Category: GOP Politics

by Dave Mindeman

“The Secretary of the Senate felt that we were now in ‘lawyer land’ “.
Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem

How does one get to "Lawyer Land"? Well the GOP Senate caucus is taking us there whether we like it or not. And we go there without a clue as to why. Leader Senjem thinks we should just move on....leave this mess behind us. But that's not just "lawyer land"....that's Fantasy Island.

This whole mess hangs over the Senate like a dark cloud. And it isn't just about the Koch relationship...this is about judgment of the leadership. It's about procedures. It's about openness and transparency. Really, in the final analysis, it is about doing the right thing in an honest and open way.

And there's another thing....

Sen. Dick Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, said the Senate’s hiring of a private attorney to confront any legal claims from Brodkorb should be fully aired. “Every one of us – all 67 senators – are the clients, and all I know as an individual client is what I read in the newspaper,” Cohen said on the Senate floor.

Sorry Sen. Cohen, but I beg to differ. It is the Minnesota taxpayer that is footing the bill and therefore we are the clients as well. And if there is going to be a messy legal fight, then the citizens of this state should most certainly be allowed to know the basic facts.

This is much, much more than a simple affair now.....it is more than a case of wrongful termination.....this is a matter of trust in the institution of the Senate.

Senator Senjem may want to do the right thing and he may say the right things, but obviously, he is not allowed to actually do the right thing.

And we need to know why that is as well.

How about we clear the air once and for all?

Category: GOP Politics

by Dave Mindeman

You have to somewhat admire the audacity of the power grab.

Minnesota's Republican legislature has decided to move their agenda with blitzkreig speed; in the face of declining public opinion, around the DFL governor, and in spite of scandals and leadership division.

It's like they have decided to gorge themselves in the face of their last meal....or checking off all the items on their bucket list -- all at once.

This feverish pace of Constitutional amendments, spit in their eye rhetoric, and nose thumbing at the Governor leaves us all kind of breathless....including some of the GOP caucus themselves.

And it leaves at least me wondering, what does all this have to do with jobs?

Look at the items. How will the Marriage Discrimination Amendment help Minnesota's economy? How will that create jobs?

And the Voter ID issue. Not only will that not create jobs but will cost the state money in regards to notifying people, getting ID options available, and the time consumption necessitated by figuring out provisional ballots.

Then there is the Right To Work change. There is little chance of jobs increasing with this anti-worker legislation. All this does is stick it to unions...replacing dues paying union people with non-union workers that get all the benefits of a union without paying a fair share.

How about 60% majorities to pass a tax bill? Think jobs will come out of that? The only jobs provision there is the constant cutting of government workers as revenues continue to decline.

How does any of this get us to job creation? Where is the economic thrust? How can Minnesota's jobless get any encouragement from this?

And then there is the rhetoric. The combative tones. The my way or the highway attitude.

Senator Senjem began the session talking about the Senate family. And then the majority proceeded to begin work sessions like the ugly step sisters in Cinderella..throwing a bunch of rags at the minority party.

This session, there isn't even attempts to work out bills with Governor Dayton. They toss his PUC Chairwoman aside as one of their first acts....and then work to legislate by Constitutional amendment.

A slap in the face to the very Constitution they claim to embrace.

Like I said, you almost have to admire the audacity of such thuggery. But in actuality, admiration is not my word of choice.

The only end result from all this will have to come in November by a mystified electrate. To quote the Donald -- You're All Fired!

Category: Labor

by Dave Mindeman

Among the myriad of potential amendments being floated around by the GOP legislature is a "right to work" amendment. A not so veiled attack on unions in Minnesota.

The conservative think tank, the Center for the American Experiment released a study that, they say, proves that right to work states do better and that Minnesota would have increased per capita income by $3,000.

The author of the study puts it this way...

"If you provide an economic environment that is pro growth, that is pro opportunity — or perceived by businesses that way — and you bring in resources to the state, you bring in machinery and capital," Vedder said, "you will, in the long run raise wages for workers."

Alright, using that argument, let's list the top 20 states in order of average income per person (source - Census numbers via USA Today):

1. Connecticut..........$56,000
2. Massachusetts......$51.552
3. New Jersey...........$50,781
4. Maryland..............$49,025
5. New York..............$48,821
6. Wyoming.............$47,851
7. Virginia................$44,762
8. Alaska.................$44,174
9. New Hampshire.....$44,084
10.Washington.........$43,564
11.Illinois................$43,159
12.California............$43,104
13.Minnesota...........$42,843
14.Colorado.............$42,802
15.Rhode Island.......$42,579
16.Pennsylvania.......$41,152
17.Hawaii................$41,021
18.North Dakota.......$40,596
19.Vermont.............$40,283
20.Delaware.............$39,962

There are 23 current right to work states. Three of them, Wyoming, Virginia, and North Dakota appear in the top 20.

And if you really examine the unique situations, Virginia gets there because they have a large number of people who live in Virginia but work in Washington, DC. And it would be a little difficult to attribute North Dakota as a right to work success story since they are in the middle of an oil boom. In fact, it looks like North Dakota will be in the top 10 next year. As for Wyoming, a small population with a heavy agricultural base doesn't deal much with union issues.

So, that means that 20 of the bottom 30 states in income are right to work states.

If right to work is such an income generator, then you would think that the RTW states would be rising to the top over time.

Not so.

I don't think Minnesota will want to go that route.