No Runny Eggs

The Independent of the UK is reporting on a new social engineering program being considered by the British government.

The government has determined that:

Young people from poor backgrounds have less chance of landing a highly paid job than their parents did because some measures of social mobility have gone backwards.

According to the British government this is unfair and needs to be fixed.   Instead of leaving this to personal motivation or telling people to “work hard,” “apply themselves,”   the British have decided that a law would be the best way to solve the problem.

Ministers will consider imposing a new legal duty on the Government and the rest of the public sector to close the gap between people from different backgrounds in every policy decision they make.

Wow!   A law that requires the government to make sure that all of their decisions are focused on providing, not equal opportunity but, equal outcomes for all.

First, I’m not sure how you would contemplate equal outcomes in all government business.   Can you imagine the discussion of what the implications of say building a new bridge might be, under this bill?   Things like: What are the workers paid and what are their socioeconomic situations, who will use the bridge will there be as many poor people as wealthy people?   You can take this to its logical stupid conclusion.

More importantly, with a law like this, how does the government not become paralyzed?   It would seem like every decision that is made would be ripe for a lawsuit from someone claiming that they didn’t receive their economic equality out of the decision.

At least there’s one person in Britain that understands that you can legislate this kind of stuff:

Theresa May, the shadow Equality minister, said: “The Government thinks social inequality can be solved by passing a law. You don’t make people’s lives better by telling them they have a legal right to a better life.

You’re right Theresa, you can’t.   However, you can fill them full of hopeychange and promise that you’ll do this exact thing for them if   only they elect the messiah!

Heard today on the Northern Alliance Radio Network:

You may have heard about the little issue of a recount for the MN Senate race?   You may also have heard that our Secretary of State, who ran on a platform of “The Secretary of State should be non partisan” but has been THE most partisan Secretary of State and arguably executive leader in Minnesota ever, has been highly partisan in his actions thus far.   You may also have hear that our Secretary of State has a history with groups like ACORN…

Well,

The House Republican leader, Marty Seifert announced that the Republican House minority has agreed with Governor Tim Pawlenty that the Governor will line item veto the budget for the Secretary of State’s office and the Republican House members will sustain the veto, until the Democrats agree to require a photo ID for voting!

Seifert has done a great job leading a minority group.   If it hadn’t been for 6 RINOs last year (Oh and they are all gone now) he would have held the Dems last year  to a modest budget increase with no increased taxes and left us positioned to face the current downturn.   It’s unfortunate that Seifert has not had a majority to work with…he’s my kind of Republican.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.   I’m sure the Dems will get snippy and threaten retaliation.   The real question will be if the 47 Republican House members can stay united.   I suspect they can.

A photo ID requirement would at the least put to rest, concerns of voter fraud.   If it doesn’t exist, no harm.   If it does exist, there’s no other way to ferret it out.

Good luck Marty!   This will be one blogger who will watch and support your efforts!

Tim Walz is one of Minnesota’s Congresscritters.   Walz, a Democrat represents Minnesota’s first congressional district which is the  South end  of the state abutting Iowa.   Included in the district are  the cities of Rochester, Mankato, Austin (Home of Spam!) and the home of my collegiate Alma Mater, St. Peter.

St. Peter, like many other cities across the country, is having a tough time making ends meet this year.   The biggest  culprit is the dramatic increase in energy costs that have made things like operating fire trucks, much more expensive than a year ago.

Enter Tim Walz.

Congressman Walz knows just how to fix the problem with the increased fuel costs: give the cities more money from the Federal budget!   Walz doesn’t want the cities to have to make difficult choices:

“What we don’t want is, we don’t want our fire fighters making that choice training or fuel. We don’t want to see them out fundraising again just to put fuel in their vehicles.”

Um, Tim? May I call you Timmy?

You’re solution to keep cities from making budget decisions is to just give them more money? Gosh, why didn’t I think of that? Oh Yeah, it’s because that’s a horrible answer!

