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A Non-Political Post

Posted by Lady Logician on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:40:48 PM
PETA members - do not watch this video. It will make your heads explode!


Tags: Not A Dog  
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Open Letter To Rep. Jim Abler

Posted by Lady Logician on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 10:45:34 AM
Dear, Rep. Abler,

I listened, with great interest, to your speech on the House Floor last Monday. While I was dead set against the bill, I was willing to listen to a divergent opinion on the subject. Apparently, based on your remarks, I was the only one of that mindset. I listened to you go on about how so many people from other districts contacted you and how you had over 800 emails and how you were searching for a "local" one. Well, using that "logic" Rep. Abler, since I am in Scott County, does that mean only my representatives in Scott County can raise my taxes? While I wish that were the case (I have two very fiscally conservative representatives in Mike Beard and Mark Buesgens) I know that is not the case. Therefore, since representatives who are outside of my district can raise my taxes, then I think that I am well within my rights to lobby said representatives.
Another thing that struck my about your speech was your insistence that people who publically opposed the bill (like Phil Krinkie and Jason Lewis) didn't tell the whole story about what was in the bill and yet you did the same thing. You never mentioned (in your floor speech in defense of the bill) that the quarter percent sales tax increase was dedicated to light rail! You also never mentioned the 3.5 cent gas tax surcharge that goes on top of the two cent gas tax increase. You mentioned that the gas tax is dedicated to roads and yet you neglect to mention that the Trunk Highway funding formula takes most of the gas tax money that is raised in the Cities and sends it outstate where the needs are not as dire! You also neglected to mention the surcharge on leased and rental vehicles that is in this bill.  It is obvious to me, that there is cherry picking of information going on from both sides. I would assume that someone so passionate about the whole story being told would be the one to tell the whole story.  Clearly I was mistaken.
It seems to me that your mind was made up on this issue from the get go and no amount of input from anyone outside of your special interest groups (i.e. the Chamber) was going to change your mind. I can appreciate that, but please do not be surprised when the voters, the people you are supposed to represent rally against you. And do not be surprised when taxpayers interestes from outside of your district take an active roll in helping replace you. After all, you worked hard to take money away from taxpayers outside of your district. Can you really blame them for trying to prevent that in the future?
 
Cross Posted at TaxPayers Revolt
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Rep. Abler Answers His Critics

Posted by Lady Logician on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 10:46:45 PM
Gary Gross did a yeoman's work transcribing the speeches of some of the tax hero's from yesterday's debate. Now it is my turn to focus on one of the floor speeches from yesterday and unfortunately Rep. Jim Abler gave a speech that was not heroic in any form. You can find the speech here and it starts at approximately the 25 minute 55 secondmark. I commented on his remarks briefly (in my live blog post of the days events) but I felt that his remarks deserved special attention and consideration. I will transcribe most of his remarks (because he does go off on some tangents) and reserve comment for afterward.
…Since 1998 we have failed to do the job on this topic also by coincidence. Sometimes you are home on a Sunday afternoon and the suns out and you’re walking the dog and nobody calls and there’s no one around and it’s a quiet park? Well that wasn’t this weekend.  I didn’t feel lonely this weekend Madame Speaker and members...I didn’t feel lonely at all.    In fact I have 800 unopened emails – not for lack of trying…I just kinda skimmed eh the ones that looked interesting to read, trying to find some local ones.  If you want to know what your people think I can tell you…each of you what your people think…and they are both happy and unhappy depending on how much they know. Now I took some calls and some actually used the word I can barely stand against….BOONDOGGLE!  No, no please don’t use the “B” word…the
boondoggle...they thought it would be an effective word as they described how they understood this bill.
OK - I have to stop here. Did you catch this? First off, Rep Abler is whining because people outside of his district dared to speak up to him and tell him "No". Secondly, those of us who took the time to read the bill and who understand all of the tax increases in this bill are bad are just too stupid to truly "understand" what our betters are trying to foist on us.
But unfortunately they didn’t understand the bill…they didn’t understand the problem.  And I told them about the report that the Legislative Auditor put out about the state highways and bridges…calling the situation grim. 
And what YOU don't understand, Rep. Abler, is that the the situation about our personal finances is equally grim. Foreclosures are at a record high, bankrupty filings are too. People are barely living paycheck to paycheck as it is...we are at the breaking point. Maybe you should try to understand OUR situation Rep. Abler.
They also said that there is money available for preservation ONLY which is kinda bad when you want a lane out your way on Hwy 10 to ease some of that congestion. 
Here's a radical thought Rep. Abler....why not take out some pork out of the bonding bill to bring more money to MNDOT. OR another radical thought.....quit spending money on light rail until our roads are up to snuff! I'll bet you can get a lot of lane miles out of the money being spent on the Central Corridor!
I do have to commend, again, the Minnesota Chamber…they read the report.  They’ve been living this report…they know that their people can’t get across town at peak times and even not peak times.  And so they took up…they became the surrogate for us…for me…they became the surrogate for the governor and they waded into this thing with both their feet and they courageously took on this topic on behalf of their membership and there was compromise.
This, then, is the DFL's idea of "compromising" with the minority who is looking out for the people's interests. They bring in a LOBBYING organization to help them write the bill so that they can say that they "compromised" with someone.

