Tonight (Thursday) on Pioneer Public TV at 8:00pm - a live debate between Bennett Smith of Donnelly, Dave Holman of Morris, and Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake - all candidates for House District 11A, which includes all of Stevens and Grant Counties plus the west half of Douglas County.
Call in and pick their brains - I don't care much for uninformed voters.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Republican-leaning Minnesota Forward airs a blatantly false TV ad on Mark Dayton's tax proposals
First of all, I do not agree with Dayton's tax proposal, I feel it goes too far in raising income taxes and his budget ideas do not include enough spending cuts. That, along with Dayton's idea to build a state-sponsored casino at the Mall of America have led me to lean to Tom Horner for the governor race.
With that said, the group Minnesota Forward lies blatantly in a new TV ad. Follow this link to see what Minnesota Public Radio's Poligraph says in a truth test.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2010/10/poligraph_mn_fo.shtml
I won't hold my breath, the Republican Party is full of liars who would rather fall over dead than tell the truth in a political debate.
With that said, the group Minnesota Forward lies blatantly in a new TV ad. Follow this link to see what Minnesota Public Radio's Poligraph says in a truth test.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2010/10/poligraph_mn_fo.shtml
A word to the Republicans - try using the truth when you're campaigning, it would be nice to see you turn over a new leaf. If you used the truth, you'd still have plenty of ammunition to battle Mark Dayton in the governor race.
I won't hold my breath, the Republican Party is full of liars who would rather fall over dead than tell the truth in a political debate.
Here's what I dug up regarding what George Cassell is talking about in the letter to the editor posted below
Here's what happened in 2009:
Despite a $6.4B deficit, the final K-12 budget bill that became law protects K-12 education from any budget cuts while providing stable funding for education.
In addition it protected property tax payers by passing a budget solution without any net increase in school property taxes.
Here's what happened in this year's session:
Despite a $3B deficit (just over $2B were the result of the Governor's unallotments being ruled illegal), K-12 education was protected from any revenue cuts to the classroom.
This was accomplished in large part due to the $1.4B aid payment shift as well as the $576M property tax recognition shift.
The bill also protected property tax payers by passing a budget solution without any net increase in school property taxes.
Finally, since the DFL took control of the House in 2007:
The 2007 omnibus K-12 education bill, provided a 2% increase on the formula in FY08 adn a 1% increase in FY09. This amounted to a $100 per student increase in FY08 adn $50 in FY09.
The 2007 K-12 bill also provided $330M in FY08-09 for special education (a 25.5% increase).
A one-time increase of $51 per pupil in FY09 (2008 supplemental budget bill)
In 2003, the GOP controlled House passed a $622M reduction in education funds over the next two years. Westrom voted for the bill. (excluding the shifts, the real education reduction was $185M)
In 2009, Westrom and the majority of Republican members voted for a $300M cut to school districts.
Despite a $6.4B deficit, the final K-12 budget bill that became law protects K-12 education from any budget cuts while providing stable funding for education.
In addition it protected property tax payers by passing a budget solution without any net increase in school property taxes.
Here's what happened in this year's session:
Despite a $3B deficit (just over $2B were the result of the Governor's unallotments being ruled illegal), K-12 education was protected from any revenue cuts to the classroom.
This was accomplished in large part due to the $1.4B aid payment shift as well as the $576M property tax recognition shift.
The bill also protected property tax payers by passing a budget solution without any net increase in school property taxes.
Finally, since the DFL took control of the House in 2007:
The 2007 omnibus K-12 education bill, provided a 2% increase on the formula in FY08 adn a 1% increase in FY09. This amounted to a $100 per student increase in FY08 adn $50 in FY09.
The 2007 K-12 bill also provided $330M in FY08-09 for special education (a 25.5% increase).
A one-time increase of $51 per pupil in FY09 (2008 supplemental budget bill)
In 2003, the GOP controlled House passed a $622M reduction in education funds over the next two years. Westrom voted for the bill. (excluding the shifts, the real education reduction was $185M)
In 2009, Westrom and the majority of Republican members voted for a $300M cut to school districts.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Peterson introduces bill to protect producers from burdensome EPA regulations
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., yesterday introduced H.R. 6273 which amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to prohibit additional permits for pesticide application when pesticides are applied consistent with FIFRA.
"This legislation provides farmers and ranchers with the safe harbor they deserve in the application of pesticides. The bill relieves producers from a potentially costly regulatory burden that does little if anything to protect the environment," Peterson
said.
In the decades since Congress enacted the CWA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the application of a pesticide. Instead, EPA has regulated these types of
applications through FIFRA, enacted by Congress to control all aspects of pesticide registration, sales and use. The FIFRA registration process includes stringent requirements for a wide range of environmental, health and safety studies to establish the circumstances under which pesticides can be legally used in the United States.
