Category: Tim Pawlenty

by Dave Mindeman

After all the negotiations that have been going on at the Capitol, are we just headed for another round of vetos?

It looks that way.

The Governor and DFL leaders exchanged letters to end the weekend and they sound more like ultimatums rather than late stage talking points.

I have difficulty understanding what the Governor's priorities are. He will seem conciliatory at times, then when agreement seems within reach, he will move the markers.

You have to wonder how much of the Governor's actions are being dictated by the lure of a national stage. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza ranked Pawlenty as the top possibility for a McCain VP slot. That is meaningless speculation, but it keeps fueling this spotlight pressure that Pawlenty seems drawn to.

Now, if Pawlenty were to stand his ground (whatever that would be) and become the focal point of any budget resolution, he could cement his appeal to fiscal conservatives. After all, how "heroic" (at least to party extremists) would it be to single handedly slash and burn his way through the Minnesota budget via unallottment.

He might even be willing to sacrifice some of his Minnesota "nice" popularity (which such an action would definitely risk) in order to enhance his national hand. He suffers in regards to national name recognition, but the unallottment scenario would certainly bring him attention.

The DFL legislative leadership have their own problems to deal with. They do not want to appear to capitulate to Pawlenty -- even though Pawlenty holds the final cards. Getting any kind of firm committment from Pawlenty has been elusive and feeling their way through this game must be frustrating. Sending him more legislation that he will subsequently veto may be their only option. They might as well send him everything...(including the stem cell bill) and force him to take potentially unpopular positions for a potential national VP candidate.

This looked promising for awhile... but in the end, it has become the same tired old political game.

Is anybody really interested in the people's business?

Category: John Kline

by Dave Mindeman

Congressman John Kline seems to be feeling the urgency of his constituents on gas prices. Hard to imagine how he could really know how we all feel about it when he is hold up in his Washington bunker using a telephone to meet with the district.

In addition, he is more than willing to blame the skyrocketing price of gas on the inaction of Democrats. Which seems to be his reason for all of the country's problems.

However, John Kline has been in office since 2002. Here are the inflation adjusted gas prices for those years (as compiled by the Department of Energy:

2002 $1.31
2003 $1.52
2004 $1.79
2005 $2.28
2006 $3.03
2007 $3.26

For comparison here are gas prices during the 1980's and 1990's:

1980 $2.59
1985 $1.90
1990 $1.51
1995 $1.28

Consider the following:

(1) The Iraq War started in 2003...notice the trend?
(2) John Kline and his Republican Party had full control of Congress and the White House from January, 2003 to January, 2007.
(3) Contributions from the Oil and Gas industry to John Kline:

2002 $21,000
2004 $17.500
2006 $17,500
2008 $ 9,000 (so far)

Yet, Congressman Kline thinks that 16 months of Democrats trying to work against Presidential vetos should have this problem solved, even though his 4 plus years have produced no relief.

And then there is the problem of Congressman Kline's solutions. He lists 4 items for our consideraton:

(1) Congress should consider opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Kline method is to just keep on drilling -- giving the oil companies more opportunities. But the truth is, oil supplies are not the problem. Even the Exxon Chairman stated clearly in Congressional testimony, that this is NOT a supply issue.

(2) We should build new oil refineries. That has been a major discussion for years. Barbara Shook, (a Houston bureau chief for the Energy Intelligence publications) stated this on May, 2008:

Refinery capacity is growing. Shook says more than half a billion gallons per day of refinery capacity is now under construction. Refineries are cutting back on production, though, because demand is down.

We do need more refinery capacity, but that is NOT the reason for high gas prices now....and many speculate that the oil industry uses refinery production issues to manipulate the price of oil.

(3) Clean-coal technology is another exciting energy resource that we must continue to explore. Unfortunately, we have a long way to go before this is a truly viable energy source. Many would argue that industry subsidies on clean coal could be much better spent expanding wind and solar capacity....but the coal lobby is powerful and utilizing coal more efficiently is a persuasive goal. In the end, though, it only has a foreseeable potential to replace current coal energy use. This will have little effect on gasoline prices.

(4) Renewable energies like wind and solar also should be part of the equation, along with nuclear energy, which is the top source of emission-free electricity. I think everyone can agree on developing more wind and solar energy viability -- but Kline has always given luke-warm support for these technologies. And as for nuclear energy... yes, this may be a place we will be forced to go due to lack of progress in other areas. However, Rep. Kline and his party have stonewalled on solutions for nuclear waste which must be part of any expansion of nuclear power capacity.

Frankly, Congressman Kline misses the whole point on the high price of gasoline. The industry doesn't have a supply problem and refinery capacity has kept up with current demand. As many analysts have pointed out, the reasons for the high price of gasoline is speculative commodity pricing and the free fall of the American dollar.

A barrel of oil cost upwards of $120 on the commodity markets. That is NOT a reflection of supply and demand but a reaction to uncertainty. Every time Venezuela's Chavez rants about the US or when OPEC speculates about cutting back production or when Russian relations become strained, the price of oil goes up. And a central issue of uncertainty about oil is the Iraq War. Congressman Kline has been an ardent supporter of that war and he may look for other excuses or parties to blame, but in the end, US troops concentrated in the mideast continues to create an uncertain future regarding the movement of oil from that part of the world.

Yes, Congressman Kline, as you state:

"What is abundantly clear is our addiction to foreign oil, which is not only an economic issue but also a national-security concern."

Indeed it is...and our presence in Iraq costs us dearly and most importantly in American lives and in American dollars,..... but, although Mr. Kline will never admit it, that war also costs us dearly at the pump.

Category: Minnesota Politics

by Dave Mindeman

We spend a lot of time debating the importance of symbols. And we often get into some pretty hefty controversies over what respect for our country's symbols entails. It is doubtful that these 3 kids in the small Minnesota town of Dilworth were looking for that kind of controversy, but they ended up in the center of it anyway.

The article is kind of summed up in the first paragraph:

Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights.

Symbols like the flag or a recited set of words like the Pledge of Allegiance do have meaning. However, proper respect for these symbols won't attain that meaning without knowing the context in which they are observed.

A salute to the flag is obvious respect. It is not reverence for the flag itself, it is a signal of belief in the country the flag represents. The Pledge of Allegiance being recited at a citizenship ceremony is also obvious respect. People aren't just reciting words...they are reaffirming their desire of loyalty to the United States.

But saluting or standing or reciting are not a mandatory exercise in a free country. We don't want blind allegiance... the goal of a democracy is to give every citizen the right to choose how it feels about their country, its laws, or its policies. In fact, a proper salute or a heartfelt rendition of the Star Spangled Banner are all the more meaningful because it does not have to be done.

In this particular case:

Kim Dahl asked Brandt (her son who did not stand) why he has been remained seated all school year, but "he didn't have an answer ... he doesn't get in trouble; he's just a normal 13-year-old."

The school district punished these kids, not for a lack of respect, or some big overreaching statement, but for apathy. If apathy is a crime, then a pretty hefty majority of us would stand convicted.

These kids, in particular, were just being 13.

And last I heard, being 13 was still part of living in a free country.