EckerNet.Com

Election night I was at the MN GOP HQ until 4 AM following the latest results pouring in, absorbing ever rumor and theory, and enjoying the heck out of myself so much that it was a shock when I looked at a clock. I\’ve always found Election Night fun. This year I had obvious reasons for that, with running a campaign and being much more plugged in in general. But also just the novelty of it, that huge numbers of seats can change possession and nobody has to so much as get punched in the head….or at least not out of malice. I know a certain Legislative Assistant whose exuberant celebration darn near caused bodily injury to innocent bystanders. 🙂

But I\’ve also said that politics is like a soap opera on a massive scale. There is the surface drama even the casual observer sees. Then there are the undercurrents and connecting strategy that political wonks see. And then there are the personality conflicts and caucuses within caucuses within caucuses that political insiders get to see. That last part it\’s a good thing that voters never see or else nobody would even vote again, for fear of encouraging politicians.

End result is you have a fascinating tapestry of events, intention actions, strokes of luck (good or bad) and sheer chance. Which always leaves me with a million threads of thought floating around in my head.

My US Senate Predictions
Yeah, I was a little off, although the final total will be damn close. Two of my leaners failed to…well lean. Nevada and Colorado. Colorado was darn close and Nevada was….well less close. Whether that was due to casino owners threatening their workers to get them to vote for Reid, it\’s hard to say but end result is the same. Either way, the end result is the same, Democrats hold the Senate but Republicans greatly increase their minority….which is basically what I\’ve been saying all along. And it\’s also what I\’ve said strategically we should hope for, which brings us to….

The Setup for 2012
The good part is that the bleeding will probably stop…or at least it better (more on that later). Any budgetary legislation has to originate in the House and Republicans now hold a very large majority in the House. And with a large minority in the Senate, cloture because a real obstacle for Democrats. Democrats either have to take a hard right turn to the center or else Congress comes to a standstill for 2 years. Of course that wouldn\’t necessarily be bad.

But it also means not much is likely to improve. We\’ll essentially be in the same place. Obama has made it clear he has no intention of deviating from the course that was overwhelmingly rejected by voters on Tuesday. And it\’s not hyperbole to say \”overwhelmingly\”. We just saw a reversal in electoral results that hasn\’t been in 70 years. Obama likes to claim everything he does is \”historic\”…well this truly was!

So while Republicans may stop the bleeding with their mere presence, as long as Obama plays hardball nothing much happens. Which means we\’re still in the same place in 2012. It also means Obama\’s popularity is not likely to crawl out of the basement. And with Democrats still controlling the Senate and the White House, the overall Democrat brand isn\’t likely to recover much either.

And thanks to their big electoral success in 2006, Democrats hold a large majority of the Senate seats up for grabs in 2012. All told there are 21 Democrats, 10 Republicans and 2 Independents up for election in the Senate. Of those 10 Republicans, only Scott Brown of Massachusetts can be said to be truly vulnerable. Meanwhile Democrats have at least half a dozen seats that are in red or purple states. Those seats alone would give Republicans a majority. Another Republican wave like we just had? You got a cloture-proof majority.

Sounds great right?? Well….

Don\’t Get Cocky GOP
This probably needs to be said again….Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

And again….Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

Actually let\’s make that a habit, because Republicans have been here before, and they\’ve screwed it up before. This election was not a vote FOR Republicans. Rather it was people voting AGAINST the Democrats, specifically their overspending and their focus on every issue other than what\’s most important to people right now….the economy.

Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

Republicans campaigned against the excesses of the Obama and Democrat agenda and the public ate it up. So by all means follow through on that. Defund ObamaCare. Stop the government take over of private industry. Roll back spending. Reduce Taxes. Recover whatever stimulus funds can be found. By all means beat back the progressive horde.

Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

But that\’s not enough. The public is also frustrated that when Democrats said they\’d help with the economy they focused on health care, Cash for Clunkers, Cap&Trade, immigration, gays in the military…..everything BUT jobs and the economy. So Republicans also need to find a way to address the economy and do it in a way that Obama and the Democrats are forced to go along with it out of fear of further voter backlash. Either that or Republicans need to do a damn good job of showing an effort because the public is tired of promises and talk.

Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

Although there are signs that the GOP understand this…and oddly enough it was Michael Steele that framed it best by pointing out Republicans are \”on probation\”. Sure they overwhelmingly put you in power, but your approval ratings are just as low as the Democrats. The public is willing to tolerate your majority for an election cycle. If you screw up a again, you\’re even further in the doghouse.

Don\’t Get Cocky GOP.

Speaking of don\’t get cocky…..

Tea Party – Practice Had Better Make Perfect
>First of all calm down, this will only hurt for a minute and it\’s for your own good, besides your treat is next.

Tea Party, you need to learn a few lessons from this election. Let\’s call them Exhibits B.itch and C.hristine O\’Donnell. You need to do some better quality control on your candidates (like I said, your praise is coming later). Deleware is a perfect example. It\’s a hard left state, running a hard right candidate is just not going to fly. Trust me, I dislike RINOs just as much as anyone, and sometimes yeah, it\’s worth drawing a line in the sand and beyond this you will not cross.

But dammit, if you\’re going to pick a hill to die upon, may I suggest aiming more for Mt. Everest, or even Mt. Rainer instead of Joe\’s Ant Farm. Was Castle a squish, absolutely, nobody is denying that and nobody wasn\’t annoyed by it. But on the big issues, the ones that REALLY mattered he would have voted with Republicans. In a hard-left state, that\’s all you can ask for.

And in Nevada, make sure your candidates can better articulate their views and positions. Angle was very Obama-like in that while she did good on script, put her in front of a crowd or dealing with non-screened questions and it wasn\’t always pretty. Nevada was looking for someone to replace Reid, and you gave them nothing they could hang their hat on.

Electability matters. And no not at the expense of everything else, there are certain hills worth dying upon. Cap&Trade? Immigration? Taxes?? Spending?? Abortion?? Sure for some people those are hills they are willing to die for. Others not so much. But end result is you need to work on screening your candidates better.

Which isn\’t to say it was all bad…

Tea Party – Now Who\’s Laughing?
See I told you it would only hurt for a minute.

All that said, the Tea Party actually did a fairly good job overall picking candidates, a few rotten apples aside. Rand Paul in Kentucky, Marco Rubio in Florida, Mike Lee in Utah, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin and Scott Brown in Massachusetts. All solid candidates. I was a little concerned about Rand Paul, but while his views may have been more hard-right than his state, he also had the presence and maturity as a candidate to keep them largely in check.

What\’s more you\’ve proven that you\’re not the disorganized rabble of random angry racist hicks the Democrats tried to frame you as. You\’ve a genuine national movement, with a rationale agenda, and with the ability to organize, focus and accomplish a goal, all without a leadership structure of any sort. In fact, that last part is your best feature, rather than a big. It innoculates you against the Alinsky tactics of the left, \”pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it\”. Trying to do that to a diverse group without structure and without a leader, is like trying to kill a swarm of gnats with a rifle.

Now your next goal is to prove you can continue to pursue your agenda without being co-opted by the Republican Party. The Republicans are just as prone to excess and Spineless Syndrome as the Democrats so don\’t get caught up in the system. You\’ve accomplished a real political force here. Don\’t waste it.

Speaking of the system…

Redistricting
It\’s about to change….drastically. Not only did Republicans make huge progress in the US House and Senate, they also captured 680 seats in state legislatures. Which is darn near un-precedented. That\’s great right!? But why is it important? Well, as you know the 2010 Census is completed which means 2012 brings….redistricting. All those political districts have to be redrawn to account for population changes. And depending on how those lines are drawn determines how easy it is for a Republican or Democrat to win and hold a particular seat. So if you control the process of drawing those lines, you can make it very difficult for the opposition for the next ten years. It\’s called gerrymandering.

So again why is that important?? Well it\’s the state legislatures that do that. And Republicans took over 18 state legislative chambers on Tuesday and gained six governor seats. In fact, for 17 states Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature and the Governor\’s seat, which puts them in complete control of drawing the lines.

And those 17 states represent 196 of the House\’s 435 districts. In comparison, Democrats control all three legs of the government in up to 10 states, which control at most 88 seats, but possibly as few as 26.

