Category Archives: MNDFL

Headline: 2027

Posted on by
3

Minnesota Star Tribune, April 17, 2027:

FEDS INDICT 20 IN WATER FRAUD SCANDAL

The US Attorney for Minnesota has announced indictments of 22 executives and board members ‘”Watering Our Future”, a Methodist-affiliated non-profit ostensibly dedicated to providing water at public events.

“WOF spent $230 million in state money”, said Assistant US Attorney Ashley Bouffant, “but we’ve found no evidence they ever provided any water to a single person at a public event”. 

The headline in 2025?   “Minnesota lawmakers push for free water access at public events“. 

The bill, introduced in February by Rep. Leigh Finke, (DFL-66A) has been added to a larger House commerce package. If passed, it would mandate that all qualifying events provide at least one of the following:

  • Free bottled water

  • Permission to bring in sealed water bottles

  • Access to refill stations for those who bring empty bottles

  • Exemptions: art galleries, museums and presentation spaces where beverages aren’t allowed

“This bill just kind of came to me last summer when I was having conversations with people about the heat,” Finke said. “There are numerous ways for this to be successful at very low stakes and with high rewards.”

Any government program opportunity, at best, for creating a new transfer of wealth from the real world to the political class; at worst, another opportunity for fraud and graft.

And under this version of the DFL, let’s just leave out the “at best” part.

I’m just waiting to see what special interest group can carve / has carved out a piece of the public water action.

Because you know there’s gotta be one.

It Ain’t Over

Posted on by
6

Even as the “Feeding Our Future” scandal appears to shift into a new gear with the release of the recording of Keith Ellison appearing to:

  • put the lie to several of his statements about when he did or didn’t know about the fraud scandal
  • tell some future defendants that the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) could “chill” the ardor of other agencies to investigate them
  • accept campaign donations for his son and himself,

…it appears we’re nowhere near done with scandals in DFL-run Minnesota:

And while Feeding Our Future is just pedestrian stuff like fraud, jury tampering and maybe racketeering, this one gets into TMZ-fodder:

Gabriel Adam Alexander Luthor (a.k.a. Langford), 39, and Elizabeth Christine Brown, 42, were arrested in Las Vegas, where they made their initial court appearances in U.S. District Court in the District of Nevada earlier this week.

The indictment alleges:

Luthor and Brown intentionally devised and carried out an overbilling scheme for medical services provided through their neurofeedback therapy business, Golden Victory Medical, LLC (GVM). Luthor and Brown were in a relationship and together founded GVM in 2018…In total, GVM submitted hundreds of thousands of false claims to insurers, many of which the insurers paid, resulting in an estimated loss of over $15 million. Millions of dollars in fraudulent proceeds were transferred from bank account to bank account and ultimately retained by Luthor and Brown. Luthor and Brown used the funds to purchase a 9000-square-foot mansion in Eden Prairie and to pay their living expenses and the living expenses of other girlfriends of Luthor’s, who lived with Luthor and Brown and assisted in the fraud scheme.

 

It’d sure be a great time to have a functional state GOP with an election coming up, wouldn’t it?

The Mean Girls Club Strikes Again

Posted on by
4

Saint Paul’s much-ballyhooed all-boss-lady City Council not only can’t do its job.

It breaks the law while doing it. 

Jane McClure is a long-time writer for the Highland Villager. 

And as she points out, it seems the Council is walking all over the state’s Open Meetings Law:

The Open Meeting Law prohibits serial meetings, or meeting one-on-one or in smaller groups to make decisions before a public meeting. Serial meetings can be seen as ways to avoid public discourse or to reach some kind of agreement in advance of an open meeting. This depends on the facts of each matter, of course.

Serial meetings can also occur through electronic or written communication, including phone conversations, emails, texts and social media.

City Council members contend that they have long discussed issues one-on-one before taking major votes. This practice predates the current council. That still doesn’t make it right.

Discussing is one thing. Making decisions in private is another. Making promises that lead to decisions is another.

 

The rule of law is the first casualty of all-“Blue” government – in city hall as well as on the street. 

