Leadership

Eric Black, reporting for MinnPost, has the latest in the "unallotment" story.

DFL legislative leaders, union officials, attorneys and representatives of some of the groups that expect to be hammered by Gov. Tim Pawlenty's "unallotment" plans have been meeting to strategize ways to fight back.

A legal challenge is under discussion, as well as political counterattacks.

Three meetings have been held over recent days, including one Wednesday. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher seems to be running or at least coordinating the effort. She presided over two of the three meetings and another legislator close to the speaker represented her at the third.

The first thought that sprang to my mind when I read this was "where were these people last summer when the session ended with the ANNOUNCEMENT of a huge budget shortfall?" and "What were they doing all last fall and winter when the reality of this recession was settling on us all?" and most importantly "where were they in February, March, April and the first part of May during the legislative session when they SHOULD have addressed all this?" Then my next thought answered the questions.....

Where were these people last summer when the session ended with the ANNOUNCEMENT of a huge budget shortfall? - They were all gearing up for the fall campaign by holding townhall meetings that only screened out questions that were critical of the Legislature or asked how they were going to FIX the problem.

What were they doing all last fall and winter when the reality of this recession was settling on us all? They were (in the fall) campaigning for office on the claims of fiscal responsibility and fixing the problem - promises that they never kept.

Where were they in February, March, April and the first part of May during the legislative session when they SHOULD have addressed all this? They spent the first 13 weeks of the session passing more spending bills on wants - rather than figuring out how they were going to fund the needs (like GAMC).

The same people that frittered away the last 12 months that they had to fix these problems are now complaining about the fact that someone has decided to FIX THEIR MESS (rather than kicking the can down the road some more)??? If the DFL leadership was so concerned about fixing the budget, why didn't they do it during session? Why didn't they take the compromise that Governor Pawlenty offered them (when he gave in to them on 2/3 of their objections to the his budget proposals)? WHY DIDN'T THEY DO ANYTHING CONSTRUCTIVE THIS PAST SESSION?

My dear friend Gary Gross is absolutely spot on in his analysis of the situation....the only one showing leadership in this situation is Governor Pawlenty. The DFL Leadership, on the other hand, are acting like a bunch of spoiled three year olds that didn't get candy before dinner. It's time for the DFL Leadership in St. Paul to grow up - and if they refuse to do their Constitutional DUTY then the voters need to replace them with adults who are willing to do the job that they have been hired to do!

The Bullet Minnesota Dodged

The Wall Street Journal tells the story of what could have been in Minnesota.

Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics:

Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."

Wow does THAT sound familiar?????? Minnesota's Legislature couldn't balance the budget either. I don't care what the Speaker of the House says, when you are spending $34 billion dollars and you are only bringing in $31.6 you are spending MORE than you bring in and that is NOT the definition of a balanced budget! Anyone who says that is needs to go back to 3rd grade math class! Oh and then there was the unaddressed $6+ billion in the current deficit that they never addressed.....

One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.

No doubt the majority of that loss in millionaire filings results from the recession. However, this is one reason that depending on the rich to finance government is so ill-advised: Progressive tax rates create mountains of cash during good times that vanish during recessions. For evidence, consult California, New York and New Jersey (see here).

The Maryland state revenue office says it's "way too early" to tell how many millionaires moved out of the state when the tax rates rose. But no one disputes that some rich filers did leave. It's easier than the redistributionists think. Christopher Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, notes: "Marylanders with high incomes typically own second homes in tax friendlier states like Florida, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia. So it's easy for them to change their residency."

....like Tom Golisano did?????

All of this means that the burden of paying for bloated government in Annapolis will fall on the middle class. Thanks to the futility of soaking the rich, these working families will now pay Mr. O'Malley's "fair share."

In Minnesota's case, it's not just the Middle Class that the DFL wanted to soak. With new taxes on cigarettes and liquor (in Minnesota) and junk food, fast food and soft drinks (on the national levvel) this new generation of Democrats are proposing some of the most (dare I say it) regressive taxes we have EVER seen!