This bill is smaller than last year.
Let's see....last years bill was $5.5 billion and this years is $6.6.....when I took math way back when....6 was a LARGER number than 5. Has that somehow changed?
This bill has reform in it….MNDOT has to face the scrutiny of the Chamber of Commerce….not known for being easy softball negotiators.  The Chamber Of Commerce and the business partnership are exactly the opposite….they’re a bunch
of jerks when it comes to their negotiating.  They’re gonna go after MNDOT and say “why are you picking projects like this?” and “what are you doing with the money we gave you?”
What are they doing with the money WHO gave them? That is not the Chamber's money, nor is it the Legislatures money it is the taxpayers money and MNDOT should not be accountable to a 3rd party lobbying organization, they should be accountable to WE THE PEOPLE!
MNDOT (unintelligible) this task force…it’s in the report.  There is compromise in this bill.  I was so happy with the amendments in this bill that came out.  I was not part of any discussions and every amendment that came out I thought “that’s a good amendment…that makes the bill even better”
In one of my favorite movies, Indigo Montoya says "You keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means." The same can be said to Rep. Abler here. He keeps using the word compromise and then he says that he was not part of any discussions on the bill and that the amendments (all DFL amendments)were added to make the DFL Transit bill even better. How is that compromise with the minority or the Governor exactly?
There is a quarter percent lower in the sales tax…it is a number that the people
can afford – the Chamber can afford it.
Here's a thought....if the Chamber can afford it why not let THEM PAY IT. Oh and remind me what roads that quarter percent sales tax goes for Rep. Abler.....

