Foo-foo Dust

The Rochester Higher Education Development
Committee recommends the establishment of a world class institution that leverages the University of Minnesota's research capability, in
partnership with IBM, Mayo Clinic, and other industry leaders to build signature academic and research programs that complement southeast Minnesota's existing leadership roles in health sciences, biosciences, engineering, and technology. Educational programs will provide application to economic activities via innovation, translational research and clinical experiences. This institution will have a distinct identity and one governing entity. This institution will be the University of Minnesota Rochester.

-- Rochester Higher Education Development committee vision statement.

"These are all buzz words. This is foo-foo dust. It really looks good when you throw it up in the air, and it glistens as it comes down to the ground. Then you get a broom and sweep it up and throw it away."

-- State Representative Gene Pelowski (DFL - Winona) reacting to the release of Rochester Higher Education Development Committee report to Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Minnesota legislature, as reported in the Rochester Post-Bulletin.



Rep. Pelowski should read the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee Report to Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Minnesota Legislature. I have. It IS a great document. Here are some highlights.

"Rochester's confluence of world-class medicine, advanced technology and bioscience industry makes it uniquely poised to be a major player in the 21st century bio-economy. This potential cannot be fully realized without further investments, most notably in the area of human capital generated through a research university and associated academic programs. Partnerships between the University of Minnesota, IBM, Mayo Clinic, and related businesses position the State of Minnesota to become one of the fastest growing and dynamic biomedical economics in the world." (p. 5)

"Currently, 40 states specifically target the biosciences for development and all 50 states have economic development initiatives available to assist bioscience companies. Other states are investing aggressively in a comprehensive range of bioscience programs to promote research and commercialization. Many are pursuing bioscience development strategies including strengthening research, increasing university-industry collaborations, and enhancing their business development support." (p. 7)

" Rochester has key private-sector research and develompent engines, but national studies prove that the presence of a major research university is also required to really power the knowledge economy and to provide the skilled human capital required to populate and grow innovation-driven enterprises." (p. 14)

Hardly the "foo-foo dust" Winona (State) DFL Rep. Pelowski claims it to be. His attitude is typical of the DFL whenever Rochester advances the four-year university proposal. It is time for bold investments in the economic and educational future of southeastern Minnesota.

Rochester's detractors have opposed the growth of educational and business opportunities in our region as outlined the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee (RHEDC) in one form or another for at least 30 years. The reasons are myriad.

The "foo-foo dusters" fear their slice of the funding pie will be reduced if the U of M - Rochester project is advanced. They argue that Rochester doesn't really need a four-year university since WSU is only about an hour away and the city is "overcrowded" with institutions that offer baccalaureate and masters' degrees - even doctorates, if you look hard enough .

The U of M - Rochester concept is unique, however. It will offer signature courses available at no other institution in the state. Biomedical Informatics, Computational Biology, Nanotechnology and Pharmacogenics are only a few of the distinct course offerings listed in the RHEDC report (pp. 18-23).

In addition, the U of M - Rochester curriculum will incorporate business education concepts such as entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership with a view to economic development. As stated in the RHEDC report, "These skills are essential to the transfer of technology to the marketplace leading to significant economic development for the area, state, and nation." (p. 24).

Also, they turn a blind eye to the fact that Rochester is Minnesota's third largest city. It is the home of the Mayo Clinic, arguably one of the top two medical research institutions in the world. IBM Rochester has developed the world's fastest supercomputer, BlueGene. Biomedical and technological advances run on parallel tracks in southeastern Minnesota. Powerful partnerships have taken place, but in order to bring the two fields together in the most comprehensive and economically profitable manner, we need a research institution of the highest caliber. Hence the U of M - Rochester concept.

Saying that Rochester has to support the whole system if it wants consideration for the project, as DFL State Senator Sandy Pappas suggests, is a mix of blackmail and the repackaging of the same old excuses to keep our educational and economic aspirations down.