Oh it gets better. Six states have nonpartisan redistricting commissions. If you take those 88 seats out, for 196 out of 347 districts, Republican\’s completely control the drawing of the lines.

In the other states, like Minnesota, a mixed legislature means the judicial system is likely to draw the lines.

Speaking of Minnesota…

DFL\’s Bed Not So Comfy
For the first time since the Minnesota Senate allowed partisan designations, Republicans control the Senate. And the Minnesota House is now also Republican controlled. In both cases, with seats to spare.

The Governor\’s seats is still up for grabs. If it\’s Emmer than Republicans control all three legs and they get run of the board. But even if it\’s Dayton, with Republicans in charge of both Houses, his agenda is a dead stick. But it gets worse for DFL and they have only themselves to blame.

Last session we had the opposite situation, a DFL legislature with a GOP Governor. When the DFL couldn\’t come up with a budget they simply passed an unreasonable one and adjourned and made it Pawlenty\’s problem. Pawlenty in turn used unallotment. Well the DFL collectively wet themselves and through the courts made sure that couldn\’t be done ever again. So now facing a $6 billion deficit, what are Dayton\’s options?? Either he agrees to the Republican\’s version of a budget, thereby pissing off his base and making the right happy. Or he shuts down the government and calls the legislature into a special session, thereby pissing off his base and mildly annoying the right. The Legislature in turn, if they really want to play hardball can just keep passing the same budget until Dayton relents. After all, what is Dayton\’s recourse??? Bitch to the media that the legislature won\’t raise taxes??? Yeah, that\’ll get sympathy from the public.

And so we begin this political drama all over again. I got my chair, I got my popcorn, start the show!

Good thing we have the DFL around to teach us how to railroad through borrowing $1 Billion dollars of additional debt without debate.  You\’d think the legislature would at least TRY to balance the budget before borrowing another billion.

And while the following projects may well have merit, when this state has a budget deficit in the BILLIONS, is now really the time?

Bemidji Headwaters Science Center $475,000
MN African-American History Museum & Cultural Center $840,000
Mankato Civic Center and All Seasons Arenas $13,900,000
Minneapolis Orchestra Hall $17,000,000
Rochester-Mayo Civic Center Complex $28,000,000
St. Cloud Civic Center Expansion $15,100,000
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts $16,000,000

Apparently according to the, there is never a time to waste more taxpayer dollars and ring up more debt.

Derrick Lindstrom, the DFL\’s sacrificial lamb for House District 37A, is a apparently a little confused about how these interwebs work.  For being an educator whose big issue is education, Mr. Lindstrom could apparently use some education himself on how the internet works.  In response to my article on him a couple weeks ago, Mr. Lindstrom posted the following on his Facebook page:

In the last week, Rep. have been misrepresenting my words, claiming I am sexist, and attacking me as a father. Tara Mack even went as far as to imply that I was attacking her for not having kids. The most colorful of statements include… He’s hardly what Minnesota needs right now or really ever. For a donation of $…25 our message can reach 250 homes. Will you set the record straight?

Poor Mr. Lindstrom…apparently so confused by something as simple as a blog post.

Let\’s start with the most comical, the statement he attributes to Rep. Tara Mack :

He’s hardly what Minnesota needs right now or really ever.

That\’s a direct quote from my article two weeks ago.  Despite me signing my articles with my name, he apparently still decided to attribute those statements to Rep. Mack.  Despite my website looking nothing like hers, apparently it\’s close enough for Mr. Lindstrom. Despite the fact that I have no association with Rep. Mack, other than her being my legislator, Mr. Lindstrom thinks I\’m the official spokesman for Rep. Mack.  Is someone this clueless really fit for the Minnesota Legislature?

And furthermore Mr. Lindstrom, I\’m not misrepresenting anything.  I\’m using your own words.  If you were misquoted, take that up with the newspaper.  Otherwise let\’s revisit your statements.

As to the me attacking you as a father, I never did that.  Again, I realize you have a problem with the written language but let\’s take a look at what I wrote.

And Mr. Lindstrom, despite being a family man, appears to be hold some rather anti-family priorities.

