Written by Janet Beihoffer
Monday, 05 January 2009 23:45
US Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, has decided to re-write the House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Her proposals are so draconian and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible. (Hmmmm - is Obama in on this scam?)
Democrats had controlled the US House of Representative for decades before the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. During that time they implemented abusive practices that: had no term limits for committee chairs; encouraged backroom deals; denied debate on the floor of the House; denied Republicans the ability to expose and offer proposals to eliminate tax increases hidden by the Democratic majority; many other unfair, unjust, and secretive practices.
Written by Doug Williams
Monday, 05 January 2009 18:38
I've been thinking a lot about the topic of global warming the past couple of weeks, not necessarily because I had any scintillating new insight into the matter, but rather because I kept stumbling across increasingly hysterical news articles and opinion pieces about it.
Odd, I thought, considering it's been a rather cold year and a particularly cold December. One would think it to be a less than opportune time to wail and moan about how phenomenally warm things are becoming. But then, that's because I still think about weather like a sensible human being raised in the Midwest; griping about it when it annoys me and chuckling about how unpredictable it is at other times.
Frankenfraud, one of the most disgusting people ever to run for office in Minnesota has secured his theft of a Senate seat he is in no way qualified to hold. It is time to demand our state Legislature pass run-off election law. If the roles had been reversed, and Normie was on top, the DFL would be screaming for them.
This is simply not acceptable. Having a clown like Dean Barkley force the Carpetbagger from New York on us isn't my idea of democracy. We need to establish a threshold whereby a run-off is automatically triggered. Frankenfraud got 42% of the vote, which means that 58% of the voters got screwed.
I am absolutely livid right now. I hardly know where to begin I’m so stinking angry.
Have any of you heard about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008? If you have, you probably heard that it was passed to protect children from imported goods that may contain lead or other harmful contaminants. Well did you know that the bill also includes the government-sanctioned testing of resale children’s clothing?
Written by King Banaian
Monday, 05 January 2009 15:04
A rather sleepy day here, as I'm en route back to St. Cloud from the American Economic Association meetings in San Francisco this weekend. Most of the weekend was spent in a hotel room interviewing, yet again. I met many fine young economists doing exciting things in labor economics. One enjoyable part of the interview process is how many new things I learn.
Written by Johnny Roosh
Monday, 05 January 2009 15:00
Wellstone, Dayton, Ventura now Franken.
Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek state Canvassing Board, Mr. Franken may emerge as an illegitimate victor.
Mr. Franken started the recount 215 votes behind Senator Coleman, but he now claims a 225-vote lead and suddenly the man who was insisting on “counting every vote” wants to shut the process down. He’s getting help from Mr. Ritchie and his four fellow Canvassing Board members, who have delivered inconsistent rulings and are ignoring glaring problems with the tallies.
Written by Gary Gross
Monday, 05 January 2009 13:18
Thanks to two cycles of conservative hardliners "teaching Republicans a lesson", the GOP is all but irrelevant in the political process, both here in Minnesota and in Washington. Generally speaking, these hardliners didn't work to get Republicans elected. In fact, they just took their ball and went home.
I didn't have a New Years resolution until this morning but I've got one now. This year, I resolve to belittle anyone who whined about RINOs but didn't work on a solution. I further resolve that I'll question such people to within an inch of their life for not being solutions-oriented.
Revenue from the sales tax on motor vehicles, which provides about 38 percent of the funding for Metro Transit’s bus operations, has plummeted as car sales slumped. State government, already plagued by a shortfall in the billions, isn’t in a great position to help ease a transit funding deficit estimated at $11 million for the current year and at $60 million for the next two-year budget period.
The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota’s grueling Senate election in Al Franken’s favor — but that doesn’t mean the race is definitely over.
The board was to meet Monday and was expected to declare which candidate received the most overall votes from nearly 3 million ballots cast. The latest numbers showed Franken, a Democrat, with a 225-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
But after the announcement, there will be a seven-day waiting period before an election certificate is completed. If any lawsuits are filed during that waiting period, certification is conditional until the issue is settled in court.
