When you see the headlines that the City of Duluth is laying off 200+ workers because of budget concerns you gasp. But you really need to look a little bit farther into the problem as of course the first thing you will hear is the State did not give them more money.

So let’s put it into perspective for you as I am sure the media will not. Last year the city raised the levy by $1.33 million to $13.5 million – 10.75% over the 2007 levy. The Duluth 2008 City Budget was almost $81 million. Duluth received almost $29.1 million in local government aid. This is an increase of $8 million from the $21.1 million received in 2001 or a 37.9% increase. To put that in perspective, Duluth would have received that much alone in just one year from 2001 to 2002 had LGA not come under the scrutiny it deserved.

If you read the budget documents on the City of Duluth’s website you would get the feeling that the entire budget mess they have gotten themselves into is the State of Minnesota’s, because of Governor Pawlenty’s Veto of the Tax bill last year, and because of LGA cuts back at the beginning of the decade. http://www.duluthmn.gov/finance/2008%20Revised%20Web%20Budget.pdf

Duluth has a stagnant or declining population, a political machine that caters to unions, a culture of relying on others to finance its pet projects – all which creates a perceived or real anti-business environment. What’s more – citizen groups that rise to oppose almost any form of development, at least if it's in their neighborhood NIMBY-ism at its finest. A building inspection department which seems to revel in telling people 101 reasons why they can't build their project. Why would you expect any different outcome?

The city of Duluth has inherited its budget mess. Politicians from years past have simply passed along the same old “different day” thinking to the next generation of elected officials who have done the same old thing. Einstein was correct: you cannot solve a problem with the same old thinking that got you there in the first place. To solve the problem we must think and act differently.

But don’t think anything will change. First, we will see the headlines, then as has already occurred reorganization and in the end will anything change? Maybe it is time to look at a regional government, or at competitive bidding for public works within Duluth. Perhaps it is time to overhaul the retiree health care debacle. It is time to truly review the expenses - current and upcoming - and make necessary adjustments – not just cast the blame on others and expect other taxpayers in Minnesota to bail Duluth out. The new mayor Don Ness was part of the Council situation that created this mess to begin with so it is not likely to be solved by the current administration either.

Mr. Ness, in an e- mail written to a concerned citizen dated 2-15-05, outlining his thoughts on LGA, wrote that:

“LGA is a property tax relief program it (sic) is designed to help communities like Duluth keep our property taxes low and competitive. It also allows each community to provide a basic level of services for a reasonable amount of property taxes on local residents.”

Mr. Ness concludes:
“We are all residents of Minnesota whether we live in Edina or Duluth. Edina has many advantages over Duluth in terms of tax base and need for services. Resident (sic) of Edina have huge advantages in paying for local services for this reason. I wish that all MN communities could be like Edina and Eden Prairie – but we cannot. LGA is designed so that we do not punish resident (sic) of our state for living in a high-need, lower tax base community in order to pay for basic needs.”

I suspect it will be like St. Paul and calls for cuts to police and fire to tug on things that are really essential services as an excuse to drive the levy hirer and to push for the DFL in St. Paul at the Legislature to hand them over more of other taxpayers money to address not what is a recent phenomenon but years of uncontrolled spending further complicated by spending that is not accountable through LGA and other government handout programs.

Cutting services or increasing taxes is easy - for awhile – just blame the other guy. But because of lack of fiscal discipline and redefining priorities budgeting goes unnoticed until your checkbook is being drained further. Cities, counties and states must find new ways than to simply spend, spend, spend! For example, Duluth funds retirees' health care. This is honorable, indeed but is almost impractical. Duluth needs to look and make hard decisions and this is one of them. Does the current structure take advantage of other benefits available such as Medicare, or other measures that might sharply reduce Duluth’s costs? Surely, if Duluth asks retirees to use Medicare as their primary source and then provide a supplemental plan to reimburse uncovered expenses, both the retirees and the taxpayers win. Duluth must look at everything to see if they can find similar efficiencies.

Eliminate overtime – According to Duluth’s budget office from January–June overtime totaled $1.118 million.

In a July 24th Wall Street Journal Article, 'States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls' reported - “In Minnesota, the city of Duluth plans to stop operating its Fun Wagon—a free trailer stuffed with games and cookout supplies for a neighborhood party.” Gee - what a tragic loss for the city?

Simply put - Duluth’s problems are not because of the state. Those in Duluth know the about the $300 million unfunded retiree healthcare debt, $30 million for abuse of overtime over the last decade, $22 million and counting for a failed parking ramp, and more than $16 million for an aquarium.

Reinventing itself, creating a family and tax friendly climate and new businesses is a must, not a steady diet of tax and spend, like the past several decades.

Welcome to 40 years of DFL control. No way to blame this on anyone else. Don spent 8 years on the council voting to spend money on every special interest group that came in. Never had to worry about it, it wasn't real money, it was city money and when that ran out cities like Duluth run down to St. Paul, where the adults are, and hold out their hand and ask for more! Now the city employees are once again made out to be the villians in this story. Mayor Don makes 80, plus maxxed out deferred comp and $400 a month for a set of wheels. Let’s start at the top and not the bottom first - what are you giving up to solve this crisis Mayor Don?