“Tara missed 27 floor votes, that’s 27 times the people of 37A did not have a voice”

First of all, in the grand scheme of things 27 votes isn’t a huge amount but that’s beside the point.  Rep. Mack missed only two days of the session….so she could attend her grandfather’s funeral when he died unexpectedly.  I know I know…clearly her priorities are a little messed up.  I mean she could attend her grandfather’s military funeral any time, but those 27 votes….well, the world could end.

You attacked Rep. Mack for missing floor votes without bothering to find out why.  She was attending her grandfather\’s military funeral.  But you chose to attack her for that.  So either you knew the reason and still attacked her, making you anti-family.  Or you didn\’t bother to find out the reason, which makes you incompetent.  Your pick!!

And while you may deny attacking Rep. Mack for not having kids, that\’s exactly what you did.  Parentage apparently grants you some sort of magical secret decoder ring to the mysteries of the legislature.  Therefore since you have kids and she doesn\’t, you\’re more qualified?  I\’ve never heard a male politician criticized or marginalized for not having children before, yet in this case it\’s okay?  How about you just stick to pointing out your qualifications (whatever they are) and leave the mudslinging to the pros (that\’s me!).

And because you apparently have problems with comprehension, I\’m typing this last part very slowly for you….

I am not Rep. Tara Mack.  I am Kevin Ecker, Apple Valley resident, local blogger, agent provocateur, and conservative activist.  My thoughts are my own.  If you really have a problem with what I have to say, you can respond to me in the comments.  Or you can continue to complain about me on Facebook, and I can continue to publicly point out your incompetence.

[Crossposted at True North]

I recommend you hold onto it, as the state legislature is back in session.  And despite a nationwide recession, high unemployment and a massive budget deficit the DFL seems intent on continuing their tax&spend ways.  And since they control the legislature it\’s possible that could happen.

Let your legislator know you would prefer they eliminated spending rather than raise taxes, especially in this economic climate.  And keep an eye out for the usual bafoonery the DFL is famous for.

Since the Minnesota DFL is incapable of acting like adults and spending within their means like real Minnesotans, Pawlenty has been forced into having to use unallotment to balance our state budget. Because it is a relatively rare process not generally used in this fashion, few people know how it works. Citizens may have questions and this FAQ is designed to help. Of course none of this would be necessary if Democrats hadn\’t put the state in this position. Had they been able to make government live within its means, unallotment would be unnecessary.

What is unallotment?
Unallotment is a tool given to governors that allows them to reduce spending in the current budget in order to prevent a deficit. One technical but important distinction is that a governor can only unallot from funds that have a deficit, which in this case is the state’s General Fund, where most spending takes place. Other funds, such as the
Health Care Access Fund or the Game & Fish Fund, would not be subject to unallotment unless they also have an expected deficit.

(From here on in this article, everything refers to the General Fund unless otherwise noted.)

When can a governor use unallotment?
The governor can use unallotment when the state’s revenues cannot keep up with the spending approved by the Legislature. For example, last December revenues were $426 million short, so Governor Pawlenty used unallotment to reduce spending and keep the budget balanced.

As a technicality, the Commissioner of Finance has to determine that spending will outpace revenues before any unallotment can take place. With the economy in a recession and Democrats having passed a budget that outspends itself by $2.7 billion, this determination will not be
difficult.

When will unallotment happen?
Governor Pawlenty indicated that he will announce what spending he plans to unallot sometime in June. However, that does not mean spending will immediately go away. No unallotment can take place prior to July 1, 2009. The governor can also choose to delay unallotments until 2010. For example, he can choose to keep spending on a certain program in 2009, but eliminate it in 2010.

Can unallotments be undone?
The Legislature will reconvene on February 4, 2010. Any unallotment scheduled and carried out prior to then can be restored if the Legislature chooses to fund it. For example, Democrats in the Legislature could have restored LGA unallotments from 2008, but chose not to. The Legislature can also prevent future scheduled unallotments
by passing a new budget that is balanced. Again, it is important to remember that an unallotment does not necessarily take place when it is announced. An unallotment may be announced in June 2009, but not actually take place until June 2010. In that case, if the Legislature can work out a balanced budget next session it may serve to prevent a June 2010 scheduled unallotment.