Timmy, how do you think my family is dealing with the increase in energy costs? Hint: I don’t get paid more just because I have to spend more. Com’ on, I know you can figure this out, you’re a Congressman after all. That’s right, we have to change our budget! We don’t get to spend as much on other things as we used to because we need to spend more on our fuel costs.

I know, you’re going to say that you support increased drilling (I heard you got permission to say that from Nana Pelosi.) You’ll probably even tell me that you have signed on to a “Bipartisan” bill that would do just that. Thanks for playing Timmy, I took that bill apart a couple of days ago here. The only thing that bill would expand would be the noses on the faces of Democrats who try to sell it as a bill that would increase drilling.

Timmy, rather than just printing more money to put a band aid on a problem, how about doing something that would actually bring down fuel costs for everyone? Can you guess what I might be referring to? Yup, sign on to that discharge petition and get a straight up and down vote on expanded drilling!

To hear it from the MSM, the entire world was enraptured by Barack Obama as he moved about his recent “Tour of Planet Earth.” Even the normally stoic Germans were reported to have 200,000 devotees clamoring to get near enough to touch his robe (messianic reference there.) After this successful tour I remain surprised that the presumptuous Presidential candidate would settle for being mere President of the US of A. I have been fully expecting the presumptuous candidate to announce that based on the world’s need for change, he would bypass being President of the US and move right to being elected President of the World.

However, with all the spit and polish that was used to produce his tour, it appears Obama missed at least one spot.

Andrew Bolt, a conservative columnist for the Australian newspaper Herald Sun had some observations about the way that the Republican’s presumed nominee and the Democrat’s presumptuous nominee responded to Russia’s invasion of Georgia:

Don’t Barack for Georgia
WE have just had a lesson in how the next president of the US would react to a real menace to the world’s peace.
…Here’s McCain: “Tensions and hostilities between Georgians and Ossetians are in no way justification for Russian troops crossing an internationally recognised border.”

Russia had “to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces”. NATO should swiftly accept Georgia as a member, which would oblige Europe and the US to come to its aid.

Now here’s Obama’s camp: “It’s both sides’ fault — both have been somewhat provocative with each other.” The United Nations should step in and send a peacekeeping force under “an appropriate UN mandate”.

Not a very flattering take on the presumptuous nominee’s approach to this international crisis.

Apparently unfazed by his messianic aura, Bolt goes on to point out Obama’s gaffe in responding to a “3 AM call” moment

Knock, knock. Excuse me, Mr Obama, sir. But Russia is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and would veto any UN move in Georgia it didn’t like.

Mr. Bolt goes on to sum up what a growing number of people are realizing:

One of these two men will next year take charge of the US – the greatest guarantor of freedom in a world increasingly threatened by freedom’s enemies. Pray the right man wins.

Apparently the whole world hasn’t become enraptured by the Obamessiah. While he may have won over countries that already have the characteristics of what Obama wants America to look like i.e. more socialism, more government, less individual responsibility, he hasn’t pulled the wool over the eyes of countries who still understand that capitalism and individual accountability are still key to a country’s success.

Days after the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Mayor R.T. Rybak announced that he needed to delay release of his budget proposal because the impacts of the collapse were unknown and expected to strain the city:

"At a time when investing in public safety and transportation infrastructure are as important as ever, we need to know more about all the pressures on our fiscal outlook," Mayor Rybak added. "The I-35W Bridge collapse has affected our City in ways we are just beginning to understand."

Four months later as his budget was approved by the council, Mayor Rybak lamented that the $1.4B budget didn’t have room in it to keep up with deteriorating infrastructure:

"We are nowhere near where we need to be in terms of investment in basic city infrastructure," Rybak said. "Our city, our state and our nation have not invested as we must in roads, bridges and transit – and our lack of investment has serious consequences."

Mayor Rybak recommended City Bridge Repair and Rehabilitation be more than doubled in 2008 and increased over five years from $950,000 to $1,450,000.

A few months later, Rybak congratulated the Minnesota Legislature for overriding Gov. Pawlenty’s veto of the largest tax increase in Minnesota history:

Choosing leadership over partisanship, today the Legislature stood strong for a transportation solution that will help strengthen our economy and grow needed jobs in our state.