As I said the other day - these are not your grandparents Democrats. These Democrats don't care WHO they soak as long as they can get their special interest spending projects passed. Thankfully (for Minnesota) we had a Governor who was willing to do what the DFL led Legislature refused to do - balance the budget.

Thank you Governor Pawlenty for doing your job.

Defending A Rigid Theology

Well the Governor did it. He went and used his line item veto power to do what the DFL has refused to do all session - balance the state budget as is constitutionally prescribed. If you had listened to the hyperbole that ensued from folks like DFL Chairman Brian Melendez...

We may as well not have held an election in 2008. First, former senator Norm Coleman has deprived Minnesotans of their full representation in the United States Senate, refusing to concede that Al Franken got more votes and is entitled to the seat. Now, Coleman’s crony Governor Tim Pawlenty has threatened to dispense with the elected Legislature, and run the state’s finances in the middle of a historic economic and fiscal crisis using only his executive powers of line-item veto and unallotment. Next week, after the Legislature adjourns its regular session, Minnesotans may wake up in the closest thing that America has had to a monarchy in 233 years.

...to the Speaker of the House...

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has announced his intention to go it alone on balancing the state budget if an agreement satisfactory to him cannot be reached by Monday. He will unallot $3 billion in state funding for areas such as health care, schools, public safety and local government aid. He indicated these cuts will be similar to his first budget proposal; if this is true, Minnesota will lose thousands of jobs in nursing homes, hospitals, schools and public safety. The health care of our families and seniors will be diminished, and the education of our children will be compromised.

...you would think that the best efforts of the Legislature were by-passed by a power crazed mad-man. However their best protestations are (as usual) about as far from the truth as the east is from the west. Britt Robinson, from PIM, laid out a laundry list of DFL missteps that (in his analysis) were precursors of the events that we saw today.

Literally months before the start of the 2009 session, the challenging scenario confronting the DFL leadership was already clearly apparent: The state’s general fund would be billions of dollars in deficit, and a nationally ambitious governor would do anything possible not to raise taxes. But Tim Pawlenty was vulnerable on two fronts, both of them exacerbated by the deficit. First, basic services such as education and health care increasingly lack the funding necessary to ensure that Minnesota will retain its traditionally above-average quality of life, and regain its standing, lost during the Pawlenty Administration, as a robust regional economy. Second, for the past decade, the state budget has been put together with accounting gimmicks and baling wire, without the basic structural integrity necessary to guarantee that there will be revenue available to underwrite ongoing government services.

First off I do have to agree with Chairman Melendez on one thing. We might as well NOT have had an election in 2008 with the way that the Legislature handled the power vested in them by the voters of Minnesota. The DFL leadership knew when the session adjourned last summer that the state of Minnesota was facing a record budget deficit and they knew when they adjourned last summer that all budgets - from the state down to the taxpayers were facing ever tightening budgets. They could have (and should have) started working on a solution to the state's woes last summer (as the Governor did). Oh they will cry and tell you that they did not have access to the same resources that the governor had but that is total buncome! As a co-equal branch of the state government they have the right to the same resources that the governor has - all they need to do is go to the state agencies in question and ask!

Thus far this session, Pawlenty has predictably stuck with his simple but compelling message that Minnesotans should not be burdened with increased taxes at a time when many are struggling for solvency in this brutal recession. In response, DFLers could have chosen between two messages that are nearly as simple and equally compelling.

One would be a full-fledged “Invest In Minnesota” message that argues for a significant tax increase along with the usual accounting gimmickry so that the education and health care needs of Minnesotans are adequately funded. DFLers can rightfully argue that previously substantial investments in education were rewarded by decades in which our state economy outperformed the national averages, and that a major reason for the current spike in health care spending is the victimization of middle-class Minnesotans who have lost their jobs and/or health insurance in this recession.

Or the DFLers could have opted for a “Fiscal Integrity” message, pointing out that Pawlenty’s no-tax stance is literally unaccountable and irresponsible, hamstringing prudent planning and innovative flexibility by obliging future governors and Legislatures to patch over increasingly large structural deficits, even as services fall further and further short of keeping up with needs.

Instead, DFL legislators have half-heartedly commingled these messages and thus botched them both...

