To:  Rep. Tim Walz (DFL-MNCD1)
From: Mitch Berg, Peasant
Re:  Powers

Rep. Walz,

I have  a couple of questions for you.

1. Do you support President Obama’s executive orders trying to equate legal, law-abiding gun ownership with mental illness? I’ll ask you not to equivocate; yes, or no?
2. If so, are you urging DFL legislators in the 1st CD to do the same?
3. If not, how do you plan to manifest this dissent politically?  Concrete terms, please.

Please make your stance on this issue as public as you possibly can.  Tell the Strib, if you’d be so kind.  Failing that, at least inform Sally Jo Sorenson; she’s always been a reliable steno.

That is all.

To:  All Minnesota State Legislators
From: Mitch Berg, Peasant
Re:  Powers

Dear Esteemed State Representative Or Senator,

I have  a couple of questions for you.

1. Do you support President Obama’s decrees, especially the ones trying to turn legal, law-abiding gun ownership into a public health issue?  I’ll ask you not to equivocate; yes, or no?
2. Are you supporting legislation this session to “control guns” in Minnesota?
3. If so – how do you plan to publicize your approval for the Administration’s actions?
4. If not, how do you plan to manifest this dissent politically?  Concrete terms, please.

Please make your stance on this issue as public as you possibly can.  It does need to be part of voters’ decisions in this next election.

As it was nationwide in 1994, and in Minnesota in 2002.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

That is all.

Last week:  the DFL in the Legislature, with the aid of their PR arm in the Twin Cities media, exclaimed with great ballyhoo that they were going to “repay the school funding shift”.

As we noted at the time, the DFL promised – ballyhoo notwithstanding – to repay half the shift.  And they did it after Mark Dayton unaccountably vetoed the GOP’s plan last session to pay back the entire shift.

But beyond that, there’s one other clinker.

Take a look at the bill – HF1 – that relates to the “repayment” of the shift.

What’s missing from the bill?

Answer below the jump.

(more…)

If the Minnesota DFL didn’t have the “American Legislative Exchange Council”, better demonized known as “ALEC”, to turn into a boogeyman for the low-information voter, they’d have to make them up…

…oh.  Haha.  They already did make it up.

Nonetheless, the MNDFL – in this case, Senator Scott Dibble – has taken time out from its relentless drive to put every Minnesotan to work to introduce a bill aimed at ALEC:

If the measure became law, anyone who promotes or distributes model legislation would be required to register as a lobbyist. Under the measure, lobbyists and lawmakers would have to disclose any scholarship funds they get to attend events or meetings.

“It is aimed at ALEC,” said Minneapolis DFL Sen. Scott Dibble, the bill sponsor. “ALEC is a very strong influential entity.”

So isn’t it just a little…bitchy to write a law “aimed at” – that’s what Dibble said – a group that does exactly, exactly the same thing as the “National Council of State Legislatures”, or the “Progressive States Network”, or the political arms of all the unions do; write model legislation and try to persuade legislators to pass them into law?

Oh, there’s an out of sorts:

The measure would also apply to other national groups that push model legislation, that is, bills that are proposed and written outside of Minnesota and then tailored to the state. Dibble said a coalition of lawmakers interested in environmental issues would also be forced to disclose more information in the bill became law.

Well, isn’t that special.

I’m not so much upset that the DFL is wasting the legislature’s, and the peoples’, time to count coup over the head of an organization that does exactly what a roomful of other groups do at the Legislature.

No, what we should all be upset at is the role the Twin Cities media have played in serving as the DFL’s handmaidens in this demonization.  The Twin Cities media have written countless stories in this past year, entirely at the behest of left-leaning pressure groups like the Alliance for a “Better” Minnesota, about the “insidious influence” of ALEC – but you’ll scour the net in vain for even a trivial mention of the fact that the PSN, the NCSL, and an organic poo-ton of liberal activist and pressure groups do exactly.  The.  Same.  Thing.

I’d love to ask the likes of Rachel Stassen-Berger, Mike Mulcahy and Bill Salisbury why that is.

But I’d imagine the public doesn’t have a right to know that.

I’m going to give you all a little bit of homework.

