Speed Gibson

Little Ms. Dynamite

It's amazing to see petite Brenda Lee belt out those torch songs of hers.  That's why they call her Little Miss Dynamite.  As I watched former DFL State Rep. Matt Entenza tower to no avail over former GOP State Rep. Laura Brod during the Face Off segment on KSTP-TV's At Issue with Tom Hauser, I think a similar metaphor applies.

Entenza was beaten before he started, first having to explain away Governor Dayton's 2010 campaign promise not to shut down the State government.  He couldn't of course, giving a non-responsive answer starting with Dayton's other promise to raise taxes and ending with "Republicans will not compromise."  Laura Brod responded (all quotes edited for clarity):

Unfortunately, Governor Dayton seems to be living in the past where raising taxes was the answer to everything.  Even Andrew Cuomo, the liberal Governor of New York understands that you cannot do that anymore.  You’ve got to start cutting spending.   As the Republicans try to right this ship and make sure that we’re not making false promises to the people, they’re standing up for those campaign promises that they made, that the people expect.

Matt Entenza trotted out his talking points.

The reality is the budget is actually not going to go up very much under anyone’s proposal. We’ve got more people in Minnesota.  The reason why the budget goes up is because you’ve got more kids in school and you’ve got more disabled people who need help.  It’s not that Mark Dayton wants to increase spending a lot. It’s that there are needs that we have to set in our budget.

If we’re going to shrink the pie, the Republicans have to recognize it means 150,000 people without any health care, and families going bankrupt. It means disabled families all of sudden wondering if their kids will have to be institutionalized when they become adults.

Almost every point is false.  Even the point about more people in Minnesota is misleading because 1.5% more people shouldn't mean a 22% spending increase as Dayton first proposed.  Brod had enough, and broke in before he used up the remaining time.

This is simply not true.  It’s a matter of priorities.  If those are the priorities of the State, we ought to fund those priorities of the State and you can do that within the budget framework that the Republicans have set out.  If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority and unfortunately that’s Mark Dayton’s approach.

After a meaningless anecdotal rebuttal, Entenza tried again.

We’ve had the debate on priorities.  Both sides need to compromise.  Republicans have to recognize that their refusal to compromise will position them in a very bad electoral shape and the State will wind up in bad shape.

It's possible the Republicans will suffer some losses in 2012 if they hold firm.  But if they do buckle, the losses will be major and linger for years.  And it won't help Minnesota, as Laura Brod countered.

Compromise is not about giving away the future for the people of the State.  Compromise is about doing things the right way.  The Republicans are saying to Mark Dayton and the Democrats we cannot increase spending at the rate you want because you can’t tax enough to keep up with that rate of spending.   And you can’t continue to make promises which can’t be kept.  That’s not fair to the people of Minnesota and it won’t help move our economy forward.

Host Tom Hauser asked both their prediction on a State government shutdown, starting with Entenza.

In other states we are seeing Republicans compromise.  In 2005, Tim Pawlenty was willing to raise the tobacco tax.  We raised some revenue.  We did some major cuts. Until Republicans are willing to compromise at all, there is no need for a Special Session and that’s why we’ll probably have a government shutdown.

We are seeing Democrats compromise more in other states.  Brod got the last word.

As soon as talking points and reality meet we’ll be able to get something done.  I do think there is a way out of this situation without a government shutdown.  I think it’s incumbent on Governor Dayton to realize that the efforts of the past don’t work in the future.

After a beating like this, next time Mr. Entenza will be singing "Break It to Me Gently ..."

 

 

Is TV Weather Obsolete?

Once again this month, the sports program I recorded was wiped out by storm coverage.  Last week was more than understandable.  I saw some more of that damage along Fremont Ave N. this afternoon.  Today, however, it was an unconfirmed tornado, a couple of funnel clouds and some hail, which we saw over and over for nearly two hours of continuous coverage.  I seem to write a post or two every year about this, that over-coverage can lead to complacency, perhaps fatally so.  And I may again this year but not this occasion.  We're all a little on edge given last weekend.

Instead, particularly in view of last weekend, I ask: can we do better?  We have the National Weather Service and an increasingly impressive array of radar systems at the TV stations.  And it was over before all that technology could be brought to bear.

In my case, the tornado that tore through North Minneapolis and Fridley came within two miles of us at its closest point.  It was windy, very wet, with a little pea-size hail.  And then it was over, a strong thunderstorm, yes, but one that gave no clue what was happening nearby.

