McCollum Vs. Bachmann? Too Good To Be True

Last week the Minnesota DFL proposed a redistricting map that would pit Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann against Minnesota's current 4th Congressional Representative, and intellectual lightweight Betty McCollum. The map would create a new 6th district by combining all of Washington and Ramsey counties. Rep. McCollum's response to this news is vintage Betty, through her spokesman Bill Harper, she called the DFL map "hyper partisan" and "bizzare".  I guess Betty is so used to criticizing the Tea Party with such adjectives, it's become reflexive even if it's directed at her own party.

There is still a lot of chips that would need to fall in place before this "dream matchup" could actually occur.  First, Rep. Bachmann is running for President and while her numbers have been falling as the race has developed, she still hasn't dropped out, and probably won't until after the Iowa Caucus -- where she has focussed most of her campaign resources.  If she does drop out, she'll have to decide if she wants to run for Congress again.  She hasn't announced her intentions, but she'll have a sizeable war chest if she does.  Rep. Bachmann is very popular among the Tea Party and has track record of being an extremely strong national fundraiser.  Her Presidential campaign has only boosted her fundraising network.  Her last congressional election in 2010 was one of the most expensive in the country, and a 2012 matchup with McCollum would be even more so.

Secondly, the final decision on the new congressional boundaries will be decided by a court panel since the Republican legistature and Gov. Dayton failed to come to an agreement during the last legislative session.  That decision is expected to be made shortly after the new year.

The DFL is banking on the fact that 62% of voters in this new district voted for President Obama in 2008 as evidence that this new district would be a safe one for the DFL and Rep. McCollum.  St. Paul taxpayers welcome the matchup.  President Obama has lost the swing voters in the middle, and the suburbs of Washington and Ramsey counties are ripe with disaffected voters who fear the country is off course and needs a major course correction. 

The biggest challenge in defeating Rep. McCollum over the last few election cycles has been the fact that her challengers haven't had the necessary funds to run an effective campaign and get the message out about Rep. McCollum's far left, Pelosi-Reid-Obama voting record.  A potential matchup with Rep. Bachmann removes McCollum's fundraising advantage and all but guarantees that voters will learn what those of us who pay attention have always known -- Rep. McCollum is an ultra far left liberal lapdog for the extreme progressive wing of the Obama - Reid - Pelosi machine.

A Bachmann vs. McCollum matchup would ensure that voters in St. Paul, Ramsey and Washington counties will find out how out of touch Rep. McCollum really is from the mainstream.  Her past statments, that have become viral sensations on the Internet will surely get more media attention in the next election cycle. Rep. McCollum's record is a "target rich enviroment" for a well funded candidate.  Her statements have been documented at this site for years:

Rep. McCollum doesn't think we have a voter fraud problem in this country.

Rep. McCollum doesn't think Al Qaeda poses a threat to the United States.

Rep. McCollum thinks the federal budget is "just a piece of paper..totally nonbinding."

Rep. McCollum thinks former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a consensus builder.

And the Granddaddy of Them All, Rep. McCollum left the words "Under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance when leading Congress.

Between these statements, her constant blaming the Tea Party for our nation's financial woes, rather than the profligate spending in Washington, her unflinching support for President Obama's failed economic policies, and the fact that the only acceptable cuts in the federal budget that she could find were NASCAR sponsorships and military bands  make her a weak candidate to represent Minnesota. 

And can you imagine the debate?  Betty McCollum won't be able to hide from that one.

Vikings Stadium Deal Fleeces St. Paul Taxpayers

Let me say this to start, I bleed purple.  One of my earliest football memories was going over to my uncle's house for a football party to watch the Vikings play in something called the Super Bowl back when I was 7 years old.  I remember watching both Fran Tarkenton's and Jim Marshall's last games at Met Stadium.  I went crazy when Ahmad Rashad caught Tommy Kramer's Hail Mary pass to beat the Browns in 1980.  I've suffered through the Les Stekel year, Darrin Nelson's dropped pass in the end zone in 1987 and the Hershel Walker trade. I was at the NFC Championship in 98 and watched Randall Cunningham take a knee.  I was humiliated by 41- doughnut in the 2000 NFC Championship. I had season tickets for years, until I got married and had a family and couldn't afford them anymore.  I never fully embraced Favre, but got on the bandwagon only to be disappointed again by having 12 men on the field. I've got authentic Robert Smith and Daunte Culpepper jerseys hanging in my closet -- and I still HATE the new uniforms!  Every fall I live and die with the Vikes, and have from Grant, Tark, Blair, and Studwell, to Browner, Doleman, McDaniel and Millard, to Carter and Moss, to Petersen, Harvin, Hutch and Winfield.