Read this piece – “Risk, Relativism And Resources“, by Kevin Williamson, from National Review.   It’s a brilliant piece – and a beefy chunk of reading – on how risk-tolerance and risk-aversion affects peoples’ political choices.

Then tune in tomorrow, when I’ll be talking with Mr. Williamson on the Northern Alliance Radio Network, mostly (but certainly not entirely) about this piece.

And then think: how can we conservatives apply this to the task ahead of us – saving the country?

And I’ll also have David and David on the show:

No, not that David and David, although that’d be cool too.  No, I’ll have Senators Dave Thompson and Dave Osmek on the show as well!

Hope to see you then!

So last Wednesday, the entire State Legislature attended a “Policy Conference” at the U of M.

Check out the notice.  It’s “closed to the public”.

Inquiries to the U’s public relations contact were – is this surprising to anyone? – not returned.

This follows close on the heels of an event in September at the U with Governor Dayton; Dayton’s performance appeared addled – but the U of M didn’t videotape the speech (citing “expense”), and the media in attendance embargoed their own video of Dayton’s performance.

I’m not as clear on open meeting laws as I should be, but I have to wonder: has the U become a handy place for the DFL to skirt open meeting laws?

Today is the opening day of the legislative session.  And, as the media tell us with barely-concealed glee, the DFL has a Chicago-like stranglehold on all power in Minnesota this session.

So here are my fearless predictions:

Budget:  $40 Billion.

Taxes:  Broadly up, with a little window-dressing of “progressivism” to further the class war narrative.

Local Government Aid:  Like the alcoholic nephew that keeps hitting his parents up for money “for car repairs/bus fare/new clothes”, Minneapolis and Saint Paul and Duluth will be back begging for more money from the parts of the state that actually work to feed the monkeys on their respective backs.  Like your brother’s enabler of a wife, the DFL will go “oh, we can’t just cut you loose!”, and give them what they want.

Daycare unionization:  It’ll be rammed through like Roosevelt’s declaration of war.  All that union political support don’t come cheap; the purple shirts WANT RESULTS, capisce?  With a nod to Scorsese, (audio NSFW) “Day care providers don’t want to unionize?  F**k you, pay up!  Economy running slow?  F**k you, pay up!  Parents don’t want it, can’t afford it, and unionizing independent contractors makes no sense?  F**k you, pay up!” Look for Dayton to sic the state patrol on non-complying providers by the beginning of next year.

Election Law: Look for the 15 person vouching limit to be raised to eleventy billion.  Look for questioning a voter’s qualifications to be re-classifed a felony hate crime.

Gay Marriage:  The issue that put the DFL in office?

(Crickets)

Today, the Northern Alliance Radio Network – America’s first grass-roots talkradio show – brings you the best in Minnesota conservatism, as the Twin Cities media’s sole source of honesty!

• I’m in from 1-3.  I’ll have GOP House Minority leader Kurt Daudt in the 2PM hour, talking about the outlook for the GOP in this dismal-looking session.   I’ll also be talking with Karen Effrem of Education Liberty Watch about what we can do about the proposed social studies standards.
• Brad Carlson’s show – “The Closer” – is on from 1-3 on Sunday.

(All times Central)

So tune in to all four hours of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, the Twin Cities’ media’s sole guardians of honest news. You have so many options:

• AM1280 in the Metro
• Streaming at AM1280’s Website,
• On Twitter (the Volume 2 show will use hashtag #narn2)
• Check out our new UStream video and chat .
• Send us an SMS text message – 651-243-0390
• Good ol’ telephone – 651-289-4488!
• Podcasts are now available on the AM1280 page!  (Saturday show is #2 – Sunday is #3).
• And make sure you fan us on our new Facebook page!

Join us!

Remember when Obama was a “moderate” on guns? When he spent a couple of years trying to show Americans he wasn’t that kind of Chicago pol?

Yeah, I didn’t either.

In 1994, the backlash against Clinton’s raft of gun laws was a key part of the Republican Revolution that swept the country; the likes of Newt Gingrich wanted us to think it was all “Contract with America”, and that was the marquee event to be sure, but for a whoooole lot of people, it was the Democrats voting for (and some GOPers caving to) the anti-gun panic that drove votes.

Remember Rod Grams’ defeat of Ann Wynia?

