Twin Cities media outlets are trumpeting a provision of the state education bill on its way to Gov. Mark Dayton with the headline "free all-day kindergarten."
Well, it is "free" — to everyone but the taxpayers.
We can debate the efficacy of early childhood education for all, but there still is no such thing as "free" all-day K, and it's actually worse than that. The Legislature's appropriation for all-day K doesn't fully fund it. The rest of the tab for "free" all-day K will fall on local school districts.
The DFL and the media will spin the $15.7 billion education funding bill as a windfall for "Minnesota's kids," but unfunded or partially-funded mandates like all-day K, anti-bullying programs, and special education are a hidden burden on local school district budgets. The Legislature is acting like a state school board that doesn't have to worry about how to pay for its lofty agenda. Yet as any weary school board member knows, the money has to come from somewhere.
The bill does fund urban (read: DFL) public school districts with over $13,000 per pupil, while rural (read: Republican) districts receive about $9,900 per pupil. If the Legislature and governor were more concerned with educational outcomes instead of the status quo, they would allow education funding to follow the student to the school that best meets his or her needs, and they would relieve our independent school districts of paying for mandates designed to help get the DFL reelected.
Jeff Johnson's choice of a venue to announce his run for Minnesota governor may have been a preview of his statewide appeal. The Hamel Community Building, located through a twist of local history in the city of Medina, is steps away from Medina's small-town main street, cornfields, the Inn Kahoots bar, and the picturesque Church of St. Anne.
Johnson is known as a former three-term member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and current Hennepin County Commissioner. As Republican National Committeeman since 2011, Johnson has gained national party experience. Yet his roots are in Detroit Lakes, where he grew up, and Moorhead, where he graduated from Concordia College. His wife Sondi is a native of Crookston. After receiving his degree from Georgetown Law School, he worked in Chicago before moving to the Twin Cities to work for Cargill and then open his own employment law practice.
About two hundred supporters and media packed the room at Sunday's announcement. Johnson stressed three priorities and two reasons why he makes the best Republican candidate for governor. Johnson's vision for jobs is that Minnesota will actually be the best state in the upper Midwest to start or expand a business. He would "give all parents the option of sending their kids to a great school." To make state government more effective, Johnson promised to undertake a "line-by-line, top-to-bottom audit" of state programs, to "celebrate and bolster" the ones that can demonstrate success, and eliminate those that cannot.
Speaking to the Republican base that will eventually vote to endorse their gubernatorial candidate, Johnson claimed that his appeal extends beyond the Republican party, making him the most electable of the party's eventual field. He also said that his record in the Minnesota House and on the county board demonstrates that he has the ability and integrity to actually follow through on his campaign promises around tax reform, public safety, and business climate. His Hennepin County Watchdog blog shows how a conservative can tilt against an unending parade of ineffective and extravagant programs, like an extra $14 million to turn the new Lowry Avenue bridge into a "signature" bridge.
Although it was Johnson's first official gubernatorial campaign event, it didn't look like it. The venue was professionally set up for the media and guests, including a stage, backdrop draping, and camera-friendly sight lines and lighting. Campaign signage and stickers, t-shirts, check. Mini-war room with website and social media humming, thanks to volunteer all-nighters so it would be ready for Sunday, check. Media notified, hardcopy press releases at the venue, candidate media availability, check. Greeters at the door and sign-up table for donors and volunteers, check. Oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies, bottled water, check.
Clad in red campaign t-shirts, activists in Johnson's past campaigns and other local Republican campaigns were busy in their appointed roles. Bloggers Walter Hudson and Craig Westover, and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff David Gaither, Rep. Jerry Hertaus (R-Greenfield) were seen in the audience.
Note to aspiring bloggers: I have finally learned my lesson about liveblogging. The two things you absolutely cannot take for granted at a liveblog venue: Internet access and power. Without both of course, you are dead in the water. I had intended for this to be a liveblog of Wednesday's Minnesota GOP activists' meeting of the minds, but a, shall we say, cluster of circumstances conspired first to delay then put an abrupt end to that idea.