If "our" area legislators have questions or reservations about the committee report, they are just a cover. Reps. Andy Welti and Tina Liebling in particular have proven to be puppets of the Twin Cities DFL. They will do or not do and say or not say what Matt Entenza, or whoever their next caucus leader is, tells them.

Assuming that all legislators are decent people who will do the right thing in an election year is a naïve approach to a pivotal issue. Senator Sheila Kiscaden's sincerity on the U of M - Rochester concept is in doubt. Her party switches over the years have been dictated by political convenience rather than moral conviction. Her ability to promote the idea of a U of M - Rochester within the DFL caucus is D.O.A. unless, she can convince Winona State University Rep. Gene "Foo-foo Dust" Pelowski and others to drop their petty parochial antipathy toward Rochester's educational and economic progress. Kiscaden talks a good game while in the district. Always has but so far hasn't delivered.

There is a difference between "being known" as the champion for a Rochester university and getting in the rink to fight for it. Governor Tim Pawlenty is the true Rochester university champion. And as someone who has followed the issue for the last decade, I think that State senator Dave Senjem and retiring Rep. Fran Bradley have done more in a practical way to advance the idea than our own chameleon senator.

Southeastern Minnesota voters need to understand that the U of M - Rochester project is not even on the DFL's radar screen. Kiscaden will dance the dance and say a lot about it without saying much.

DFL Reps. Andy Welti and Tina Liebling will either equivocate or remain mum on the U of M - Rochester project because they know where the Twin Cities/Iron Range DFL leadership stands on the issue. They know their place and will not dare stand up for the community they should represent above all other interests, whether they are personal or their party's.

They are welcome to prove me wrong.

What I Believe

Olmsted County has recently been infected with politicians of the worst kind, as you know. They are placeholders whose goal is to grow their party and further their selfish ambitions rather than develop the community that entrusted them with elected office.

As strongly as I feel about my deeply held beliefs regarding what makes America great, I learned long ago that there is only so much an individual can accomplish on his own. My wife and I were discussing the American Revolution before bed a few nights ago (quaint, I know) and it hit me again that the reason it was so successful in the end is that it was a movement. It wasn't about an individual's heartfelt beliefs about freedom. It wasn't about the agenda of a business or farming elite. People of all walks of life dedicated themselves to building America out of the highest principles and aspirations humanity has ever harbored.

It is time for that same kind of movement today - a Second American Revolution, if you will. People need to be re-educated on what it means to be an American. If they know and understand the principles, the history, the toil, the sacrifice, the setbacks and the victories that brought America to where she is today, they will instinctively reject the liberal principles of obscene taxation and moral laxity that permeate our society.

Sadly, my tea bag "stunt" at the Rochester Truth-in-Taxation hearing was lost on American citizens who had no idea what the Boston Tea Party was. That saddened me deeply but also helped me understand why they were so easily deceived by Andy Welti and Tina Liebling (and almost Kim Norton, the Tax Lady) during the last election cycle.

Knowing American history and sharing the principles on which America was built inoculates anyone against the pernicious disease of liberalism.

War: What Is It Good For?

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last."

-- Sir Winston Churchill






"If you don't believe ... Saddam Hussein is a threat with nuclear weapons, then you shouldn't vote for me,"

-- John "The Blue Bunny" Kerry

Let it not be said that liberals haven't learned at least one lesson from the Vietnam War. They have learned that spitting on soldiers and calling them "baby killers" is not endearing to the American public. Now they know to lie about "supporting" the troops. They may be disingenuous but they are not stupid.

Damage Control

If their absence at Governor Pawlenty's Rochester Bioscience Center announcement does not convince voters that Rep. Tina Welti, Rep. Tina LIEbling and Senator Sheila Kiscaden's focus is not the economic, scientific and educational development of southeastern Minnesota, nothing will.

