Senator Clark on the State Budget and Public Safety

Frank Moe won't seek relection in 2008

Now this is a shocker!

Moe said he didn’t know if he should announce now, or at the end of the legislative session, which is the normal time lawmakers announce their intention.

“Just last night (Friday) I thought I can’t go and ask the Senate district for the endorsement, knowing in my heart that I wasn’t really going to run for office,” Moe said in an interview. “That wasn’t honest, and I didn’t feel like I could do it.”

I met Rep Moe and his wife while at a MSUSA Conference up in Bemidji a few years ago. Rep Moe was always a strong supporter of higher education issues, a strong advocate for our association and our students.

Nolan, Nicole and I had a great conversation with Rep Moe at the State DFL Convention in 2006. His insight helped my campaign for the State Senate immensly.

Frank Moe is a strong role model in Minnesota politics and will be greatly missed. I wish Frank and Sherri the best!

Dille on 07 Session

Despite what the righty blggers say, according to Senator Steve Dille, the 2007 Legislative Session in the Senate was the most bi-partisan in 21 years.

Perhaps Marty Seifert could learn a few things from Senator Frederickson or Senator Senjem.

Demmer in more trouble

DJ at I Don't Hate America has a powerful (and comical) post on Randy Demmer's per diem follies and the "two or three votes" he missed out in DC.

For the old school game show rubes, you'll really appreciate DJ's post.

Demmer has issues...

How much did your "fiscal conservative" haul in?

The SC Times has a great piece up today about how much in per diem and other forms of compensation legislators can take home.

Note I was strongly opposed to the Senate raising the per diem rate.

So, how did our local "fiscal conservatives" do?

Rep Sondra Erickson $24,521
Rep Mark Olson $19,414
Rep Bruce Anderson $20,402
Rep Tom Emmer $11,711
Rep Ron Shimanski $17,135
Rep Dean Urdahl $19,971
Rep Dan Severson $25,126
Rep Laura Brod $10,256
Senator Steve Dille $24,694
Senator Amy Koch $22,172
Senator Betsy Wergin $24,158
Senator Michelle Fischbach $27,162
Senator Joe Gimse $27,801
Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen $30,619

And two of our favorite conservatives..."Friend's of the Taxpayer"...
Rep Randy Demmer $23,627
Rep Marty Seifert $28,038

All that from "fiscal conservatives"! At least Emmer and Brod held true to their "fiscal conservative" values, the others, including Dean Urdahl, Marty Seifert, Randy Demmer, and Amy Koch, sold out for a few more bucks a day.

Election Day in 28B

Joe at Minnesota Campaign Report has a post up now about the race. While the seat has been held by a Republican for nearly 3 decades, Joe points out some recent special election trends mixed with the current political scene in Minnesota.

The district is relatively conservative if one looks solely at election numbers, but the DFL has made significant inroads in rural areas of Minnesota, especially in the southern part of the state, in recent elections. The rapid election schedule has also been impacted by the I-35 bridge collapse, turning a spotlight on transit funding issues in both urban and rural parts of the state.

Like St Cloud in 05, where Republicans held firm control over most of the legislative seats in the area, Southern Minnesota and 28B are poised for change!

Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie talks about Drazkowski's unwillingness to fully express exactly where he is on the gas tax issue.

Ollie ends her report by asking the question voters across 28B ought to be asking themselves before they go to the polls today.

Other than wanting to get elected, does The Draz know where he stands?

Voters in 28B know where Linda Pfeilsticker stands on the issues...

Great work at Beyond Sound Bites...

Great work!

And last but not least former Secretary of State, Big Lakes own Mary Kiffmeyer was discovered to have misspent a lot of money and took reimbursements to which she was not entitled. She gave raises to her staff and bypassed the State HR department. So she cost us about $160,000 which will be difficult to recover.
Kiffmeyer did not blame her spouse so one wonders if she is a true Sherburne
County Republican.By the way Kiffmeyer once said that the 5 most dangerous words in the English language are “separation of church and state.”In Sherburne County the most dangerous phrase an elected republican can utter may be “Marry me”

Keep up the good work!

A few observations as the Special Election looms...

H/T to Bluestem Prairie for finding this.

While Korb from the "King and the Korb Weekly Lovefest" goes after Linda Pfeilsticker for being vague in answering questions, the same holds true for her Republican opponent Steve Drazkowski.