"MN GOP: Where Do We Go From Here?" was a panel discussion about the future of the Republican Party of Minnesota, in the aftermath of the 2012 elections. The party has been devastated by overwhelming election defeats, financial mismanagement, scandal, infighting among its various factions, and an image of exclusion — and that's aside from the constant attacks from the Democrat party and their allies in the media, Hollywood, and political action committees.
I arrived at the Blue Fox Bar and Grill in Arden Hills (located on the corner of Lexington Avenue and, ironically, Red Fox Road) just after the scheduled 6:00 pm start to the pre-event social, only to find the parking lot full to overflowing into the neighboring businesses. It was even more crowded inside the bar, where easily over 200 persons packed the bar, tables, and booths, making it difficult for the waitresses to make their rounds, laden with food and drink.
This may have been what Samuel Adams called the "animating contest of freedom" looked like. People from all walks of life, gathered in a pub, debating the questions of liberty, at times listening intently, at other times loudly objecting or talking amongst themselves, then applauding an eloquently-spoken point.
The panel was moderated by blogger and talk radio host Mitch Berg and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson. Announced panelist Sen. Dave Thompson (R-Lakeville) was unable to attend. Fortunately for the discussion, commentator and activist Erin Haust was able to sit in for Thompson.
The moderators posed several questions to the panel, some submitted by audience members on index cards. Several recurring themes emerged:
Is the Minnesota GOP the party of addition and multiplication, or division and subtraction?
This line from Kurt Bills's concession speech sums up what the panel identified as the Minnesota GOP's most pressing problems. The various factions within the party — so-called Ron Paul libertarians, social conservatives, TEA Party fiscal conservatives, moderates, and the party establishment — are eating themselves alive and killing the party from within. Instead, Republicans should focus on what they agree on, get elected, then debate the rest. This internal feuding is wasting energy, turning off the grassroots, and discouraging everyone else from joining the party. Party activists should remind themselves that their common opponent is the DFL.
The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor. —Ronald Reagan
The Minnesota GOP is attempting to fight a twenty-first century opponent with stone knives and bear skins.
There is a black-and-white video of Ronald Reagan from the 1960s giving a tour of the "modern" political campaign phone bank. (I couldn't find it on YouTube, if you do, please send me the link.) The Gipper proudly explains the modern techniques of compiling neatly-typed telephone number lists of Republicans by precinct, and how the volunteers call everyone on the lists to remind them to vote Republican on election day.
The problem for Republicans is, this was how Republicans contacted voters in 2012, a half century later.
Social media maven Erin Haust sounded a high-tech wake-up call for Minnesota Republicans. She explained how Democrats are light years ahead of Republicans in data analytics and social media. She urged BPOU activists to work together to create "viral" videos on Facebook and YouTube, advertise on Facebook "now" for 2016 (she remarked that it may already be too late for 2014), use memes and infographics, and get regular articles in local newspapers and online websites like Patch.com.
Haust mentioned WeAreChange.org and Project Veritas as examples of the effective use of video for conservative messaging:
Republican campaign strategist Andy Parrish recommended the book The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado (and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care), reviewed in 2010 on RedState. It's an eye-opening account of how liberal-progressives used a privately-funded political machine to work on projects from "policy generation to leadership recruiting, coalition building to grassroots activation...dozens of 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) and 527 organizations...worked in perfect harmony to take down the Republican establishment and install left-leaning policymakers in its place." After reading it, Minnesota conservatives will better understand what has been happening here in Minnesota, and how it might fight back.
The Minnesota GOP needs to appeal to minority communities and independents by stressing our common values.
Walter Hudson, commentator and member of the Minority Liberty Alliance, explained how Minnesota Republicans should reach out to minority communities by first listening to what's important to them, and then explain why conservatism offers better answers than liberal-progressives. Dan Severson, president of the organization, and 2012 U.S Senate candidate Kurt Bills are already making inroads in this way. Later, Hudson recalled that for most of the country's history, people immigrated to the United States to escape the tyranny of their homelands, with no guarantee of anything except precious freedom. This is a message that resonates with the Hmong who told of their fight against the Communists for the CIA at a recent Minority Liberty Alliance meeting.