Does Al Franken remember it?

Governor Dayton is apparently out of surgery for his back.  It apparently went well.

But the Strib gave us a late Christmas present yesterday, in announcing the appointment:

Minnesota Gov. Dayton heading to Mayo to undergo spinal surgery that will briefly sideline him

He was sidelined from his grueling schedule of reading instructions from Alida and periodically emerging from his office to gargle demands at the Legislature?

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

I’m impressed: 4 for 4, actually doing his job. Give credit where due.

Shooting victims: he offers prayers, which is about all anybody can realistically do without making things worse with ill-considered bans.

Deficit: working on it. I disagree with his proposal, but at least he’s working on it. Good for him.

Farm Bill: stupid policy but it does affect interstate commerce so yes, it is his job. Good for him.

Asian carp: they migrate on federally regulated waters (Mississippi) so yes, it is his job. Good for him.

Congratulations to Senator Franken. He’s doing his job. I disagree with HOW he’s doing it, but he is doing it.

Under the terms of his hiring agreement, he’s doing what he was sent to DC to do.

But I’m still thinking his performance review in 2014 needs to point toward a career change.

A couple of quick notes here:

In addition to my usual light weekend posting schedule, posting on Monday and Tuesday will likely be very light.  It’s Christmas.  So sue me.  No, wait – I live in Saint Paul.  The Human Rights department just might.

But seriously?  Have a Merry Christmas if you’re of the Jesus Tribe, and a great long weekend otherwise!

The NARN will be on the air all this weekend.  Tomorrow, I’ll be talking about the new “Social Studies Standards”.  I’ll also be interviewing Representative Mary Franson (R Alexandria) about her effort to keep Minnesota informed about the push to unionize child-care providers.  Tune in from 1-3PM tomorrow!

After a couple of terms of “serving” as the Eddie Haskell of the MInnesota House, Rep. Ryan Winkler finally has to start earning what passes, in DFL legislative circles, for “his keep”.

His first assignment in the majority?  Get Minnesotans working!

House Speaker-Designate Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said in a news release today that Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, will chair the Speaker’s Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs. Thissen said the group of DFL and Republican lawmakers will research, investigate, report and propose legislation to address the decline of living wage jobs, and look for ways to grow the economy and strengthen the middle class.

So let’s do our bit for government efficiency.  Let’s write Winkler’s report for him.

What kind of a report do you think Winkler – a guy whose “day job” is working for Ted Mondale, the heir apparent to the Mondale secular “The State Is My Mother” church – is going to write?  What kind of legislation will he propose?

Put your thoughts in the comment section.

A quick look back in time:  last summer and fall, the “coalition” of groups that handle all the DFL’s messaging (it’s really more a syndicate than a coalition, but tomayto tomahto) ran a wildly successful campaign to scupper the Marriage Amendment.  It was wildly successful at the polls, playing a key role in taking down the Voter ID Amendment and the GOP majorities in both chambers of the Legislature.

The campaign’s key points went something like this:

• “We don’t vote on people’s civil rights!”  – In other words, the “Right” to marry is absolute, not subject to “popularity contests”.  That’s the phrase not a few Amendment opponents used, in fact.
• “People who love each other should be able to marry!” – Note the phrasing.  It wasn’t “people who love each other shouldn’t have to undo constitutional rigamarole to continue their legislative efforts”.  No.  “Marry” was the word they used.   Every single time.
• “They’re just like the rest of us!” – With the unmistakeable inference that they should have the same rights we have.

Since then?  Nothing but weasel words from the DFL.

So – all of you pro-gay marriage people who came out in droves to defeat the Amendment?   The DFL used you for your idealism, and is now sitting on their hands on the issue because…

…why?

Because they don’t want to use the political capital it’d take to legalize gay marriage.

Their complaint in 2006-2009 was that the governor would just veto it (which was a stupid excuse, if you truly believe in principle; pass it anyway, and get the other side’s votes on record, if you believe you’re right! The GOP did!).

But now the DFL has both chambers and the governor.

And yet they’re sandbagging.

So when are you gay marriage supporters going to realize that you were used?

That it was all talk?

That the DFL will never follow through on their implied promise?

Ever?

Right in the nick of time as even non-political Americans start to get concerned about tax hikes and the “fiscal cliff”, some good news from the Strib!

