Crazy day on my end folks.

Going to work the booth for the GOP at the Anoka County Fair tonight, so I am not sure if I’ll even be able to check the news til the morning.

So what’s on your mind?

My deepest sympathies to Senator Nrom Coleman (R MN) and family. Word was just passed to me that his father passed away this morning.

God be with the Colemans today.

I just went and test drove one of these on my lunch hour.

Best part about it…..

Would someone please kidnap me and keep me away from Chevy dealers for quite a while? I may have fallen in love today.

Well today is off to a bad start. I over slept and have a heck of a lot on the agenda today.

So as they say, posting may be a bit light.

On a more negative note, I found a local watering hole within walking distance last night. My lovely date and I solved all the world’s problems and even those of the MNGOP message over two for ones.

The only problem is we didn’t write anything down.

This one came in as part of an email from a friend.

On another note, [ed.] said he got a call from GOP fundraisers for the special election and he refused to give any money because he did not trust the financial stewardship of the state party.  And also because the caller was an asshole, he said.

That person does audit, accounting, and financial work for a rather large corporation here in Minnesota.

For those of you out there who share this same sentiment, I suggest you donate directly to Steve Drazkowski.

Is Fred Thompson getting ready to officially get his campaign going?

ompson is shaking up his still-unofficial campaign, replacing his top aide with a former Michigan senator and a veteran Florida strategist.

The shake-up comes amid consternation inside the campaign about the active role played by Thompson’s wife, Jeri, a lawyer, media consultant and former Republican National Committee official.

“Rumors are rumors,” said Thompson spokeswoman Linda Rozett. “It is not a personal issue. It’s an organizational issue. We are strengthening the organization as we enter the next phase.”

“next phase” Well, now is the time. I don’t like the idea of another big government Republican Governor getting the nomination and winning the Presidency.

Run Fred, Run!

The Strib piece is up.

There doesn’t seem to be anything new, groundbreakin, or downright dirty in it. Just other people saying an audit is under way, and that there were some ‘minor’ violations.

Another committee member, Brian Sullivan, said: “To the extent that anything is not in compliance … my assessment of this has been they are just very technical and minor violations, which are not unusual at all for political organizations, especially given the complexities of various laws.”

I think the Carey hacks can sheeth their swords, and AAA can get some sleep.

Good night all. I need my rest. Got a bunch of crap to do at work tomorrow, and a new couch to maybe buy tomorrow night.

Unity! 

So there may be another big splash brewing for the financial reporting woes of the MNGOP.

Here’s the facts as I know them so far. And I will try to be as impartial, fair, and hard hitting to both sides as possible.

Joe Repya sent out a letter to Delegates this weekend, and attached one he sent to Gov. Pawlenty.

In the letters he called on Pawlenty to intervene in the matters regarding the financials and misreporting of by the MNGOP.

Snippet:

I strongly recommend that you immediately ask the state GOP Chair to temporarily step down (with pay) and appoint a bi-partisan committee to conduct a full investigation and an independent external audit of the state GOP headquarters, its leadership and financial practices. To make the findings as public and transparent as possible, I suggest at a minimum that this committee include: Non-partisan external legal council, a GOP and DFL Minnesota House Ethics Committee member, and a three member media panel (radio, TV and print). As Governor you have the power to demonstrate that the Minnesota GOP can police itself, determine if any wrong doing took place, and if necessary take the appropriate action by holding those responsible for allegedly illegal activities accountable. If the state GOP Chair is cleared of all allegations as we hope he will, he can then be restored to his position.

Now, this may have been ill timed by Repya as I have been told by multiple sources that an audit or audits has or is being done. But I do support an open and transparent reporting of the results of the audit(s) and the recommendations to correct the errors.

And to clarify, he didn’t call for a resignation, but rather to step aside with pay.

(updated while drafting)

Chairman Carey sent out a memo tonight in response to Repya’s letter that explained an audit was done in June. Remember as some have claimed, the issue was long over, or dealt with in April. Well, the audit and consulting did not happen until the story hit the media. It was in June according to Carey’s own memo, that someone was finally brought in to advise and oversee the internal audit.