These days, we carry weather radar in our pockets on fancy phones, another "app" among thousands.  We could we use this locality to get more local information, what's happening within a mile or two, and what's coming our way.  A system of local readings of temperature, pressure, and wind could refine the image so to speak.  Access to nearby traffic cameras (and the others they haven't told us about?) could be accessed locally rather than wait your turn on TV.

Another approach would be a network of designated agents that post their specific conditions into "the cloud" or a social network like Facebook for others to see and perhaps correlate.  The idea remains the same: make severe weather reporting more local, just like the severe weather, much as sirens don't sound everywhere in the metro, just in the areas threatened.  Picture a "Richfield Weather Channel" that quietly notes severe weather in Blaine but otherwise continues to focus on genuine local threats.

A more localalized system of detecting and reporting dangerous weather could ultimately save the lives of those numbed by our current system of broad, overly-cautious warnings.      

Looting in North Minneapolis

I took a bus tour of the eastern sections of North Minneapolis yesterday.  I saw a lot of trees down of course, and considerable structural damage around Lyndale and Dowling including two flattened garages.  News reports have the total property damage at around $180 million.

When disasters strike, the human urge is to act quickly, if anything doing too much.  Unfortunately, some take advantage of such haste, receiving aid by pretending to be worse off than claimed.  Contractors have been known to take advantage as well, doing major work when only minor repairs were truly indicated.

State and Federal relief will no doubt cover much of what insurance does not.  And when that money starts flowing, you can bet that Mayor Rybak and the Council will be working the system as well, looking for ways to sneak unrelated work and spending into the mix.  If I ran the Star Tribune, I'd put a reporter (having fired all the journalists) on this, following the money, looking for the new water fountains, yellow bikes, outreach coordinators, grief counselors, and green roofs.  I'd keep an eye on the Minneapolis Public School system, too.

And if I were Governor, I'd tell Rybak et al that any overreaches will be deducted from LGA and/or other outlays next session.

 

Sine Die

To nobody's surprise, DFL Governor Mark Dayton has, however inelegantly, vetoed the entire budget passed by the GOP-led Legislature.  Now it's a game of chicken, to see who blinks first.  In the past, that's always been the Republicans, as in Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in 1995 and Governor Tim Pawlenty in 2005.  Bob Davis at KTLK-FM is betting we Conservatives will again give in.

It will be difficult not to.  The government-media complex will again pretend not to understand the limited government philosophy of the RIght.  It will again ask few if any tough questions regarding the socialist philosophy of the Left.  They will focus on the conflicts of personality, not the conflict of visions.  Many factual errors will be made, almost all them favorable to the Democrats.

But I think it's different this time.  November was different this time, with Senate falling unexpectedly and convincingly to the Republicans.  And these Republicans know that next November will be their own Waterloo if they raise taxes now.  They're in enough trouble with some of us who think $ 34 billion is too high.  And Dayton is no Clinton in swaying public opinion.

So I'm hopeful that Amy Koch, Kurt Zellers and Co. will hang tough, always ready to take the Governor's calls but resolute in not harming Minnesota further with another round of unsustainable soak the rich liberalism.

And if Dayton calls a Special Session with nothing special to act upon, strike the gavel, establish a quorum, and adjourn sine die.

And if July 1 arrives without a resolution, here's your sign:

State Government closed temporarily for long overdue restructuring.
Use the Private Sector until further notice.

Drivers, Start Your Engines

Northside transit customers, you should just assume that your Metro Transit buses, possibly even the NorthStar trains will not be running tomorrow.  Given the damage I've seen, normal scheduled service will not resume until sometime tomorrow or Tuesday.  Drive, carpool, bike, walk, take a cab as necessary.  Meanwhile, do as officials ask, staying out of the damaged areas and out of the way of those who need to be there.

There is some limited service around the North Minneapolis damage area, under curfew tonight.  But the Metro Transit web site has few specifics on timings or detours taken, one of which is quite possibly incorrect, traveling through the curfew area.  It didn't even acknowledge the situation until about 6:45 pm tonight.  The "NexTrip" web service/app that is supposed to be real time is still unaware. 

So again, go around these areas for now.  And when they're ready, how about doing a little business there to help get them going again?

UPDATE Monday 8 AM: The Metro Transit web site now has the correct detour information, though the timings will no doubt vary considerably.  It appears route 10 through Fridley is operating normally.  "NexTrip" is still showing the published schedules, so don't use that service for now.

 UPDATE Tuesday 8 AM: Some lines are going through now per Metro Transit web site.  Travel along Lyndale is still blocked, partly because the railroad signals near Webber Parkway are out.  There are also shuttles for those wishing to help, coordinating at the Convention Center.

