Notes from all over by GDA gda@accessmn.com

2-2-2012

Uh-oh, it is that time of year that all Minnesota taxpayers should dread. The 2012 Minnesota Legislature is now in session and will be for three more months. That should give them ample time to mess things up. This year the Republicans are in charge of the House and Senate, as they were last year. The Democrat-Farmer-Laborer (DFL) party usually held supreme in this area, but for now the Republicans hold the edge.
This means that the things the Republicans complained about for years, such as representation on committees, getting bills passed or stopped, approving the various people the governor appoints, etc., will now be complained about by the DFLers. The complaints will be the same, just different voices.
The Legislature came to order and right away there was a big problem. The Republicans wanted to cut the staff or members of the Legislature, but they really only went after the DFLers. Doesn't sound fair, does it? Well, if the situation was reversed, the Republicans would be facing the big cuts.
The DFL party members have to lay off up to 14 of their 43 permanent, full-time employees. Our Sen. Tom Bakk tried to put in an amendment that would have changed this cut, which would save about $440,000, by having each party take a $220,000 cut. Of course that didn't go. Since the Republicans have the majority, they probably thought they should have less than half the cut, maybe no cut at all.
The gay marriage amendment will also be on the 2012 ballot. I won't get into that because I really don't care.
There is a push to have voters vote on making it mandatory to have a photo ID when they come in to vote. That sounds like a smart idea. It would stop scandalous elections like the Coleman/Franken one. Our vote is something we should hold dearly and make sure that it isn't abused. There are many times when people actually stuff the ballot boxes. Can you believe that?
This sounds like a good bill, but it will be heavily opposed by many DFLers.
I see where the DFLers feel the Republicans are legislating through these amendments. Heck, it sounds to me like they are letting the people of the state of Minnesota get involved. How can you feel that isn't right? I mean, when we leave it up to our legislators, nothing seems to get done. Look at their attempts at having a balanced budget. They had to shut the state down and then they produced a budget that really wasn't balanced.
The people couldn't do worse than this little club down in St. Paul.
Anyway, the legislators will be spending more time campaigning for the candidates for president from their different parties. That isn't all bad, though. At least they won't be passing more stupid bills.
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The national elections, at least on the Republican side, are getting a lot of press. The latest polls have Newt Gingrich, who isn't on the ballot in enough states so he could take the election, leading Mitt Romney. Romney is a sharp politician and businessman and will probably take the election, but now they are attacking his religion. He is a Mormon, you see.
The income tax he paid is also big news. At least he paid his, unlike many of the cabinet members we have now. He paid over $3million and donated nearly $4 million. Joe Biden, he is our vice president in case you didn't know, gave something like $3,000. The president and his wife gave much more.
The trouble with all this campaigning is we never hear anything about what these people will do. All the media does is go after their personal lives. They investigate everything the Republicans do or have done. When Pres. Barack ran, they seemed to have forgotten how to do that. Heck, we don't even know what kind of grades the smartest president ever, had.
The good news is, we have finally gotten some snow. No, it isn't enough snow, but the ground is now covered. This should help the local businesses.
Meanwhile, January 2012 is history. Time does go fast.
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Have a good week. Life is good up here.