Duluth needs to fix its budget shortfall from a public policy perspective. In other words, if Duluth does not structurally fix the budget they will end up having this politically charged discussion during every budget cycle. This will take real political will on the part of the elected officials in Duluth. Once this happens, expect things to change. If it does not happen, we can expect more of the same. Keep in mind you can substitute any city in this argument from Lonsdale, to Minneapolis, to Brainerd, to Red Wing – the arguments and the issues are the same.

If the Duluth City Council can lay blame on their own budget dilemma on the State, or better yet the governor, they can transfer attention away from efforts of designing efficient government in the City of Duluth. There are inefficiencies and fiscal problems in Duluth (as there are in other cities) but Duluth’s leadership would rather blame the governor and legislature. Better to blame someone else than make hard decisions, or to have to look our own sacred cows right in the face.

It’s a bit ironic that some councilors, when it comes to economic development (like attracting employers and employees), opine about appearances of corporate welfare, or taxpayer giveaways. Yet, when it comes to LGA, they have their pockets wide open to accept state subsidies to help pay for their own city’s services, essential and non-essential. Aren’t we, in essence, accepting taxpayer giveaways from somebody in another part of the state when we accept LGA to pay for our own services? Could you perhaps liken LGA to a form of state welfare, paid for by non- local taxpayers to fund Duluth services? These cuts in LGA are forcing city governments to become more accountable, to be fiscally responsible, to discover ways of finding governmental efficiencies, to focus on the funding of “essential” city services and to become more proactive in improving local tax bases. Isn’t that why we elected our leaders in the first place

Let’s face it; we have to run local government’s finances as we do our households. If at home we have a budget shortfall we can't go and confiscate it from the neighbors, we either have to get another job or cut the expenses. The same has to hold true for a city, township, county, school district and the state. You will almost inevitable hear the threats of cuts will be made in police and fire. Why not be honest and do cuts through a freeze on hiring, cut jobs that are duplicated in the city or county or other government organization. Try farming out some of the tasks if it would be less expensive. There are a lot of creative ways of saving money. But that is not how politicians get elected – they get elected on promising to deliver. It is time to get back to core essential services and limited other services!

Excellent read from a column in a Canadian Newspaper.  This could not be more right on point! 

 http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4109

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has taken his pander machine on the road around the world in an effort to demonstrate two points vital to the success of his campaign for the office of Commander-in-Chief.

That he is willing to step into the heat and confront facts on the ground as defined by military and security experts before setting his official international security policy in stone.

That despite a nearly blank résumé, void of any military or security experience whatsoever, executive or otherwise, he has what it takes to become the next Commander-in-Chief of the last remaining super-power during a time of war, great international turmoil and continued threat of death and destruction on U.S. soil.

Watching what has become cable and network news ObamaTV, 24/7 coverage of every Obama uttered word, it’s clear that the mainstream American media is desperate to demonstrate Obama’s readiness to be the President by showing the fantastic rock-star welcome he is receiving abroad.

To the average American onlooker, the term “Obamessiah” looks more and more appropriate as the news networks work around the clock to show how Europe and the Middle East react to his arrival as if he were indeed the second coming… The propaganda boosted Obama to a 4 point lead over McCain last week.

But how real are those rock-star images being beamed around the globe via satellite for American voter consumption back home?

In an MSNBC interview with Chris Matthews, who was busy doing his usual stumping for Obama, respected field reporter Andrea Mitchell reported “Let me just say something about the ‘message management’. He [Obama] didn’t have reporters with him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call “fake interviews” ‘cause they’re not interviews from a journalist. So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be, but we have not seen a presidential candidate do this in my recollection ever before.”

Matthews completely ignored what Mitchell said and tried to return to stumping for Obama. Matthews tried to get Mitchell to confirm his rock-star interpretation of the Obama visit, but Mitchell again responded, “I can’t really say that. I just can’t report on what was edited out...that’s my issue. We don’t know what we are seeing.”

Mitchell, who is by no means a right-leaning reporter, is pointing out that everything Americans are seeing beamed from abroad is manufactured for voter consumption under the cover of a complete media blackout during the Obama trip. They are “staged” photo ops…

In a personal letter from an American soldier present during Obama’s visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Battle Captain Jeffrey S. Porter reports a very different version of the Obama visit. I am including the entire text of his letter, typos and all for authenticity…

Hello everyone,


As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ‘The War Zone’. I wanted to share with you what happened.


He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. 
 
As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service. 
 
So really he was just here to make a showing for the American’s back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.
 
 I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country. 
 
If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service, 
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter 


CPT Porter’s letter confirms the very complaint made by Mitchell - that the Obama visit is being “staged” and as a result, the images being beamed back to the U.S. for purposes of creating a false image of the wannabe rock-star candidate, are nothing more than campaign propaganda.

Is Obama listening to the experts on the ground concerning military and security strategies in Afghanistan, Iraq or Israel?

