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Dan McGrath |
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3/10/2008 |
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Dan is a Minneapolis resident. Living in the heart of the beast, he brings an urban perspective to Minnesota conservatism. |
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A Declaration of Health Care Independence |
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By Dan McGrath on
1/29/2010
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 Demand Real Health Care Reform
In his state of the union address, President Barack Obama tried to assure us that he had the right plan for America's future. He asked members of Congress to support his political agenda, including a government takeover of health care reform.
The American people spoke last summer when thousands attended town hall meetings across our nation. They spoke out again in the fall when nearly a million people marched on Washington. Most recently, the voters of Massachusetts spoke by electing a Republican to the US Senate for the first time in 60 years. But President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi STILL don't seem to be getting the message (see here).
Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann, together with other members of Congress, has unveiled the Declaration of Health Care Independence. The Declaration is a commitment to protect the rights of the American people to make their own health decisions, reduce bureaucratic red-tape, decrease intergenerational debt, and includes 10 common-sense principles that must be included in any future health care reforms.
Bachmann is calling on all concerned Americans to sign the Declaration and encourage their elected officials in Congress to do the same. Hopefully, Congressional leaders will finally get the message that it's time to start over and develop a set of common-sense health care reforms that have the support of the American people.
TAKE ACTION:
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Majority Report: Election Integrity Part 2 |
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By Dan McGrath on
1/18/2010
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Conclusion of Davis Elections Interview
Drew Emmer concludes his interview of Minnesota Majority's president, Jeff Davis about the integrity of Minnesota's elections in this second installment.
The supreme court elections lawsuits is explained and Drew and Jeff break down all the research, findings and evidence.
Are the dead voting? What do we do about non-existent voter registration addresses and felons registering to vote? Are they voting and is anybody investigating? Find out the answers to these questions and learn more than anyone else will teach you about Minnesota's election system on the Minnesota Majority Report.
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2010 Legislative Session Outlook |
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By Dan McGrath on
1/12/2010
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Legislative Outlook Holds Few Surprises. Budget Deficit and Jobs Top Priority Lists
Politics in Minnesota hosted a “Legislative Outlook,” panel this morning, featuring House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, Senate Minority Leader David Senjem and House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers. The event was moderated by TPT Channel 2’s Mary Lahammer. Representative Zellers suffered a flat tire on the way to the Sheraton but arrived in time to fully participate in the discussions.
It wasn’t much of a surprise that legislative leaders are in agreement on what the legislative session has in store and what the priority issues will be. Anyone who’s paying attention knows the state’s projected $1.2 billion budget deficit coming on the heels of last session’s even bigger shortfall has to be a top priority. The state’s structural budget problems and Minnesota’s economy are going to be front and center. Everyone talked about jobs, which is (in a somewhat rare convergence) exactly what these illustrious leaders’ constituents are talking about.
That the budget and jobs are top items to address is where the consensus ends, though. How best to deal with them, not surprisingly, broke down along party lines.
Moderator Mary Lahammer observed, “The old tax and spend argument.” Senator Poegamiller took exception to the remark, but as the discussion unfolded, it was apparent that Lahammer’s observation was apt. Some things never change. Democratic legislators argued that revenues (legislative code for taxes) have to be raised and resisted the idea that budget cuts are necessarily productive while the Republican leaders insisted that taxes shouldn’t be raised in our current economic environment. They advocated spending cuts. Representative Zellers noted that workers in the private sector are facing layoffs and wage cuts while state employees are getting raises. He said there has to be some shared sacrifice.
Speaker Kelliher stated that her legislative priorities this session will be #1 Jobs, #2 Restoring GAMC (General Assistance Medical Care) funding, #3 the Budget, though education cuts are off the table in her mind. There was general agreement among the panelists on these priorities.
As to ideas, Rep. Zellers and Rep. Kelliher made statements as to what they weren’t going to do. Kelliher said cuts to services were the same as a tax increase on the “most vulnerable” and families earning less than $40,000. Zellers, while advocating “growing” our way out of the deficit said we can’t give up-front equipment exemptions to businesses or cut corporate tax rates, because the money isn’t there.
Senator Senjem said his priorities were to protect K-12 spending, nursing homes, veterans and public safety budgets. "Everything else," he said, "is open to cuts."
