Archive for the ‘Big Government’ Category

Anyone that thinks that government is efficient at delivering important services are either lying to themselves or lying to us. Predictably, neither the DFL nor the Dayton administration still hasn’t gotten MNLARS running.

Now, problems are being addressed, Minnesota IT Services Commissioner Johanna Clyborne told the MNLARS Steering Committee, but progress has been slow-moving.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Clyborne said.

MNLARS employees have received more than 32,000 applications for Real IDs this year and have mailed out just over a third, said Dawn Olson, Driver and Vehicle Services Director. Olson said she hopes the remainder will be mailed out by the first week in January.

I’m hoping to win the lottery before the new year starts, too. Based on past history, I’m betting there’s an equal chance of me winning that lottery and DVS getting the remainder out on time. And I’m not betting on winning the lottery in the next 3 weeks.

The commissioners admitted that it’s still taking more than 40 days to get drivers licenses out. Why doesn’t the state turn to a real IT company to fix the problem? At this point, the frustration level from the public is high. If the DFL doesn’t fix their MNLARS problem ASAP, there will be a political backlash. This project has already cost taxpayers $100,000,000.

Here’s something else worth considering: The DFL wanted Republicans to appropriate enough money to complete the project. Republicans refused, saying they wanted to have some control over the project. That’s why Gov. Dayton vetoed the bill and the DFL voted to sustain Gov. Dayton’s veto. This MNLARS project is 100% around the DFL’s necks.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Ramona Dohman said MNLARS employees were stretched thin as they were forced to switch from one role to another to cover phones or emails or license and title applications. “Driver and Vehicle Services is able to triage to bring down turnaround times momentarily, but we just can’t get ahead,” Dohman said.

In other words, DPS and DVS is no closer to fixing the problem today than they were last spring. It’s indisputable that this is a leadership failure. The only thing that’s in question is how to fix this. That’s something Democrats are terrible at.

They’re great at proposing new things. Unfortunately, Democrats run into all kinds of problems in the implementation phase. Think back to MNsure and Healthcare.gov. Those were total failures, too.

It isn’t surprising that people don’t trust government. A quick check of the history of government, whether it’s local, state or federal, shows how inept government is. That’s why it’s essential to elect solutions-oriented people in 2020. That’s who President Trump is. That’s the opposite of what Gov. Dayton or soon-to-be-Speaker Pelosi are. Unfortunately, I suspect that Gov.-Elect Walz will be just as inept.

That’s why I’m not expecting MNLARS to get fixed anytime soon.

The thieves in the DFL got embarrassed this week when Rob Undersander testified in front of a House committee. Specifically, he testified that “he received food stamps for 19 months to prove a point: Not everyone who gets the aid needs it.” The DFL, meanwhile, was livid. Here’s what happened.

During his testimony, the “Waite Park resident did it to call attention to a bill from Rep. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville, that would require personal assets to be included in the government’s formula for food stamp recipients. Undersander legally collected food stamps during a period in which he had little income, the key criteria for receiving the benefit.” The article states that Undersander is a millionaire.

That made DFL heads explode. “Rep. Laurie Halverson, DFL-Eagan, joined others in her party to criticize Undersander. ‘I am finding it incredibly offensive that $6,000 in benefits were taken,’ Halvorson said. Added Rep. Jennifer Schultz, DFL-Duluth: ‘I think it is inappropriate to apply for these benefits.'” Meanwhile, “Rep. John Considine, DFL-Mankato, said ‘You knew this was wrong and you did it anyway. I find it pretty despicable. … I am just sorry there is no way we can prosecute you.'”

Undersander isn’t the thief in this instance. As far as we know, he didn’t lie on his application. If he had, they’d prosecute him.

Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, praised the Waite Park man. “I am really sorry about the line of questioning that has been put forth, and the accusations,” she said. “You should be able to come to a committee without being accused of being a thief.”

If the legislature is going to write sloppy bills, people will take advantage of the loopholes. If the DFL wants to complain, they’re best off complaining to the person in the mirror. They wrote the bill, then voted for it, too.