(Final) UPDATE Tuesday 8 PM: Service is just about normal, with a few short detours around a few specific corners.  Routes 7 west of Penn and 5F west of Fremont may take a little longer, but otherwise I expect business as usual tomorrrow.  NexTrip is finally acknowledging the situation but not as up to date as the main web site.

I Hear Dead People

This seems to be the month for obituaries of one form or another, one of them describing the brief Presidential run of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.  Having so brusquely and carelessly dimissed the Paul Ryan budget proposal as radical, he like so many other gaffers is trying to walk it back.  Since few ever took his campaign seriously to begin with and since his remarks clearly were anything but taken "out of context" as he first pleaded, even the normally reserved Bill Bennett on his radio program told Gringrich "to his ear" that he's done.

For whatever the reason, Rush Limbaugh granted Gringich another 30 minutes to salvage - what I don't know.  Rush later hinted that 18 months out, everyone's a long shot, not just Newt, even now, Newt.  So maybe Rush is just being careful.  And maybe he's right.  Four years ago, who knew that John McCain, baggage and all, would rise like cream to the top, and of course, then sour?

So what did Newt Gingrinch do with the gift of 30 minutes on the EIB?  Duck and weave, lapsing into a wonkish lecture on health care policy that somehow was to reveal that he and Ryan are really on the same page.  Rush was courteous, but you could tell he really wasn't buying it.  A prisoner of his prior positions, Gingrinch still sees the government as able to pay for health care without meddling in health care.  It was like listening to Al Gore wax excitedly over the Dingell-Norwood bill in 2000.

Good bye, Mr. Newt.

 

Only If We Win

Today (5/20), Minneapolis Star Tribune Chairman Mike Sweeney published an editorial that should upset me more than most: Minnesota voters have already pointed the way.  But overall it is so detached from reality that it's mostly amusing.  It's a great country where even this level of reasoning can be fiscally remunerative.

In their infinite wisdom, Minnesota voters elected a politically divided state government. They elected, for the first time in just short of forever, a Republican-dominated Legislature, because in these times of fewer resources government must be forced to be efficient and to make fewer promises. But they elected DFLer Mark Dayton as governor because they wanted someone to protect our safety net and to insist on "fairness" in our tax structure.

Infinite wisdom?  Hardly.  Mark Dayton simply repeated the DFL mantra of something for nothing, and the voters once again bought it.  Give an assist to those thoughtful moderates of both parties that thought Tom Horner had any answers.  We collectively elected as Governor the candidate who most embodied the policies that got us into "these times of fewer resources."  Wisdom tells us to stop digging, but Sweeney presses on:

The pounding of local government aid and of higher education has gone far enough. It is beyond efficiency and beyond forcing reform. It is now at the point of threatening the mission. And the voters know it. Significant majorities say they want a mix of cuts and revenue to solve our budget crisis.

The "pounding" local government aid (LGA) and higher education are taking is simply a long overdue reassessment forced by the recession.  That reassessment shows that LGA has strayed far from its original intent and that some recipients really do not need such assistance.  Higher education spending has inflated even faster than health care. If anything, more pounding is in order given its obvious inefficiencies.  And I'd say that significant majorities said no such thing about "a mix of cuts and revenue" last November.  If they had, the DFL would still be running the Legislature.

If just 1 voter in 100 had awoken from their MPR-induced coma, Republican Tom Emmer would be Governor, the "infinite wisdom" totally replaced by scorn and confusion by the Star Tribune.  They only think we're smart when we agree with them.

 

Worthless Degrees

A commenter pointed me to this blog site: Captain Capitalism.  The proprietor is Adam Cleary, who you may remember auditioned on KSTP AM in 2005, his entry being the "Economics Supper Club."  I wasn't especially kind to him in my brief review, but he was an early entry when my bar was probably set too high.

A number of "worthless degrees" and "worst paying jobs" articles have recently appeared as you might expect during graduation season in a down economy.  Cleary has in fact given a speech on it and his blog has a link to an abbreviated YouTube series on it.  This should be required viewing by high school students and especially their parents.  As YouTube does so well in recommending related material, I was soon then watching Charles Murray take apart modern college education until 2 am.  Together, Cleary and Murray put into a few sentences a great deal of profundity on higher education, and by extension, what K-12 education should really be doing.

Murray didn't simply validate my suspicions.  He in fact has me questioning some of my own suppositions, like on International Baccalaureate and Gifted/Talented programs.  And Cleary has some cold water for Ms. Sturdevant, like that her hero U of M President Robert Bruinicks is pulling down $650,000 a year.  One thing is more clear to me than ever: higher education funding needs to be cut far more than 14%.