Written by Martin Andrade
Monday, 05 January 2009 11:19
It’s always fashionable during economic contractions to support wide-reaching government interventions in the free market in order to prevent “market failures.” We see this very trend today in government and in the media.
But I have a simple question, could extra government regulation (including an organization directly empowered by the government to the task of monitoring the buying and selling of homes) have prevented the housing crisis?
Let’s take a quick trip back to the campaign trail of young Barack Obama. In the summer of 2008, we saw the discarding of certain people as they became a “problem” for the Obama campaign. This became so much of a pattern, it is now assumed that if you do, say or think the wrong thing, you’re under the bus greasing the shocks. Stat.
It’s hard to remember who was first, but in rough order we saw the 20+ year mentor and father figure Pastor J. Wright tossed under for “God-damned” good reasons. Then Father Pflegger, Fannie Mae Exec and vice-president selecting aid, Jim Johnson took a dead cat bounce in June. Realty "helper" and now jailbird Tony Rezko had to go. Terrorist, William Ayers, became just a neighbor.
The WSJ has a Opinion piece free to non-subscribers this morning pointing out the charitable hand of Mr. Ritche. Read it here.
Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek state Canvassing Board, Mr. Franken may emerge as an illegitimate victor.
Mr. Franken started the recount 215 votes behind Senator Coleman, but he now claims a 225-vote lead and suddenly the man who was insisting on "counting every vote" wants to shut the process down. He's getting help from Mr. Ritchie and his four fellow Canvassing Board members, who have delivered inconsistent rulings and are ignoring glaring problems with the tallies.
Written by Ed Morrissey
Monday, 05 January 2009 09:25
This comes as no surprise to anyone following the recount — and the vote swing from both the challenges and the absentee ballots. The Canvassing Board will declare its work complete and report that Al Franken leads Norm Coleman by 225 votes, but don’t expect the election to be quite over yet:
The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota’s grueling Senate election in Al Franken’s favor — but that doesn’t mean the race is definitely over.
Michael at MN Democrats Exposed puts up four very relevant reasons why Norm Coleman should not concede without a big fight in court:
#1 “Newly discovered” ballots from Maplewood that were found weeks after the election. To this day, Ramsey County election officials have been unable to reconcile the number of votes cast with the number of voters who signed in to vote, yet the State Canvassing Board allowed the votes to be counted in the recount.
Written by Johnny Roosh
Monday, 05 January 2009 08:58
A couple weeks ago, I “attacked” a young lady who agreed to be interviewed and quoted by name in the StarTribune. She was objecting to health questions posed by her employer (who pays for some or all of her and her coworkers’ health insurance) regarding her personal habits.
She and her husband are on a rightful mission to repeal the Smoking Ban, a government intrusion on a slippery-slope and an infringement on the rights of hospitality-business owners and their patrons. But apparently they have confused the legitimacy of their cause with the burden that smoking and obesity, predominantly the products of personal choice and lifestyle, are to our health care system.
As Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi opens the 111th Congress this week, she does so against the backdrop of an ailing economy — with very real consequences for Americans.
Written by Mark Heuring
Sunday, 04 January 2009 22:30
The recount is finished and it appears that, through a variety of machinations, Al Franken will be declared the winner. The process has been a travesty from the getgo, of course, but it doesn't matter now, because there was never any real chance for conservatives to derail it. I'm guessing that Norm Coleman will contest the results and he may even prevail on a number of challenges. It's even theoretically possible that he could overturn the results and get his seat back. But it's not likely. The writing is on the wall and a manufactured plurality of Minnesotans has sent a foul-mouthed comedian and moral cipher to represent us for the next six years, replacing a flawed but decent man who has served the state pretty well.
My friend and colleague Right Hook offers typically top-shelf analysis of what has happened, and its portents, over at Boots On. As always, you should read the whole thing, but here's his eminently sensible conclusion:
Written by Andy Aplikowski
Sunday, 04 January 2009 20:54
Under the grind of making the case for Franken stealing the 08 Senate race, the Minnesota media is missing a great opportunity to make the now senior Senator from Minnesota assume the role of taking a stance on partisan issues. She's been given a pass since the day she started her 06 run, and the local media puts on their kid gloves and dutifully read the canned questions when Sen. Klobuchar graces them with an interview.