The self-inflicted legislative chaos allowed Governor Pawlenty to play the DFL like a finely tuned fiddle again and again. He saw that the House and the Senate were not talking and he offered compromises that he knew the Senate would partially accept but the House would reject out of hand. That showed the people of Minnesota how rigidly the DFL was sticking to ideology - as opposed to actually doing the people's business.

The DFL's biggest misstep though was coming into the Session unprepared or unwilling to tackle the budget right out of the gate. They held all the cards - a veto proof majority in the Senate and a near veto proof majority in the House. They knew going into the Session that this budget deficit was huge and a realist would understand that spending cuts and tax increases were inevitable. Instead of compromising, they held tightly to ideology. That allowed Governor Pawlenty to stick to HIS ideology - his no new taxes pledge.

In the end, the inflexibility that the DFL showed and their refusal to work together (much less working with the Governor) set the tone for the finish of the session. They could have taken advantage of their gains last November and used it to make even bigger gains in 2010. But instead, the DFL leadership sacrificed their Consititutional right to set the budget at the alter of ideology and in the end, that could (and should) spell the end of their large majorities in the Legislature. Well done Madame Speaker!

Update and Bump: Sarah Janecek said it best I think...

Hasn't this entire legislative session been about DFL indecision?

I think we can all agree that this was the case. They couldn't decide what to prioritize so they prioritized nothing. They were asked to make spending cuts, but they couldn't decide what to cut so they cut nothing...the list goes on and on!

Playing Political Chicken

/ˈkɒmprəˌmaɪz/ Show Spelled Pronunciation

compromise - [kom-pruh-mahyz] Show IPA noun, verb, -mised, -mis⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.

2.	the result of such a settlement.

3.	something intermediate between different things: The split-level is a compromise between a ranch house and a multistoried house.

4.	an endangering, esp. of reputation; exposure to danger, suspicion, etc.: a compromise of one's integrity.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to settle by a compromise.

6.	to expose or make vulnerable to danger, suspicion, scandal, etc.; jeopardize: a military oversight that compromised the nation's defenses.

7.	Obsolete. a. to bind by bargain or agreement. b. to bring to terms.

Yesterday, Governor Pawlenty offered an olive branch to the DFL leadership on the budget. In a letter addressed to the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House, the Governor said that he would relent on his opposition to two of the three main sticking points between the the Legislature and the Governor's office and he would cut in half his request for bonding. In essense he was giving in to the DFL on 2 1/2 of the 3 main issues that the DFL had with the Governor's budget. The DFL's response was quick and predictable. Calling it a "false compromise" and a compromise in "word and not in deed" the DFL leadership of the House and the Senated doubled down on their intent to once again drive the state toward a shut-down (as they did in 2005).

So there you have it - in the idealistic world of Senator Pogemiller, Speaker Kelliher and Majority Leader Sertich the only acceptable compromise is for the governor to completely acquiesce to the DFL's demands. That is not compromise - that is blackmail! Thankfully the Governor showed the people of Minnesota exactly what the DFL leadership is up to and how willing they really are to compromise.

It is clear that the DFL leadership is not willing to do what is best for the PEOPLE of Minnesota. They are only willing to do what is best for the special interest groups that continue to fund their quest for power. Well played Governor - well played indeed!

The Shape of Things To Come

Tempers flared in the MN House yesterday during debate on the Omnibus Transportation bill.

If Tuesday paints a picture of how the 2009 legislative session will end, it won't be pretty.

An exchange between legislative leaders and a key Pawlenty administration official Tuesday morning was as tense of an exchange as seen in the Capitol this year. And things got worse a few hours later in the House chamber.

Republicans shouted down the Democratic speaker when she ruled that time had expired on a transportation debate, with two GOP amendments not yet heard.

Let's hop in Mr. Peabody's way back machine for just a moment to set the stage for yesterday's fireworks. Back in February, the House Floor Rules were changed to limit the amount of time for floor debate on issues. Discussion of this started last summer (as reported by the St. Paul Legal Ledger and apparently no where else). Even back then there was objection to the limit saying that it would not not allow representatives the ability to offer amendments and changes to the bills. Well yesterday those predictions came to fruition.

