Conservative Minnesota

Shutdown

2005-07-01T00:12:00.000-05:00

Hinderaker at Power Line speaks of the DFL strategy, and Senate Democrats punching out early.

Eminent Domain

2005-06-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

I hadn't done a cartoon on a national issue, but that Supreme Court ruling really got to me today. Where's Jason Lewis when you need him? Oh, yeah. Charlotte.

Bonus points if you get the literary reference in the cartoon.

GOP Camp-out

2005-06-23T07:37:00.000-05:00

For background, read the GOP House Caucus Blog on the camp-out.

State Central Mutany

2005-06-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

Hoplin wins Deputy Chair

2005-06-11T17:31:00.000-05:00

On Residual Forces:

Its over, I’m home.

Hoplin won as Deputy with 165 votes out of 315.

I still think he's a tool.

Deputy Chair Update

2005-06-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

My mole at the State Central Meeting has left, so I don't know how the Deputy Chair voting is going. Residual Forces is there, and he doesn't have solid numbers.

The Deputy Chair is on a second Ballot.
Hoplin - leads
Igo -second
Lindsay - distant 3rd

There’s a pretty solemn mood in the room.

Everyone is getting [tired]. We’ve been here since 8 AM.

I'm trying to get a new mole.

Update: Creepyface vs. the Robots has hard numbers for the second ballot.

Eric Hoplin ... appears on the verge of winning the slot with 161 votes on the second ballot. His next closest competitor, Mary Igo, is only at 116 with 172 needed.

Ron Eibensteiner's Demise

2005-06-11T14:47:00.000-05:00

I had a quick talk with a few friends about Ron Carey winning the Party Chair just now and we thought of a few reasons why this happened.

Losing all those House seats in 2004.
Dick Day proposing a gas tax hike.
Tim Pawlenty proposing a cigarette "fee".
Eibensteiner kicking Rod Grams to the curb.
Eibensteiner not being able to fundraise like he should be able to with all those rich friends of his.
Eibensteiner being a high-pitched, sissy idiot.
Hoplin is a tool. Massive tool.

Watch your back, Tim Pawlenty. There are some pissed off conservatives that are going to be watching your every move in the next two years.

Carey Wins Party Chair on Third Ballot

2005-06-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

Ron Carey wins the Party Chair in the third ballot at the GOP's State Central Committee Meeting.

Candidate	Votes	Share
Carey	192	55.8%
Eibensteiner	151	43.9%
Pulkrebeck	OUT	---

Total votes: 344. Well it looks like almost every Pulkrbeck vote went to Carey.

In Eibensteiner's consession speech, he endorsed Mark Kennedy, which is what got him into trouble in the first place. Funny.

GOP State Central: Second Ballot for Party Chair

2005-06-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

This could be a long day for the delegates.

Candidate	Votes	Share
Carey	156	45.3%
Eibensteiner	150	43.6%
Pulkrebeck	38	11.0%

Total votes: 344. Magic Number: 173. Pulkrabeck has withdrawn his name from consideration. Third balloting now.

GOP State Central: First Ballot for Party Chair

2005-06-11T12:28:00.000-05:00

Candidate	Votes	Percent
Eibensteiner	140	40.7%
Carey	125	36.3%
Pulkrebeck	78	22.7%

Total votes: 344. Magic Number: 173. Second balloting now.

Word is Pulkrebeck tanked his speech, while Eibensteiner was only nervous during his.

GOP State Central Rumor

2005-06-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

Just heard from one of my inside sources at the State Central Commitee Meeting that there is an interesting rumor floating around.

Apparently, a fair number of delegates were unable to make it to the meeting, so alternates have had to be chosen to take their place. The alternates are chosen by the State Party, and the rumor is, they're picking confirmed Eibensteiner voters.

Again, just a rumor. We'll see how the voting turns out soon.

Eric Hoplin's Response to Greg Menze Letter

2005-06-09T00:22:00.000-05:00

The following is a response by Eric Hoplin to Greg Menze's earlier letter. This letter was also sent to delegates voting in Saturday's Minnesota GOP State Central Meeting.

Greg Menze's Letter on Eric Hoplin

2005-06-09T00:20:00.000-05:00

The following is Greg Menze's letter on Deputy Chair candidate Eric Hoplin that was sent out to delegates voting in Saturday's Minnesota GOP State Central Meeting.

(I thought about running excerpts of this letter, but I thought that it would be better to just scan and post the whole thing. Plus, it proves I'm just not dictating anonymous sources.)