Politics in Minnesota creator Sarah Janecek, who proclaimed herself the "only moderate Republican in the room," offered a similar approach that she has used to talk to independents: instead of focusing on labels like conservative vs. liberal, talk to people about opportunity, reframe the message based on values, and why conservative ideas are superior.
The Minnesota GOP needs to get its house in order and figure out how to win elections in the twenty-first century.
Parrish proclaimed that The Republican Party of Minnesota is "a disaster." He said that it's time for the RPM to declare bankruptcy, start over, give candidates and BPOUs the tools to run an effective campaign, including effective voter ID, microtargeting precincts, messaging.
Haust said that the party needs to recognize that Democrats are engaged in a perpetual campaign, and to abandon its "campaign season" mentality. She said that activists need to be engaging friends and neighbors continually, as liberal-progressives have been doing for years.
Mark Westpfahl, chairman of Senate District 2 Republicans, agreed, adding that Republicans need to be more active in the community between elections, and run for local offices. He added that party activists also need to trust each other and cooperate within and between BPOUs.
Hudson said that the party needs to understand that winning campaigns and winning ideology (public policy, public opinion) are two different efforts, and to conduct them independently instead of as one process. He added that conservatives don't need to wait for the state party to tell them what to do, pointing out that this evening was not organized by the party. (It was the brainchild of Steve Hensley of Real Capitol View.)
Janecek asked what did Minnesotans get when Republicans controlled the state House and Senate (for the second time in her lifetime, she added)? Government grew, two failed constitutional amendments, financial mismanagement, and scandal (and a less than optimal response to it by elected leadership). Republicans instead need to deliver on its promises of smaller government, fiscal restraint, and economic growth.
Janecek and Stebbins claimed that Ron Paul won young voters by leaving social issues out of his campaign, and focusing instead on economic issues.
The last question asked panelists, what do Republicans agree on?
Ron Paul Minnesota 2012 chair Marianne Stebbins: Economic freedom, fiscal conservatism, school choice.
Westpfahl: Government is more obtrusive in people's lives than it should be.
Severson: Our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are given by God; government with the consent of the governed.
Janecek: Focus on the economic issues, and we win the majority.
By the end of the evening, Hudson had so eloquently espoused various conservative principles that one of the panelists had to admit, "Nobody [on the panel] wants to follow Walter."
Not surprisingly, the party's problems were not solved that night, but perhaps getting them aired out was a critical first step.
Many of the top thought leaders in the Republican Party of Minnesota will gather this Wednesday evening to discuss the most critical questions facing the party in the aftermath of the 2012 election cycle.
"MN GOP: Where Do We Go From Here" is a forum jointly sponsored by Real Capitol View and True North. Jeff Johnson, Hennepin County Commissioner, and Mitch Berg, talk radio host and blogger at Shot in the Dark, will moderate the evening, which starts at 7:00 pm at the Blue Fox Bar & Grill in Arden Hills.
If you are an activist, BPOU leader, TEA Party member, blogger, or anyone else who wants to avoid a repeat of 2012, please show up to help us figure out where we go from here. Check back here, on True North, and Real Capitol View for recaps of the discussion.
North Star Liberty dedicates this poem to all active duty, Reserve, and National Guard soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard who stand upon a wall and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch." God bless you all this Christmas season, and always.
Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live.
As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.
With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.
I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.
He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?
His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.
Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.
I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.
He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps."
With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.
Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.
I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."
One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.
"The philosophy of the schoolhouse today is the philosophy of the government tomorrow." —Abraham Lincoln (attributed)
Minnesota's academic standards in social studies, created in 2004, are nearing the end of their year-long review cycle, and will likely be adopted pending a hearing before an administrative law judge on Thursday, December 20.
As a member of the Academic Standards Committee that created the 2004 standards, I recognize some improvements to the process and structure of the standards, but I am troubled by how the U.S. history standards were rewritten to tell a story of European oppression of native and minority peoples, while suppressing or deemphasizing American values of liberty, inalienable rights, and the best that America has to offer.
