean Phillips, running against incumbent Erik Paulsen, is working hard to portray himself as a moderate, centrist, regular guy who only wants to drink coffee with America, optimistic that our sprint towards ruin will be arrested if only we can find some good arabica beans and a quiet table.
The focus groups and finger-in-the-wind polling must be telling him that healthcare is an important chanting point, as Phillips is piously telling us unwashed masses that healthcare is a right, probably falling under that same “penumbra” in the constitution that finds a constitutional right to an abortion and gay marriage.
There’s only problem.
Tricky Dean didn’t provide healthcare to his own employees.
Oops.
Phillips opened a coffee shop that apparently couldn’t be troubled to offer health insurance to employees.
In an interview, Forbes magazine asked, "Does the coffee shop you've started offer health insurance?"
Phillips answered, "No, we don't. We are contemplating a pretty significant expansion, which would necessitate a reinvestigation of that, but right now, we're just a single coffee shop with a handful of employees, and that's something we'll assess moving forward.”
We guess those millions in inherited wealth he enjoys just couldn’t be shared with employees to provide them with health care.
Can you imagine the outcry if Phillips was Republican?
Mark Dayton, Angie Craig, and Dean Phillips. Filth rich millionaires who all get a free pass from the liberal media.
Let’s next ravel north, to the state’s Eighth Congressional District, where the DFL is running a straight out criminal as their candidate.
A new ad running in the district, from the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), shows that Radinovich has had 18 run ins with the criminal justice system, including 5 suspensions of his driver’s license (maybe he couldn’t get it renewed, thanks to Mark Dayton’s broken system?), unpaid fines, 30 traffic tickets, and even a bust for drug paraphernalia.
Far from being Congressman Radinovich, it looks like Old Joe is more like Stoner Joe.
His loser criminal record stands in stark contrast to Pete Stauber’s sterling record as a career police officer.
One man runs from the law, the other spent a career risking his life to enforce it.
The other good laugh here is how the Democrats missed Stoner Joe’s record.
Uncovering his lengthy criminal record didn’t require the Hardy Boys or even Scooby Doo.
A basic Internet search in the right places would have revealed Stoner Joe’s water bong conviction and the other instances of lawlessness.
The same professionalism that has caused the MNLARS license fiasco is present in the DFL party structure as well.
The Republicans will enjoy this district as a pick-up opportunity this November.
And finally, our Liberal friends disgraced themselves this week by shutting down a public meeting of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by shouting down, intimidating, and menacing the PUC board members as they attempted to conduct the taxpayer’s business, specifically the permitting process for the replacement of the Line 3 pipeline.
The shutdown of the PUC, unfortunately, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to violence and intimidation regarding Line 3.
The same hooligans who shut down the meeting have pledged to make the Line 3 job site just as violent and bloody as the Dakota Access Pipeline site.
Hopefully, law enforcement makes this the last time the PUC is prevented from doing its job.
More importantly, let’s hope law enforcement is prepared to shut down the threatened violence before it starts.
FREE STUFF!*
A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Democrats have become adept over the generations at finding skilled candidates who appear to be one thing but underneath are the real thing – for them.
Tim Walz is just such a candidate. The rural guy. The paunchy, avuncular middle-aged white dude who would be at home drinking a Schmidt on your front porch. The dog-faced grunt. The school teacher with the dated clothes.
He’s also just another liberal. Another tax and spender. Another culture warrior.
Walz has already compiled an impressively expensive list of spending promises made to secure the votes of various DFL constituencies that demand, and often get, government succor.
Take the recent promise of “free college” for all.
This kind of pandering flies in the face of popular opinion and a lot of common sense.
Our society is finally re-discovering the value of vocations like the skilled trades and other career paths that don’t require a college degree.
Our society is finally waking up to the bad public policy that pushes every young person into taking on mountains of debt, often in the name of degrees that have no real value to our society and especially our economy.
So Walz promises “free” college, to the tune of $265 million per year.
Why? Probably because the faculty union at the state colleges and universities is backing Walz and nothing guarantees their jobs more than an endless funding stream, paid for by someone else.
Think about the lack of accountability inherent in having junior at college at someone else’s expense.
If junior fails out, no big deal.
If the professor is a dud, not big deal. But then again, tenure has already solved that “problem.”
Then you throw on universal pre-kindergarten at a half-billion per year.
And then reducing class sizes, which demands more teachers and more school buildings. Cha-ching.
How about $300 million to wire up a few rural homes with broadband?
Goodness knows folks in Rock County deserve access to Pornhub.
How about state healthcare programs for all? That requires continuing the $1.3 billion sick tax to help subsidize the costs.
On top of all that is that inconvenient truth that Minnesota is already a high-tax state.
Tim Walz seems to be quite interested in turning Minnesota into New York or California.
The only problem is that we’re landlocked, don’t have Broadway, and the winter is Arctic.
If there was any honesty in campaigning, Walz would host an event with Bernie Sanders.
True bros.
Factoid of the Week: California has the highest poverty rate, 19%, of any state in the nation.
Quote of the Week: “There’s a difference in how some of our leadership talk about how we should handle all of this. They say, ‘Maxine, please don’t say impeachment anymore.' And when they say that, I say ‘impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.’ All I can think about is I’m going to get him."
- Rep. Maxine Waters (D - CA 43)
Quote of the Week: “Joe Radinovich wants to go to Congress to make laws, but he’s spent his life running from the law.”
- Michael Byerly, Congressional Leadership Fund
In This Issue:
- Those Tricky, Mean Liberals;
- Free Stuff!*
THOSE TRICKY, MEAN LIBERALS
It just never ends. Each week, the Watchdog could write a column devoted to the ways liberals embarrass themselves with behavior that is boorish, sometimes criminal, and always hypocritical as compared to their high-minded rhetoric.
Let’s start over in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, where booze magnate Dean Phillips, running against incumbent Erik Paulsen, is working hard to portray himself as a moderate, centrist, regular guy who only wants to drink coffee with America, optimistic that our sprint towards ruin will be arrested if only we can find some good arabica beans and a quiet table.
The focus groups and finger-in-the-wind polling must be telling him that healthcare is an important chanting point, as Phillips is piously telling us unwashed masses that healthcare is a right, probably falling under that same “penumbra” in the constitution that finds a constitutional right to an abortion and gay marriage.
There’s only problem.
Tricky Dean didn’t provide healthcare to his own employees.
Oops.
Phillips opened a coffee shop that apparently couldn’t be troubled to offer health insurance to employees.
In an interview, Forbes magazine asked, "Does the coffee shop you've started offer health insurance?"
Phillips answered, "No, we don't. We are contemplating a pretty significant expansion, which would necessitate a reinvestigation of that, but right now, we're just a single coffee shop with a handful of employees, and that's something we'll assess moving forward.”
We guess those millions in inherited wealth he enjoys just couldn’t be shared with employees to provide them with health care.
Can you imagine the outcry if Phillips was Republican?
Mark Dayton, Angie Craig, and Dean Phillips. Filth rich millionaires who all get a free pass from the liberal media.
Let’s next ravel north, to the state’s Eighth Congressional District, where the DFL is running a straight out criminal as their candidate.
A new ad running in the district, from the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), shows that Radinovich has had 18 run ins with the criminal justice system, including 5 suspensions of his driver’s license (maybe he couldn’t get it renewed, thanks to Mark Dayton’s broken system?), unpaid fines, 30 traffic tickets, and even a bust for drug paraphernalia.
Far from being Congressman Radinovich, it looks like Old Joe is more like Stoner Joe.
His loser criminal record stands in stark contrast to Pete Stauber’s sterling record as a career police officer.
One man runs from the law, the other spent a career risking his life to enforce it.
The other good laugh here is how the Democrats missed Stoner Joe’s record.
Uncovering his lengthy criminal record didn’t require the Hardy Boys or even Scooby Doo.
A basic Internet search in the right places would have revealed Stoner Joe’s water bong conviction and the other instances of lawlessness.
The same professionalism that has caused the MNLARS license fiasco is present in the DFL party structure as well.
The Republicans will enjoy this district as a pick-up opportunity this November.
And finally, our Liberal friends disgraced themselves this week by shutting down a public meeting of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by shouting down, intimidating, and menacing the PUC board members as they attempted to conduct the taxpayer’s business, specifically the permitting process for the replacement of the Line 3 pipeline.
The shutdown of the PUC, unfortunately, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to violence and intimidation regarding Line 3.
The same hooligans who shut down the meeting have pledged to make the Line 3 job site just as violent and bloody as the Dakota Access Pipeline site.
Hopefully, law enforcement makes this the last time the PUC is prevented from doing its job.
More importantly, let’s hope law enforcement is prepared to shut down the threatened violence before it starts.
FREE STUFF!*
A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Democrats have become adept over the generations at finding skilled candidates who appear to be one thing but underneath are the real thing – for them.
Tim Walz is just such a candidate. The rural guy. The paunchy, avuncular middle-aged white dude who would be at home drinking a Schmidt on your front porch. The dog-faced grunt. The school teacher with the dated clothes.
He’s also just another liberal. Another tax and spender. Another culture warrior.
Walz has already compiled an impressively expensive list of spending promises made to secure the votes of various DFL constituencies that demand, and often get, government succor.
Take the recent promise of “free college” for all.
This kind of pandering flies in the face of popular opinion and a lot of common sense.
Our society is finally re-discovering the value of vocations like the skilled trades and other career paths that don’t require a college degree.
Our society is finally waking up to the bad public policy that pushes every young person into taking on mountains of debt, often in the name of degrees that have no real value to our society and especially our economy.
So Walz promises “free” college, to the tune of $265 million per year.
Why? Probably because the faculty union at the state colleges and universities is backing Walz and nothing guarantees their jobs more than an endless funding stream, paid for by someone else.
Think about the lack of accountability inherent in having junior at college at someone else’s expense.
If junior fails out, no big deal.
If the professor is a dud, not big deal. But then again, tenure has already solved that “problem.”
Then you throw on universal pre-kindergarten at a half-billion per year.
And then reducing class sizes, which demands more teachers and more school buildings. Cha-ching.
How about $300 million to wire up a few rural homes with broadband?
Goodness knows folks in Rock County deserve access to Pornhub.
How about state healthcare programs for all? That requires continuing the $1.3 billion sick tax to help subsidize the costs.
On top of all that is that inconvenient truth that Minnesota is already a high-tax state.
Tim Walz seems to be quite interested in turning Minnesota into New York or California.
The only problem is that we’re landlocked, don’t have Broadway, and the winter is Arctic.
If there was any honesty in campaigning, Walz would host an event with Bernie Sanders.
True bros.
September 7th, 2018
Quote of the Week: "I would've liked to see 60 votes, no matter what the judge is. I don't think we should've made that change, when we look back at it.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar, expressing senate Democrats’ buyer’s remorse regarding the elimination of the filibuster for judicial nominees
Editor’s Note: Another liberal idea that seemed good at the time. A weapon that looked great when pointed at others, but not so great when pointed at them.
In This Issue:
THOSE NASTY, FECKLESS DEMOCRATS
The viciousness, fecklessness, and nihilism of Democrats was on full display this week across our Great Nation.
From the Swamp to the liberal bastions on the West Coast, where homeless camps and dirty needles litter the landscape, the ends-justify-the-means mantra of the Left has been front and center.
Let’s start with the food fight known as the Senate confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court justice.
The hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh opened with an intentional, choreographed circus designed to disrupt the hearing and promote an atmosphere of chaos and doubt.
In short, the Democrats sought to take the focus off a thoughtful discussion of Kavanaugh’s qualifications and instead turn the hearings into the kind of emotional, dog whistle kind of food fight that motivates much of the liberal base.
If the debate was about his intelligence, temperament, or character, there would be no debate.
Brett Kavanaugh has earned a “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association and no evidence has been presented that he lacks the qualities or talents required of a Supreme Court Justice.
Instead, the liberals have engaged in distractions like complaining about the lack of documents presented to the committee, even tough the number produced is exponentially higher than what was produced for recent nominees like Justice Kagan or Justice Sotomayor.
Then there is the spectacle of Sen. Cory Booker threatening to intentionally release privileged documents to the public.
It would be a slimy move, an egregious violation of Senate rules, a slap in the face to the institution, all done in the name of placing ideology and partisanship above senatorial duties and his oath of office.
Of course, this charade is really about abortion.
Liberals are freaking out that Kavanaugh will provide a critical majority to overturn the judge-made law that created a federal right to abortion out of whole cloth.
Whether one supports or opposes abortion, it is an undeniable example of bad law and should be overturned.
Essentially, Roe v. Wade is premised on a legal fiction.
The court in Roe “discovered” what it termed a “penumbra” of privacy “rights” that included the right to an abortion.
Nowhere in the text of our federal Constitution can one find the word “penumbra” or any reference to a penumbra, or any reference to abortion.
Moreover, there is no history whatsoever of the Founding Fathers speaking to the issue of abortion during their deliberations.
Not surprisingly, Publius didn’t refer to abortion or a penumbra of privacy issues in any of the Federalist Papers.
Judge-made law.
It is another sad manifestation of the state of our political institutions that the Democrats made up their minds a long time ago that they would oppose the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh on naked political grounds instead of considering his qualifications.
The Harry Reid chicken has once again come home to roost.
Also this week we saw the spectacle of the left-leaning New York Times publishing an anonymous op-ed from a self-described “senior” White House official who wrote of intentionally working against President Trump.
First, it’s appalling that the Times would publish an anonymous piece unvetted for veracity or credibility.
Readers are deprived of the ability to judge the credibility of the author since we don’t know who it is.
What we do know is that the person who wrote the piece (if he/she is real, if the piece is true) is utterly lacking in character and integrity.
Any employee of an organization owes a duty of loyalty to the organization.
They have a duty to do their best to support the organization and further the mission.
That this person would work to undermine the White House and collect a pay check makes that person a disloyal clown utterly lacking in character and integrity.
If one doesn’t agree with the mission and agenda of the White House, the proper response is to resign and move on.
If you want to “resist” the Trump agenda, go work for one of the countless leftist organizations out there.
George Soros and Tom Steyer are writing checks. Go collect one.
Right here in Minnesota, we have our own feckless Democrats behaving badly.
Exhibit “A” is a trio of outright lies the DFL has perpetrated on voters via misleading, untrue attack mailers.
Authorized by House DFL leader Melissa Hortman, the ads have been roundly debunked by neutral analysts as untrue. Or, put another way, lies.
One of those attack ads said Republicans gave themselves a huge pay raise.
Not true. Legislative pay is now essentially set by an independent board that was set up through a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution.
Even the Star Tribune said of the ads, “That charge is not only false: It flies in the face of a constitutional change that DFLers engineered.”
Another hit piece claimed that Republicans “voted to give big businesses a $1.3 billion tax break.”
KSTP news gave this hit piece an “F” rating on their political “truth test.”
The ends justify the means for the Left.
And how about Dean Phillips, the booze magnate running for Congress.
He is out on the campaign trail talking about the importance of universal health care.
Too bad he didn’t offer the same to his employees.
Profits over people?
And Angie Craig? She’s the former corporate fat cat who raked in big dollars while her medical device employer was laying off people.
We thought that only happened at Bain Capital.
And where is Keith Ellison these days?
We surmise that “believe her” is merely another example of situational ethics.
Believe her, but only when she accuses a Republican.