Secret Location!!!!! Shhhh!

Posted on by
7

State Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega wants to mow herself some of that fresh astroturf:

The DFLer, who enthusiastically participated in the orgy of spending that led to both tax hikes and a colossal deficit that has raised the cost of living, led to thousands of Minnesotans losing their jobs or moving their businesses out of state, piling unfunded mandates onto schools that are causing budget-tightening in the classroom, and cutting the very services the Representative is talking about, is going to try to deflect the whole mess over to Trump.

And she is going to do the brave, boss-lady thing and hold a town hall.

Where? 

When?

So, you can find out where the “town hall” is after we vet you to make sure you’re not one of the “bad” ones?

Since this takes place during show-time on Saturday, Avery Librelle will have to sit it out.

But if any of you go, feel free to call in with a report. 

Girl Brawl

Posted on by
4

If it seems like just yesterday the national media was swooning over Saint Paul’s city council – the first all-female city council in the US, we were told – it’s because it practically was just yesterday that the entire establishment was swooning over them.  

They’re women, donchaknow.  

And I’m not gonna say I predicted this, but you know I kinda predicted this:

The president was, as luck would have it, my “representative”, Mitra Jalali – a woman whose “flexibility” on issues and identity makes Tim Walz look all boring and consistent; she left the council in January to focus on her health or something. 

Since then, the council has deadlocked on everything from a temporary replacement for Jalali, to space for the city’s new Sudanese-style trash collection service to stage its trucks (forcing Mayor Carter to declare an emergency and, speaking of emergemcies, forcing Mayor Carter to appear like a relative moderate and grownup.

Or perhaps the one person in the transaction who shows up for work: the councilwomens’ attendance is a little dismal:

That’s may actually be worse than the DFL in the House of Representatives. 

UPDATE: Mayor Carter has appointed Jalali’s legislative aide to serve out the term.  I don’t think this is over. 

Second Acts

Posted on by
9

America loves second acts. 

The child star who disappeared under a mound of blow at age 15, coming back with a stellar performance.

The team that started the season in the cellar, going to the championship.

The 35 year old short reliever who started as an 18 year old prodigy before getting stuck in AAA ball for a decade and a half that pitches a shutout to get the save, and a little bit of immortality, in the big game.

The political party that squandered a $18B surplus to create a $6B deficit, while blowing up the budget 40% and jacking up taxes, rebranding itself as tax hawks for the children…

Wait.  Wut?

And kudos to the social media intern for that clever job of editing all the facts out of the interchange, to make it look like Rep. Gomez was winning the discussion.  It was…creative. 

Questions That Would Get Asked..

Posted on by
4

…if the Walz administration would allow real journalists, like me, along on his entourage to junkets like this:

“Uh, yes, Governor Walz – do these farmers know that you signed a law that will ban all liquid fuel by 2040, including on farms? Meaning no gas or diesel to run tractors and combines, among other things?

What? You’re saying nobody asked that? 

Not even the farmer?

Or “farmer”?

So, it’s staged?

Like every godforsaken shot of  kids spontaneously hugging him?

It tracks.

The Maye Quade Doctrine: If It Moves, Slander It. If It Doesn’t Move, Defame It

Posted on by
2

I’ll allow that it’s possible that between David and I, Minnesota might get a little over-covered here at Hot Air.  

But I’ve got a theory:  national Democrats are trying out a lot of their national strategies and tactics in Minnesota; conservatives following Minnesota politics got a fair amount of deja vu during the ’24 presidential campaign, and that was even before Tim Walz got the (inexplicable but providential) nod to run for VP.   The accession of Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin to the head of the DNC supports the theory.  So hear me out. 

The DFL in Minnesota has a bit of a crime problem:  their one vote majority in the State Senate (until Senator Eichorn is expelled for his arrest) hangs in the person of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, who is accused of multiple counts of burglary; the Walz administration is mired in a persistent series of non-profit fraud scandals, one of their elected representatives was tossed from office when it was revealed he didn’t live in his district (with the full knowledge of the DFL’s former Speaker of the House), and there’s the usual assortment of DUIs, not to mention the DFL taking the “20%” side of a lot of 80-20 issues (“stand your ground”, boys in girls sports, and so on).  