Welti, LIEbling and Kiscaden were at the Governor's Rochester Higher Education Committee announcement yesterday because they HAD to be. After the P-B exposed their absence (snub, actually) from the Governor's previous visit, they couldn't afford to have their hypocrisy and disregard for issues that benefit Rochester exposed in the media again.

Hiding their partisanship behind a façade of moderation is a carnival trick that has run its course. When the legislature is in session, Welti, LIEbling and Kiscaden are there and that is all that really counts to the Twin Cities/Iron Range DFL.

Giving (and not giving) Rochester Her Due

A friend who was present at the Rochester Higher Education Committee release of its U of M-Rochester expansion proposal told me this afternoon that Welti, LIEbling and Kiscaden were present and accounted for. As I watched the local news tonight, there they were front and center. Kiscaden dragged DFL senate District 30 hopeful Ann Lynch to the event for a photo-op. Ironically, Nancy Brataas, Kiscaden's former mentor, was sitting across the aisle from Kiscaden. Next to Distric 30A Republican candidate Carla Nelson.

Either Welti, LIEbling and Kiscaden have learned to check their emails regularly or finally understand that they can no longer only give half-hearted lip service to the idea of a four-year university in Rochester. They have to pretend to support it publicly too.

The only sure way to make the four-year university in Rochester a reality is to reelect Governor Tim Pawlenty, fire Andy Welti and Tina Liebling and snuff the electoral hopes of Ann Lynch and Kim Norton. The DFL's spending priorities lie in the Twin Cities and the Iron Range, not the Med City. Under a DFL regime, Rochester would be reduced to a piggy bank to finance their failed social experiments.

Even if LIEbling, Welti and Kiscaden were inclined to promote the four-year university effort, which they are not, their DFL puppetmasters in the Twin Cities would never agree to giving Rochester her due.

DFL: The Party of the Twin Cities and Iron Range

The insinuation that DFL Senator Sheila Kiscaden and Reps. Andy Welti and Tina Liebling were given no advance notice of Governor Tim Pawlenty's most recent visit to the Med City on purpose, as a recent Rochester Post-Bulletin editorial (All area legislators must pull for the community) implies, is preposterous. The Rochester area state legislators have since admitted receiving an email notice in advance but hadn't checked their messages in time to attend the event. Or so they say.

It is hard to believe that our area legislators and their secretaries would have missed the governor's press announcement. The secretaries have access to their legislators' email and are to alert them if something important comes up. In addition, the staff of their caucus gets the emails and are to alert members of the meeting. Since it is unlikely that Welti, Liebling and Kiscaden would have missed the announcement, the only reasonable explanation is that, in their partisanship, they decided not to attend the meeting.

The P-B editorial assumes that our area's DFL legislators actually care about the growth of southeast Minnesota to begin with. There is evidence to the contrary.

Rochester's progress and prominence are not a priority of the Minnesota DFL, a party beholden to the interests of the Twin Cities and the Iron Range. As for the Olmsted County DFL, the growth of their party is their main priority. Welti, Liebling and Kiscaden would probably prefer not to attend events that highlight the importance of Rochester in the governor's agenda for fear that their presence would convey support for Pawlenty's initiatives.

Were they truly "bipartisan" and "moderate" as they falsely claim, Welti, Liebling and Kiscaden would be present at this and other events. But alas, they are not. How have House districts 30A and 30B benefitted from Liebling's and Welti's (mis)representation?

Welti can't even deliver a new fence for the Rochester International Airport, which seems to be his legislative priority for 2006.

LIEblings hypocrisy has been dealt with in a previous post.

Kiscaden's focus for the last 14 years has been ... well ... Kiscaden.

Rochester and surrounding communities deserve better.

