The Delusions of the MN GOP

gold-plated clown car

This morning I heard an interview on MPR with MN GOP chair Keith Downey waxing rhapsodic over the glorious candidates available to conservative voters, including Donald Trump.  Downey was enthused with the diverse attention that candidates like Trump have brought to the 2016 race, viewing it as favorable to his party.

I think Mr. Downey needs to have his head examined for his apparently deliberate confusing of the gawker attention given to train wrecks as distinct from genuine admiration and support.  While it is the lunatic fringe most frequently turning out for caucuses and primaries, it is NOT the lunatic fringe on the right who most often turns out for the general election - as demonstrated in this Pew analysis of the 2012 election voters.

This analysis is based on 1,575 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters who are part of Pew Research Center’s nationally-representative American Trends Panel, and who could be matched to the national voter file. ¹
The GOP primary electorate represented a relatively small share of those who went on to vote in the general election. Of Republicans who were verified to have voted in the general election, only 25% are verified as having voted in Republican primaries or caucuses in 2012; while 75% do not have a record of having voted in the primaries or caucuses that year. ²

No one in their right mind would find anything wonderful in the 2016 cast of characters on the right, stuffed into what is now, at best, a gold-plated clown car (classy!)  I'm sure Mr. Downey is well aware, for example, of the recent Pew Poll from a week ago which examined how the candidates are regarded.

Hillary Clinton had the best result among those polled to be a great president, followed by Donald Trump; however Turmp far and away had the highest percentage of poll respondents who thought he would be a TERRIBLE president.

Fellow extremist Ted Cruz got far fewer views as a great president, but also fewer negatives, while Bernie Sanders came in ahead of Cruz (barely) as a great president.  Cruz, Sanders and Ben Carson all faced problems with respondents even knowing who they were, compared to either Trump or Clinton. 

Looking at the same time frame,  Pew Polling indicates Democrats hate Trump more than Republicans hate Clinton.

So while Clinton approval ratings may be declining, it is arguable that opposition to Trump is increasing far faster.  And even among Republicans, the opposition to the extremist crazies, like Trump, Cruz, and/or Carson is high.  Additionally, it's a pretty safe bet that Jeb hasn't a prayer of being the presidential candidate (now or ever, I would hazard).

From a Pew Poll the first week of January 2016:




While I expect Keith Downey to try to spin how crazy bad the candidates are on the right, the numbers are pretty clear.  Donald Trump is not electable, and I would argue neither is Ted Cruz, or Ben Carson who has largely disappeared from popular radar; while the enthusiasm is far lower for any of the other more sane establishment candidates, it is also less likely that any of them would bring out the voters either -- perhaps even less so than with the lack of enthusiasm for Mitt Romney last time around.

Perhaps it is unkind of me to be so skeptical of Downey and the conservative candidates - never more so than when the straw poll this time around will be for real.  Let me point out that the winner of the last presidential election straw poll was Santorum (who also won in the Iowa primary....eventually), while the convention winner for candidate later in the summer was Ron Paul.  Somehow all of that irrelevance escaped comment from Mr. Downey, at least in what I heard of his interview.

Given their past track record, I would NOT expect much of what passes for the MN GOP caucus to have any relationship to the actual election in November.

gold plated clown charm

Trump

Making (sh)It Up: MN GOP endorsed Candidate for Governor of Minnesota, Jeff Johnson

The boy carved out of wood, Pinocchio;
when he lies, his nose grows
but business doesn’t

On the Sunday Morning June 1st edition of WCCO Sunday Morning, in an interview with Esme Murphy, Jeff Johnson, MN GOP endorsed candidate for Governor of Minnesota made the statement that Minnesota came in last - in 51st place, behind the District of Columbia in economic growth. He then qualified that, when challenged by Murphy, to last in small business creation.
I cannot find ANY source which factually supports such a
statement, and Johnson did not give one in the interview.

We are NOT last in any form of business creation, including small business. Jeff Johnson appears to have told a lie to advance his candidacy for governor, one that is easily checked.