The DFL owns this problem. As usual, Republicans have submitted a bill to clean up the DFL’s mess.

Technorati: Rob Undersander, Jeff Howe, Mary Franson, Welfare Reform, MNGOP, John Considine, Laurie Halverson, Jennifer Schultz, DFL

This LTE is filled with progressive hypocrisy about health care. For instance, the writer highlighted the Bible verse that says “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.” That verse is found, according to the author, in Chapter 12, verse 33 of Luke’s Gospel.

As a Christian, I’m tired of Democrats cherry-picking that verse each time they want to guilt Republicans into expand a government program. That entire section of the Bible says “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

It’s pretty clear that Democrats aren’t following this verse’s directive. When government levies taxes to pay for government programs, that isn’t selling one’s possessions and giving the proceeds to the poor for their benefit.

That passage finished by saying that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Isn’t it clear that this passage is talking about personal behavior, not public policy? The point is that we shouldn’t use Bible verses to push public policy positions. We should use Bible verses to examine our personal behavior.

The next paragraphs illustrate the author’s true intent:

Do so by calling those Republican leaders and screaming against the repeal, voting for mercy, compassion, humanity, common sense and morality, to save the health and lives of millions of people who depend on Obamacare.

If not, next will be Medicare and Social Security for this ruthless immoral gang.

It’s obvious that the author simple wants to maintain the status quo on 20th Century programs rather than see if there’s a better way of helping the least fortunate amongst us. PS- Trusting in government creates its own problems. Isn’t it time we stopped thinking that it’s the solution to our every problem?

Technorati: Obamacare, Bible, Big Government, Democrats, Republicans

This article announcing Gov. Dayton’s appointing of a new chairperson of the Met Council highlights the possibility of that appointee facing pushback when her committee hearing is held.

According to the article, “The Met Council has new leadership. On Tuesday, Gov. Mark Dayton announced that current Chair Adam Duininck will step down from his role as head of the Met Council. In his place, Dayton announced the appointment of Minnesota State Rail Director Alene Tchourumoff to head the Met Council.”

Further into the article, Alpha reporter Preya Samsundar reports “Sen. Dave Osmek of Mound, who is expected to announce his candidacy for governor this summer, had been pushing pieces of legislation to reign in, and more recently, abolish the Met Council. On the last day of session, Osmek turned in a 214-page piece of legislation which states, “A bill for an act relating to local and state government; abolishing the Met Council.” Osmek has been pushing for reformation of the Met Council since 2015.”
Sen. Osmek’s credentials as a reformer are high. Jason Lewis’ reformer credentials are pretty high, too. Rep. Lewis is working hard in DC against organizations like the Met Council:

In Washington, Rep. Jason Lewis is also doing his part to ensure the council goes no further. In March, a bill authored by Lewis passed through the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in the United States House of Representatives.

“Under the rule, the Met Council, a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), could have expanded their boundaries and taxed the suburbs to help fund downtown projects,” Lewis told Alpha News at the time. “We’re protecting the ability of local decision makers to do what works for their own communities.”

Thank goodness for Jason Lewis for protecting suburbs like Prior Lake, Shakopee and Chanhassen. Let’s hope we elect a Republican governor and keep our GOP majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate so we can, at minimum, stop the Met Council’s authority to tax people without representing people.

Right now, the Met Council ‘represents’ Gov. Dayton. They don’t represent the people. Still, they’ve been given the authority to levy taxes. There’s no way that’s right.

Technorati: Adam Duininck, Alene Tchourumoff, Met Council, Mark Dayton, DFL, Jason Lewis, Metropolitan Planning Organization, Dave Osmek, Conservatives, MNGOP

When the Strib first reported that the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Authority, aka MSFA, had used 2 suites at the Vikings new stadium to entertain family members and DFL political allies, Minnesotans were rightfully outraged. According to this article, that outrage hasn’t diminished much, if at all.

I’m sure, though, that Minnesotans will sleep easier knowing that the MSFA has a new policy towards those suites. Michele Kelm-Helgen announced that “I clearly heard and understand that people did not support having friends and family in suites. We now have a new suite policy.”