Liberalism is Wrong

"The GOP's progress during the last four decades is a stunning political achievement. But it is also a cautionary tale of what happens to a dominate party _ in this case, the Democrat Party _ when its thinking becomes ossified; when its energy begins to drain; when an entitlement mentality takes over; and when political power becomes an end in itself rather than a mean to achieve the common goal,"

-- Karl Rove

Kiscaden's Record

Whereas DFL Patriarch Gary Mullen-Schultz is intellectually dishonest, Paul Scott is quite simply ignorant of Rochester politics (Kiscaden's record speaks for her , Rochester Post-Bulletin, January 21, 2006).

Mr. Scott seems to think that Rochester politics started the day he was born, if not the day Senator Sheila Kiscaden switched parties yet again and became Kelly Doran's running mate. If you don't know the political importance and influence Nancy Brataas has had in this region over the decades, you are not qualified to write about politics in our region. Mr. Scott certainly fits that exclusionary clause.

Brataas' mentorship over the last 14 years was certainly valuable to Kiscaden while it was a political asset to the chameleon senator. Kiscaden herself has been quoted as saying that all political friendships are temporary.

A Kiscaden run does put Governor Tim Pawlenty's Rochester's initiatives at risk. Especially the four-year university proposal. As a Winona State University cheerleader, Kiscaden would never support a competitor in Rochester. She has given lukewarm lip service to the idea before, but that's all.

Mr. Scott's piece is nothing but a shameful campaign plug for Kiscaden. Shame on him for writing it and on the P-B for publishing it.

Who Speaks for the Taxpayer?

The following is an excerpt from my correspondence with a Rochester City Council member regarding the controversial monthly "dinner meetings" with city adminstrators and others.

Thank you for your willingness to engage me in this debate. None of your City Council colleagues have seen it fit to do so as of yet. I am particularly disappointed that Amy Blenker, "my" councilperson, has chosen not to address my concerns. Or maybe you've been designated as the point person on this. Regardless, it is encouraging to have any kind of response from an elected official.

Please do not attribute the lack of public participation in your budget deliberations as apathy. I know how busy I am with my family, job, and church commitments. December is arguably the worst possible time to hold such meetings and expect taxpayers, specially business owners, to participate in the process. By the way, the City Council, School Board and County Board all voted their tax increases the week before Christmas. What's with that?

The problem may not be apathy, as you diagnosed it, but trust. I know I used to trust elected officials to look out for my best interests. I was content to let them sift throut the endless pages of numbing budget numbers. No longer. Particularly when said elected officials socialize with those presenting and advocating the numbing budget numbers.

Human nature being what it is, forgive me for suspecting that having a personal relationship and socializing regularly with those presenting budget requests would make it difficult to be more objective when examining those requests. I trust the people with whom I choose to socialize. Barring any glaring character defects or abhorrent behavior, I take wthat what they tell me as God's honest truth, suspend judment and assume the best.

What I would like to see is a certain professional detatchment between elected officials and administrators. A Fourth of July picnic get-together or a Christmas, I mean Holiday Party should suffice to meet any socialization needs the two groups have. The estimated yearly $2,000-$3,000 cost of the cozy dinners may seem like "a pretty small amount" when spread over the year, as Mayor Brede said, but what has been the cost over the "many, many" years this "tradition" has taken place? It is my understanding that the mayor's "official city account" is financed with taxpayer money, is it not?

Those are my thoughts regarding these monthly dinner meetings. What I am concerned about is that the ordinary taxpayer on a fixed income and the small business owner trying to meet payroll do not have the time, disposition, or confidence to attend such meetings/dinners/social gatherings (What are they anyway?). They don't have the access that city administrators enjoy. Far from the eyes, far from the heart.

Those of us who object to the ever increasing levels of taxation imposed by our local government officials don't do so based on the cost of essential services such as law enforcement and snowplowing as suggested by John Trolander's December 14, 2005, letter to the Post-Bulletin. People would not object to paying taxes if it actually meant letting go of that "extra" $5 dollar bill, as he put it. Taxpayers, particularly people on fixed incomes and small business owners, are getting ever closer to being taxed out of their homes and businesses.

