http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/ RSS feed of mnpACT! Progressive Political Blog en-us sBLOG 0.5.0 Beta (Build 20050313) Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:55:11 GMT Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:55:11 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2466
As parents, we all lead busy lives. Often, we just hope that our kids have a positive experience in school and if they don't complain about something, hey, why rock the boat.

But when it comes to education, parents have to be vigilant. I am a big supporter of public education and teachers. I admire the job they are asked to do each and every day.

But sometimes, even the most well meaning educator can cross a line, and it is sometimes up to parents to point it out. It is hard to keep track of all that goes on at school, but it needs to be done.

A friend of ours who has a student in the same grade as my son (they go to a charter public school), sent us an e-mail which my wife and I found extremely disturbing.

The friend had been helping her student study for a test and was stunned to see the papers that were being utilized as text for the class. It actually described Charles Darwin as a mis-guided scientist who let his observations lead him astray from his "faith". Our friend sent the e-mail to us outlining her concerns.

After tracking down the source of these "worksheets", we found that they were taken from the Apologia Biology Curriculum -- which is meant for Christian Homeschooling.

After looking into this furthur, we discovered that the class was being taught by a substitute teacher (filling in for a maternity leave) who had decided to add her own part of the curriculum to help her students. My son and his friends sensed that something was odd, but he decided not to tell us because he was afraid he would get the teacher in trouble.

My wife, who volunteers heavily at the school, knew the right people to talk with about this. And as it turns out, this substitute teacher had not approved this course "change" with anyone. It looks like the situation will be corrected, at least we have been told that it will. However, there are certainly parents who will question the decision to stop this line of study....and the administrators will get into trouble from that side of the coin as well.

Again, I realize that the educators have a hard time finding a balance that will please the majority of parents, but questioning evolution and the fossil record....and introducing things like the Great Flood and Supreme Being genetics creation cannot be acceptable in a public school curriculum.

Religion is a matter of faith. Science is scientific principle. They have different spheres and should not, and cannot, be mixed in an public school educational setting.

I am all for a healthy faith background; it just doesn't belong in school.

I bring this up to show that parental involvement in your child's education is essential. And granted, some parents would applaud this teacher's "initiative"; however, I think the faith development of kids belongs in a church centered environment. Scientific ideas and the building blocks of physical and natural laws still belong in the public schools.

Parents need to be mindful of all of that.]]> Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:55:11 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2466 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2466 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2465
If you are keeping score out there, the MN GOP is a little behind on the accusation front.

First, they attack Mark Dayton as being erratic and unreliable. This coming from a party who has a nominee that thinks there are $100,000 income waiters and has had to back track on a claim that the MN Dept. of Revenue cleared phase one of his tax plan.

Second, they berated and criticized the Dayton budget plan... all the while knowing that there own nominee has yet to put out a full proposal 60 days away from the election.

Third, they question whether Mark Dayton taught in New York at all... well, before they did any real fact checking which proves he did.

Fourth, they are now claiming that Dayton is "sheltering" income to avoid taxes, even though they know that their own nominee refuses to give us even the smallest details of his taxable income.

If you are going to base your entire campaign on attacks, then at least attack on something that is marginally correct....and at least have a candidate that can meet at least part of the same standards.

Sutton and Brodkorb must have more stuff out there, but for their sake I hope it gets better than what we've seen so far.

Maybe they should try something positive for a change? Maybe? Just for a change of pace?

Note: And another thing, Mr. Emmer, if you are going to make a claim against waste in LGA -- especially poetry -- try to get that even close to right? OK?
]]> Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:22:11 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2465 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2465 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2464
The Legislature revealed the results of its State Fair question "poll" a few days ago. A lot of the questions had big percentages in the answers one way or the other....making it look like the public had made up its mind significantly. But, really, isn't it more about how you ask the question?

For instance, let's take this question:

2. Should voters be required to show a picture ID before casting their ballot?

Yes..................................... 69.1%................. (6,831)
No...................................... 24.7%................. (2,440)
Undecided/No Opinion........ 6.2%................... (614)

Wow. Big number in favor of that picture ID. Except the question doesn't discuss the other parts of the argument. For instance, should voters be required to show a picture ID in addition to the registration process that Minnesota already requires? Should voters be required to show a picture ID, even if a significant percentage of Minnesotans do not have a picture ID to show? or should voters be denied the right to vote if they have a temporary license suspension? Or should a picture ID be the main basis for voting even if such ID's can be easily faked?

Simple questions have simple answers when valid parts of the argument are left out.