Is Jeff Johnson, MN GOP endorsed candidate for governor,
the model for the figure of a lying Pinocchio?

I have long contended that conservatives believe things which are not true, which are factually false, and asserted that this is particularly true in the area of economics. Republican economics do not work. Republican math does not reflect accurate or functional numerical values.

What I DID find in the course of my fact checking was a surprising figure for where Minnesota stands, in comparison to other states, from a very right wing source,one funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a far right source, and their subsidiary organization, Free Enterprise.com., which measures some 30 different economic factors.

In business creation performance, Minnesota ranked 15th; in both the areas of infrastructure and what they term the 'talent pipeline' which compares the levels of education of our workforce - a key business component, Minnesota ranked 6th.

Minnesota is ranked 6th in this year's report for its solid talent pipeline and workforce education system. The Land of 10,000 Lakes has the 2nd most educated young workforce, and its higher education system is the 4th most productive in degrees per 18- to 24-year-old.

And here is what the site said about our infrastructure - another component essential to business, including small business start ups:

While it may be known for the tragic Interstate 35 bridge collapse in 2007, Minnesota has the lowest share of structurally deficient or functionally obsolete bridges. The Governor's Task Force on Broadband recently released a set of policy recommendations to improve deployment across the state, including targeted tax credits, expanded public access, more coordination efforts, and allowing broadband conduit to be installed in concert with highway projects.

Minnesota's Transportation Economic Development Program offers grants to communities, covering up to 70% of the cost of transportation infrastructure installation or improvements for business expansion in targeted industries, including manufacturing and biosciences. Governor Mark Dayton has proposed continued funding for the program, citing its ability to leverage private investment, increase the tax base, and create new jobs.

Looks to me like Governor Dayton is doing things right - but not right wing - to keep Minnesota performing well in job creation and business start ups, of all sizes. But for comparison, let's take a look at the same rankings for Wisconsin, since our MN GOP has no new ideas for keeping Minnesota competitive, and because the MN GOP wishes to emulate many of the policies of our next door neighbor, Wisconsin, under Republican Governor Scott Walker, and his Republican controlled legislature.

In overall performance, which includes these metrics / areas of measurement, Wisconsin ranked 44th out of 50:

Ten-year job growth (3 points)
Two-year job growth (3 points)
Overall expansion of gross state product (1 point)
Productivity: state output per job (1 point)
Productivity growth: growth in output per job (1 point)
Income growth: growth in per capita personal income (3 points)
Livability: median income of four-person household adjusted for state cost of living (2 points)

And Wisconsin ranked 41st in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (lower than MN), and well behind Minnesota in 6th place, in 'Talent Pipeline' and 'Infrastructure'.

Republicans have no new ideas; their ideas for Minnesota are the same old stale and failed ones that they push in every state, a one size fits all recipe for economic stagnation and decline, for becoming economically not competitive. But because the facts are not their friends, the only alternative they have is to lie. Liars are losers; for the sake of Minnesota, we must hope that Jeff Johnson loses the race for the office of Governor.

Governor Dayton and his Democrativ majority legislature seem to be doing a great job, and we should let them continue to do so. Send the liars home. The last time they were in power, they caused the state credit rating to be downgraded, and they bankrupted their own party, putting it in over $1 million in debt, while lying to us about how they were the party of fiscal responsibility. We can't afford more of the MN GOP's lies.

Conservative Politics and Economics Result in Downgrading Credit Ratings, Low Job Growth

Conservatives believe things which are demonstrably false, untrue, factually deficient, and never more so than in their insistence that government spending is bad or that taxation takes money out of the economy or that tax cuts will lead to prosperity and growth, including job growth.

They don't.  They do the opposite, as conservative ideology operates in the real world.