Yes, Senators Klobuchar and Franken both oppose the Medical Device Tax!

Minnesota’s two senators sought Monday to delay a tax on medical devices that was expected to add $28 billion over the next decade to help pay for health care reform.

Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken pointed to thousands of high-paying jobs that device companies support in Minnesota, headquarters to such giant devicemakers as Medtronic and St. Jude Medical. The industry has painted the tax as a job killer that would hurt innovation.

“The delay would give us the opportunity to repeal or reduce that tax,” said Klobuchar, co-author of a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seeking the delay.

So that means the Senators will join 3rd CD Congressman Erik Paulsen and support his bill in the House to repeal the tax, right?

Franken is among the letter’s signers who would not support Paulsen’s plan. “I felt the offset in the Paulsen bill would have undermined the architecture of the Affordable Care Act,” Franken said.

Oh, don’t bother us with details!  Franken and Klobuchar – and say, doesn’t she just look stunning in the photo the Strib opted to use? – are coming out strongly in favor of delaying the tax!

So what’s missing from the Strib story, bylined to Jim Spencer?

Look it over.  Carefully.  Carefully…

How about any mention that both Senators voted for the tax initially?  

Both Franken and Klobuchar participated eagerly in jamming Obamacare down the American people’s collective throat; both have timidly objected via friendly media in the least obtusive way possible; never bucking their caucus, never ruffling the Administration’s narrative, never standing up for the thousands of constituents that are already being harmed by the tax in any way that would bring them any risk whatsoever.  Both of our Senators have invested facile lip service to delaying or repealing the tax – but neither of them have ever put a vote, or any substantive political capital, on the line.

Spencer’s loathsome Strib piece is what we call “public relations”.  It’s what the Strib and most of the rest of the Twin Cities media is there for.

Over at MPR, Tom Scheck brings us the latest DFL chanting point; the “links” between two GOP legislators (Rep. Gottwalt and Sen. Hann) who pushed a healthcare privatization bill in the last session, and the insurance industry.

 State Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, led the GOP effort to cut spending in the state’s Health and Human Services budget when the Republicans controlled the Legislature. Now, both he and his Senate counterpart [Hann] have business links to the insurance industry, which has some other lawmakers asking whether the arrangement violates ethics rules.

This is a chanting point that the DFL’s been working up for a while here.  The DFL’s beef is that…

…some Democratic lawmakers are raising questions about the arrangement.

“I can see why the owner of the business was pushing for the bill. It’s more business for him,” said Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville. “The fact that [Gottwalt] is now working for him, I’m disappointed in that.”

Health insurance brokers backed the legislation, championed by Gotttwalt’s counterpart in the other chamber, state Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie.

The incoming chairman of the House ethics committee, Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, said: “If these are payoffs, then the ethics committee needs to look at it.”

And if there are not payoffs – and there aren’t – then will Huntley, Marty, and the idiot leftyblogger chanting point bots apologize to Hann and Gottwalt?

Read Scheck’s piece for the details.

But I have a few questions, here:

Who else are you going to have working on healthcare finance policy? A bunch of lawyers and social workers?  Who knows the financial side of the healthcare industry better than people who, y’know, work on the financial side of the healthcare industry?

Aren’t we cherrypicking the outrage we choose to feed to the media, DFL?  Shouldn’t we bar teachers from committees on education appropriations?  .  Union activists oughtta be at least recusing themselves from votes on Right to Work and unionizing daycare and personal care workers!   Do we want lawyers writing laws?  And don’t be trying to hide, there, Erin Murphy; I’m told you were the executive director of a nursing lobby group, and became the ranking DFLer on the Healthcare Committee.  Or Ryan Winkler, who is employed (heh) at Ted Mondale’s government-data-mining software company, sounding off about legislation that’d involve another data-mining company?

Of course, the DFL finds these kinds of non-corrupt “corruption” all the time, while practicing it themselves.

If only we had some institution – maybe with printing presses and transmitters, and people whose job it was to run down little facts like this?  Perhaps those people working for that institution could think of themselves as a holy, truth-seeking monastic order?  Call themselves “high priests of gatekeeping”, perhaps?

Just a thought.