Reporting from Iraq in advance of the Obama visit, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell states “U.S. Military Commanders Oppose Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal Plan.” This is not a new revelation. Military and foreign security experts have repeatedly advised against set time-tables for withdraw that are based on an arbitrary wish clock instead of events on the ground.

Good Morning America covered the topic with a July 10, 2008 story titled “Big Concern’ About Obama; Warns Iran of ‘Inevitable’ Attack

Of course world leaders are giving Obama the obligatory statesmen-like welcome. But they are also telling Obama that the “change” he has promised back home is NOT acceptable to them… From military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to leaders of Israel and European nations, the message to Obama is unequivocally, NO CHANGE from the Bush plans…and we’ll get along fine. But is that what the American press or Obama campaign is telling the American voter?

Is Obama listening?

American news reports have made the Obama trip look like a whirlwind one-man tour to save the world in a week, by a man they hope American voters will accept as their new Messiah.

With the blind propaganda support of the U.S. press, Obama is able to create the image of a new leader welcomed by even the most disagreeable leaders around the globe. However….

Keeping track of Reality

Obama told Israel he stands firmly in defense of their country. But he also indicated to Palestinians that he stands with their desire to force Israel to give up part of their country. He told Israel he supported them, and Palestinians that he also supports them…

Military leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan told Obama that any arbitrary withdrawal time frame is counter-productive to their stated mission of achieving sustaining peace in the region. But Obama told them that he knows better and is committed to arbitrary withdrawal plans anyway.

Israel told Obama that they could work with him if elected. But only if he is committed to continuing the existing Bush plan, which Obama has spoken against for months now.

Obama told the world that he was committed to making certain Iran would never become a nuclear power. Yet he has already committed to his voters back home that he would not use military power to stop Iran from continuing down the road of nuclear proliferation and there are no signs that Iran will stop short of military action.

Though Obama could not have even visited Iraq safely before last years troop surge, he continued to state that the troop surge was a failure, as he stood and shot hoops for the camera on the ground which was secured by that surge.

McCain has had a terrible week in that the only news coverage he has received since Obama left town is that his trip to the gulf states was interrupted by weather and that he might have to announce a VP running mate just to capture 5 seconds of news time on any of the 24/7 ObamaTV networks.

The Image is Created

According to recent Pew Research polls, 60 percent or more of Europe and the Middle East support Obama’s bid for the White House, as compared to less than 15% who support McCain. Of course, third world dictators from Ahmadinejad in Iran to Chavez in Venezuela support Obama and the reasons should be obvious to all. But this is the basis upon which Americans should support Obama as well? Is the international campaigning working for American voters?

It’s important to recognize that the same number in these parts of the world, 60 percent, the same 60 percent who prefer Obama over McCain, also believe that America is too big, too strong and too rich – and that America must be brought down to size and removed from its supreme status as the last remaining super-power in the world. It is on the basis of this belief that they support a candidate who at least in rhetoric, agrees with those sentiments.

Will America Elect an Image or vote on Reality?

Clearly, many Americans prefer lies over truth, image over substance and rhetoric over reality. As a result, no matter how ridiculous the Obama campaign becomes, some 40 percent of American voters are indeed foolish enough to fall for the most fraudulent political campaign in modern history come November. It’s as if Obama is running for International Secretary General or world dictator…

What about the other 60 percent of American voters who appear completely demoralized and divided over a less that stellar alternative in John McCain?

In the end, it will be a matter of sane priorities against insane fantasies. Here’s to focusing the nation on sane priorities before they throw the nation off the leftist cliff on the basis of their insane fantasies of a new Messiah named Obama!

I have never seen a more under-qualified but over-confident fraud in my entire life. Obama and his puppet masters are counting on the ignorance of the American voter and so are many of America’s enemies around the globe.

In today’s Berlin speech, Obama says “the world is keenly interested in the U.S. election.” This is true and nobody on earth is more interested in Obama’s campaign than terrorists hoping for a “kindler-gentler” president elect… God help us if their useful American idiots are now a voting majority!

In a letter to the editor this week in the Pine River Journal, Pequot Lakes Echo I wrote about personal responsibility and that society as a whole has become more complacent to just sit back and say there is a problem and somehow it is governments to solve.  Wake Up America, Wake Up Minnesota..... it is because we have lost track and no longer teach, instill or know anything about personal responsibility that is causing the problems in America. 

Case in point.  The brutal beating of a father at Valleyfair on July 4th by a mob of young men trying to molest his daughter.  Forget they are black.  I don't care what color they are..... this type of violence is just wrong.  And it is not based on the things that more government spending that the Star Tribune links Presidential candidate Obama to of "increased funding for education, health and antipoverty efforts."  That is a cop out to the government for the actions that are unacceptable period!  Would Obama and the Star Tribune made the same calls for action if this were say 8 suburban teenage white males.  Absolutely not!  This race baiting, this mantra of that is a fiscal and educational issue is nonsense and has to stop!

What the editorial by the Star Tribune assumes is that government is or should be the economic, social and political solver for every problem in society.   If you start with that as the premise we as a society have already lost.  Every day there are more examples of how the concept of personal responsibility is eroding. Someone else is to blame for anything that goes wrong, and we are all victims.

