Savage Republican

I was cleaning out an old folder of saved emails when I came across this.

“On January 21, Hamline University political science and law professor David Schultz met with House Minority Leader Matt Entenza. The reason for their meeting was to discuss possible changes to Minnesota’s campaign finance laws. At Entenza’s behest, Schultz had drafted a series of suggestions for tightening contribution limits and broadening disclosure requirements.
At the time, Entenza was facing intense scrutiny for pouring money into DFL-affiliated organizations in the final weeks of the 2004 election campaign. The St. Paul lawmaker and his wife, Lois Quam, an executive with UnitedHealth Group, donated some $600,000 to DFL causes during the election cycle. The scope of the couple’s political benevolence, however, was not disclosed until after the election–when the Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House and came within one victory of toppling the Republican majority.
Schultz laid out eight suggested changes to Minnesota’s campaign finance laws. Under his proposal, all political donations–whether to so-called 527 groups such as 21st Century Democrats (the organization that received much of Entenza’s support last year) or directly to campaigns–would have to be disclosed within 48 hours. In addition, all contributions would be limited to $1,000. There were also measures designed to curb attack ads in the final weeks of campaigns. Many of the changes mimic those implemented in 2002 at the federal level through the McCain-Feingold bill. “

Now many of you know that I am not a huge fan of the McCain-Feingold bill. I am also not a huge fan of Common Cause, which is the organization that Mr. Schultz is affiliated with. However, I am also not a fan of some of the tactics that take place in an election. Unlimited donations to 527s by groups like Move On are indeed ruining the process. However, McCain Feingold gave rise to the 527s and other “issue oriented” groups. Restricting donations (from individual donors) is not the way to go. Rather we should allow more donations from individuals and restrict donations from 527’s. People like George Soros are going to find a way to attempt to buy the election, let’s make it more open. That way the voters know just who is funding a candidates campaign. Shadow organizations like Move On are simply money laundering vehicles designed to deceive the average voter.

Given that a lot of the players mentioned in the article are either up for re-election or for an even higher office, I thought it would be worth our time to revisit it.

This is what government provided/mandated health care will get you.

“A 15-year-old Jehovah’s Witness with Crohn’s disease will be back in court this week seeking to control her own medical treatment and refuse blood transfusions. “

Now I have lots of disagreements with the Jehovah’s Witness’ – all of the doctrinally based. However, this is one place where I will stand side by side with the girl’s parents.

“The case began last April when the teen, then 14, went to hospital during a flare-up of her Crohn’s, a chronic illness that can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract. When she and her parents refused a transfusion, a Court of Queen’s Bench justice granted Child and Family Services an order allowing doctors to give blood transfusions or blood products “as they deem medically necessary” without the consent of the teen or her parents.” (emphasis mine)

I looked up Crohn’s disease just to make certain that this is not a life or death type treatment that this family is turning down and it does not appear to be that way. According to the NIH, the main treatments for Crohn’s diease is anti-inflammatory drugs and immunosuppressants coupled with nutritional suppliments to make up for what is not being absorbed in the intestines. The NIH site says that anemia is often a side effect of the disease, so maybe that is what they are treating.

This is just one more reason why this election is so important. Whether it is on the state or the national level, Democrats want to usurp your rights as individuals because they feel that they “know better”. Whether it is health care (the Dems want universal health care) or higher taxes or school choice, the Democrats feel that they know better than you. They can spend your money more wisely than you, can educate your children better than you, they know what medical treatments are “in your best interests”. Are YOU willing to give up your rights as an individual? Are you willing to let Big Brother government run your life for you? I know I’M not!

Garrison Keillor has been called a Minnesota treasure, an iconic comedian whose creation “A Prairie Home Companion” is a throw back to a kinder, gentler time. To bad the creator is not as kind as his creation.

“Hard choices need to be made, and given the situation we’re in, I think we must bite the bullet and say no more health care for card-carrying Republicans. It just doesn’t make sense to invest in longevity for people who don’t believe in the future. Let them try faith-based medicine, let them pray for their arteries to be reamed and their hips to be restored, and leave science to the rest of us. Cutting out health care to one-third of the population – the folks with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers, who still believe the man is doing a heckuva job – will save enough money to pay off the national debt, not a bad legacy for Republicans. As Scrooge said, let them die and reduce the surplus population. “

A prime example of “Minnesota Nice” doncha think?

