A national tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was scheduled to stop this week at Forest Lake Area High School. But just hours before the event, school administrators abruptly canceled the visit.

Forest Lake High School principal Steve Massey says he canceled the appearance by the Vets for Freedom because he didn't want politics in the classroom. But the truth of the matter is that Mr. Massey succumbed to pressure from radical left wing activists that threatened to stage a protest at the school.

Pete Hegseth, a Forest Lake High grad and the director of Vets for Freedom, said that he had talked with school officials during the planning process, and made clear that presenters would not make political statements. "It's Iraq and Afghan veterans talking about what they saw and what they did there, and about what it means to put on the uniform of your country," he said.

Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten said it best in her column this week: “Shame on Forest Lake High administrators for caving to political pressure under the guise of preventing political pressure. Apparently, they only understand the sort of political pressure exerted by left-wing anti-war groups.”  It is appalling that high school students are not allowed to hear from the men and women who have risked their lives protect our country because of threats from Left wing protesters.

You can weigh-in on this incident with some of the people involved in the cancellation.  Contact Steve Massey, the principal of Forest Lake Area High School, and let him know what you think about his decision to cancel the event.  You can also contact Contact Karl Bremer, one of the organizers of the protest threat resulting in the school's cancellation decision.

Today a majority of DFL state representatives voted in favor of a motion to squash a potential vote on HF3010, a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities from harboring illegal aliens in Minnesota. Cities like as Minneapolis and St. Paul have sanctuary policies that prevent police officers from inquiring about immigration status or enforcing immigration laws. These policies are allowing illegal aliens to openly enjoy the benefits of citizenship without the fear of deportation.

The DFL-controlled House has been trying to stall HF 3010, hoping to have the bill simply die in committee. Today the bill's chief author, Rep. Paul Kols (R, Victoria), made a motion to pull the bill directly to the House floor for an up-or-down vote. But Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL, Chisholm) then made a motion to table the Kols’ motion. The Sertich motion prevailed (click here to see the voting record - a vote in favor of the Sertch motion was a vote in favor of sanctuary cities).

Sanctuary city policies cause a host of financial, legal and criminal problems that negatively affect the quality of life for legitimate Minnesota citizens. The recent bus crash in Cottonwood is a tragic reminder of this fact and should have been a wake-up call to our state legislators to get tough on illegal immigration. But most DFL representatives don't seem to be getting the message.

Here's a link to an Action Alert we just issued urging citizens to contact their representatives on this measure.

What a difference a year makes.  Last year, Minnesota was sitting on a $2 billion budget surplus.  Today Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that Minnesota is facing a projected budget deficit of $935 million. State revenues have slowed as both individual and corporate income tax collections have fallen. At the same time, state spending has increased. By all accounts, Minnesota is currently in a mild recession which is expected to last for at least the next six months.

 

Minnesota is required to balance its books every two years, suggesting that the state must now either cut spending or raise taxes. On the heals of the DFL-controlled state legislature just passing the single largest tax increase in the state’s history, Pawlenty was clear – he intends to cut spending.  “Raising taxes is not the answer to balancing our budget. Like families and businesses are doing in this tough economy, government needs to tighten its belt and live within its means. I will not allow this session to turn into a parade of DFL tax hikes", said Pawlenty.

 

DFL legislative leaders may have other plans. They announced at least two initiatives to raise new tax revenues: going after corporations that operate overseas and collect taxes on business executives who work in Minnesota but declare residency elsewhere. For now, however, DFL leaders appear to be holding off on re-introducing last year's proposal for an income tax rate hike. They appear wary to propose more tax increases given the intense negative public reaction to their massive transit tax increase that was just passed by an override of the Governor's veto.

Today the Minnesota State Legislature voted to override Governor Pawlenty's veto of the $6.6 billion transit bill, thus passing into law one of the largest tax increases in our state's history. Legislators voted in favor of this massive tax increase in spite of recent polls showing the majority of Minnesotans opposed this bill.  Legislators voted in favor of this bill in spite of receiving thousands of phone calls and emails from their constituents urging them to support the Governor's veto.

As a result of this vote, Minnesota will now have one of the highest gas taxes in the nation.  A new sales tax will be imposed upon a majority of Minnesotans without a referendum allowing the people to have a voice in this decision. And those who purchase a new vehicle will pay a significantly higher personal property tax each year over the life of the vehicle. In the end, all Minnesotans will pay more - an average of $300 to $400 annually per household. And these new taxes are regressive, hitting those who can least afford it the hardest.

Some legislators tried to exploit the tragic I-35W bridge collapse to justify this bill, even though NSTB reports indicate the bridge collapse was likely due to a design flaw, not a lack of maintenance.  Some legislators tried to sell this as jobs bill, claiming that over 33,000 high-paying jobs would be created when, in fact, further investigation revealed that fewer than 2,000 construction jobs would actually result. Many legislators who voted for this bill told constituents that MnDOT said it needed an additional $2 to 3 billion dollars a year to fund its needs.  What these legislators did not share with their constituents, however, is that these figures represented a "wish list" of every conceivable transportation project MnDOT thought it might ever do.  Many of the projects on this list would never be completed because they were infeasible.  An example of one such project is the addition of lanes on I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul which could never happen because it was too expensive to “take” all the private property – residences and businesses – that would be necessary to expand the highway).

The bill passed today allocates 100% of the metro sales tax increase to the mass transit boondoggle (a total of $1.1 billion over ten years) versus fixing our roads and bridges. The bill pass today still relies upon pork-barrel allocation formulas for channeling gas tax revenues to areas other than those which need it the most.

There were other options available to finance Minnesota's transportation needs. But the state legislature decided to raise your taxes instead of cutting spending or making use of bonding.  What may be most disappointing about this vote is that it suggests that a majority of our state legislators do not have the people's best interests in mind. It suggests that they care more about special interest groups that stand to benefit from this bill than their constituents who will be forced to pay for it. Perhaps it's time for the people to get serious about taking back their government. Perhaps it's time for a change in whose representing your interests at our state capitol.

The driver of the vehicle which hit a Cottonwood school bus, killing four children, is an illegal alien. After days of speculation, federal authorities finally confirmed today that Aliannis Nunez Morales is in this country illegally and has been using an alias.

The woman was arrested yesterday and charged today with four counts of criminal-vehicular homicide, running a stop sign and driving without a license. Morales had been previously arrested in June 2006 and charged with driving without a driver’s license. She was fined $182 and released.