…”compromise is the DFL doing it OUR way.”
Rather than taking the time on the last day of the Easter Break to pay their overdue bills, Minnesota’s GOP “Leaders” took off on a fly around to eight cities yesterday – the “Cooked Books Tour.”
The goal was to sell their budget bills. Here’s how Big E, a couple o’ weeks ago, described the GOPer bills:
They have broken precedent and are using numbers created by business lobbyists and other states. The MMB and Dept of Revenue question the validity of their numbers.
Personally, I like the Twitter hashtag – #EnronAccounting – to describe the GOPer’s make (stuff) up numbers, but hey – that’s just me. So, while flying around the great state, did the GOPers leave any room for compromise between them and DFL Governor Mark Dayton? Let’s look!
First stop, Rochester. From the Post Bulletin, here’s the lede:
With less than a month until the legislative session deadline, GOP legislative leaders on Monday reiterated they will not consider tax increases as part of a final budget deal.
“There is a lot of room to compromise and we will compromise and we will cooperate with the governor. We’re just not going to compromise our principles and we’re not raising taxes. Minnesotans can’t afford it,” said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo.
To recap: GOPers ran on not raising taxes, DFL Governor Mark Dayton ran on raising taxes on those paying less than their fair-share: the rich. It’s a matter of principle for both, and the GOP’s solution?
“Compromise is the DFL doing it OUR way.”
Next stop, Mankato. From The Free Press, here’s the lede:
MANKATO — During a stop in Mankato Monday, Republican leaders of the Minnesota House and Senate again vowed to oppose any of the state tax increases Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton is insisting be part of budget compromise.
.
.
The legislative leaders were asked about a Minneapolis Star Tribune report on Sunday that backroom discussions at the Capitol showed some GOP willingness to consider possible revenue increases as part of a compromise budget, including closing tax loopholes that mostly benefit high-income Minnesotans. Dayton’s budget proposal focuses tax hikes on higher income tax brackets, based on the argument that wealthier Minnesotans are paying a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than middle-class residents.“Don’t believe them,” Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel said. “Don’t believe the Star Tribune.”
Message from GOPers, at Mankato? Well, there’s TWO messages:
1 – “Compromise is the DFL doing it OUR way.”, and
2 – “Don’t believe the Star Tribune.”
Way to work the refs Geoff!
The fly around included Bemidji; from The Pioneer:
(GOPer Senator Amy) Koch said the business climate can’t improve until the state government gets the budget under control. With that accomplished, the economy will grow, she said.
“This is about so much more than making the books balance,” she said.
“…so much more than making the books balance.”??!?
Yeah, “right.” For the GOP, it’s about cookin’ the books, too.
From the St. Cloud Times:
Less than a month remains before May 23, the scheduled end to the 2011 legislative session that’s prescribed in Minnesota’s Constitution. Yet Republican legislators and Gov. Mark Dayton appear to be miles apart on how to dispatch the state’s deficit.
Republicans would balance the $5 billion deficit primarily with spending cuts, and by delaying repayment of a funding shift to school districts.
Dayton’s budget proposal also would delay repayment of the school-district shift, and would cut projected spending by an additional $300 million in the next two years.
But the Dayton plan also would generate about $3.3 billion in new state revenues, by hiking income taxes on the state’s highest earners and imposing new fees and surcharges on health care providers and individuals.
In an interview after Monday’s event, (St Cloud GOP State Senator John) Pederson expressed optimism that legislators and Dayton can find common ground.
“There probably is some room for compromise, if we can stay away from the tax increases,” Pederson said.
Once again, the GOP position is clear: “compromise is the DFL doing it OUR way.”
From the Alexandria Echo Press:
Published April 22, 2011, 12:00 AM
GOP leaders to stop in Alexandria Monday
Minnesota Senate and House GOP leaders will be doing a statewide fly-around on Monday, April 25. They will be arriving at the Alexandria Airport around 4:40 p.m.