Now we have a bill that starts at two cents….people calling me thought it was like a quarter or something. Can I use a prop on the floor? Do you know it starts at two cents?  But I do want to warn you that it’s going to go up to a nickel.  A nickel so that you can get across town or so many your kid don’t get killed at a bad intersection of Hwy 47.
Two cents a GALLON next month and 3 cents A GALLON in October Rep. Abler. For drivers like myself that is an extra $2.00 a week, $8.00 a month, $104 a year per car (we have two) and that is in ADDITION to the sales tax increase and in ADDITION TO the license tab fee increase and in ADDITION TO the 3.5 cents per gallon gas tax surcharge that you oh so conveniently forgot to include in your talk.
I’ve been on radio shows…I’ve been on some radio shows where I’ve given quotes and some radio shows where they’ve called me a names.  Names that I would not even call you or anybody that I would want to make a joke about.  It used to be called slander to name call on radio shows where you get to hide behind your microphone.  Jason Lewis who is relatively small market radio talk guy he has been calling me names and he has had people calling me up and sending me emails based on 1/10th of the story.  At least if you are going to have them call me, tell them the whole story.
Where to start.....from the top I guess. Jason Lewis, like you Rep. Abler, is a public person and as such the level to reach slander are much higher. As a politician, you have an even higher bar to reach (just ask Senator McCain about slander from the media). And before you go accusing ANYONE of not telling the whole story about this bill, I would suggest that you look at your own words in this very speech! There have been a number of things about this bill that you have either flat out ignored or completely glossed over in your empassioned plea for "the whole story".
And my good friend Phil Krinkie, the Taxpayers League…I’m on their blog…call Jim
and Kathy…we didn’t feel lonely.  Part of why I am doing this today is because they did this.  I don’t know why they would do it again I thought they would play fair.
They did it because you and your friends in the DFL were not playing fair with US!
These are people who have really good citizens listening to them.  These are our bread and butter citizens.  They all have jobs, they have good families, they care, they pay their taxes and they are obedient to laws and they tell them a half a truth.
They are telling us the half of the truth that you don't want us to know. They are telling us the half of a truth that your willing accomplices in the media willingly hide for you. And that is the biggest problem here. We the people are better informed now than we were when people like Rep. Abler took office. They can no longer hide behind pretty words....the bills are out there on the internet for ALL to see and now that ALL can see for themselves what is being done "in our name". What seems to bother Rep. Abler most of all is that the unwashed masses dared to speak up and speak out against the Legislature. He only wanted to hear what his friends on the Chamber told him and when we the people spoke out, he couldn't handle it. So maybe it is time for the people of HD48B to find a representative that does not mind talking to "we the people". We can do better.
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Happy To Pay....

Posted by Lady Logician on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:25:22 PM
In the mornings, while getting the Junior Logician ready for school, I usually put on one of the local news broadcasts to see what the weather is going to be for the day.  This morning, I had on Fox 9 News (as I usually do) and I heard something that actually made me stop what I was doing.  Going into commercial, anchor Tom Butler, teased a story that was coming up about the Transit Bill.  While their reporting on this story was not unexpected, it was what Mr. Butler said that brought me up short.
...and coming up, now that the House and the Senate have over-ridden the
Governors veto on the Transportation bill, find out how much in new taxes you’ll
have to pay...

The emphasis that was put on the "you'll" was what caught me as there appeared to be a certain amount of joy, happyness or excitement in his voice.  It struck me as just a little odd that a supposed "neutral observer" would take such delight in the fact that the taxpayers of Minnesota had just been told to "bend over and grab your ankles" by the state Legislature!
What really got to me though was that for the first time in this whole debate, a local media outlet actually listed out many of the new taxes including the 1/4% metro area sales tax increase that is solely for transit.  This is the first time that I have heard any of the local media outlets talk about the fact that light rail was going to be a beneficiary of this bill.  Heck if you listened to people like Rep. Lieder and Rep. Abler (more on him later) you would have thought that all monies for this bill were going to make our roads "safer" and that those who told you otherwise (like talk radio and bloggers) didn't know what they were talking about!
This in a nutshell is why the voters of MN are looking to new media outlets for information about what is happening in the legislature.  They realize that the local media are willing participants with the DFL in pushing these tax increases down our throats. 
Stay tuned to True North - there are two more BIG tax bills that are coming.  Rep. Lenczewski's Tax bill and the Universal Health Care bills are both supposed to come to the floor this week and True North will be there to cover it for you.
Tags: Media bias  
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Thanks For Nothing

Posted by Lady Logician on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:59:19 AM
Last night I got an email from a very angry neighbor of mine.
I hope the Republican Party is proud today, as some of our great MN Republican Representatives sided with the Dems to pass as you most eloquently put it “one of the most regressive tax bills to come out of this legislature”. Maybe it is time for a change because the Republicans of this state don’t have the back bone to stand on the principles of the GOP.
Thanks for nothing,
 
This neighbor of mine is a typical Minnesotan....VietNam era vet, small business owner, hard working family man who is just trying to make a good life for his family. Just like the rest of us, he is well informed about what is going on in the legislature (contrary to what Rep. Abler implied yesterday on the House floor) and he is very frustrated at what he sees.  He sees a legislature that is more concerned about lining their own pockets rather than one that is concerned with doing "the peoples business".
As a small business owner I can't seem to find the extra cash to give my Service tech's   $96.00 a day for food allowance that our boys and girls at the Capital seem to enjoy and take advantage of.