The response appears to be…

…slander all Republicans.  

State Senator Erin Maye Quade is a long-time progressive activist – think of her as a home-grown AOC.  Her terms as a state representative and state Senator from the south Twin Cities suburb of Apple Valley were interrupted by a brief run for Lieutenant Governer, along with current Minnesota Senate majority leader Erin Murphy – who, significantly standing next to Maye Quade outside the Senate chamber as she said (read the thread, via Tom Hauser at KSTP-TV):

She said this with the Majority Leader standing right there.  You can see it. 

That’s about as close as you can get to declaring all Republicans potential sex criminals in advance, just to save the trouble.  

So I’m going to go out on a short, sturdy limb and predict that Democrats nationwide are going to embark on a colossal campaign of name-calling.  

#OneMinnesota In Action

Posted on by
10

During his 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial bids, Minnesota governor Tim Walz ran under the motto and hashtag “One Minnesota”.   Now, if you’re a student of certain problematic eras in European history, the hair on the back of your neck might stand up when leaders start talking about making the place they want to govern “One…” of anything.  It’s kind of hte opposite of “E Pluribus Unum”, if you think about it. 

Especially when you compare to the Harris/Walz 2024 Presidental campaign, where the candidates spent a few cycles calling Republicans “Fascists” and “Nazis”.  

The election results showed that the results, er, came up a little short. 

Or…did they?

I’m of two minds about this story. Either:

  • Tim Walz only has one setting, “defamatory gaffe”, or
  • someone in the Democratic brain trust running Walz’s none-too-subtle 2028 Presidential pre-bid knows something we don’t about the hunger swing voters have to demonize half of their fellow Americans, with a little election denialism thrown in for good measure.

If I’m being consistent with my post on Walz and the team behind him from a week or so ago, I’d urge you not to rule out the second option too soon. 

This past Saturday, March 22, Walz spoke at a rally in Rochster, Minnesota – the largest city in the Minnesota First Congressional District, the district Walz represented in Washington from 2006 to 2018 (and which has, interestingly, voted for Walz’s opponents in two gubernatorial races and last year’s White House bid).   These…things, were found floating around the event.   As reported by Liz Collin, from Minnesota conservative outlet “Alpha News”:

On the one hand, “86” is a reference to the military (and bar industry) slang term for “permanently throw out”.   Which is the goal of politics.  Not a big deal.  

But “Bury Fascists?”

On top of all the other calls to violence, subtle and, er, not so subtle, in recent weeks?

And I did mention election denialism, didn’t I?

There are ways to not read that as denying the election results; delusion, magical thinking, or playing to a base that is more or less in intense denial about the Democratic party’s current state are the ones that jump to mind.  

Dean Phillips – former congressional representative and Democratic presidential candidate, and a Democrat who has found a niche as the Democrats’ and Minnesota DFL’s critical nagging conscience – is a little concerned about his former Minnesota political colleague:

Now, we don’t know who was handing them out, or how many were in circulation, or whether Walz was involved.

But this jibes with what Walz is saying, doing and, er, encouraging in his followers,

Before the inevitable half-assed walkback, anyway:

Open Letter To The MNDFL

Posted on by
5

To: The MNDFL
From: Mitch Berg, Obstreporous Peasant
Re: Pick A Side

So, profiles in courage that you are, you’ve decided to take a bold stance against (checks notes) iopeople attracted to minors. https://x.com/MinnesotaDFL/status/1902478708142702817

Pretty icky.

But wait – it was just two years ago that the DFL-controlled legislature passed a law, signed by Piglet, that removed “Minor Attraction” from the list of exceptions to the MN Human Rights Act.

The media’s Democrat-fluffery industry breathlessly told everyone it didn’t “protect pedophilia“.

And that’s true – technically.   It doesn’t make sex with underage people legal.  