Let's take another one.

3. Should the state’s 16-year-old moratorium on nuclear power plant construction be lifted?

Yes..................................... 60.5%................. (5,769)

No...................................... 39.5%................. (3,759)

Again, a lop sided number in the affirmative. However, is there any discussion about the question of nuclear fuel waste storage? Is there any talk about whether or not long term safety concerns have been addressed? Any discussion about how long it will take to actually get any power production out of a nuclear plant as opposed to the same investment in other alternative energy?

A simple question about a complex subject.

Sometimes the questions have no context at all. How about this one:

12. Do you support tax breaks or other funding assistance to encourage small-business growth?

Yes..................................... 80.3%................. (7,921)

No...................................... 10.7%................. (1,052)

Undecided/No Opinion......... 9.1%.................... (893)

Of course we want to encourage small business growth. But what kind of tax breaks? Do tax breaks, in this economic environment, have the ability to encourage growth? What is involved with "other funding assistance"?

When you look at the way the question is worded, I have to wonder what kind of people those 10% that answered in the negative are.

The other questions are very similar in their simplistic nature. I know that this is just something to keep fairgoers occupied...something for them to do while munching on that pronto pup.

But too often, policy questions are subjected to polling such as this. The questions asked get condensed into that one sentence needed for a 10 second attention span; which is the requirement to get people to read the question or stay on the phone with a pollster.

And we take these numbers with no discussion and no context and then say...."this is how the public feels about this".

There is nothing scientific about the "State Fair Question Poll". It's more or less a tradition. But some people will point to it as some kind of rationale to bolster their own opinion. I guess that can't be helped.

Polling is only relevant when asking about which particular person you would vote for in an election cycle. When asking questions about policy, it is nearly impossible to ask a question that makes the answer relevant.
]]> Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:04:09 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2464 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2464 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2463
It comes as no surprise that GOP Governor candidate Tom Emmer would start his budget discussion with corporate tax cuts and breaks for wealthy business owners. In Emmer's Minnesota they are the only ones who count.

It is also fitting that he would put out this announcement on Labor Day. Emmer's tribute to the hard working men and women of Minnesota is, "Hey, let's give your bosses a break!"

Emmer's plan ignores Minnesota's budget deficit. I guess if you just forget about it, nobody will notice.

What is disturbing is that Emmer ADDS to the deficit with his corporate giveaway. Nothing offsets it. Nothing to account for the money given back.

On paper, the proposal he described Monday would make the state budget deficit more severe. State finance officials project a deficit approaching $5.8 billion over the next two years. Emmer's tax cuts would mean at least $626 million less for the state treasury over the same period.

I suspect that there are a couple of GOP fallacies that Emmer is using as his basis for this plan.....

1) Tax Cuts generate more revenue. This sometimes happens....the most proflific example is the President John Kennedy tax cuts in the '60s. However, what made that work was the extraordinary tax rates that were in place at the time (70 to 90% on highest income).....and the negligible budget deficit that the country was working with. Tax cuts need to have spending cuts accompanying them or deficits get worse. Emmer's problem is that major cutting has already been the chief budget balancing tool for the last 8 years. New direction? Ha!

2) Corporations will invest the new money. Emmer has an additional problem in that corporations are NOT cash poor. It is estimated that US corporations are sitting on $2.3 trillion in cash. Yes, trillion and Yes, sitting on it. Adding more tax breaks to already cash rich corporations is a dumb idea.

Giving business owners an additional tax break on personal income is almost ludicrous. Since many small businesses operate at a loss (at least on the books); giving them an additional break on personal income is just another method of widening the income gap.

And then Emmer is claiming he can reduce property taxes by $100 million. Which would be great ...I mean, really great...if his plan was incorporating that with some kind of revenue replacement. He isn't. So, again taking property tax revenue away from local governments...in addition to a probable elimination of LGA....will lead to more job losses and less infrastructure activity at the county and city levels.

Emmer calls this a job creation proposal. In a normal working economy...maybe. In a recessionary economy, this is a ticket for disaster. This is Bush administration type thinking and we know where that took us.

Happy Labor Day everyone. Emmer's plan will probably give you many, many more days off to come.]]> Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:36:29 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2463 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2463 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2462
I keep trying to point out the problems that Congressman John Kline causes for the 2nd District, but it usually gets dismissed as "partisan" politics, but I would hope that this article about Scott County would move us beyond that.

