So another legislative session comes to an end in Minnesota. And to think, the Governor and his apologists; mind you they are the minority party here, consider it a victory. A victory they say. Well, if this be a victory, surely it is of the Blue Ribbon variety. I say Blue Ribbon variety for the simple fact that adopting a watered down liberal Democratic policy is hardly to be considered a victory. Minnesota may indeed be a blue state, that doesn’t mean Republicans need to paint themselves with the same brush.
The apparent “victory” this legislative session is predicated on one thing; that being a temporary 3.9% property tax increase cap at the governor’s insistence. However, bear in mind that this cap does not include the school portion of property taxes which is the primary driver of the property tax increases in the first place. So, strike one there.
The governor’s other wish, or rather his “bargaining chip” as it were, was for a new state park on the shores of Lake Vermillion. While the governor got his wish, and while I do enjoy camping in the state park system, any right minded conservative knows that what we don’t need at present is another state park when our current State Park system includes 72 state parks and recreation areas (66 parks & 6 recreation areas), 8 waysides, 1 state trail, and 54 state forest campgrounds and day-use areas that total 267,000 acres. Taking the Vermillion land off of the tax rolls so that a few land owners are safe from private development and thus neighbors is hardly a victory for the Minnesota taxpayer who subsidizes it. Strike two.
But, even if by some ridiculous measure we established either of those as victories, does that trump a legislative session which began with a $6.6 Billion dollar tax increase; i.e., the dreaded “Transportation” bill? A bill which was the result of exploiting the tragic 35W bridge collapse purposefully for this intention. A bill which was wholly unnecessary for the simple fact that, contrary to liberal belief, the oft touted “no new taxes” pledge from the governor and company was not the result of the bridge's demise. Quite the opposite in fact. The state’s legislative auditor declared in a decade’s old report whose data found that “…state and local governments in Minnesota generally spend about 40 to 60 percent more per capita on highways than the national average.” Rightfully so, the Governor then vetoed the bill only to have the veto overridden with the help of 6 wayward Republicans (See “Onward and Upward” and “RINO Slaying:101” - March 2008). Moreover, a $38 million state fund was set up for victims of the bridge collapse.
The legislative session too brought with it more money for local school districts, more money to the colleges and the University of Minnesota, an expansion of 12,000 more people covered by MNCare and various other state health programs, and yet another light rail boondoggle which is the Central Corridor line ends up back in the bonding bill. So, we’ll get to look forward to shelling out money in the future for that.
Where was the fiscal leadership from the “Republican” governor?? There were no cuts in spending. Any perceived “cuts” in programs were only reductions in the massive welfare increase from the previous Spring of 2007 $35 Billion belt busting budget wherein we increased spending by $3 Billion (in turn spending our surplus). The previous budget also included an $11 Billion health and welfare budget amounting to a 19% increase. Is it not laughable to infer that merely trimming $300 million off of that is “cut”??
Conservatives got the shaft this legislative session. Minnesota taxpayers got the shaft this legislative session.
And, the only thing Republicans have to show for it is that lovely Blue Ribbon victory.
Kudos I suppose.
10 comments:
Man, your state is unbelieveable.
You got that right (or is it left??).
Our new motto is:
Minnesota: Come for the weather. Stay for the Taxes.
And with your high taxes, it will take you that much longer to try to get ahead so you can afford to retire and get out of there!
Thanks for bringing that up. Sheesh....
Can't be all that bad. At
http://www.morganquitno.com/sr07mlrnk.htm we learn the land of
10,000 lakes is #2 for livability
in the US. Now, if you could do
something about those Vikings....
O/T: Didn't know where to point this out, Chris, but the tune by The Who is called "Baba O'Reilly" from the album Who's Next. The Baba refers to Meher Baba, an Indian mystic that Pete Townshend was into. And surprisingly, according to Pete Townshend, the song is not actually about getting wasted but about waste. He was trying to do a follow-up project called "Lifehouse" after the success of "Tommy" but the project didn't pan out and the songs were used for Who's Next.
Okay, way too much info.
Jon, a major Who fan
MNDOT clearly failed us, according to the report and research from the lawyers at Gray, Plant and Mooty. I think it's a little harsh to say that the tragedy (35W bridge collapse) was "exploited." If MNDOT had had 1) more actual engineers on its board and 2) a more systematic approach to actually insuring that the
bridge(s) in Minnesota are inspected regularly (especially those that are structurally deficient from an engineering standpoint, let alone in serious need of repair), the collapse probably wouldn't have happened. I hope Gray, Plant and Mooty's reports and suggestions are taken seriously. And we need to insure that the funding is there to make that happen.
Still can't quite shed that liberal skin can you Jon? Dare ask yourself why the report and research from the Gray, Plant and Mooty lawfirm was even necessary.
I'll tell you why. It is for the simple fact that the report and data from the NTSB and the other findings don't comport with their view; i.e., their quest to blame MNDOT and the Pawlenty administration in the quest for yet more tax dollars.