Back to today - house Minority Leader Marty Seifert was understandably concerned about the turn of events...

"I don't know if this is some type of flexing of the muscles or what," an angry House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said. "If you gag these two people from offering their amendments, who's next ... who are you going to gag next?"

Representative Bernie Lieder(DFL Crookston) also expressed concerns about the tone that this sets for the remainder of the session given that the real work of the body - balancing the budget deficit - has yet to be done!

Lieder was not optimistic for a smooth end to the session, which must pass a $33 billion budget while plugging a $4.6 billion deficit.

"I don't think the last three weeks are going to be easy," he said.

When the Speaker finally realized that she could not allow debate to end without hearing the final two amendments, she waived the white flag.....

The hour-long dust-up ended when House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, sent word to Seifert that if Republicans quit objecting, Democrats would allow the debate to resume and GOP Reps. Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake and Mark Buesgens of Jordan could offer the remaining amendments.

Which is as it should have been.

Yesterday's dust up is the calm before the storm. Without a doubt the most contentious bill will be the Tax Bill once it comes out of conference. The House and Senate leadership is going to have to lean hard on their more vulnerable members (members who represent more conservative districts). They got away with voting against the bill once - they will not be afforded that luxury again! As we saw last session with Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba (who reportedly was threatened with losing her committee chairmanship if she voted against the final Transportation Bill) was not allowed to vote her conscience and for her constituents even though she knew the Transportation Bill was not in their best interests. The Tax Bill just barely passed both chambers - 35-31 in the Senate and 68-65 in the House - and those Democrats (Will Morgan - Burnsville, Sandra Maisin - Eagan and Maria Ruud - Eden Prairie for example) who voted against it will be under intense pressure to make sure that they vote the way that their leadership dictates on the final bill.

Those vulnerable members of the House and the Senate have a very painful choice to make in the coming days. They are either going to have to vote their leadership or their district! Given their past records, I am willing to stick my neck out and say that the answer will be they will vote as their leadership dictates...for they fear the Speaker and her first lieutenant Tony Sertich more than they fear the voters back home! If you live in their districts, you may want to help change that perception.

Finally...

With 26 days left in the Legislative session (and with very little fanfare I might add), the House and Senate DFL majorities release their solution to the $6.4 billion dollar budget deficit. The Bemidji Pioneer reports...

ST. PAUL – Legislators arrived at the Minnesota Capitol in early January with five months to fix a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit.

Now, lawmakers are staring at the same massive budget problem and a deadline just three weeks out. And no one knows how the problem will be fixed.

Much of the Legislature’s heavy-lifting always occurs in the session’s final weeks – or, more accurately, days – as lawmakers scramble to pass a new two-year state budget, erasing a projected $4.6 billion deficit by the constitutional May 18 adjournment date.

Before we start looking at what the DFL led legislature finally proposed one has to point out again that they have had over 4 months to put forward a thoughtful solution to this bill. However, in their usual fashion, the DFL has pushed the state of Minnesota to the brink of a shutdown! It is no coincidence that this biennium budget, as with the 2005 budget bienium, happens to come on the political eve of a gubernatorial election.

After a year of knowing that there was a recordbreaking budget deficit (remember, the Legislature was told at the end of the LAST session that the deficit was going to be this bad) the DFL Legislature had all the time and resources that they needed to fix this pending crisis. Then when the took to the floor in January, the choose not to do anything. In fevruary, they choose not to do anything...March the same...Instead they spent that time writing legislation designed to blacklist and punish businesses that chose not to be unionized! It was not until April 21 that they introduced the first bill to try to fix the problem and their answer was predictable...they proposed tax increases on cigarettes, liquor and beer, snowmobiles, downloadable music (the so-called iTunes tax), clothing, food and gifts that you give to others (again). When they did finally decide to cut spending, the decided to cut school funding, public safety, hospital funding and veterans care funding. Meanwhile, Senators like St. Cloud's Tarryl Clark are sending out push polls to their constituents asking what "essential" services they would cut - even though the House and Senate proposals were already in committee (isn't it nice how they ask for your input AFTER THE FACT?). If the tax hikes (some quite regressive) aren't bad enough, the DFL Tax Bill repeals tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions (we can't have those charities competing for your tax dollars after all) and K-12 education expenses. The DFL's tax bill even takes away a gas tax credit that was designed to protect POOR PEOPLE from gas tax increases!