Now in all fairness to Mr. Keillor, he does find one salient point, but he dances around and away from it so fast, you swear he must have gotten whiplash in the process.

“A society that pays for MRIs for headaches and can’t pay teachers a decent wage has made a dreadful choice. But health care costs are ballooning, eating away at the economy. The boomers are getting to an age where their knees need replacing and their hearts need a quadruple bypass – which they feel entitled to – but our children aren’t entitled to a damn thing.”

Here he is correct – our politicians decry the “health care crisis” but ignore the education crisis. We do spend more money on health care (as a country) than we do on education, but the money spent is only PART of the equation. Until such time as we get away from indoctrinating children in acceptance of “alternative lifestyles” and we get back to teaching math and science and english (and not as a second language either!) will we get better educated children. However, Garrison didn’t bother to touch on that.

At least Mr. Keillor is honest when he makes this statement:

“And we’re stealing from them so that old gaffers like me, who want to live forever, can go in for an MRI if we have a headache.”

Now I could stoop to his level and say that if he was all that concerned about the kids then he should quit being so selfish and just die, but I won’t. For you see, unlike Mr. Keillor, I don’t wish death on those that have the audacity to have an opinion different than my own. I thank them for their input and I wish them well. And THAT dear reader is what Minnesota Nice is all about.

Compare this to the Red Star’s reaction to the Richard Armitage revelation.

“It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House — that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame’s identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson — is untrue. The partisan clamor that followed the raising of that allegation by Mr. Wilson in the summer of 2003 led to the appointment of a special prosecutor, a costly and prolonged investigation, and the indictment of Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, on charges of perjury. All of that might have been avoided had Mr. Armitage’s identity been known three years ago…Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame’s CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming — falsely, as it turned out — that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush’s closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It’s unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.” (emphasis mine)

Any doubt to the Red Star’s bias was officially stripped away with their screed in today’s paper (that I wrote about last night). The only ones guilty of “spin” in this matter is the Star Tribune editorial staff – not the President’s defenders (as the Strib’s editorial suggested). It is time for the editorial staff of the Star Tribune to either offer their apologies to the President, the Vice President, Mr. Rove and Mr. Libbey or step down. I’m not holding my breath waiting for either to happen.

I keep hearing about the Clinton acolytes trying to squelch certain aspects of the ABC mini-series “The Path to 9-11”. When the Clinton syncophants are nervous, well, my ears perk up! Front Page Magazine (David Horowitz’s online magazine) has an excellent review here. Hugh Hewitt believes that the Clintonistas are going to fall short in their efforts to trim the series, as does Andy McCarthy of NRO. It appears that the mini-series documents in a fair and even handed way the bungling and PC mind set of the Clinton Administration that killed and injured thousands of Americans.
And Sandy “How DID Those Documents from the National Archives Get in My Knickers that I Subsequently Accidentally Shredded???” Berger is still out and free to roam rather than facing a hard time sentence in a federal prison.
Anyhow, I’ll be setting my VCR for this one.

This article tells us what the drive by media refuses to:

“In just over three months, the United Nations mandat under which the US-led multinational force is present in Iraq will end. This means that the 130,000 troops provided by the US, Britain and 32 other countries would have either to go home or see their stay extended under a new arrangement.

Because Iraq has regained full sovereignty and has a government of its own, the United Nations alone can no longer take the decision whether or not foreign troops should remain on Iraqi soil. The final word on the subject must come from the government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki with the consent of the Iraqi National Assembly (Parliament) . “(emphasis mine)

The final word on the subject must come frm the government of Iraq – not the US Government, not the EU, not Jack Murtha, not Coleen Rowley or Patty Wetterling! Iraq is our friend and our ally. It is not in the US best interests to abandon them if they request that we stay. Something that the Dems ignore in their rhetoric. Just one more thing to remember in November!

That is what the editorial staff – the admittedly LIBERAL editorial staff of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (aka Red Star) is. Why, you may ask, do I say that? THIS editorial (in tomorrow’s paper) shows the depths of the liberal delusions at the Red Star.