For example, here are some of the standards that will be considered at the December 20 hearing.
Standard 16 Rivalries among European nations and their search for new opportunities fueled expanding global trade networks and, in North America, colonization and settlement and the exploitation of indigenous peoples and lands; colonial development evoked varied responses by indigenous nations, and produced regional societies and economies that included imported slave labor and distinct forms of local government. (Colonization and Settlement: 1585-1763)
Standard 18 Economic expansion and the conquest of indigenous and Mexican territory spurred the agricultural and industrial growth of the United States; led to increasing regional, economic and ethnic divisions; and inspired multiple reform movements. (Expansion and Reform: 1792-1861)
Standard 19 Regional tensions around economic development, slavery, territorial expansion, and governance resulted in a civil war and a period of Reconstruction that led to the abolition of slavery, a more powerful federal government, a renewed push into indigenous nations’ territory and continuing conflict over racial relations. (Civil War and Reconstruction: 1850-1877)
Standard 20 As the United States shifted from its agrarian roots into an industrial and global power, the rise of big business, urbanization and immigration led to institutionalized racism, ethnic and class conflict, and new efforts at reform. (Development of an industrial United States: 1870-1920)
Yes, our country's mistakes must be acknowledged, or we are doomed to repeat them. Still these new standards raise the question: what is the story that our public education system will inculcate into the next generation? Is the United States an oppressive and racist society where most people are victims of economic injustice with a future of despair? Will American exceptionalism be replaced by "leading from behind" and "apology tours?"
The defeat of Mitt Romney for President and the reelection of Barack Obama, on the heels of the 2008 defeat of John McCain, preceded by the popular vote defeat of George W. Bush in 2004, has finally convinced me that the Grand Old Party is not so grand anymore.
The Republican Party is in need of some creative destruction. Minnesota Republicans are leading the way in this evolutionary process, even in the face of powerful opposition from their own party. In 2008, supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX14) elbowed their way into the Minnesota precinct caucuses like a couple of Obama party crashers, much to the chagrin of longtime activists.
In 2012, Minnesota Paul supporters turned from party crashers into the party planners.
Led by Marianne Stebbins, the Minnesota delegation to the Republican National Convention voted 33 of its 40 votes for Ron Paul. "I don’t think Mitt Romney is a strong candidate," said Stebbins in the Eagan Patch. "He represents old ideas and what the party has stood for over the last couple of decades, which is not necessarily what the voters want."
It's not just a small group of Ron Paul gadflies who are working for change. Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Taxes, is also home to the Minnesota Liberty Caucus. numerous TEA Party groups, bloggers, Atlas Shrugged book and movie groups, and even small groups of BPOU activists meeting at social events publicized on Facebook.
They are disillusioned at big business joining the Democrats and labor unions in lobbying for ever more government spending. Some Republicans declined to campaign for the Marriage Amendment and either voted No or abstained (which are both counted as "No" votes). Local (now syndicated) radio commentator Jason Lewis was one of the first so-called conservatives to publicly question our country's long and expensive military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The labels of Republican and Democrat, or even conservative/no-new-taxes and liberal/progressive/tax-the-rich, are largely meaningless in this brave new political world. The real line in the sand separates libertarians and statists, those who promote liberty and equal opportunity versus those who believe in elite, bureaucratic government control and equal outcomes. These are issues that can challenge traditional party loyalties.
As Kurt Bills pointed out in his statesmanlike concession speech, Republicans must espouse its messages to voters that it has traditionally conceded to the Democrats. "If we don't become the party of addition and multiplication, we will become the party of subtraction and division."
To quote Thomas Paine, "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
Republicans have a lot of work and soul-searching to do if they want to avoid becoming a permanent minority party.
The 2012 campaigns came to an end on Election Day, in a stunning victory for Democrats, and in disbelief for Republicans.