I guess all I can add is I hope that the lobbyists that our legislature seems more inclined to represent will take care of them when they get voted out of office.  I also hope, for the lobbyiests sake, that the workers that their businesses depend on don't bolt the state leaving them saddled with the full burden of this horrific tax bill.
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Here They Are.

Posted by Lady Logician on Monday, February 25, 2008 5:36:02 PM
Over at the main site (www.ladieslogic.com) I live blogged the floor debate on the motion to over ride Governor Pawlentys veto of the $6.6 BILLION mass transit bill.  The veto was over ridden with 6 "Republican" legislators voted to over-ride the veto.

These are the 6 "Republicans" who voted to over-ride the Governor's veto.

Rep. Abler

Rep. Erhardt

Rep. Tinglestad (hello HD49!)

Rep. Heidgerken

Rep. Neil Peterson

Rep. Hamilton

For those that have not had endorsing conventions, now is the time for the disgruntled activists to make their wills known!  There are 6.6 BILLION reasons for you to do so!
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Can Someone Please Explain This To Me?

Posted by Lady Logician on Monday, February 25, 2008 10:46:12 AM
Rep. Ron Erhardt (R?-Edina) is one of the six who voted for the Transit Bill that was going to raise the state and metro sales taxes. Yet he has also is the chief author of House File 2551 a bill to:

A bill for an act
1.2relating to taxation; repealing the sales tax exemption on clothing; decreasing
1.3the sales tax rate; creating an income tax credit; adjusting local option sales tax
1.4rates; appropriating money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 295.60,
1.5subdivision 1; 297A.62, subdivision 1; 297B.02, subdivision 1; proposing coding
1.6for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 290; repealing Minnesota Statutes
1.72006, section 297A.67, subdivision 8.
So let me get this straight....we are going to repeal the clothing exemption - thus raising taxes on working class Minnesotans EVEN MORE and then we are going to decrease the sales tax in this bill so that we can raise it in another? If we decrease the sales tax, Rep. Erhardt, how are we going to be paying for the toy trains in the metro? Inquiring minds really want to know.
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Needs Vs. Wants

Posted by Lady Logician on Sunday, February 24, 2008 8:53:23 PM
More from Logical Lady Sue Jeffers
 