Calling Eric Hoplin Out

2005-06-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

Eric Hoplin

This Saturday, the Minnesota Republican Party is holding their State Central Committee in downtown Minneapolis, where delegates will be electing party leadership. The race for Party Chair is well known, but the race for Deputy Chair has not received much, if any, attention.

Eric Hoplin is one of the people running for Deputy Chair and his embarrassing history has been publicized in a letter sent to delegates last weekend. Written by Glen Menze, who ran for the 7th Congressional District in 2000, the letter calls into question the electability of Hoplin after his suspicious fundraising techniques while Chair of the College Republican National Committee.

The letter attaches two newspaper clippings; one from the Minneapolis Star Tribune dated November 12, 2004 and one from the Washington Post dated December 26, 2004. Both stories tell of the College Republican's shady fundraising techniques.

The College Republican National Committee is under fire for using front organizations to collect millions of dollars in contributions, including money from elderly people with dementia.

During the 2004 campaign, the group sent out direct-mail solicitations under such letterheads as "Republican Headquarters 2004" and "Republican Election Committee."

One four-page letter asked prospects to send $1,000 together with an American flag pin for President Bush to wear to "Republican Headquarters" to ensure that Bush knows "there are millions who are giving him the shield of God to protect him in the difficult days ahead."

In small print at the bottom of one page, the letter notes: "A project of and paid for by College Republican National Committee."

Washington Post, December 26, 2004

I don't care what party you're in, that's just a bad idea. The article go on to tell of old folks who where sending dozens of checks worth thousands of dollars.

Carmen Bakken, 88, of Cambridge, Minn., proved her party loyalty this year when she got a stream of fundraising letters from the National College Republicans.

She sent 91 checks totaling $42,985.

Told of the extent of her donations, she said, "Oh, my goodness! I don't think I gave so much. I don't remember the name College Republicans. I thought what I gave to was a national Republican company."

Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 12, 2004

The reason this letter piqued my interest is that I haven't heard anyone talking about this before Saturday's vote. Not talk radio, not TV news, not newspapers.

One of my delegate friends had the opportunity to ask one of the Party Chair challengers if he was going to mention Hoplin's fundraising kerfuffle while campaigning. He said that he wasn't going to bring it up.

Why are Ron Carey and Bill Pulkrabeck shying away? Well, Hoplin is a young guy, and if he wins, he'll be in the state party for a long time, and so will his enemies list.

Even if Eric Hoplin wins in spite of this letter, it's good to see someone seriously questioning the viability of state party candidates. This would be a great transition into the problems with Ron Eibensteiner, but that column will be coming up later in the week.

Excerpts from Glen Menze's letter coming soon!

Manufacturing Revenue

2005-05-24T21:10:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine says I'm picking on the Governor too much. I'll start picking on DFLers exclusively soon.

A Slow Legislature

2005-05-23T21:39:00.000-05:00

Uh oh... here comes the hate mail!

Exposed

2005-05-23T08:16:00.000-05:00

I've been linked to!

I started this weblog about a month ago just to vent my political frustrations somewhere, but I've slowly started realizing that no one was listening. I didn't know how to drive traffic to this site. Then this weekend I decided to start draw conservative political cartoons, and I'm linked to.

Thanks to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for the nod, and for adding me to his blogroll. You've always been on mine.

So now the pressure builds; I have to keep this up. How many do I do a week? Who do I go after? How do I go after Republicans without CreepyFace against the Robots thinking I'm a spy DFLer? Keep coming back and we'll figure it out together.

DFL Leadership takes a trip north

2005-05-22T08:08:00.000-05:00

It looks like I'm going to do this cartoon thing a lot. It also looks like I draw like a 10-year-old. Here's background for the cartoon.

Tim's Pledge

2005-05-21T16:12:00.000-05:00

My first attempt at political cartooning.

Governor Pawlenty's Squatski recipe

2005-05-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

Pawlenty's Squatski Hotdish

Ingredients

8 oz. pickled herring
1 ramen noodle package with chicken flavor packet
1 onion, chopped
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup french cut green beans
tator tots
shredded cheddar cheese

Directions: In the bottom of a casserole dish, put chunks of dry ramen noodles and cover with herring and chopped onions. Then add cream of mushroom soup, milk and chicken flavored ramen noodle flavor packet. Cover that with green beans. Then cover with one layer of frozen tator tots, tightly packed. Place shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Magazine Mêlée

2005-05-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

By now, everyone has heard about the so-called "Newsweek Riots", in which Afghans rioted after Newsweek wrote that U.S. guards at Guantanamo Bay flushed a Koran down the toilet, a story Newsweek has since retracted.

However, many don't know that magazines have been raising hell for a long time. Below is a list of past conflicts inspired by various periodicals.