And some people wonder how Donald Trump got elected.
Quote of the Week: "I would've liked to see 60 votes, no matter what the judge is. I don't think we should've made that change, when we look back at it.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar, expressing senate Democrats’ buyer’s remorse regarding the elimination of the filibuster for judicial nominees
Editor’s Note: Another liberal idea that seemed good at the time. A weapon that looked great when pointed at others, but not so great when pointed at them.
In This Issue:
- Those Nasty, Feckless Democrats.
THOSE NASTY, FECKLESS DEMOCRATS
The viciousness, fecklessness, and nihilism of Democrats was on full display this week across our Great Nation.
From the Swamp to the liberal bastions on the West Coast, where homeless camps and dirty needles litter the landscape, the ends-justify-the-means mantra of the Left has been front and center.
Let’s start with the food fight known as the Senate confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court justice.
The hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh opened with an intentional, choreographed circus designed to disrupt the hearing and promote an atmosphere of chaos and doubt.
In short, the Democrats sought to take the focus off a thoughtful discussion of Kavanaugh’s qualifications and instead turn the hearings into the kind of emotional, dog whistle kind of food fight that motivates much of the liberal base.
If the debate was about his intelligence, temperament, or character, there would be no debate.
Brett Kavanaugh has earned a “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association and no evidence has been presented that he lacks the qualities or talents required of a Supreme Court Justice.
Instead, the liberals have engaged in distractions like complaining about the lack of documents presented to the committee, even tough the number produced is exponentially higher than what was produced for recent nominees like Justice Kagan or Justice Sotomayor.
Then there is the spectacle of Sen. Cory Booker threatening to intentionally release privileged documents to the public.
It would be a slimy move, an egregious violation of Senate rules, a slap in the face to the institution, all done in the name of placing ideology and partisanship above senatorial duties and his oath of office.
Of course, this charade is really about abortion.
Liberals are freaking out that Kavanaugh will provide a critical majority to overturn the judge-made law that created a federal right to abortion out of whole cloth.
Whether one supports or opposes abortion, it is an undeniable example of bad law and should be overturned.
Essentially, Roe v. Wade is premised on a legal fiction.
The court in Roe “discovered” what it termed a “penumbra” of privacy “rights” that included the right to an abortion.
Nowhere in the text of our federal Constitution can one find the word “penumbra” or any reference to a penumbra, or any reference to abortion.
Moreover, there is no history whatsoever of the Founding Fathers speaking to the issue of abortion during their deliberations.
Not surprisingly, Publius didn’t refer to abortion or a penumbra of privacy issues in any of the Federalist Papers.
Judge-made law.
It is another sad manifestation of the state of our political institutions that the Democrats made up their minds a long time ago that they would oppose the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh on naked political grounds instead of considering his qualifications.
The Harry Reid chicken has once again come home to roost.
Also this week we saw the spectacle of the left-leaning New York Times publishing an anonymous op-ed from a self-described “senior” White House official who wrote of intentionally working against President Trump.
First, it’s appalling that the Times would publish an anonymous piece unvetted for veracity or credibility.
Readers are deprived of the ability to judge the credibility of the author since we don’t know who it is.
What we do know is that the person who wrote the piece (if he/she is real, if the piece is true) is utterly lacking in character and integrity.
Any employee of an organization owes a duty of loyalty to the organization.
They have a duty to do their best to support the organization and further the mission.
That this person would work to undermine the White House and collect a pay check makes that person a disloyal clown utterly lacking in character and integrity.
If one doesn’t agree with the mission and agenda of the White House, the proper response is to resign and move on.
If you want to “resist” the Trump agenda, go work for one of the countless leftist organizations out there.
George Soros and Tom Steyer are writing checks. Go collect one.
Right here in Minnesota, we have our own feckless Democrats behaving badly.
Exhibit “A” is a trio of outright lies the DFL has perpetrated on voters via misleading, untrue attack mailers.
Authorized by House DFL leader Melissa Hortman, the ads have been roundly debunked by neutral analysts as untrue. Or, put another way, lies.
One of those attack ads said Republicans gave themselves a huge pay raise.
Not true. Legislative pay is now essentially set by an independent board that was set up through a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution.
Even the Star Tribune said of the ads, “That charge is not only false: It flies in the face of a constitutional change that DFLers engineered.”
Another hit piece claimed that Republicans “voted to give big businesses a $1.3 billion tax break.”
KSTP news gave this hit piece an “F” rating on their political “truth test.”
The ends justify the means for the Left.
And how about Dean Phillips, the booze magnate running for Congress.
He is out on the campaign trail talking about the importance of universal health care.
Too bad he didn’t offer the same to his employees.
Profits over people?
And Angie Craig? She’s the former corporate fat cat who raked in big dollars while her medical device employer was laying off people.
We thought that only happened at Bain Capital.
And where is Keith Ellison these days?
We surmise that “believe her” is merely another example of situational ethics.
Believe her, but only when she accuses a Republican.
And some people wonder how Donald Trump got elected.
August 31st, 2018
Factoid of the Week: Minneapolis and Saint Paul are home to 50% of the state’s worst-performing schools.
MORE MONEY, SAME RESULTS
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: standardized test scores for Minnesota students are flat or declining.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The only thing going up in Minnesota public education is the amount of money spent on education.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The teachers’ union and school officials downplay the results, deflect blame and accountability, and vow that improvements will be made that never come to fruition.
Well, it’s happening again. Another round of test scores was released this week that show, frankly, that many of our public schools aren’t educating students and aren’t even coming close – again.
Overall, only 60% of the state’s students met state reading standards, which made the results flat for three years running.
In math, only 57% met the proficiency mark, a decline from the 59% who passed in 2017.
Put another way, only 6 in 10 Minnesota students can read proficiently.
Perhaps they can be sent for remedial training at the Zoolander School for Kids Who Don’t Read Good.
Put another way, 43 out of every 100 Minnesota students can’t make the grade in math.
The proficiency numbers for minority students were absolutely abysmal and heartbreaking.
66% of black students can’t read to grade standards.
72% of black students can’t make the proficiency standard for math.
For Latino students, the numbers are just as depressing.
62% are below standard in reading.
67% are below standard in math.
The same holds true for American Indian students.
65% didn’t make the mark in reading.
71% didn’t make the standard in math.
The Minneapolis public schools continued its dubious distinction of lagging severely in test scores as well.
In the aggregate, 55% of students weren’t proficient in reading.
In math, 58% of students weren’t proficient in math, overall.
In Saint Paul, the scores were even worse.
62% of students in that district failed to reach proficiency in reading.
A full 67% of students in the district aren’t proficient in math.
Of course, the response has been as canned and insincere as one would expect.
A dude at the Minneapolis Public Schools who carries the important and New Age title of “Chief of Accountability, Innovation and Research” took no accountability by noting dryly, “We have not seen the math and literacy trends we want to see.”
Really. How profound.
We’re sure the answer lies in shop-worn bromides about “adequate” funding, along with some expensive new program to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
And, of course, the next superintendent will demand an even more exorbitant and opulent contract.
If ever there was an area of government in need of Jeff Johnson’s vow to overthrow the status quo, its education.
Taxpayers continue to walk down the insane path of doing the same thing over and over again, except that we don’t get the same results – we get worse.
Jeff Johnson should hammer this point home.
Goodness knows, Tim Walz will do nothing to reform education.
He’s already sworn his blood oath to the teachers’ union, which means a promise to do nothing to reform the system and a promise to shovel lots of money into that broken system.
Thank God the Supreme Court has stepped in to break the nasty cycle of coerced union dues funding the DFL, which in turns funds the union that extorts the dues.
That’s about the only good news.
It’s truly sad commentary that this publication writes this piece every single year.
We only adjust the numbers downward.
Then cut and paste.
SHAMELESS FAKERY
While we’ve all come to expect shameless behavior on the part of the Left, they scaled new lows this past week with their feigned, bogus tears regarding the passing of Senator John McCain.
This week, McCain has been the epitome of Republican virtue and the embodiment of American patriotism.
Uh huh.
The Left would love for you to forget that not only did they collectively spit on Americans like McCain who served in the Vietnam conflict, they set out to destroy McCain in 2008 with the vilest attacks levied on a political candidate in perhaps all of American history.
Has anyone forgotten Hanoi Jane sitting on the anti-aircraft battery?
The vicious attacks on returning heroes, calling them baby killers?
The high-tailing to Canada and the burning of draft cards?
What McCain endured as a presidential candidate was just as vile and appalling.
The very democrats who rushed to salute McCain this week just ten years ago were raising both subtle and explicit questions about his physical and mental fitness to be president, with whispers about what his military service, and time as a POW, did to him.
Here’s a sampling of what Leftists and Democrats had to say about McCain back in 2008:
"Getting shot down, tortured and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience."
On Sunday, McCain's campaign issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark said he didn't think that McCain’s service as a fighter pilot and prisoner of war was relevant to running the country.
Critics have accused McCain of war crimes for bombing targets in Hanoi in the 1960s. A widely read liberal blog on Sunday accused McCain of "disloyalty" during his captivity in Vietnam for his coerced participation in propaganda films and interviews after he had been tortured.
“The ultimate sadness is that, here, in the 21st century, running for re-election, he shows more fear of J.D. Hayworth than he showed toward his captors in North Vietnam.”
The media also attacked him personally. A book about the senator claimed he called his wife Cindy “you c*nt” and told her she wore “makeup like a trollop.” It was also rumored that he joked Chelsea Clinton was so ugly because her father was former Attorney General Janet Reno. He was also said to have bragged about his sexual conquests and sexist double standards.
McCain – Mentally Unstable and Out of Control, says liberal Daily Kos and Huffington Post, when referring to McCain while challenging Obama.
McCain – Questionable temperament and unstable judgment says The Washington Post in 2008 when challenging Obama.
McCain – Speculation by liberal media that he could go insane if elected President in 2008, by liberal Slate. You did read that right. Insane!
McCain – “Too damned crazy to be trusted with the Presidency” Thomas Ricks in Foreign Policy, a quotation from 2008 published in 2010 when McCain was critical of Obama’s defense policy. Or lack thereof.
This publication considers John S. McCain to be a true hero and patriot.
His service to the country can’t be denied.
Rest in Peace.
Factoid of the Week: Minneapolis and Saint Paul are home to 50% of the state’s worst-performing schools.
MORE MONEY, SAME RESULTS
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: standardized test scores for Minnesota students are flat or declining.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The only thing going up in Minnesota public education is the amount of money spent on education.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The teachers’ union and school officials downplay the results, deflect blame and accountability, and vow that improvements will be made that never come to fruition.
Well, it’s happening again. Another round of test scores was released this week that show, frankly, that many of our public schools aren’t educating students and aren’t even coming close – again.
Overall, only 60% of the state’s students met state reading standards, which made the results flat for three years running.
In math, only 57% met the proficiency mark, a decline from the 59% who passed in 2017.
Put another way, only 6 in 10 Minnesota students can read proficiently.
Perhaps they can be sent for remedial training at the Zoolander School for Kids Who Don’t Read Good.
Put another way, 43 out of every 100 Minnesota students can’t make the grade in math.
The proficiency numbers for minority students were absolutely abysmal and heartbreaking.
66% of black students can’t read to grade standards.
72% of black students can’t make the proficiency standard for math.
For Latino students, the numbers are just as depressing.
62% are below standard in reading.
67% are below standard in math.
The same holds true for American Indian students.
65% didn’t make the mark in reading.
71% didn’t make the standard in math.
The Minneapolis public schools continued its dubious distinction of lagging severely in test scores as well.
In the aggregate, 55% of students weren’t proficient in reading.
In math, 58% of students weren’t proficient in math, overall.
In Saint Paul, the scores were even worse.
62% of students in that district failed to reach proficiency in reading.
A full 67% of students in the district aren’t proficient in math.
Of course, the response has been as canned and insincere as one would expect.
A dude at the Minneapolis Public Schools who carries the important and New Age title of “Chief of Accountability, Innovation and Research” took no accountability by noting dryly, “We have not seen the math and literacy trends we want to see.”
Really. How profound.
We’re sure the answer lies in shop-worn bromides about “adequate” funding, along with some expensive new program to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
And, of course, the next superintendent will demand an even more exorbitant and opulent contract.
If ever there was an area of government in need of Jeff Johnson’s vow to overthrow the status quo, its education.
Taxpayers continue to walk down the insane path of doing the same thing over and over again, except that we don’t get the same results – we get worse.
Jeff Johnson should hammer this point home.
Goodness knows, Tim Walz will do nothing to reform education.
He’s already sworn his blood oath to the teachers’ union, which means a promise to do nothing to reform the system and a promise to shovel lots of money into that broken system.
Thank God the Supreme Court has stepped in to break the nasty cycle of coerced union dues funding the DFL, which in turns funds the union that extorts the dues.
That’s about the only good news.
It’s truly sad commentary that this publication writes this piece every single year.
We only adjust the numbers downward.
Then cut and paste.
SHAMELESS FAKERY
While we’ve all come to expect shameless behavior on the part of the Left, they scaled new lows this past week with their feigned, bogus tears regarding the passing of Senator John McCain.
This week, McCain has been the epitome of Republican virtue and the embodiment of American patriotism.
Uh huh.
The Left would love for you to forget that not only did they collectively spit on Americans like McCain who served in the Vietnam conflict, they set out to destroy McCain in 2008 with the vilest attacks levied on a political candidate in perhaps all of American history.
Has anyone forgotten Hanoi Jane sitting on the anti-aircraft battery?
The vicious attacks on returning heroes, calling them baby killers?
The high-tailing to Canada and the burning of draft cards?
What McCain endured as a presidential candidate was just as vile and appalling.
The very democrats who rushed to salute McCain this week just ten years ago were raising both subtle and explicit questions about his physical and mental fitness to be president, with whispers about what his military service, and time as a POW, did to him.
Here’s a sampling of what Leftists and Democrats had to say about McCain back in 2008:
"Getting shot down, tortured and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience."
On Sunday, McCain's campaign issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark said he didn't think that McCain’s service as a fighter pilot and prisoner of war was relevant to running the country.
Critics have accused McCain of war crimes for bombing targets in Hanoi in the 1960s. A widely read liberal blog on Sunday accused McCain of "disloyalty" during his captivity in Vietnam for his coerced participation in propaganda films and interviews after he had been tortured.
“The ultimate sadness is that, here, in the 21st century, running for re-election, he shows more fear of J.D. Hayworth than he showed toward his captors in North Vietnam.”
The media also attacked him personally. A book about the senator claimed he called his wife Cindy “you c*nt” and told her she wore “makeup like a trollop.” It was also rumored that he joked Chelsea Clinton was so ugly because her father was former Attorney General Janet Reno. He was also said to have bragged about his sexual conquests and sexist double standards.
McCain – Mentally Unstable and Out of Control, says liberal Daily Kos and Huffington Post, when referring to McCain while challenging Obama.
McCain – Questionable temperament and unstable judgment says The Washington Post in 2008 when challenging Obama.
McCain – Speculation by liberal media that he could go insane if elected President in 2008, by liberal Slate. You did read that right. Insane!
McCain – “Too damned crazy to be trusted with the Presidency” Thomas Ricks in Foreign Policy, a quotation from 2008 published in 2010 when McCain was critical of Obama’s defense policy. Or lack thereof.