When Rep. Kathy Tinglestad showed up at her BPOU convention yesterday, she provided a copy of the DOT Legislative audit to justify her vote to support the transit bill. The audit stated that roads and bridges have improved in the last 6 years but funding is falling behind. The report said more money is needed for road and bridge funding. The problem for our legislature is that they are simply not spending money on roads and bridges this year.
Legislators are considering spending hundreds of millions of dollars on various projects instead of roadsand bridges. Just some of the projects include the Thief River Falls pedestrian and bicycle pathways system; ice arena complex in the city of Crookston; renewable energy clean air project in Koochiching County; AgLan Center; electrical system of the Yellow Medicine County Agriculture and Transportation Museum; Bemidji Regional Event Center; regional community center in Upsala; Prairie Ecology Center in Jackson County; Duluth Entertainment Convention Center arena, Paynesville, Cold Spring downtown riverfront redevelopment project; National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State University; Pemberton community center; Mankato to predesign and design a performing arts theater and Southern Minnesota Women's Hockey Exposition Center; Mayo Civic Center Complex in Rochester; Minnesota Wildlife Art Museum; senior center in the city of Mora; Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval; Camp Eden Wood in Eden Prairie; Burnsville Performing Arts Center; Richfield athletic fields, Asian Pacific Cultural Center; acquisition and renovation of a building for St. Paul Youth Services.
Listed below is another $100 million in requests that could also be spent on roads and bridges instead of election year bribes for incumbent DFL districts. As you know this is just a partial list of funding requests. I have attached bill numbers and authors for your convenience.
HF3002 (Moe) A bill for an act relating to capital improvements; appropriating money for state trail acquisition, rehabilitation, and repair; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds. $29 million.
HF 2302 (Welti) Great River Ridge Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $1.34 million
HF697 (Welti) Chester Woods Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. No dollar amount listed
HF143 (Peterson, A.) Minnesota River Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $1 million
HF2594 (Dill) North Shore state parks and trails funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (The Committee will only hear the trail portion of the bill at this time.) $9.6 million
HF2461 (Gardner) Rice Creek North Regional Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $2.189 million
HF2598 (Hosch) Stearns County; Rocori Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $2.02 million
HF2199 (Hansen) South St. Paul span arch bridge funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $800,000
HF2511 (Koenen) Clara City walking path funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $850,000
HF858 (Sailer) Big Bog State Recreation Area funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $1.6 million
HF2834 (Wollschlager) Cannon River pedestrian bridge funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $2 million
HF2707 (Lenczewski) Bloomington; Old Cedar Avenue Bridge replacement funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $2 million
HF1026 (Hortman) Anoka County bicycle and pedestrian trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. No amount listed
HF1369 (Garofalo) Cannon River pedestrian bridge funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $1.5 million
HF1522 (Lillie) Gateway Trail tunnel funding provided, and money appropriated. $650,000
HF2284 (Demmer) Mantorville; Stage Coach Trail and welcome center design grant provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $100,000
HF2829 (Hornstein) Minneapolis; Grand Rounds parkway improvements funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $2 million
HF2819 (Johnson) Lower Afton Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $450,000
HF2848 (Bly) Mill Towns State Trail construction funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $1 million
HF2881 (Faust) Mora; Spring Lake Trail funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $100,000
HF2914 (Pelowski) A bill for an act relating to capital improvements; appropriating money for the Wagon Wheel Trail; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds. $249,000
HF2917 (Pelowski) A bill for an act relating to capital improvements; appropriating money for an extension of the Root River State Trail; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds. $1.641 million
HF2929 (Koenen) A bill for an act relating to capital improvements; appropriating money for a segment of the Minnesota River Trail; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds. $4.5 million
HF2431 (Nornes) Vergas; Roger Hanson Memorial Trail completion funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. $50,000
Is it any wonder that the citizens of Minnesota have no faith in their elected officials when it comes to solving the REAL problems facing this state. None of this (mostly from the bonding bill) money should be spent on anything other than roads and bridges, roads and bridges, roads and bridges....then when the roads and bridges are finally up to par, then we can take a look at spending money on the "nice to haves".
Tags: Priorities  
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More Backlash Against the Transit Bill

Posted by Lady Logician on Sunday, February 24, 2008 8:49:25 PM
From Logical Lady Sue Jeffers.
 
Passed by a near unanimous voice vote on Saturday February 23, 2008 at the Wabasha County BPOU Convention.

The Wabasha County Republican Party of Minnesota supports and encourages the Republican Party of Minnesota and the Minnesota House Republican Caucus to PROMOTE and support any Republican Candidate who seeks party endorsement against any Republican Incumbents who vote to override Governor Pawlenty’s veto on the transportation bill.
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Conduct Unbecoming

Posted by Lady Logician on Saturday, February 23, 2008 7:32:41 PM
Logical Lady Sue Jeffers brings us this.
 
Carver County Republican has the details.
Rep. Ron Erhadt, in responding to acaller asking him to uphold the Governor's veto and not support the Democrat overrride attempt responded with anger and profanity, telling the caller to "tell the people who told you to call to go 'F***' themselves."

The call was made by Tom Winterer of Chanhassen to Erhardt's home this morning. Winterer is new to grassroots politics, and just joined the Carver County Republicans at the Feb. 5 precinct caucuses.

In the call, Erhardt asked Winterer why he was calling, since he was not a constituent or Edina resident.

"I'm calling because I'm going to be taxed under your veto override," Winterer said. "He told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I told him there are vast sums of money that are not being directed properly."

Erhardt responded, "Tell the people to go "F***' themselves and that they are full of 'S***'."