“Armitage’s error doesn’t excuse others
He made a mistake, but Cheney, Rove, Libby have no excuse”

Richard Armitage made the initial “leak” and yet it’s a mistake. Karl Rove, when asked “did you hear this?” made the mistake of saying yeah I heard something like that and he is STILL the one who needs to be flayed alive!

Just when you think that they can not possibly get any worse……

This story confirms what many people have long suspected. That it is perfectly ok (according to liberals) to discriminate against Christians.

” The Minneapolis Police Department has temporarily suspended the use of a well-known psychologist who has been screening potential officers for more than a year after community members questioned his affiliation with a group that opposes civil rights for gays.

The issue of Michael A. Campion’s affiliation with a conservative Illinois group that says it opposes the “gay lifestyle” was brought to interim Chief Tim Dolan’s attention on Wednesday during a meeting with the Police Community Relations Council.
Although he said there’s no indication of any bias in Campion’s work, Dolan decided the next day to stop using him until an independent review could take place.” (emphasis added)

Front Page Magazine dug up what the Red Star refused to print – that this was done at the behest of gay rights and pro abortion activists.

“If you’re a Christian working for the City of Minneapolis, watch your step – your job may already be in jeopardy. In what may be one of the most blatant acts of anti-Christian bigotry and discrimination by an American government agency, the Minneapolis Police Department has suspended a Police Psychologist, Dr. Michael Campion of Campion, Barrow & Associates, at the behest of leftist activists.”

The Red Star never said WHO told them about Campion’s affiliation with IFI. Just that that accusations of bias (because of his faith) were made!

Christians working for the City of Minneapolis should be very afraid, should this be allowed to stand. Just because Mr. Campion was a consultant, doesn’t mean you couldn’t be next. Your First Amendment rights, along with those of Mr. Campion, are apparently not as guaranteed as others.

Much has been said about this Lori Sturdevant column in Sunday’s Star Tribune. However, none of the posts picked up on this:

“For Minnesotans, both books serve up some juicy passages. None tops Eilperin’s account of Seventh District Rep. Collin Peterson’s exchange with the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in late 2004 or early 2005.
It seems that the eight-termer’s penchant for voting with Republicans called into question his Democratic caucus’ willingness to make him the ranking minority member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Let me get this straight,” Peterson is quoted as telling the caucus leaders who had summoned him for a grilling (not of the barbecue kind). “You’re telling me I should vote against my conscience and vote against my constituents so I can become a marginal member, and you can spend two million bucks to save my ass? You guys have to understand, you’re not in the majority … . If you didn’t have guys like me you’re going to be in the minority for a long time.” (emphasis mine)

That speaks volumes about the Democratic leadership. That explains why the DCCC is pushing forward candidates like Coleen Rowley and Patty Wetterling – candidates that do what the DCCC handlers tell them…that toe the party leadership line – no questions asked!

“It details how Republican leaders have denied a meaningful lawmaking role to minority Democrats and their own moderate members. “

Gee Lori – I must have slept through the portion of Poli-Sci that said that the majority was supposed to guarantee the minority a “meaningful” lawmaking role. I know I certainly did not see anything like that in the years that the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate.

And then there is this little gem:

“Both books argue for change in the way congressional districts are drawn. Gerrymandering — the practice of drawing political maps for partisan advantage — is out of control, and should be reined in, the authors argue. One possibility: Take the task out of state legislators’ hands, and give it to independent commissions. “

Typical leftist – take the power away from the people and their elected representatives and hand it over to the Judiciary. Wait you say – she didn’t say judges…..well yes she did:

“In Minnesota, legislative gridlock and/or lawsuits have given the state something akin to that, by default. Panels of judges have drawn this state’s political lines for the past 40 years. That may be why Minnesota is still sending moderates to Congress while much of the rest of the nation is not.”

Handing redistricting over to judges – just like they handed over drawing up legislation to judges (in Roe v Wade) and took away property owners rights (Kelo v New London). Just like they keep trying to hand over deciding election results (Gore v Bush) to judges. Judges are being handed more and more power at the behest of the elitist left – because they know better than the proletariat (that’s you and me dear readers). It’s time to resist the elitist push to hand our lives over to the judiciary.

I haven’t gotten an chance to post on this as I have been busy with my own fair related business. Coleen Rowley and Congressman John Kline engaged in a couple of debates at the Great Minnesota Get Together (aka the State Fair) on Friday. The first was an interview that melded into the debate on WCCO’s Jack Rice show. Below are some notes and comments from that interview/debate.