What it did was open the door to litigation the next time someone who is attracted to minors suffers any form of discrimination if their attraction becomes public knowledge. 

Which is, let’s be honest, where slippery slopes start.

So – the DFL is being hypocritical about this one two levels – they started paving the way to make this sort of behavior acceptable (in Democrats), and as the GOP leads the way to expelling Eichorn, Nicole Mitchell – equally accused of a couple of felonies – remains covered by the DFL’s code of omertá and the network of DFL judges.   

Minnesota’s Ongoing National Humiliation Continues

Posted on by
8

Tim Walz appears to be doing more than exploring re a presidential run in 2028:

On the one hand – I’m not sure on what planet his national stock rose after his VP bid. He was an embarassment.

On the one hand – if he is delusional enough to think he’s got national legs after all that, maybe he’ll opt out of running for governor again?

Decisions.  Decisions. 

Reminder

Posted on by
10

If you live in House District 40B – northern Roseville and southern Shoreview – and you’ve seen enough of how the DFL acts when it’s got all the power it wants, get out and vote for Paul Wikstrom today. 

Drag your friends and family out to do it too. 

Got kids who live there?  They owe you.  Twist that arm.

Elderly relatives?   Get them to the polls.  

Wikstrom has raised more money in this race than some CD4 Congressional candidates have in recent races – so there’s support and interest.  This is at least in the running to be not a DFL walkover.  

Destroy the trifecta!

What’s the saying?  Oh, yeah.

Yes, we can.

(If “we” live in 40B). 

Who Has Two Thumbs…

Posted on by
7

…and called this number six to 12 months ago?

Do you even need to ask?

From 18B a head to 6B behind in two years.

Attaway, DFL.

But could it really have “been worser”?   

Because there’s no real chance the states ruling DFL clacque are going to do anything useful about it. 

Not to say they won’t do something…predictable:

Now, are there plenty of Minnesota voters stupid enough to believe that DFL spending under Biden spun the state’s budget wheel $24 Billion Dollars in the wrong direction in two years?

Well, they’re sure hoping so.

Of course, it’s not just Howard – who’s replaced Smith as the dumbest voice in the legislature:

Open Letter To All Smooth-Brained DFL Social Media Smurfs

Posted on by
14

To:  Smooth-brained DFL Social Media Smurfs
From:  Mitch Berg, Obstreporous Peasant
Re: When Did You Stop Beating…

SBDFLSMS,

As we watch Governor Piglet – who staged a lockdown, seized 18 months of emergency power for a 3 month emergency, started a snitch line and a “badthink” database and has spent seven years relentlessly dividing Minnesotans under the slogan “One People, One State, One Minnesota [1] – flail around at having called half of his state’s people “Nazis” and “Fascists”, I urge you to take a moment for introspection about some basic logic and, yes, morality.

To wit:

And this person, a DFL thought-leader:

Here’s the thing; the burden of proof is on you to prove someone is a “Nazi” or “fascist”, with some sort of evidence.  It is not on your target – we’re not “victims” – to prove they are not. 

Otherwise, you’re just a mud-slinging coward. 

That is all. 

[1] OK, that wasn’t literally the slogan.  But nobody who studied European totalitarianism in the 20th century didn’t think that when they first heard the slogan “One Minnesota”.  I guarantee it. 

Opportunity Runs Into The Door Like A Battering Ram At The Front Of An MRAP

Posted on by
4

The Piglet isn’t running for Senate:

That leaves the field with:

  • Lt. Governor Flanagan, the one-time extremist who has drifted toward the center-left, at least as compared to
  • Ilhan Omar and
  • Leigh Finke.
  • Al Franken is also riumored to be thinking about wanting to go back to DC.  
  • Angie Crag, who just keeps barely portraying herself as “moderate” in defending her always vulnerable House seat. 

The DFL’s big advantage is their chair has far more power to shape the election field than the GOP chair does.  I suspect the wrangling before, during and after the DFL convention will reflect the wishes of whomever is the MNDFL’s sitting char.   If it were still Ken Martin, I’d suspect a lot of push behind Rep. Craig – I can’t see that the other three contenders aren’t going to have problems outside 494/694.  Franken’s a wild card – but he’s also 73.  