Oops! The GOPer’s Cooked Books Tour couldn’t even get coverage; it seems one paper had the good sense to ignore the BS the GOP is spewing.
Here’s what the Duluth News Tribune had to say:
Published April 25, 2011, 08:57 AM
Minnesota GOP legislative leaders to tour Duluth, state
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and House Speaker Kurt Zellers start this morning in St. Paul before making stops in Rochester, Mankato, St. Cloud, Moorhead, Bemidji, Alexandria and Duluth.”
Oops, AGAIN!!!
From Fargo-Moorhead Forum:
MOORHEAD – Minnesota Re publican legislative leaders made a stop here Monday to promote their party’s plan for battling the state’s budget deficit.
“We say: ‘What’s in our checkbook is what we have to spend,’ ’’ said Sen. Majority Leader Amy Koch of Buffalo.
Three points – as noted here, GOPers were quite comfortable ordering recount copying services when they didn’t have the “money in the checkbook” to pay for it, and “what’s in the checkbook is what there is to spend” is obviously a concept unfamiliar to squawk-talker and reliable GOPer bootlicker Mitch Berg; and once again, GOPer Senator Amy Koch paints her party into a corner with no negotiating room, unless:
“compromise is the DFL doing it OUR way.”
Get ready for the GOPers to shut this state down, folks – in GOPer world, there is no compromise.
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
Wednesday’s Strib had a story about financial problems in some K-12 school districts here on the frozen tundra; “Elk River looks for more school aid”. In it, was this:
Elk River schools officials are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to pry some more funding out of the Legislature.
Two bills have been introduced this session that would help offset the heavy amount of debt the district took on for major school construction and renovation that has occurred since 2001.
In other words, they’re looking for a bail out. Yes, a bail out.
The Cucking Stool took a closer look at who wrote those bills and wrote about it yesterday: Koch and Kiff: “cuts for thee, but not for me”. The bottom lines, there?
Operational starvation comes to Elk River schools as well as, say, Minneapolis schools, on the per pupil formula, but we’ll figure out a way to help the schools in Koch and Kiffmeyer’s districts – and Pat Garafalo’s, too, incidentally – but certainly not in Minneapolis.
Republican legislative leaders obviously recognize the inadequacy of education funding, but seem only willing to address it in weasely ways for favored districts. Disgusting.
Indeed.
Why might the Elk River school District be looking for that bailout now? Well, let’s take a look back in time:
Elk River likely to hold school levy vote in November
By NORMAN DRAPER
west today, Star Tribune
Last update: June 23, 2010The district has had a mixed record in getting voters to approve levy and bond requests.
Voters turned down a $133 million bonding request three years ago to build a new high school and new K-8 school, among other things. They also rejected one $5.1-million-a-year levy request since Bezek started four years ago.
A year and a half ago, voters approved renewal of an expiring levy that provides $1.6 million a year.
In the past 15 years, the fast-growing Elk River district has held eight bond referendums to raise money for school construction and renovation. Three of those passed. In the same time span, the district posed 11 levy questions to voters, and won approval on six.
So, how did that levy request last November turn out?
New $3 million-a-year operating levy for 10 years to reduce the need for future budget cuts. Estimated tax impact on home with $150,000 assessed value: $74 a year.
Yes – 8,197 (33%)
No – 16,279 (67%)
(StarTribune.com)
To recap: as of June 2010, over a 15 year time span, local residents voted town 5 of 8 bond referendums and 5 of 11 property tax levy referendums; they voted – overwhelmingly – last November to turn down another property tax levy.
So now comes along Amy Koch and Mary Kiffmeyer riding to the rescue, asking the State’s Taxpayers to pay for what the Local Taxpayers won’t??!?
This stuff cannot be made up.