This publication considers John S. McCain to be a true hero and patriot.
His service to the country can’t be denied.
Rest in Peace.
August 24th, 2018
Editor’s Note: This week’s edition is a fascinating read regarding Jeff Johnson’s upset primary win over Tim Pawlenty. While the author writes that he foresaw the win, many didn’t.
Can Jeff Johnson and his team replicate the win in November?
Editor’s Note: This essay was authored by Max Rymer of the firm Nativ3, which worked on behalf of the Johnson for Governor campaign for the primary and now the general election.
The Watchdog has received permission from the author to re-publish his essay.
ESSAY FOLLOWS:
Jeff Johnson: A Case Study
August 14, 2018
Jeff Johnson was an apparent underdog. Even those who believed he’d win or wanted it, stretched their imagination to think the big money and establishment infrastructure of Tim Pawlenty could be overcome. Not many people knew he would win.
We did.
Make no mistake, Jeff’s message was a winning one. His political instincts are impeccable, his message genuine, and his integrity unmatched in the world of politics. He will be our next Governor because of that. But at Nativ3, we knew he’d win the primary because that’s what social data was telling us.
Let me explain.
Nativ3 was hired by the Jeff Johnson for Governor campaign on June 13th, shortly after his endorsement at the Minnesota State Convention. At this point in time, the campaign challenges were obvious: name ID in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty, fundraising in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty, and ensuring we could get OUR people out to the poll August 14th in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty. Nativ3 partnered with graphics guru Derek Wehrwein to ensure – from a social media perspective, a paid search perspective, a re-marketing and display ad perspective, and from an overall digital strategy perspective, that we lapped Tim Pawlenty in creativity, execution and hustle. We’re a small team at Nativ3 – 7 of us to be exact. Understanding the fundraising gap, every dollar we spent, every initiative we undertook, and every message we deployed would need to be maximized, analyzed, tested and pinpointed to a controllable audience. We won’t get too much into the inside baseball of what that took, because we now have a general election to win.
But I wanted to cover the high points of what worked digitally. It worked so well that my message through our basecamp project management software read like this when we sent our final report to the campaign: “When Jeff or Justin (campaign manager extraordinaire) or anyone on the team write their autobiography, I want to be the first one on record: We’re going to win the primary tomorrow.” The polling numbers were scoff-worthy in the face of hard social data.
A LOT went into the victory of Jeff Johnson – especially on the digital front. But what it boiled down to was the following 3 main points:
immense target testing
diverse and contrasting creative assets
giving the voter something to do.
First, Immense Target Testing
One of the best data assets that the Johnson campaign brought to the table was the list developed from Jeff running for Governor before. As an agency, we run list-based targeting for businesses of all shapes and sizes – and you usually get a hodgepodge of old friends, names with spelling errors, and half correct information. I’ve noticed a similar trend with typical political lists and Secretary of State information. Nativ3 segmented the lists by issue specific trends, modeled the data to match likely primary voters, and ultimately developed 50 separate campaigns to beat the living pulp out of that list with diverse ads, compelling calls to action, and actionable ways for them to engage with the Johnson campaign (more on that later). Keep in mind with list targeting, you can upload a controllable universe to Facebook advertising, Google Search, YouTube Preroll, and Display Advertising, and can even utilize certain Twitter targeting features.
Lists are the lifeblood of a campaign. I’m more convinced of that than ever before.
Later, as the vote got closer we further broke down the list and actually created lookalike audiences to broaden out the scope of our targeting. As the campaign team and I discussed, we thought that there were names and numbers and emails and personality types that could not be accounted for in any lists: namely, Trump voters. We modeled demographics and behaviors off of the large list we already had, so with nearly every advertising campaign created we dealt with 3 audiences: Jeff’s loyal supporters (an immovable base and an incredible campaign asset), our modeled primary audience (which we segmented from Jeff’s list), and a broader audience of people who matched similar traits as our listed audience. This equated to a universe of 400,000 people. Our goal was to use our two precious months to drive home name ID, build contrasting messaging on all platforms to Tim Pawlenty, and get a commitment from the prospective voter in some form or fashion. The data operation coordinated between the Johnson Campaign and Nativ3 was one of the complex executed in Minnesota politics (hourly monitoring, rapid spend increases and decreases, and rapid A/B testing). As campaigns began and ended, Nativ3 manipulated budget towards the ads that were most compelling, altered text and calls to actions, and created micro-targeted assets that maximized both engagement on their respective digital media platform AS WELL AS ensured that the voter would want to see the landing page beyond the ad.
As we closely monitored data and competition – socially, organically, video content, and paid search, it was incredibly apparent that the Pawlenty campaign did not prioritize digital strategy as fiercely as they needed to. In fact, the ONLY campaign that was comparative to impression numbers in this race (from what we could tell) was Tim Walz – which primarily came from a video campaign that ran the last month of the race. Our estimates put that at a 6-figure investment and the targeting was VERY broad.
At the end of the day, we honed in on a finalized voter universe of 329,000 voters, served them nearly 10 million impressions (30 impressions per voter over the course of 2 months), garnered 50,000 conversions (voter commitments), and spent very little money comparatively to do so. The Johnson campaign ran a lean, tight ship. We loved being part of such an execution-oriented team. But in order for those numbers to work, the creative must also be spot on. The creative needed to be on point, which leads us to the next H2:
Diverse and Contrasting Creative Assets
Before explaining what went well, I want to give another tip of the hat to Derek Wehrwein. Derek ran most of the graphics production, which was an incredible strength of the Johnson for Governor primary campaign. Understanding we needed to not only foster better name ID statewide for Jeff, but also create a contrasting message for the future from Tim Pawlenty, we catered almost every post, every ad, and every theme around that premise: build Jeff Johnson’s name up and contrast him to Tim Pawlenty. As we dug deeper into some data around the Pawlenty name ID (something viewed as a great strength by most pundits statewide), we quickly realized that not all of that ID was positive. We needed to put the proverbial boot on the proverbial throat repeatedly, every day, to that controlled audience. Part of our challenge was not only helping boost Jeff’s name ID online, but also reminding Minnesotans of who Tim Pawlenty was.
Nativ3 and the Johnson campaign both handled day to day posting on social media platforms. Obviously, it’s critical to show campaign activity. Bruce Miller, the Johnson Campaign driver (and SO many other things) captured imagery that Nativ3 could use for daily posting. We made sure maintenance activity and posts were regular, effective, edited, AND always tied back to Jeff’s messaging. It’s one thing to talk about being at a business round table. It’s another thing to talk about being at a business round table AND talk about how Minnesota’s tax system is broken for small business owners. The engagement numbers between those two types of posts would blow your mind.
But beyond maintenance and static posts that I liken to 3-4 yard off-tackle hand-offs (to use a football analogy), we also threw Kirk Cousins-like bombs. A lot of them. Remember that targeting we talked about in the last section? We dropped some of the most compelling and creative imagery, video content, boosted posts, and audio assets in front of that list. Facebook was our main driver. But we also utilized Paid twitter (VERY little), Youtube Preroll and Adwords to drive home the engagement and impression count. The two days before election, Jeff occupied most early vote searches on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
We ran through several issue specific campaigns, utilized earned media and boosted it to the universe we had, and then a massive GOTV and engagement push the final 3 weeks of the campaign. You’ll notice, even in polling and predictions, Jeff was climbing statistically. The polling, though, still did not reflect how effectively the base was turned out.
Grabbing impressions within a controlled universe and using those impressions and creating compelling content are all critical for building name ID (what what our world calls “top of funnel awareness”). But you can’t complete a deal – if you’re a politician or an e-commerce website or an HVAC Contractor – unless you give your user something to do. Impressions without action don’t mean a hill of beans.
Giving Voters Something to Do
At every turn, with every ad, we needed the voter to do something and commit to something once they clicked through. This is simple in nature, but it modeled Donald Trump’s digital strategy. We knew that farming ads targeted toward those who cared about ag issues in our modeled universe would be attractive to click on. What happened next would be far more critical than a mere click. Our creative revolved around “Here’s what Jeff believes”, “Subtly, here’s how Tim Pawlenty hurt you”, and “Now we need you to do something about it”. With each landing page, we either asked for a voter commitment or a small contribution RIGHT AFTER and RIGHT NEXT TO a presentation of compelling emotional issues or political concern. We did not let an impression go to waste. We needed to ensure that there were actionable items we could give to the potential voter. At every turn, getting a voter commitment was the critical end goal of each campaign we ran: be it adwords text ads, YouTube preproll, re-marketing campaigns, or Facebook ads/boosted posts. When it was all said and done, with new online voter commitments and DEFINITE supporters within our database, we knew our floor was 70,000 voters. For computing purposes, assuming 70,000 voters brought .3 voters along with them the polls, we were 99% confident we had victory in our grasp August 13th.
Giving voters something small to buy into allowed us to create new email audiences, new remarketing audiences to ask for another donation/ask, and ultimately a very targeted GOTV effort to those who already supported our campaign.
Making the ask, even if it’s online, proved to be incredibly effective.
In Conclusion
Jeff Johnson is an amazing candidate. The grassroots participation in his campaign, and how he inspired so many people restored my faith in Republican politics. Volunteerism, especially Republican volunteerism is a force to be reckoned with. Experts will debate in the coming weeks what his upset of Tim Pawlenty means. As a firm, we are so looking forward to the coming months of this campaign and pivoting to a general election strategy. Jeff will continue to inspire voters with his message, drive grassroots activists to action, and hustle for every vote touring the state. He proved that in this primary process. Nativ3 will need to be sharper than ever in matching his veracity for the general election.
But at the end of the day, the data proved that this was not nearly the upset we might want to make it out to be. Data-driven targeting and inbound marketing principles played out. You can adapt or you can lose. Jeff’s vision for innovation in this campaign is one of the major components of what won him this election and what will help him win in November. As a small digital firm, we’ve been humbled to be part of the process. The Johnson campaign took a chance on us. We loved being part of this process.
Digital is the present in political marketing, as it is for big brands and small businesses alike. There is no “future” in digital and inbound marketing principles.
It’s here.
It’s critical.
It works.
And you need to start if you want to win. It’s not just throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars towards a campaign. It’s building a measurable relationship and asking for “buy in” with every impression you pay for. Jeff Johnson had a winning message. We ensured that voters heard it online, cared about it, and derived actionable next steps from it.
As for our next step: all eyes are on November. Our universe is considerably bigger, but the methodology doesn’t change.
Editor’s Note: This week’s edition is a fascinating read regarding Jeff Johnson’s upset primary win over Tim Pawlenty. While the author writes that he foresaw the win, many didn’t.
Can Jeff Johnson and his team replicate the win in November?
Editor’s Note: This essay was authored by Max Rymer of the firm Nativ3, which worked on behalf of the Johnson for Governor campaign for the primary and now the general election.
The Watchdog has received permission from the author to re-publish his essay.
ESSAY FOLLOWS:
Jeff Johnson: A Case Study
August 14, 2018
Jeff Johnson was an apparent underdog. Even those who believed he’d win or wanted it, stretched their imagination to think the big money and establishment infrastructure of Tim Pawlenty could be overcome. Not many people knew he would win.
We did.
Make no mistake, Jeff’s message was a winning one. His political instincts are impeccable, his message genuine, and his integrity unmatched in the world of politics. He will be our next Governor because of that. But at Nativ3, we knew he’d win the primary because that’s what social data was telling us.
Let me explain.
Nativ3 was hired by the Jeff Johnson for Governor campaign on June 13th, shortly after his endorsement at the Minnesota State Convention. At this point in time, the campaign challenges were obvious: name ID in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty, fundraising in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty, and ensuring we could get OUR people out to the poll August 14th in the prospect of Tim Pawlenty. Nativ3 partnered with graphics guru Derek Wehrwein to ensure – from a social media perspective, a paid search perspective, a re-marketing and display ad perspective, and from an overall digital strategy perspective, that we lapped Tim Pawlenty in creativity, execution and hustle. We’re a small team at Nativ3 – 7 of us to be exact. Understanding the fundraising gap, every dollar we spent, every initiative we undertook, and every message we deployed would need to be maximized, analyzed, tested and pinpointed to a controllable audience. We won’t get too much into the inside baseball of what that took, because we now have a general election to win.
But I wanted to cover the high points of what worked digitally. It worked so well that my message through our basecamp project management software read like this when we sent our final report to the campaign: “When Jeff or Justin (campaign manager extraordinaire) or anyone on the team write their autobiography, I want to be the first one on record: We’re going to win the primary tomorrow.” The polling numbers were scoff-worthy in the face of hard social data.
A LOT went into the victory of Jeff Johnson – especially on the digital front. But what it boiled down to was the following 3 main points:
immense target testing
diverse and contrasting creative assets
giving the voter something to do.
First, Immense Target Testing
One of the best data assets that the Johnson campaign brought to the table was the list developed from Jeff running for Governor before. As an agency, we run list-based targeting for businesses of all shapes and sizes – and you usually get a hodgepodge of old friends, names with spelling errors, and half correct information. I’ve noticed a similar trend with typical political lists and Secretary of State information. Nativ3 segmented the lists by issue specific trends, modeled the data to match likely primary voters, and ultimately developed 50 separate campaigns to beat the living pulp out of that list with diverse ads, compelling calls to action, and actionable ways for them to engage with the Johnson campaign (more on that later). Keep in mind with list targeting, you can upload a controllable universe to Facebook advertising, Google Search, YouTube Preroll, and Display Advertising, and can even utilize certain Twitter targeting features.
Lists are the lifeblood of a campaign. I’m more convinced of that than ever before.
Later, as the vote got closer we further broke down the list and actually created lookalike audiences to broaden out the scope of our targeting. As the campaign team and I discussed, we thought that there were names and numbers and emails and personality types that could not be accounted for in any lists: namely, Trump voters. We modeled demographics and behaviors off of the large list we already had, so with nearly every advertising campaign created we dealt with 3 audiences: Jeff’s loyal supporters (an immovable base and an incredible campaign asset), our modeled primary audience (which we segmented from Jeff’s list), and a broader audience of people who matched similar traits as our listed audience. This equated to a universe of 400,000 people. Our goal was to use our two precious months to drive home name ID, build contrasting messaging on all platforms to Tim Pawlenty, and get a commitment from the prospective voter in some form or fashion. The data operation coordinated between the Johnson Campaign and Nativ3 was one of the complex executed in Minnesota politics (hourly monitoring, rapid spend increases and decreases, and rapid A/B testing). As campaigns began and ended, Nativ3 manipulated budget towards the ads that were most compelling, altered text and calls to actions, and created micro-targeted assets that maximized both engagement on their respective digital media platform AS WELL AS ensured that the voter would want to see the landing page beyond the ad.
As we closely monitored data and competition – socially, organically, video content, and paid search, it was incredibly apparent that the Pawlenty campaign did not prioritize digital strategy as fiercely as they needed to. In fact, the ONLY campaign that was comparative to impression numbers in this race (from what we could tell) was Tim Walz – which primarily came from a video campaign that ran the last month of the race. Our estimates put that at a 6-figure investment and the targeting was VERY broad.
