Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Weekly Ranting



The editorial writer of the Rochester Post-Bulletin produced yet another jewel of liberal irrationality this week. "Weekly briefing" reads more like a feverish rant than either analysis or reasoned opinion. Here are few nuggets followed by commentary.

With a projected budget deficit that could reach $8 million, Olmsted County commissioners don't have any "fat" left to trim. From this point on, the cuts they are forced to make are going to hurt.

The Many Rivers closure is a prime example. The treatment center helps take troubled teens off the paths to welfare, prison or suicide and provides a healthy does of hope for their future -- yet Many Rivers will close largely because it's not a state-mandated service, and because shuttering it will save the county $500,000 per year.

Paul Fleissner, who heads the county's Community Services Department, was visibly conflicted as he recommended the closure. "This is a sad day," he said. But he also added, "It seems like the only move."

We don't blame county officials for this decision, because they have few options. But those who say that "efficiency" and "accountability" are always viable alternatives to tax increases need to recognize that their line of thinking will produce a bumper crop of bitter fruit.

Liberals treat the end of a government program as a death in the family and go through all the stages of grief associated with it. It would seem that the P-B editorial board decided to park at “anger.” “Acceptance” is not in the cards.

You know people have reached the terminal stages of liberalism when “efficiency” and “accountability” are printed as if they were cuss words.

Thanks largely to the efforts of Rep. Kim Norton, a DFLer from Rochester, Minnesota is about to join 46 other states that have adopted a Graduated Drivers License standard for new drivers. Norton authored the bill that worked its way through the Legislature in the spring, and while proposed changes in the state's seat-belt ordinance and child safety seat law fell by the wayside, the GDL proposal survived and was signed into law by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

The P-B’s in-kind contribution to Kim Norton’s campaign in the form of puff editorials need to be looked into. She copied legislation from other states, people. Besides, Nanny Norton doesn’t think you can make common sense decisions on your own.

Apologists for congressional candidate Brian Davis might claim that his failure to pay property taxes on time since 2003 is not that big of a deal. It was simply an oversight and anyway, everybody does it.

They couldn't be further from the truth. Most of us, whether out of fear of penalty or simply good citizenship, pay our taxes on time. We accept that duty, no matter how onerous, and meet the deadline.

Sure anybody can make a mistake. But failure to meet a tax deadline every year since 2003 is not only a mistake, it's a bad habit. It's the kind of habit that, while it does not by itself disqualify someone from holding public office, certainly calls into mind their judgment and reliability.

Davis isn't alone among candidates with tax troubles. Senate candidate Al Franken also has an untidy record when it comes to paying taxes.


You’d think that Brian Davis had decided to bury his family under a mountain of credit card debt in the tune of $75,000+ in order to run for Congress. Wait, that was Tim Walz.


If not paying taxes on time were a sin, liberals would be quick to exact punishment. Unless, of course, you were a liberal candidate for U.S. Senate who defrauded 17 states of their taxes and failed to pay workers’ compensation for your employees. Wait, that’s Al Franken. I’m sorry. “Untidy,” please!

Walz's sorry record of voting with Nancy Pelosi against the values and interests of the First District and his own fiscally irresponsible decision to bury his family under a mountain of credit card debt in order to run for office.

They are making it seem like you guys committed the unpardonable sin of not paying taxes when you have. With penalties. Consider the disproportionate attention they are giving to this non-issue as compared to what they are not saying about Franken's failure to pay taxes in 17 states and not carrying workers' compensation for his employers for three years.

It's all political bias. Brian's real problem, as far as First District liberals are concerned, is that Brian is a conservative Republican who is daring to run against their darling liberal Congressman Tim "I Vote With San Francisco Values Liberal Nancy Pelosi 96% of the Time" Walz. They've waited too long to have a liberal DFL Congressman to watch him be defeated.


There is no moral equivalence between Brian Davis' and Al Franken's taxes, regardless of the intellectually dishonest liberal analysis here and elsewhere.

The difference is simple: intentionality. Tax Fraud Franken and Tim “I’m in debt up to my eyeballs” Walz-Pelosi deliberately put themselves in their tax trouble and financial bind situations, respectively.

Porn-O-Rama Al and his inept (?) accountant decided that the "satirist" didn’t have to pay taxes in 17 states where he conducted his misogynistic and racist comedy trade.

Walz-Pelosi took a leave of absence from his job because he chose not to campaign part-time like so many candidates do, so he decided to "support" his family with credit card debt.

There are plenty of people running for office who campaign after work and on weekends. They choose not to jeopardize their families’ financial future in order to pursue their personal ambition like Walz did.

The lame criticism of Davis' oversight is a sorry attempt to take First Congressional District voters away from Tim Walz's fiscally irresponsible choices.



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