Told you so!- January 25, 2007 A helpful comments points out that I made this prediction before the election:"Bachmann wins and humiliates herself immediately nationally."Yes, I would say that I nailed that one.http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/told-you-so.html Sweet Bachmann-Bush lovin'- January 24, 2007 You've already seen this by now, but that doesn't make it less creepy.She. Is. Nuts. Something tells me that in the back of her head, there's this nagging thought that she and Bush could "hook up" and bring about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, if you know what I mean.http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/sweet-bachmann-bush-lovin.html Pawlenty's budget- January 23, 2007 I don't think Pawlenty has the triangulating thing down. His budget is only impressive in the way that it manages to piss off both sides.First, this is by no means a conservative budget. A 9% increase in spending How is that "smaller government" A tiny fraction of the surplus spent on tax relief Lots of borrowing for transportation I can't see how conservative Republicans can support this budget at all.But it doesn't go far enough for Democrats either. No promise to provide health care coverage.http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/pawlentys-budget.html State of the State- January 18, 2007 Governor Pawlenty gave his State of the State address today, and it was mainly focused on education. To be honest, I was not terribly impressed by the details of his plans, nor by the rhetoric.I am not a huge fan of our current school system. In fact, I think it stinks in many ways. But Pawlenty's digs at schools seemed pretty sad. If you are going to bash schools, go all the way; don't talk about how students are "coasting" with backpacks full of papers. That is insulting to both teachers...http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/state-of-state.html Farm Bill- January 16, 2007 Here's an idea for the new farm bill: how about no farm bill at all No subsidies. No price supports. No programs. No corporate giveaways (let's expand that to all businesses).Why should we have governmental control of agriculture through quotas and price controlshttp://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/farm-bill.html The Star Tribune's big wet sloppy kiss- January 13, 2007 Read this and vomit. I sure hope Norm bought the Star Tribune dinner first before this shameless example. A political life "marked by nimbleness" More like a life marked by flip-flopping and saying whatever it takes to sleaze his way to the top.http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/star-tribunes-big-wet-sloppy-kiss.html Today in the Senate- January 11, 2007 Today in the Minnesota Senate, they voted to increase their per-diems and housing allowances by 45% and 25% respectively. I am not a fan of the per-diem increases. Salaries are too low for legislators, so raise the salaries, not the "extras".They also revealed a convoluted plan to cover all people with health insurance by 2010. The plan would cap insurance rate increases and increase eligibility for MinnesotaCare. I think this is a stupid way to go about covering people, and I find the...http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/today-in-senate.html Dumb and dumberer- January 11, 2007 If these are the kinds of ideas that House Republicans are going to be putting forward, they should get used to being in the minority, because they will be there for a long time.It's not really surprising. The new Minority Leader, Marty Seifert, has always enjoyed stupid gimmicks much more than rational policy. After all, he was the person behind such brilliant proposals as banning dessert in prisons, fining welfare recipients who smoke, requiring the Pledge of Allegiance to be spoken only in...http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/dumb-and-dumberer.html Absurdity- January 9, 2007 Somebody asked why I don't do Katherine Kersten's Korner anymore. Aside from the positive benefits to my sanity that accompanies not reading that garbage, it's just a waste of time. She seems to have three major themes: today's was Those Darn Kids Today, joining Those Dang Democrats and Watch Out For Teh Gay as covering the kolumns that aren't focused on feel-good local stories. Do I really need to comment on the increasingly irrelevant musings of a curmudgeonhttp://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/absurdity.html A pander too far- January 9, 2007 I think that we should do a lot of things for veterans. Tuition help, health care, mental health support, even housing assistance is all fine with me. But exempting them from state income taxes That's a bit much.Being a tax policy purist, I think there generally needs to be a very good reason for exempting anything from taxation. I don't see any good reason here other than trying to win votes and allow people to feel good about themselves. Stretch our National Guard to the limit, don't give...http://minnpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/pander-too-far.html |