Erhardt has a challenger and Hennipen County's Republican endoring convention is meeting today.

Obviously it is now time for Rep. Erhardt to be retired if he has no desire to serve "we the people".
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Fallout!

Posted by Lady Logician on Saturday, February 23, 2008 4:56:14 PM
The fallout begins.  Michael Brodkorb (of Minnesota Democrats Exposed) reported today that the delegates of the House District 49B Convention (Rep. Kathy Tinglestad's district) withheld endorsement today.  What this means is that they chose to postpone the endorsement for this seat.  This is a bold move by the activsts.  It is not often that an incumbent legislator is so thoroughly "dissed" by their convention.
The grass roots activists have spoken loudly to Rep. Tinglestad.  We put too much effort into things like the Party Platform to have our elected officials ignore it.  Rep. Tinglestad now faces a choice.  Which way she chooses, will have serious consequences, not only for her but for her BPOU and for the party as a whole.  As the next few weeks worth of BPOU conventions progresses, we will continue to see fallout from the Transit vote.
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Not Welcome

Posted by Lady Logician on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 10:44:08 AM
While the Transportation Bill is the talk of the day, Rep. John Lesch is still moving forward with his plan to dictate making thousands of loving pets unwelcome in the state of Minnesota. The local media is again reporting on the fact that Rep. Lesch plans to introduce (soon) his bill that would make 5 breeds of dog illegal in the state of Minnesota. To Rep. Lesch, it does not matter if the individual dog in question has or has not bitten anyone, it only matters that the dog exists. Well today I read a story that broke my heart and doubled my resolve to fight this egregious reach of big government.
From K9, a British dog magazine, one of the best arguments against breed-specific legislation I’ve ever read, in the form of one animal control officer’s life-changing experience with Britain’s pit bull ban. Her name is Celine Jacobs, and she told this story:
The other day I had to do something that went against everything I have ever strived for, I took a lovely, young, healthy dog to the vets and I had it put to sleep, the reason for this was that he had been identified by an expert as being a Pit Bull type.
When the expert identified the dog yesterday I thought my heart would break, without an owner to fight the dog’s case the law says we have to destroy them. For seven years I have been a dog warden and for seven years I have never put a dog to sleep that wasn’t on the advice of a vet due to illness or injury.
Red was a stray. He couldn’t help the fact that his genetics and appearance categorised him as dangerous. He was young, healthy and apparently very friendly.

Red showed no signs of aggression with people or other dogs, and yet England’s breed specific laws against pit bull-type dogs meant he had to die. The morning of his death, Celine took him out of his kennel, took him for a five mile walk, and let him run and chase a ball in a secure field until he was exhausted, after which she took him out for a junk food meal. Then she held him in her arms while he was killed.

When we went in to the vets his tail was still wagging and he sat there licking my face and licking the tears of my face, he didn’t know I was going to have him killed. I held him all the time and he slipped away in my arms quietly, I held him even when he was dead and sobbed my heart out.
Now I feel empty, I feel like I have finally been beaten and that all I have ever tried to do has been broken, I wanted to dedicate my life to saving dogs and now I have killed a fit, healthy, happy dog and I don’t think I can live with it or continue to work as a Dog Warden.
I know a lot of people think dog wardens enjoy killing dogs, I have never been so miserable or felt that what I was doing so wrong. Now I feel that I hate people, I hate the law and I hate my job. The only small thing that has kept me from falling completely apart over this is the fact that at least I know no one can hurt him now, he will never be thrown in a pit and ripped to pieces and no one will ever abuse him or beat him. I hope he enjoyed his morning with me before he went. I know that I had to do this as it is the law and it is what my job entails, as a dog lover however it is heart breaking.
Celine's grief is evident in this article, as is the grief of every owner of a loving pit who has ever had their dog siezed by the government for no reason other than the fact that the dog "could" bite. Well you know what Rep. Lesch....I have herding dogs. Their job is to use their teeth to make their "flock" go where it wants it to. In my dog's case, their flock is any human, squirrel, rabbit or cat that crosses their paths. Because of that, the Junior Logician (I will give full credit where it is do - the dog training is HIS project) has worked very hard to train his dogs so that they know that biting humans is absolutely 110% unacceptable! However, according to Rep. Lesch's reasoning, a dog that could bite should be banned. Does that mean hearding dogs are next on the list of breeds to be banned?
 