With that said, as a St. Paul resident and Ramsey County taxpayer I cannot and will not support the proposed Vikings stadium deal to build a $1B football palace in Arden Hills.  Ramsey County Commissioners Rafael Ortega and Tony Bennett say they have the votes to impose a half cent sales tax on Ramsey County resdents to finance their "share" of the cost -- approximately $350 million.  In St. Paul, that would push our sales tax to 8.125% -- making it the highest sales tax in the state.  Looks like I'll be doing most of my shopping in Eagan from now on!

I've heard all of the arguments about "if we don't step to the plate and get a stadium deal done, the Vikings will leave."  How many times did we hear that during the Twins debate over the last 15 years.  Hennepin County ultimately added .15% to its county wide sales tax to fund Target Field.  What's .5% here, and .15% there anyway?  It all adds up, and what it means is that all those Vikings fans from around the state who are now backing this deal won't pay "their fair share," while those of us who live, work and shop in Ramsey County will get disproportionately fleeced on a daily basis.

This deal should have been put together with a combination of "user fees" such as ticket taxes, taxes on team jerseys and memorabilia, hotel taxes, liquor taxes, parking taxes and income taxes on player salaries -- with the team picking up the difference.  The fact that it wasn't done with user fees shows that there wouldn't have been enough money there.  Why is it that a billion dollar industry like the NFL needs a taxpayer funded subsidy? 

My only hope at this point is that with a GOP controlled House and Senate, that this deal is DOA at the legislature this year.  With the out of control spending at the Legislature, the last thing in the world we need is for the state to be spending $300 million on a Vikings stadium.  Hopefully all the new GOP legislators will have the courage to just say No.  It's time the taxpayers stare down these billionare owners and tell them we aren't going to be shaken down anymore.

Bennett and Ortega -- As a constituent in St. Paul, consider this a warning that we'll remember this at election time!

Making News Again: St. Paul City Councilman's Office Sends Shameful Email To Constituent By Mistake

Thankfully, Dave Thune isn't my city councilman, his ward borders mine.  I doubt this liberal blowhard will do anything about his staffer, but Barb Benson clearly should be fired.  (It would be nice to see Thune do the honorable thing, but I'm not holding my breath.)

From Minnesota Democrats Exposed

Kudos to KSTP for breaking the story out of St. Paul [Friday] when the assistant to St. Paul City Councilman Dave Thune, Barb Benson, sent a nasty response to a local business man looking to honor a local legend.

Thune’s assistant sent an email accidentally replying to the businessman, and not her office gossip buddy: “A statue of Bill Bowell?????? Gag. Barf. This is the gay guy that always runs against Dave for City Council”

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2088916.shtml?cat=1


From the story:
Businessman Bill Hosko sent the Mayor and Council a letter suggesting that a statue be placed on Harriet Island to honor long time boat captain Bill Bowell. The assistant reacted to the idea by sending back an inflammatory email denouncing the idea. The email was not intended to be sent to Hosko, but was by mistake.
An internal investigation into the matter is underway at City Hall.

This is far from Thune’s first run-in with shameful behavior. In 2008, Thune joked about the World War II bombing of Nagasaki during a visit from a Japanese delegation to St. Paul. In 2008 as well, Thune sent a profane email from his official city account to a constituent (from MDE).

Here’s one of the stories from 2010 when Thune told someone through email “F*** You”.
The time has come for City Councilman Dave Thune and his partisan staff to step down before he makes another deranged and inappropriate comment on behalf of the city of St. Paul.