Even some DFLers were horrified by the increased taxes! Others came flat out and admitted what the rest of us have long said - increased taxes will push consumers to buy their goods elsewhere.

Senate Taxes Committee Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said eliminating the current mortgage interest deduction could hurt Minnesota’s high rate of home ownership and higher alcohol taxes would drive some liquor shoppers across the Wisconsin border.

Emphasis mine....

There can be no mistaking the DFL's motive here. House Speaker Margaret Kelliher Anderson is toying with the idea of running for governor as is Senator Tom Bakk, former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, Representative Joe Atkins and the aforemention Senator Clark from St. Cloud. All of these legislators have a stake in making Governor Pawlenty (if he runs for re-election) or any Republican Legislator who decides to run look bad by forcing another government shut-down. It is their hope that they can again (as they did in 2006) blame the Governor Pawlenty and the Republicans for this government shut down. Will the voters of Minnesota fall for this blatent ploy again? Only if the Republican Party runs the same kind of lame campaign that they did in 2006. Hopefully they have learned a lesson from the last two elections and will put together (either as a party or as individual candidates) a campaign that finally holds the DFL accountable for their deceptive actions. Remember - NOT ONE DFL candidate for the House ran on tax increases in 2008. As a matter of fact they all ran as "fiscal moderates" who were going to be respectful of the taxpayers resources. Now that they have shown their true colors, it is up to the Republican candidates and the Republilcan Party to take advantage of that - if they want to regain the House in 2010.

See What You Started Governor?

During the last budget biennium Governor Pawlenty, in an attempt to say he stood by his "no new taxes" pledge insisted that his new cigarette tax was really a "fee". "It's a tax" activists on the left and right said - no a "fee" countered the governor...."tax" the activists asserted..."FEE" the governor insisted..."whatever" the activists shrugged as they walked away muttering something about walking and ducks....Well now the Governor's insistence is coming back to bite us all in the wallet yet again.....Representative Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) has authored a pair of bills that, under the guise of being a "health and judicial impact fee" are designed to raise the taxes on beer and alcohol as much as 100%! Rep. Clark's "fee" is supposed to offset judicial fees and alcohol related court costs...right??? After all - the bill's respective titles do imply that. However, half of the fees go to (wait for it....)......


THE GENERAL FUND! This tax is not about offsetting "judicial" or "health" costs due to alcoholism. It's just one more way for the Democrats in the Legislature to pick the pockets of hardworking Minnesotans yet again!

Thanks for the latest sterling example of what the DFL is all about Rep. Clark! We really appreciate it.

The Blame Game

My friend Gary Gross has a post up at LFR this weekend about House Speaker Kelliher's unfortunate claim that they have only "had a few days" to deal with the realities of the Minnesota budget deficit and why the DFL does not have a proposal on the table while they take pot shots at the Governor's proposal.

Kelliher notes that the governor had all of the state's commissioners and finance experts working on the budget for months. The Legislature does not have those resources.

"He's had 7½ months. It's unrealistic to expect us to respond in just a few days,'' she said.

Speaker Kelliher's words are disingenuous at best. We knew, in January of 2008, that we would be facing a huge budget deficit in 2009. In spite of that, they went on a spending spree of epic proportions last session - making the deficit even larger than anyone could have imagined.

Some had an inkling as far back as 2007 that this could be coming...a warning that was repeated again in March of last year.

Where the Speaker's claims really fall flat is when you think back to the last time Minnesota faced a budget deficit. That was back in 2003 and the House Leadership (comprised of Rep. Steve Sviggum and Rep. Erik Paulsen) came to St. Paul in January ready to tackle the pending deficit. They didn't wait for the Governor's plan to be hand delivered to them as some today are doing....

(Larry) Pogemiller said the Legislature ALWAYS works from the governor's budget proposal. "We don't even have complete drafts of his bill yet,'' he said. "When we get the full proposal, we will work off what he has. You see what's doable and where there might be disagreement.''

