Gov. Tim Pawlenty who made serious gains in the good will department with the fiscally responsible people in the state when he line item vetoed the Bonding bill, has just erased all those gains. 

The Central Corridor light-rail line, which has become a pawn in back-and-forth negotiations at the Capitol, is back in a budget proposal made by Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday.

There will be a voter revolt this November. (Barring major mishandling by the Party leadership, fingers crossed) Republicans will pick up seats in the Minnesota House. Pawlenty and Legislators are mortgaging the future of Minnesota’s children on all these pork barrel pet projects. 

Central Corridor is a boondoggle waiting to happen. Pawlenty did the right thing when he put it back on the wish list shelf. He made up for his betrayal of the taxpayer when he allowed Hennepin County to raise taxes with out a vote on the Twins tax in 2005. The rumors of him not fighting hard to sustain his veto during that Friday afternoon meeting with Republican House members still irks many fiscal conservatives. 

But his rekindled sense of fiscal sanity in cutting out the Corridor was a breathe of fresh air for many of us who see Minnesota headed toward unsustainable Government spending. But it was short lived and now I’m left to wonder if Pawlenty does have another job he will make his legacy out of. 

When in DC I was asked about Pawlenty in terms of Vice President. Of course I answered honestly and said that it would be a terrible idea. I said both McCain and Pawlenty are Big Government Republicans. Pretty solid on taxes, but terrible on spending. They are cut from the same mold. McCain needs a rock solid limited Government Conservative to balance the ticket, not pick a ticket mate that is just like him. 

I don’t think Tim pawlenty wants to be the guy who is remembered as destroying the Midway of St. Paul. I don’t think he wants to be remembered as the guy who allowed state spending to increase exponentially at a time of recession. I don’t think he wants to be remembered as the guy who has committed the state to programs, projects, and policies that will have lasting negative ramifications and huge costs hurting the state economy and forcing Minnesota citizens to sacrifice freedom, choice, and treasure. 

Pawlenty has been a decent Governor, but he has been a terrible fiscal, limited Government conservative. Like Bush has stumbled and ruined what could have been a good legacy. Bush’s, and Republicans in Congress along with him, blew it in the first half of his second term. 

Pawlenty has to have plans for the future. I don’t think being a former Governor is enough for him. I think the time spent on the campaign trail with McCain has gone to his head and rekindled the self-serving Republican in him. He is supporting flat out liberal energy and environmental problems. He is expanding the burden of Government on citizens and taxpayers. Now he is not all bad, but neither is the soon to be former President. But what they have done wrong (and those things are mostly when they worked with the Democrats on liberal agenda items) will leave lasting headaches and painful, costly policies for future generations to deal with. 

Does he really want to be another Arne Carlson? As in a former Republican Governor who left behind a legacy chalk full of liberal agenda items and policies all marked accomplished. That guy was on local morning news this AM, and he still puts a bad taste in my mouth when they introduce him as a Republican. He’s a liberal. Just look at his tenure and listen to what he says. 

So what will Tim Pawlenty’s legacy look like if his last public service act is Governor of Minnesota? What will Minnesota, and more importantly Republicans, think of his time as Governor? Unfortunately I am not too happy with his tenure so far. Central Corridor just happens to be the perfect example of how he is not acting in the best interest of all Minnesotans, let alone limited government conservatives. 

The DFL is testing him beyond, what I fear are, his limits. They are hitting where it hurts and trying to drive the final wedge between him and his base to destroy his aspirations for calling DC his home. 

Will he be known as the Republican Governor who signed into law policies that hand over control to bureaucrats  in California who get to make every single thing in Minnesota cost more, ban the sale and purchase of certain necessities deemed as tabu by feel good environmentalists, and force us all to drive Specs that have room for your arse and a bag of organic groceries? 

(long rant I know)Back to get back to the point. If the DFL will build a state park and Vet’s hospital, he’ll sign on to the billion dollar boondoggle that will destroy a historic park of our city, create added congestion rather then reduce it, and add millions in annual operating costs to already over taxed citizens at multiple levels. 

Pawlenty can save his legacy from being just another Arne, but he has to act sooner rather than tomorrow. The clock is not just ticking, the alarm already went off, Pawlenty hit the snooze button with his veto-palooza. But can he sustain the courage and backbone he had when he did that? It seems to come and go far to often to keep him from being just another Arne kinda of former Republican Governor. 

He must be trying to create an image and personality that will serve him in the recruitment to another position. Secretary Pawlenty? But of what?

Saudi Arabia of renewable energy…… how’s that working out for us?