As you and anyone else reading the material herein knows, I am anything but an apologist for the obvious waste in government (MNDOT included). Nor am I an apologist for (ahem) "Republican" governor Tim Pawlenty. Be that as it may, the original findings cite that more inspections wouldn't have done anything to prevent the collapse of the bridge from occuring because the findings cited that the gusset plates were not the correct thickness. This is a finding which was not realized until after the fact. So, more inspections wouldn't have matttered if, in the course of your inspection you are inspecting what you believe to be the correct thickness in the gusset plates.
What's more, I'm not one to call conspiracy at every turn, however I do think it more than a bit coincidental that this very firm, Gray, Plant and Mooty is the firm for which our Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar was a partner for now launching this new report.
But, the real kicker is when you say that it's harsh of me to say the 35W bridge collapse was exploited. Clearly, given that it resulted in an uneccessary $6.6 Billion tax increase, despite the previous November ballot initiative to allocate the MVET towards transportation (well towards mass transit anyway).
But, you need not take my word for the tragedy having been exploited. Instead, we'll go right to the source:
"'We're going to have to swallow the bitter pill, take the political hit and raise these revenues,' [State Senator] Steve Murphy said, adding that another bridge collapse 'is a likelihood, and we don't want that.'" Source: FOXNews, August 3, 2007
"If you’re not prepared to invest another five cents [gas tax increase] in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, then God help you,” he [James Oberstar] said after the bridge collapse.
"This is a reminder that we need funding to keep our bridges safe", said Klobuchar.
After the news conference former Minnesota Transportation Director Elwyn Tinklenberg said "We're starting to see the effects of shortfalls in our budgets" and noted there was a "tremendous demand" for highway and other infrastructure dollars."
What's more, were it not for the specific issue of the gusset plates, the blame wouldn't primarily lie with MnDot anyway. The blame ought to lie with the political leadership (or lack thereof) in their failure to address the real problem which is not funding but rather the funding formula.
It is this formula which continually allocates a disproportionate amount of money to outstate Minnesota (namely Oberstar's District) rather than in the metro which bears the brunt of the traffic burden.
As chairman of the House Transportation Committee, James Oberstar's concern isn't so much in making certain that bridges aren't falling down (well, maybe it is just so long as he doesn't have to make any personal sacrifices to the onslaught of pork he brings home to his district. Hence why rather than cut the pork, he instead was the head cheerleader in the quest for the gas tax).
To prove my point about Oberstar's salatious appetite for pork, here's a sampling:
Though he has known of the seriousness of the problems facing bridge repair and maintenance since he held hearings on bridge conditions 20 years ago, a week before the bridge collapse, Oberstar obtained more than $12 million for his home state in a recently passed House transportation and housing bill. Commuter rail was the big winner, getting $10 million. The Cambridge-Isanti Bike/Walk Trail got $250,000, and the KidsPeace Mesabi Academy in Buhl got $150,000. Only $2 million went for meat-and-potatoes road improvements.
Not a penny was slated for bridge repair.
The 2005 federal transportation bill illustrates the extent of the problem. The $286 billion bill included a record 6,373 earmarks, up from a handful in 1982.
Oberstar played a lead role in crafting the 2005 bill as ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee. In the bill, Congress allocated about $4 billion a year for bridge reconstruction and maintenance. It designated about the same amount -- about $24 billion over a five-year period -- for member earmarks in a bipartisan porkfest.
Ironically, $24 billion is almost exactly the amount that Oberstar later said we must raise through new taxes to prevent future bridge collapses.
Oberstar's earmarks were among the highest for any member, totaling $250 million. What did they fund?
Not repair of the I-35W bridge, though the state had identified cracks in the bridge as a major concern in 1999. Oberstar's earmarks, which included many road-related projects, also provided $25 million for Twin Cities bicycle and pedestrian trails and lanes, and such "high priority" items as $471,000 for the Edge of Wilderness Discovery Center in Marcell.
Oh, and he did slip in $1.5 million for a new bridge in Baxter -- for the Paul Bunyan bike trail.
Oberstar, an avid cyclist, has lavished federal gas-tax dollars on bike trails for years. In 1991, he spearheaded legislation that first allowed Highway Trust Fund monies to flow to state bike trails.
O/T: The information with respect to the songs is compiled by someone else. I just collect the songs for the playlists. Any spelling errors or errors in artist or song title is someone else's doing.
"Can't be all that bad. At
http://www.morganquitno.com/sr07mlrnk.htm we learn the land of
10,000 lakes is #2 for livability"
Funny you should bring that up BB. According to that link, the state's ranking in 2007 was 2nd. According to 2008 rankings, the state of Minnesota has dropped to 4th.
This of course begs the question:
Why?
Certainly the onslaught of taxation presently washing over us has something to do with it.
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