While many in Minnesota are losing their jobs and struggling, it's nice to know that U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, AFL-CIO president Ray Waldron, Bishop Craig Johnson of the ELCA and Bishop Grant Stevenson of ISAIAH gathered to support the rights of jailed victims of human trafficking from India...
... or were they there to promote unions? This gathering was given much coverage at WorkDay Minnesota, a union news site:
Written by Janet Beihoffer
Sunday, 04 January 2009 15:06
Many of us are political junkies, either by choice or necessity. Regardless, we are missing a grand opportunity to get our message "out there" when we describe the spenders as "liberals" period. While it is true the government spenders are "liberals" or "progressives" or whatever other word they use to describe themselves, they are Democrats:
Liberal Democrats
Progressive Democrats
It is time to call the Democrats what they are, big spenders. We need to use "democrat" after every liberal, progressive, etc. label.
Written by Speed Gibson
Sunday, 04 January 2009 14:33
Yesterday, I posted that every election has a margin of error, if for no other reason that it is conducted by humans. I also contend that the final margin of victory in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race is likely to be well within that margin of error.
Some are talking up a run-off system for Minnesota, like Georgia used, where the top two face off a month later if no one gets an outright majority, 50 percent plus 1. But if it's 49 to 44 with a smattering of third parties, this is pointless, maybe even wrong, just a protracted version of "instant runoff voting." The voters have made a clear choice.
Written by Gary Gross
Sunday, 04 January 2009 11:34
When the Lady Logician talks about the Blagojevich scandal, it's a given that she'll talk about the "popcorn factor" involved. I suspect she's thinking in terms of grabbing a bowl of popcorn, then sitting down and watching the food fight. The popcorn factor just intensified.
The Chicago Sun-Times's reporting indicates that Harry Reid opposed Gov. Blagojevich appointing Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis and Emil Jones. This opposition came after teh election but before Gov. Blagojevich's arrest. Here's what the Sun-Times is reporting:
Written by Andy Aplikowski
Sunday, 04 January 2009 10:49
Don't think that tax revenue collecting predators only prey in Washington, the Minnesota Legislature opens its doors for anti-business operations this week. By Constitution, this session is a budget year, and I am sure you know about the $5 Billion deficit. But do you know about what ELSE lawmakers are thinking about?
Written by Gary Gross
Sunday, 04 January 2009 10:54
Anything that Patrick Ruffini writes on the subject of using technology to return the GOP to majority party status immediately gets put on my must-reading list. Patrick posted something on the subject yesterday that I didn't get to think through. I made reading and thinking it through a priority of my Saturday morning.
Written by Speed Gibson
Sunday, 04 January 2009 04:06
Sometimes it takes a prominent case to truly expose a problem and rally support for reform, despite the public officials' claims that the system is working. The Kelo case resulted in needed reform of Eminent Domain laws throughout the country, even Minnesota. And now we have the Minnesota Senate recount of 2008.
Mostly, the system is working, mostly those parts that our Secretary of State cannot influence. When this is all done, a few dozen votes will decide it. But there's another number to consider - the margin of error.
Written by Andy Aplikowski
Saturday, 03 January 2009 21:53
Norm Coleman lost his job today at 1:00 PM local time after winning on election night. Yes, that is the truth. By rule his 2002 term ended today. And since Mark Ritchie is doing everything he can to see his pal Al Franken steals this election, we don't 'officially' know who won the 2008 Senate race.
It is clear that Norm Coleman won based on the election night results. It was only after the partisan election officials, and now state ACORN ally Attorney General, got their hands on the ballots and decisions that Democrat Al Franken gathered enough favorable rulings to have more votes.
Every Minnesotan should question our election system tonight. Laws have been broken, precedents have been ignored, and an election night loser has managed to steal the election.