Cross-posted at MN Democrats Exposed - comments welcome.

Senator Cohen Staffer Tweets Offensive Slur Against Christians

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm one of the 30% of voters in Highland Park in St. Paul who doesn't vote straight line DFL in every general election.  My state senator, Richard Cohen, has been in the state legislature since I was six years old (and I'm 41 now.)  The guy literally is the poster boy for term limits.  Thanks to last fall's election he's also the FORMER Chariman of the Senate Finance Committee. 

In any other legislative district in Minnesota, Cohen would have been bouned last fall.  He's everything that the voters in MN overwhelmingly rejected last fall.  Cohen has had his hand on the purse strings of this state for 30 years. It's really about time that he push his seat "away from the table." His challenger last fall, Tony Hernandez is a young, energetic leader within the community who ran a great campaign and connected with voters.  Unlike Cohen, Hernandez actually has been seen around the community.  He performed well in the one debate he had with Cohen.  Hopefully he'll be back.  However, here in District 64, the same voters who routinely send St. Paul's village idiot Betty McCollum back to Washington, regularly punch Cohen's ticket back to the Capitol. 

Thanks to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for uncovering the fact that over the Easter weekend, one of Cohen's staffers, Nicole Kaplan, tweeted the following: "Oh, I wonder if Jesus will see his shadow tomorrow! That's what this holiday is about right?"

I can only imagine what the media would have done if a Republican staffer had tweeted a joke in poor taste about Ramadan or Passover? 

I'm not calling for anyone to be fired. But Senator Cohen -- how about at least issuing an apology?  Alienating your non Jewish constiuents is never a good idea!

Betty McCollum Tax Day Message

Yesterday, after the House passed Rep. Paul Ryan's 2012 budget proposal, MN Rep. Betty McCollum went outside the Capital and in an attempt to grandstand released the following statement.



Betty is really good at spouting platitudes like "shared sacrifice," and making statements such as "borrowing money to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans" without having any basis in facts.  One of the best videos I've seen regarding the spending binge Betty and her Democratic ilk have undertaken is below, its worth a watch.

Rome is burning...I hope I can at least affod a handbasket on the trip...

Michael Paymar - Soros Linked Secret Socialist In The Minnesota State Legislature

I saw this this morning at True North Sadly, Michael Paymar is my state representative.  We've had some good conservative candidates run against him the last couple cycles, but the DFL machine could get a sock puppet elected in this town. 

The U.S.'s largest Marxist organization Democratic Socialists of America has infiltrated members and supporters into several state legislatures across the nation. Usually posing as Democrats, the covert socialists are then used to promote D.S.A. legislation and causes, such as gun control, single payer health care, leftist labor legislation etc. at the state level.

One such infiltrator is long-time Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party State Representative Michael Paymar.

First  elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1996, Paymar is now serving in his 7th term as a legislator from St. Paul, Minnesota. He is chair of the Public Safety Finance Division which has budget oversight over the Department of Correction, Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Rights, the Courts and crime victim programs. He is also member of the House Finance Committee, Public Safety Policy Division and the Civil Justice Division.

Michael Paymar is also a member of the Council of State Governments Public Safety and Justice Task Force and the National Conference of State Legislatures Committee on Law and Justice.

Paymar has been a strong advocate of gun control, socialized health care and of measures to combat domestic violence. The last is a very worthy  cause, but is one often hi-jacked by feminists and socialists to extract money from government and foundations and to denigrate men and masculine institutions.

Paymar is a co-founder of the well known (some would say "infamous") Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project.

Paymar serves a Resource Specialist for the leftist Battered Women's Justice Program in Minneapolis, providing training and technical assistance to professionals in the criminal and civil justice system, law enforcement and the U.S. military on ways to end domestic violence.

As a consultant with George Soros' Soros foundation and Advocates for Human Rights, Michael Paymar worked with NGOs in Eastern Europe, Europe, the Caucusus, central Asia, China and Australia. He has worked with the Department of Defense in the United States and military installations in Japan, Guam, Iceland, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, and California.

In 2010 Paymar  addressed a National Institute of Justice conference on the Violence Against Women Act, with Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, Office of the Vice President of the United States.

