Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Quick Hits: Volume XXXI

-Typically the 4th of July is one day where citizens could put aside their political talking points and just enjoy celebrating America's birthday. However, here in Minnesota, it may have been a little more difficult to cease the rhetoric due to state government being shut down. After all, a fair number of families were likely shut out from some of their favorite state-run parks and/or campgrounds due to the shutdown.

But one state employee managed to find a suitable way to enjoy himself on the 4th by hanging out on Lake Minnetonka. While there, said state worker guy saw a lot of people whom he believes are keeping him temporarily unemployed.

On Lake Minnetonka today. I see a lot of folks who could afford to pay a little more in taxes in order to get Minnesota back to work.


Or just one Governor to not break his campaign promise regarding NOT shutting down government over a tax increase.





-Speaking of the shutdown, former Democrat VP candidate Walter Mondale and two-term governor Arne Carlson have formed a committee in an effort to find a solution to Minnesota's budget impasse. Granted, there has been no acquiescence from either Gov. Mark Dayton or the GOP-controlled legislature that they would adhere to any suggestions from an independent committee. Nevertheless, Mondale and Carlson are two of the more well known names in Minnesota political lore, so naturally some people are fawning for their "wisdom."

Personally, I see this as little more than symbolism, given the ideology of the two individuals heading up this so-called committee. You have Mondale, who made a vow he would he would raise taxes if elected President in 1984. I believe his off-the-cuff quote was something along the lines of how his administration was going to "tax their ass off."

Then you have Carlson, the two-term "Republican" governor, who served in that position from 1991 thru 1999. Some may refer to Carlson as a RINO but I think of him as more in the motif of a DIABLO (Democrat In All But Label Only), an acronym coined by Mark Steyn. In fact, local scribe James Lileks was famous for describing the 1990 gubernatorial race between Carlson and incumbent Democrat Rudy Perpich as the "pro-abortion, pro-gun-control candidate vs. the Democrat!” Carlson was also famous for spending state surpluses on entitlement programs which have since become permanent, thus contributing to bloated state budgets over the years.

In other words, do you have any reasonable expectation that Mondale and Carlson would not endorse Governor Dayton's desire to increase taxes on "the rich?" I sure as heck don't.


-Admittedly, I paid very little (if any) attention to the saga of Casey Anthony, who was acquitted of the 2008 killing of 2-year old daughter Caylee. Naturally, the knee-jerk reactions in the midst of the "not guilty" verdict ranged from anger to devastation. I've even seen others blame the prosecution, essentially saying that they bungled the entire case. But when seeking a murder/manslaughter conviction, prosecutors have the unenviable task of proving guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt."

In fact, an attorney friend of mine shared this perspective on her Facebook page:

While I am surprised about the not guilty verdict today, from the bits and pieces of the trial I saw, there was not any resounding evidence against (Casey Anthony). This does not mean our justice system has failed, rather just the opposite - if a group of her "peers" could not say without a doubt that she was guilty, then our system is in fact working.


While there will be continued debate on the verdict, this much is incontrovertible: An innocent toddler has yet to receive justice for her senseless death.

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11 comments:

the truther said...

The GOP fascination with Dayton's pledge not to shut down the government is hilarious. It is just a perfect example of the lunacy of the party. FYI, a governor's promise to not shut down government (or a president's promise to reach across the aisle) does NOT mean you get everything you want in a budget deal. When Dayton said that he was not offering to let the GOP unilaterally pass a budget. A mistake obviously for him to put any faith in our current legislature to actually govern instead of just taking marching orders from Grover Norquist and Tony Sutton.

What an embarrassment...

Brad Carlson said...

The "Truther", eh? Kinda like when we called my 300 lb. high school classmate "Slim."

I digress.

a governor's promise to not shut down government (or a president's promise to reach across the aisle) does NOT mean you get everything you want in a budget deal.

What the GOP "wanted" (and also campaigned on) was to roll back spending to 2009 numbers ($31-$32 billion). They have since come up to $34 billion knowing full well that a Democrat governor would not want to shrink government.

Since your handle would imply you're interested in the truth, did you know there was 90-100% agreement on about six major bills? There was no reason the Governor couldn’t sign the education, environment, higher education, jobs and economic development, public safety and transportation bills. Had he done so many people would not be facing a layoff right now.

The true embarrassment is the petulance displayed by the governor with this asinine "all or nothing" approach.

the truther said...

Again, fuzzy math. Without raising the bottom line number, the "agreements" with budgets for some departments just meant that there was an even bigger gap in the other departments where there was no agreement. It's basic algebra, most of us learned it in 6th or 7th grade.

The $31-$32 billion number is ridiculous to rely on. That budget number came before a new, higher revenue projection for the biennium. The governor used that higher projection to cut his tax increase, the legislature used it to increase their spending figures.

And campaigns are irrelevant at this point. The governor campaigned on a tax the rich message. That's obviously contradictory to what many legislators campaigned on. There is no mandate to either side. The mandate was for the sides to compromise. The GOP just didn't get that message. The voters will respond accordingly in 2012.

Make fun of the name as much as you wish. You haven't successfully refuted a single assertion of any of my arguments, which only lends credibility to it.

Brad Carlson said...