So you wanna grow our fuel……. OK, but what happens when Mother Earth doesn’t cooperate?

Late-season snows sent corn prices higher on Monday as grain traders bid up prices in the wake of a government report showing that farmers haven’t been able to get into their fields to plant.

The slow start to what could be one of the most profitable years ever for crop farmers because of corn prices saw just 10 percent of the crop in the ground as of Sunday, far less than the 35 percent average from the last five years, the USDA report said. Minnesota farmers planted 1 percent of the crop by Sunday, but typically have 27 percent planted by now.

Meanwhile there is a ready supply of another fuel just sitting there waiting to be tapped into and used. Oh and our entire economy is based of this other one. 

I don’t know, but lunacracy seems to come to mind. You see forcing our society to grow its energy seems to be a little short sighted. After all, it isn’t like there has never been something to interrupt the growing season in the past. 

Then we could always get into the politics of Big-agri-business, or how politicians try to buy votes. 

» Farm programs damage the environment. Subsidy programs and trade barriers draw marginal farmland into production and encourage the overuse of fertilizers. Lands that might otherwise be used for parks, forests or wetlands get locked into farm use. Florida sugar cane cultivation, for example, causes substantial damage to the Everglades, yet it thrives only because of import protections.

In the distant future, historians will look back at this time in history and wonder how in the world human society survived……. or will they? (that means that maybe we’ll kill ourselves off or destroy our society and send ourselves back to the stone age with these lunacratic policies. )

I had another letter to the editor published in the Strib. It is the first one in the online version. 

MORE ECONOMIC UNKNOWNS

Jobs going to green

Just what is a “green collar job”?

I hear the term being thrown around a lot lately by DFL (and squishy Republican) policy- and lawmakers. The Minnesota House last week passed a preliminary cap-and-trade system bill. Freshman Rep. Kate Knuth, DFL-New Brighton, who never met a tree she didn’t hug, said she wants to change current Minnesota jobs into “green jobs.” Gov. Tim Pawlenty is working on a cap-and-trade regional system.

So I ask, what is a green job, and how do I tell if I have one?

I think all Minnesotans have the right to know if new legislation will target our jobs for elimination. Or are we not ready to talk about the dirty dark side of the “green movement” at a time of such economic uncertainty?

ANDY APLIKOWSKI, BLAINE

Speed Gibson has a great post about how the Ethanol scam is finally being exposed. EVERYTHING WE KNOW IS WRONG

It is a must read, especially for elected Republicans (Norm, Tim) who think Ethanol votes are more important than cheap food, 3rd world hunger, and the environment. It is doubly worthy reading if you were at all a fan of the 80’s sci-fi show “V”. I loved that show!

h/t Leo

Environmentalists

ULUTH, Minn. - A proposed pipeline that would bring oil from Alberta, Canada through Minnesota and to Superior, Wis., is running into resistance.

There’s predictable opposition from property owners trying to protect their land right-of-way. But an environmental group is also fighting the Enbridge Energy pipeline, arguing the process used to harness the oil runs contrary to Minnesota’s stated goals on energy efficiency.

Just wait til you see how emboldened the environutters are getting. 

he group said extracting the oil from Canada’s tar sands is extremely energy intensive and harmful to the environment.

“If Minnesota is going to permit this and become a player, it’s our argument that we need to take a step back and think about the consequences,” said the center’s Janette Brimmer. “Especially in light of the fact that our governor and our Legislature are in many ways trying to take us in the other direction — to be more energy conscious, to be more careful about greenhouse gases.”

Just remember that everytime you pay more for energy, you have environmentalists to thank. 

Hamsher said stopping the pipeline does nothing for Alberta or global warming.

“The oil sands are going to be produced, with or without this pipeline,” Hamsher said. “But without this pipeline that Enbridge is now proposing, that production will just go to other parts of the United States, or other parts of the world.”

We need brave politicians willing to do what is right, not cave to the bully pressure of political correctness and special interests. ENERGY is why our economy is slumping. It runs on energy, and when energy prices are through the roof for extended portions of time, of course it will harm the economy. 

If we continue to allow green do-gooders to set our energy policy we will not have to worry about a recession, but rather a depression. Oh and not to mention we will no longer be the land of the free and home of the brave. 

If we don’t stop the lunacracy that is environmentalism, American will no longer be the beacon of hope and freedom for the world…… wait, that wouldn’t be the environmental movement’s goal, would it?

Tim O’Brien at the Strib did another Blog House today and in it he throws in a parting shot via the Pooplus lads at Rep. Bachmann. I’ve submitted a letter to the editor which I think he may run to respond or at least provide a bit of balance.

