Whew! It is almost too hot to post anything today. There are two big stories out there today: the heat and the Governor calling a special session. I am going to go cool off. If you want to read about either of these two stories, here are some links:
MPR Updraft blog story about the heatwave.
MPR story about the special session.
Now I’m going to go lie down with a pitcher of lemonade in the shade.
Here's what to do when the heat of the state budget crisis gets to you. (Photo: www.nlm.nih.gov)
Minnesota U.S. House member Chip Cravaack (GOP-Lindstrom) announced that his wife and two children will be moving from Minnesota to New Hampshire while he will continue to live in Minnesota. Why? As reported by the Duluth News Tribune:
“The family’s decision to move to New Hampshire was made so that Cravaack and his wife, Traci, could spend more time with their two children.”
You would expect a former Navy officer like Chip Cravaack to be better at geography. By the way, New Hampshire is not anywhere near Minnesota, Chip! (Photo: MPR News/Derek Montgomery)
Cravaack said that he would be spending his Sunday off-days with his family in New Hampshire while spending the other 6 days of the week in Washington and Minnesota.
According to Cravaack: “Just because I’m in Congress, I’m still a father. And being a father comes first.” Does being a father mean shipping your kids halfway across the country and then barely ever seeing them?
It will be interesting to see during the next election if Chip Cravaack attempts to run on “family values.” If so, we can take it to mean that Republican party “family values” now means not living anywhere near your family and only seeing them at most one day a week.
Posted in Chip Cravaack, Elections, Family Values, GOP, Minnesota, Politics
It has been an eventful week. I am taking my usual weekend off from blogging. Have a nice weekend!
Posted in Miscellaneous
Okay, so I’ve been getting some responses on Twitter (@circlelovely) lately because I have been critical of Governor Dayton’s compromise (give-away) to Republicans. That’s fine…everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am genuinely happy to see that state workers will be getting back to work soon and that many of the problems and hardships of the shutdown will be over soon. All of that is a good thing and I am very happy for it.
Kurt Zellers and Amy Koch are already studying other opportunities to fleece Minnesota's working class. (Photo: scgaproperty.com)
However, my concern is the overall impact this deal is going to have on Minnesota. Overall, I think this deal stinks and it appears that most DFLers in the legislature are not going to vote for it. In fact, DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk from Cook told MPR’s Midmorning straightaway: “I don’t plan on voting for a borrowing proposal.” This sentiment was echoed by DFL House Minority Leader Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis, who said he had serious concerns with it said that it “is truly a Republican proposal.”
So, let me lay out the case why I think this is a bad deal both for Minnesota, the DFL and Governor Dayton.
After hearing about GOP-butchers, 9 out of 10 cattle are against "cuts." (Photo: Glen Watson)
1) There are no new tax increases. Governor Dayton campaigned on this point–that there would be new taxes on Minnesota’s top earners. I can tell you that getting tax increases passed at the end of the next biennium is going to be that much more difficult–it is going to get more difficult to raise taxes as the election for the Governorship gets closer–this was the best chance Dayton had to get new tax increases. The state desperately needs new revenue–we have had budget problems going all the way back to Jesse Ventura’s tax giveaways. This is not something that is going to go away–and cuts alone aren’t going to get the job done. Minnesotans come to rely on government services (the outcry against the shutdown is evidence of this) and having good services contributes greatly to what we consider a high quality of life here in Minnesota.
2) The budget gap gets fixed with more gimmicks. This is the main reason why Fitch Ratings downgraded Minnesota’s bond rating from AAA to AA+. For more on why this is a bad thing, see my previous post: http://circlelovely.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/minnesotas-bond-rating-lowered/.
3) From a political standpoint, the timing of the deal was terrible. Dayton had just wrapped up a tour around the state to drum up support for his budget plan. This should have been part of a strategy to keep pressure on the Republicans, eventually getting enough of the rank-and-file members to crack under the pressure so that he could get tax increases and fix the budget problem in a more permanent way. So it is baffling why he then made this rather conciliatory offer to the GOP right after coming back from his trip around the state. He had the initiative and was starting to gain the upper hand and then gave it up.
Mark Dayton has nothing left up his sleeve now that he's given it all away to Republicans. (Photo: examiner.com)
4) Dayton is going to get blamed for the shutdown. I am worried that because Dayton blinked first (gave in), he will be held responsible for the shutdown by the voters and the Republicans will be able to exploit this in the next election.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like Mark Dayton, overall am happy that he is Governor (I can’t imagine the world of hurt we’d be in right now with Tom Emmer as Governor), and if he runs for reelection I will most likely still vote for him again. I just think he handled this whole situation badly. It was a squandered political opportunity and it was a squandered opportunity to get Minnesota on better financial footing.
However, I am happy that state workers will be going back to work soon and that Minnesota will be “open for business” once more.
I have supported Governor Mark Dayton in the state budget dispute to this point but I’ve got to disagree with his latest offer to the GOP. He basically gives up the idea of taxing the über-wealthy or any kind of new tax increases (which are sooooooo badly needed) and instead agrees to more of the same accounting tricks and gimmicks. I mean, come on! Governor, you were winning the battle of public opinion! You had Republican lawmakers holding press conferences agreeing that the state needs to generate more revenue! This is exactly where you wanted them…the cracks in the GOP armor were showing! You had the momentum and you’ve now thrown it all away with your latest offer!
Why let the GOP go when you've got them in a headlock? (Photo: mtv.com)
I would like to see an end to the state government shutdown too, but it is hard not to see this latest budget offer by the Governor as anything other than a win for the Republicans.
I am sorry, but I am not going to try to hide my disappointment. I am actually hoping the Republicans reject this offer.
Now if you live in Minnesota and have not been paying attention to the shutdown, I’m guessing that some of you will sit up and take notice after hearing this. Apparently, MillerCoors beer supplier missed the June 13th deadline to renew its license for “brand label registration” and it can’t be processed until after the government shutdown is over.
Not having MillerCoors beers--a sobering thought for many Minnesotans. (Photo: cisionwire.com)
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Doug Neville said that if MillerCoors does not cease its merchandise sales in Minnesota, it will be in violation of the law. Meanwhile, MillerCoors says it has no plans to pull its inventory out of Minnesota.
It is kind of funny and a little sad to think that this could be the issue that puts enough pressure on lawmakers to make a deal with the Governor–Minnesotans not being able to get their booze on.
Of course while circling your lovely world, drink responsibly.
I am sorry, Wisconsin, you are beautiful and I love you, but you have to pull yourself together. Every time you are in the news these days, it is because of something that is either controversial, ill-conceived, or just outright strange. That last category is where I would put this latest tidbit of news coming out of the Badger State. Wisconsin is in the process of recalling six Republicans and three Democrats. However, in addition to the real Democratic challengers in the recall, there are six fake Democrats (read: Republicans) running as Democrats in the recall elections, and since Wisconsin has open primaries, this means that Republicans can vote in the Democratic primaries, raising concerns that the Republicans are trying to hijack the Democrat’s own primary election! This is just ridiculous! I know as a Minnesotan, my state doesn’t have a lot of room to talk (given the state shutdown and all), but I wanted to bring it up because it further illustrates just how polarized our country is at this moment and how damaging this polarization can be to the democratic process.
Badgers, despite their cute fur, can be quite menacing. (Photo: ontariobadgers.com)