The Reader's Digest Murders: Over the summer of 1975, a man went across the country killing the writers of stories printed in the "Life in These United States" section of the June 1975 edition of the Reader's Digest. Seven people were murdered. The killer remains unknown.
The Investor's Business Daily Crash: On March 15, 1984, just a few months into it's inception, an intern slipped a phony story about the impending collapse of the American auto industry into the paper. The next day, the market crashed after readers sold off their auto stocks. The error was caught at noon that day, but it took months for the market to recover.
The Collier's Weekly Kerfuffle of 1938: In their October 1938 edition, Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal ran a fictional short story about a college senior courting a comely young freshman. Bridge clubs across the country had their panties in a bunch after reading the prose. In protest, many sternly worded letters were sent to the Collier's editorial office.
The Games Magazine Massacre: After neglecting to the print the answers to the "World's Most Difficult Crossword" in their November 1985 edition, crossword fans stormed the Games Magazine offices in the Kappa Publishing Group building in Ambler, Pennsylvania in an attempt to find the puzzle's solution. 7 employees and 12 puzzle enthusiasts died in the 5 day siege.
The Scientific American Trial: Two weeks after winning a court case to remove pornographic magazines from shelves, the City of Birmingham, Alabama attempted to do the same in April 1993 to science journals after Scientific American printed an article about new discoveries in the field of evolution. Billed as the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 1990s, the trial turned into a media circus and lasted nearly two months. The city lost the case after it was discovered that no one in Birmingham had ever bought and read Scientific American Magazine.
The Highlights Suicides: On the night of August 15, 1989, 184 children across the country committed suicide. Each child had a Highlights magazine open to the same page. The page featured a Goofus and Gallant cartoon about sleeping pills.

Never ever ever shake a Diet Coke

2005-05-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

I read this in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press this morning and wanted to go back to sleep.

Bill aims to prevent shaken-baby cases

Information about the dangers of shaking an infant would reach more new parents and child-care providers under a bill the Senate unanimously approved Monday.

The bill would require hospitals to offer new parents a viewing of an educational video on the dangers of shaking babies. Pediatricians and other health care providers would reinforce the information with parents.

While the Senate passed the bill as a stand-alone measure, the House approved the measure in its large health and human services finance bill. A conference committee is working to reconcile the differences between the versions.

Majority Leader Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, said he pushed the bill in memory of Vance Johnson, a 9-month-old Apple Valley baby who died Feb. 11, 2003, while in the care of his day-care provider. A Dakota County jury acquitted the provider of second-degree murder charges after doctors offered differing views of whether the child was shaken to death or whether he died from complications from an old injury.

I highlighted the part that got me. Isn't there a question on the day-care employment form that asks: "Is it okay to shake a baby?" If they say "Yes", DON'T HIRE THEM!

Let's get it on!!!

2005-05-13T15:09:00.000-05:00

From Bogus Gold (Faux Au?): Statement from the Office of Senate Majority Leader Frist

Upon completion of action on the pending highway bill, the Senate will begin debate on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations. As is the regular order, the Leader will move to act on judge nominations sent to the full Senate by the Judiciary Committee in the past several weeks. Priscilla Owen, to serve as a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Janice Rogers Brown, to serve as a judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, will be the nominees of focus.

The Majority Leader will continue to discuss an appropriate resolution of the need for fair up or down votes with the Minority Leader. If they can not find a way for the Senate to decide on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations, the Majority Leader will seek a ruling from the Presiding Officer regarding the appropriate length of time for debate on such nominees. After the ruling, he will ensure that every Senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up or down votes on judicial nominees; or, to enshrine a new veto by filibuster that both denies all Senators the opportunity to advise and consent and fundamentally disturbs the separation of powers between the branches.

There will be a full and vigorous Senate floor debate that is too important for parliamentary tactics to speed it up or slow it down until all members who wish have had their say. All members are encouraged to ensure that rhetoric in this debate follows the rules, and best traditions, of the Senate.

It is time for 100 Senators to decide the issue of fair up or down votes for judicial nominees after over two years of unprecedented obstructionism. The Minority has made public threats that much of the Senate's work will be shut down. Such threats are unfortunate.

The Majority Leader has proposed his Fairness Rule: up to 100 hours of debate, and then an up or down vote on circuit and Supreme Court nominations. Further, the Fairness Rule would eliminate the opportunity for blockade of such nominees at the Judiciary Committee. And finally, it will make no changes to the legislative filibuster.

If Senators believe a nominee is qualified, they should have the opportunity to vote for her. If they believe she is unqualified, they should have the opportunity to vote against her.