Simply put, we have a growing segment of people who aren't taking care of their own families, helping their neighbors, or participating in their own communities. The editorial and those sympathetic to those views think this is where government steps in.  However, with freedom comes responsibility. Every time we give up responsibilities, the government compensates by assuming more power, which results in us giving up another piece of our liberty.

What really needs to be happen is for everyone to stop making excuses and stop thinking that it is another government program or another government handout that will solve the problem.  Take the time to bring your kids to church, take the time to communicate with them, expose them to your values, not the government's values, and instill in them personal responsibility.  I argue that if everyone took care of themselves a little bit more, our government budget and entitlement programs wouldn't be in the mess that they're in. We wouldn't have people relying on the government to take care of issues that are the job of families and individuals.

In the case of the thugs that beat up this father defending his daughter against attack the government does have a role.  To punish these thugs and throw them in jail for as long as possible under the law, make them register as predatory offenders upon their release and subject to Adam Walsh so they get the public scrutiny for their actions they deserve.  No jail sentence is too long nor is any period required to register as a predatory offender.  Thank God for the father being present there is no idea what they may have done to the daughter.  Again this has everything to do with a lack of personal responsibility not some failed government program or creation of a new one.

Repost of excellent commentary from the Patriot Post   http://patriotpost.us

By Mark Alexander

This week, Iranian Islamist Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad tested his new ballistic missile, the Shahab-3—range 1,250 miles. Next door in Iraq, 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” uranium ore, which Saddam intended to weaponize for use in his non-existent WMD program, were removed from Tuwaitha. (That’s enough for more than 100 medium-sized nuclear boomers.) And while al-Qa’ida has been routed in Iraq, there was plenty of evidence this week that jihadis are putting up fierce resistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Seems like this is as good a week as any to pause and ponder, “Who should be our next commander in chief?”

The most important constitutional role of our president is that of commander in chief—which is why every Patriot, every American, every human on the planet, should be deeply concerned about the prospect of a “President Obama.”

If Barack Hussein Obama, the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, persuades voters that he is a “centrist candidate” and parlays that deception into defeating John McCain, there will be plenty of “change” in the coming years—unpleasant at best and catastrophic at worst.

Arguably, since our nation’s founding, no candidate has been less qualified than Obama to be his political party’s nominee for president of the United States. And nowhere is Obama more ill prepared than in matters of national security.

Obama responded to Iran’s missile tests this week, saying, “Now is the time to work with our friends and allies, and to pursue direct and aggressive diplomacy with the Iranian regime backed by tougher unilateral and multilateral sanctions. It’s time to offer the Iranians a clear choice between increased costs for continuing their troubling behavior, and concrete incentives that would come if they change course.”

“Incentives”? Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad has vowed to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust. How about this incentive—a paraphrase from JFK during the Cuban missile debacle: “It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any missile launched from Iran against any ally of the United States as an attack by Iran on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon Iran.”

Further, Obama insists, “I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did.”

Come again? A quick fact check and one finds that Franklin Roosevelt did not hold direct talks with Adolf Hitler or Hideki Tojo. Harry Truman’s “pre-conditions” for peace negotiations with Japan were two atomic bombs, and Truman didn’t talk with North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung after his invasion of South Korea in 1950. Instead, he sent troops, and we are still there, as we are in Japan and Germany. As for John Kennedy, he did meet with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. But Khrushchev knew, after Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco, that he could outflank Kennedy.

Elie Abel, who authored The Missile Crisis, the definitive text on Russia’s placement of long-range nukes in Cuba, said, “How close we came to Armageddon I did not fully realize until I started researching this book.” In it, he wrote, “There is reason to believe that Khrushchev took Kennedy’s measure in June 1961 and decided this was a young man who would shrink from hard decisions. There is no evidence to support the belief that Khrushchev ever questioned America’s power. He questioned only the president’s readiness to use it. As he once told Robert Frost, he came to believe that Americans are ‘too liberal to fight’.”

When Obama was asked if he would meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-il, without preconditions, he responded, “I think it’s a disgrace that we have not spoken to them.”

Well heck, Ted Turner went to North Korea and did some negotiating. Perhaps Obama plans to appoint Turner’s ex, “Hanoi” Jane Fonda, his ambassador there.

Talk aside, we have boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in regard to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Obama’s abject nescience is readily apparent.

“Let me be as clear as I can be,” says Obama. “I intend to end this war. My first day in office I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war—responsibly, deliberately, but decisively.”

The only way to end a war “responsibly, deliberately and decisively” is victory.

On retreat from Iraq, Obama says, “What’s important is to understand the difference between strategy and tactics... I am not somebody—unlike George Bush—who is willing to ignore facts on the basis of my preconceived notions.”

I have been through 16 national-security programs for senior tacticians and strategists, and I do not recall ever coming across any alumni reference to “Barack Obama.” I would suggest that Obama take a short course on The Long War.

Of course, Obama announced this week that he plans to visit Iraq for a “fact-finding mission,” in order to make “a thorough assessment” [Read: “Change my policy”]. Here is a fact he might consider: Attacks in Iraq are down more than 90 percent over the previous year.