The $31-$32 billion number is ridiculous to rely on. That budget number came before a new, higher revenue projection for the biennium.

That's the whole point!!!! When times are tough and revenue comes in lower than projected, Government NEVER scales back. Therefore, here's an opportunity to make the necessary cuts so as not to face higher budget deficits in the future.

So now that the legislature is proposing to spend all $34B of projected revenue, which effectively funds everything, why exactly do we need an extra $1.8B? I know the real answer: Mark Dayton just wants to exorcise his guilt of being a self-loathing trust fund baby. However, I'm interested in the DFL chanting point on this particular issue.

You haven't successfully refuted a single assertion of any of my arguments, which only lends credibility to it.

Oh but I have. Government needs to be scaled back. PERIOD. The fact that the Governor wants to "raise revenue" but not indicate what the money will be used for speaks volumes. You people are only interested in taking from producers and giving to non-producers. That's the exact opposite of "progressive."

Brad Carlson said...

Again, fuzzy math.

Like a 2% tax increase on 7,700 citizens yielding $1.8 Billion in new revenue?

Eugene54 said...

Governor Dayton and his minnions and are like fraudulent dieters. They get a DairyQueen cake, then to scrimp on the excess sugars, cut off only the frosting, then eat the whole remaining cake.
Governor Dayton and his minnions "only cut" the "feelings of people", not the excessive "waste" of a Bloated Government. Minnesota Transportation ballooned to 100 times it size over the last 10 years.
passenger trains bancrupt, the communities, nation wide, where ever they are used, in the United States of America.
Another concern with Passenger trains is the inflexibility of their adaptation to community changes.
MicHael Medved, Jason Lewis, Hugh Hewitt, and others have shown, USA wide, that whereever they put in a "CHEW CHEW $HRAIN" They chew chew at the pockets of those in the vicinity of the overpriced stupid illogical for the USA or States transportation LACK OF DOLLARS.

Eugene54 said...

FOX SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRET BAIER 6/29/2011, CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER,
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/270870/krauthammers-take-nro-staff ,
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: He himself, (PreCident Obama) as we just heard, said you can't reduce the deficit to levels we need without raising revenues. Then he talks about the corporate jets, which he mentioned not once but six times. If you collect the corporate jet tax for every year, for the next 5,000 years, you will cover one year of the debt that Obama has run up, one year. To put it another way -- if you started collecting that tax, at the time of John the Baptist and you collected it every year the first in shekels and now in dollars, you wouldn't halfway to cover one year of the amount of debt that Obama has run up.
As for the other one, he mentions again and again The oil depreciation tax break. If you collect that one for 700 years, you won't cover a year of Obama deficit. And this is my favorite. If you collect the corporate jet and the oil tax, together, get all the bad guys and the fat cats at once and you collected that for 100 years, it "!.,ONLY,,.!" covers the amount of debt Obama added in February 2011.

Eugene54 said...

For each corporate jet that flies, several thousand "!.,Union ,!" jobs are needed to manufacture the corporate jet, maintain, (pilot, clean, repair, refuel, inspect, flight paths)

For each "!.,oil depreciation tax break,,.!" , several thousand "!.,Union ,!" jobs are needed to PRODUCE THE OIL , maintain, (monitor, clean, repair, inspect, manufacture parts, install parts, build rigs)
WAKE UP USA.!!!!!
"TAXING DOES NOT WORK,,.!"
What is TAXED and REGULATED "!!,.FAILS,.!!" , "!.,GOES OUT OF BUSINESS,.!" , "!.,LEAVES THE STATE,.!", "!.,LEAVES THE USA,.!"
What is NOT TAXED and NOT REGULATED "!!.,SUCCEEDS,.!!" , "!.,EXPANDS,.!" , "!.,HIRES EMPLOYEES,.!"

Eugene54 said...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi took over, January 3, 2007, Harry M Reid, being the Senate Majority Leader since January 3, 2007. Their housing scandel with Hilary Clinton, Worst sENATOR Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, Chistopher Dodd, Chucky Shoemur, Barney FRank, Temporary Senator Barack Obama, 38 MARXIST CZARS, Acorn, SEIU, gEORGE sOROS, etc... forcing mortgage companies to give loans to persons unqualified to get mortgages? That, ALONG WITH OBAMA NATION un_hEALTH cARE, broke the back of our financial markets.!!

Eugene54 said...

THE dEMOCratIC PARTY controlled most of the congress of the PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
8 YEARS. ESPECIALLY THE LAST TWO.!!! THE DemocRATic congress has had the control of congress for the majority of the last 70 years. A very corrupt and ANTI-USA, ANTI-USA CONSTITUTION, dEMOCRAT'S Congress.

Eugene54 said...

Minnesota .....there WERE "!.,NO CUTS,.!" JUST "!.,REDUCTIONS,.!" IN INCREASED proposed additional SPENDING.
gOVERNOR dAYTON, is standing with his back to the giant cliff, "!.El Capitan."! about to drag the state over the edge. The "!.,TEA PARTY,.!" ELECTED Republicans are trying to prevent gOVERNOR dAYTON from dragging Minnesota over that cliff, likening Minnesota to California and Greece.
El Capitan is a 3,000-foot (910 m) vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park.