For jobs creation, Speaker Kelliher suggested following the example of a Wisconsin government program called “The Network,” which provides step by step assistance to start-up businesses. She said it could cost as little as $200,000.
Senator Senjem suggested more public support for bio-sciences at the U of M and Mayo clinic as ways to stimulate the state’s economy. He said more U of M research would create a new stronger economy for Minnesota. Senjem also suggested that the legislature needed to focus on investing in areas he says Minnesota is strong in like renewable energy, citing biomass, wind and solar power as examples.
Senator Pogemiller said tax hikes wouldn’t hurt the jobs market or revenues, citing Delta Airlines’ recent move to increase bag-handling fees as an example of his reasoning. “Obviously, they wouldn’t do that unless the market could bear it,” he said.
Kelliher echoed Pogemiller’s philosophy, saying “budget cuts don’t keep jobs in Minnesota – History shows that the opposite is true.”
Nobody wanted to talk about funding a new Vikings stadium. When the question was raised, each of the four panelists said it wasn’t likely to be a priority and kept their answers short and vague. Senator Senjem and Rep. Zellers both mentioned a “Racino” as a possible funding source, but acknowledged such a plan wasn’t likely to pass or be signed by the governor.
Another issue briefly addressed by Speaker Kelliher was election reform. She said a bill would probably advance to move the state’s primary election up a month to comport with new federal legislation.
The one bright spot that stood out from the forum was a sense of general agreement that Minnesota's budget was structurally flawed and that a more permanent budget solution was needed, one that fundamentally reformed the way the state spends money. Senator Pogemiller summed up the notion saying, "We're in a state of denial about the budget. It's factual that we have to bring the cost structure down."
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Balanced Budget Amendment Will Do Just That |
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By Dan McGrath on
1/12/2010
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 By Governor Tim Pawlenty
As we begin a new year and Congress reconvenes, an unpleasant reality is increasingly hitting home with ordinary Americans: Leaders in both parties have irresponsibly run up debt. And, since President Obama took office, the debt crisis has grown exponentially worse. The only way to solve the problem in the long run is with a Constitutional amendment.
The facts tell the story. The average American household now carries over half-a-million dollars in Federal debt. And it’s growing quickly: The Obama administration is now predicting that the federal budget deficit will exceed $10 trillion through 2019. Meanwhile, some economists are predicting that in about 15 years, our public debt will be more than 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). And that figure is just the tip of the iceberg: If you look at all of the unfunded liabilities of the Federal government, the national debt right now is already at least $65 trillion.
With the Federal government taking in about $2 trillion a year, this runaway spending is not sustainable. If we continue down the current path of runaway deficits, we’re going to have the Federal government creating a public-finances-equivalent to the subprime mortgage meltdown in the not too distant future.
When a family or business faces the sort of revenue gap we are facing as a nation, they have to drastically tighten their belts. Government must do the same.
States across the country are making difficult choices to balance their books. In Minnesota, we’ve prioritized veterans, public safety and schools, while making difficult cuts to almost everything else in order to avoid even higher taxes. Most other states are making similar tough choices – choices that could grow even harder depending on the changes to Medicaid being proposed by Congressional Democrats.
Cutting spending is necessary because our nation’s fiscal imbalance threatens our future prosperity, our national security, and the heart of the American dream. Without change, sooner or later massive Federal debt will force painful spending cuts, higher taxes, a weaker dollar and runaway inflation.
Fortunately, it’s not too late to turn things around. By reining in our spending now, we can right our fiscal ship. We can extend freedom and opportunity by making government live within its means. We can safeguard our prospects for long-term, future prosperity that will make this country an even greater place for future generations to grow up, live, work and raise a family than it already is—but we must act.
Balancing the budget will require some tough decisions. Congress must reduce discretionary spending in real terms, with exceptions for key programs such as military, veterans, and public safety. The Congress must also reject costly new spending initiatives, like new health care entitlements.
In the long run, sending different politicians to Washington will not be enough. We need a mechanism in place to enforce balanced budgets, because regardless of which party is in power, they have not done a good job of getting budgets to balance over time. That’s why I’m calling for a Constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget, with exceptions for war, natural disasters, and other emergencies.