Nothing should be surprising coming from Kiffmeyer. Kiffmeyer, Gentle Readers, belongs to the GOP , which is always claiming “government should be run like a business.” And how did Kiffmeyer run one o’ her businesses, Riverview Community Bank in Otsego (a/k/a, “The bank that God built”) where that picture to the right (“Jesus At The Closing Table”) once adorned a wall?
“Into the ground” might be one description:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2009Riverview Community Bank, Otsego, Minnesota, was closed today by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Central Bank, Stillwater, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of Riverview Community Bank. (FDIC.gov)
Now, I’m writing that Kiffmeyer owned Riverside Community Bank, but that’s only because Kiffmeyer reported to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board that she was the owner; in a letter to the editor Kiffmeyer also claimed she wasn’t the owner (see “Was Mary Kiffmeyer Lying Then, Or Is She Lying Now?”).
And this little side trip of looking back at Kiffmeyer talking out of both sides of her mouth (“I owned it/no, I didn’t own it”) in conjunction with Koch and Kiffmeyer’s bailout bills is just another pathetic example of You Couldn’t Trust The GOP Then, You Still Can’t, And Tomorrow Won’t Be Any Different.
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
Well, it seems that John Kline is outraged – OUTRAGED! – that a candidate is taking footage of Marines in uniform, and using said Marines in an ad. And he’s outraged. Here’s what Blogger Michael Broadkorb is reporting Congressman Kline said, over on M.D.E.:
I am outraged that Ashwin Madia would exploit uniformed Marines to advance his political ambitions. … He should immediately pull down the ad and issue an apology to the drill team and the brave men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps.” (M.D.E.)
Well, one would think, by Congressman Kline’s outrage, that he, himself, would never have used the military, or military veterans, to further HIS “political ambitions”, wouldn’t one? Or, if he HAD used the military, or military veterans, to further HIS “political ambitions”, Congressman Kline would have apologized, right?
Yeah, “right.”
Let’s take a look at a John Kline incident, from just two years ago.
On August 12th, 2006, John Kline attended an event with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), in St. Paul. Randy Pleva, National President of the PVA, sent Congressman Kline a letter on August 28th, thanking Kline for showing up.
Now, it’s important to remember, that the PVA is a 501(c)3 not for profit.
So, what did Congressman Kline do, with that letter, from a not for profit Veterans Organization?
If you guessed Congressman Kline shamelessly used that letter to further Kline’s political career, you would be correct.
Here’s the entire verbage from the SECOND letter the PVA sent to Congressman Kline, dated 31 October 2006:
Dear Congressman Kline,
I write to you regarding a recent campaign flyer distributed by the Kline for Congress campaign (copy attached) that implies my endorsement, as President of Paralyzed Veterans of America, of your reelection. As a 501(c)3 not for profit organization we are precluded by law from endorsing or opposing any candidate for office. Not only was this language taken out of context and used without our knowledge, the fact is that this may put or organization’s good standing in jeopardy.
The language contained in the flyer comes from a letter (attached I sent you August 28, 2006 thanking you for your attendance at a fund raising event conducted by PVA’s Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund. I find the selective editing for use in the flyer disingenuous at best.
I would appreciate that you and the campaign cease using this implied endorsement.
Thank you.Sincerely,
Randy L. Pleva, Sr.
National Presidentcc: Federal Election Commission, Office of General Counsel
Here’s the first letter, that John Kline disingenously took out of context:
Here’s the second letter, that the PVA essentially said “cease and desist”:
Now, fastforward to yesterday, and remember Kline demanding someone else issue an apology. Ask yourself this: do you think John Kline ever apologized to the PVA, for shamelessly and disengenuously using Paralyzed American Veterans to shamelessly advance Kline’s career?
If you think Kline did NOT apologize, you would be correct; I know – because I called Randy Pleva, National President, and asked.
John Kline – as usual – is acting like the shameless and disengenuous hypocrite that has caused “GOP” to now stand for GreedOverPrinciples.
“Hypocrisy, thy party is GOP”
(cross posted at MnBlue, originally posted at MnProgressiveProject.com )