Members must decide if their legacy to the Senate is to eliminate the filibuster's barrier to the Constitutional responsibility of all Senators to advise and consent with fair, up or down votes.

This better happen, because I got sick of this thing two months ago.

Cartoon Conservatives

2005-05-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot made of so-called "'South Park' conservatives" in the past month. When I first heard the term, I figured I was one. Then I heard the definition of "'South Park' conservative", which is summarized well by the Washington Post's Diana West:

But word is that the future of the very conservatism that has always prized such virtues lies in the hands of "South Park Conservatives," after the book by the same name by Brian C. Anderson.

Very basically, the theory posits that the rank vulgarity institutionalized by the cartoon "South Park," which degrades and de-sacralizes absolutely everything, will inspire young conservatives to smash the stultifying tyranny of political correctness.

Wow... that's not it at all!

I'm a "South Park" conservative, not because I think dirty words will kill the PC crowd, but because "South Park"'s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have the balls to call the left out on their bullshit.

They've gone after affirmative action, smoking bans, feeding tubes, reality shows, and liberal election tactics using terrible animation as their vessel. Sure, they curse a lot, but that's not the draw for me.

Then I read on Power Line that Paul thinks that he is "not a South Park Conservative, but there's a little bit of Simpsons Conservative in me." What the hell does that mean?

Don't get me wrong, I love the "Simpsons", but some of the politically based episodes swing left. There was a recent episode where the war in Iraq portrayed as a rivalry-based fight between to Boy Scout-like organization. Both kids groups wanted to sing the national anthem at a baseball game, and start fighting over who will sing it, until someone says that we shouldn't sing out national anthem, because it's essentially a battle hymn. Instead, we should sing the Canadian national anthem, because it's passive and doesn't mention bombs.

"Simpsons" conservative? I cant begin to understand that phrase.

Polled by the DFL

2005-05-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

Two nights ago, I got a call on my cell phone from a 651 number I didn't recognize. Curious, I took the call and was greeted by a pollster who was asking about the Saint Paul mayoral election. I don't live in Saint Paul anymore, but I still have a 651 cell phone, so I wasn't surprised to get the call.

First Question: Who do you support in Saint Paul's mayoral election: Chris Coleman, Randy Kelly, or undecided?

Well I know that Coleman is the DFLer, and that Kelly said he wasn't going to ask for the DFL's endorsement. So I asked: "Who's the Republican?" The pollster was shocked. I haven't paid much attention to Saint Paul elections so I couldn't remember the name of the Republican's candidate. (I still can't seem to find it. Is there one? Are we just giving up and voting for Kelly?)

After collecting himself, the pollster tried to explain that they both were, but that Kelly wasn't really. I took this to mean two things. One, this pollster hadn't talked to many conservatives that day. And two, this pollster was working for Coleman

I decided to answer "undecided" just to piss the kid off.

What issue is most important to you: Education, Transportation, Public Safety, Chocolate Sundaes, or Waffles?

Okay, I forgot two of the five. These questions are terrible because the listener can't remember what was just asked. I said "transportation" just to answer the question, but I'm sure the Coleman campaign will take that to mean "public transit". In the wake of Sgt. Kelly, I should have said "public safety".

Are you in favor of raising taxes to improve the quality of Saint Paul?

I love how they phrased this question. I nearly answers "NO!" after "Are you in favor or raising taxes..." but there was more question to listen to.

"...to improve the quality of Saint Paul?" No I only approve of taxes to fund lazy AFSCME labor and crappy trains that won't relieve traffic. Oh wait, that's what you meant my "improve the quality", wasn't it Coleman pollster.

That was it. Three questions. Gave me enough time to shower off the DFL out of my ears. Bleech!

Les Misérablogs

2005-05-13T09:52:00.000-05:00

French man arrested and sued for critizing his city on his blog. And the left wants us more like the Europeans?

What is media bias?

2005-05-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

CNN turns 25 this month, and to celebrate the news network's birthday, they've teamed with Jeopardy! to create a special trivia catagory. Bleech.

Well, TVNewser reports that the FOX News Channel has come out with their own CNN Jeopardy! quest... um, answers:

1. Answer: The only niche network in cable history to lose its number one standing to an upstart.: Question: What is CNN?
2. Answer: The number of consecutive months CNN has been getting beat by FNC.: Question: What is 40?
3. Answer: The number of CNN employees laid off during the AOL Time Warner merger debacle.: Question: What is 400?
4. Answer: The CNN anchor who continued playing a round of golf after the Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy occurred.: Question: Who is Aaron Brown?
5. Answer: The CNN morning curmudgeon who ran over a bike messenger and fled the scene.: Question: Who is Jack Cafferty?
6. Answer: He told USA Today he "flooded the zone" during the recent tsunami disaster.: Question: Who is Jon Klein?
7. Answer: This was the month and year that FNC started clobbering CNN.: Question: What is January 2002?
8. Answer: This CNN executive made deals with murderous dictators in exchange for access.: Question: Who is Eason Jordan?
9. Answer: This CNN journalist was the voice of a Shrek 2 character and regularly does commercials endorsing Garlique & Welchâ€™s grape juice.: Question: Who is Larry King?
10. Answer: This network president uttered the famous prediction in 2001 "Give us six months to a year and see what happens. We will be well ahead of Fox.": Question: Who is Jamie Kellner?