Look Drazkowski's "answers" to some questions put forth by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

In order to strengthen Minnesota's economy, strategic investment in transportation infrastructure is necessary. How do you propose to fund Minnesota's transportation infrastructure to assure the safest, most cost effective transportation system that will meet the economic and quality-of-life needs of our state?

Draz states:

There is enough money for transportation projects in Minnesota, we just need be more efficient and prioritize our spending on transportation projects.

Really? Is he serious? While I do not claim to be an expert on the road infrastructure in 28B, I do travel Greater Minnesota on a pretty regular basis, and know that the roads are in need of significant repair.

Seems like Draz is following the mantra of Seifert, Urdahl, Emmer, and Shimanski.

Cut, cut, cut
Borrow, borrow, borrow
Blame, blame, blame

Phoenix Woman posts about Pawlenty playing good cop to Molnau and Seifert's bad cop regarding transportation funding.

Bluestem Prairie covers transportation issues as well! Note that Draz wants to bond for roads! Build now, pay later!

While the transportation question has caught the eye of many, Drazkowski's lack of a response on the education question is what concerns me most.

Minnesota has adopted grade-level standards that describe what all students in Minnesota should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. Minnesota administers statewide tests to measure student progress against those standards and to enable the public to easily compare student achievement in different schools. Which of the following statements is closest to your opinion about testing in Minnesota?

Testing background: Many employers report that high school graduates are unprepared for the demands of the workplace. And about 30 percent of first year students in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) take at least one remedial course. To improve student achievement and increase accountability in our public education system, Minnesota, after more than a decade of debate and experimentation, adopted a set of statewide standards and a corresponding set of tests to measure students against those standards. Minnesota's efforts predated the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but the overall goal is consistent.

Steve Drazkowski: Has not yet responded.

He simply avoided the question. Students coming to MnSCU institutions unprepared for core level courses is rising. It has been rising for years and is a strain on limited resources on our college campuses.

Pfeilsticker is dead on in her response.

State testing can be appropriate for the measurement of student achievement if used to help schools address areas of concern. There can be such a thing as too much testing. Too many school days are consumed doing standardized tests which are very costly to administer. We need to minimize the number of testing days and use the test results as guides for overall curriculum development.

Why did Drazkowski dodge this question? What does he have to hide?

It's the status quo with Republican candidates, avoid the tough questions and provide bland answers with no vision for the future.

No answer on the education question and no vision on the transportation question.

Is this really what the voters in 28B want? An elected official with no vision for our future? We do not need more Dean Urdahl's, Tom Emmer's, Marty Seifert's, Ron Shimanski's, or Steve Drazkowski's. We need leaders who will lead in difficult situations, make the tough decision and not ride the party line to mediocrity.

Great post at MN Publius!

MN Publius has a great post up about the fight for Steve Swiggum's old seat down in 28B.

I choked on my coffee as I read this line!

Steve Drazkowski: Because Mark Olson Just Isn’t Crazy Enough.

Good work!

Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie and Joe at Minnesota Campaign Report provide more in depth coverage of the race.

Perhaps some of us out here in Wright County ought to head down into Southern Minnesota to give Linda Pfeilsticker some support!

Education benefits for Minnesota National Guard Veterans being withheld?

This was in the Saturday Strib, I am surprised that I didn't catch this earlier!

It would appear as though Minnesota National Guard members are struggling with the VA now that they are back from Iraq. It would appear as though a dispute over how the VA is counting service time for these members has arisen, which is causing a lower benefit payment to soldiers enrolled in college. The difference being more than $500 per month.

Bureaucracy behind the GI Bill has been around since the implementation of the benefit. I waited 6 months at St Cloud State before my benefits kicked in, racking up some late charges and fun stuff like that...even though my paperwork was in months before I started.

Once again, Veterans across the state struggle for access to their benefits. It was a very common story last summer out on the campaign trail. It's a sad state of affairs when Veterans have to fight harder for their benefits than they did defending this nation!

After collecting the bucks, Kiffmeyer passes them

The Big Question has Kiffmeyer's reaction to her misdealings as the Secretary of State.

Simply put, she passed the buck.

Former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer said Monday that staff members in her office were responsible for overpayment's to staff and herself during her last two years in office.

Instead of taking responsibility, she pushed the blame on new staffers, in her office.

“I had a new staff person who miscalculated the [reimbursement] rate,” Kiffmeyer said. “It was something she did. I’m giving [the SOS office] clarifying information and will give them whatever they need so this will be acceptable.”