The "leadership" of this Legislature has never been shy about blaming others for their shortcomings, so you really can't be surprised that they continue to blame others for their lack of commitment to fixing the problems that the state is facing. While other Minnesotans are doing the adult thing and making the hard choices, the Legislative leadership fiddles around with trivialities like bike trails and parks and trails...and spending lots, lots, lots, LOTS more money that they do not have.

Emperor Nero has nothing on the DFL leadership in Minnesota.

Truthful Dialog?

Rep. Sandy Wollschlager (DFL-Cannon Falls) had a letter in the Red Wing Republican Eagle this week in response to a previous letter to the editor.

I would like to comment on John Adams recent letter to the editor (R-E, June 20) regarding my work on tax relief in the Minnesota Legislature.

While I appreciate Mr. Adams participation in the opinion section of the newspaper, he does a disservice to readers when he uses this forum to confuse and mislead.

Rep. Wollschlager then goes on to completely mislead the Republican Eagle readers on the tax bill that she "worked" so hard for.

She goes on to talk about the $23m in tax "relief" to homeowners. Yet she doesn't talk about the increase in taxes to anyone who buys a can of paint in Minnesota or whose sales taxes were going up due to the Transit Funding Bill or the thousands of teen-agers who will not get summer jobs this year because of additional taxes (including an increase in the minimum wage) on those that employ them or the increased taxes on military wages and social security income or the increases in our utility rates...the list goes on and on. Most of these tax increases I covered in my multiple live blog posts on the goings on in the Minnesota legislature this past session.

I agree with Rep. Wollschlager that a truthful debate is necessary. It's just a pity that the DFL can't engage in a truthful debate. Because if they did, they would be forced to admit that their "revenue neutral" tax bill was anything but...

The More Things Change, The More They REALLY Stay The Same

Back in November the Minnesota DFL won 85 seats, giving them a clear majority. A couple of days later, the House DFL leadership released their updated committee and sub committee list. King posted on it here and linked back to a HRCC spreadsheet that showed the committee set up.

Well today I get, in the inbox, a Session Update (I thought they adjourned Sine Dei last month?) relating information on House Committee testimony that they received today in the House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee.

A cumbersome committee structure is a barrier to public participation and process transparency.

It’s a situation that concerns Geoff Barsch, president of the Minnesota Governmental Relations Council, who offered recommendations for change to the House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee. The committee is looking at ways to improve the legislative process.

Too many committees lead to overlap and bills not being fully vetted, Barsch said.

He said it is hard for an experienced lobbyist, like himself, to follow the process, but nearly impossible for the general public. “More and more bills are being sent from one committee to the next with work left to be done, and we keep hearing this phrase, ‘This bill has a lot of stops to make before it gets to the floor.’”

Now I don't know if this is new information to the House or not, but if it is new to them it is yet one more example of just how out of touch with the public the DFL leadership structure is. If this is not new to them, it shows voters the lengths that they (the DFL leadership) will go to in order to keep the involvement of the governed out of the business of governance. It shows how important it is to them to keep us like mushrooms....always in the dark.

I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that this is not "new" to them but when I do that it still does not paint the House leadership in a good light. Actually - neither option portrays the House DFL leadership well, which in and of itself is a condemnation on their leadership.

Out In The Open

It is so nice that the Democrats are finally coming out and admitting that what they want for America IS socialism. First it was Rep. Maxine Waters, admitting in a recorded House Committee meeting that a government take over of the oil industry was necessary. Now Rep. Maurice Hinchley (D-NY) is calling for the government to take over an industry that "never should have been private in the first place.” (HT Allahpundit and Rick Moran). Rick asks the same questions on this government take over that I have been asking during the whole health care debate....name ONE thing that the federal government does now that it is good at? Health care? Look at the mess the Veterans Administration system is in. Running wars? Look at the mistakes made in Iraq. The IRS......puhlease! There is nothing that government bureaucrats do well or efficiently - what makes us think that a nationalized oil industry would be ANY different.

Rick asks another set of very pertinent questions as well.....