And that gets us to the bottom line of this debate. As a responsible dog owner, I have to make certain that my dogs are good citizens of the community. They are licensed and leashed and trained to make sure that they behave in a socially acceptable manner and that is what the government needs to focus on. If Rep. Lesch is serious about protecting kids in his district from dangerous dogs, then the onus needs to be put ON THE OWNER and not on the dog. The owner is the one who is responsible for the training and restraint (or lack thereof) of their dog and they should be the ones to bear the brunt of the consequences should their dog bite someone. Make owners of dogs that have been deemed dangerous undergo training with the dogs, make the carry special insurance, make them take special fencing precautions.....fine. But do not punish me or my dogs because someone else can't be bothered todo the right thing by their dogs, their neighbors and their family.
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Governor Pawlenty goes to Vegas to make new global warming friends

Posted by Lady Logician on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 1:29:23 PM
More from Logical Lady Sue Jeffers
 
Minnesota has a growing budget deficit combined with an out of control governor and legislators who continue to regulate, mandate, tax and fee its residents. This legislative session promises much more and will continue to be the driving factor for the increased costs for food, gas, energy, health care and education for all Minnesotans.
Last years Renewable Energy Standards bill provided funding and courage to mandate and regulate unsustainable, unproven, unreliable and costly sources of energy. Environmental buzz words make politicians feel good but this type of legislation costs a lot of our tax dollars to pay for these useless good intentions. It should come as no surprise that our legislators, with the help of our governor, are not done yet.
 
In the State of the State speech Governor Pawlenty proudly proclaimed that Minnesota already ranks near the top in E-85 pumps, wind energy, renewable energy and recycling. We do. Governor Pawlenty said more must be done to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, producing cleaner energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Our republican governor called on Minnesotans to continue to “Americanize” energy production, grow green collar jobs and keep America from becoming an energy hostage.
If we the people aren’t willing to go green on our own, not to worry, the governor and the legislators will “help” us. One of the governor’s suggestions included another costly mandate; increasing the diesel fuel soybean mandate from 2% to 20% by 2015. In the first week of the session House Representatives Hortman, Tschumper; Faust; Hornstein; Liebling; Murphy E.; Loeffler; Morrow; Brynaert; Knuth; Davnie; Hilstrom; Slocum; Bly; Greiling; Paymar; Kahn; Ruud introduced HF 863 calling for the California vehicle emissions standards to be adopted, and updates provided to comply with the federal Clean Air Act.
Not to be outdone, and regrettably not up for reelection, the Minnesota Senate introduced SF 481 authored by Senators Marty; Carlson; Skogen; Doll; and Rummel calling for the similar mandates. Also introduced was SF 2818 calling for establishing principles of a cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, establishing a climate trust fund, requiring studies and appropriating money from the general fund. Yes, THAT $34.5 Billion general fund which could also be used to pay for oh maybe…. roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
The $650 per year out of pocket costs we can expect from this year's gas tax increase will be nothing compared to the legislation signed into law last session and is being considered this session. And just think of all the new ideas that Governor Pawlenty and Harry Reid can come up with together in Vegas with this group.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty will travel to Las Vegas next week to be a keynote speaker at a renewable energy conference that also will feature U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Pawlenty will address the Power-Gen Renewable Energy & Fuels conference on Tuesday afternoon. More than 3,000 leading players in the renewable energy industry are expected to attend.

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Repeat After Me....

Posted by Lady Logician on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 1:09:19 PM
I turn things over to Logical Lady Sue Jeffers.

Repeat after me, Roads and Bridges FIRST!

Ask yourself the following question. Will the proposed transportation bill eliminate or reduce congestion and make our roads and bridges safe?