And while we’re talking about the media, I don’t necessarily like the idea of reporters getting their hands on our party docs, but I like the idea of having them cover the reform and corrections to correct the errors and regain trust with the party.

Oh yeah, don’t forget that there were problems with how the MNGOP was doing things. Chairman Carey’s letter says as much.

He did look through our accounting practices and procedures and recommended some changes.

Now I could pick through the timeline details, but I really don’t have the time to deal with the Carey campaign hacks again. I would like us to move on. yes, Carey won, Repya lost. the race was close though, so the shut up tactics from the Carey supporters is a bit uncalled for.

I think it was silly for Repya to ask that DFLers be used to audit the GOP. I think Carey’s usual “it is a liberal Strib attack” line is getting old and tired, especially when the basis of this whole thing is true. There was financial mismanagement at the GOP under Carey’s watch. He was Treasurer for 8 years before he was Chair. That’s 10 years of intimate involvement in the Party’s financial matters.

Last week I gave some advice.

I recommend that the certain group and people being scrutinized just verify all is well and or corrected and leave it at that. Don’t lash out. Don’t sweep it under the rug. Do the audit, release the results, and put this thing to bed. Please!

I would like this to get over with, and the sooner the better.

Here’s my skinny on this whole thing.

Repya went too far. Carey is handling this whole thing poorly. The new party staff and Executive Committee members are finally demanding results I hear, and it shows. Heads are rolling, er things are changing down at HQ.

No one person can be blamed for dividing this party. There’s plenty of disagreements to go around both between these two, and on down the ranks. Whether it be activists upset with GOp elected officials for issue-slapping them in the face, or admin side folks like Carey and Repya taking shots at each other. Carey can’t sweep this under the rug by saying “unite” and “Strib attacks”. And Repya should take some time and see what happens, and if Carey learned anything from the election.

Now the Strib may be getting ready to unveil another expose on his issue tonight or in the morning. Some are saying this is to attack Republicans on the eve of an election. They say it is to drag down Draz in HD28. Sorry, I just can’t buy that one. Plausible? sure, it is the Strib. But let’s not forget that the charges/claims are for real. They aren’t manufactured. The party did do wrong!

The MNGOP has some problems…. well lots of problems, but I am glad to hear that these have been looked at and reforms are underway.

I trust that there will no longer be any shred of doubt that the party of fiscal responsibility is acting in an ethical manner and a good steward of financial practices.

I think that we need a cooling off period. Let’s have the party prepare a detailed accounting of the audit, reports, reforms, and or corrections for our December meeting. In the mean time, we concentrate more on why people should trust and vote for the Republicans, instead of why so and so sucks, whatever party they belong to, organization they work for, or paper they write for.

A lot of stupid things are being said. trust me, you should see my emails.

Circular firing squads usually don’t work out too well.

Let’s all take a deep breath. Have a smoke, drink, walk, yoga, heck do whatever you do to relax and calm down.

(I think that was pretty fair)

Now can I go have my tribute drink to my late father?

I have a civic duty tonight, which sucks, because there is a story brewing regarding the MNGOP.

I will find out what i can and try to post later tonight.

Just what a city struggling with its safety image needs, Cops trying to fill budget gaps by issuing tickets.

(WCCO) Anyone driving through Minneapolis should keep their eyes on the speedometer and watch those red lights. Police are cracking down on traffic violations to help fill a gap in the city’s budget.

The city said the police department is nearly $6 million over budget and money from traffic tickets is down more than a million dollars as well.

So to help get back in the black, the number of traffic tickets handed out in Minneapolis in recent weeks has gone up more than 13 percent.

City leaders say raising money isn’t the only motive. However, news of increased police traffic enforcement on Minneapolis streets is getting a mixed reception

“I think they have bigger fish to fry,” said Minneapolis resident Wallace Durham

The story goes on to spin that they are targeting high-crime neighborhoods, but frankly how does increasing traffic tickets deal with the types of crime that are plaguing the city?

Only in a liberal run city would police funding be left in such disarray. Cops should be the #1 priority in municipal budgets!