Regarding al-Qa’ida strongholds in Afghanistan or Pakistan, Obama says, “I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance.” Rule number one—NEVER take any option off the table, EVER.

Most stupefyingly, Obama has pledged to revitalize the Clinton Doctrine for dealing with terrorists—treat terrorism as a criminal matter.

In regard to Obama’s plan for overall military preparedness, it just gets worse.

“I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.” This year, both our sea-based SM-3 and ground-based midcourse defense system missiles proved to be successful. The U.S. Bureau of Arms Control concluded in May, “The ballistic missile danger to the US, its forces deployed abroad, and allies and friends is real and growing.” (See Obama’s pledge to abolish missile defense).

“I will not weaponize space.” Memo to Senator Obama: Our current policy is not to weaponize space.

“I will slow our development of future combat systems...” The average service age of our frontline fighter aircraft is 23 years. The Army’s Future Combat Systems is the first full-spectrum modernization effort since the 1960s. Of course, the Marines, who are still using some hardware from long-ago wars, have always improvised, adapted and overcome.

“I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons... I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.”

Well, I’m all for no nuclear weapons. However, until the other guys are willing to give up their 4,162 nukes, we had best maintain a deterrence strategy, and since most nuclear weapon components have a shelf life, we must continue to update our weapons for them to be functional. And what’s this nonsense about U.S. nuclear forces being on “hair-trigger alert”? Apparently, Candidate Obama has been watching reruns of “Dr. Strangelove.”

In his first annual address, President George Washington declared, “To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” Apparently, Obama, and the rest of his far-Left cadre, missed that memo.

In 1994, Ronald Reagan observed, “The Democrats may remember their lines, but how quickly they forget the lessons of the past. I have witnessed five major wars in my lifetime, and I know how swiftly storm clouds can gather on a peaceful horizon... In the end, it all comes down to leadership, and that is what this country is looking for now.”

Indeed, it is.

My friend, Marty Seifert - Minority Leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives, held a press conference today on the upcoming elections in Minnesota.  Amazingly most of the mainstream media showed up.  I was disappointed in the lack of coverage by the local blog community though as they seem to be more obsessed with a happy hour coming up than politics.  Its hot, its the middle of summer so I will give them a break this time.

For the first time in recent memory - Republicans will run candidates in all 134 state House districts this fall.  THE GOAL - retaking the majority they lost two years ago.

Seifert said the candidates will run on a platform of lower taxes, repeatedly referring to the gasoline tax increase that the DFL majority approved earlier this year.   I think personally that should be the poster of the election but there are many other issues like immigration and education reform which the DFL have done nothing about in the past two years.  Minnesotans want action on illegals, they want action on Defense of Marriage Amendment, they want action on reducing the size of government.

I look forward to the many DFL first and second term Representatives attempting to defend their votes for big government, special interests in St. Paul rather than voting against measures that are hurting taxpayers, families and businesses in their districts.  While analysts say this is more of a Democrat type year I don't think there is any such thing as a predictable election.  The past two years has seen huge government spending increases, more government intrusion into peoples lives and more businesses leaving Minnesota or closing up shop for good.

Seifert has got his hands full but I think him and the fine slate of candidates that are running are up for the task.

This was sent to me and obtained from the following website:
http://obamawtf.blogspot.com/2008/06/ten-dealbreakers-that-are-forcing.html

Note: I have made no attempt to validate this information but it makes for interesting reading.

The Many Lies of Barack

1.) Selma Got Me Born - Lie, you were born in 1961 - Selma had no effect
on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - Lie, he was a privileged, well educated
youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - Lie, he was part of one of the
most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - Lie, your cousin Raila
Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate
election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in many
years.

5.) My Name is African Swahili - Lie, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka'
(from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also
Arabic and so is Obama.

6.) I Never Practiced Islam - Lie, you practiced it daily at school, where
you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until
your wife made you change, so you could run for office.

7.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - Lie, you were registered as
Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check
your own book).

8.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - Lie, not one teacher says you could speak
the language.

9.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - Lie,
you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the
language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

10.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - Lie, you were quite
content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no
mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.

11.) An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - Lie, Ebony has yet to
find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did,
exist.

12.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - Lie, Life has
yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never
did, exist.

13.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - Lie, here you are, despite
saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and
you are all about having experience first.

14.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - Lie, they are common for YOU,
but not many others have 130 PRESENT VOTES.

15.) Oops, I Misvoted - Lie, only when caught by church groups and
democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

16.) I Was A Professor Of Law - Lie, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

17.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - Lie, you were a senior lecturer ON
LEAVE.

18.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - Lie, you didn't write
it,introduce it, change it, or create it.

19.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - Lie, it took just 14 days from
start to finish.

20.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - Lie, your bill was rejected by your
own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of
your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.

21.) I Have Released My State Records - Lie, as of May, 1 2008, state
bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the
special interests pork hidden within.

22.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - Lie, you were part of a
large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to mention
anyone else but yourself, in your books.

23.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - Lie, your 111 economic policies
were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted
against your own bill.