Her statement contradicts the findings of the Legislative Auditor, which stated

Kiffmeyer's travels and mileage, the audit found that she had been overpaid an
unspecified number of times by charging for trips from her home in Big Lake to
destinations, instead of from her office on the State Capitol campus.

The audit did not cite a rate issue, it cited inaccuracies in mileage.

And about those pay raises...

“She used that authority without telling me things were beyond the contract. She
didn’t inform me, verbally or in writing. There are so many rules, we’re
dependent on HR giving us advice. I acted on what I knew.”

The former Secretary of State complaining about "so many rules". Nice!

Glad to hear that the former Secretary of State, who's job entails being the keeper of the original chapter laws passed each legislative session and signed by the various officers of the Legislature such as the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, Chief Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate as well as the Secretary of State and (in most cases) the Governor, gets bogged down by "so many rules".

You can't even make this stuff up anymore!

Whether Kiffmeyer knew about the pay raises or a rogue SoS employee played Santa to loyal employees, the issues at the SoS offices show Kiffmeyer's incompetence in leading an office as important as the Secretary of State.

It shouldn't surprise us though. Cases like this were status quo when Republicans were in control of both Houses of Congress and in control in Minnesota as well.

Passing the buck and stating "I cannot recall" have become strategic necessities for Bush era Republicans, and a detriment to the American way of life.

Good rant!

Check out what our friend Christopher Truscott has to say over at Minnesota Campaign Report!

So that's how sausage is made!

I've absorbed a lot of the information coming from last nights climatic close to the Legislative Session down in St Paul.

I can't even find the words to express my utter disappointment in what went down in St Paul last night.

Hats off the the Republicans in the Minnesota House. We witnessed a Minnesota Legislative version of Survivor over the past several months and Marty Seifert, Tom Emmer, and the extreme right of the Minnesota House walked away the winners.

They "Out Played, Out Lived, and Out Lasted" the DFL in the House.

DJ at "I Don't Hate America" live blogged the last several hours of both the House and Senate sessions.

It's a great play by play account of the chaos in the House. This was one of the more disturbing entries.

10:50 p.m. Shit is hitting the fan. Speaker Kelliher said that with 84 ayes on
the motion to call the question that it passed. Several members yelled point of
order (as I believe it needs 2/3rds, but I know nothing about Mason’s Manual),
and she ignored it and ordered the clerk to take the roll. The bill was just
totally shoved down the house’s throat by Sertich and Kelliher. It passed 97-37.
I’m not too happy that democracy was stifled by the party I support. Seifert
moved that the bill be reconsidered and it passed. Wow. More to come.

I saw the photos of Rep Paul Kohls with tape over his mouth. Is this really how the public's business is handled? In such an inept way.


The quote by Otto von Bismarck comes to mind.


"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. "

Months of legislative work, after months of campaigning, come down to a few leaders on both sides of the aisle chatting over coffee in the Governor's office.


No wonder I don't really like hot dogs!

5-6 elected leaders knew the parameters of this deals made in secret. The deals made by these leaders morph into 500 page bills that are presented in the final 7 hours of session?

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the 2008 elections. Republicans have done a much better job of spin in the media. At every turn, Democrats have had to justify everything, and the leadership has done a poor job of justifying the Democratic agenda.

Seifert and the GOP House Caucus outplayed the Sertich led DFL Caucus. It's clear that many of the issues that were important to people in Greater Minnesota will still be an issue in 2008.

Transportation funding will need some significant progress.
Access to affordable and quality health care for all Minnesotans.
Property tax reform is needed.
K-12 funding reform, the need to address disparities between Greater Minnesota and the urban areas.

It's clear that House leadership simply wanted to avoid a special session. The commentary by DJ at IDHA about Speaker Kelliher's demeanor as the close of session grew closer leads me to that conclusion.

Check out the AP's version of events at the capitol.

As the time window shrank, Kelliher grew increasingly forceful while the
House descended into confusion. There was virtually no time for debate on the
weighty tax bill, causing a chorus of Republican objections and procedural
motions that culminated when Kelliher was forced to proclaim from her rostrum
that her predecessor, former Republican Speaker Steve Sviggum, was out of order
as he complained about the process.

"That was a personally difficult moment for me, gaveling down a former
speaker," Kelliher said.

Several Republicans were still standing and demanding to be
recognized when Kelliher gaveled the session to a close right as the clock
struck midnight. "Welcome to Russia," Republican Rep. Kurt Zellers shouted a
minute later.