At the end of the day, we honed in on a finalized voter universe of 329,000 voters, served them nearly 10 million impressions (30 impressions per voter over the course of 2 months), garnered 50,000 conversions (voter commitments), and spent very little money comparatively to do so. The Johnson campaign ran a lean, tight ship. We loved being part of such an execution-oriented team. But in order for those numbers to work, the creative must also be spot on. The creative needed to be on point, which leads us to the next H2:
Diverse and Contrasting Creative Assets
Before explaining what went well, I want to give another tip of the hat to Derek Wehrwein. Derek ran most of the graphics production, which was an incredible strength of the Johnson for Governor primary campaign. Understanding we needed to not only foster better name ID statewide for Jeff, but also create a contrasting message for the future from Tim Pawlenty, we catered almost every post, every ad, and every theme around that premise: build Jeff Johnson’s name up and contrast him to Tim Pawlenty. As we dug deeper into some data around the Pawlenty name ID (something viewed as a great strength by most pundits statewide), we quickly realized that not all of that ID was positive. We needed to put the proverbial boot on the proverbial throat repeatedly, every day, to that controlled audience. Part of our challenge was not only helping boost Jeff’s name ID online, but also reminding Minnesotans of who Tim Pawlenty was.
Nativ3 and the Johnson campaign both handled day to day posting on social media platforms. Obviously, it’s critical to show campaign activity. Bruce Miller, the Johnson Campaign driver (and SO many other things) captured imagery that Nativ3 could use for daily posting. We made sure maintenance activity and posts were regular, effective, edited, AND always tied back to Jeff’s messaging. It’s one thing to talk about being at a business round table. It’s another thing to talk about being at a business round table AND talk about how Minnesota’s tax system is broken for small business owners. The engagement numbers between those two types of posts would blow your mind.
But beyond maintenance and static posts that I liken to 3-4 yard off-tackle hand-offs (to use a football analogy), we also threw Kirk Cousins-like bombs. A lot of them. Remember that targeting we talked about in the last section? We dropped some of the most compelling and creative imagery, video content, boosted posts, and audio assets in front of that list. Facebook was our main driver. But we also utilized Paid twitter (VERY little), Youtube Preroll and Adwords to drive home the engagement and impression count. The two days before election, Jeff occupied most early vote searches on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
We ran through several issue specific campaigns, utilized earned media and boosted it to the universe we had, and then a massive GOTV and engagement push the final 3 weeks of the campaign. You’ll notice, even in polling and predictions, Jeff was climbing statistically. The polling, though, still did not reflect how effectively the base was turned out.
Grabbing impressions within a controlled universe and using those impressions and creating compelling content are all critical for building name ID (what what our world calls “top of funnel awareness”). But you can’t complete a deal – if you’re a politician or an e-commerce website or an HVAC Contractor – unless you give your user something to do. Impressions without action don’t mean a hill of beans.
Giving Voters Something to Do
At every turn, with every ad, we needed the voter to do something and commit to something once they clicked through. This is simple in nature, but it modeled Donald Trump’s digital strategy. We knew that farming ads targeted toward those who cared about ag issues in our modeled universe would be attractive to click on. What happened next would be far more critical than a mere click. Our creative revolved around “Here’s what Jeff believes”, “Subtly, here’s how Tim Pawlenty hurt you”, and “Now we need you to do something about it”. With each landing page, we either asked for a voter commitment or a small contribution RIGHT AFTER and RIGHT NEXT TO a presentation of compelling emotional issues or political concern. We did not let an impression go to waste. We needed to ensure that there were actionable items we could give to the potential voter. At every turn, getting a voter commitment was the critical end goal of each campaign we ran: be it adwords text ads, YouTube preproll, re-marketing campaigns, or Facebook ads/boosted posts. When it was all said and done, with new online voter commitments and DEFINITE supporters within our database, we knew our floor was 70,000 voters. For computing purposes, assuming 70,000 voters brought .3 voters along with them the polls, we were 99% confident we had victory in our grasp August 13th.
Giving voters something small to buy into allowed us to create new email audiences, new remarketing audiences to ask for another donation/ask, and ultimately a very targeted GOTV effort to those who already supported our campaign.
Making the ask, even if it’s online, proved to be incredibly effective.
In Conclusion
Jeff Johnson is an amazing candidate. The grassroots participation in his campaign, and how he inspired so many people restored my faith in Republican politics. Volunteerism, especially Republican volunteerism is a force to be reckoned with. Experts will debate in the coming weeks what his upset of Tim Pawlenty means. As a firm, we are so looking forward to the coming months of this campaign and pivoting to a general election strategy. Jeff will continue to inspire voters with his message, drive grassroots activists to action, and hustle for every vote touring the state. He proved that in this primary process. Nativ3 will need to be sharper than ever in matching his veracity for the general election.
But at the end of the day, the data proved that this was not nearly the upset we might want to make it out to be. Data-driven targeting and inbound marketing principles played out. You can adapt or you can lose. Jeff’s vision for innovation in this campaign is one of the major components of what won him this election and what will help him win in November. As a small digital firm, we’ve been humbled to be part of the process. The Johnson campaign took a chance on us. We loved being part of this process.
Digital is the present in political marketing, as it is for big brands and small businesses alike. There is no “future” in digital and inbound marketing principles.
It’s here.
It’s critical.
It works.
And you need to start if you want to win. It’s not just throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars towards a campaign. It’s building a measurable relationship and asking for “buy in” with every impression you pay for. Jeff Johnson had a winning message. We ensured that voters heard it online, cared about it, and derived actionable next steps from it.
As for our next step: all eyes are on November. Our universe is considerably bigger, but the methodology doesn’t change.
August 17th, 2018
Quote of the Week: “It is the era of Trump and I’m just not a Trump-like politician.”
THOUGHTS, FACTS, OBSERVATIONS FROM PRIMARY NIGHT
Pawlenty: In many conversations with GOP operatives around the state, the consistent theme that emerged is that Pawlenty was “absent” or “disengaged” in the minds of many primary voters, leading them to vote for Johnson.
This perception, true or untrue, is tied into strategic decisions made by the Pawlenty campaign:
First, late entrance into the race. The decision was made to get into the race later rather than sooner, which simply left less time to engage in retail politics, attending corn feeds and the like.
Second, the decision to ignore Johnson. The decision to adopt a “general election” posture and ignore Johnson wasn’t a bad decision, but it was wrong. Johnson’s strength was underestimated until it was too late.
Third, the decision to bypass the endorsing convention. This decision was another function of the decision to get in the race late. Part of the takeaway from Tuesday is that the endorsement still matters for the GOP. Clearly, the decision to not participate in the endorsing convention fed a perception of aloofness.
While there will be many Monday morning quarterbacks who will cluck over things the Pawlenty team could have done better, the simple fact is that the team made reasonable assumptions that turned out to be false.
Moreover, at a base level, campaigns are about selling something to the political marketplace. At the end of the day, voters are either interested in buying the product or they’re not.
In his concession speech, Pawlenty noted that in an era of Trump, he’s not a Trump-like candidate.
In short, it was more about a Pawlenty campaign that didn’t fit the times as opposed to a well-executed Johnson campaign.
Johnson: Having said that, Johnson in many respects did well with the meager resources he raised. Declaring in May of 2017, Johnson has definitely put in time on the road and has worked hard, beating out a host of other candidates.
Johnson also did well to adopt the Trump mantle, although the help it offered in the primary campaign may not be of such benefit in the general election campaign.
While criticisms of Johnson’s campaign skills are legitimate, it’s true that people aren’t giving him any credit for what he’s done.
Sure, he’s lost every state-wide race he’s run, but he’s also gotten to the big dance three times now. We will see if the third time around he’s any better.
DFL: It was a tough night for the DFL party in that endorsed candidates for governor and attorney general were decisively defeated.
Every election cycle, the endorsement becomes less relevant for the DFL. Whether that really matters in the grand scheme of things remains to be seen.
Tim Walz: The victory of Tim Walz was not surprising but nonetheless interesting.
Like any successful candidate, Walz benefitted from the luck of unforced errors on the part of his opponents.
Erin Murphy fatally hobbled her campaign by selecting as a running mate a fellow Metro legislator who clearly wasn’t ready for prime time. Her running mate was a rookie legislator who hadn’t passed a single bill during her brief time in the legislature, and it showed.
The selection turned a possible Walz vulnerability, time in the Swamp, into an asset, experience in office.
Lori Swanson ran what can only be described as a bizarre, bunker campaign where she hid out while sending out campaign ads but remaining in hiding like a Colombian cartel boss.
Swanson quickly showed that she herself wasn’t ready for prime time and reinforced a Watchdog rule of politics: The Transfer Rule.
The Transfer Rule posits that success in one political office doesn’t automatically transfer to another.
Think Skip Humphrey, who dominated campaigns for attorney general. He ran for governor in 1998 and promptly lost to Jesse Ventura.
Minnesota politics will rightly remember the Swanson gubernatorial campaign as one of the worst in state history.
As one reporter asked, “Does anyone know any real humans who are supporting Lori Swanson?”
Back to Walz, who pulled off the age-old trick of being everything to everybody.
He’s the NRA-endorsed guy who now favors gun control.
He supports the blue-collar construction trades yet picked a running mate who has actively opposed their jobs, especially in mines and along pipelines.
He’s proud of his rural roots yet calls rural America “A bunch of rocks and cows.”
He’s the Swamp creature of many years, yet portrays himself as the avuncular football coach, teacher, and enlisted man.
Yet, he pulled off the primary win against a very authentic tinfoil hat liberal in Erin Murph and her goofy “politics of joy.”
He beat the Bernie Bros and proved that there are a lot of Democrats who want to win and not just make a point.
Thoughts on Johnson vs. Walz:
Advantage, Walz: Walz has better positioned himself towards the middle than Johnson. Johnson ran hard to the right against Pawlenty and now has to figure out how and where to pivot. Yes, state-wide elections in Minnesota are still about winning independents. The Watchdog had access to internal polling and focus group data that showed independents breaking hard for Pawlenty vs. Johnson.
And lest readers think that it’s all okay because Trump “almost” won Minnesota, recall that the close race was more about Hillary underperforming that Trump overperforming.
Hillary in MN 2016: 1,367,716
Trump in MN 2016: 1,322,951
Obama in MN 2012: 1,546,167
Romney in MN 2012: 1,320,225
Clearly, 2016 was about HRC underperforming Obama while Trump ran nearly even with Romney’s numbers.
Advantage, Johnson: If done right, Johnson should make this race a referendum on Dayton, Walz, and the DFL in general.
MnSURE, MNLARS, elder abuse, Ellison, daycare fraud. Dayton was a disaster and today’s DFL has gone off the rails, with the radical Keith Ellison as exhibit “A”.
Moreover, Tim Walz has spent over a decade in the Swamp and has a record to match.
Another major Achilles heel is Walz’s attendance record. Murphy and Swanson blew it by not hammering home this point.
Voters of all stripes take a dim view of politicians taking a pay check but not showing up to work.
The “empty chair” is still a powerful attack ad.
Johnson should ignore the task of cutting the Gordian Knot of “overthrowing the status quo” in favor of reminding those independents why Walz and the DFL are not to be trusted.
Advantage, Walz: Walz has shown good fundraising chops, while Johnson’s ability to raise funds has been quite suspect.
Can Johnson now raise sufficient funds? Will third parties like the Republican Governors Association spend money in Minnesota?
Money matters, and Jeff Johnson doesn’t have it.
In sum, Johnson should make this race about out of touch liberals while Walz should make the race a one-on-one affair, man versus man contest.
Stay tuned.
Quote of the Week: “It is the era of Trump and I’m just not a Trump-like politician.”
- Tim Pawlenty
THOUGHTS, FACTS, OBSERVATIONS FROM PRIMARY NIGHT
Pawlenty: In many conversations with GOP operatives around the state, the consistent theme that emerged is that Pawlenty was “absent” or “disengaged” in the minds of many primary voters, leading them to vote for Johnson.
This perception, true or untrue, is tied into strategic decisions made by the Pawlenty campaign:
First, late entrance into the race. The decision was made to get into the race later rather than sooner, which simply left less time to engage in retail politics, attending corn feeds and the like.
Second, the decision to ignore Johnson. The decision to adopt a “general election” posture and ignore Johnson wasn’t a bad decision, but it was wrong. Johnson’s strength was underestimated until it was too late.
Third, the decision to bypass the endorsing convention. This decision was another function of the decision to get in the race late. Part of the takeaway from Tuesday is that the endorsement still matters for the GOP. Clearly, the decision to not participate in the endorsing convention fed a perception of aloofness.
While there will be many Monday morning quarterbacks who will cluck over things the Pawlenty team could have done better, the simple fact is that the team made reasonable assumptions that turned out to be false.
Moreover, at a base level, campaigns are about selling something to the political marketplace. At the end of the day, voters are either interested in buying the product or they’re not.
In his concession speech, Pawlenty noted that in an era of Trump, he’s not a Trump-like candidate.
In short, it was more about a Pawlenty campaign that didn’t fit the times as opposed to a well-executed Johnson campaign.
Johnson: Having said that, Johnson in many respects did well with the meager resources he raised. Declaring in May of 2017, Johnson has definitely put in time on the road and has worked hard, beating out a host of other candidates.
Johnson also did well to adopt the Trump mantle, although the help it offered in the primary campaign may not be of such benefit in the general election campaign.
While criticisms of Johnson’s campaign skills are legitimate, it’s true that people aren’t giving him any credit for what he’s done.
Sure, he’s lost every state-wide race he’s run, but he’s also gotten to the big dance three times now. We will see if the third time around he’s any better.
DFL: It was a tough night for the DFL party in that endorsed candidates for governor and attorney general were decisively defeated.
Every election cycle, the endorsement becomes less relevant for the DFL. Whether that really matters in the grand scheme of things remains to be seen.
Tim Walz: The victory of Tim Walz was not surprising but nonetheless interesting.
Like any successful candidate, Walz benefitted from the luck of unforced errors on the part of his opponents.
Erin Murphy fatally hobbled her campaign by selecting as a running mate a fellow Metro legislator who clearly wasn’t ready for prime time. Her running mate was a rookie legislator who hadn’t passed a single bill during her brief time in the legislature, and it showed.
The selection turned a possible Walz vulnerability, time in the Swamp, into an asset, experience in office.
Lori Swanson ran what can only be described as a bizarre, bunker campaign where she hid out while sending out campaign ads but remaining in hiding like a Colombian cartel boss.
Swanson quickly showed that she herself wasn’t ready for prime time and reinforced a Watchdog rule of politics: The Transfer Rule.
The Transfer Rule posits that success in one political office doesn’t automatically transfer to another.
Think Skip Humphrey, who dominated campaigns for attorney general. He ran for governor in 1998 and promptly lost to Jesse Ventura.
Minnesota politics will rightly remember the Swanson gubernatorial campaign as one of the worst in state history.
As one reporter asked, “Does anyone know any real humans who are supporting Lori Swanson?”
Back to Walz, who pulled off the age-old trick of being everything to everybody.
He’s the NRA-endorsed guy who now favors gun control.
He supports the blue-collar construction trades yet picked a running mate who has actively opposed their jobs, especially in mines and along pipelines.
He’s proud of his rural roots yet calls rural America “A bunch of rocks and cows.”
He’s the Swamp creature of many years, yet portrays himself as the avuncular football coach, teacher, and enlisted man.
Yet, he pulled off the primary win against a very authentic tinfoil hat liberal in Erin Murph and her goofy “politics of joy.”
He beat the Bernie Bros and proved that there are a lot of Democrats who want to win and not just make a point.