Why is unallotment necessary now?
The Democrat-controlled Legislature failed in its responsibility to reach a balanced budget agreement. Their misguided desire to raise taxes during the worst recession in the last 60 years left a $2.7 billion hole in the state’s budget. Because they could not do their job, Governor Pawelenty will have to step in and use unallotment to
bring spending back to reasonable levels.

Will there be public input?
Yes. Minnesotans can email the governor with their input at budgetideas@state.mn.us. The governor also asked all legislators for their suggestions. Balancing the budget through unallotment is not anyone’s preferred situation, but it is reality because of Democrats’ failure to reach a balanced budget agreement. The governor committed to keeping the media informed throughout the process so they can report information to the public.

The Commissioner of Finance will also consult with the Legislative Advisory Commission (LAC) in public and notify it of what spending the governor intends to reduce. The LAC does not have to approve or deny any unallotments, its role is purely informative.

The LAC consists of Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis), House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis), Sen. Dick Cohen (DFL-St. Paul), Rep. Loren Solberg (DFL-Grand Rapids) and the chairs of the finance committees that oversee the budget areas being reduced. Minority party members are also
included.

Because the LAC is mostly made up of Democrats, and because they have not yet come to terms with their failure, Minnesotans can expect much
grandstanding and Pawlenty-bashing from Democrats the public meeting of the LAC. During that time, it is important to keep in mind that the only reason unallotment is necessary is because those same Democrats could not pass a budget that made government live within its means.

What can or cannot be unalloted?
No spending is exempt from a potential unallotment, but Governor Pawlenty indicated that he intends to stay true to his budget priorities of K-12 education, public safety and veterans. According to nonpartisan House Research, it does not appear that the governor can unallot spending on the legislative or judicial branches of government because doing so would violate the separation of powers clause. However, those branches can voluntarily offer to reduce their own budgets and have done
so in the past, most recently last December.

Can the governor unallot the Health Care Access Fund?
Not likely. The Health Care Access Fund is funded with dedicated revenues from the sick tax, and the fund is actually running a surplus. Because this is separate from the General Fund and because there is no expected deficit, the governor cannot use it to unallot and balance a General Fund deficit.

[Crossposted at True North]

[Most of the information provided here was courtesy of the folk at the House GOP Caucus]

A very undignified end to a do-nothing legislative session…

The House…

The Senate…which is even worse

Legally they are all adults….but reality is a whole other kettle of fish.

During the campaign, the DFL pledged to work with members of both parties to help the government live within it\’s means.  Instead, the DFL just took a vote to override the Governor\’s veto so that he can raise your taxes by $992 million!

Our government needs to learn to live within it\’s means, just like every family within Minnesota.  No family can afford to spend more than it makes, and tough decisions need to be made to cut spending.  Most of us simply don\’t have the liberty to simply demand our employer gives us more money, especially in this recession.

The Governor has repeatedly indicated his willingness to work with the legislature.  In fact he\’s made a number of concessions to the legislature, many of them using ideas offered by Democrats.  Instead of accepting those concessions, the DFL rejected them and insisted upon raising taxes.

Our taxes our high enough, and jobs are already threatening to move to lower taxed environments.  It\’s no coincidence that Sioux Falls, SD and it\’s famously low taxes, is one of the fastest grows cities in the region.  And Wisconsin isn\’t far away either.  The DFL, are simply raising taxes that kill jobs for Minnesota.

The DFL, need to learn to control their spending, just like average Minnesotans do.

Early in this session I had the chance to chat with one of Minnesota\’s legislators about just how the legislature was going to resolve the budget deficit that Minnesota had.  He commented that really he had no idea because the deficit was so large that one of the \”untouchable\” funds, education and/or health care, was going to have to get slashed.  Nothing else represented enough of the budget to be able to cover the gap.

While not exactly giddy, he was also a bit amused at the situation the DFL had themselves in.  Ever DFLer gets elected to spend money.  It\’s what they live for, it\’s what they dream of.  Spending other peoples money is what they confuse for compassion.  Now the DFL was going to be forced to slash something.  So what do you cut??  You\’re gonna have to pick your poison and just deal with it.