Ms. Kelm-Helgen isn’t stupid. She had to know that this wasn’t right. It’s more likely that she’s arrogant or that she felt entitled. Initially, the MSFA said that they used the suites “to host potential clients”, which I wrote about in this post. Back then, the Pioneer Press wrote “Kelm-Helgen and Mondale said they and the four MSFA commissioners use the suites to host potential clients who are looking to rent all or portions of the stadium, which opened in August. But they also acknowledge they regularly invite friends and family to the suites. The two say they can’t reveal the identities of their guests because that would hinder their marketing efforts. However, they did release the identities of 12 current and former public officials who reimbursed the authority $200 for their tickets to the suite.”

This time, Ms. Kelm-Helgen was more forthright:

The chairwoman of the government authority that manages U.S. Bank Stadium defended the use of two luxury suites for officials’ friends and family before a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday, saying it’s been common practice for years.

Here’s a picture of one of the suites controlled by the MSFA:

Democrats will always do the right thing … when it’s the only option left.

When I wrote this post about President-Elect Trump’s drain-the-swamp initiative, one of the things I wrote about was the Tomah VA hospital. This article provides more detail on the things that allegedly happened there.

The biggest thing that the Wisconsin Watchdog article talks about is the dentist that infected people with HIV and hepatitis C. What specifically caught my attention is the part where it says “the dentist in question knowingly did not follow VA standards for a year, between October 2015 and this October. A dental assistant blew the whistle on the misconduct. ‘He had a replacement dental assistant, and she noted this particular piece of instrument being used … He brought in his own burs and cleaned them with Virex solution, salt and a wipe, which is nothing we endorse,’ Brahm told the news site. ‘She reported it the next day, Oct. 20, to the dental chief who reported it to senior leadership. We took action Oct. 21.'”

Actually, it isn’t just that the Tomah VA doesn’t endorse what this dentist did. This article gives a more detailed account:

Earlier this week, officials said a dentist at the Tomah VA Medical Center improperly re-used his own dental equipment instead of using the sterilized, disposable tools as VA rules require.

“It was purposeful that he was violating VA regulations,” said Victoria Brahm, acting medical director at the Tomah VA Center in a press briefing earlier this week.

“During all of the orientation, he used our equipment. He used it appropriately, so it was very purposeful from what we found in our investigation that he knew exactly what he was doing, and preferred to use his own equipment against procedure.”

It’s clear that the VA hospital system is one of the biggest swamps of corruption that needs to be drained. Then there’s this:

A current employee who asked not be identified said Brahm “puts on a good face,” but the hospital is “still bad and full of drug abuse and employee abuse.”

“I have even spoken with the director about this and how veterans are harassed in Tomah due to the VA. All that has been said is, ‘There’s still work to be done.’ The same tag line that is always used,” the source said.

Hopefully, the Trump administration takes the VA corruption seriously. This needs to stop ASAP.

Technorati: Donald Trump, Ron Johnson, Drain the Swamp, VA Hospitals, Tomah VA, Victoria Brahm, Hepatitis C, HIV, Corruption, Accountability

St. Paul Chris Coleman is asking for another major property tax increase. This is likely the first in a lengthy list of mayoral sob stories set to be published.

Mayor Coleman, it seems, expected a “$3 million boost in state aid” that isn’t coming. The sob story will sound something like this: We passed a budget that expected an increase in LGA but House Republicans killed that. Now we’re stuck with a $3,000,000 deficit, which means we’re going to have to cut “up to nine police officers.”

Actually, the entire paragraph reads “The breakdown of talks over a potential special legislative session means the city isn’t going to get an expected $3 million boost in state aid, and simply cutting that money could cost the city up to nine police officers, force one of the city’s recreation centers to close and trim the city’s racial equity initiatives, Coleman wrote Wednesday in a letter to the St. Paul City Council.”

Start cutting, Mayor Coleman. Forcing “one of the city’s recreation centers to close” isn’t a tragedy. Losing 9 police officers at a time when BlackLivesMatter activists are throwing cement blocks and rebar at police offices is a tragedy. This paragraph sums it up perfectly:

“This is not acceptable,” said council member Dai Thao. “We spend millions of dollars on the Palace Theater. Some of the folks targeted by these cuts would never experience the Palace theater,” said Thao, saying the cuts wouldn’t be fair for many St. Paul residents.