Thoughts on Johnson vs. Walz:
Advantage, Walz: Walz has better positioned himself towards the middle than Johnson. Johnson ran hard to the right against Pawlenty and now has to figure out how and where to pivot. Yes, state-wide elections in Minnesota are still about winning independents. The Watchdog had access to internal polling and focus group data that showed independents breaking hard for Pawlenty vs. Johnson.
And lest readers think that it’s all okay because Trump “almost” won Minnesota, recall that the close race was more about Hillary underperforming that Trump overperforming.
Hillary in MN 2016: 1,367,716
Trump in MN 2016: 1,322,951
Obama in MN 2012: 1,546,167
Romney in MN 2012: 1,320,225
Clearly, 2016 was about HRC underperforming Obama while Trump ran nearly even with Romney’s numbers.
Advantage, Johnson: If done right, Johnson should make this race a referendum on Dayton, Walz, and the DFL in general.
MnSURE, MNLARS, elder abuse, Ellison, daycare fraud. Dayton was a disaster and today’s DFL has gone off the rails, with the radical Keith Ellison as exhibit “A”.
Moreover, Tim Walz has spent over a decade in the Swamp and has a record to match.
Another major Achilles heel is Walz’s attendance record. Murphy and Swanson blew it by not hammering home this point.
Voters of all stripes take a dim view of politicians taking a pay check but not showing up to work.
The “empty chair” is still a powerful attack ad.
Johnson should ignore the task of cutting the Gordian Knot of “overthrowing the status quo” in favor of reminding those independents why Walz and the DFL are not to be trusted.
Advantage, Walz: Walz has shown good fundraising chops, while Johnson’s ability to raise funds has been quite suspect.
Can Johnson now raise sufficient funds? Will third parties like the Republican Governors Association spend money in Minnesota?
Money matters, and Jeff Johnson doesn’t have it.
In sum, Johnson should make this race about out of touch liberals while Walz should make the race a one-on-one affair, man versus man contest.
Stay tuned.
August 10, 2018
Public Policy Commentary
Editor's Note: This is the last edition of the Watchdog before the primary election next week. Make sure you either get out to vote next Tuesday or you take advantage of the opportunity to vote early.
You can find your election day polling location here: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/
Early voting ends August 13th:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/vote-early-in-person/
Register to vote: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/
Factoid of the Week: 88.5% of the donors to Ilhan Omar, DFL candidate for Congress (MN-5), are from outside Minnesota. Only 11.5% of her donors are residents of Minnesota.
Quote of the Week: 'Jeff Johnson is a poser. He pretends that he's for all these things, that he's going to get all these things done. He's been in politics all of his adult life and he's actually accomplished none of them. If Johnson wants to be considered a conservative leader, he has to do more than take up space and sit in a chair and vote 'no.''
-Tim Pawlenty
SQUARE PEG, ROUND HOLE
We're just days away from an important primary election. Who will win? We don't know, and anyone who claims to know is merely guessing.
A hotly contested August primary is a relatively new thing in Minnesota.
It's a mid-August election in a place where people make the most of their summer leisure time before the harsh reality of our climate sets in, blacking out the sun and heat for six months at a time.
In short, elections depend in large part on who shows up and we simply don't know who will show up on both the GOP and DFL side.
Thus, we don't know who will win between Tim Pawlenty and Jeff Johnson, but we can say that Jeff Johnson has run a curious campaign.
We say curious because he has clearly adopted a strategy and accompanying narrative at odds with both his personality and his record.
The strategy is clearly premised on selling himself to GOP base voters as the heir to Donald Trump.
On the one hand, we can see the logic in the strategy.
Donald Trump nearly won Minnesota and maintains a strong approval rating among Republican voters.
Thus, wrapping oneself in the vestiges of Trump makes some sense.
The problem is that it isn't who Johnson is and doesn't reflect his record.
No one who knows him well would describe him as bombastic, insulting, or condescending like Trump.
That's a compliment.
More importantly, Johnson has wrongly portrayed himself as some sort of disciple of Trump while attacking Pawlenty as lacking sufficient fealty to the president.
The line of attack reached ridiculous proportions when Johnson asked Pawlenty at the MPR debate who he wanted to win on election night in 2016.
(For the record, Pawlenty voted for Trump.)
But the record clearly shows that Trump wasn't Johnson's first choice and that Trump's behavior gave him pause.
Johnson endorsed and was involved as Minnesota chairman for Marco Rubio.
And in supporting Trump's candidacy, it was with reluctance, saying the following:
'I will vote for him, but not with great enthusiasm.' (Star Tribune 7/30/16)
'I'll support the nominee, but it would be with different levels of enthusiasm depending on the candidate. With Trump it would mean voting for him but not doing a lot more than that.' (Star Tribune 3/6/16)
There is certainly nothing wrong with having reservations about Trump, given his behavior.
In fact, it's Trump's boorish behavior that is costing Republicans votes and putting legislative majorities in danger.
It becomes a problem when you attack your opponent for not being sufficiently enthusiastic about Trump.
The same holds true for attempts to govern and forge compromise.
Take the whole bruhaha over Johnson's support for a 3% property tax levy increase while on the Hennepin County Board.
Johnson is the lone conservative board (6-1) and the best he can do in bringing a conservative prospective to the board is to take the rough edges off progressive ideas.
In this case, it appears that Johnson was doing his best to limit an inevitable property tax increase.
That's a good thing.
It's a really bad thing, however, to criticize your opponent for the same thing.
Johnson has frequently criticized Pawlenty for failing to constantly adhere to the conservative ideal in his time as governor.
That's an impossible standard when one considers that Pawlenty never had a Republican House and Senate to work with.
In fact, there was a time during his administration when the DFL controlled both houses.
In fact, there was a time when the Senate DFL had a veto-proof majority.
That's correct. The Senate GOP couldn't even uphold his vetoes.
Moreover, the caucus leaders were both hard core Minneapolis liberals, with Larry Pogemiller leading the Senate and Margaret Kelliher leading the House.
Therein lies the cardinal sin. Jeff Johnson wants a pass in saying he is doing his best in dealing with liberals on his board while at the same time refusing to acknowledge Pawlenty had his own liberals to wrestle.
Plus, there's that other issue of Johnson denying he pushed for a 3% increase when the video clearly shows he did.
And, as was explored last week, Johnson's voting record simply doesn't support the 'overthrow the status quo' mantra.
That conflict was again on display this week at Farm Fest, when Johnson said of biofuel mandates and subsidies, "I will not pull the rug out from under it."
Isn't pulling the rug out from under the Establishment exactly what 'overthrow the status quo' means?
Again, there is nothing wrong with governing from a center-right perspective that honors the concept of compromise in the name of governance.
But, again, it becomes a problem when you say something different on the campaign trail and attack your opponent for doing the same.
In sum, while this publication doesn't know if Johnson will win next week or not, it seems quite apparent that a win would happen in spite of his campaign, not because of it.
We're not so naive as to deny that campaigns often say and do things that don't exactly reflect reality. It's part of the game.
This is especially true when the campaign attempts to jam the candidate into a Procrustean bed that fits an atmosphere at odds with candidate's personality and record.
That is the case here, indeed.
Jeff Johnson simply isn't the destroyer of status quo politics.
In any case, voters will decide who stays and who goes next Tuesday.
Public Policy Commentary
Editor's Note: This is the last edition of the Watchdog before the primary election next week. Make sure you either get out to vote next Tuesday or you take advantage of the opportunity to vote early.
You can find your election day polling location here: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/
Early voting ends August 13th:
https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/vote-early-in-person/
Register to vote: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/
Factoid of the Week: 88.5% of the donors to Ilhan Omar, DFL candidate for Congress (MN-5), are from outside Minnesota. Only 11.5% of her donors are residents of Minnesota.
Quote of the Week: 'Jeff Johnson is a poser. He pretends that he's for all these things, that he's going to get all these things done. He's been in politics all of his adult life and he's actually accomplished none of them. If Johnson wants to be considered a conservative leader, he has to do more than take up space and sit in a chair and vote 'no.''
-Tim Pawlenty
SQUARE PEG, ROUND HOLE
We're just days away from an important primary election. Who will win? We don't know, and anyone who claims to know is merely guessing.
A hotly contested August primary is a relatively new thing in Minnesota.
It's a mid-August election in a place where people make the most of their summer leisure time before the harsh reality of our climate sets in, blacking out the sun and heat for six months at a time.
In short, elections depend in large part on who shows up and we simply don't know who will show up on both the GOP and DFL side.
Thus, we don't know who will win between Tim Pawlenty and Jeff Johnson, but we can say that Jeff Johnson has run a curious campaign.
We say curious because he has clearly adopted a strategy and accompanying narrative at odds with both his personality and his record.
The strategy is clearly premised on selling himself to GOP base voters as the heir to Donald Trump.
On the one hand, we can see the logic in the strategy.
Donald Trump nearly won Minnesota and maintains a strong approval rating among Republican voters.
Thus, wrapping oneself in the vestiges of Trump makes some sense.
The problem is that it isn't who Johnson is and doesn't reflect his record.
No one who knows him well would describe him as bombastic, insulting, or condescending like Trump.
That's a compliment.
More importantly, Johnson has wrongly portrayed himself as some sort of disciple of Trump while attacking Pawlenty as lacking sufficient fealty to the president.
The line of attack reached ridiculous proportions when Johnson asked Pawlenty at the MPR debate who he wanted to win on election night in 2016.
(For the record, Pawlenty voted for Trump.)
But the record clearly shows that Trump wasn't Johnson's first choice and that Trump's behavior gave him pause.
Johnson endorsed and was involved as Minnesota chairman for Marco Rubio.
And in supporting Trump's candidacy, it was with reluctance, saying the following:
'I will vote for him, but not with great enthusiasm.' (Star Tribune 7/30/16)
'I'll support the nominee, but it would be with different levels of enthusiasm depending on the candidate. With Trump it would mean voting for him but not doing a lot more than that.' (Star Tribune 3/6/16)
There is certainly nothing wrong with having reservations about Trump, given his behavior.
In fact, it's Trump's boorish behavior that is costing Republicans votes and putting legislative majorities in danger.
It becomes a problem when you attack your opponent for not being sufficiently enthusiastic about Trump.
The same holds true for attempts to govern and forge compromise.
Take the whole bruhaha over Johnson's support for a 3% property tax levy increase while on the Hennepin County Board.
Johnson is the lone conservative board (6-1) and the best he can do in bringing a conservative prospective to the board is to take the rough edges off progressive ideas.
In this case, it appears that Johnson was doing his best to limit an inevitable property tax increase.
That's a good thing.
It's a really bad thing, however, to criticize your opponent for the same thing.
Johnson has frequently criticized Pawlenty for failing to constantly adhere to the conservative ideal in his time as governor.
That's an impossible standard when one considers that Pawlenty never had a Republican House and Senate to work with.
In fact, there was a time during his administration when the DFL controlled both houses.
In fact, there was a time when the Senate DFL had a veto-proof majority.
That's correct. The Senate GOP couldn't even uphold his vetoes.
Moreover, the caucus leaders were both hard core Minneapolis liberals, with Larry Pogemiller leading the Senate and Margaret Kelliher leading the House.
Therein lies the cardinal sin. Jeff Johnson wants a pass in saying he is doing his best in dealing with liberals on his board while at the same time refusing to acknowledge Pawlenty had his own liberals to wrestle.
Plus, there's that other issue of Johnson denying he pushed for a 3% increase when the video clearly shows he did.
And, as was explored last week, Johnson's voting record simply doesn't support the 'overthrow the status quo' mantra.
That conflict was again on display this week at Farm Fest, when Johnson said of biofuel mandates and subsidies, "I will not pull the rug out from under it."
Isn't pulling the rug out from under the Establishment exactly what 'overthrow the status quo' means?
Again, there is nothing wrong with governing from a center-right perspective that honors the concept of compromise in the name of governance.
But, again, it becomes a problem when you say something different on the campaign trail and attack your opponent for doing the same.
In sum, while this publication doesn't know if Johnson will win next week or not, it seems quite apparent that a win would happen in spite of his campaign, not because of it.
We're not so naive as to deny that campaigns often say and do things that don't exactly reflect reality. It's part of the game.
This is especially true when the campaign attempts to jam the candidate into a Procrustean bed that fits an atmosphere at odds with candidate's personality and record.
That is the case here, indeed.
Jeff Johnson simply isn't the destroyer of status quo politics.
In any case, voters will decide who stays and who goes next Tuesday.
August 3, 2018
Public Policy Commentary
Factoid of the Week: The 'Medicare for All' plan pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and endorsed by a host of Democratic congressional and presidential hopefuls would increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, according to a new study.
THE MONEY CHASE UPDATED
Here we are loyal readers, less than two weeks from a pivotal, critical primary race.
And while there are some indications of candidate strength, such as internal polling, nothing is a better proxy for candidate strength than the finance reports.
Polling has been sparse, it's often biased, it's increasingly unreliable in the age of cell phones, and an August primary makes the 'likely voter' metric almost impossible to nail down.
Money, on the other hand, is a good indicator of strength, although not dispositive.
First, money serves as a proxy for support in that people won't put their hard-earned money into a candidate unless they believe in the candidate and the candidate's 'business plan' to win the race.
Money is clearly a proxy for political marketplace bull or bear sentiment.
Second, money shows the candidate's talent for organization. Proper fundraising takes a well-planned and executed strategy to reach identify, reach, and persuade donors.
This is especially true in a primary, where there is little or no difference between the candidates on issues.
On the DFL side, for example, all the candidates are pro-choice, support gay rights, and are toadies to the public sector unions.
The upshot is that the candidates in a partisan primary race are all similar on the major issues, hence donations tend to flow to the candidates that donors believe can win both the primary and the general election.
So, what do the most recent campaign finance reports tell us about the candidates? Specifically, we'll take a look at the governor candidates and the legislative caucuses.
Public Policy Commentary
Factoid of the Week: The 'Medicare for All' plan pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and endorsed by a host of Democratic congressional and presidential hopefuls would increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, according to a new study.
- From News Reports
THE MONEY CHASE UPDATED
Here we are loyal readers, less than two weeks from a pivotal, critical primary race.
And while there are some indications of candidate strength, such as internal polling, nothing is a better proxy for candidate strength than the finance reports.
Polling has been sparse, it's often biased, it's increasingly unreliable in the age of cell phones, and an August primary makes the 'likely voter' metric almost impossible to nail down.
Money, on the other hand, is a good indicator of strength, although not dispositive.
First, money serves as a proxy for support in that people won't put their hard-earned money into a candidate unless they believe in the candidate and the candidate's 'business plan' to win the race.
Money is clearly a proxy for political marketplace bull or bear sentiment.
Second, money shows the candidate's talent for organization. Proper fundraising takes a well-planned and executed strategy to reach identify, reach, and persuade donors.
This is especially true in a primary, where there is little or no difference between the candidates on issues.
On the DFL side, for example, all the candidates are pro-choice, support gay rights, and are toadies to the public sector unions.
The upshot is that the candidates in a partisan primary race are all similar on the major issues, hence donations tend to flow to the candidates that donors believe can win both the primary and the general election.
So, what do the most recent campaign finance reports tell us about the candidates? Specifically, we'll take a look at the governor candidates and the legislative caucuses.