That won’t be easy; it will require a lot of hard work; and it will be a hard agenda to sell. That’s what leadership is about, though. My wish, as we begin this year, is for us to see much more of that from this administration and Congress.
Take Action: Sign the Balanced Budget Amendment Petition.
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Majority Report on Minnesota Election Discrepancies |
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By Dan McGrath on
1/11/2010
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A discrepancy remains between the 2008 Election canvassing board’s certified election results and the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). Minnesota Majority’s initial research in May revealed that SVRS could not account for 40,000 votes certified by the canvassing board.
Legal Counsel for the Secretary of State’s office acknowledged a “widespread problem” to Minnesota Majority when the discrepancy was first raised. Subsequently, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie acknowledged the problem and told reporters his office was working to reconcile the numbers. In June of 2009, records indicated that the discrepancy had shrunk from 40,000 to about 30,000 ballots.
At the end of September 2009, Minnesota Majority again examined SVRS records and compared them to the canvassing board’s official election results and found that the discrepancy remains. The inability of SVRS to account for all the ballots cast on Election Day 2008 remains unexplained.
Drew Emmer interviewed Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis on election issues. In Part 1, background on Minnesota Majority’s involvement and the unexplained records imbalance phenomenon were discussed.
Learn More:
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Senate Will Break Rules to Change Rules, Subverting Democracy |
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By Dan McGrath on
12/22/2009
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Senator Reid Proposes Restrictions on Self-Governance
Senator Harry Reid has slipped language into the heath care bill, via an amendment that would tie the hands of future Congresses with regard to repealing or amending it. The amendment makes substantial changes to the standing rules of the Senate, a move that normally requires a super-majority vote of at least 67 Senators. When questioned about this by Senator DeMint, The Senate president ruled that the bill changes Senate procedure, but not Senate rules, so the 67 vote threshold did not apply. The unasked question that begs to follow is, “what establishes Senate procedures?” Answer: The rules.
Section 3403 of Senator Harry Reid's amendment (page 1020) states that "it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection." The subsection pertains to regulations imposed by the Medicare Advisory Board. The amendment goes on to require a vote of 3/5 the Senate (60 votes) to waive the paragraph.
This posturing, setting some provisions of the law above others, so as to make them untouchable sets a dangerous precedent. It is the Constitution that is established as the supreme law of the land. The threshold for changing it was set high by the founders. Senator Reid and his cohorts are now attempting to enshrine provisions of their health care bill as above normal laws, and not subject to the normal democratic processes to change or repeal them.
DeMint observed, “I don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this into every bill.”
Ed Morisey made the point well in his article: "The elected representatives of today should not have greater authority than those who will follow them. Any attempt to pass this into legislation aggrandizes the power of this Congress at the expense of those that follow.”
The proposed language of this health care amendment would, by simple majority vote, establish a requirement for a super majority to alter or repeal it. If this anti-democracy measure is allowed to stand, the implications for this and all future legislation are dire. Hundreds of years of established Congressional process will be subverted, the future will of the people, expressed by the election of their representatives, thwarted by unreasonable and unprecedented obstacles to our right of self-governance.
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Action Alert: Take Five Minutes to Scuttle Obamacare |
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By Dan McGrath on
12/17/2009
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 Take Five Minutes to Scuttle Obamacare
Public sentiment isn’t on the president’s side on health care. A Rassmussen survey found that 56% of Americans oppose the plan, 46% strongly. Only 19% are strongly in favor of it. Left-leaning CNN's public opinion poll found even less enthusiasm for the health care bill. CNN found that 61% of Americans oppose the plan.
The Obamacare deal looks to be sinking and Senate leaders are frantically shuffling the deck chairs in a scramble to push through some version of the health care reform bill before going home for Christmas.
It’s time to kill the bill. We can stop them with three simple steps.
Take Action:
- Click here to send a fax that will be simultaneously delivered to Senators Franken and Klobuchar. Tell them to vote NO on any vote to advance the health care bill.
- Pick up the phone. Call Senator Franken’s local office at (651) 221-1016 and leave him a message about your opinion of the health care bill.
- Pick up the phone one more time. Call Senator Klobuchar’s local office at (612) 727-5220 and leave her a message about your opinion of the health care bill.