Stay tuned, whether or not he runs it I will post it here on RF.

In an attempt to reverse the stupefying move by the dim bulbs who wrote and supported the energy bill, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R MN6) is authoring a bill to bring back the light bulb.

Bachmann also voiced her opposition to an item in the Energy Bill which will ban incandescent light bulbs by the year 2012 in an effort to get more people using a more energy-efficient fluorescent model.

“I am carrying legislation to bring you back your light bulbs,” Bachmann told the group. “This forces people to spend more money on light bulbs.”

In case you didn’t know, the recent energy bill has put the incandescent light bulb on the endangered species list and will ban the sale of them altogether in the very near future. Bachmann opposed the social engineering Energy bill which actually created no new energy and, in fact, was designed to make it harder and more expensive to get reliable and abundant energy.

Bachmann shared her views on a number energy and environmental matters.

“We are in a country abundantly rich in natural resources,” she said. “Energy should be the least of our problems. If we extract 20 percent (of the oil) we know is off the coast of Virginia we can replace what we import from Saudi Arabia.”

Local oil, along with more nuclear power, are part of her solution to the energy crisis and $4 a gallon gasoline.

“We have got almost unlimited availability of energy in the United States but we have restricted our ability to use it,” she said. “It’s like we have a pantry stocked to the roof with food and we’re sitting here with empty plates and the door is locked.”

Unfortunately she is the only person who represents me in Washington DC who has a clue on how to lower energy prices and the courage to stand up to the environmental special interests. (Yes that is a shot at someone.)

The above story is from ABC Newspapers who covered a business forum Bachmann held yesterday.

You can donate to Bachmann’s campaign here.

Scott Goldberg of KARE11 (local NBC affiliate) seems to be the only one willing to buck the trendy trend of claiming ethanol and E-85 will save the world. In his blog on KARE11, he has on post that everyone MUST read. I am reposting it here in its entirety, but make sure you follow through on the links and check back to Goldberg’s blog for great Political coverage.

More bad news for ethanol

Today, a quick break from the campaign to revisit an issue about which we reported in November: ethanol.

We ran a series explaining why ethanol made from corn is an inefficient and expensive alternative to gasoline.

Now the Washington Post weighs in, reporting on studies that say “clearing land to produce biofuels such as ethanol will do more to exacerbate global warming than using gasoline or other fossil fuels.”

The fact that ethanol is not a “green” fuel - far from it - has never seemed to bother its supporters.

In the recently passed energy bill, Congress mandated the production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol annually by 2020. Voting against the mandate would have meant challenging agribusiness giants who produce ethanol even though there’s virtually no public demand for it.

Four companies produce 40 percent of the ethanol made in the United States.

Ethanol supporters argue, correctly, that ethanol releases fewer greenhouse gasses (about 12 percent, compared to gasoline) when it’s burned in a car engine.

However, they always ignore or dismiss the harm done to the environment when ethanol is produced. Ethanol plants are powered by fossil fuels. It takes so much water and fertilizer and energy to grow and harvest corn; more than four gallons of water for one gallon of ethanol, and enough fertilizer to create a dead zone the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico.

Add that to the fact that a full tank of E-85 (85 percent ethanol) will take you only as far as three-fourths of a tank of gasoline - you have to burn more ethanol to drive the same distance - and it’s tremendously difficult to make the argument that corn ethanol actually provides a net benefit to the environment.

One can only hope that cellulosic ethanol, made from plants and other materials, holds more promise.

Clearly the proponents of Ethanol don’t want you to see this. Junk science got the ball rolling for renewable fuels like corn ethanol, now good reporting from people like Goldberg can stop the Lunacracy before we destroy our way of life and environment, just for some feel good laws and agricultural welfare (er corporate agricultural welfare).

The DFL dominated Legislature is set to turn Minnesota into a cold version of hell when it comes to Automobile emissions, or rather, make us just like California.

Governor Pawlenty’s task force on climate change recommended that Minnesota consider adopting the standards, but there was considerable disagreement about the idea.

Now DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman from Brooklyn Park has introduced the measure at the legislature. Hortman says the standards would not only help Minnesota reduce its carbon footprint, they would save drivers money.

“Even though automakers and the California Air Resources Board estimate there could be an increased cost in purchasing of a new car, the amount of money that a consumer will save over the life of the car will more than make up for that.”

“Oh, There you go again.”

Let’s just get this out of the way: Tim Pawlenty should be shunned at future Republican Party events due to assembling this task force, and barred from speaking. If Conservative Republicanism were a nation, Pawlenty could be charged with treason for this act in my opinion.