Cash as of 1/1/18 Individual Donations Lobbyist Donations PAC Donations Party Unit Donations Total Donations ############## Campaign Expenses Non-campaign expenses Total Expenses Cash on Hand |
Tim Pawlenty
$0.00 $2,049,230.08 $35,025.00 $28,000.00 $20,000.00 $2,132,255.08 ########### $1,028,561.13 $76,880.53 $1,108,573.66 $1,023,681.42 |
Jeff Johnson
$179,763.24 $284,638.12 $4,400.00 $5,200.00 $18,486.78 $313,375.85 ########## $282,106.65 $17,809.80 $299,916.45 $193,222.64 |
Erin Murphy
$147,579.15 $502,973.84 $19,003.00 $26,357.33 $21,200.00 $587,794.23 ########## $471,168.46 $19,769.36 $501,557.82 $233,815.56 |
Lori Swanson
$0.00 $496,694.96 $26,225.00 $26,850.00 $40,000.00 $609,719.96 ########## $466,386.04 $8,079.40 $474,465.44 $135,254.52 |
Tim Walz
$488,194.57 $1,127,061.70 $36,945.00 $120,700.00 $4,550.00 $1,295,020.96 ########### $1,216,337.33 $65,101.39 $1,283,773.72 $499,456.81 |
So, what do the numbers tell us?
First, regarding donations received, Tim Pawlenty is the class of the field, both intra-party and inter-party.
He nearly lapped the DFL leader, Tim Walz, and absolutely crushed Jeff Johnson by a 7 to 1 total donation ratio.
Walz and Pawlenty are the only two candidates who raised the type of funds that show viability as a gubernatorial candidate, as both reached the $1 million threshold.
On the DFL side, endorsed candidate Erin Murphy showed poorly, as Lori Swanson, a very late entrant, beat Murphy with respect to total donations.
On the Republican side, there is simply no way to put a positive spin on Johnson's numbers.
In addition to being out-raised 7 to 1 by Pawlenty, Johnson came in dead last in fundraising numbers across the field - by a large margin.
He was outraised by nearly 2 to 1 by the next worst numbers, those of Erin Murphy.
The DFL leader, Walz, outraised him roughly 4 to 1.
Three other interesting things jump out regarding fundraising.
First, both endorsed candidates came in last in the field. We can't help but wonder if that says something about the endorsement process and how it has evolved in recent times.
Second, Tim Walz, not Tim Pawlenty, led the pack in donations from lobbyists and PACs.
For all the 'Wall Street banker' rhetoric, it's the other Tim who is taking in the most special interest money.
They hypocrisy continues. The aw-shucks, hayseed, public school teacher, enlisted soldier is also the one in the race who has spent the most time in The Swamp and it shows.
Of course, Walz gets a pass from liberals in the same way Dayton, the ultimate idle-rich, trust fund kid, got a pass.
Third, Jeff Johnson himself took thousands in lobbyist and PAC money. Taking special interest money seems inconsistent with his 'drain the swamp' narrative.
We will see very soon how well money correlates with votes.
LEGISLATIVE CAUCUSES
First, regarding donations received, Tim Pawlenty is the class of the field, both intra-party and inter-party.
He nearly lapped the DFL leader, Tim Walz, and absolutely crushed Jeff Johnson by a 7 to 1 total donation ratio.
Walz and Pawlenty are the only two candidates who raised the type of funds that show viability as a gubernatorial candidate, as both reached the $1 million threshold.
On the DFL side, endorsed candidate Erin Murphy showed poorly, as Lori Swanson, a very late entrant, beat Murphy with respect to total donations.
On the Republican side, there is simply no way to put a positive spin on Johnson's numbers.
In addition to being out-raised 7 to 1 by Pawlenty, Johnson came in dead last in fundraising numbers across the field - by a large margin.
He was outraised by nearly 2 to 1 by the next worst numbers, those of Erin Murphy.
The DFL leader, Walz, outraised him roughly 4 to 1.
Three other interesting things jump out regarding fundraising.
First, both endorsed candidates came in last in the field. We can't help but wonder if that says something about the endorsement process and how it has evolved in recent times.
Second, Tim Walz, not Tim Pawlenty, led the pack in donations from lobbyists and PACs.
For all the 'Wall Street banker' rhetoric, it's the other Tim who is taking in the most special interest money.
They hypocrisy continues. The aw-shucks, hayseed, public school teacher, enlisted soldier is also the one in the race who has spent the most time in The Swamp and it shows.
Of course, Walz gets a pass from liberals in the same way Dayton, the ultimate idle-rich, trust fund kid, got a pass.
Third, Jeff Johnson himself took thousands in lobbyist and PAC money. Taking special interest money seems inconsistent with his 'drain the swamp' narrative.
We will see very soon how well money correlates with votes.
LEGISLATIVE CAUCUSES
1/1/18 Balance Receipts Expenses Cash on Hand |
House GOP
$697,790.40 $870,907.38 $485,805.18 $1,083,002.30 |
House DFL
$447,024.12 $1,524,398.88 $720,933.02 $1,258,592.82 |
Senate GOP
$878,455.49 $714,274.71 $381,576.41 $1,211,153.79 |
Senate DFL
$236,122.74 $952,014.95 $886,005.84 $302,131,.85 |
Recall that the Senate isn't on the ballot this year, save for the special election because of the Sen. Fischbach resignation.
In any case, the Senate GOP is in a great position, with a 4 to 1 cash on hand advantage.
Moreover, by the time the 2020 election comes around, the Janus decision will be in full force, depriving the public unions of their much of their funding, as newly freed members will vote with their pocketbooks and refuse to fund them.
On the surface, it looks like the House DFL had a great haul, perhaps signaling that the political marketplace is bullish on a DFL takeover of the House this fall.
Not so fast.
In perhaps the largest story of this reporting period, the House DFL was essentially bankrolled by a handful of special interests and wealthy donors (the 1%, as it were).
Check out these donation numbers from the House DFL report:
AFSCME: $300,000
Education Minnesota: $250,000
Laborers Union: $100,000
Nurses Union: $100,000
AFL-CIO: $50,000
Alida Messinger: $50,000
Vance Opperman: $50,000
Shakopee Tribe: $50,000
In other words, nearly 2/3rds of the DFL receipts were from these special interests.
The DFL Senate report was much the same.
Thank Janus, this kind of special interest influence on our politics is going away.
Just remember these kinds of numbers the next time some DFL politician stands up and decries special interest money in politics.
Of course, what they really mean, as they always do, is that they oppose any who disagrees with them having any sort of voice in politics.
In Sum, here's are the takeaways:
The biggest collector of special interest money in the governor's race is Tim Walz.
The biggest collector of special interest money among the legislative caucuses is the House DFL.
Despite all this, Tim Pawlenty and the House GOP are still well-positioned to compete in November.
The Senate GOP is also well-positioned to win the special election and retain control of the Senate in 2019 and 2020.
Janus is one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions to come along in many years.
This decision alone makes the Trump election worthwhile.
In any case, the Senate GOP is in a great position, with a 4 to 1 cash on hand advantage.
Moreover, by the time the 2020 election comes around, the Janus decision will be in full force, depriving the public unions of their much of their funding, as newly freed members will vote with their pocketbooks and refuse to fund them.
On the surface, it looks like the House DFL had a great haul, perhaps signaling that the political marketplace is bullish on a DFL takeover of the House this fall.
Not so fast.
In perhaps the largest story of this reporting period, the House DFL was essentially bankrolled by a handful of special interests and wealthy donors (the 1%, as it were).
Check out these donation numbers from the House DFL report:
AFSCME: $300,000
Education Minnesota: $250,000
Laborers Union: $100,000
Nurses Union: $100,000
AFL-CIO: $50,000
Alida Messinger: $50,000
Vance Opperman: $50,000
Shakopee Tribe: $50,000
In other words, nearly 2/3rds of the DFL receipts were from these special interests.
The DFL Senate report was much the same.
Thank Janus, this kind of special interest influence on our politics is going away.
Just remember these kinds of numbers the next time some DFL politician stands up and decries special interest money in politics.
Of course, what they really mean, as they always do, is that they oppose any who disagrees with them having any sort of voice in politics.
In Sum, here's are the takeaways:
The biggest collector of special interest money in the governor's race is Tim Walz.
The biggest collector of special interest money among the legislative caucuses is the House DFL.
Despite all this, Tim Pawlenty and the House GOP are still well-positioned to compete in November.
The Senate GOP is also well-positioned to win the special election and retain control of the Senate in 2019 and 2020.
Janus is one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions to come along in many years.
This decision alone makes the Trump election worthwhile.
July 27, 2018
Public Policy Commentary
Quote of the Week: 'The politics of the past is to tinker around the edges, do the things that sound good or poll well and not make waves. That works just fine for the political class - but it doesn't make a lasting difference.
As Governor I will not be content to operate in the status quo system that exists now because it's a system that has become arrogant, unaccountable, incapable - and that's not going to change until the system changes.'
- GOP Candidate for Jeff Johnson
OVERTHROW THE STATUS QUO?
Greetings, loyal readers. The August 14th primary will soon be upon us, and the Watchdog has yet to offer any commentary on the GOP gubernatorial primary.
The Dog has been watching the field develop, especially with the late entrance of Tim Pawlenty and the exit of other candidates from the field.
With the primary now a contest between Tim Pawlenty and Jeff Johnson, we can take a look at the race in some detail and examine each candidate.
In particular, the Watchdog can take a hard look at the extensive record of each and compare it to what they are saying and promising on the campaign trail.
Having said that, taking a hard and unflinching look at the record doesn't mean harsh, ad hominem attacks.
Ronald Reagan taught us well regarding how Republicans should treat each other, which is especially relevant in this environment.
In fact, this publication has become quite troubled by Jeff Johnson's personal attacks on Pawlenty.
For example, Johnson recently commented in a negative way on Pawlenty's moral compass.
At the outset, we believe that both Johnson and Pawlenty are men of high character and integrity who would be a far cry better than any DFL'er as governor.
There's nothing wrong with Pawlenty's moral compass, or Jeff Johnson's.
So let's get down to business.
At the outset, the facts show that Jeff Johnson has cast many conservative votes during his extensive political career, having served in the legislature from 2000-2006 and then on the Hennepin County Board from 2008 to the present.
No reasonable person can deny Jeff Johnson has a conservative world view.
But how does the record match up with the rhetoric?
This is especially important in Johnson's case as he has cast himself as one who will fundamentally alter and reduce state government power and spending. 'Overthrow the status quo' is his slogan.
Put another way, Johnson's proposition to the political marketplace is that he will take a sledgehammer to state government in a radical and unprecedented way, without regard to popular opinion.
The record, as far as we can discern, doesn't show this type of world view from either Rep. Johnson or Commissioner Johnson.
In short, is 'Overthrow the Status Quo' a slogan or a governing philosophy?
After all, this narrative is clearly designed to draw a contrast with Pawlenty.
It's designed to position Johnson to the right of Pawlenty in the primary fight.
In other words, the proposition is that Governor Johnson would govern far more conservatively that Governor Pawlenty.
And while no one can predict the future and know what's in Jeff Johnson's head, we can look at the voting record to discern what he has done in the past, both as a legislator and as a county commissioner.
His own campaign web site has no 'accomplishments' section or reference to a bill or ordinance he successfully passed to fundamentally pare back the size and scope of government.
Our research doesn't show legislative accomplishments that fundamentally alter the sad trajectory of government growing ever larger and ever more powerful.
And while his web site is filled with statements of principle that conservatives can cheer, it is short on specifics.
For example, under the 'action plan' section, his specific plans for health care and transportation are 'coming soon.'
Coming soon? Johnson announced for governor in May of 2017 and we are a shade over two weeks from the primary.
The man or woman who will serve as the next chief executive will take office just over 5 months from today.
It isn't unfair to say that Johnson's own web site is thin on past accomplishments and specific plans to 'drain the swamp.' Especially for an elected official who has been in office almost continuously since 2001.
Moreover, Johnson has cast a number of votes that certainly don't bespeak an allegiance to overthrowing the status quo.
For example, Johnson attracted the attention of libertarians and privacy advocates when he voted against tabling county funding for a surveillance platform called 'Kingfish' that mimics cell tower functions in order to extract data from personal cell phones.
To be fair, Johnson later declared that he regretted his vote, but it's nonetheless troubling that he was apparently conflicted about an issue so fundamental to personal privacy.
There are also aspects of Johnson's legislative career that aren't consistent with overthrowing the status quo.
For example, although he has decried omnibus spending bills as unconstitutional, he has nonetheless voted for many omnibus bills.
The conservative Minnesota Legislative Evaluation Assembly (LEA) called HF3270 (2002, veto override vote) called that omnibus budget bill 'creative bookkeeping' and a budgetary 'sleight of hand.' The LEA went on to compare the bill to the same accounting gimmicks that brought down Enron.
Johnson has also supported another issue of importance to fiscal conservatives, that being bonding bills.
Bonding bills authorize state issuance of debt, and are often criticized by conservatives as filled with pork and the equivalent of putting big ticket spending on the state's 'credit card' to be paid back with interest.
In 2003, here's what the LEA said about Special Session HF8: 'This bill got so bloated and distorted that the House author could not vote for it. Only 12% of the money went for transportation projects, and none of that went for freeway upgrades. Instead, $5 million was set aside for a National Sports Conference Center, $7.5 million for 'Greater Minnesota Business Development Grants, and $25 million for rebuilding the Guthrie Theater (a privately owned company). Moorhead got money to build the Trollwood Performing Arts School, Wabasha got money to build a National Eagle Center, Saint Paul got money for upgrading the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and for constructing a 'Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building,' etc.'
In 2005, Johnson voted in favor of doubling the government-mandated ethanol content in motor fuels. Again, the LEA: 'Doubling the amount of ethanol in gasoline is destructive to the economy and to many engines. It has not been substantially proven to decrease dependency on foreign oil. This bill was designed to appease agricultural and producer interests, with total disregard to the consumer and the taxpayers. Because bio-diesel and ethanol are so inefficient and expensive to produce, they cannot compete in a free market.'
In 2006, Johnson voted in favor of a new University of Minnesota football stadium. Stadiums, whether for professional or college teams, are seen by conservatives as an illegitimate expenditure of public funds.
These votes give an insight into Jeff Johnson's world view and offer a clue as to how he would likely govern as the state's next chief executive.
To that end, this publication offers this opinion.
First, the 'overthrow the status quo' rhetoric appears to be just that. There is very little this publication can find in Johnson's legislative/county voting record to indicate that he has been interested in driving radical, reconstructive change in government.
Second, there is much in Johnson's record to show that he is ideologically conservative. Various scorecards from well-regarded conservative groups like the Taxpayer's League and the LEA show that more often than not, Johnson has voted correctly on a number of issues important enough to be included on yearly scorecards.
Thus, Johnson, in our opinion, would likely govern in a center-right fashion, much like Tim Pawlenty did over his eight years in office.
In other words, the typical infighting in intra-party politics over which guy is most conservative is really just loud conversation.
When it comes to world view, there really is no meaningful difference between them.
They both believe government is too big and powerful. Both want to cut taxes. Both are pro-life. Both support the Second Amendment.
Partisans for each camp can both point to instances where each man has cast the correct vote and to some instances where he didn't.
Such is the nature of intra-party contests.