Scott County: Spending tax dollars to get tax dollars

We pay tax dollars to cover the salary of Congressman John Kline. In return, Congressman Kline is supposed to advocate for us in Washington. He is supposed to consider the needs of his district and act upon them appropriately.

But he is doing none of that.

And because of his abdication of responsiblity, the units of local government in the 2nd District have resorted to advocating for themselves directly to the Federal Government via lobbyists. Yes, they are using tax dollars to pay lobbyists to advocate for their projects....the ones John Kline refuses to advocate for.

As this article points out:

A new report from the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota highlights the 26 local government entities that collectively spent $5.2 million since 2006 lobbying federal officials. Scott County topped the list at $815,000, spending more than twice as much as nine-times-bigger Hennepin County.

The Freedom Foundation is a partisan conservative group and they are pointing out what they consider monetary "waste" by the county units of government....using tax dollars to lobby another government entity.

But Scott County officials explain why:

Scott County also has turned increasingly toward lobbying because its congressman, Second District Republican John Kline, has sworn off seeking earmarks for his district, (County Administrator Gary) Shelton said.

And you know what? The efforts of Scott County have been successful and actually saved the State of Minnesota money. In return for $815,000 in lobby expenses (highest in the state), the County managed this:

Lobbying has helped bring $62 million in critical transportation projects to Scott County in the past five years, county Commissioner Jon Ulrich said. Lobbying also saved the state $40 million when it helped gain agreement that the Hwy. 169/I-494 interchange reconstruction project didn't have to follow conventional guidelines but could be downsized, omitting elements that are normally required, Shelton added.

And you have to wonder how Kline responds to this:

Kline stands behind his decision as a way to cut pork-barrel spending, despite the vast majority of members' determination to keep using earmarks to fund local projects. "County commissioners could save their constituents tens of thousands of dollars by meeting with members of the Minnesota delegation in their Minnesota offices," Kline said in a statement.

Kline's answer? The county could save the lobbying money by meeting with the Minnesota Congressional delegation IN MINNESOTA.

Oh really?

I guess it would save some money in Kline's case, because the answer from him is always the same -- NO!

Kline complains about "pork-barrel spending" at every opportunity. And yes, there are needed reforms to be made. However, the system still stands and District help still needs to be met.

Shelley Madore is the DFL candidate and she has repeatedlly pointed this out -- especially on her 35 cent tour, which amplifies the Kline problem.

Madore gets it -- Kline never will.

If you are part of that angry group that is upset with incumbents, well, then the 2nd District incumbent is an optimal case in point. The 2nd District needs better representation.....no, check that, they need ACTUAL representation.....and that would be Shelley Madore.]]> Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:23:06 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2462 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2462 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2461
Let's take the next phase of the "12 Biggest Lies". They are getting tougher.....

7. Americans are greedy and self-centered.

I will be curious to see how this group defends America's role in the world. Granted, we are a generous people and are the first on the scene for any major disaster. But even at that, there is always a political reason for what we do. We do not want any country or region to descend into chaos. It would be bad for "business" and bad for political stability.

Even our beginnings are seeped in self-centeredness. We didn't like being used by King George as his ATM machine, even though we considered ourselves English subjects, and the taxation imposed without any say in the matter finally broke the tenuous bond.

But once we threw off our obligations to the mother country, we rapidly moved into Manifest Destiny and expanded our sphere of influence across the continent. Wars with Mexico and Spain were purely self indulgent expansionism, but it mattered not.

Our pride in being a super power is extensive and we expect the world to respect us unconditionally. We established Wall Street as the world's financial market base and expect the world to recognize that as well.

To assume that Americans are NOT greedy and self-centered lacks honest self-analysis. We are a country that wants it all....and we have become a country that wants it all without having to pay for it.

You can try to make a case against this self-centered greed but in the end it is really who we are.

8. Islam is a religion of truth.

I have trouble with this ongoing animosity that is growing towards Islam. Maybe Islam is not a religion of OUR truth, but it is truth to its followers. Why can't we leave it at that?

Religions always seem to want to compete with each other. Followers of each various type get uncomfortable when their own "truth" is questioned by another version. And since each religious basis of thought requires the contention that it is the only true meaning of life's absolute questions, conflicts will ensue.

Islam and Christianity have different factions which range from tranquil to very violent. Our ancient history is littered with wars fought for religious reasons. All religions can move to a tendency to usurp ultimate truth into ultimate death.

This particular "lie" is probably included, not so much to negate Islam's truth seeking, but to more or less, mollify Christianity's sensitivity to any challenge of its own validity.