But to our Democratic Socialist friends (Can we start calling them that now? Can we?), the point is not supplying the American people with gasoline or heating oil but rather control – control of the industry so that it functions for “the benefit of the people.”

How often have we heard that battle cry in history? And oh how miserably those who have uttered it have failed to deliver promised benefits. From Lenin to Castro to Mugabe, the nationalization of industry to benefit “the people” has been a spectacular economic disaster. In the end, production in nationalized industry always declines. In the end, the industry has always fallen into ruins.

Rick is right - ALL of this talk of government taking over industries...whether it is health care OR petroleum production smacks of socialism and communism and maybe it is time to start calling this exactly what it is.....

Jazz Shaw and I will be discussing this with Rick Moran and possibly Ed Morrisey on Mid Stream Radio today over at Blog Talk Radio. Join us please.

"Full Disclosure"

Oh is the backside story (of the AG Swanson investigation) getting interesting! Minnpost has a story today of an email that was sent by DFL Rep Debra Hillstrom (Duluth) to her some of colleagues in the DFL caucus (HT MDE)

Now MinnPost has obtained an email sent Monday by Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, doubting the motives of Simon's efforts.

Simon, in turn, is defending himself and said — without naming names — people are "engaging in character assassination."

Hilstrom's email was sent to a number of House members, and carried the subject line "In the interest of full disclosure."

The disclosure was simple and quite telling...

Hilstrom, a fourth-term lawmaker, notes that she is an intern in the law office of former Attorney General Mike Hatch, Swanson's predecessor and ally.

"I have talked to Mike Hatch," Hilstrom wrote. "I think that as long as Representative Simon spends his time talking about his time working down the
hall from Lori Swanson, he ought to disclose to people the facts and circumstances under which he was transferred without his consent from the consumer division to the education division by Lori Swanson."

So Rep. Hillstrom, under the guise of "full disclosure" is infering that a fellow caucus member is being less than honest about his tenure in the AG office.

As I said before...this is not an matter of left and right...it is a matter of right and wrong. Apparently there are some people in the DFL that don't appreciate the fact that Rep. Simon was just trying to do the right thing and they are making it political. That's fine by me, because it just goes to show everyone that they are only about attaining power...not about doing what is right for the people of Minnesota.

UPDATE: A reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed left the following in the comments:

The real story here is that disclosing information in an employee personnel file (past or current) is a misdemeanor under the terms of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Cut and dry.
So either Hatch is lying, or former AG Hatch just violated the law. One or the other.

The commenter raises a fantastic point. We will have to wait and see I guess.

Bonding Bill Passes

I missed a lot of the debate on the bonding bill today, but I just caught that it re-passed the House 90-42.

This is the bill that spends close to $1.B on "capital investments". Gary Gross covered a lot of what those "investments" were over at LFR. You should read it just so that you are aware what is more important than roads and bridges. We need to remember this come November!

This is your "fiscally moderate" DFL Caucus in action.

Hang 'Em High

Much was said in recent weeks about the "punishment" that has been meted out to the "Over-ride Six". Now we see that they are not the only ones being "punished" by the folks back home.

There were no embarrassing scandals or ugly fights at the House District 58 convention last weekend, but, still, two longtime incumbents -- Reps. Joe Mullery in 58A and Willie Dominguez in 58B -- walked away without getting the official nod from their own party. Instead, activists in 58B chose Bobbie Joe Champion, and Wellstone Action staffer and Minneapolis School Board Member Peggy Flanagan forced Mullery to a no-endorsement, kicking off a primary race.

Here you have two DFL incumbents who have voted pretty much in lock step with their caucus and yet they could not regain the endorsement of their BPOU.

I expect Lori Sturdevant's scathing indictment of the SD 58 convention to be in the Star Tribune in coming days......NOT.

Whats Important

Sarah Janecek, whose must read publication Politics In Minnesota has been so very kind as to link back to True North and Ladies Logic in recent weeks, has a post that defenders and detractors should read and remember when the Senate starts debating the fate of MNDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau.