Instead, we think Republican primary voters will likely make the same conclusion and base their primary vote on other factors, such as electability, fundraising capability, oratory skills, charisma, name recognition, past electoral success, and other important criteria.
For every member of the Republican family, it will all boil down to which man is best positioned to win in November. All would agree that Johnson and Pawlenty would both be superior to any of the DFL candidates. What we don't need in November is another four years of liberal rule from the governor's mansion
Public Policy Commentary
Quote of the Week: 'The politics of the past is to tinker around the edges, do the things that sound good or poll well and not make waves. That works just fine for the political class - but it doesn't make a lasting difference.
As Governor I will not be content to operate in the status quo system that exists now because it's a system that has become arrogant, unaccountable, incapable - and that's not going to change until the system changes.'
- GOP Candidate for Jeff Johnson
OVERTHROW THE STATUS QUO?
Greetings, loyal readers. The August 14th primary will soon be upon us, and the Watchdog has yet to offer any commentary on the GOP gubernatorial primary.
The Dog has been watching the field develop, especially with the late entrance of Tim Pawlenty and the exit of other candidates from the field.
With the primary now a contest between Tim Pawlenty and Jeff Johnson, we can take a look at the race in some detail and examine each candidate.
In particular, the Watchdog can take a hard look at the extensive record of each and compare it to what they are saying and promising on the campaign trail.
Having said that, taking a hard and unflinching look at the record doesn't mean harsh, ad hominem attacks.
Ronald Reagan taught us well regarding how Republicans should treat each other, which is especially relevant in this environment.
In fact, this publication has become quite troubled by Jeff Johnson's personal attacks on Pawlenty.
For example, Johnson recently commented in a negative way on Pawlenty's moral compass.
At the outset, we believe that both Johnson and Pawlenty are men of high character and integrity who would be a far cry better than any DFL'er as governor.
There's nothing wrong with Pawlenty's moral compass, or Jeff Johnson's.
So let's get down to business.
At the outset, the facts show that Jeff Johnson has cast many conservative votes during his extensive political career, having served in the legislature from 2000-2006 and then on the Hennepin County Board from 2008 to the present.
No reasonable person can deny Jeff Johnson has a conservative world view.
But how does the record match up with the rhetoric?
This is especially important in Johnson's case as he has cast himself as one who will fundamentally alter and reduce state government power and spending. 'Overthrow the status quo' is his slogan.
Put another way, Johnson's proposition to the political marketplace is that he will take a sledgehammer to state government in a radical and unprecedented way, without regard to popular opinion.
The record, as far as we can discern, doesn't show this type of world view from either Rep. Johnson or Commissioner Johnson.
In short, is 'Overthrow the Status Quo' a slogan or a governing philosophy?
After all, this narrative is clearly designed to draw a contrast with Pawlenty.
It's designed to position Johnson to the right of Pawlenty in the primary fight.
In other words, the proposition is that Governor Johnson would govern far more conservatively that Governor Pawlenty.
And while no one can predict the future and know what's in Jeff Johnson's head, we can look at the voting record to discern what he has done in the past, both as a legislator and as a county commissioner.
His own campaign web site has no 'accomplishments' section or reference to a bill or ordinance he successfully passed to fundamentally pare back the size and scope of government.
Our research doesn't show legislative accomplishments that fundamentally alter the sad trajectory of government growing ever larger and ever more powerful.
And while his web site is filled with statements of principle that conservatives can cheer, it is short on specifics.
For example, under the 'action plan' section, his specific plans for health care and transportation are 'coming soon.'
Coming soon? Johnson announced for governor in May of 2017 and we are a shade over two weeks from the primary.
The man or woman who will serve as the next chief executive will take office just over 5 months from today.
It isn't unfair to say that Johnson's own web site is thin on past accomplishments and specific plans to 'drain the swamp.' Especially for an elected official who has been in office almost continuously since 2001.
Moreover, Johnson has cast a number of votes that certainly don't bespeak an allegiance to overthrowing the status quo.
For example, Johnson attracted the attention of libertarians and privacy advocates when he voted against tabling county funding for a surveillance platform called 'Kingfish' that mimics cell tower functions in order to extract data from personal cell phones.
To be fair, Johnson later declared that he regretted his vote, but it's nonetheless troubling that he was apparently conflicted about an issue so fundamental to personal privacy.
There are also aspects of Johnson's legislative career that aren't consistent with overthrowing the status quo.
For example, although he has decried omnibus spending bills as unconstitutional, he has nonetheless voted for many omnibus bills.
The conservative Minnesota Legislative Evaluation Assembly (LEA) called HF3270 (2002, veto override vote) called that omnibus budget bill 'creative bookkeeping' and a budgetary 'sleight of hand.' The LEA went on to compare the bill to the same accounting gimmicks that brought down Enron.
Johnson has also supported another issue of importance to fiscal conservatives, that being bonding bills.
Bonding bills authorize state issuance of debt, and are often criticized by conservatives as filled with pork and the equivalent of putting big ticket spending on the state's 'credit card' to be paid back with interest.
In 2003, here's what the LEA said about Special Session HF8: 'This bill got so bloated and distorted that the House author could not vote for it. Only 12% of the money went for transportation projects, and none of that went for freeway upgrades. Instead, $5 million was set aside for a National Sports Conference Center, $7.5 million for 'Greater Minnesota Business Development Grants, and $25 million for rebuilding the Guthrie Theater (a privately owned company). Moorhead got money to build the Trollwood Performing Arts School, Wabasha got money to build a National Eagle Center, Saint Paul got money for upgrading the Roy Wilkins Auditorium and for constructing a 'Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building,' etc.'
In 2005, Johnson voted in favor of doubling the government-mandated ethanol content in motor fuels. Again, the LEA: 'Doubling the amount of ethanol in gasoline is destructive to the economy and to many engines. It has not been substantially proven to decrease dependency on foreign oil. This bill was designed to appease agricultural and producer interests, with total disregard to the consumer and the taxpayers. Because bio-diesel and ethanol are so inefficient and expensive to produce, they cannot compete in a free market.'
In 2006, Johnson voted in favor of a new University of Minnesota football stadium. Stadiums, whether for professional or college teams, are seen by conservatives as an illegitimate expenditure of public funds.
These votes give an insight into Jeff Johnson's world view and offer a clue as to how he would likely govern as the state's next chief executive.
To that end, this publication offers this opinion.
First, the 'overthrow the status quo' rhetoric appears to be just that. There is very little this publication can find in Johnson's legislative/county voting record to indicate that he has been interested in driving radical, reconstructive change in government.
Second, there is much in Johnson's record to show that he is ideologically conservative. Various scorecards from well-regarded conservative groups like the Taxpayer's League and the LEA show that more often than not, Johnson has voted correctly on a number of issues important enough to be included on yearly scorecards.
Thus, Johnson, in our opinion, would likely govern in a center-right fashion, much like Tim Pawlenty did over his eight years in office.
In other words, the typical infighting in intra-party politics over which guy is most conservative is really just loud conversation.
When it comes to world view, there really is no meaningful difference between them.
They both believe government is too big and powerful. Both want to cut taxes. Both are pro-life. Both support the Second Amendment.
Partisans for each camp can both point to instances where each man has cast the correct vote and to some instances where he didn't.
Such is the nature of intra-party contests.
Instead, we think Republican primary voters will likely make the same conclusion and base their primary vote on other factors, such as electability, fundraising capability, oratory skills, charisma, name recognition, past electoral success, and other important criteria.
For every member of the Republican family, it will all boil down to which man is best positioned to win in November. All would agree that Johnson and Pawlenty would both be superior to any of the DFL candidates. What we don't need in November is another four years of liberal rule from the governor's mansion
July 20, 2018
Public Policy Commentary
Quote of the Week: 'If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.'
CULTURAL CHAOS
Greetings, Watchdog. After a week-long summer hiatus, Harold Hamilton and company are back in the saddle and ready for what promises to be a barn burner primary election season up to the August 14thelection.
Before we get there, it's important to make a few observations about social issues, a subject we normally don't cover but which is nonetheless important and becoming more so.
One aspect of that subject area is gender, the biology of male and female and the role it plays in a healthy society.
It's amazing and quite troubling to see what has become of the state of gender and gender roles over the past 20 years and even past 5 years.
Not so long ago, the subject of who was a boy and who was a girl was easy and straight-forward.
Not so long ago, knowing which urinal to use was easy to discern.
Not anymore.
Like other institutions that have anchored society for centuries, the concept of gender has become chaotic, muddled, and a veritable tower of babel.
To wit:
Some parents are now raising 'theybies', meaning infants and young children who are intentionally denied a gender from birth through childhood, insisting that the child and the society around them use genderless pronouns and other devices to cloak the child's gender.
There is a movement to erase all personal pronouns from our societal discourse, including made-up pronouns like 'ze' to replace 'he', 'she' and other identifying personal pronouns.
Within the related field of sexual orientation, one needs a Google alert system to track the proliferation of various sub-groups, including 'non-binary', 'queer', 'transgender', 'agender', 'bigender', 'cigender', 'demisexual', 'genderqueer', 'intersex', 'pansexual', 'skoliosexual', 'third gender', 'transman', 'transwoman', 'bigender', 'BlaQueer', 'furry', 'gender fluid', 'Non-monosexual', 'omnigender', and 'Ursula', although this list is certainly not comprehensive.
So, what's wrong with this state of affairs?
What's wrong with an individual deciding what their gender and sexual orientation shall be?
The short answer is that these identifications and declarations are often implemented as policies and laws that destroy the First Amendment rights of others as well as their fundamental right to be safe and secure.
For example, the recognition of 'pansex'or 'non-binary' people is often accompanied by policies that threaten discipline and other negative sanctions for others who don't recognize that identification or disagree with it.
A recent story in the local media is a prime example.
The University of Minnesota has once again come under negative scrutiny, this time for floating a draft policy that formally recognizes the alphabet soup of gender identity and also threatens punishment for any student or employee who refuses to do the same.
'University members and units are expected to use the names, gender identities, and pronouns specified to them by University members.'
'Violations of the provisions of this Policy could constitute discrimination or harassment based on gender identity or gender expression.'
'Discrimination or harassment based on gender identity or gender expression may result in appropriate responsive action, including but not limited to disciplinary action up to and including termination from employment and academic sanctions up to and including academic expulsion.'
Put it all together, and we have what amounts to a speech code that suppresses conservative expression of opposition and has an obvious chilling effect on speech and the free exchange of ideas.
How ironic, coming on a college campus.
For example, suppose that a student insists on using the 'ze'personal pronoun. Furthermore, that student insists that their name is Bigender Bill.
Any student or faculty member who refuses to use the name or pronoun when referring to the student is now subject to discipline, according to a plain reading of the text of the proposed policy.
This scenario, on its face, is compelled speech which violates the First Amendment rights of the one forced to utter the words.
And let's be clear, the words contain significant meaning.
The use of the made-up personal pronoun 'ze' by the transgender student is surely liberating and empowering to them.
Conversely, being forced to use that pronoun is just as surely demeaning to the one forced to use it and represents a suppression of their sincerely held belief and therefore constitutes compelled speech and represents a violation of conscience.
Of course, this is very intentional. As this publication has observed on many occasions, a pillar of liberal strategy is coercion.
Whether tax policy, health care, social security, or otherwise, all liberal public policies rely on coercion.
In other words, liberals don't seek the acceptance of mainstream society.
Instead, they demand imposition.
Of course, the question is also begged regarding how a student would know that the biological man who now identifies as a woman and whose birth name of Joseph Anderson is now named Ursula Bear Queen and demands to be known as such.
Tower of Babel indeed.
The other major aspect of these policies is that they tend to endanger the right of others to safety and security.
Again, look to the proposed U of M policy on the subject:
'Individuals may access gender-specific facilities that correspond with their gender identities and may participate in University activities and programs consistent with their gender identities including, but not limited to, housing, restrooms, locker rooms, recreation services and activities, and camp programs.'
Under this proposal, it is quite possible that a young woman could find herself sharing a locker room, bathroom, communal shower, dorm room, or other living quarters with a biological man who is sexually attracted to women.
The fatal conceit here is that the University's policy presumes an unstated premise that a student will identify with a specific gender or sexual orientation, even if that identification isn't aligned with their biology.
According to gay rights advocates themselves, many people who identify with that group broadly don't fit into any particular category.
In fact, many intentionally and outright reject the idea being confined to any particular sexual or gender identification.
Hence, terms like 'gender fluid', 'pansexual', and 'non-monosexual.'
The upshot is that a young woman could find herself sharing living quarters or other intimate spaces with a person who last month professed to being attracted only to men who is now attracted to women.
And if that young woman objects to living with that person, is she not now in violation of the University's policy on the subject?
It would be sheer folly to ignore these risks inherent in the proposed policy.
The simple fact is that men have been separated from women in certain situations across the sweep of human history, for obvious reasons.
The larger observation here is that our society is becoming increasingly polarized, with various factions adopting public policy viewpoints that may be irreconcilable.
In this case, you either believe that people should use facilities consistent with their biological gender assignment or you don't.
Moreover, the debate here is representative of our civil discourse in general.
There is no respect for opinions inconsistent with the liberal viewpoint.
Any differing viewpoints are met with shouting, name calling, intimidation, and even violence.
Just ask any member of the Trump administration who tries to enjoy a night out.
Surely, there is a Silent Majority in this country that is rising.
It is still the case in America that the majority believes in things like traditional marriage, traditional gender assignments, and other social issues deemed backwards and unenlightened by the urban elites.
The political upshot is that the Watchdog predicts that the GOP will do well this fall.
By definition, the Silent Majority won't show up in legacy media polls.
They won't be seen or heard in interviews.
They won't march in the streets, as they will be at work.
But come Election Day, they will be heard.
Public Policy Commentary
Quote of the Week: 'If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.'
- Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson
CULTURAL CHAOS
Greetings, Watchdog. After a week-long summer hiatus, Harold Hamilton and company are back in the saddle and ready for what promises to be a barn burner primary election season up to the August 14thelection.
Before we get there, it's important to make a few observations about social issues, a subject we normally don't cover but which is nonetheless important and becoming more so.
One aspect of that subject area is gender, the biology of male and female and the role it plays in a healthy society.
It's amazing and quite troubling to see what has become of the state of gender and gender roles over the past 20 years and even past 5 years.
Not so long ago, the subject of who was a boy and who was a girl was easy and straight-forward.
Not so long ago, knowing which urinal to use was easy to discern.
Not anymore.
Like other institutions that have anchored society for centuries, the concept of gender has become chaotic, muddled, and a veritable tower of babel.
To wit:
Some parents are now raising 'theybies', meaning infants and young children who are intentionally denied a gender from birth through childhood, insisting that the child and the society around them use genderless pronouns and other devices to cloak the child's gender.
There is a movement to erase all personal pronouns from our societal discourse, including made-up pronouns like 'ze' to replace 'he', 'she' and other identifying personal pronouns.
Within the related field of sexual orientation, one needs a Google alert system to track the proliferation of various sub-groups, including 'non-binary', 'queer', 'transgender', 'agender', 'bigender', 'cigender', 'demisexual', 'genderqueer', 'intersex', 'pansexual', 'skoliosexual', 'third gender', 'transman', 'transwoman', 'bigender', 'BlaQueer', 'furry', 'gender fluid', 'Non-monosexual', 'omnigender', and 'Ursula', although this list is certainly not comprehensive.
