I received 2 Ron Paul lit pieces late last week. Frankly, to all those people out there who are claiming he is a consistant conservative on fiscal issues, I say back to you that he rivals Dennis Kucinich for most dangerous foreign policy amongst the POTUS hopefuls. And that is a tie breaker for me. It is the one issue, he is inflexible on, and hence, I am inflexible on him.  

Instant Runoff Voting is set to come to Minneapolis in 2009, unless a new court challenge has anything to say about it.

A group called the Minnesota Voters Alliance filed suit Thursday in Hennepin County District Court seeking to keep instant-runoff voting from starting up in Minneapolis.

The group’s lawyer, Erick Kaardal, cited an opinion from Attorney General Lori Swanson saying the system of ranking candidates by preference probably isn’t permitted by the state Constitution. That opinion, issued this year, stopped short of calling the system unconstitutional.

Kaardal also referenced a 1915 state Supreme Court case that struck down a Duluth system that ranked candidates.

The suit challenges the constitutionality of the city’s instant-runoff voter charter amendment, arguing that the method infringes upon an individual’s right to vote, right of association and due process. Named in the suit are Swanson, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

IRV is pretty hard to comprehend. You have to act like you are a pro sports scout on draft day, choosing a first, second, or third choice on the fly in the election both.

The method requires voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gains a majority (50 percent plus 1 vote), the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped.

Then the second-place votes cast by supporters of that candidate are added to the remaining candidates. The process continues until one candidate gains a majority.

So for those races where there are multiple candidates, you could end up having a person who was selected by very few voters, as a first choice, could end up winning the race after the fuzzy math is applied.

The same usual types who scream disenfranchisement and fraud over touch screen voting and, dare I say it, having a Republican Secretary of State, are in fact pushing this incredibly confusing and process destroying election system. You could actually end up leaving the voting both voting for the winner and the loser, but not really knowing which one of your votes will be counted.

Unfortunately Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (USSR MN) is on the case.

I think Christmas shopping is finally complete, save one gift, which will be impossible to find before Christmas I fear. Now comes the wrapping. There’s a lot of wrapping to do. Anyways, now I am succumbing to my couch and then to bed.  I would just like to say Tancredo tanked his endorsement. Let’s see, one has a cornerstone policy that kept them in the race this long, then they drop out and throw a nod to a guy with a record in contrast to one’s key policy. Now you’ve spent the entire time talking about that issue, but you choose a guy who is only agreeing with you of late…. now that it matters to share you position. That my friends is what I call stupid.  

Posting is going to be light today.

I took the afternoon off to go shopping. It looks like a storm is heading in this weekend, which means I’ll have to be at work plowing instead of shopping. And well, since it would be bad for me not to have gifts this year (yes the serious girlfriend things makes it bad, guys). Well, I went to the Mall of America this afternoon. Did you know there is about 5 spots that a truck like mine can fit in? (not really, but since I did everyone a favor and not even try to pull into the ramp, I was stuck with the little outside ones. And well, sorry Red Bull truck, that spot was mine. I was there first.Anyways, it was really a waste. The crowd got to me, so did the useless sales staff at a few stores. Seriously folks, when people walk in, look around, then stand at the counter for a little bit, chances are they want something and you should stop talking to your friends. It is also disappointing that I couldn’t find anything that i knew people would like that was in their size.this whole buying for a woman thing sucks. The pressure, the chance of complete rejection…. grrrrrr.  So I headed back towards home. I headed north to hit Rosedale on the way home. Let me tell you traffic absolutely sucks with out the 35W bridge. Oh wait, you probably know that too. Good thing we do, cause the morons ingovernment don’t. (I am talking to everyone on both sides of the isle)Anyways. Rosedale kinda sucks too. More rude patrons. Young teens who seem to think it their place in life to stand and be in the way. Anyways, another wasted trip. But I did hit on of the department style stores near by, grabbed an adult beverage at my old watering hole. And now, I am headed home. Still unstaisfied with what I have to give for Christmas, and a headache from the morons in malls and on the roads.Oh, I should mention that at 4:30 PM when I was headed through downtown Minneapolis, the Hiawatha light rail train that forced a green light to turn red for no other reason passed me was almost completely empty. It was a 4 car one, and I doubt there was more than 18 to 24 people on the thing. So how much did that cost us taxpayers?Bah humbug!  