During the city counciI's Truth-in-Taxation hearing, a long time Rochester business owner, who said he had never attended such hearings before, felt compelled to express his concerns this time. His proposed taxes then would have meant an "extra" $100 bill EVERY WEEK for the coming year. One of my co-worker's taxes was slated to go up by 63%. Her neighbor's school district portion of the tax burden would be $3,000. That's SIX HUNDRED "extra" $5 bills!

Believe me when I say I would rather not attend your meetings and write these emails. I have plenty to keep me busy. I feel compelled to do so, however. I have lost trust. I believe local government officials need to be held accountable now more than ever. Shifting blame to higher levels of government doesn't pass muster anymore.

I have too many friends and acquaintances who are feeling the pinch from your tax increases and they are worried. I sympathize with their plight rather than with the needs, real or perceived, of the bureaucracy. Those beleaguered taxpayers are the people with whom I socialize.

I will leave you with Julie Tuffs' words as printed in today's letters to the editor section of the Rochester Post-Bulletin: " We are the ones who elected [Government officials]. It's our responsibility to keep an eye on how they are doing their jobs. When you hire someone to do work for you, don't you check the job out before paying that person? "


Sincerely and Respectfully,

Do Nothing Tina

District 30A Rep. Tina "Do Nothing" Liebling has proven once again why she is an embarrassment even to her DFL colleagues.

LIEbling's most recent delusional episode took the form of a P-B column (Legislature didn't do everything, but it did do a lot Fri, Jan 13, 2006). It is full of "inaccuracies," as my wife calls them. I prefer the L-word: LIES.

First off, the 2005 legislature didn't do "the work of two years in one." The work of the 2004 legislature had already been done when Liebling's liberal buddies decided to play political games with the state budget. What "better" way to prevent a budget from being voted on than to shut down the state government?

When the 2005 legislature convened, all they had to do was vote on the work that had been done. Liebling and Little Andy Welti never lifted a finger to bring the new floors on Mayo's Stabile Building, support the Genomics Partnership or build the health science labs at RCTC. All they did was cast votes. Any fool can do that then take credit. They did and they have.

Liebling claims that the 2005 legislature wasn't "able" to repeal Minnesota's sick tax. The truth is that her DFL puppet masters were not "willing" to give up that cash cow. Social engineering comes at a considerable cost, don't you know.

The most recent government shutdown took place minutes after DFL senate majority leader Dean Johnson pretended to reach an agreement with governor Tim Pawlenty. As the final details were being hammered out, Johnson and his DFL minions went ahead and shut down the government anyway. Bringing the state engines to a grinding halt and causing hardship to state workers brought them electoral benefits before. It was just too hard for them to resist doing it one more time. The DFL has long given up winning elections on issues anyway.

When she says she voted eight times for a continuing budget resolution during the government shutdow, Liebling uses the same disingenuous line Welti used in a previous column to the P-B. Their votes were a sham. As a friend of mine has said, anybody can say they got their job done "on time" if they move the deadline eight times. Libeling's and the DFL's next shell game is to present themselves as the taxpayers' best friends as they roll out their property tax relief dog-and-pony show. As if the DFL ever proposed a credible tax relief plan of any kind. At press time, there was no word on using part of the state surplus money to build Rep. Andy Welti's airport fence to nowhere.

Liebling should stick to her vacant smiles in front of the cameras whenever Dean Johnson and Matt Entenza roll into town to pull hers and Welti's strings. Rochester is tired of the DFL's (and Tina's) lies, er, innacuracies.

Believe It or Not

Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's dog's name is "Splash", a Portuguese water dog.

On Illegal Immigration

America is the most prosperous country in the world.

Bar none.