What evidence do I have to prove  that Michael Paymar is a covert Marxist?

In 1996, D.S.A. sent six staff members into the field for the final weeks of the election campaign. These staff and D.S.A. volunteers "contributed to the re-election of SenatorPaul Wellstone and Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-upstate NY)."

D.S.A. leader Christine Riddiough was assigned to Wellstone's campaign in Minnesota. While there she also met Michael Paymar;

While in Minnesota I had the fortune to meet with many members of Twin Cities DSA. The group is planning to meet regularly to work on DSA's Action Agenda and to draw together Minnesota socialists. In my election work I ran across another DSA member, Michael Paymar, who was running for the Minnesota legislature. Along with Wellstone, he, too, won on Tuesday. He now joins the ranks of DSAers and other progressives who are trying to change American politics while serving in public office.

D.S.A.'s Democratic Left, Nov./Dec. 1996, page 18

How many of the thousands of Minnesota voters who put Michael Paymar into office realized they were voting for a covert Marxist? Has any of Michael Paymar's campaign literature, or public statements ever mentioned his Democratic Socialists of America affiliation?

D.S.'s goals include to "abolish private ownership of the means of production", increase progressive taxation, promote gun control, introduce socialized health care in every state and gradually turn the U.S. into a socialist country.

Are these aims in line with the views of most Minnesota voters?

Perhaps some enterprising journalist could ask Michael Paymar to explain his Marxist affiliation and why he has never bothered to tell Minnesota voters about his D.S.A. connection.

Twila Brase Destroys Liberal Idiot On Live TV

This was just too good not to post. Got this tip from fellow blogger D at MNCD4NeedsChange. Twila Brase destroys liberal talking head Eric Pussey over the facts regarding ObamaCare on live TV, the other night.

Healthcare Reform: Year 1 Debate: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Something's Fishy About Betty McCollum's Death Threat Allegations

As a resident of MN 4th Congressional District, I'm represented by one of the most liberal and intellectually challenged members in Congress, Betty McCollum. Her legislative record is so vapid, that she rarely makes news except for doing something truly laughable.  Luckily that happens with a certain amount of regularity.

Like leaving the words "Under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance when leading Congress.

Or saying we don't have a voter fraud problem in this country.

Or saying that Al Qaeda no longer poses a threat to the United States.

Or for calling the budget "just a piece of paper..totally nonbinding."

Or for calling former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a consensus builder.

Recently I've noticed a pattern with Rep. McCollum. After taking heat a few weeks ago for sponsoring an Ammendment to remove $7mm in funding for the Army to sponsor NASCAR racing, she released a fax she allegedly received containing racist, sexist and incendiary language and a death threat.  Reader Advisory: The fax is clearly disgusting.

However, after seeing this fax, I noticed that it looked strikingly similar to a fax Rep McCollum released back in October 2010 after the Pledge of Allegiance controversy hit the Internet, turning Betty into a viral sensation.  At that time, Rep. McCollum blamed racism within the Tea Party for using the Pledge controversy against her and turning it into a campaign issue.

One thing becomes strikingly clear after comparing these two faxes, along with a third threatening fax sent to California State Sen. Leland Yee back in January.  You can see that fax here  These faxes were all clearly designed (and likely sent) by the same person. This begs two questions:

1. Why hasn't someone in the media or law enforcement connected these dots?  It would seem pretty easy to trace where these faxes orignitated from, and from there through some basic investigative work at least identify a few suspected senders?  (Maybe I watch too much Law and Order, but come on people...?)

2. Is it possible that these faxes aren't from someone on the right at all, but rather part of a "false flag" operation coming from the left?  Accusing your opponents of sending threats is a good way to deflect attention from the original topic, the pledge kerfuffle last fall and the NASCAR dust up now.  Playing the race card is especially easy when the lame stream media provides you with a willing PR machine.

After the Tucson tragedy, threats to any public official shouldn't be taken lightly.  It's clearly obvious that someone is threatening a member of Congress, and a California State Senator.  Whoever sent these faxes should be arrested and prosecuted, no matter which side of the aisle they came from.