its Christmas, I know everyone is supposed to b e in the giving mood, but come on Guv. Believe it or not, but some people choose to be homeless. Sure, some truly need help. But others, and I worked at a liquor store in North East for a few years dealing with a few, some people prefer the homeless lifestyle, and wouldn’t take help if you forced them to. But, that won’t stop him from spending $217 million dollars in the next 3 years on the “problem”.

Compassion is a thing best done on one’s own to truly prove the thought and care that is behind the action. If it is a worthy cause, others will follow.  It is far too simple to beg or force others to do want you want to do to show you have a heart.

Rep. Melissa Hortman (D 47B) is the champion of Liberal causes. She has impeccable liberal credentials, as displayed by her 95% rating from the Sierra Club or her 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters. She pretty much got a big old FAIL from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce (ahem: the Business Community). 

And whenever there is a tax increase or public subsidy, chances are, her name is near it. And when there is a photo op at those signing ceremonies that hand over millions of taxpayer dollars for pet and feel good projects…. she always seems to elbow her way into the forefront of the photos so she can prove that she delivered the bacon in her campaign lit pieces.

Well, she’s also one of the leading shills for a gas tax increase at the Capital, but she doesn’t really give a darn how you pay for it. She can just bill another hour of time as a wealthy do-gooder lawyer to make up the difference for herself. This audio should help expose the liberal elite mentality that DFL legislators have. Money grows on trees to these people.

“When you’re billing $195 an hour, $50 in gas tax is well worth it.” Democrat Rep. Melissa Hortman (47B) 

That is what she uses to justify a gas tax in her mind, she can make more money from it.

A dedicated reader of Residual Forces has sent some very disturbing information on Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat. It seems that where ever there are plans for publicly subsidized construction and development, her family members own land and stand to benefit greatly from the increased land values.  Stay tuned….

As is becoming too common place nowadays, power corrupts elected officials. 

 Northfield Mayor Lee Lansing said Tuesday that he has no plans to step aside after an investigator’s report found that he abused his power by working behind the scenes to promote personal and family interests.  

This is a developing story, and will be very interesting as it unfolds. You see the Mayor is accussed of funneling city business operations and swinging deals and benefits for his family. In other words his family is getting rich off the taxpayer. 

 What the investigation found  

William Everett, an attorney from Buffalo, Minn., who was hired by the council earlier in the fall, presented his findings Monday night.The 61-page report said the mayor acted unethically when he:

•  Lobbied the city to move its municipal liquor store to property owned by his son, David Lansing, in downtown Northfield.
• Successfully pushed the city to reduce — by more than $20,000 — a park dedication fee that the city considered charging his son and a development partner.
• Used his position to try to affect the outcome of a personal business dispute with a development company that bought the building that houses his family’s hardware store.

The report described incidents when the mayor tried to influence city staff members even as he expressed concern about a “perceived” conflict of interest and recused himself from council discussions about the liquor store site.

Among other things, Lansing told City Administrator Al Roder not to release the results of a 2006 council-commissioned study of six liquor store sites that listed his son’s site as the city’s least profitable option, the report said. Roder also told the investigator that the mayor tied conversations about the outcome of the liquor store project with Roder’s pay and future at City Hall.

Evidence in the report also suggests that, while Lansing did not have a financial stake in helping his son secure the liquor store site, he orchestrated negotiations with the city, attended meetings with his son and sometimes spoke on behalf of David Lansing.

There’s more in the story, and if you already have trouble trusting politicians, this story won’t help.  Read the rest of the story. Up next in the ‘RF Series : All In The Family’ : Rep. Melissa Hortman who is running a publicly funded program to spend billions of taxpayer’s dollars to increase the value of land her family owns.  

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Daily Kos MN) voted against funds for the troops this evening.

I wonder if the local press will mention that one.