The day began with reports of heavy voter turnout with few problems at the polls. At the Minnesota GOP Victory Party at the Bloomington Hilton, the evening began with cautious optimism. The parking lot was full to overflowing by 7:00 p.m., with television satellite trucks stationed on the south side of the hotel. Activists admitted the possibility of losing the majority in the Minnesota Senate, but expected to retain control of the House. They were hopeful for at least a slim Electoral College win for Mitt Romney, with fingers crossed.
Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, who ran unopposed for reelection, hosted a hospitality suite with his family and Chester, the family bulldog and mascot of the self-proclaimed Hennepin County Taxpayer Watchdog. The suite became the unofficial headquarters for SD44 activists, where they monitored the election returns via cable TV and a rather flakey WiFi connection, while munching on popcorn, party mix, and yes, "puppy chow."
The SD48 hospitality room, really a conference room, was standing room only with candidates and activists and the requisite TV displaying election coverage.
At his hospitality suite, U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills greeted a steady stream of supporters, as his campaign staff hovered over a laptop computer. I spent a few minutes with Bills communications manager David Strom before the candidate gave the nod, and then led his entourage downstairs to the main ballroom to deliver a gracious concession speech while encouraging the party faithful to stay engaged to fight in 2014.
Chris Fields, who challenged Democrat Keith Ellison in the Fifth U.S. Congressional District, admonished Republicans to hold elected officials at all levels accountable by continuing to discuss campaign issues like the economy and government spending. Receiving over 25% of the vote in the Fifth, Fields asserted that Republicans achieved a new credibility in the historically-Democrat district.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. —Theodore Roosevelt
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." —Plato
Today is Election Day. Get out to vote!
Before you vote, review the Election Integrity Watch Action Plan, and if you see something, say something. To report any suspicious activity at your polling place, call 877-602-WATCH.
After the polls close at 8:00 p.m., you can watch the results come in at any of several election watch parties, or hunker down at home in front of the TV. If you want to follow certain races closely, try the MinnPost Live Election Results Dashboard, which you can view from an Internet-connected computer or mobile device. The official results will be posted at the Minnesota Secretary of State website. There is a dubious report circulating that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is hoping for a 150% voter turnout to defeat the Voter ID amendment.
Over the weekend, I was encouraged by the turnout at a Saturday morning campaign literature drop and Sunday afternoon phone bank shift. There were so many volunteers scheduled for phone bank shifts that all of the calling stations were full, so they were buying cell phones to enable even more calls. People also stopped by to pick up campaign lawn signs. Minnesota visits on Sunday by vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and yesterday by presidential candidate son Josh Romney have Republican activists energized and hopeful for today's elections.
Over the last three days, I've received no fewer than three expensive glossy mailers paid for by the DFL attacking David Gaither. These mailers are the worst sort of political trash. They feature an unflattering screenshot of David apparently laughing and juxtapose it with a series of slanders, including (I'm not making this up) that he wants old people to starve. They are premised on the sad, tired DFL argument that only the central government can accomplish anything and that if, like Gaither, you believe government should live within its means then you must not care about the needy. They are premised on belief that only central government can help people, and that local governments, communities and private organizations don't exist. They are premised on the belief that rather than empowering people to help themselves we should treat Minnesotans as helpless sheep, powerless without the DFL shepherd.
Yet in a way, I was actually glad to receive these mailers because they told me something very important. David Gaither has the DFL running scared. There are a lot of tight races in Minnesota and the DFL wouldnot be spending massively in Senate District 44 unless they thought there was a very good chance that David Gaither can defeat DFL incumbent Terri Bonoff. Gaither could be the key vote to defeating Gov. Mark Dayton's plan to make Minnesota the highest-taxed state in the nation, and the DFL is willing to to dig deep into their coffers to keep him out of the Senate. I think you measure a man by his enemies. David Gaither has made an enemy of the DFL money machine. That should tell you everything you need to know about his candidacy.
Let's get out there and elect David Gaither to the State Senate!
David Faith is Vice Chair at Large of the SD44 Republicans. This article originally appeared on sd44gop.com.
Observer of education policy and partisan politics, from the western suburbs of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Co-founder and contributor to True North, a Minnesota-based conservative group blog.