Mexicans disillusioned with their country's corruption are not risking a dangerous river or desert crossing to find jobs in Guatemala. Oppressed and destitute Cubans are not tying milk jugs to rusty 1957 Ford pickup trucks and setting them out to sea hoping that the Gulf currents will drift them to Honduras. Legal immigration is possible and immigrants are welcome as long as they enter the country lawfully and abide by our rules.

Moreover, illegal immigration is a law enforcement and national security, as opposed to a primarily economic, issue.

There are no "undocumented immigrants" in America. Those who enter our country without the American government's permission or willfully remain on our soil once their visa has expired are ILLEGAL ALIENS and must be deported. Period.

As a legal immigrant - and most recently a naturalized citizen - to this great country, I resent both illegal immigrants and those who condone the practice of illegal immigration.

Governor Pawlenty did not associate immigrants with crime in Minnesota as he has been accused of doing. He associated ILLEGAL immigrants with crime in Minnesota. And rightly so.

Moreover, law enforcement officials throughout Minnesota agree with the governor. The notable exceptions are those Twin City officials and politicians who have long capitulated to the criminal element in Minneapolis and St. Paul - both illegal and "homegrown".

President George W. Bush's Guest Worker Program is an intriguingly attractive idea which needs some tweaking. If correctly implemented, it would bring order to the immigration process while allowing lawful immigrants the economic opportunity unavailable in their countries of origin. So the question becomes, what incentives would there be for legal "guest workers" to return to their countries once their permit expires?

America is unquestionably a nation of immigrants. What makes our country great is not her "diversity", however. People did not originally immigrate to America so they could be with people different from themselves and feel all fuzzy and warm inside.

People from all over the world have come to America the Beautiful because she has always been a beacon of FREEDOM and OPPORTUNITY, which illegal immigration undermines.

No Principles, Only Politics

In a letter sent to DFLers yesterday, Senator Sheila Kiscaden writes that she is "returning" to the Democrat Party. In a Freudian slip, she said that "as an adult" she became a Republican. That's the one thing she got right. The Republican Party is the adult party. Those who see the government as a nanny should either join, return to or remain in the Party of Helplessness and Dependence.

It must be hard for Sheila's former supporters to see the senator and the democrat party for what they are: disingenuous opportunists.

Kiscaden's decision was not "rooted in hard-boiled political realities", as reported in today's Post-Bulletin, but dictated by political convenience. She is done using the Independence Party and is discarding it like a dirty rag. I hope Kiscaden's former supporters will see her move for what it is: the same old political maneuvering motivated by expediency, convenience and self-interest.

If Kiscaden were a centrist, she wouldn't have switched to the Party of Dependence. She moves to where it's most convenient for her. At one time it was convenient to be a Republican. When that became inconvenient, she became an "independent" (while still caucasing with the Dependence Party). When it became conveniently safe to switch to the Democrat Party, she uncerimoniously dumped the Independence Party without a word of thanks. The Democrat Party and Sheila Kiscaden are a perfect match.

The only image Sheila Kiscaden is creating is that of a disingenuously opportunist politician. Sheila is trapped now. She's run out of parties to switch to unless the Greens decide to take her after she and Doran lose the gubernatorial election in November.

The only "talent" Sheila Kiscaden seems to have is that of a chameleon. She changes according to her circumstances. "No principles, only politics" would be a more fitting campaign slogan for her ticket.

"Civility" and "statesmanship" are strategies to liberals. We need public servants to whom civility and statesmanship are rooted in principle not the latest campaign slogan.

Welti Unimpressive, Partisan

There is a glaring contrast between Rep. Andy Welti's campaign rhetoric and his unimpressive, noticeably partisan performance in office. Several of my friends, neighbors and co-workers have expressed both disappointment and suspicion that Welti may have misrepresented himself to District 30B residents when he campaigned for the seat he eventually won in 2004.