Turd Ferguson... Funny Name.

The Final Drinks of Sgt. Vick

2005-05-13T08:26:00.000-05:00

I first saw the story last night on KMSP, and read the story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this morning. When Sgt. Vick was shot and killed last week, he had a 0.20 blood-alcohol level, over twice the legal limit to drive.

This immediately brought up questions about that terrible Thursday:

Was Sgt. Vick drinking as a part of undercover work?
When did he start drinking?
Could he handle is liquor?
How will this effect the defense's case?

I talked about the issue with a seriously hot lawyer girl I know last night and she told me that cops have to do some rather unflattering things when they're undercover. Cops on the prostitution beat sometimes have to "bed" their suspects in order to make an arrest. (I was told by insanely hot lawyer girl that prostitutes sometimes believe that undercover cops aren't allowed to "whip it out". They think that if they give the guy a Lewinsky, that means they're not a cop, but they're wrong.)

Who knows what Sgt. Vick had to do when he was on his beat. I know that I haven't lost any respect for him, but I know that the press is going to run his name through the mud for the next few days.

Sports: The Original Whizzinator

2005-05-11T09:15:00.000-05:00

Coming to an airport near you...

...Onterrio Smith is:

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Onterrio Smith caught with kit to foil drug tests

The product: The Whizzinator. The testimonials are good fun as well.

Edina High: MN's #1, USA's #201

2005-05-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

This week's Newsweek

This has tax hikes and increased spending written all over it

Newsweek's latest issue has a cover story that ranks the top 100 schools in the nation. The interesting part is that there are no Minnesota schools in the Top 100.

Go over to Newsweek's web site, and you'll find a list of the top 1,042 high schools, and you find that there are no Minnesota schools in the Top 200.

The first Minnesota school on the list? Edina High School. #201.

Now comes the waiting game. When will some bleeding heart DFLer come out and demand more money be pumped into our schools followed by demands for tax increases?

What you won't hear is how the money should be spent to increase the ranking. That just doesn't matter, just as long as we throw money at the problem.

Thanks Newsweek.

Politician Domain Name Game

2005-05-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Star Tribune just posted a story about the Mayor of Boston buying mumblesmenino.com (among others) because he mumbles and he wants to take the joke away from the competition.

This led me to think what domain names other politicians should snap up.

Tim Pawlenty, Governor: squishyspinelessdickweed.com
Dean Johnson, Senate Majority Leager (DFL-Asstown): two-faced-deal-breaker.com
Dick Day, Senate Minority Leader: wangweek.com, membermonth.com
Larry Pogemiller, DFL Senate Tax Committee Chairman: whatelsecanwetax.com
Ron Eibensteiner, Minnesota GOP Chair: squeakyvoicedkingmaker.com
George W. Bush, President: nucular.com
Bill Clinton, Former President: meaning-of-is.com
David Strom, Taxpayers League: bridgetroll.com

Pawlenty: For AND against anti-business legislation

2005-05-05T15:39:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I wrote about how the DFL Senate passed a new "temporary (read: permanent) income tax" bracket that would tax the richest Minnesotans at 11%, which would be the highest in the nation.

This afternoon Governor Tim Pawlenty came out to protest this new tax. Timmy-P humorously told the press that: "if this bill passes, you might as well put up a sign on the borders that says 'Welcome to Minnesota; Take Your Jobs Elsewhere.'" Good joke — not great, but good.

Then I heard T-Paw called the DFL tax this:

"The Business-Buster Act of 2005"

Um, Tim-Lenty? Remember how you agreed to sign the minimum wage hike into law? THAT WAS THE BUSINESS-BUSTER ACT OF 2005!!! Which would make this the BUSINESS-BUSTER ACT OF 2005 MARK Ⅱ!!!

Sorry for yelling, but, dammit Governor, you are such a massive dickweed that I may start calling you King Dickweed.

U of M board votes on punctuation

2005-05-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

USA Today via AP: Apostrophe riles Minnesota

[The University of Minnesota] decided to name a fancy new walkway the Scholars Walk, not the Scholar's Walk.