Yesterday, Chris Christie's state of New Jersey, which is facing a serious short fall after enacting his right wing fiscal policies, had its SIXTH credit rating downgrade under his leadership.  SIX credit rating downgrades -- and he was only re-elected to his second term as governor a year ago last November.  From Bloomberg News:

New Jersey Debt Rating Cut by Fitch on Revenue Shortfall
New Jersey’s credit rating was lowered one step to A+ by Fitch Ratings, which cited an $807 million revenue shortfall and Governor Chris Christie’s likely use of one-time measures to plug the gap.
The company cut the state’s general-obligation debt to the fifth-highest investment grade, saying revenue forecasts were “overly optimistic.” Fitch also expressed concern over “both the scale and belatedness” of the shortfall, with two months left in the fiscal year. Fitch maintained a negative outlook on the state’s credit, meaning it may face a further downgrade.
The move affects $2.4 billion in general-obligation bonds and Fitch also cut its grades on $32 billion in other debt. It marked the second time the ratings company has lowered New Jersey since Christie took office in January 2010. Standard & Poor’s has cut New Jersey’s rating twice and Moody’s Investors Service has also lowered its ranking.
“Above-average state debt obligations are compounded by significant and growing funding needs for the state’s unfunded retirement liabilities,” Fitch said in a statement announcing the decision.
Christie, a 51-year-old Republican weighing a White House run in 2016, has said “nothing is off the table” as his administration attempts to close the gap. Most of the shortfall is because of a $700 million drop in income-tax collections.

Remember when Republicans controlled the House and Senate, back in 2010-11 term, and they shut down the government for awhile?  That was the result of the same general era of Tea Party/conservative wave of 2009 and 2010 elections that put Chris Christie into office. Both Fitch and Moody's lowered the state's credit rating back then, although only a little.  You can't lower a credit rating only a little when you do it six times.  According to Bloomberg News:

The three major rating companies have all cited recurring deficits as revenue fails to meet Christie’s projections.
“The downgrade to A1 reflects the weakened financial position resulting from recurring revenue shortfalls and ongoing reliance on non-recurring resources that have deferred structural imbalances into future years,” Moody’s analyst Baye Larsen said in the report. She said the state’s outlook was negative, meaning it may face a further downgrade.

We were lucky, we elected Mark Dayton, not his opposition, inept right wing nut Tom Emmer.
A little reminding of what that was like from Minnesota State News:

On Monday, Moody’s Investor Services lowered the state’s outlook from "stable" to “negative," citing "political intractability" and continued deficits as the reasons for the downgrade.
Despite the negative outlook, the state kept its AA1 credit rating from Moody’s, currently the second highest available rating from the prominent rating agency.
Fitch Ratings lowered Minnesota’s bond rating last month from the highest AAA rating to AA+ in the midst of the state's second government shutdown in six years.
Unfortunately, years of budget uncertainty and short-term budget solutions have been enough to take Minnesota’s credit future down a notch.

Remember the federal government shut down by Republicans and the debt limit fight?  We saw a national lowering of our credit rating thanks to them, as well.
Republicans, nationwide and at the state level, want to duplicate the disastrous tax policies of red states, and no state has done that more completely than Kansas.  Here is what that produced, in addition to lowering their credit rating, according to the Kansas City Star:

Kansas tax revenues fall while other states see rise

Glowing words about the Kansas economy gushed regularly from Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration following deep income tax cuts enacted during the last two years.

But a new report out last week shows Kansas is losing revenue even as tax collections grew in most other states.
Kansas stood among 10 states with revenue declines for the first half of fiscal year 2014, according to a new report by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.
Of those states, Kansas saw the second-biggest decline. The drop-off followed income tax cuts that began in January 2013.
The news turned worse when April tax collections fell $93 million short of estimates, followed by a slight downgrade in the state’s credit rating. Overall, state revenues are down $480 million for the first three quarters of the current fiscal year. The state’s budget is about $15 billion.
Missouri lawmakers are watching the Kansas experience. Democrats fear the tax cuts approved this week over Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto will eventually leave holes in the Missouri budget.
“Our budget is in real trouble,” said Rep. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat. “Any economic development policy that says, ‘We want to be like Kansas’ is an inherently bad policy.”

