Miller Time

Bureaucracy and over-regulation are threatening Minnesotans' supply of Miller Lite, Blue Moon, and 37 other MillerCoors brands of beer. The headlines report that MillerCoors failed to renew their three-year brand license before the government shutdown, but deeper reporting reveals that the State of Minnesota simply failed to cash their check before Gov. Mark Dayton shut down state government. The fees involved for a three-year renewal total only $1170 ($30 per brand). In an epitome of bureaucratic irony, by forcing MillerCoors to pull its product from sale, the state of Minnesota cuts off its nose (liquor tax revenues) to spite its face.

This situation fits into an ongoing discussion by Bob Davis and Tom Emmer on their morning radio show. They have been questioning the very existence of licensing fees like this. Why does the state collect brand license fees at all? Minnesota law surrounding the labeling of alcoholic beverages seems to overlap or duplicate federal law. If such a product is legal to sell in the United States, shouldn't it be legal in the Minnesota? What is the benefit of Minnesota brand label registration to the consumer, really? Besides that, at $30 for three years, the state might even lose money on every license it sells.

Some permit and license requirements protect consumers and the public, but others appear to be solely administrative processes that give the state government a piece of the action in private business transactions while adding zero value. (Anyone remember the Stamp Act?) If you're wondering what business owners mean by "regulatory burden," it's when government makes it more difficult to make a buck, and in this case, even to render a tribute unto Caesar.

The 5% solution

A couple of years ago, my employer, Hewlett-Packard, cut everyone's salary 5% and stopped matching employee 401(k) contributions. Well, not everyone's salary was cut by an equal amount. Hourly worker wages were cut around 2% I believe, and management got a 10-15% cut. Nobody liked it, but our salaries were eventually restored this year (not retroactively), and we decided that a pay cut was better than a layoff. (Thousands of our co-workers were laid off.)

Governor Dayton and the Legislature are said to be about $1.6 billion apart between their budgets. That is less than 5% of the record $34 billion budget, much closer to Dayton's levels of funding than the GOP originally proposed and without the tax cuts and reforms that conservatives demanded in the last election. The State of Minnesota does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. If new sources of revenue are found, new ways to spend the money will be found. Contrary to the fuzzy math of the unions and special interests, getting less of an increase than you asked for is not a "cut." Less of an increase is certainly better than a layoff, or a shutdown.

You can't always get what you want, and the Legislature has given the governor quite a lot of what he wanted. It's time for governor Dayton to sign the budget and get Minnesota, the only state in the union in government shutdown, back to work.

Why a shutdown?

Contrary to the impressions left by media reports and DFL statements, the GOP-controlled legislature sent several budget compromise proposals to Governor Dayton in an attempt to avoid a state government shutdown. Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) provided this summary in an e-mail to constituents:

May:  Knowing Governor Dayton wanted more revenue, Republicans proposed a balanced budget containing a 6 percent increase in state spending.  This proposal would have avoided a special session and a government shutdown.  STATUS:  Vetoed by Governor Dayton

June 6:  Republican leaders offered to accept 50 percent of Governor Dayton's budget.  This compromise proposal would have adopted the Governor's funding numbers for schools, courts, and public safety.  STATUS:  Rejected by Governor Dayton

June 16:  Republican leaders dropped request for tax cuts - a key provision for us.  This compromise proposal also included increasing spending for higher education, transportation, and more.  The compromise also renewed our offer to accept Governor Dayton's numbers for schools, courts, and public safety.  STATUS:  Rejected by Governor Dayton

June 30:  Republican leaders offered to add $10 million to the University of Minnesota and issue appropriation bonds.  Governor Dayton wanted to shift school aid payments from 70/30 to 50/50.  GOP leaders said no to Governor Dayton's 50/50 school aid payment shift, but did move a little on that split to generate $700 million in revenue for the Governor.  Republican leaders then offered to increase per student aid to cover borrowing costs.  STATUS:  Rejected by Governor Dayton

Republicans have passed the largest budget in state history without raising taxes, without the tax cuts that conservatives have demanded, with funding for many of the governor's priorities, and even giving a little toward the governor's 50/50 shift proposal, which would tighten the financial screws on school districts once again (especially charter schools). Governor Dayton, the CEO of Minnesota's divided government, should put his "tax the rich" mantra on hold for his reelection, and reopen the state for business.

UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) stated on the July 5 edition of Capitol Report (Senate Media Services) that the Governor's last budget proposal is still $1.6 billion higher than the Republicans' last proposal, itself the highest general fund budget in state history. She also pointed out that despite many divided state governments nationwide (different parties controlling the legislature and the governor's office), Minnesota was the only state in the union that shut down its government this year.