...

The board voted 4-1 against the punctuation mark.

The board worried that the apostrophe would make the four-block walkway appear exclusive at a time the university wants to be inclusive. It might even mean adding apostrophes to Regents Professors Square and a Professors Lane.

"Apostrophes would be out of control!" said board member Margaret Carlson.

Somehow, this will require more taxpayer money.

Strib Poll: Do you trust journalists?

2005-05-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has put an "Instant Poll" up on their web site asking if the read trusts journalists. The options are "Yes, absolutely", " Only those employed by bigger organizations", "Only those employed by smaller organizations", "No way", "Don't know/Don't care". After pondering why someone who doesn't care about the poll would bother pushing "Don't care", I decided to vote for "No way" because I don't trust Strib reporters.

I was a little surprised by the results. "No way" had 67% of the vote (747 of 1,108 votes). Either some one is hacking the results, or two-thirds of startribune.com readers don't trust journalists (which makes me wonder why their reading it in the first place).

With numbers like that, I would expect the Strib to put up a new Instant Poll: "Do you trust online polls?"

The DFL's Hilarious Tax Proposal

2005-05-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

White looking through the Politics section of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press this morning, I found this article about a new tax bracket proposed by the DFL:

Senate plan adds high-income bracket

About 42,000 of Minnesota's wealthiest people would have to pay nearly $1 billion over two years in new, temporary income taxes under a provision approved Wednesday night by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor majority on the Senate Tax Committee.

The temporary income tax increase is part of a bill that also proposes reversing five accounting gimmicks the Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty resorted to two years ago. The committee is scheduled to take a final vote on the bill today.

...

The average tax hike for the estimated 42,449 people affected would be $9,804 a year. People earning more than $500,000 a year would pay more than $20,000 a year in higher taxes.

I highlighted the funny bit: "temporary income taxes". Those funny, clever little DFLers. The taxes should be called "soon-to-be permanent income taxes".

Pawlenty will approve minimum wage

2005-05-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

Saint Paul Pioneer Press: Pawlenty says he'll sign minimum wage hike

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he plans to sign the bill raising the $5.15 minimum wage to $6.15 now that the Senate has given its stamp of approval.

Thanks a lot, dickweed.

(Shakes head and walks away)

Minimum Wage! Heee-yaaa!!!

2005-05-03T08:22:00.000-05:00

Apparently, the Minnesota House has forgotten now economics work. They've voted 84-50 to raise the $5.15 minimum wage by a dollar. This is very bad for business. Let's see how!

Okay, let's say that I run a fast-food restuarant, and have six employees. Two are new and work at minimum wage ($5.15/hr), two work at $6.25/hr, and two others work at $7.25/hr. If all six work a 40 hour week, I will be paying $1,492.00 a week in salaries.

Now the state government has increased the minimum wage by a dollar. So now my lowest employees are making $6.15/hr. My middle employees are now mad and want a raise to $7.25/hr. After that, the upper employees are damaning an equal raise to $8.25. This pushes my salary expenses to $1,732 a week. That's a difference of $240.00 a week from before the minimum wage increase.

That money has got to come from somewhere, and as a business man I only have two options.

You are fired

The first is to fire an employee. Well, $6.15 times 40 hours is $246.00 a week for a minimum wage employee. Firing him means I can afford the other five employees. So in attempting to help my two minimum wage employees, the state government has actually forced me to fire one of them.

Fewer workers also means fewer customers served in the same amount of time. Before the wage increase, we only needed to sell 37 burgers an our at a dollar a piece to cover the wages. With only 5 employees, are productivity is only 83% as before. This means we can only put out 30 burgers an hour. Instead of bringing in $1492.00 a week from sales, we bring in $1243.00 a week. This means I have to...

Raise prices

In order to keep my income equal to my wages, I have to up the price of burgers from $1.00 to $1.20. This means you spend more money on lunch, have less money for other things, start demanding more money from your boss... You see where this is going.

Logical conclusion

All this extra income that people are damanding? That's more money for your Minnesota State Government to tax. And the Senate wants to raise the minimum wage to $7.00/hr!!! I CAN'T STAND THESE DAMN LEGISLATORS!!!

Sorry about that. I'm a little angry.

Sports: Twins pitcher doped up

2005-05-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Conservative Minnesota loves baseball, so it is a shock to read the following breaking news from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Twins' Rincon suspended; drug violation alleged

Minnesota Twins pitcher Juan Rincon has been suspended for 10 days for violating Major League Baseball's new policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Juan Rincon

Wow. A few questions on this one:

What is he taking? Unfortunately, the current MLB drug policy will not allow the substance used to become public.