Facing economic uncertainty and 1 million more people expected to move to our region over the next two decades, the Legislature put years of political divide aside and instead chose to stand up for a fair and balanced solution to our transportation neglect.

Poor Mayor Rybak, can’t find $500,000 in a $1.4B budget to do needed road and bridge repairs. he couldn’t find $500K for that but he could find it for this:

Designs for a series of 10 drinking fountains to be installed in Minneapolis to honor the city’s connection to water were unveiled Tuesday.

Yup, 10 designer drinking fountains at $50K each! But wait! Before you heckle Mayor Rybak over his spending prioities you need to understand that these aren’t any old fountains, they are “Art!”

Arts advocates say the project — half from property taxes, half from water charges — is a continuation of the city’s ongoing public arts program, which has brought the city projects ranging from an oversized bunny sculpture at E. Minnehaha Parkway and Portland Av. S. to artist-designed manhole covers.

Yeah, that’s what I want, an oversized bunny sculpture and artist designed manhole covers! That will certainly move Minneapolis right to the top of the “Greatest Cities in the World” list!

Mayor Rybak, in his wisdom, understands the importance of these fountains:

The good news is people are talking about water in Minneapolis again,” Rybak said before the unveiling, a reference to the criticism he’s taken for the cost of the fountains.

I’m sure for Minneapolis tax payers, “Talking about water” is every bit as important as talking about $4 gas, 8% increases in city tax levies and 28% increase in gas taxes.

It’s good to know that Mayor Rybak understands the prioriities of Minneapolis tax payers!

Ever since the original inkling that the St. Paul Ford plant might be closed, various elected officials have been meeting with Ford in an attempt to change their mind.   Financial incentives (read that: tax reductions) had been discussed with Ford in an attempt to change their mind about closing the plant but none had appeared to provide enough incentive to keep the plant open.

On Thursday of last week, the city of St. Paul and the State of Minnesota received some very welcome news.   The St. Paul Ford plant which had originally been scheduled to close in 2008 got a reprieve until 2011.   The St. Paul Ford plant makes the Ranger truck for Ford and while sales had been down, the increased price of gas had created a resurgence in demand for the vehicle.

In the article that covered the closing reprieve, even one of the most notorious Minnesota tax and spenders (read that DFL/Democrat) is wanting to be on the “financial incentive” band wagon:

“This decision gives us a little breathing room to address the long-term viability of the plant,” said Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, chairman of the Minnesota House Transportation and Transit Policy Subcommittee.

“We must act decisively on a package of incentives that enables Ford to produce the kind of fuel-efficient vehicles in St. Paul that will keep the plant thriving now and in the future,” Hornstein said. “We have been in conversations with Ford and we are confident that we can work together toward both short- and long-term solutions to keep jobs in St. Paul.”

So far, Ford has only indicated an interest in short-term incentives, Hornstein said. “They would like to see something similar to what exists in Kentucky and Michigan, which is kind of a payroll tax deferral,” he explained.

So here’s my question:
Rep. Hornstein has concluded that lowering taxes for Ford might cause them to keep jobs in Minnesota. What part of that and being the Coauthor of the bill that provided for the largest tax increase in the State of Minnesota’s history make sense?

Wait, there’s more….From his website  under “Priorities” Rep. Hornstein gives us these:

BUDGET

2008 Budget Debate

• Promote more progressive income tax policies and roll-back tax breaks for the most wealthy.
• Close corporate tax loopholes.

Rep. Hornstein is a Democrat so we all know that by definition he wouldn’t do anything to take jobs away, right?

Rep. Hornstein coauthored and was committee chair for the largest tax hike in Minnesota history.
Rep. Hornstein believes income taxes should be higher, dramatically so for higher incomes.
Rep. Hornstein believes “corporate tax loopholes” should be closed.

Obviously Rep. Hornstein doesn’t think any of the above negatively impacts jobs but yet….
Rep. Hornstein believes Ford Motor Company should receive tax incentives (lower their taxes) as a way to keep those jobs here.