There go the neighborhoods

There will be some big changes in Minnesota politics if the legislative redistricting plan submitted by the House Committee on Redistricting is approved. For example, my House district 43B would neatly morph into HD35A, completely inside the Plymouth borders west of I-494, losing its swing district status along with its Minnetonka appendage, which is home to our current DFL state Sen. Terri Bonoff and DFL Representative John Benson. A new HD35B would comprise northeast Plymouth and eastern Maple Grove, centered around the I-94/I-394 interchange. Southeast Plymouth and Medicine Lake would join their New Hope and Golden Valley neighbors east of U.S. Highway 169 in a new HD36A.

The House Redistricting committee is chaired by third-term HD43A Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth). Interestingly, Anderson's unsuccessful 2010 challenger, Audrey Britton, is party to a lawsuit that will presumably send Anderson's redistricting plan to U.S. District Court for a final ruling, where past plans have often landed when the Legislature and governor failed to agree on a plan by the statutory deadline.

MOB goes to Ol' Mexico for winter confab

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Last Saturday, the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers (MOB) convened its winter social at Ol' Mexico Restaurante & Cantina, one block north of Larpenteur Avenue on Lexington Avenue in Roseville.

As usual, first to welcome this blogger into the room with an outstretched hand and an introduction to the two other bloggers in his knot of conversation was the inimitable
Mitch Berg, Shot in the Dark and AM 1280 The Patriot. Nearby, I sighted MOB luminaries Brian "Saint Paul" Ward, Fraters Libertas, and Andy Aplikowski, a.k.a. AAA, Residual Forces.

I spent some time catching up on the latest BPOU and CD3 gossip with my northwest suburbian SD45 neighbors Derek Brigham and Nancy "Lassie" LaRoche, Freedom Dogs.

I enjoyed a pint of Summit Maibock and some freshly made, very salty, and highly addictive tortilla chips with Walter Hudson, Fightin' Words. Hudson — affable, articulate, and a very compelling advocate of conservative values — was recently elected to head the North Star Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group for independent Tea Party groups in Minnesota. He has been doing yeoman's work recently, making media appearances and speaking before audiences ranging from youth groups to the Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota.

I briefly chatted up that walking conservative brand Katie Kieffer, KatieKieffer.com, about her interview at the Minneapolis auto show with a Ford spokesman about their innovative Sync technology.

Perhaps knowing how many Minnesota state GOP delegates are MOB bloggers, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson and former state auditor Pat Anderson separately worked the room. Johnson and Anderson are both candidates for Republican National Committeepersons, which represent the state party to the national GOP.

As the evening wound down, the MOB filtered back into the night, like so many wired Punxsutawney Phils, to their keyboards until the next MOB event.

More than one fresh face elected in SD43

At today's lightly-attended convention held at Wayzata Central Middle School in Plymouth, Senate District 43 Republicans elected a new chair and executive committee that includes both new energy and experience. The day began with an official censure of its 2010 endorsed candidate for state Senate, Norann Dillon, followed about four hours later by its dramatic retraction from the floor.

Brian Grogan, the 2008 and 2010 endorsed candidate for House District 43B, was elected to chair the district. He owns a financial services business, serves on the board of the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation, and was recently appointed to the Citizens Advisory Council for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed Board.

Grogan will be joined by Treasurer Jeff Kulaszewicz, Secretary Audrey Fresh, two at-large vice chairs, and vice-chairs for House Districts 43A (northern Plymouth) and 43B (southern Plymouth and northern Minnetonka)

David Gaither, one of the newly-elected at-large vice-chairs, was the senator for SD43 from 2003-2005, and served as assistant minority leader. Gaither is currently the executive director of International Education Center, a non-profit that teaches English and provides education and employment assistance to adult international students. Tracey Taylor was also elected an at-large vice-chair.

Long-time Republican activist and community volunteer Lavonne Sjoberg was elected district 43A vice-chair. Former construction contractor and Grogan campaign volunteer Mike Seuss was elected vice-chair for district 43B.

Dillon censured

SD43 chair Larry Thompson read to the convention an executive committee resolution that censured 2010 endorsed state Senate candidate Norann Dillon for representing the endorsement of former governor Al Quie without obtaining the endorsement in writing, per state law.

Neither Dillon nor her supporters disputed not having Quie's endorsement in writing. Quie told Minnesota Public Radio in October 2010 that "a telephone conversation with Dillon this morning resolved the issue," and Dillon posted an apology at that time on her campaign web site.