What help does a pitcher taking "performance-enhancing drugs" get? I don't know, but he is pitching with a 2.25 ERA this season in 12 games. He's struck out 15 while only walking five, has given up no home-runs in nine hits, and has pitched six holds. Here is a comparison of his first three seasons (72 games) with is last two seasons (89 games):

	2001-2003	2004-2005
ERA	4.43	2.59
K/9IP	6.60	11.59
WHIP	1.48	1.04

His ERA nearly dropped in half? His K/9IP nearly doubled? How much of this is drug-induced?

What nicknames can I come up with to adequately mock him? Juiced Rincon? Juan Rin-cream? Juan Rin-clear?

I'm disappointed. Throughout all this steroid talk, I felt calm in the fact that I was rooting for a team where pitching, bunting, stealing, and defense mean more than three-run homers. I thought that Doug Mientkiewicz was the only guy that may have taken the "juice" in the last five years.

Well, if Juan Rincon is drugged up, I guess anyone on the team might me. And I really hope no one else is.

Selig's three-strikes plan

This comes in the shadows of Commissioner Bud Selig's proposal for a new drug violation penalty system.

Violation	Current Policy	Selig's Proposal
1st Offense	10 days	50 games
2nd Offense	30 days	100 games
3rd Offense	60 days	Lifetime Ban
4th Offense	1 year
5th Offense	Commissioner's Discretion

I like Selig's new plan, but I know that the MLBPA will never approve it. They probably would approve my punishment for Rincon either: cut him.

Laura Bush: Comic Genius

2005-05-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't been able to watch it, but just reading Laura Bush's jokes at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner made me laugh harder than anything on last night's "American Dad" premiere.

On President Bush's sleeping patterns: "George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now. I'm not kidding. I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later."

On the First Couple's differences: "George and I are complete opposites — I'm quiet, he's talkative; I'm introverted, he's extroverted; I can pronounce nuclear..."

On her "Aunt Bea"-like mother-in-law: "[She's ]actually more like ... hmm ... Don Corleone"

On Girls-Night-Out: "One night, after George went to bed, Lynne Cheney, Condi Rice, Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendales. I wouldn't even mention it except Ruth Ginsberg and Sandra Day O'Connor saw us there. I won't tell you what happened, but Lynne's Secret Service code name is now 'Dollar Bill.'"

That's just outstanding. Brava!

Snort!

Controlling aggressive beggars

2005-04-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an outstanding Letter to the Editor today.

Billion-dollar beggars

Minneapolis Police Chief William McManus' idea to license panhandlers (Star Tribune, April 28) might have some effect on controlling aggressive beggars like Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad and Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs, but I doubt it.

Don Johnson, Minneapolis

Dean Johnson lies to stop gun bill

2005-04-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well, so much for a floor vote for the Concealed Carry Bill. Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson (DFL-Asstown) has reneged on a handshake deal with House Majority Leader Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) and now the bill will linger in committee meetings.

For all you scared DFLers who think guns are going to turn the Twin Cities into the Old West, let me direct you to something the Kool-Aid Report said wrote earlier this week.

Number of people shot to death in Minnesota by persons holding a concealed weapon permit: 0

Number of people killed by the Minneapolis light rail train: 2

Fun with Taxpayer Money

2005-04-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

After Hennepin County's plan to build a ballpark with 0.15% of their citizens purchases and Tim Pawlenty's plan to build a casino to get extra income for the state, I started thinking up other stuff we should do for no good reason other than to spend taxpayer money.

State-run Dairy Queen: Everybody loves ice cream. This will be one of those DQs that closes during the winter, so we'll need some taxpayer money to make up for those few months of inactivity.
State-run Movie Studio: Motion pictures bring in big money, so why not use some taxpayer money to fun a few summer blockbusters. Any profits from the movies made will not be refunded to the taxpayers, but put into the General Fund.
State-run Cookie Sales and Distribution: The Girl Scouts have had too good of a deal. They bring in sacks of money by making their little miss minions pedal delicious thin mints and never pay taxes because they're a "not-for-profit" organization. This cannot stand. The state should strike a deal to create a line of cookies whose profits will go into the General Fund. Girl Scouts will sell the new cookies until AFSCME sues to have state employees do it.
Ramsey County-run Prostitution: The hookers in Frogtown are never going to stop, even if you put all the photos of the arrested on a website. So Ramsey County will regulate it and take 10% of all the money raised and place it in an account named "People's Income from Monitary Prostitution". PIMP money will be used for condoms, sexual education, and Valtrex prescriptions.
Anoka County-run Vikings roster: Anoka County wants to build a new stadium for the Vikings in Blaine, so why not use taxpayers dollars for player contracts, signing bonuses, and the inevitable salary-cap violation fines.