We had an opportunity to show conservatives in Greater Minnesota that the politics of the DFL are the politics of the people of this state.

They failed.

They had an opportunity to stand up to Governor Pawlenty and simply chickened out.

Last week I scolded my State Rep, Dean Urdahl for putting politics before people. I stand behind that tongue lashing and issue one for the Democrats who simply folded under the pressure.

Putting politics before people always results in failure.

Are you smarter than a 5th Grader? Wright County Edition

Welcome to the inaugural edition of "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader: Wright County"

I could not resist responding to a piece at Wright County Republican, a piece that outlines that...

Since Governor Pawlenty beat Mike Hatch by 21,000 votes in a statewide race...

AND

taking 19 close House and 11 close Senate races that did not "go red", with totals that shockingly add up to less than 21,000...

THEREFORE

T-Paw has a mandate to do whatever he wants. A mandate greater than the Legislature's

Really?

Comparing a statewide race to SELECT individual House and Senate races is comparing apples and oranges. Both are fruits, but are otherwise completely different.

I was working on a more comprehensive post outlining the numbers from each House and Senate District, showing the statewide support for Democrats and the issues Democrats campaigned on.

201 House and Senate seats is a lot of work! So, check out the comparison maps over at MPR.

Gaining 19 seats in the Minnesota House and 6 seats in the Senate is a stronger mandate than T-Paw squeaking out a 21,000 vote win with more than 2 million votes cast.

Despite Mike Hatch's mistakes in the final weeks, a 21,000 vote victory and capturing 46.7% of the vote is not a mandate.

If Governor Pawlenty has a mandate, then why post less than 24 hours later a prediction that Gov will back down to the DFL, despite having a mandate less than 24 hours earlier?

T Paw the fisherman

Across the Great Divide has a great post up about Governor Pawlenty's fishing trip and his quote about "catch and release".

Catch and release doesn't mean gutting the fish and throwing the chum back in
the water.

Excellent work!

No one has an advantage with a Special Session looming!

The Strib has a piece this morning with the headline "GOP has the edge at start of final week".

Call me a pessimist, but I doubt this is the "final week".

The headline and the story itself force me to question whether or not the GOP truly has the edge or not.

Back in November Minnesota's voters sent a resounding message to our elected officials. It led to the political tsunami that elected strong DFL majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Some have been listening to the concerns of the majority of Minnesotans.

No one campaigns on tax increases. I was asked this question at several forums across our district. At that time, I honestly stated that I saw no real need to raise taxes but thought we could generate more revenue for the state by taxing the highest income earning Minnesota's at a higher rate, depending on revenue forecasts and the expense of responding to the concerns of constituents.

In reality, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of Minnesotans would be asked to pay a higher tax.

It may be 6 months since the election and it would appear as some down in St Paul and the Startribune, have forgotten the core issues at hand.

Property tax increases have squeezed working and middle class Minnesotans.

Access to affordable and quality health care squeezes these same families tighter and tighter. While most Minnesotans are insured, the vast majority are also under-insured.

Because of high property taxes, school operating levies are failing at more and more schools across Greater Minnesota. The need for funding reform has been evident for more than a decade now, with little to no help for small districts like Atwater Cosmos Grove City and McLeod West.

Special education costs cut deeply into the General Operating Funds for these schools and others across Greater Minnesota.

Higher education tuition has skyrocketed under Governor Pawlenty and GOP rule.

Our lakes and streams are becoming more and more polluted.

Our roads are becoming more congested and falling in deep disrepair.

In response, the DFL put forth bills to begin to reverse Governor Pawlenty's damage from his "no new taxes" pledge, and someone has to help pay for it.

Despite all of these concerns, obstructionists like Tom Emmer, Marty Seifert, Ron Shimanski, Amy Koch, Bruce Anderson, Dean Urdahl, Laura Brod, Mark Olson and others have sided with the Governor and slowed any significant progress on the issues that matter most to Minnesotans.

Which leaves me to believe that no one has the advantage down in St Paul.

When this state moves towards another Special Session, voters around the state will once again be outraged. Outraged that elected leaders across both sides of the aisle have failed once again.

Failed to get their work done.

Failed to end the partisan staring contests.

Failure to solve the problems Minnesotans want solved.

I would be incredibly naive to think that the GOP would simply roll over and give Minnesotans and the DFL what they want.

Nor should they really.