By the way – lost in the contrived, DFL-agenda-driven “hubbub”:  the program that Gottwalt and Hann developed has been a huge improvement for the Minnesotans it was intended to serve.  “Healthy Minnesota” gives its participants vouchers enabling them to buy a standard insurance plan on the open market; it’s cheaper than UCare, and the participants get better, more personally-focused coverage than provided by the state. There are gaps – every insurance plan has ’em – but it was, as advertised, a huge improvement over UCare at lower cost.

In other words, it’s a government program that does what it’s supposed to do, and saves money to boot.

But “big business” is invovled, and that thought apparently gives DFLers explosive diarrhea.

The latest numbers – from the Met Council website – show that the Northstar Line is an even bigger cash suck than we’d predicted it’d be.

Click to see chart at a readable size.

Ridership is off sharply.  Operating subsidies are up; each ride on the Northstar line costs the taxpayer over $20.  That’s per ticket.

A source at the Capitol who’s been working the numbers on Northstar writes:

“One more point. The NorthStar lovers like to point out that one of the reasons that the numbers are down is because the Twins have sucked the last two years. Well, there does seem to be some truth (taken with a two-ton tablet of salt) to that…the numbers from April to October do give you the sense that the Twins could have an impact.

The source anticipates some of the counterarguments:

Of course, this ignores the fact that we, here in Frostbite Falls, tend to be rather sedentary during the colder months. Heck, just look at freeway traffic in the summer months, which is always higher than winter months.

But look at the numbers: Even if you give them ALL the increase in riders for Twins games, the differential averages to 1,026 per game. That’s down from 1,340 per game in 2011. If you’re gonna bank your success on Twins game riders…good luck with THAT.

The fact is, the Twins could win back to back World Series and the Northstar Line would still be hemorrhaging money.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

The Pioneer Press repeats the DFL line on the budget – we’re only short $1.1 billion.

• I don’t think the numbers work. We’re short $1.1 billion for day-to-day operating expenses. We short-changed schools $2.4 billion last time but we’re paying back half of that so we’re still short $1.2 billion for that. PLUS we need something for inflation because even if government employees get no raises, the cost of everything from paper clips to blacktop keeps going up.
• It’s more like $2.5 billion we’re short. Tell the truth: we have our own fiscal cliff right here.

Joe Doakes

Como Park

We’ll see.

Last March, conservative bloggers – Gary Gross, me, and others – warned you that the Dayton Administration’s plan to use gambling revenue to build the stadium was pure vapor, and that Ted Mondale (of the Sports Facilities Commission) was blowing smoke up Minnesota’s collective skirt, since gambling revenues have been shrinking, not growing.  Charitable gambling revenues have been falling off for years; the Administration’s plan involves having gambling receipts double.  Immediately.

Yesterday we noted that the Administration is starting to walk back the shell game.  And now we’re discovering that the main venue for the electronic pull tabs that the Administration is counting on – veterans clubs – just aren’t adopting the new toy.

Dave Thul, writing at True North, is on the story:

 So the question is why Legions and VFW’s are so unlikely to move into E-tabs? The answer is complicated, but boils down to three main reasons. First, demographics. The average gambling manager and post commander is over 60 and set in their ways.

Most post officers and bookkeepers are volunteers, so they don’t get paid for running the gambling operations. But they are financially liable for any mistakes they make, meaning a simple gambling system is a safe gambling system.

Second is technology and a bit of Luddite-ism. Despite efforts to get younger veterans involved, the majority of VFW and Legion posts in Minnesota have internet access only for email or transmitting legally required gambling reports. E-tabs require a high speed always on internet access. E-tabs are also 100% dependent on technology; a power outage or a computer virus means no gambling. Paper pull tabs can be opened by candle light if necessary, and bar staff are familiar with the possible ways to scam the system. E-tabs need additional plug ins, charging stations, always on wireless internet connections that are secure against hackers, and a big investment in training time for bar staff.

The third reason is survival. The smoking ban that took affect in 2007 was a devastating blow to VFW’s and Legions across the state, and resulted in a fair number of posts being closed. Ever increasing taxes, ever more burdensome regulations (remember most bookkeepers are volunteers) and a recession that is dragging out into a fifth year are all taking a toll in posts statewide. Faced with all of these issues, bringing E-tabs into a post is simply a bridge too far for most to consider.