Learn more about what the health care scam means to you at HealthReformScam.com
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Obama’s EPA to Bypass Congress, Regulate CO2 Without a Vote |
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By Dan McGrath on
12/8/2009
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 As Copenhagen Begins, EPA Provides President Obama Unilateral Authority
Deliberately timed to coincide with the start of the United Nations’ climate conference in Copenhagen, the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declared that carbon dioxide, a naturally occurring gas that’s essential to life on Earth, poses a threat to human health and welfare. This determination clears the way for the federal government to begin restricting energy production and restructuring the entire American economy.
The EPA cited a 2007 Supreme Court ruling declaring that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act, but the science upon which that ruling was based has now been called into question when emails and internal documents between the UN’s leading climate change scientists were leaked to the public. Contained within the files was evidence of suppression, manipulation and destruction of climate data. The emails revealed that the entire historical climate record that is the basis for all determinations of climate change is based on inaccurate data and has been manipulated to match a political and economic agenda.
If the EPA acts unilaterally to restrict carbon dioxide emissions, the impact on the economy could be even worse than a cap and trade law enacted by Congress. The reasons for this move by the Obama Administration’s EPA appear to be two-fold: First, to establish authority for President Obama to make enforceable agreements at the UN’s climate conference even in lieu of a treaty or Congressional approval; and Second to give the administration leverage to coerce the Senate into enacting a cap and trade law just to lessen the economic damage that could be wrought by the EPA’s heavy-handed restrictions of CO2.
At this moment, our national economy is under threat by carbon regulation schemes on three fronts: The Copenhagen conference designed to create a world carbon regulatory authority which could undermine our sovereignty; The cap and trade bill that’s been passed by the House of Representatives and now awaits Senate approval; and the Obama Administration’s decision that it can regulate carbon dioxide via the EPA even without approval by Congress.
For a preview of what this could mean to American families, one can look to Germany, where due to restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, electricity costs three-times more than in the US and gasoline is now $8.00 per gallon.
You must make your voice heard loud and clear right now. This is no longer a far-away possibility. It’s happening as you read this. Time’s up.
Take Action: If you don’t think it’s a good idea to dramatically slash domestic energy production at a cost of trillions of dollars and untold American jobs over the politics of a discredited climate scare, pick up your phone and call the White House right now. Tell the Obama Administration you won’t stand for this unparalleled fleecing of the American public. Call (202) 456-1111 to be heard today.
Sign the online petition at NoCapAndTrade.com to send a message to Congress demanding that they "stand down" on climate change legislation.
Share this message with family, friends and neighbors asking them to take action as well.
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Lord Monckton Exposes the Global Warming and Cap and Trade Lies |
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By Dan McGrath on
11/23/2009
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Minnesota Majority Report Special Edition Featuring Lord Christopher Monckton Pt. 4
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The conclusion of Drew Emmer's Interview of Lord Christopher Monckton
In this fourth and final installment of this special edition of the Minnesota Majority Report, Lord Monckton drives home the final couple nails in the coffin of global warming alarmism.
The science is in, the facts are out. The debate is over, but the conclusion isn't what you have likely been told before.
Take Action: Find out how to help stop cap and trade scams from becoming law at NoCapAndTrade.com
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Stop Health Care Bill in its Tracks - Before it's Too Late |
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By Dan McGrath on
11/18/2009
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 The US Senate is expected to vote on a motion to proceed with their version of the health care bill as soon as Thursday. This procedural motion is the first vote to advance the Senate bill to the floor. It requires 60 votes. Next, it’s open to debate before being placed for final passage. Once on the floor, passage requires only 51 votes. The best opportunity to stop the government takeover of health care is now.
Two procedural motions, each requiring 60 votes stand before the health care bill: The motion to proceed and a cloture vote which is a vote to end debate on the bill. After that, only 51 votes are needed for final passage.
Some Senators may think they can get the bill passed while obscuring their vote for the bill by voting to proceed and voting for cloture but then voting against passing the bill, knowing that it will still pass without their vote. Don’t be fooled. A vote to advance the bill is a vote to pass the bill. Once past the procedural hurdles, final passage is nearly certain.
Take Action: Call Senators Klobuchar and Franken today. There is no time to lose.
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