The first question that isn’t being asked is this: why did St. Paul spend “millions of dollars on the Palace Theater”? Here’s why they spent millions on it:

Enhancing the vibrant downtown entertainment district is at the core of this project. Expected to attract more than 100,000 people downtown annually, the Palace Theatre will fill a need in the current entertainment venue market by offering a contemporary music venue twice as large as Minneapolis’ First Avenue.

In other words, St. Paul just pissed away millions of dollars to compete with Minneapolis? Now they want to raise taxes because they’re spending like a bunch of drunk sailors at a strip club. Imagine spending millions of dollars on a building like this:

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that Angie Craig is attempting to tie Jason Lewis to Donald Trump. It’s what a hardline lefty like Craig has to do. When I wrote this post, I highlighted Ms. Craig’s issues page.

Ms. Craig’s issue page identifies her quickly as part Pelosi lefty, part Bernie Sanders lefty. For instance, Craig thinks that the federal government isn’t spending enough on higher education, saying “This includes both encouraging public colleges to find ways to lower costs and increase federal funding for the neediest students, providing incentives for states to invest in higher education and keeping tuition down. We can’t continue to saddle our kids with the tens of thousands of dollars of debt as they enter the workforce.”

Spoken like a true utopian. Craig isn’t done with the leftist ideology. Another bit of low-hanging fruit from the Craig ‘issues tree’ comes from her saying “We have to ensure that there are meaningful, good paying jobs for our graduates and more job opportunities for working families. Congress has lost sight of the fundamentals of growing the economy.”

That’s too easy. President Obama has been in office for almost 8 years but it’s Congress’s fault that the economy hasn’t helped people working for small businesses? It wasn’t a GOP Congress that passed the ACA, aka Obamacare. It wasn’t a GOP Congress that waged war against mining jobs with EPA regulations. Hillary Clinton promised to devastate blue collar states:

It was Hillary who said that she’d put lots of coal miners out of work. Ms. Craig seems to turn a blind eye towards that. I’d love to hear Ms. Craig explain how it’s possible to build a “a sustainable economy and create meaningful, good-paying jobs” while intentionally killing other jobs. Perhaps Ms. Craig would like to explain government’s history of picking winners lately. In Ms. Craig’s mind, is Solyndra a success?

Earlier, I highlighted the fact that Ms. Craig blamed the Republican Congress of losing “sight of the fundamentals of growing the economy.” Personally, I think Ms. Craig should be reminded of this:

Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer who took more than $500 million from President Obama’s stimulus then went bust, sticking taxpayers for the loss, lied to federal officials to secure the loan, the Energy Department’s inspector general said in a report released Wednesday.

But the Obama administration goofed too, and may have cut corners in fully vetting the project because of “political pressure” from top Democrats and Solyndra itself, the investigators said in their report, which took four years to complete.

Is Ms. Craig certain that we should trust the federal government in picking investment opportunities? If she is, then I’m pretty certain that she’s wrong for the Second District. Frankly, her ideas don’t make any sense. ‘Craigonomics’ sounds like the same hair-brained foolishness that’s had the economy spinning its wheels the last 8 years.

If Reaganomics is the picture of a thriving economy, which it was, then Craigonomics is the polar opposite of a thriving economy.

Finally, there’s nothing in Ms. Craig’s issues page that talks about civil rights or fighting terrorists. Doesn’t Ms. Craig think that those things are important priorities? If she thinks those things are important, why isn’t she talking about what her solution is to demolishing ISIS?

Technorati: Angie Craig, Nancy Pelosi, Free Tuition, Green Jobs, EPA, Solyndra, Hillary Clinton, Coal Mining, Democrats, Jason Lewis, Reaganomics, National Security, Civil Rights, ISIS, GOP, Election 2016

Donald Trump isn’t an idiot but he’s definitely ignorant. Yesterday, Trump criticized RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and the RNC for Colorado’s caucus system.