Dillon, an SD43 delegate, remained at the convention. Close to the end of the convention, a motion was made from the convention floor to retract the censure, debate was conducted, and in the end the motion passed.

After the motion passed, an emotional Dillon addressed the convention, thanking her supporters and stating that her efforts are about stopping what she sees as the state's move toward socialism. She said that she intends to remain active in the district. The convention reacted with a standing ovation for Dillon. Dillon was also one of four elected by the convention to represent SD43 at the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Dillon was a passionate, articulate, respectful, upbeat, and tireless conservative candidate in 2010. She is a relative newcomer to the area and to politics who received long odds from some on the day she was endorsed, and came up short three percentage points in a year that the Republicans retook the majority in the state Senate for first time since 1972. A verbal conversation with Quie was apparently mishandled somewhere along the way, for which the candidate has already apologized. Yet what could an official censure have gained for the district?

Guest speakers say thanks, pitch their candidacies

Many guest speakers took the microphone to thank district activists for their work in helping to bring about Republican victories in 2010, and majorities to both houses of the Minnesota Legislature.

Hennepin County Commissioner and favorite son Jeff Johnson and 2010 endorsed GOP candidate for governor Tom Emmer both announced their candidacies for National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee.

HD43A Rep. Sarah Anderson reported on how Republican majorities in the House and Senate began cutting the size of government immediately, "as they were elected to do."

Third District Congressman Erik Paulsen noted "what a difference two years makes," while noting that Democrats are already busy organizing and targeting him with protests.

State Republican Party Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb thanked local activists (including several mentions of Norann Dillon), and along with state party secretary-treasurer David Sturrock, asked for state central committee delegate support for their re-election along with chair Tony Sutton.

Former Plymouth Mayor, current city council member, and SD43 Senate candidate Judy Johnson encouraged Republicans to volunteer locally on city boards and commissions, and as election judges.

Trump: it's not political, it's business

Donald Trump may or may not run for president, and he may or may not be electable, but I sure enjoyed many of his scripted remarks and off-script asides at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. The government is not a business, but who better than Donald Trump to bring a battle-tested, commonsense approach to running the largest enterprise in the world?

America today is missing quality leadership, and foreign countries have quickly realized this. It is for this reason that the United States is becoming the laughing stock of the world. Whether we like it or don’t like it, that’s what’s happening. I deal with people from China, I deal with people from Mexico; they cannot believe what they are getting away with.

I have said on numerous occasions that countries like China, like India, South Korea, Mexico, and the OPEC nations view our leaders as weak and ineffective and have repeatedly taken advantage of them to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year. When they talk about raising your taxes, I think: raise the taxes on some of these countries that are taking advantage of the United States.

I’ve said on numerous occasions that we should watch China, and OPEC, because -- by the way, worse than China, worse than everyone: OPEC; they are truly ripping us...Coming over here today one of the people in the car said, “Oh my gosh, look at that, four dollars and fifty-four cents a gallon for gas.” It’s going to go much higher, folks, get used to it, because we have nobody that calls up OPEC -- and they’re only there because of us; we protect them! -- and says, “That price better get lower, and it better get lower fast.”

I can tell you this: if I run, and if I win, this country will be respected again...Just very briefly, I am pro-life, I am against gun control, and I will fight to end Obamacare and replace it with something that makes sense for people in business and not bankrupt the country. If I decide to run, I will not be raising taxes. We’ll be taking in hundreds of millions of dollars from other countries that are screwing us. We’ll be creating vast numbers of productive jobs, and we’ll rebuild our country so that we can be proud. Our country will be great again.

The Dayton education agenda's pre-K obsession

"Instead of talking about how to spend more money and finding ways to spend more money, we ought to be talking about how to focus the resources we have on something we can measure." —Sen. David Hann (R-Eden Prairie), Star Tribune, February 5

Do you get the point that Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton really believes in early childhood education? The governor's seven-point education plan is not content with dedicating one or two of these points to early childhood education, he embeds "ready for K" goals into five of them:

• Invest in Early Childhood and All-Day Kindergarten
• Target All-Day Kindergarten
• Expand existing K-12 system into a comprehensive pre-K-12 system
• Adopt pre-K - 3 reading standards
• Support early childhood teacher observation and development
• Reauthorize Statewide Early Childhood Advisory Council and reestablish Children's Cabinet
• Charge Commissioner of Education with leadership of early childhood initiatives

Considering the state's barely ten-month old kindergarten-readiness study, this obsession with pre-K seems odd.