As for this actual bill being introduced by Nanny-slator Melissa Hortman (D Brooklyn Park) will force Minnesota to join a cult that is trying to destroy the American way of life. Yes, I said it, the main goal of the environmental movement and this California emissions law is to kill the American automobile industry and with it the American way of life by removing Freedom and Liberty.

Several committee members, including chair Kent Eken, asked the auto industry representatives why it was taking the industry so long to gear up to address climate change. Eken reminded Greg Dana, from the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, how quickly Detroit converted from cars to tanks during World War II.

First off, since automobiles are not the prime source of the so-called greenhouse gas problem, why should they be the ones forced to destroy their own industry, just because a few Nanny-slators want to have a clean green conscious? Secondly, the problem with “detroit” just abandoning their current products and switching to the new mandated tin cans, is two-fold.

1) The technology does not exist at an economical level to implement the feel good junk science.

2) No one want to buy a tin can, room for your ass and a gallon of gas cars.

Detroit has started to offer greener vehicles. If you look at GM’s green lineup, they have been flooding showrooms with FlexFuel and micro cars, but sales are down. You see, feeling green, doesn’t sell well in America. Most people, that is outside the liberal utopias, need a vehicle capable of carting kids, groceries, and supplies from here to there.

A Toyota Prius or Chevy Aveo is about as useful to a family of 4 with a dog as a little red wagon. It looks grand in parades and makes for good green talk at the PTA meetings, but just doesn’t cut it for the daily life requirements of traditional American families.

And it gets worse, you see the Nanny-slators don’t give a damn that their green guilt is going to set Minnesota behind another 8-ball in the Midwest. Not only is Minnesota near the top of the highest taxed states in the nation, we’re quickly rac ing up the list of most oppressively regulated ones. This bill will make automobiles more expensive for Minnesotans to buy.

Other committee members wondered whether the standards would apply to snowmobiles or all terrain vehicles or airplanes — they won’t.

And they worried about Minnesota moving ahead of neighboring states and making itself uncompetitive.

Denny McNamara, Republican from Hastings, offered an amendment saying the law wouldn’t take effect in Minnesota until all neighboring states enacted the same law. That amendment failed.

Our founders must be spinning in their graves. It is just amazing that common sense and wisdom are minority positions at the Capital. And worse, that these are the people entrusted with power. Or actually, it appears that Minnesota’s Nanny-slators are going to entrust California policy makers to make laws in Minnesota.

Representative Tom Hackbarth, Republican from Cedar, said tying Minnesota to California’s rules, including future decisions by the California Air Resources Board, is a bad idea.

“We’re talking about an 11-member panel in California, that’s going to be regulating the state of Minnesota. That’s not the way to operate in our state. I don’t think our legislature wants to give away that kind of authority,” said Hackbarth.

In the end, enough members of this committee were willing to go with the California rules. The committee passed the measure, ten to seven. Bill author Melissa Hortman said she’d work with others to put what she called “comfort language” in the bill, so Minnesota could opt out of the California rules in the future.

Unconstitutional doesn’t even begin to describe what these Nanny-slators are doing. Un-Democratic and Un-American seem a closer fit.

This is the sort of thing one expects in tyrannical and dictatorial regimes, not in a free America. This is one of those situations where the Republican Party of Minnesota needs to abandon their no-policy policy and fight back, for the good of the state.

I guess the American experiment has run its course, and now it is time to turn over freedom and power, so that the DFL and green Republicans can turn this in to a totalitarian state where decisions are handed down to citizens by the aristocracy, bureaucrats, and ruling class.

London is upping the cost of simply driving into London for larger vehicles.

LONDON - Drivers of gas-guzzling cars will have to pay nearly $50 a day to enter central London, triple the current charge, while the most fuel-efficient vehicles will get a free ride, the mayor said Tuesday.

Mayor Ken Livingstone, who introduced the daily congestion charge on trucks and cars entering central London in 2003 to cut traffic and pollution, said the change is primarily aimed at the big cars owned by people in wealthy parts of the capital.

A lot of American politicians are copying what the Europeans are doing on the neo-socialist global warming front. This has already been tried and may have even passed in New York if I remember correctly.

America: Land of the formerly free, and home of the wealth redstributors.

You know, if this crap continues, where will the next generation of Pilgrims go to? Didn’t our ancestors flee a government like this a few hundred years ago?

Closed circuit to principled freedom loving conservatives: McCain, Pawlenty, and Coleman but into this crap.