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.