Ah, but how important are things like credit ratings and gi-normous revenue shortfalls? Another headline from the Kansas Star sums it up - and this is important, because these Republicans governors are trying to blame the failures of their policies and their right wing legislatures on President Obama:

Under Gov. Sam Brownback, Kansas lags neighboring states and the nation in job growth
The Star compared the Kansas employment statistics with those of six neighboring states as well as the U.S. average. We used the Bureau of Labor Statistics nonfarm employment data, which cover the large majority of jobs in America.
One key takeaway is to look at the percentage of job growth from January 2011 through March 2014:
• Colorado up 8.2 percent (183,000 more jobs)
• Oklahoma up 5.6 percent (88,000 jobs)
• U.S. average up 5.5 percent.
• Iowa up 4.2 percent (62,000 jobs)
• Nebraska up 4.0 percent (38,000 jobs)
• Missouri up 3.7 percent (97,000 jobs)
•  Kansas up 3.4 percent (46,000 jobs)
• Arkansas up 2.2 percent (25,000 jobs)
Keep in mind that the rapid growth in Kansas and all of these states came after a recession that sapped millions of jobs out of the U.S. economy.
Kansas, for instance, lost 58,000 jobs in 2009 alone. Even after four years of growth since the recovery started in 2010, the state is still below its high water mark of jobs in mid-2008. But Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma all have more jobs than ever.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/10/5013817/kansas-lags-its-neighbors-and.html#storylink=cpy

 

And, as noted by the Wichita Eagle yesterday:

That message was driven home as new figures showed state revenues fell $92.8 million short of projections for April. Fooling almost no one, the Brownback administration blamed the problem on President Obama’s tax policies. The next day, Moody’s Investors Service lowered the state’s credit rating a notch.

Hooray for Michigan! The latest state with greater freedom!

Michigan is the latest state where a court has overturned their same-sex marriage ban.

Another blow for freedom and equality, one that continues to put the state of Minnesota in the forefront of a national trend.

Every new state that takes this step takes away a viable issue for the radical right to discriminate and hate, to practice bigotry against others.

Not Part of the Regular Field Trip

We have a lot of legislation pending that would expand gun use and gun carry, notably the offensively titled 'Shoot First' legislation that would make it more excusable for people to shoot other people first, and ask questions afterwards, instead of before shooting.

We have more open and concealed carry than we used to have; and we have more freedom to bring guns into public parks like this one where a shooting occurred.  I would argue to our readers that if we don't want people shooting in public parks - like this one, where children are present - then we should not be allowing them to bring their firearms into the park, and we should not be making it even easier for them to elude being held accountable for shootings either - as the 'shoot first' legislation does.

The major law enforcement organizations in Minnesota oppose the legislation.  If WE oppose our children discovering the bodies of men who have been shot, while the children on are on field trips, we should oppose the legislation that makes guns more prevalent as well.

We don't want dead bodies for show and tell in school, or on school field trips.  Tripping over a stick or stone is one thing; dead gun shot corpses is another entirely, whether homicide or suicide.

Lets go back to keeping firearms out of public places, and to discouraging gun violence, particularly too-ready gun violence in place of restraint and accountability.  Our kids belong in parks; guns and dead bodies do not.

from KARE11.com




dead body on field trip in Eden Prairie
updated 1 hour 10 minutes ago 2012-02-24T16:51:00

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Eden Prairie police are investigating after a group of middle school students discovered a dead body while on a field trip to a local wildlife refuge Thursday morning.
Police spokesperson Katie Beal says the group of approximately 125 students and chaperones were exploring the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area in Eden Prairie shortly after 10 a.m. when the body was found.
A smaller group of 30 students from Bloomington's Oak Grove Middle School was walking down a trail when they came upon the deceased male, who police say was dead from a gunshot wound to his head.
An autopsy has yet to be performed, but the wound appears to be self inflicted. Eden Prairie police say they are not looking for suspects.
Bloomington Public Schools spokesman Rich Kaufman says the district has mobilized its crisis response team. Grief counselors are on hand to help kids who might be struggling with the incident.
Parents of those students were notified and a handful of kids were picked up from school.