The answer is no. This is not a transportation bill, it is a transit bill. This transit bill will cost families thousands of dollars in out of pocket costs, provide billions of dollars for transit and much lesser funding for roads and bridges. Funding allocations throughout the entire bill provide 50% to transit for the metro area and for greater Minnesota. Transit will not eliminate congestion, reduce pollution or improve safety on our roads and bridges.

The description of the Senate Transit bill passed yesterday provides clues as to the real purpose of the bill: The bill appropriates money for: transportation activities, provide funding for highway maintenance, debt service, local roads, funds for the emergency relief related to the I-35 bridge collapse, establishing a trunk highway bridge improvement program, requiring study of value capture to reduce the public costs of large transportation infrastructure investment, authorizing sale and issuance of bonds for highways, modify motor vehicle registration and motor fuel taxes, establishing annual adjustment of motor fuel taxes, create a motor fuels tax credit, allocating a motor vehicle lease tax revenues, providing for local transportation sales taxes, modifying county state aid highway fund revenue allocation, prohibiting tolling or privatization of existing transportation facilities.

Read bill at:

The short version of this bill includes. 

A 8.5 cent gas tax increase.
 
A half cent sales tax increase for 7 county metro area without a voter referendum: 50% to transit, 25% to local roads and 25% to a flex fund. Greater MN can impos a sales tax increase with a voter referendum.
 
Vehicle registration cap removed and $20 fee imposed. 50% to Greater MN transit, 25% to Metro transit and 25% to local roads.

A gas tax increase is opposed by about 60% of the taxpayers. Tax revenues will be impacted by more efficient fuel standards for automobiles and government mandates to use more ethanol and biofuels. Our legislators will not find the gas tax increase, the motor vehicle tax revenue, nor will the metro wide sales tax will provide the funding needed for safe bridges and roads. It will unfortunately provide a very generous revenue source for transit.

The most damaging part of this transit bill is the metro wide sales tax increase for the counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington. County boards must pass by resolution. Does anyone believe County Commissioners will ask the voters what they think of a metro wide sales tax increase?

Also included in this transit bill is the creation of several new funding sources and programs that do not belong in a transportation bill including DOT building repair, parks, brain and spinal cord injury data bases, ineffective economic growth promises, removing capitol operating expenses for the Hiawatha transit line from Hennepin County and developing additional transit lines. The transit bill passed in the Senate does provide the vehicle to obtain federal funds to rebuild the I 35 bridge providing funding for 2008 and 2009.
This is a transit bill. This bill does not eliminate congestion or make our roads and bridges safe. Repeat after me, Roads and Bridges First!
 
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THIS Is One Reason Why Local Elections Matter

Posted by Lady Logician on Sunday, February 17, 2008 11:34:20 PM
While most people focus (almost exclusively) on Presidential elections, your local City, School Board and County Elections can have an even bigger impact on your day to day life. Here is a classic example of why...
Bob Vogel is going to use his presidency of the Scott County Board to talk about
the commissioners' per diem payments.
In addition to making $44,943 last
year, a figure that was upped to $47,010 this year, the commissioners collect a
$40 per diem for attending board meetings and other committees.
Remember....these are supposedly part time jobs.
A lot of focus has been put on the state legislators per diem claims. The Belle Plaine Herald decided to look at the county level and made some startling discoveries.
According to the Belle Plaine Herald, this is what each commissioner collected in per diem payments last year: 
- Jon Ulrich, $5,320;
- Jerry Hennen, $5,280;
- Barbara Marschall, $5,080;
- Joe Wagner, $1,720;
- and Vogel, $760. 
Vogel did not take per diems for attending the county board meetings nor for in-county committee assignments.
It should be noted that the county commissioner who lives the closest to the county government center (Jerry Hennen of Shakopee) collected the second highest amount of per diem payments and the county commissioner who lives the furthest away (Vogel from New Prague) collected the least!
This, in a nutshell, is why your local races are just as important as the Presidential elections. These local officials might not get the same amount of press that the national officials do, but the money that they waste, combined with that of the state and federal governments add up to real dollars.....dollars that come out of your pocketbook and mine!
Tags: Tax Heros  
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