24.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - Lie, even your own supporters
claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

25.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - Lie, they were not YOUR
bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator,
to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

26.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA - Lie, the Candian Government
issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with
them.

27.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - Lie, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on
terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of
Israel.

28.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet - Lie, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead
terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how
you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.

29.) I Didn't Run Ads In Florida - Lie, you ran ads ONLY along the florida
border as well as national ads in an attempt to reach Florida voters 8-12
times per day for two weeks - and you still lost.

30.) I Won Michigan - Lie, no you didn't.

31.) I won Nevada - Lie, no you did not.

32.) I Want All Votes To Count - Lie, you said let the delegates decide,
and you have fought not to have another primary in Michigan or Florida.

33.) I Want Americans To Decide - Lie, you prefer caucuses that limit the
vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during
small windows of time.

34.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - Lie, you passed 26, most of
which you didn't write yourself.

35.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend - Lie, that friend is
threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has finally
stopped saying this.

36.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - Lie, you used tactics to
eliminate Alice Palmer (a fellow democrat that wanted you to replace her
in the next term) from running against you by challenging ALL of her
signatures and thus running unopposed.

37.) I Don't Take PAC Money - Lie, you take loads of it. The Obama PAC is
the largest PAC in the US Senate. I dare Obama supporters to go look this
up.

38.) I don't Have Lobbyists - Lie, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

39.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - Lie, your own
campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

40.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace - Lie, Tom, who started MySpace
issued a warning about this to MySpace clients.

41.) I Inspire People With My Words - Lie, you inspire people with other
people's words.

42.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate - Lie, you have passed A BILL
in the U.S. Senate - for Africa, which shows YOUR priorities.

43.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - Lie, you weren't in office to vote
against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike
Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you. You also seem to be stepping
back from your departure date in Iraq - AGAIN.

44.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - Lie, your plan leaves
us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.

45.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail - Lie, both
companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no
records of any such letters ever being created or sent.

46.) My Wife Didn't Mean What She Said About Pride In Country - Lie, your
wife's words follow lock-step in the vein of Wright and Farrakhan, in
relation to their contempt and hatred of America.

47.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn't Support - Lie, your wife has
received nearly a quarter of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is
connected to Wal-Mart.

48.) Treehouse Is A Small Company - Lie, the CEO of Treehouse last year,
made more than the CEO of Wal-Mart, according to public records.

49.) University Of Chicago Hospital Pay Is Fair - Lie, your wife's pay
raise was nearly 150% her already bloated rate (going from $120K to $320K
weeks after you got into the US Senate and tried to get a $1 million pork
project for the very same hospital) and the hospital is a Non-Profit
Hospital, which made $100,000,000 in the last 3 years. They overcharge
blacks VS whites for services, and overcharge everyone in general by 538%!

50.) I Barely Know Rezko - Only 5 Billed Hours - Lie, you have known him
for 17 years, and decided to do a real estate deal with him during a time
when he was proven to be under investigation. Despite this, you divided
your property and had them take off $300K before the mortgage problems
started. Then Rezko's wife buys the lot beside it that you can't afford,
saving you $625,000.

51.) My Donations Have Been Checked Thoroughly - Lie, you only gave back
Hsu ($72K [Yes, the same Hsu, Obama supporters try to tie Clinton to]) and
Rezko (first $66K, then when caught lying $86K, then when caught lying
again $150K and now caught lying YET AGAIN, it's $250k) their money when
publically called on their involvement in your campaigns.

52.) My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church - Lie, your church is so
extreme, the pastor who married you, Rev. Wright, just got done blaming
the US for 9/11 and named Louis Farrakhan their person of the year.

53.) I Disagree With My Church All The Time - Lie, you only recently
repudiated Wright, who married you and your wife, and you still donate
large sums of money to assist the church in furthering its message -
hatred and revenge. You donated in 2006 alone, $22,500 to the church that
you so terribly disagree with. That is nearly $500 PER WEEK - that sure is
disagreement, Senator Obama.

54.) I Have Clean Connections Despite Rezko - Lie, you are not only
connected to Exelon and Rezko, you are also connected to Hillary PAC
supporter Mr. Hsu, AND an Iraqi Billionaire of ill repute, Nadhmi Auchi,
who ripped off people in the Food For Oil, Iraqi deal. Mr. Auchi was also
found guilt in another political corruption scandal (largest in France
since WWII). And this is one of Obamas' good supporters that paid millions
into the Obama campaign.

55.) I never heard sermons like Rev. Wright's, that have been in videos on
You Tube all day - Lie! 3 days later during your Mea Culpa speech you said
"Did I hear controversial statements while I sat in that church? Yes I
did." FLIP-FLOPPER

56.) The Passport Invasion is a conspiracy to find dirt on me! - Lie. Your
own Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor is the CEO of the company that looked
into your records. Could it be that you had them look into yours to hide
the fact you looked into Clinton's and McCain's more than a year before!

57.) Rev. Meeks has nothing to do with my campaigning - Lie. Rev. Meeks
appeared in ads for your Senate Campaign, donated to you, and helped raise
money, then AND NOW. He also seems to despise America as much as Rev.
Wright.