Beyond that?  The actual game machines; the state isn’t approving them for use in the state, even if bars and clubs do start turning out wanting them.

So how much are the people going to have to cough up to pay for Zygi’s Real Estate Upgrade “The People’s Stadium”?

We’re not going to know for quite a while.

A source at the Capitol – who was heavily involved in the battle against public funding for the Vikings stadium – emailed me with his first “I Told You So” moment of the new political epoch:

I believe I said, all along the campaign for endorsement…the primary…and the general election:

“The numbers that are being projected, from gambling revenue, to pay the Vikings stadium bonds are wildly optimistic and won’t come true.”

I was right. And there are 32 references in the legislation to the General Fund. So guess who’s left holding the bag? That’s right…the taxpayer.

We were ALL sold down the river by the likes of Steve Smith, Connie Doepke, and Gen Olson…in SD33…one of THE most conservative districts in the State.

And I got their legacy…RIGHT HERE!

Both sides – well, two out of three sides at the Capitol, anyway, the “establishment” GOP and the DFL – lied to the people about how the state-funded improvements to Zygi Wilf’s real estate investment would be financed.

We – the conservative Republicans – warned you; we were right.

The new budget forecast is coming out today.

And it’s generally good news, showing that the GOP in the Legislature paid off hundreds of millions borrowed from schools, filled the budget reserves, and substantially reduced the structural deficit.

Not bad for a “do-nothing” legislature that started with a six billion dollar structural deficit, and was hobbled for two sessions by a governor who was operating under orders from his political mommy ex-wife to sandbag like his life depended on it, now, is it?

Tim Pugmire’s story at MPR quotes House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt…:

“Minnesotans are struggling in their lives and in their families and in their job situations,” Daudt said. “Our job is to make their life easier, not more difficult. So, if we do hit that fiscal cliff on the federal level and we double down and increase taxes on top of that, that’s only going to have a detrimental impact on our economy here in Minnesota, and it’s just going to make things more difficult for families here in Minnesota.”

…and Messinger marionette speaker of the house Paul Thissen:

But House Speaker-designate Paul Thissen countered that even families need to account for inflation as part of prudent budgeting. No matter what the forecast shows, lawmakers must come up with more than another temporary fix, said Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis.

Families, unfortunately, don’t have the ability to extort more money out of their employers.  Unless they’re government union employees, naturally.

“My hope is that we’re not just budgeting to the forecast, but we’re stepping back and actually creating a budget that’s going to work for the long-term stability of the state,” Thissen said.

In other words, if things improve we need to increase taxes and spending, and if they don’t, we’ll need to increase taxes and spending.

This DFL majority may be the best thing to ever happen to business in western Wisconsin.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Democrats’ generation-long money-laundering scheme to steal money from responsible towns to subsidize big-city profligacy is ending, thanks in major part to Tim Pawlenty and Republican legislators fighting to balance the budget.

Turns out is IS possible to live within your means. Who knew?

Sure.

And after two more years of untrammeled DFL rule, we’re going to have to teach it to the state all over again.

Gay marriage is worth more to the DFL as a permanent wedge than it is as policy.

I predicted right after the election: defeating the Marriage Amendment, to the DFL, was about waving a bloody shirt to get out the vote; not  a prelude to doing anything to legalize gay marriage.

Legalization would galvanize conservative opposition to the DFL on an issue where the currently-rulling party doesn’t need the friction – and, more importantly, would deprive the DFL of one of its bloodiest waving shirts.

Some on the left – Sally Jo Sorenson at BSP, Aaron Rupar at the City Pages – are finally figuring out that the new DFL majority are talking out both sides of their mouths, although neither will, or knows to, put it in those terms yet.

So mark my words (and if you don’t, no worries; I’ll mark them for you); there will be no repeal of Minnesota’s statutory ban on gay marriage. Oh, there may be a token bill; Scott Dibble and Karen Clark will submit a proposal, which will die in DFL-controlled committee (with the DFL’s noise machine doing its best to paint it as “GOP obstructionism”).  By 2014, gay marriage will be exactly as illegal as if the Amendment had passed.  And by 2016, whatever the results of the 2014 House elections, the DFL-controlled Senate will have blocked it as well.