The DFL's deus ex machina, the "resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though more palatable, ending."
To Democrats in the Senate. Remember that, today. Carol Molnau is the "improbable, though more palatable, ending" to a bridge falling down in Minneapolis. Wasn't her fault, you know that. So, be kind. Send her on her way without adding insult to injury. No need to pile on. Tone down the floor debate.
To Carol Molnau. Amor fati. Love your fate...because you have no other choice. Res ipse loquitur. It is what it is. For now.
Because the Carol Molnau I know is a carpe diem kind of gal. Seize the new day in your personal life, or seize it in a reincarnation of your political one. [And please do seize Jesse Ventura's arm, whenever you want.]

That is something that I have to remind myself as well. I got to know Lt. Governor Molnau when she was still in the Minnesota House of Representatives. A portion of Scott County was in her House District and so we saw her down here often. There was no mistaking this woman for a hot house flower. She had a history of rolling up her sleeves and doing whatever dirty work needed doing whenever it needed doing. She could stand toe to toe with the "good old boys" and hold her own. That is how I came to know and admire her.

Most of the DFL deus ex machina crowd knows in their hearts of hearts that they did you wrong.
The telling of that is in the fact that the dirty deed is being done under cover of today's budget shortfall announcement.
That's a small consolation prize, granted. But after seven months of political onslaught, any prize will do. And, you still have that big prize, Lt. Gov. You're number two.

So in our rush to defend Carol Molnau from an attack that is, very partisan and very unfair, we need to remember, she is still the Lt. Governor and she is still a force to be reckoned with. The Carol Molnau that I know will sieze the day with the grace and style that she has shown over a long career in public service. Don't cry for Carol Molnau......she certainly won't be crying when the day is done.

The "Supers"

Jazz Shaw (my Tuesday/Thursday co-host at Mid Stream Radio) has hooked up with a project to shed some light on the Democrats "Super" Delegates. The "Supers" are unelected delegates to the DNC Convention and who are not bound by their states primaries as the regular delegates are. As voters are finding out about the "Supers" they are less and less happy with their party.

Much has been said, in the last week about the "Supers" but I think this is by far the best.

Nearly 20 percent of the delegates to the Democratic convention won't be chosen by voters. These are the modestly named "superdelegates." They are delegates because of a public or party office they hold. They are the Democrats' version of the House of Lords, vested with the power to disillusion optimistic primary voters. The party that has spent seven years decrying the result of the 2000 election may get an ugly look at itself.
The superdelegates are Democratic members of Congress and statewide elected officials (such as the secretary of the state), Democratic National Committee members and the state party chairmen. They may vote for whomever they choose,
unfettered by the results in their home state.
In a close race, they are free to name any price and shrug off any burden. A contested convention is a Valhalla for delegates who love a deal.

Emphasis is mine. The author has a great point about 2000, but I digress...

The Minnesota Monitor has the 4-1-1 on Minnesota's "supers".

The superdelegates include Democratic National Committee members living in Minnesota, all Democratic members of Congress, the Democratic governors if applicable, and distinguished party members -- which could include former U.S. presidents, vice presidents or former congressional leaders. In Minnesota, that includes former Vice President Walter Mondale. The same formula is applied to the other states...Of the 14 superdelegates from Minnesota, six have not endorsed a presidential candidate: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson, DFL Chair Brian Melendez, DFL Vice Chair Donna Cassutt and Democratic National Committeeman Ken Foxworth.
Four have endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton: Mondale and Democratic National Committee members Jackie Stevenson, Rick Stafford and Hubert "Buck" Humphrey.
Two have endorsed Sen. Barack Obama: Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum, and two have endorsed John Edwards: Rep. Jim Oberstar and Democratic National Committee member Nancy Larson.

According to the site 2008 Democratic Convention Watch the final "super" for MN is State Senator Mee Moua and only Rep. Peterson, Sen. Klobuchar, Chairman Melendez, Vice Chair Cassutt and National Committeeperson Larson are undecided so the situation is fluid.

All of the "supers" are getting a full court press from the candidates. I have to agree with Jazz and the rest of the voices who are calling for the reform of the DNC's delegate convention process. This is so very unDemocratic and definitely no way to choose a candidate.