The Minnesota School Readiness Study found that between 91 percent and 97 percent of Minnesota five-year-olds were In Process or Proficient in five developmental areas necessary for school success: physical development, the arts, personal and social development, language and literacy, and mathematical thinking. This compares to last year’s study with numbers between 87 percent and 96 percent. The increases are within the margin of error between the two years.

When you couple these findings with national empirical studies on Head Start and other preschool programs that show little if any benefit to pre-K programs, you may wonder why Governor Dayton is so bent on a significant expansion of government pre-K and all-day kindergarten.

"There's nothing terribly new in here," said Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) in the February 5 Star Tribune article, "Dayton renews pledge to raise school funding." "We're going to have more commissions and more advisory councils. I think we've been there and done that," remarked Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton), chair of the House Educationn Reform Committee in the February 5 Star Tribune article.

Dayton's myopic focus on pre-K and kindergarten to the exclusion of other education reforms such as streamlining the process for sponsors of successful charter schools to open new sites, and education tax credits is a missed opportunity for much-needed education reform for Minnesota students and families. Dayton's omissions provide an excellent opportunity for the Republican majorities in the Legislature to display some leadership in state education policy initiatives.

Merry Christmas My Friend

Image licensed under Creative Commons

This year I would like to dedicate this poem to two United States Marines who served country and Corps honorably. As the Marines say, "Semper Fidelis."

Cpl. Sean A. Osterman, of Princeton, Minnesota, died December 16, 2010 from wounds received on December 14 while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejune, North Carolina. He was serving in his second deployment to Afghanistan.

During a May 2004 mortar attack in Iraq, LCpl. Tim Carson risked his life and saved several others when he ran to give first aid to victims. After he returned to the Twin Cities, he became a SWAT officer in the Minneapolis Police Department, but severe personal problems, and diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder apparently drove him to rob an Apple Valley bank and individuals and businesses in Dakota County. He is currently serving a sentence in federal prison. Carson grew up in my church in Plymouth, and we are praying for him continually.

Merry Christmas My Friend

by Marine Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt (1986)

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 journey to 2012 begins with one step

In spite of the historic 2010 wave that gave Republicans control of both houses of the Minnesota legislature for the first time in two generations (not to mention the U.S. House of Representatives and nearly the U.S. Senate), in SD43, it's close but no cigar. Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) continued the A-side Republicans' unbeaten streak going back to Jeff Johnson in 2002 (the first election after redistricting), while Norann Dillon and Brian Grogan improved the GOP's performance, just not enough to unseat DFL incumbents Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka) and Rep. John Benson (DFL-Minnetonka).

Anderson won her third election handily by 15 percentage points, winning 13 of 15 A-side precincts (the Medicine Lake precinct was a tie at 111 votes each). Dillon and Grogan both finished with around 3.5 percent deficits. That was a half-point improvement over Judy Johnson's close 2006 finish against Bonoff, and an over 8 point improvement over Grogan's first run against Benson in 2008. Grogan captured all 4 Plymouth precincts and 4 of 13 Minnetonka precincts. (The 2010 results are unofficial until certified by the canvassing board.)

The good news for Republicans is that the SD43 team now has another election cycle worth of experience, and significant Republican momentum, at the start of the road to 2012. Dillon and Grogan are seasoned campaigners could run or support other candidates in two years. Dillon in particular did an excellent job of using social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in her campaign, and Grogan's opposition voting record research was very thorough. Judging by campaign communications that played down partisan labels and portrayed them as "moderate," and by narrowing election margins, the DFL incumbents have recognized SD43 voters' desire for less spending, lower taxes, and a more favorable business climate.

The wild card for 2012, even more so than the outcome of a gubernatorial recount in Minnesota, will be legislative redistricting. In the first election after redistricting, the entire legislature will be up for election (including the Senate), as well as the U.S. House of Representatives and President. This will present a challenge to the new, post-redistricting BPOUs, or Basic Political Operating Units. After redistricting is complete in February 2012, the new BPOUs must organize, adopt by-laws, elect leadership and delegates, and endorse and elect candidates, all before November.

Activist interest will be high for the presidential election year. People like to get elected delegates at their precinct caucus, but many end up being "inactive activists." The new BPOUs would do well to set a high bar of commitment for delegate and leadership posts, including attendance at conventions, active networking within the precincts, active campaigning for endorsed candidates, volunteer recruiting goals, and lead fundraising.

BPOUs should host monthly informal coffeeshop discussions and special events, to draw supporters who won't attend a formal BPOU committee meeting, and capture their names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and social networking contacts. SD45 Republicans has been very creative and successful in this regard. As soon as possible, groups of suburban BPOUs should meet to share ideas and plan over the next two years so the new BPOUs can hit the ground running after the redistricted maps are drawn.