She was the asked if they (the Republicans) are the party of “small government”, what are you? She didn’t answer the question directly – she just went on to attack the special interests that seeem to “control” the Republican party (Mr. Rice interjected here that the Democrats have their own special interest groups “). Coleen answered that yeah that is true but because the Republicans are in power, it is “their problem” (HUH?????) When asked how SHE would fix the problem, she said that she pledged to propose much stronger ethic reform. She admitted that she needed a lot more Dems to sign on to it with her in order to get it passed. She said that we needed “good, common sense reform” such as proposed by Common Cause.

Jumping to National Defense (and the actual debate portion of the program) Ms. Rowley and Congressman Kline was asked about the sectarian violence in Iraq. Ms. Rowley started off slamming the troops by saying “I look at the insurgency as it continues to grow and what I see is them (the troops) doing everything they can but is it enough? How can you stay the course and say it is a good course?” OK – in Ms. Rowley’s defense she will say she was slamming the Administration, but in all honestly given the context of the question and her answer, the troops were the ones to get the broadside – in typical Democratic fashion. Congressman Kline’s response was much better. He said “The troops are doing a terrific job and morale is high. They are doing a great job. When you say ‘stay the course’ you imply that there are no tactical changes being made and that is incorrect! The sectarian violence is a problem – this hatred has been building for centuries. The answer to that problem lies in the hands of the new Iraqi government. The key is the Iraqi Army and they have made great progress. The Iraqi Police is not developing as fast, but the Iraqi Army putting a greater presence in these troubled areas will make things better.

Question – “Coleen Rowley, what is the Democratic Party specifically proposing we do? Answer – “I am in the majority now of the people in the country who say that there is no progress in Iraq – that is a no brainer (ed – she has used that phrase a lot in this campaign) One vote did not get us security. Regarding redeployment – I can’t go into details that would tke an hour. We need responsible redeployment…” At this point Congressman Kline interjected with “We have seen Marines redeploy to Baghdad and they are making progress. If you sare saying we pull out of the country…you thin it is the wild west now???” Ms. Rowley continued “No one knows how effective this Administration has been in negotiating with the insurgents (ed – more on that little nugget in a separate post). Redeployment is part of the plan.” Congressman Kline countered with a question of his own – “You mean redeploy to a neighboring country like Okinawa Japan?” Ms. Rowley answered “I am hoping to get Mr. Murtha here to explain the plan to Mr. Kline so that he can understand it….” Congressman Kline said “that is fine, but I am not running against Congressman Murtha.”

Question – just recently 2500 Individual Ready Reserve troops were recalled – a shakey number because it changes. Do we need more troops (in the form of a draft) in order to relieve those that are there now. Congressman Kline “there is no doubt that our military has fewer members. In the 1990’s the Army was cut from 16 divisions to 10 (ed – under President Clinton) however, I do not think that a draft is necessary.” Ms. Rowley “I think a draft is something we should look at!”

That was the end of the debate time. After that it went into an interview of Congressman Kline (and I got a phone call). I would like to add a couple of thoughts here. First is that Coleen is much more comfortable addressing the issues now (as compared to February when I first heard her speak) however neither the interview nor the debate got off of National Security which is by far the subject she feels most comfortable speaking about. Second was anger – every single one of Ms. Rowley’s answers came from anger. She genuinely seemed to be pi$$ed. Congressman Kline, on the other hand, was cordial to both Mr. Rice and Ms. Rowley during the whole debate – no shouting, no harsh words….none of that.

Which leads to one last observation. Mr. Rice asked both candidates what they liked about being on the campaign trail was it “fun”. Congressman Kline talked about the parades and how fun it was to get out and meet the people and shake hands and talk to everyone. He admitted that come October, it tends to drag, but it (campaigning) was still fun because he did get to meet so many people. Ms. Rowley’s answer was telling. When asked if she found any part of campaigning fun she simply said “No”. She went on to add that when she signed on to the FBI she took a vow to protect the country and the Constitution (so did Congressman Kline when he took his Marine oath) and she sees this as an extension of that vow, but there was nothing “fun” about this.

Therein lies the core difference between the two.