Now, perhaps this has been covered on other blogs, but I have not seen it yet...so here goes.

What happened to the $300-$500 million the state could recoup by simply enforcing the tax code? I know Mike Hatch and others campaigned with this chip back the 06 election cycle.

Was this real or was this a ruse? Why hasn't anyone talked about this? Will this become a political chip in this "final week"?

If the GOP has an advantage in the "final week" it is a very slight advantage. The DFL still has a greater long term advantage though. They have produced quality legislation that does not coincide with the priorities of Governor Pawlenty and his small group of hatchet men and women.

The GOP has failed to respond to concerns around property taxes, health care, higher education, transportation, veterans issues and many others.

Until they do so, and stop protecting the top 1% while sacrificing the latter 99%, a GOP advantage may be shorter than any of us think.

Smoking ban out of conference committee

Truthsurfer has the scoop...and it's good news!

Highlights...

Conference Committee Report (Senate File 238)
a.. All indoor public places, workplaces, bars and restaurants are smoke free
b.. Very limited exemptions exist for tobacco retail shops and "over the road" truck cabs
c.. The bill is silent on all outdoor air and patios
d.. The language is not preemptive
e.. Implementation date August 1, 2007

Nice work!

T-Paw speaks on Higher Ed: "Underwhelming, uninspiring and devoid of reforms..."

This is how Governor Pawlenty describes the higher education bill that was passed in both the House and the Senate by large margins (44-21 in the Senate and 85-46 in the House).

Governor Pawlenty has threatened to veto this bill as well.

House and Senate conferee's already disposed of controversial "Dream Act" language to secure the Governor's vote.

Despite that, he chides the legislation as "underwhelming, uninspiring and devoid of reforms".

T-Paw, as we like to call him in the rural outposts here in Wright County, has never been a friend of higher education.

The two previous higher education bills under T-Paw's reign of terror have had an adverse impact on higher education.

Back in 2003, then Senator Steve Kelley and other DFL leaders had a vision for higher education, that would have still called for tuition increases, but significantly smaller than the GOP versions.

In the final versions, MnSCU was cut by more than $191 million. $178 million in tuition increases closed the gap with the remaining money getting cut from Student Life programs and Academics around the state.

At St Cloud State, we witnessed deep cuts at the Women's Center, Multi-Cultural Student Services, Public Safety, Student Health Services, and other student services.

The cuts in academics are still being felt. In some programs, cuts have resulted in significant backlogs in students access to classes they need to graduate. Demand exceeds supply significantly.

Republicans at the time defended their actions by pointing out that enrollment at MnSCU campuses was higher than usual and continuing to rise.

Well, when the economy sucks and jobs are hard to come by, people tend to go back to school to obtain more skills, making them more desirable in the competitive job market.

Besides, as I pointed out in testimony before House and Senate committees and the MnSCU Board of Trustee's, the numbers behind enrollment increases are deceiving.

While enrollment of students rose, actual number of credit hours decreased.

At St Cloud State, we have increased by 150 students.

Actual credit hours taken decreased by more than 2500 hours.

Students were feeling the burden of multiple 15% tuition increases under Governor Pawlenty's "inspiring" higher education plan.

As a compromise, the House and Senate moved $40 million back into the Minnesota Office of Higher Education budget, earmarked for the State Grant Program ($20 million for MnSCU and $20 million for the U of M).

The majority of that $40 million was taken back...

During the 2005 session, students across the state organized to combat the Governor's "inspiring" higher education plans. Students at the Minnesota State University Student Association (MSUSA) and Minnesota State College Student Association (MSCSA) combined forces with union partners and lobbied MnSCU and the legislature for a two year "Tuition Freeze".

This session Governor Pawlenty announced his initiatives for Rochester and "Centers of Excellence" in higher education. These centers would focus on areas which could place Minnesota in a better place strategically in the future, focusing on nursing, technology, engineering and other growing fields.

At the time, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development figures showed that Minnesota would experience deep shortages in many fields outside of the Governor's grand strategy, such as in both K-12 teaching and higher education. Our pleas were heard, but never addressed.

In concept, I supported these initiatives, with the caveat that core academic areas on our campuses would not be cut or impacted by these initiatives. While these initiatives are still moving forward, they are now embedded in MnSCU budgets and under the purview of their campuses and the system.

The 2005 session ended with the trend of high tuition increases continuing.

How high have tuition increases been?

For our 4 year schools, the 68% increases have ranked us as the 8th highest increases across the nation since 2002.