Governor Dayton’s transportation advisors are advocating taxing the crap out of gasoline, and jamming people onto buses and trains.

Is anyone surprised?

The recommendations include two ways to raise $15.2 billion through a higher gas tax — an upfront hike of 10 cents per gallon followed by annual 1.5-cent increases for 19 years, or a series of 3.5-cent increases over five years with 1.5-cent increases for 15 years afterward. The state gas tax currently sits at 28.5 cents per gallon, including a 3.5-cent surcharge.

That’s forty cents a gallon.  So far.

And when Democrats see Money Pits, what’s their first urge?

Fill them with (our, taxpayer’s) money!

Another $4 billion for transit would come from increasing the sales tax in five Twin Cities counties by a half percentage point, or a nickel on a $10 purchase. Raising vehicle license tab fees roughly 10 percent would bring in another $1.1 billion.

Let’s make sure we’re clear on this:  this is a removal of five billion dollars from productive use in this state’s economy, to build more “light rail” to run from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, from Minneapolis through the Brooklyns, from Minneapolis to wherever people aren’t and don’t currently want to go.

Democrats around money are like pit bulls around hamburger:

The 19-member group led by Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel picked the costliest of three options it studied.

What do us conservatives always say?  “Elections have results”.

And one of the results of this past two elections is that Scott Dibble is now creating tax policy…:

The report comes as the Democratic governor is preparing to unveil a tax overhaul after pushing for years to raise income taxes on top earners. It’s unclear how the array of transportation taxes will fit into his plan. Democrats will take over both houses of the Minnesota Legislature in January, creating an opening for tax increases after years of Republican resistance.

“My sense is the governor would very, very much like to get us back in a posture of making these needed and key investments,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, a Minneapolis Democrat who served on the advisory committee and will head the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Division.

…which is a little like putting Kim Kardashian in charge of the Department Of Sleazy Guys And Video Cameras.

UPDATE:  Dave Thul in the comments notes that the GOP should let Governor Messinger Dayton and the DFL run this straight through the legislature.  I agree; let them have their names on the votes.  And any Republican that votes for it, to give the DFL “bipartisan” cover on this stupid idea, should get primaried back to the stone age.

Mary Franson wins her recount in House District 8B.

Franson, a freshman Republican from Alexandria, picked up one extra vote Thursday when Otter Tail County recounted its ballots. In the end, Franson had 4,799 votes in Otter Tail to Cunniff’s 3,790 votes.

Cunniff’s attorneys are challenging four of the ballots in Otter Tail County, and the campaigns also challenged one vote each in Douglas. But the combined challenges wouldn’t be enough to hand Cunniff the win in the state’s closest election of 2012.

This close win by Franson in a bad year for the MNGOP, and against one of the DFL’s  sleaziest campaigns in a year where the DFL buried the sleaze-o-meter, is good news; there are at least some parts of the state with a little sanity.

And it’s fascinating how little the vote counts actually swung in a recount run mostly be Republicans, isn’t it?

By the way – even though DFL candidate Bob Cunniff conceded yesterday, as the Strib notes…:

The recount results are unofficial until the state canvassing board meets on Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m. There is also always a possiblity of a court challenge to the election results.

And given that trial lawyers are among the DFL’s main constituencies, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

But ’til then, congratulations Rep. Franson!

UPDATE:  John Gilmore echoes thoughts a lot of us agree with:

Last legislative session we didn’t have any leaders. In fact, we had anti-leaders. Morons. Incompetents.

Not even status quo: our new majority made things worse. They earned their minority status this election cycle but the better good of Minnesota did not.

Enter Mary Franson: new, naive, honest, sometimes bumbling. Extremely well spoken on the floor of the MN House of Representatives and off.

But wait! Can she navigate The Wedge? Tell the difference of quinoa from teff?

No and here’s hoping she never does. Would it be too post modern to take a field trip to Alexandria?

During the DFL-manufactured “Animals” fracas last spring, the GOP establishment couldn’t have shot Franson under the bus any faster if they’d loaded her into a wrist-rocket.

To paraphrase The Boss:  she’s still there, they’re all gone.  Well, some of them, anyway.