58.) My wife didn't mean America is ignorant, she was just using a phrase
- Lie. Again, MicHELLe's comments are perfectly in sync with Wright's,
Meeks', and Farrakhan's, both in language, anger, and direction.

59.) I am very Anti-Terror - Lie. One of your good pals is long time
radical and terrorist William Ayers, with whom you have been seen in the
last 12 months and who has helped the now jailed Khalidi, Professor at
Columbia who invited Ahmadinejad to the University, to raise money for
Palestinian terrorism attacks against Israel. PS - Your church published a
pro Hamas Manifesto - guess you weren't there on THAT Sunday either? How
lucky for you.

60.) I have the best plan to cure the Mortgage Crisis - Lie. You and your
campaign buddy Penny 'Sub Prime Bank Collapse' Prizker have had your
little fingers full of subprime cash - Obama has taken $1,180,103 from the
top issuers of subprime loans: Obama received $266,907 from Lehman, $5395
from GMAC, $150,850 from Credit Suisse First Boston, $11,250 from
Countrywide, $9052 from Washington Mutual, $161,850 from Citigroup, $4600
from CBASS, $170,050 from Morgan Stanley, $1150 from Centex, and last but
certainly NOT LEAST - Obama received $351,900 from Goldman Sachs. I am
sure that cash all came from folks who knew the subprime loan they had was
a dream, eh?

61.) I played a greater role in crafting liberal stands on gun control,
the death penalty and abortion - Lie - It was found that Obama -- the day
after sitting for the interview -- filed an amended version of the
questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama's own handwritten notes
added to one answer. Read Obama had greater role on liberal survey. html
version

On a cold day in January 1974 Ronald Reagan gave a speech on America's heritage, America's Founding Father's Courage that in today's political light is a little history that we should remind ourselves of the many sacrafices that came before us to make the Constitution, our freedom, our liberty worth fighting for and protecting when those like Al Gore, Barrack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Al Franken and countless other liberals in Washington D.C. and right here at home would rather put the government in charge instead of the other way around like our Founding Fathers intended.  

"...Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the
first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that
government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers
of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should."

- Happy Fourth of July. Ronald Reagan President of the United States.

"We Will Be As a City upon a Hill"

Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA)

Conservative Political Action Conference

Washington, DC

January 25, 1974

I thought that tonight, rather than talking on the subjects you are discussing, or trying to find something new to say, it might be appropriate to reflect a bit on our heritage.

You can call it mysticism if you want to, but I have always believed that there was some divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage.

This was true of those who pioneered the great wilderness in the beginning of this country, as it is also true of those later immigrants who were willing to leave the land of their birth and come to a land where even the language was unknown to them. Call it chauvinistic, but our heritage does not set us apart. Some years ago a writer, who happened to be an avid student of history, told me a story about that day in the little hall in Philadelphia where honorable men, hard-pressed by a King who was flouting the very law they were willing to obey, debated whether they should take the fateful step of declaring their independence from that king. I was told by this man that the story could be found in the writings of Jefferson. I confess, I never researched or made an effort to verify it. Perhaps it is only legend. But story, or legend, he described the atmosphere, the strain, the debate, and that as men for the first time faced the consequences of such an irretrievable act, the walls resounded with the dread word of treason and its price—the gallows and the headman’s axe. As the day wore on the issue hung in the balance, and then, according to the story, a man rose in the small gallery. He was not a young man and was obviously calling on all the energy he could muster. Citing the grievances that had brought them to this moment he said, “Sign that parchment. They may turn every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave and yet the words of that parchment can never die. For the mechanic in his workshop, they will be words of hope, to the slave in the mines—freedom.” And he added, “If my hands were freezing in death, I would sign that parchment with my last ounce of strength. Sign, sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, sign even if the hall is ringing with the sound of headman’s axe, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the bible of the rights of man forever.” And then it is said he fell back exhausted. But 56 delegates, swept by his eloquence, signed the Declaration of Independence, a document destined to be as immortal as any work of man can be. And according to the story, when they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he could not be found nor were there any who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors.

Well, as I say, whether story or legend, the signing of the document that day in Independence Hall was miracle enough. Fifty-six men, a little band so unique—we have never seen their like since—pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Sixteen gave their lives, most gave their fortunes and all of them preserved their sacred honor. What manner of men were they? Certainly they were not an unwashed, revolutionary rebel, nor were then adventurers in a heroic mood. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, nine were farmers. They were men who would achieve security but valued freedom more.

And what price did they pay? John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. After more than a year of living almost as an animal in the forest and in caves, he returned to find his wife had died and his children had vanished. He never saw them again, his property was destroyed and he died of a broken heart—but with no regret, only pride in the part he had played that day in Independence Hall. Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships—they were sold to pay his debts. He died in rags. So it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston, and Middleton. Nelson, learning that Cornwallis was using his home for a headquarters, personally begged Washington to fire on him and destroy his home—he died bankrupt. It has never been reported that any of these men ever expressed bitterness or renounced their action as not worth the price. Fifty-six rank-and-file, ordinary citizens had founded a nation that grew from sea to shining sea, five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep—all done without an area re-development plan, urban renewal or a rural legal assistance program.