Why not spend money on this crap. We did for Light Rail.

Coup d'état in Garage Logic?

2005-04-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

It seems that all is not right in the seat of Gumption County.

Two days ago, Joe Soucheray, mayor of AM1500's mythical radio landscape Garage Logic, took up the topic of the Twins deal with Hennepin County to build a new ballpark with sales tax money. Hennepin County would enact a 0.15% sales tax which looks small, but brings in a load of money.

Joe started Tuesday's show with the position that he's for using taxpayer dollars to build the infrastructure around the new stadium, but that private money should be used to build the stadium itself. Joe was conflicted because he wanted a new ballpark, and knew it probably wouldn't get done by billionaire Twins owner Carl Pohlad alone.

Joe's solution? Find a loophole. Joe's loophole was that a stadium is itself a part of a city's infrastructure. He went on for an hour trying to justify this point, but in doing so, he started to alienate the citizens of Garage Logic, to the point where some callers were asking for a recall of the Mayor's Office.

Conflicted, Soucheray told AM1500's program director Joe O'Brian after the show that he was going to take the next day off to ponder his position and his future as Mayor of Garage Logic. (The position includes the reponsibilities of being Fireworks Cheif and Martha Stewart of the American Garage.)

O'Brian thought Soucheray was just kidding, but sure enough, on Wednesday, the Mayor was no where to be found and O'Brian was forsed to fill in a Deputy Mayor.

Will Joe Soucheray return to his radio show this afternoon? Will a recall vote be put infront of Garage Logic's electorate? Does Patrick Ruesse, City Pages' Best AM Radio Personality 2005 (Soucheray was this year's readers choice), have a chance at taking the seat? We'll have to tune in and listen.

My opinion: Joe's wrong. The stadium is not infrastructure and should not be built with public money. However, I'm not going to vote for his recall.

Update: Joe returned today. He used Wednesday's day off to go golfing in yesterday's snow pellet storm.

Strib balanced on gun law report?

2005-04-28T08:48:00.000-05:00

The concealed-carry gun bill is making it's way back to the floor of the Minnesota House and Senate. Both sides of the issue admit that the former law will be reinstated swiftly, which is outstanding.

But what I'm suprised at is how balanced the reporting was in the Star Tribune on this matter. Conrad Defiebre simply wrote what was happening, stated some facts, and put in some background at the end. Here are the quotes he used from the opposition:

"It's got the votes to pass, and the governor's going to sign it," said Rep. Nora Slawik, DFL-Maplewood, a leading opponent.

...

"Some folks who opposed it last session are going to vote for it if a few wrinkles are worked out," Johnson said, singling out concerns of some churches over banning guns in their parking lots and rental property.

That's it? I was expecting some crazy statement from a hyper-conserned anti-gun activist. Some mention of the half-dozen people that were at the Capitol protesting this law. But no. Just facts, quotes, and background.

Thank you, Conrad, for your report. I'm not saying that the Strib is changing their leftist ways, (or that Conrad won't be punished for slipping this one past his editors,) but it's nice to see non-biased reporting.

Rod Grams for U.S. Sen... House

2005-04-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

Don't you love rumors? Here's one that started with an e-mail from an "unimpeachable source" over at Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

Over the weekend I heard from a high-level and (believe it or not, credible) DFL friend that Oberstar finally has talked about retiring.

...

Consequently, I know that Rod Grams, who works mostly in DC and is privy to the beltway gossip, is seriously interested in running for the seat (the farm where he lives, and the radio stations that he and Chris own, are all in the 8th CD).

MDE gives no opinion of the e-mail. Other weblogs have.

After breaking down the Eighth District, The First Ring posted that "if Grams gets in the 8th District ring, he’s got a fighting chance." Then today, Creepy-Face Against the Robots post a link to the link to the rumor.

My favorite part of the KvM post is that a guy named Cliff leaves the comment that Rod Grams "...would be good for for the party and the conservative movement." Now I don't know Cliff's commenting history or his opinion on the Kennedy/Grams/Eibinstiener/Pawlenty ordeal, but to see that opinion come on a pro-Kennedy weblog is funny to me.

In summary: Grams for Senate, bad. Grams for House, good. How does that work?

The First Post

2005-04-27T15:17:00.000-05:00

I've got an opinion, and I'm going to blog about it.

As the title suggests, I live in Minnesota. I vote Republican, but I call myself a conservative. There is a difference. (Principles, for one.)

So when news breaks, I'll opine with my conservative voice. This should be fun!