Rep. Hornstein’s positions leave me with one of two conclusions. Either

Rep. Hornstein is logically unsound to the point that he is unable to see the severe inconsistencies in very simple positions.

Or.

Because the Ford Plant is in Rep. Hornstein’s district he is willing to bypass his principles to pander to his constituents.

Neither of the above options should make constituents of Rep. Hornstein supportive of his reelection.

Rep. Hornstein is not the only Democrat with this problem. Every one of them run to providing “incentives” the minute they hear that jobs are leaving. I’m beginning to think that Democrats have some kind of a debilitating genetic mutation that allows them to choose government greed over an expanding job base.   If only they would recognize that the high taxes that they are all in favor of, are removing jobs from Minnesota each and every day.

Dang, Jesse Ventura told Larry King he isn’t going to run for US Senate.

In explaining his decision, Jesse rambled about all kinds of issues. The one that seemed to clinch it for him was that he didn’t want to subject his family to the Minnesota press.

As with all of his complaints about Minnesota media, Jesse’s shot tonight should have been pointed back at himself. The media aggressively and rightly followed up on stories about Jesse’s son’s escapades. Shortly before he needed to attempt a reelection campaign Jesse’s son, Tyrel was accused of using the Governor’s mansion as a party house in a tell all book by the mansion director. By the time this book came out it was already apparent that any positive that Jesse may have had, had ebbed from the memories of most Minnesotans.

Jesse told Larry that unlike President Bush, God had not spoken to him in his 57 years. But, and this is the way Jesse handles nearly everything, he left the door open that if God talks to him before 5 PM CST tomorrow, he could yet get into the race.

I’m going to be praying from now until 5 PM tomorrow. I’ve got enough stuff to talk to God about that it should keep Him too busy to get to Jesse.

You can thank me later.

For all of you who thought CNN viewers were in the tank for the Dems…guess again!

Larry King, Almost Alive, has Jesse Ventura on tonight.   Jesse has promised to tell the world, on national TV, whether he’ll run for Senate in Minnesota.

To honor Ventura’s latest publicity grab and ego pat, larry’s folks have a poll out letting you vote on who should be elected as Senator.   Remember that recent polls show Ventura at about 25% support in the state. Here were the poll results as of about 5:30 PM.

I’m sure glad they told us this wasn’t a scientific poll! I would have hated to see the A/P and Reuters stories retracted!

On July 1st and for the next 2 weeks, the window to file is open, should one want to be on the November ballots.   The MN media is now atwitter as it tries to read the tea leaves to determine if Jesse Ventura will file to run for the US Senate seat against incumbent Norm Coleman and Dem endorsed Al Franken.

In this interview  by the Rochester, MN ABC affiliate, Ventura’s former campaign manager, Dean Barkley pontificates on whether Ventura will run, the issues he will face and his prospects for the race.

On whether Ventura will run, Barkley says:  

I know his arguments pro and con of what’s going through his mind. If I had to guess I think it’s more likely he’ll run than not. He knows the opportunity is there. He’s not stupid. He knows this is probably a historic opportunity for an independent to win this senate seat.

I’d agree that with Coleman, a well documented RINO who would get Conservative votes not just with a nose held but with full Hazmat suits on, and Al Franken, a candidate who makes Alec Baldwin appear logical and even tempered, running there is room for the incredibly  enigmatic voters of Minnesota to go for an independent. The problem is that Ventura isn’t independent. While he could claim “independence” when he ran for Governor, this time he has a record. A quick review of his record as Governor will show that while he talked as an independent, he governed mostly aligned with the Left.

When queried as to how Ventura would be able to compete in a campaign that has become the most expensive in Minnesota history, Barkley says:

He’ll just have to go out and be Jesse. Just tell them the truth; tell people what he’s thinking, what he thinks is wrong

And there’s the rub. Most onions would have skins determined to be impenetrable in comparison to Jesse’s. Barack Obama would have a better chance of being considered “just one of the guys” in an Evangelical, NRA meeting in Pennsylvania than Jesse would of the vast cross section of Minnesotans. Jesse as Jesse is what took him from Minnesota’s man of “Hope and Change” to a historical political oddity.