What’s apparent is that Donald Trump doesn’t pay attention to details. It’s apparent because he said “It’s a disgrace for the party. And Reince Priebus should be ashamed of himself. He should be ashamed of himself because he knows what’s going on.” That statement is exceptionally telling.

First, it’s telling because it’s clear that he doesn’t understand the concept of federalism. Having attended Minnesota’s precinct caucuses, their county conventions and other conventions, I’ve yet to hear of a time when the RNC dictated how we ran our conventions. It’s blindingly apparent that Trump doesn’t understand that each state has its own rules.

Perhaps more importantly, it’s clear that Trump wouldn’t know a strict constructionist judge if he met one. It’s apparent that Trump thinks that the federal government should make most of the decisions. Limited government conservatives cringe when they hear a politician who thinks that Washington needs more authority. Trump also said this:

It should go to a vote in Colorado like other places. … The best way to do it would be just a vote, should be a vote of the people. That’s the way it should be done. The delegate situation is a very unjust way of doing things.

Spoken like a man who prefers mob rule. Truer words were never spoken than these:

Asked if he would call for Priebus to step down should he become the nominee, Trump responded, “I haven’t given that any thought.”

The notion that Mr. Trump gives anything a thought is laughable. He’s the quintessential non-thinker. He’s the poster child of what happens when people don’t think things through.

This article highlights another instance in which the DFL is trying to drive companies out of Minnesota. They shouldn’t be blamed, though. Democrats in Washington, DC, are attempting to drive companies out of the U.S.

Specifically, “Senate DFLers are pushing a more generous paid family leave than the three states that require it, mandating up to 12 weeks of paid time off for new parents or people caring for sick family members. That’s double what is required in New Jersey and California; Rhode Island offers eight weeks.” Additionally, the “fight is gaining attention at the national level as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have proposed leave policies.”

This is just another thing ton the DFL’s agenda that’s driving employment costs up for Minnesota businesses. (It isn’t like they aren’t already leaving for lower tax states.) The executive summary of Peter Nelson’s report doesn’t paint a positive picture for Minnesota.

This information is especially troubling to Minnesota’s long-term health:

Most of the taxpayers who leave Minnesota for lower-tax states are in their prime earning years. One might think that most high-earning families who leave Minnesota are retirees moving to Florida or Arizona, but this is not the case. Working-age people between 35 and 54 account for nearly 40 percent of Minnesota’s net loss of tax filers for the 2013-2014 period.

In other words, Minnesota isn’t losing people at the end of their prime earning years. If they were, they could recover from that fairly quickly. It’s more difficult to recover long-term income loss because you have to attract people who are entering or in their prime earning years.

Further factoring into this difficult situation is the fact that people in their prime earning years aren’t likely to be as loyal to Minnesota as someone in the last part of their prime earning years. Someone that’s 60 and still earning significant dollars likely has a family here. They’ve established their lifestyle and are comfortable with it. Their friends are likely here, too.

It’s understatement that government-mandated business costs don’t incentivize companies to stay loyal to Minnesota. Their first priority is to maximize their company’s profits, which contributes to their family’s security.

This says it all:

Doug Seaton said he believes that politicians have no business telling employers to offer paid family and medical leave.

When politicians start putting their capital at risk and start signing the front of the paycheck, they can choose to offer paid family and medical leave. Then there’s this:

“Politicians, most of whom have no experience signing paychecks for employees of any kind, are not in a good position to make these decisions,” Seaton said. “It restricts the ability of the business to tailor its benefits to all employees in a way that makes sense.” He added that it came on top of “what employers already perceive as a very extensive and expansive set of entitlements in Minnesota.”

That’s a polite way of telling politicians to stop imposing their will on companies that they don’t own. It’s a polite way of telling politicians to shut up.

Technorati: Mark Dayton, Alliance for a Better Minnesota, Tom Bakk, Regulation Nation, Family Medical Leave Act, Paid Leave, Income Migration, DFL, Entrepreneurship, IRS, Economy, Marginal Tax Rates, Center for the American Experiment