It is all very curious, because Christianity itself is, by contrast, a very "young" religion and is completely dependent on Judaism to extend it heritage back to ancient times.

9. The Jews stole Jerusalem.

The makers of this DVD are going to have to delve into a lot of historical background to back this one up. And, again, it will be a matter of interpretation of events. We forget that Jerusalem is a sacred city to other religions as well as our own. Everybody has their own version of "rightful" claims.

To call this a "lie" is, in this case, strictly a religious opinion. I would prefer to let each interpretation to stand within its own context. To say that the Jews "stole" or conquered or were awarded Jerusalem is all a matter of semantics. It was more of a political decision than a religious one.

**********************************************

See how complicated this is? Look for part 4 at the Roundtable...]]> Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:23:32 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2461 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2461 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2460
You are going to hear a lot about this over the course of the next month or so....so I thought I'd pre-warn you.

The people who made the Left Behind, apocolyptic religious book and film series, are promoting a new DVD called the "12 Biggest Lies". Of course, they are lies because fundamentalists are telling us they are, but I assume they will try to give us "facts" that prove their version of things....and, of course, a lot of it will be centered on the Bible. That's a given.

But this is actually good for discussion and I always find this religious "fact checking" to be a good debate. There is too much to do just one post on this...so look for my own "series".

First, what are the 12 BIGGEST LIES?

1. There is no such thing as Absolute Truth.

2. People are inherently good.

3. No one should be offended.

4. Men and women are equal.

5. A fetus isn’t human.

6. The world is overpopulated.

7. Americans are greedy and self-centered.

8. Islam is a religion of truth.

9. The Jews stole Jerusalem.

10. The earth is billions of years old.

11. There is no God.

12. Jesus was just a good man.

That is a fascinating list in my opinion. So let's delve into it. Feel free to add your own thoughts -- I really would like to hear them.

#1 - There is no such thing as Absolute Truth.

You know, I actually agree that this IS a lie. I can say that because the X-Files concurs....THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. Ultimately, there HAS to be an absolute truth. I contend that absolutely nobody knows what it is and that we probably never will know, but the essence of the human spirit is to keep striving to find it. Quite frankly, I think religion has abdicated its right to pronounce it because they have made such a wreck of the current world. When you build your truth on discriminatory actions and ultimate hatred of other people and other religions, you are not capable of finding truth. I do think that focused individual spirituality has the best chance of finding truth in humanity. But, then, will it really be the same for everyone? I don't know. That's the 3 words that the ultimate truth seeker needs to humbly admit to.

#2 - People are inherently good.

Since that is apparently a lie, we must assume that people are inherently bad. I imagine this will bring up a discussion of "original sin" which gets into more theology than I care to contend with. But ultimately, people are both - good and bad. We have a constant struggle within ourselves as to which part of our selves wins out. It is very hard for me to believe that when a baby is born, he or she is NOT inherently good. They have needs that must be selfishly met, but that is not bad in and of itself. How we meet our needs is the ultimate test of good and evil. I do believe that people want to do good in their life. Our life circumstances, that we have little control over, are what ultimately shape us. Some people have the ability to continue the good aspects of themselves despite horrible circumstances. That is what I consider the ultimate good person. That kind of person had to be inherently good in the first place to counter what he or she was up against.

#3 - No one should be offended.

If that is the lie, should everybody be offended instead? I guess I am puzzled as to what that means. Since this is coming from a religious group, I guess that the offense they cause in their bigotries is not something they think can be helped or should be changed. If some people are "offended" by religious truth (and I use that term loosely), then religion ultimately says "too bad". I do get offended by one particular thing. That is the so-called Christians who tell everybody that they discriminate against gays because they "love them". There is the ultimate lie.

OK...that's three so far. More "deep" thoughts to come later.....

See part 2 on the Minnesota Political Roundtable....
]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:06:06 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2460 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2460 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2459
Congress passed a bill that will bring $167 million in direct education money for Minnesota. The idea is to help ailing school districts to keep education jobs and meet budget deficits.

But it will have zero effect.

As this MinnPost article by Beth Hawkins points out, school districts are so tenuous about future budgets that a lot of them plan to go with the patched together budgets they have in place and simply bank the money against future cut backs.

That's where we are. Districts can't count on state support and they are now budgeting out of fear. Fear of cutbacks, fear of the unknown.