 

 

Eve of Destruction

Washington Avenue through the University of Minnesota is essentially now closed.  University Avenue is severely damaged through much of the Midway.  Parts of downtown St. Paul are in ruins.  Bus service is being reduced even as minutes are added to wind around various detours and wait out single lane bottlenecks.  Yes, with fresh Federal money in the bank, the Central Corridor construction is now rampaging through Minneapolis and St. Paul, with little relief before completion in 2014.

Oh what a golden age this will usher in, with all those art supply shops and fair trade coffee hangouts replacing the current undesired businesses soon to be bankrupted for lack of parking let alone customers.  (Given how unsympathetic and unresponsive the Metropolitan Council has been to date, this is clearly as intended.)

Me, I have put away the old bus schedules (before the May 14 LRT changes) for the intercity routes 3, 16, 21, 50, 61, and 94.  We'll see what's left after the Central Corridor starts running.  It should also be interesting to see the game day madness, as the Hiawatha and Central Corridor share the first five stops between and including Target Field and the new Vikings Stadium.

 

Garbled In Transmission

Not that the bar is all that high, not that I myself am an accomplished writer even if unpaid, but yesterday's (5/15) Lori Sturdevant opinion column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune was one of her worst ever.  She claims that competence of our retiring heads of higher education in Minnesota has led to Legislative complacency:

Their good performances may be garbling their message. [University of Minnesota President Robert] Bruininks and [MnSCU Chancellor James] McCormick have to beg to be believed when they say that the GOP-proposed $411 million cut in 2012-13 higher-education funding -- 14 percent less than the forecasted base -- would leave their schools reeling.

I'll throw in with them: No other state funding pattern poses greater peril to Minnesota's future than its repeated disinvestment in higher education. Keep it up, and Minnesota 25 years from now will be a different place -- poorer, sicker, meaner.

With numerous grammatical and punctuation errors, carelessly poor word choices and a spate of non-sequiturs, it is Sturdevant's plea for more higher education funding that is garbled.  One would think someone promoting higher education would take particular care to produce a polished, erudite article.  Instead, she leads off with "If life were fair" (was) and "Minnesota still were" (was).  "Higher education" is hyphenated 4 of 12 times, all of them unnecessary. Colons introduce quotations but without explicit quotation marks it is not clear whether subsequent paragraphs are continuations of the quote or the resumption of Sturdevant's prose.  My Freshman English professors would have not have been kind had I turned in a paper like this.

Let's press through the fog and consider what I think she is saying, starting with the quoted excerpt above. First off, she uses a "forecasted base" to calculate the 14 percent devastation to come, unexplained, leaving me free to assume that this is the "what we want to spend" DFL baseline.  Second, given the over-abundance of higher education options in Minnesota, cutting back some of that excess is hardly draconian even if it means the U and MnScu carry less of the load.  In fact, healthier private competition would provide greater diversity of academic thought.

But no, without nearly unlimited funding of higher education, we shall devolve to be poorer, sicker, and meaner.  There is nothing in the article explaining or justifying "meaner" so I assume that is just DFL boilerplate.  Or was she referring to unruly public employee unions?

Sicker (more sick is proper English)?  Again, on what basis?  That only Minnesota-trained doctors can treat Minnesotans?  That Medtronic prefers to hire the Minnesota-trained, passing over graduates from Johns Hopkins? That progress stops at the border unless we pay up?  Obamacare is a far greater threat to quality health care than anything contemplated in the higher education proposals to date.  Don't forget: Governor Dayton also proposes cutting higher education.

Now, about poorer, another unsubstantiated claim.  A number of recent articles are finding that college is so expensive now that simply investing the money and starting life without that degree can be the more profitable strategy.  In many professions, while a degree may be necessary, there are far too many degree-holders to make them at all lucrative.  In many fields, the return on investment is negative.

Sturdevant of course doesn't believe that higher tax rates mean less employment and less prosperity even if they do constrain families' ability to pay for college.  Families in lower tax states like Texas and North Dakota know better.  The world is flat, or hasn't she heard?

If you read the many quotes from Bruinicks and McCormick, you see genuine understanding of the situation of their customers.  They politely, thoughtfully and sincerely appeal to our presumed better sides, asking us to think long term.  Me, I'd be upset that I was so quoted only to support a coarse, vicious and unfounded accusation that we who wish to right-size and refocus higher education are mean, just fine with others being made poor and sickly to avoid tax increases.

The truth is, the socialist policies that Lori Sturdevant holds as sacred have already begun creating the "poorer, sicker, meaner" Minnesosta she wishes to avoid.