Written by Scott Johnson
Saturday, 03 January 2009 16:09
Law enforcement authorities penetrated the radical groups that sought to disrupt the Republican national convention in St. Paul this past summer. Even so, the radicals who converged on St. Paul wrought substantial havoc. In one or two cases, only blind luck prevented them from killing many visitors.
There are stories waiting to be told if some enterprising reporter takes a look. One such story involves radical turned FBI informant Brandon Darby. Darby helped the FBI arrest two Austin, Texas men on suspicion of building firebombs that were to be directed at the police.
Written by Ed Morrissey
Saturday, 03 January 2009 14:51
The Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken will reach its natural conclusion today with the opening of as many as 2,000 absentee ballots mistakenly rejected on Election Night … or not. Franken currently leads by 48 votes after the manual recount, but both sides have already promised to contest the results in court if their opponent prevails. In this case, neither side agrees on how many ballot envelopes to open:
In Affidavit, Attorney Kevin Hamilton Makes Repeated False Statements
“In an affidavit filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court today, one of the lead attorneys for the Franken for Senate campaign, provided false and inaccurate information misleading to the Court. Kevin Hamilton’s sworn statement was filed as part of the Franken campaign’s continuing attempt to keep valid votes from being counted in this process. Given the tight timelines involved in this process, we hope that Hamilton will acknowledge his false statements and quickly correct them.”
The specific false statements in Hamilton’s affidavit are that:
There is a push at the State Capitol to make sure Minnesota workers get paid if they take a sick day from work.
The Minnesota Paid Sick Days Coalition along with Sen. Ellen Anderson and Rep. John Lesch will unveil the Healthy Families, Healthy Workplace Act Friday.
Sen. Anderson and Rep. Lesch say sick workers cost employers in lost productivity while also spreading illness in the workplace.
The bill would establish a minimum number of paid sick days and detail how workers can accrue sick days.
The government can better figure out the cost to employers of possible infection from sick employees than can the employers themselves. Right. Gotcha.
Written by Gary Gross
Saturday, 03 January 2009 10:15
My friend Jerry Ewing posted a comment that's worth posting about because it's important to address what Jerry's said. First, here's Jerry's comment:
Everybody's right, but the thing most seem to miss is, first of all, that a)we don't yet have "a message," certainly not one that is clear, coherent, and consistent across all party units. More importantly, we do not have and can not get the most important communication tools- newspapers and TV, from which a majority draw their view of the world- on our side. We have to somehow blast that message out over the biased media. The easiest way to do that is to base the message in things that the average Joe already knows, like government wastes money, and that you ought to live within your income. Apply common sense to this "common knowledge" and you have real education occurring without the need for swinging any axe handles.
I was tipped by Lassie to a new national site of young, i.e. 18-25 year old Republicans looking to move the party out of the minority—NextGenGOP.com. I started following them on Twitter this morning. Patrick Ruffini and the Red State Boys are among those I have met in their ranks. Here is their mission statement:
The Republican brand is damaged and in need of change. In order to lead the Grand Old Party to greatness once again, fresh young faces need to step up and take the lead.
We are young, active Republicans with real political experience, and we are ready and willing to be a part of this. We are convinced that the Republican Party is the only party of freedom, economic prosperity, and national security. We believe that the GOP can return to eminence sooner rather than later. We are the The NextGenGOP. We are the future of the Republican Party.
Written by First Ringer
Saturday, 03 January 2009 09:34
To paraphrase the Baird: some politicians are born great, some achieve greatness and some are simply called great by the Washington Post’sFix rundown of the Best U.S. House campaigns of 2008:
• Minnesota’s 3rd district — Erik Paulsen (R): At first glance, the retirement of Rep. Jim Ramstad (R) presented an ideal pickup opportunity for national Democrats. The suburban Twin Cities seat gave President George W. Bush a narrow 51 percent victory in 2004 and looked to be the epicenter of anti-war movement in the state. And, when Democrats nominated Iraq war veteran Ashwin Madia, it looked like a tailor-made pickup. Enter state Sen. Rep. Erik Paulsen, one of the best (and only) recruits for House Republicans in 2008. Paulsen was able to beat back the anti-Republican trend in the state (Obama won the state by 10 points and it appears as though Al Franken is going to win the Senate seat) by focusing on his own accomplishments in the state legislature. A rare bit of good news for Republicans nationally.