Moreover, Welti criticized his opponent in the last election for not finishing the business of the Minnesota legislature during the regular session. Ironically, it was during Welti's watch that the state government not only went into a contentious special session but also experienced a needless shutdown. Both the special session and the shutdown didn't keep Welti from taking time off to attend local parades, though. Rep. Welti's priorities are misplaced and apparently not the same as the priorities of the people he was elected to represent.

Welti and his liberal minions are in full desperation mode now that the freshman representative's inexperience, ineptitude and lack of effectiveness have been laid bare. Welti is but a placeholder for the DFL. The district does not benefit from him in any way. It's time for an adult to take his seat. Welti needs to grow up, get married, have children, have a mortgage and a real job before he even begins to understand what it means to be an adult taxpayer.

There was never any "cross-party potential" in the election of Andy Welti and Tina Liebling to the Minnesota House of Representatives as stated in last Friday's P-B editorial. And our newly elected representatives are hardly victims of a DFL vendetta against Governor Tim Pawlenty. The truth is, Welti and Liebling are part of the problem.

When Andy Welti came to my door before the election, he gave me what has become the disingenuous standard bipartisan-reach-across-the-aisle spiel DFLers have been taught to dump on unsuspecting voters. Welti was careful not to mention his party affiliation until I pressed him twice for it and he reluctantly mumbled that he was running as a DFLer.

Welti's voting record has proved to be anything but bipartisan, however. One would have to look hard to distinguish it from Matt Entenza's, one of the most rabid liberal partisans in the Minnesota House.

If Welti and Liebling felt the Rochester community was getting the short end of the stick because of the DFL's personal dislike for Governor Pawlenty, why didn't they speak out against the immature actions of their leadership? Why won't they "reach across the aisle" and join Republicans in pressing the DFL leadership to grow up and stop obstructing the economic and educational progress of the community they were elected to represent? Why haven't they stood up for the interests of the people who entrusted them with their vote?

They won't because they are not allowed. Andy and Tina know their place.

The cold truth is, Welti and Liebling are no more than placeholders for the DFL. Their party function is to neutralize Republican influence in southeastern Minnesota and St. Paul. They are ineffective by design, not by lack of experience. The Rochester flirtation with the DFL must end before it is too late.

Welti is a politician in the worst possible sense of the word: he is principally concerned about the growth and influence of his party (the DFL, though you'd never know it by talking to him or reading his campaign literature), not the welfare of his constituents.

Short on Truth, Long on Taxation

The Truth-in-Taxation hearings are over. Just in time for Christmas, the Rochester City Council, the Olmsted County Board and the Rochester School Board left a hefty tax increase package under the taxpayers' "holiday tree".

Sympathy for the plight of taxpayers on fixed incomes and small business owners in the face of yet another round of obscene tax increases was notably absent from elected officials during those hearings. I wonder if they would even hold them if they were not mandated to do so by state law.

With the notable exceptions of City Coucilman Pat Carr and School Board Member Fred Daly, all other local governent officials decided to thumb their noses at the taxpayer and went ahead with their tax-gouging.

In their latest orchestrated letter writing campaign, the Olmsted County DFL has flooded the Post Bulletin with letters that decried taxpayer protests as "lacking in civility". Liberals would have the taxpayer absorb their increasingly insatiable levels of taxation with lamb-like silence, submission and gratitude.

Those whom DFLers unfairly accuse of being rude at the Truth-in-Taxation hearings were actually outraged and became defiant in the face of local government abuse, insensitivity and arrogance. They also demanded acountability in the face of irresponsible runaway government spending. Rochester businesses, most of which are small businesses, are not "claiming" to have a large tax impact. They are gradually being taxed out of the marketplace.

The rudest comment by far I heard during the school board Truth-in-Taxation hearing came from a wide-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth DFLer who implored the school board to levy the full 32% tax increase they originally proposed. He also disparaged those on fixed incomes who say they can't pay the obscenely unfair taxes the school board keeps dumping on them.