There are mainstream (i.e. less overtly Maoist) DFLers who say they think Craig may have an inside shot.   Which would open up CD2, which has been vulnerable ever since Jason Lewis left the seat – provided the CD2 GOP can coalesce around a viable candidate, rather

As to Walz running for a third term?   That’s gotta be a big lift – but with seemingly every other contender for statewide office in the ring for Senate, it’s hard to see who in the DFL would oppose him, as the field looks now – or which of them would do better in a Governor race. 

The wildest card of all, of course, would be vintage DFL:  Senator Smith resigns early, Walz appoints either himself or whichever candidate has the current favor of the DFL (himself or Craig, I’d suspect), potentially leaving that choice and Lt. Gov. Flanagan as incumbents next year.  

At any rate – the opportunity is there for the MNGOP, if they can tame the circuilar firing squad for one lousy cycle. 

And the size of that “if” seems to defy physics. 

Open Letter To Mayor Carter

Posted on by
3

To:  Mayor Melvin Carter, Saint Paul
From:  Mitch Berg, Ornery Peasant and Human ATM
Re:  Election Denier?

Mayor,

You said this yesterday:

Quick point of order, yerroner – the rest of us pay taxes, too.  Lots and lots of them.

And we won the election.  In an electoral-college landslide, in fact. 

Aren’t you glad the Senate still has a filibuster?

That is all.

Comforting The Comfortable, Afflicting The Afflicted

Posted on by
6

I’m old enough to remember when Rolling Stone was vividly counter-culture.

But only barely .

Read this piece on Amy Klobuchar.

Pressed for a message to viewers, the Democratic senator cited her own disenfranchised feelings since the inauguration, saying it’s important, “To not give up, to not look down [and] to not end up in The Container Store like I did for three weekends in a row cause I decided I wanted to bring order to my life.”

Klobuchar added that one interaction in particular at The Container Store made her feel less alone in her frustrations. “This constituent comes up and says, ‘I know why you’re here,’ the senator reccounted. “It’s cause you feel like everything’s out of control and you’re trying to control it.”

Klobuchar told a similar story in a recent podcast interview with The Daily Beast. As the publication notes, the four-term senator “was on the hunt for baskets to organize her coffee and tea collection—and, in retrospect, the broader sense of satisfaction that comes with things being the way they’re supposed to be.”

 

Am I the only one who thinks is reads like an ad for the Container store woven not-all-that-cleverly into a piece on Klobuchar’s (checks notes) stunnng courageous boss-lady journey over the past month?

Does she need to moisturize, with all the tongue-baths she gets from BIg Media?

The Problem Is Families

Posted on by
5

Dunking on the MNDFL’s social media intern isn’t “punching down”.  It’s “squishing something with my foot”. 

But this one tells us a lot about the DFL. 

The intern is looking at something in the GOP platform:

Forget for a moment that they deflected from the GOP’s correct assertion that the DFL calls post-partum care “anti-abortion” – the crisis pregnancy center may be as noir of a béte to the MNDFL as Trump himself.

But look at the bit the intern highlighted:   it’ll show you how depraved the DFL is. The highlighted bit in the GOP platform asserts that *fathers should have rights* as well as obligations”.  

The DFL’s position is that not just the fetus, but the father, is just a clump of cells.  

Every time I think I hate the DFL enough, I find out I’m not even close.

Game Of Crones

Posted on by
16

Tina Smith is retiring from the Senate, citing health.

So – who’s turn is it in DC?

Tim Walz has made noises about running – and clearly lusts after DC real estate.  More on that maybe next week.

Peggy Flanagan came right out of the gate, though, and announced yesterday. 

No huge surprise there. 

Of course, some of her support rates a grim chuckle:

Her “lived experience” is entirely as part of the non-profit/DFL/industrial complex; she has never not been a first or second-tier government employee.