Some may fantasize that Ventura will be able to do to the Senate race what he did to the Governor race. They believe that Jesse will be able to invigorate a section of the electorate to vote where they had normally not done so.    That, along with a dissatisfaction with the two party system, would put Jesse over the top. The problem with this thinking is that the invigoration has already been done by Barack Obama. The young folks who Jesse brought to vote are already in. The other problem is that unlike the first time around, Minnesotans now  know Jesse.

In the end, other than some good theatre, it probably doesn’t matter much whether Jesse runs or not. A recent poll by KSTP-TV  shows that Coleman is polling ahead by 12 points if only he and Franken run. Coleman has a 10 point lead over Franken and Ventura finishes a distant third if he enters the race.

If Jesse decides to run, he will likely find Minnesotans following the famous Chinese proverb: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!”

Yesterday the Senate had the “wind fall taxes” on oil companies bill before them.   In a 51-43 vote, the Republicans were able to kill this ignorant, patronizing and pandering bill.

Unfortunately,    6 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, they were:

• Grassley, IA
• Collins, ME
• Snowe, ME
• Smith, OR
• Warner, VA
• Coleman, MN

And it’s that last vote that makes me say I’m done.  

Coleman is a RINO in every bad connotation of that word.   He was a Democrat for years and became a Republican only because it was expedient for him to do so to further his political career.

Coleman believes in global warming, he believes in cap and trade, he won’t drill in ANWR, he has a lifetime Conservative voting record of 68.

I don’t like his position on many issues but I could give him some cover under the “we’ll agree to disagree” argument.   However, when a simple issue like artificially taxing a business because you don’t like them, comes up and he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions to vote NO, than I will show him how it’s done.

I will not vote for Coleman in November.   Neither will I vote for Franken.

I wonder if the Libertarians have a candidate for Senate?  

From AL Franken’s “apology” over “satire” aritcles that were anti woman and pornographic, given at the Minnesota Democrat convention on Saturday:

It kills me that things I said and wrote sent a message … that they can’t count on me to be a champion for women, for all Minnesotans. I’m sorry for that. Because that’s not who I am,” Franken told delegates.

Does anyone else notice a similarity here?

Barack Obama at an April 29th press conference:

The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago.

Now it’s bad enough when you’re surprised by the behavior of someone you’ve intimately known for 20 years but how bad must it be when you don’t recognize yourself after 57 years?

Is there some kind of a “How to make an excuse” handbook being handed out this year by the DNC?

On Saturday, Minnesota Democrats endorsed Al “It’s just satire” Franken to be their candidate for US Senate.   The MSM had the usual glowing reports making it sound like  Al is the perfect candidate and that the Dems are over flowing with love for their candidate:

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP)– Al Franken won a resounding endorsement for the U.S. Senate on Saturday from Minnesota Democrats, quickly dispatching with concerns about jokes that offended some and promising a tough challenge to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

However, not unlike Barack Obama’s coronation last Tuesday, not all is as the MSM would like you to believe. From the Star and Sickle:

Mari Urness Pokornowski of Cokato, president of the DFL Feminist Caucus, resigned Saturday when she learned that her group had endorsed Franken. As a mother and former teacher, she said, she didn’t see how Franken’s writings represented rural Minnesota values.

The endorsement, she said, “was a choice made by the caucus, and once that decision is made, you have to make a choice where you stand, For me, my decision was to step down.”

And further from Politics in Minnesota:

There’s no doubt that Pokornowski has had a tough week as head of the caucus.

After U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president after a bruising battle with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, Koryne Horbal, 71, who founded the DFL Feminist Caucus, said she would not support Obama and wanted to organize a write-in campaign for Clinton.

Pokornowski was forced to issue a press release distancing her group from its founder’s actions. "It was as much of a surprise to us as it was to you," the press release said in part.

How many candidates can the Democrats run that lose the vote from Minnesota Women? So far, it’s 2 and counting