And here is a quote that gives me pause:

As the result of more than $150 million in budget reductions and the Legislature’s ratification of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2009 unallotment to schools, worth $1.4 billion, last spring metro area schools cut some 1,500 educators, according to estimates by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

I'm sure budget critics point to that as simply cutting excess. I don't. As I pointed out recently, a number of districts (using Farmington as a prime example) are having enormous class size problems and teacher ratios are out of sync.

I do NOT consider teaching just another "government job". Educators are essential to our future economic growth. They are the key ingredient to any potential "Minnesota miracle" in the future.

Losing 1500 jobs in this manner and the likely reduction of 100's of others in the coming cycle, has an additive effect in other job areas. In fact, a reduction in the quality of our education endangers all of Minnesota business.

We are a state that prides itself on our educational investments. When business looks to Minnesota, they have always been able to count on a skilled and educated workforce.

But can they count on that in the future? That is becoming an important question.]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:41:05 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2459 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2459 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2458
Luke Hellier over at Minnesota Democrats Exposed got himself into a lather over the divorce records of Mark Dayton. He went into post after post about releasing these "unsealed" documents -- Republican translation: He has something embarrassing in there and we want it. He even got to ask Dayton a question about it at a press conference -- God knows how he got a pass for that -- and a local journalist even asked a follow up question. It was yet another embarrassment for the local press.

And, as usual, Hellier tries to whip up his echo chamber to draw attention to his loosely researched story. He even got PowerLine to gleefully comment on this "mystery".

But Powerline puts an addendum on this post. It goes like this:

CORRECTION: Luke Hellier has corrected his MDE post to reflect that the affidavits were removed from the court file by the attorney for Dayton's wife, not by the attorney for Dayton. That seems to me to make it more likely that the affidavits raised issues personally sensitive to Dayton's wife rather than to Dayton. I regret the error.

I regret the error?

Unfortunately, the blogger/press that masquerades as media around here should be issuing a lot more "regrets" than that.

Item #1. Hellier on Minnesota Democrats Exposed continues to post about this issue...with no "regrets" listed.

Item #2. The usually reliable Doug Grow felt compelled to add this bizarre exchange to his story about Dayton getting the Police endorsement. At present, this story has no "regrets" listed.

Item #3. Pat Kessler was the reporter who asked the follow up on this out of the blue fishing expedition, which had no reliable information whatsoever. But, again, no "regrets" forthcoming.

I'm not sure I understand what journalism is today. Have the budgets become so arbitrarily small that reporters find it difficult to budget actual research of their own? Are they compelled to follow every slashing, Hail Mary charge that political parties throw out there?

Powerline is a blog that gets a lot of attention. But the general idea of the Dayton post is left intact.

Still, it does have those four words which are supposed to exonerate any wrongdoing.....

"I regret the error."
]]> Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:43:36 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2458 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2458 http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2457
There is a fine line that elected officials have to walk. It's the line between (a) doing what's best for your constituents and (b) doing what is poltically beneficial for yourself.

Governor Pawlenty has thrown (a) out the window and now his only policy test is what will get him another few votes in Iowa.

Minnesota is in massive deficit and has health care issues. When it comes to health care, the state has three choices regarding how it can alleviate that. 1) Raise taxes, 2) Accept Federal Money when offered, or 3) throw people off the programs.

We are well aware of how Pawlenty utilizes option 1 -- he doesn't. Yesterday option 2 seems to have been eliminated as well. That leaves option 3, which has already been utilized more than we are comfortable with, but it is all we have left.

Tom Emmer concurs with it all, despite his "new direction".

Here's Pawlenty's reasoning:

Pawlenty is directing all executive branch departments and agencies to not apply for grants or other funding connected to the federal law unless approved by his office or required by law. His executive order described the federal law as "a dramatic attempt to assert federal command and control" of the country's health care system. He also wrote that the law "includes unprecedented intrusions into individual liberty."

Minnesota pays a lot in Federal taxes. Like it or not, some of those taxes are involved in Federal Health Care. Even if you think it is "too much Federal control", we still have needs to meet that are immediate. Some of those taxes are meant for Medical Assistance.....they are meant to help deal with recessionary pressures on our health care system.

By refusing money that has been offered (and that we have basically funded ourselves), Pawlenty is making a personal political statement at the expense of real needs of Minnesota citizens.

The GOP has been using an attack ad on Mark Dayton claiming that he would be "Minnesota's worst governor"...(all evidence to the contrary).

Well the ad is meaningless.

We already have the gold standard of "worst governor" sitting in the executive mansion right now.

]]> Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:57:12 GMT http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/comments.php?id=2457 ]]> http://www.mnpact.org/sblog/blog.php?id=2457