So, what's wrong with this state of affairs?
What's wrong with an individual deciding what their gender and sexual orientation shall be?
The short answer is that these identifications and declarations are often implemented as policies and laws that destroy the First Amendment rights of others as well as their fundamental right to be safe and secure.
For example, the recognition of 'pansex'or 'non-binary' people is often accompanied by policies that threaten discipline and other negative sanctions for others who don't recognize that identification or disagree with it.
A recent story in the local media is a prime example.
The University of Minnesota has once again come under negative scrutiny, this time for floating a draft policy that formally recognizes the alphabet soup of gender identity and also threatens punishment for any student or employee who refuses to do the same.
'University members and units are expected to use the names, gender identities, and pronouns specified to them by University members.'
'Violations of the provisions of this Policy could constitute discrimination or harassment based on gender identity or gender expression.'
'Discrimination or harassment based on gender identity or gender expression may result in appropriate responsive action, including but not limited to disciplinary action up to and including termination from employment and academic sanctions up to and including academic expulsion.'
Put it all together, and we have what amounts to a speech code that suppresses conservative expression of opposition and has an obvious chilling effect on speech and the free exchange of ideas.
How ironic, coming on a college campus.
For example, suppose that a student insists on using the 'ze'personal pronoun. Furthermore, that student insists that their name is Bigender Bill.
Any student or faculty member who refuses to use the name or pronoun when referring to the student is now subject to discipline, according to a plain reading of the text of the proposed policy.
This scenario, on its face, is compelled speech which violates the First Amendment rights of the one forced to utter the words.
And let's be clear, the words contain significant meaning.
The use of the made-up personal pronoun 'ze' by the transgender student is surely liberating and empowering to them.
Conversely, being forced to use that pronoun is just as surely demeaning to the one forced to use it and represents a suppression of their sincerely held belief and therefore constitutes compelled speech and represents a violation of conscience.
Of course, this is very intentional. As this publication has observed on many occasions, a pillar of liberal strategy is coercion.
Whether tax policy, health care, social security, or otherwise, all liberal public policies rely on coercion.
In other words, liberals don't seek the acceptance of mainstream society.
Instead, they demand imposition.
Of course, the question is also begged regarding how a student would know that the biological man who now identifies as a woman and whose birth name of Joseph Anderson is now named Ursula Bear Queen and demands to be known as such.
Tower of Babel indeed.
The other major aspect of these policies is that they tend to endanger the right of others to safety and security.
Again, look to the proposed U of M policy on the subject:
'Individuals may access gender-specific facilities that correspond with their gender identities and may participate in University activities and programs consistent with their gender identities including, but not limited to, housing, restrooms, locker rooms, recreation services and activities, and camp programs.'
Under this proposal, it is quite possible that a young woman could find herself sharing a locker room, bathroom, communal shower, dorm room, or other living quarters with a biological man who is sexually attracted to women.
The fatal conceit here is that the University's policy presumes an unstated premise that a student will identify with a specific gender or sexual orientation, even if that identification isn't aligned with their biology.
According to gay rights advocates themselves, many people who identify with that group broadly don't fit into any particular category.
In fact, many intentionally and outright reject the idea being confined to any particular sexual or gender identification.
Hence, terms like 'gender fluid', 'pansexual', and 'non-monosexual.'
The upshot is that a young woman could find herself sharing living quarters or other intimate spaces with a person who last month professed to being attracted only to men who is now attracted to women.
And if that young woman objects to living with that person, is she not now in violation of the University's policy on the subject?
It would be sheer folly to ignore these risks inherent in the proposed policy.
The simple fact is that men have been separated from women in certain situations across the sweep of human history, for obvious reasons.
The larger observation here is that our society is becoming increasingly polarized, with various factions adopting public policy viewpoints that may be irreconcilable.
In this case, you either believe that people should use facilities consistent with their biological gender assignment or you don't.
Moreover, the debate here is representative of our civil discourse in general.
There is no respect for opinions inconsistent with the liberal viewpoint.
Any differing viewpoints are met with shouting, name calling, intimidation, and even violence.
Just ask any member of the Trump administration who tries to enjoy a night out.
Surely, there is a Silent Majority in this country that is rising.
It is still the case in America that the majority believes in things like traditional marriage, traditional gender assignments, and other social issues deemed backwards and unenlightened by the urban elites.
The political upshot is that the Watchdog predicts that the GOP will do well this fall.
By definition, the Silent Majority won't show up in legacy media polls.
They won't be seen or heard in interviews.
They won't march in the streets, as they will be at work.
But come Election Day, they will be heard.
July 6, 2018
Public Policy Commentary
Editor's Note: Welcome to the Independence Day edition! Each year, the Watchdog celebrates by honoring American heroes who have sacrificed much to earn and maintain our freedoms and liberties. This edition is no different. Read this edition in order to remember these heroes so that we may never forget what they have done on our behalf.
Editor's Note: The Watchdog will not publish next week. We will return for the July 20th edition.
HEROES
This year, we are celebrating heroes from recent conflicts. Namely, we recognize a sampling of those who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Each winner presents a story of courage and honor under fire, demonstrating the uncommon valor inherent in earning the nation's highest military honor.
Name: Edward Byers, Jr.
Branch: U.S. Navy
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Date/Location: Qarghah'i District of Laghman, Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Hostage Rescue Force Team Member in Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM from 8 to 9 December 2012. As the rescue force approached the target building, an enemy sentry detected them and darted inside to alert his fellow captors. The sentry quickly reemerged, and the lead assaulter attempted to neutralize him. Chief Byers with his team sprinted to the door of the target building. As the primary breacher, Chief Byers stood in the doorway fully exposed to enemy fire while ripping down six layers of heavy blankets fastened to the inside ceiling and walls to clear a path for the rescue force. The first assaulter pushed his way through the blankets, and was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire from within. Chief Byers, completely aware of the imminent threat, fearlessly rushed into the room and engaged an enemy guard aiming an AK- 47 at him. He then tackled another adult male who had darted towards the corner of the room. During the ensuing hand-to-hand struggle, Chief Byers confirmed the man was not the hostage and engaged him. As other rescue team members called out to the hostage, Chief Byers heard a voice respond in English and raced toward it. He jumped atop the American hostage and shielded him from the high volume of fire within the small room. While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers immobilized another guard with his bare hands, and restrained the guard until a teammate could eliminate him. His bold and decisive actions under fire saved the lives of the hostage and several of his teammates. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near certain death, Chief Petty Officer Byers reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Name: Ryan Pitts
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Lowell, MA
Date/Location: July 13, 2008, Wanat ViIlage, Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Forward Observer in 2d Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2008. Early that morning, while Sergeant Pitts was providing perimeter security at Observation Post Topside, a well-organized Anti-Afghan Force consisting of over 200 members initiated a close proximity sustained and complex assault using accurate and intense rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun and small arms fire on Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. An immediate wave of rocket-propelled grenade rounds engulfed the Observation Post wounding Sergeant Pitts and inflicting heavy casualties. Sergeant Pitts had been knocked to the ground and was bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds to his arm and legs, but with incredible toughness and resolve, he subsequently took control of the Observation Post and returned fire on the enemy. As the enemy drew nearer, Sergeant Pitts threw grenades, holding them after the pin was pulled and the safety lever was released to allow a nearly immediate detonation on the hostile forces. Unable to stand on his own and near death because of the severity of his wounds and blood loss, Sergeant Pitts continued to lay suppressive fire until a two-man reinforcement team arrived. Sergeant Pitts quickly assisted them by giving up his main weapon and gathering ammunition all while continually lobbing fragmentary grenades until these were expended. At this point, Sergeant Pitts crawled to the northern position radio and described the situation to the Command Post as the enemy continued to try and isolate the Observation Post from the main Patrol Base. With the enemy close enough for him to hear their voices and with total disregard for his own life, Sergeant Pitts whispered in the radio situation reports and conveyed information that the Command Post used to provide indirect fire support. Sergeant Pitts' courage, steadfast commitment to the defense of his unit and ability to fight while seriously wounded prevented the enemy from overrunning the Observation Post and capturing fallen American soldiers, and ultimately prevented the enemy from gaining fortified positions on higher ground from which to attack Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts' extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.
Name: Michael Murphy
Branch: U.S. Navy
Hometown: Smithtown, NY
Date/Location: Near Asadabad, Afghanistan, 28 June 2005
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his Headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Name: Paul Smith
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Date/Location: Near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith's extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division, Rock of the Marne, and the United States Army.
Name: Kyle White
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Date/Location: November 9, 2007, Aranas, Afghanistan
Specialist Kyle J. White distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio telephone operator with Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on November 9, 2007. On that day, Specialist White and his comrades were returning to Bella Outpost from a shura with Aranas Village elders. As the soldiers traversed a narrow path surrounded by mountainous, rocky terrain, they were ambushed by enemy forces from elevated positions. Pinned against a steep mountain face, Specialist White and his fellow soldiers were completely exposed to enemy fire. Specialist White returned fire and was briefly knocked unconscious when a rocket-propelled grenade impacted near him. When he regained consciousness, another round impacted near him, embedding small pieces of shrapnel in his face. Shaking off his wounds, Specialist White noticed one of his comrades lying wounded nearby. Without hesitation, Specialist White exposed himself to enemy fire in order to reach the soldier and provide medical aid. After applying a tourniquet, Specialist White moved to an injured Marine, similarly providing aid and comfort until the Marine succumbed to his wounds. Specialist White then returned to the soldier and discovered that he had been wounded again. Applying his own belt as an additional tourniquet, Specialist White was able to stem the flow of blood and save the soldier's life. Noticing that his and the other soldier's radios were inoperative, Specialist White exposed himself to enemy fire yet again in order to secure a radio from a deceased comrade. He then provided information and updates to friendly forces, allowing precision airstrikes to stifle the enemy's attack and ultimately permitting medical evacuation aircraft to rescue him, his fellow soldiers, Marines and Afghan Army soldiers. Specialist Kyle J. White's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.
Public Policy Commentary
Editor's Note: Welcome to the Independence Day edition! Each year, the Watchdog celebrates by honoring American heroes who have sacrificed much to earn and maintain our freedoms and liberties. This edition is no different. Read this edition in order to remember these heroes so that we may never forget what they have done on our behalf.
Editor's Note: The Watchdog will not publish next week. We will return for the July 20th edition.
HEROES
This year, we are celebrating heroes from recent conflicts. Namely, we recognize a sampling of those who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Each winner presents a story of courage and honor under fire, demonstrating the uncommon valor inherent in earning the nation's highest military honor.
Name: Edward Byers, Jr.
Branch: U.S. Navy
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Date/Location: Qarghah'i District of Laghman, Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Hostage Rescue Force Team Member in Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM from 8 to 9 December 2012. As the rescue force approached the target building, an enemy sentry detected them and darted inside to alert his fellow captors. The sentry quickly reemerged, and the lead assaulter attempted to neutralize him. Chief Byers with his team sprinted to the door of the target building. As the primary breacher, Chief Byers stood in the doorway fully exposed to enemy fire while ripping down six layers of heavy blankets fastened to the inside ceiling and walls to clear a path for the rescue force. The first assaulter pushed his way through the blankets, and was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire from within. Chief Byers, completely aware of the imminent threat, fearlessly rushed into the room and engaged an enemy guard aiming an AK- 47 at him. He then tackled another adult male who had darted towards the corner of the room. During the ensuing hand-to-hand struggle, Chief Byers confirmed the man was not the hostage and engaged him. As other rescue team members called out to the hostage, Chief Byers heard a voice respond in English and raced toward it. He jumped atop the American hostage and shielded him from the high volume of fire within the small room. While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers immobilized another guard with his bare hands, and restrained the guard until a teammate could eliminate him. His bold and decisive actions under fire saved the lives of the hostage and several of his teammates. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near certain death, Chief Petty Officer Byers reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Name: Ryan Pitts
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Lowell, MA
Date/Location: July 13, 2008, Wanat ViIlage, Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Forward Observer in 2d Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2008. Early that morning, while Sergeant Pitts was providing perimeter security at Observation Post Topside, a well-organized Anti-Afghan Force consisting of over 200 members initiated a close proximity sustained and complex assault using accurate and intense rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun and small arms fire on Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. An immediate wave of rocket-propelled grenade rounds engulfed the Observation Post wounding Sergeant Pitts and inflicting heavy casualties. Sergeant Pitts had been knocked to the ground and was bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds to his arm and legs, but with incredible toughness and resolve, he subsequently took control of the Observation Post and returned fire on the enemy. As the enemy drew nearer, Sergeant Pitts threw grenades, holding them after the pin was pulled and the safety lever was released to allow a nearly immediate detonation on the hostile forces. Unable to stand on his own and near death because of the severity of his wounds and blood loss, Sergeant Pitts continued to lay suppressive fire until a two-man reinforcement team arrived. Sergeant Pitts quickly assisted them by giving up his main weapon and gathering ammunition all while continually lobbing fragmentary grenades until these were expended. At this point, Sergeant Pitts crawled to the northern position radio and described the situation to the Command Post as the enemy continued to try and isolate the Observation Post from the main Patrol Base. With the enemy close enough for him to hear their voices and with total disregard for his own life, Sergeant Pitts whispered in the radio situation reports and conveyed information that the Command Post used to provide indirect fire support. Sergeant Pitts' courage, steadfast commitment to the defense of his unit and ability to fight while seriously wounded prevented the enemy from overrunning the Observation Post and capturing fallen American soldiers, and ultimately prevented the enemy from gaining fortified positions on higher ground from which to attack Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts' extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.
Name: Michael Murphy
Branch: U.S. Navy
Hometown: Smithtown, NY
Date/Location: Near Asadabad, Afghanistan, 28 June 2005
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his Headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Name: Paul Smith
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Date/Location: Near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith's extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division, Rock of the Marne, and the United States Army.
Name: Kyle White
Branch: U.S. Army
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Date/Location: November 9, 2007, Aranas, Afghanistan
Specialist Kyle J. White distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio telephone operator with Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on November 9, 2007. On that day, Specialist White and his comrades were returning to Bella Outpost from a shura with Aranas Village elders. As the soldiers traversed a narrow path surrounded by mountainous, rocky terrain, they were ambushed by enemy forces from elevated positions. Pinned against a steep mountain face, Specialist White and his fellow soldiers were completely exposed to enemy fire. Specialist White returned fire and was briefly knocked unconscious when a rocket-propelled grenade impacted near him. When he regained consciousness, another round impacted near him, embedding small pieces of shrapnel in his face. Shaking off his wounds, Specialist White noticed one of his comrades lying wounded nearby. Without hesitation, Specialist White exposed himself to enemy fire in order to reach the soldier and provide medical aid. After applying a tourniquet, Specialist White moved to an injured Marine, similarly providing aid and comfort until the Marine succumbed to his wounds. Specialist White then returned to the soldier and discovered that he had been wounded again. Applying his own belt as an additional tourniquet, Specialist White was able to stem the flow of blood and save the soldier's life. Noticing that his and the other soldier's radios were inoperative, Specialist White exposed himself to enemy fire yet again in order to secure a radio from a deceased comrade. He then provided information and updates to friendly forces, allowing precision airstrikes to stifle the enemy's attack and ultimately permitting medical evacuation aircraft to rescue him, his fellow soldiers, Marines and Afghan Army soldiers. Specialist Kyle J. White's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.