Instead on Monday the DFL choose the entire top shelf.  Instead of making the top decisions they apparently decided to just piss everyone off this session.  Slash education, slash health care AND raise taxes…not only raising taxes, but raises taxes a LOT, including creating some new ones.  While I applaud at least the spirit of everyone suffering together, this has to be one of the most boneheaded moves ever.  Rather than just cut costs and insist that in this economic climate everyone has to tighten their belt, they will double the pain by also imposing more taxes on us as well.

What\’s more is that Pawlenty has already promised to veto this POS and the DFL doesn\’t have the votes to override.  So not only are they pissing off everyone, they are doing it knowing it\’s not even going to go anywhere.

If you want to lose seats in the 2010 elections, I can\’t think of a better way to do it.

A bill to address the mythical \”gun show loophole\” (HF 953) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Paymar.  It attempts to address a problem that…well doesn\’t exist, except in liberal talking points.  The bill was due to be up for debate this Friday at 10:30.  But then Rep. Paymar, perhaps knowing that the word was out, asked for the hearing of the bill to be rescheduled.  So the committee meeting was cancelled….no doubt because our political masters didn\’t want the serfs getting uppity and voicing their displeasure at the bill.

However, Rep. Paymar makes this an annual crusade and it\’s very likely that this bill will return.  Probably with little warning so it can be slide through the cracks, so it\’s worth learning about this bill now.  Vigilance every day keeps our political \”masters\” away.

Supposedly this bill is mostly to address the \”gun show loophole\”, which I\’ve addressed before.

Secondly, the gun show loophole is a myth.  Essentially what they are bitching about is private property.  At gun shows, Federally Licensed Firearms dealers (FFLs) have to do the same paperwork they would have to in their own shop.  What people are referring to by the “gun show loophole” is things like one private party selling one of his firearms to another private party.  And banning something as simple as a father selling a firearm to his son is a pretty slippery slope as it opens all sorts of doors to infringe upon other private property rights.

According to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms less than 1 in 50 guns acquired by criminals come from gun shows or private resales.  A January 2009 Star-Tribune article says that the Twin Cities’ homicide problem is largely one of uncontrolled gang/drug activity. Anyone who can sell or purchase illegal drugs can acquire a gun in that illegal transaction. This is a black market transaction, not a legitimate sale by law-abiding citizens.  Don\’t be fooled, this bill does NOTHING to prevent the former, but everything to impede the latter.

Minnesota statutes already contain FOUR (4) provisions to cut off “black market” transfers. They are: (1) 609.52 – Theft by the criminal himself, (2) 609; (2) 609.53 – Theft-once-removed by acquisition from a “fence;” (3) 609.66 sibd. 1c – Receipt from an accomplice/strawman; and (4) 624.7141 – Transfer to an ineligible person.

Of course, proponents try to justify all this by claiming the bill will make it illegal to transfer handguns and \”assault weapons\” to criminals.  Of course what they don\’t mention is this is already illegal (Minn. Stat. 609.66 subd. 1f)!  So really all this does is make life difficult for law-abiding citizens.  It does NOTHING to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.  Of course if they had paid attention to studies done on similiar California laws, they\’d already know that!

This bill also wastes valuable law enforcement resources by removing the purchase permit exemption for carry permit holders.   Those that possess a carry permit are already required to undergo rigorous background checks in order to carry a firearm.  So current law takes the common sense approach that they don\’t need to have their local police chief run a new background check just to purchase a firearms, since they\’ve already been checked out to carry.  By removing this exemption you require local police departments to expend valuable resources that essentially duplicate work already done by the county Sheriff.

In addition, this bill effectively creates a gun registration system, and allows those records to be released to all authorities, even for use in \”civil\” cases.  This makes the system ripe for abuse by anti-gun government officials.  This bill is nothing more than official harassment of law-abiding gun owners.

[Crossposted at True North]

You wanted to know what the Minnesota public thinks about the deficit?  Rather than staging a public spectacle that you call Town Hall meetings, where instead of actually listening to Minnesotans you just drag special interests to the mic, how about you actually listening to Minnesotans??

Here\’s a good sample…