Written by Lady Logician
Saturday, 03 January 2009 09:30
Hang on to your wallets Minnesota - the legislature will soon be in session. Next Tuesday, the Minnesota Legislature starts to deliberate how it will tackle the estimated $5.2 billion budget deficit. Already some legislators are drawing "lines in the sand" between the cuts and their pet projects (such as education and social programs) even as Minnesota taxpayers are tightening the belts another notch tighter. Meanwhile, other legislators are going back to their district bearing the bad tidings of cuts to come.
If you want to have a say in how the deficit is resolved, the Minnesota legislature wants to hear FROM YOU. The House has set up a webform where you can tell them what you want to see happen to resolve the deficit. Let them know how you feel - TODAY! Cross-posted and comments welcome at Ladies Logic.
Written by Barbara Banaian
Friday, 02 January 2009 20:04
The Nov. 4 election results on a St. Cloud school district levy question raised the issue of where college students should vote -- their city of residence while at school or, in many cases, the place from where their tuition check is mailed.
In Minnesota, they seem to have a choice -- something not afforded to other Minnesotans.
Given that, college students -- especially those living on campus who have no long-term interest in the city in which they attend school -- should vote where their parents live.
We're one day into the New Year, and I'm seeing stealth city tax hikes and housing inspection ordinances (aka "Fees" and housing sweeps) creeping into our fair suburbs. A good friend in Robbinsdale sent me Exhibit A:
The city council will consider a proposed point of sale housing inspection ordinance at its meeting on January 6, beginning at 7:00pm at Robbinsdale city hall. MAAR has been talking with city council members and city staff about the proposed ordinance since late November. If the proposal is approved at the meeting, it can take effect 30 days later.
MAAR opposes point of sale ordinances for several reasons, including the fact that only a small percentage of homes in the city are "for sale" at any given time, most problem properties are not "for sale," many buyers hire third party inspectors to complete a thorough inspection of the property prior to purchase, and sellers are already required by law to disclose any known adverse property conditions.
Written by Phil Krinkie
Friday, 02 January 2009 16:50
With state lawmakers poised to descend on the State Capitol next week, there are many predictions being made concerning the outcome of the 2009 session. Upon their return, lawmakers will be facing an enormous budget shortfall of $4.8 billion, the largest shortfall since Governor Pawlenty took office in 2003. No legislator is looking forward to this daunting task of producing a balanced budget by the scheduled adjournment date in mid-May.
Constructing the state’s biennial budget is no easy task even in the best of times, but with a whopping shortfall that is likely to grow by the time the next budget forecast is released in March, it will prove most difficult even for the grizzled budget veterans.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) threatened Friday to filibuster any attempt to seat Democratic Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken next week.
The newly minted National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman said he had not whipped votes in the GOP caucus, but added that he could not imagine any members defecting and seating Franken without a certificate of election.
This news item arrived in my inbox today from One News Now:
[Retired U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. E. Ray] Moore explains the proposal. "The Call to Dunkirk is a special emergency effort to try to get other ministries, churches, pastors, and the major Christian right and pro-family movement to join with us and the other K-12 home-school ministries in rescuing the children from the public schools during the year 2009," he says.
I've been thinking a lot about the topic of global warming the past couple of weeks, not necessarily because I had any scintillating new insight into the matter, but rather because I kept stumbling across increasingly hysterical news articles and opinion pieces about it. ![[Review & Outlook]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CX111_oj_2mi_DV_20090104195040.jpg)
Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek state Canvassing Board, Mr. Franken may emerge as an illegitimate victor.
I was tipped by Lassie to a new national site of young, i.e. 18-25 year old Republicans looking to move the party out of the minority—