As to “proven leadership?” The only issue I can recall about her actually leading, as opposed to posturing…

…was when as chair of the Capitol Architecture Committee she let a group of her cronies tear down the statue of Christopher Columbus on the Capitol mall, and then made sure their leader and token arrestee was “sentenced” to teach kids about the evils of Christopher Columbus.

Now that’s leadership.

Besides Walz (ahem), we’ve Ilhan Omar, Jacob Frey, and we’ve got late-breaking rumors that Leigh Finke is mulling throwintg Leigh Finke’s hat into the ring:

Perspective

Posted on by
3

The DFL’s strategy in the tied MN House appears to be “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks”.

Case in point:

They’re certainly not dialing back the crazy.

The Majority

Posted on by
8

While the fracas in the MN House is getting all the attention, the DFL is having to battle for their electoral lives in the Senate, where their one-vote rests on Senator Nicole Mitchell.

The reasoning is getting clearer and clearer:

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald added a second burglary charge Monday against state Sen. Nicole Mitchell focusing on items she had with her when police encountered her stepmother’s home in April 2024 in Detroit Lakes….Mitchell’s case was supposed to go to trial in late January, but her defense team invoked a Minnesota law saying lawmakers cannot be required to attend court proceedings during a legislative session. That delayed Mitchell’s case until June and possibly later, depending on when the 2025 session wraps.

The new complaint includes more details about her alleged interaction with police. It says Mitchell told an officer “I’m just hoping this mistake won’t completely f*** up my life” and that she voiced alarm about affecting her military retirement.

She’s gonna leave the Senate, one way or another, and while two tied chambers isn’t any bigger of a hassle for the Governor and DFL and their agenda than one tied chamber, Woodbury isn’t so utterly safe that they can take anything for granted. 

Hours Of Fun!

Posted on by
7

Just in time for Christmas – and President’s Day [1] – the Governor Walz action figure!

Pull the string on his back to hear ten realistic-sounding phrases! –

  • “One Minnesota!”
  • “While billionaires feed their greed, we’re feeding kids!”

…and, like 6-8 more! [2]

Also – realistic “deer in the headlights” look when you ask him a question!

Corn dog, smart phone and DFL Comms Brodude sold separately.

[1] Too soon?

[2] Updates may be required.

OMIGAWD

Posted on by
8

So why is the DFL fighting everything so hard this year?

As we’ve noted in the past, the DFL has been in the minority before.  And they never reacted like they are today. 

So while acknowledging all the usual caveats – anonymous sources, citing even more anonymous connections, etc – read this entire thread anyway:

Presuming it’s true – it smacks of plausibility – then USAID is just a huge money-transfer machine, slapping altruistic facades onto over-the-top grifts to launder taxpayer money to the non-profit/industrial complex.

Looking at the freneticism and bile of the attacks on DOGE, Musk and the effort to tame USAID, it looks like it’s struck a nerve.

So – imagine what’ll happen if a Republican gets into the executive branch in Minnesota ever again?   Or gets enough power in the legislature to do some serious digging and publicizing?

If a Minnesota version of DOGE – perhaps the “Office of Minnesota Internal Graft, Abuse and Waste Detection” – were to get free reign to find where Governors Dayton and Walz and their non-profit/industrial complex handlers hid the bodies?

I suspect this list would get a lot bigger -and that that is why the DFL is squawking so hard this time

Behold #BlueAnon

Posted on by
3

It must be a tough time to be Erin Maye Quade – Senator from Apple Valley, and Big Left’s attack poodle in the Senate.

In the past couple of years, she’s voted for a thoughtcrime data base, and openly fantasized about using government power to keep parents from teaching their kids about abstinence…

…and about “Eminent Domaining” and bulldozing the crisis pregnancy centers try to keep people out of the Planned Parenthood clinics that spend so much on her campaigns and will presumably be her post-politics career.

Because suddenly, she’d discovered that big powerful government can be scary, when you’re not at the controls.

Even if you have to conjure those threats out of thin air:

Further evidence of Berg’s Seventh Law; QAnon was a fantasy, but BlueAnon is very, very real.