May 7th, 2008 • 2:38 pmBlogger Conference Call Highlights
Last night, I joined several of my MOB friends for a blogger conference call with Norm Coleman. Norm was on his A game last night. Sen. Coleman started the call with a brief monologue about Al Franken’s tax troubles. Sen. Coleman said that it wasn’t that Franken owed lots of money in taxes–he doesn’t–it’s that it showed that he isn’t willing to take responsibility when something goes wrong. I agree.
Franken has offered a litany of ‘the dog ate my homework’ type of excuses since Michael exposed him. Sen. Coleman said that Minnesotans have a simple view on this issue: If you owe taxes, you pay them and you don’t make excuses.
Sen. Coleman also spoke briefly about a deal signed by outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Bush. If President Bush signs it and sends it to Congress, it will go into effect 90 days after Congress receives it unless Congress votes it down. Sen. Coleman is opposing the deal. He said that we need to go back to the Russians and demand that they cease helping the Iranians get a nuclear capability before going forward with this deal.
Frankly, that’s another example of why Sen. Coleman is superior to Franken. Could you picture Al Franken figuring this out, much less opposing the deal? I can’t. I also can’t picture Franken working across the aisle, which is what Sen. Coleman is doing. In fact, Sen. Coleman’s teamed with Evan Bayh, one of the few Democrats that takes national security seriously.
One thing that appealed to last night’s bloggers was Sen. Coleman saying that he really appreciated the opportunity to talk with bloggers because they give him an opportunity to talk about issues on an in-depth level, something he says doesn’t happen with the MSM. One of the things Sen. Coleman spoke in-depth about last night was energy policy, specifically ethanol and clean coal technology.
Sen. Coleman said that we need to move away from grain-based ethanol and start emphasizing cellulosic ethanol production. Sen. Coleman says that it’s important to start building nuclear power plants, to develop fuels based on clean coal technology and to drill off our coasts.
Finally, Sen. Coleman is working diligently on the mortgage crisis. He’s opposed to Sen. Durbin’s “cramdown” approach. Instead, he favors making available fixed rate mortgage money, which the homeowner would have to repay. It would just eliminate the exhorbitant payments they’re currently getting buried by.
He isn’t in favor of bailing out speculators who simply got stuck while trying to make money on the housing market. I agree with that. People that make commitments while trying to make money know that there’s risks involved. If they get hung out to dry, that’s part of the inherent risk involved in speculating.
All in all, it was an informative, impressive conversation on some important issues. I’ll just speak for myself in saying that I look forward to these conversations because Sen. Coleman is an impressive legislator. We’re fortunate to have him representing us.
Technorati: Norm Coleman, Bloggers, Conference Call, Energy, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Power, Mortgage Crisis, Al Franken, Election 2008
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“Sen. Coleman said that it wasn’t that Franken owed lots of money in taxes–he doesn’t–it’s that it showed that he isn’t willing to take responsibility when something goes wrong. I agree.”
So, how do you feel about Ron Carey’s blame everyone but himself for the MN GOP’s financial paperwork problems?
Or, are you going to tell me “That’s different.”
Somehow, I don’t think “That’s different” is going to play in greater Minnesota…
Comment by TwoPuttTommy • 08May2008 @ 12:20 pm
I haven’t looked into the story yet so I can’t say anything specific. (I prefer dealing with verifiable facts.)
If mistakes were made at RPM headquarters, then I’d expect Mr. Carey to take full responsibility for the mistakes.
You’re right that “That’s different” won’t cut it as an explanation, whether it’s outstate Minnesota or the Metro.
Comment by Gary Gross • 08May2008 @ 1:36 pm
Gary, check with Joe Repya about Ron’s “acceptance of responsibility”…..
Comment by TwoPuttTommy • 09May2008 @ 9:27 am
I’ll do my own research, thank you. I hope that you see I don’t play favorites when corruption is allegedly involved.
Comment by Gary Gross • 09May2008 @ 9:46 am
Gary, Lady Logician - a Republican Activist isn’t happy about this issue. It’s certainly a legitimate question to ask Norm whether he believes the same about the State Party putting 401K withholding into the 401K accounts of their employees, rather than using that money as temporary slush fund. That was what the memo of Dwight Toskinen, a former long term RPM employee, discussed.
When the Strib initially published an article about the state party finances close to the party chair election, Carey’s reaction was “liberal media”. That is an ad hominem attack rather than addressing the legitimate questions by the Strib.
From the Lady Logician:
http://www.ladieslogic.com/2008/05/glass-houses.html
Many party activists, myself included, have had problems with Chairman Carey, especially when it comes to things like party messege and credibility in the face of leadership “issues”. Some expressed their frustrations in public forums, I did not. Oh I voiced my concerns. When he was running for re-election last June, Chairman Carey called me and when we finished over an hour later I had gotten the last of my concerns out. I know that I was not the only one to voice concerns to the Chairman….concerns that he said he would address and for the large part has not.
Now I fully comprehend that Chairman Carey is not running for Senate and AL Franken is, however the average voter is not going to make that distinction. The average voter is going to see these stories and they are going to say that the MNGOP is just as guilty as Franken…thus negating any messege inroads we activists might have made!
The ball is in Carey’s court. If he were smart, he would release the audit PUBLICALLY and immediately and he would drop the tax issue and move on to talking about why voters need to vote for Norm Coleman (as opposed to against Al Franken). Senator Coleman has a record that Republicans can be proud of…a record that has frustrated Conservatives for sure, but for the large part has been a good representation of ALL MINNESOTANS. Rather than leaving that important story just to bloggers (like Gary Gross and myself) he needs to be talking about that and leaving the attack pieces to the blogosphere - where it can be done without damaging the candidate or the party. Right now, Chairman Carey, your actions are damaging the entire Republican ticket! For the Senator’s sake, until you get the MNGOP’s house in order, please stop trying to help us.
Comment by Eva Young • 10May2008 @ 6:01 pm