Now we are a nation of 211 million people with a pedigree that includes blood lines from every corner of the world. We have shed that American-melting-pot blood in every corner of the world, usually in defense of someone’s freedom. Those who remained of that remarkable band we call our Founding Fathers tied up some of the loose ends about a dozen years after the Revolution. It had been the first revolution in all man’s history that did not just exchange one set of rulers for another. This had been a philosophical revolution. The culmination of men’s dreams for 6,000 years were formalized with the Constitution, probably the most unique document ever drawn in the long history of man’s relation to man. I know there have been other constitutions, new ones are being drawn today by newly emerging nations. Most of them, even the one of the Soviet Union, contains many of the same guarantees as our own Constitution, and still there is a difference. The difference is so subtle that we often overlook it, but is is so great that it tells the whole story. Those other constitutions say, “Government grants you these rights” and ours says, “You are born with these rights, they are yours by the grace of God, and no government on earth can take them from you.”

Lord Acton of England, who once said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” would say of that document, “They had solved with astonishing ease and unduplicated success two problems which had heretofore baffled the capacity of the most enlightened nations. They had contrived a system of federal government which prodigiously increased national power and yet respected local liberties and authorities, and they had founded it on a principle of equality without surrendering the securities of property or freedom.” Never in any society has the preeminence of the individual been so firmly established and given such a priority.

In less than twenty years we would go to war because the God-given rights of the American sailors, as defined in the Constitution, were being violated by a foreign power. We served notice then on the world that all of us together would act collectively to safeguard the rights of even the least among us. But still, in an older, cynical world, they were not convinced. The great powers of Europe still had the idea that one day this great continent would be open again to colonizing and they would come over and divide us up.

In the meantime, men who yearned to breathe free were making their way to our shores. Among them was a young refugee from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He had been a leader in an attempt to free Hungary from Austrian rule. The attempt had failed and he fled to escape execution. In America, this young Hungarian, Koscha by name, became an importer by trade and took out his first citizenship papers. One day, business took him to a Mediterranean port. There was a large Austrian warship under the command of an admiral in the harbor. He had a manservant with him. He had described to this manservant what the flag of his new country looked like. Word was passed to the Austrian warship that this revolutionary was there and in the night he was kidnapped and taken aboard that large ship. This man’s servant, desperate, walking up and down the harbor, suddenly spied a flag that resembled the description he had heard. It was a small American war sloop. He went aboard and told Captain Ingraham, of that war sloop, his story. Captain Ingraham went to the American Consul. When the American Consul learned that Koscha had only taken out his first citizenship papers, the consul washed his hands of the incident. Captain Ingraham said, “I am the senior officer in this port and I believe, under my oath of my office, that I owe this man the protection of our flag.”

He went aboard the Austrian warship and demanded to see their prisoner, our citizen. The Admiral was amused, but they brought the man on deck. He was in chains and had been badly beaten. Captain Ingraham said, “I can hear him better without those chains,” and the chains were removed. He walked over and said to Kocha, “I will ask you one question; consider your answer carefully. Do you ask the protection of the American flag?” Kocha nodded dumbly “Yes,” and the Captain said, “You shall have it.” He went back and told the frightened consul what he had done. Later in the day three more Austrian ships sailed into harbor. It looked as though the four were getting ready to leave. Captain Ingraham sent a junior officer over to the Austrian flag ship to tell the Admiral that any attempt to leave that harbor with our citizen aboard would be resisted with appropriate force. He said that he would expect a satisfactory answer by four o’clock that afternoon. As the hour neared they looked at each other through the glasses. As it struck four he had them roll the cannons into the ports and had then light the tapers with which they would set off the cannons—one little sloop. Suddenly the lookout tower called out and said, “They are lowering a boat,” and they rowed Koscha over to the little American ship.

Captain Ingraham then went below and wrote his letter of resignation to the United States Navy. In it he said, “I did what I thought my oath of office required, but if I have embarrassed my country in any way, I resign.” His resignation was refused in the United States Senate with these words: “This battle that was never fought may turn out to be the most important battle in our Nation’s history.” Incidentally, there is to this day, and I hope there always will be, a USS Ingraham in the United States Navy.

I did not tell that story out of any desire to be narrowly chauvinistic or to glorify aggressive militarism, but it is an example of government meeting its highest responsibility.

In recent years we have been treated to a rash of noble-sounding phrases. Some of them sound good, but they don’t hold up under close analysis. Take for instance the slogan so frequently uttered by the young senator from Massachusetts, “The greatest good for the greatest number.” Certainly under that slogan, no modern day Captain Ingraham would risk even the smallest craft and crew for a single citizen. Every dictator who ever lived has justified the enslavement of his people on the theory of what was good for the majority.

We are not a warlike people. Nor is our history filled with tales of aggressive adventures and imperialism, which might come as a shock to some of the placard painters in our modern demonstrations. The lesson of Vietnam, I think, should be that never again will young Americans be asked to fight and possibly die for a cause unless that cause is so meaningful that we, as a nation, pledge our full resources to achieve victory as quickly as possible.