The state of our 2 year schools were worse off. These students witnessed nearly an 80% increase, or the third highest increases in the nation under this time.

Gotta love no new taxes.

So, what's at jeopardy with a Governor's veto?

Hold tuition increases to 3-4 percent for Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities system.

Out-of-state tuition eliminated at St. Cloud Technical College in work
force retention gambit.

$10 million for Minnesota GI Bill for $1,000/semester education benefits to
veterans, surviving spouses and children of those who served on or after Sept.
11, 2001, or Guard members with five or more years experience.

$500,000 for textbook disclosure, pricing and access pilot program in MnSCU
campuses.

'Nuff said about tuition increases.

The Minnesota GI Bill is a great idea, that if vetoed and left out of the final version of a higher ed bill will have an adverse impact on generations of Veterans coming back to Minnesota.

Textbooks? We have opined on that before as well. IDHA has a great piece on it as well.

DJ would like to remind you that this same Governor wants to provide textbook publishers with tax incentives to "expand" in Minnesota.

Is Governor Pawlenty simply trying to protect the price gouging actions of his friends?

Governor Pawlenty campaigned on higher education issues. One of his solutions to high tuition was to provide the top 25% in high school classes with more aid.

Now I call that "underwhelming, uninspiring and completely devoid of reforms".

Want to help?

Email Governor Pawlenty

Discuss: There are two main points that must be covered in the emails; funding MnSCU to keep tuition low and funding HEAPR (Higher Education Asset Preservation and Restoration) projects. The reason for funding HEAPR is because if the state does not fund the projects, then funding for those projects could come from students. As you might have heard, Governor Pawlenty has already vetoed the public works bill, which contained the HEAPR projects.

More MnSCU Board of Trustee issues

The Startribune is reporting that the confirmation of Dan McElroy to the MnSCU Board of Trustee's may be held up in the Senate.

The story raises some significant questions about the composition of most of these boards. McElroy is not the only MnSCU Board of Trustee member who holds more than one position. As a matter of fact, all of these individuals have full time jobs in various fields across the state. The 3 students who serve on this board are full time students as well.

Having worked with this board in the past, I know that each member of this board has always been open to student opinions and provided great service to the system and our state, regardless if we agree or disagree on the policies they have implemented.

With a solid Pawlenty appointed majority now on the MnSCU Board, Pawlenty's pet initiatives have a strong foot in the door to become reality. Our higher education institutions are places where great ideas come forward. Pushing initiatives, such as the "Centers for Excellence" are good ideas when they do not detract from the base programs at our schools.

I wonder if McElroy has pushed some of the Governor's initiatives and word has gotten back to the leigislature?

If the Senate rejects this appointment, will they reject similar appointments in the future?

Is this merely a political ploy?

There are a lot of questions surrounding this appointment and future appointments.

I hope we get answers sooner than later!

More Smoking Ban Rhetoric by Minnesota Republicans

MN Publius, Dump Mark Olson, Larry Schumacher's Democracy at Work and the Big Question all have clips and quotes from Minnesota Republicans and their rhetoric they spew as they oppose a statewide smoking ban.

Rep Olson states that drinking 32 glasses of water after smoking will ensure you have no risk of cancer.

We all have cancer in our bodies, but keeping fully hydrated and maintaining a
proper pH balance keep the cancer cells at bay.

Wow, I wish we had known this 20 years ago. Imagine how many people we could have saved!

Despite all of Olson's eccentric quotes, nothing tops Rep. Mark Buesgens comparing DFL smoking bans to Nazi Germany.

“There was a party once back in the 1930s,” said the Republican from Jordan,
“called the National Socialist German Workers Party. They put on a smoking ban,
and I contend that that led to the erosion of people’s personal feelings of
responsibility and to more and more dependence of government taking care of
them. We’re headed down that path.”

Seriously? What's up? Didn't Marty Seifert want to deliver that pun?

Even Rep Seifert knew that remark was not funny.

Comparing support for a statewide smoking ban, which will save lives, to the most morally bankrupt group of leaders ever to live on this planet, is absolutely reprehensible.

I wonder if the people of Jordan are proud of their State Rep and his outrageous comments?

Instead of the rhetoric, why don't people like Olson, Buesgens, Seifert and Emmer get to work and actually work to represent and safeguard Minnesotan's.

I suppose though, when one is in the minority party, it's a lot more fun, and easier, to catch headlines with inappropriate comments.