It's time to push back. Let's start by voting out of office anyone who voted for the current tax increases at the local level. Think about it as returning their destructive "Christmas gift". I hope the irony that the local government Grinches stuck us with their tax increases the week before Christmas hasn't been lost on anyone.

No spending restraint, no "decorum". If liberals feel local government is not getting enough money, they should feel free to part with some or all of their own in order to feed the beast.

Again, taxpayers will push back. They will no longer suffer the wasteful ways of our local government. Tax-and-spenders will no longer be allowed to hide behind our children, law enforcement and ESSENTIAL services in order to justify abusive levels of taxation.

Most of all, the taxpayer will refuse to be intimidated into the twisted liberl version of "civility".

The Kiscaden Buzz

It has been reported that DFL gubernatorial hopeful Kelly Doran will pick Senator Sheila Kiscaden as his running mate.

So, Kiscaden is a liberal democrat. What's new? The fact that she is dropping the pretense? Far from being the Joan of Arc of Southeast Minnesota, Kiscaden epitomizes the hypocrisy of self-appointed political moderates.

These committed liberals in tattered disguises of moderation would have you believe hat their mission is the well being of the district rather than the growth of their party. Kiscaden, along with her door-knocking pimple-faced counterparts, does not want you to know they often vote against the economic interests and moral values of their constituents. Kiscaden, Rep. Andy Welti and and Rep. Tina Liebling are Dr. Jekyl while in the district, but quickly turn into Mr. Hyde while in St. Paul.

A recent P-B story touting Kiscaden's "moderate" credentials never mentioned the number of votes she missed while pursuing her own interests overseas during the special session. Apparently our Joan of Arc can legislate by email.

The Hatchetman Cometh

Minnesota Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Mike Hatch has recently taken Governor Tim Pawlenty to task for daring to tighten the noose around illegal immigration (Leadership, not politics, on illegal immigration , Rochester Post-Bulletin, Thursday, January 5, 2006 ). Pawlenty is to be praised for his leadership and response to the concerns of law enforcement officials all over the state.

Pawlenty's boldest initiative is to oppose "sanctuary laws", local ordinances or department directives that actually prevent law enforcement agents from enforcing immigration law.

Predictably, Hatch and his mainstream media minions have cast aspersions on Pawlenty's proposals. They have questioned the governor's timing and labeled his immigration law enforcement initiatives a political move in an election year.

Let's not forget that the Hatchetman is running for governor. Again. Rather than gunning for Pawlenty, Hatch should try to convince his own party that he is to be their nominee. It is my understanding that the liberal leadership and base are not too enamored with Hatch's candidacy.

Why isn't "Minessota's attorney general" prosecuting construction contractors and other "unscrupulous" businesses that have "destroyed" middle class jobs as he contends in his P-B article? If these companies are indeed "undermining law-abiding competitors", why hasn't the attorney general seen it if to prosecute them?

Hillary and Abramoff. Are you surprised?

Who knew? NY Senator Hitlery Rodham Klinton took über lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dirty money as well. What a hypocrite ! Just like her "husband".

Parenthetically, the print edition of the Rochester Post-Bulletin mentions on the first page of their Thursday, January 5, 2006 that the late senator St. Paul Wellstone also received campaign contributions from Abramoff. The story then concentrates on chiding First District Representative Gil Gutknecht for receiving $250 from the disgraced lobbyist.

No word yet on how much Wellstone accepted from Abramoff or if his estate plans to donate the equivalent amount to charity.

Old School Conservativus

Why "Paleocon"? I wrote a letter to the editor of the Rochester Post-Bulletin once and a short time after it was published, a liberal ignored the content of the missive (Surprise, surprise!) and labeled me a "neocon". I know the term was used to offend me but it didn't. It didn't fit my conservative stance either.

"But I'm an 'old school', Reagan-type convervative", I thought to myself."

Hence the name Paleocon, an "old-school" conservative.