In January 2009, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2006 EPA rule which specifically exempted permitting of certain pesticide applications from the CWA. In National Cotton Council of America, et al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency the court ruled EPA did not have the authority under the CWA to exempt application of pesticides. The Court's decision marks a pre-emption of FIFRA by the CWA for the first time in the history of either statute.
Chairman Peterson's bill would make clear that producers who are in compliance with the requirements of FIFRA are not subject to Clean Water Act permits.
"The 6th Circuit decision overturned decades of policy and practice with regard to the sufficiency of FIFRA regulation," Peterson said. "This legislation will make clear that Congress never intended for farmers and ranchers to meet additional permit requirements for pesticide applications under FIFRA."
Twelve members of the House of Representatives joined Peterson as original co-sponsors of the bill.
"This legislation provides farmers and ranchers with the safe harbor they deserve in the application of pesticides. The bill relieves producers from a potentially costly regulatory burden that does little if anything to protect the environment," Peterson
said.
In the decades since Congress enacted the CWA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the application of a pesticide. Instead, EPA has regulated these types of
applications through FIFRA, enacted by Congress to control all aspects of pesticide registration, sales and use. The FIFRA registration process includes stringent requirements for a wide range of environmental, health and safety studies to establish the circumstances under which pesticides can be legally used in the United States.
In January 2009, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2006 EPA rule which specifically exempted permitting of certain pesticide applications from the CWA. In National Cotton Council of America, et al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency the court ruled EPA did not have the authority under the CWA to exempt application of pesticides. The Court's decision marks a pre-emption of FIFRA by the CWA for the first time in the history of either statute.
Chairman Peterson's bill would make clear that producers who are in compliance with the requirements of FIFRA are not subject to Clean Water Act permits.
"The 6th Circuit decision overturned decades of policy and practice with regard to the sufficiency of FIFRA regulation," Peterson said. "This legislation will make clear that Congress never intended for farmers and ranchers to meet additional permit requirements for pesticide applications under FIFRA."
Twelve members of the House of Representatives joined Peterson as original co-sponsors of the bill.
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
I read a letter last week mentioning Representative Torrey Westrom, Governor Pawlenty, and Education Funding. Apparently the writer does not know that the Democrats currently control the House and Senate — and have done so since 2006. Words can be hollow, but facts are stubborn things.
The biggest funding source is the basic ‘per pupil’ formula. This formula flows equally to all children across the state.
Under eight years of DFL control (1992-1998 and 2007), the Total increase was $360 per student.
Under eight years of Republican control (1996-2006), the total increase was $905 per student.
In 2009, Governor Pawlenty proposed an additional $262 million for preschool through high school students and a 10% aid payment shift. In comparison, the DFL House proposed flat funding; the DFL Senate proposed $1 billion in cuts to early childhood and K-12 education. Representative Torrey Westrom spoke up and voted against rural teachers having to bail out the Minneapolis teachers’ pensions.
It has been Representative Torrey Westrom who has stood up to these Democrat proposals that would short-change our schools. Republicans continue to push for fair funding, accountability, local control, and innovative reform in education.
Sincerely,
George W. Cassell
Alexandria, MN
I read a letter last week mentioning Representative Torrey Westrom, Governor Pawlenty, and Education Funding. Apparently the writer does not know that the Democrats currently control the House and Senate — and have done so since 2006. Words can be hollow, but facts are stubborn things.
The biggest funding source is the basic ‘per pupil’ formula. This formula flows equally to all children across the state.
Under eight years of DFL control (1992-1998 and 2007), the Total increase was $360 per student.
Under eight years of Republican control (1996-2006), the total increase was $905 per student.
In 2009, Governor Pawlenty proposed an additional $262 million for preschool through high school students and a 10% aid payment shift. In comparison, the DFL House proposed flat funding; the DFL Senate proposed $1 billion in cuts to early childhood and K-12 education. Representative Torrey Westrom spoke up and voted against rural teachers having to bail out the Minneapolis teachers’ pensions.
It has been Representative Torrey Westrom who has stood up to these Democrat proposals that would short-change our schools. Republicans continue to push for fair funding, accountability, local control, and innovative reform in education.
Sincerely,
George W. Cassell
Alexandria, MN
Sunday, October 3, 2010
West Central Area Knights football picks up a big road win at Warroad
The Knights won 27-24 over Warroad to improve to 2-3 on the season.
WCA ran for 144 yards and passed for 156 yards, giving them 300 yards of total offense on the night. Warroad had 336 (107 rushing, 229 passing). The Knights had just one turnover to three for the Warriors and also had ten more first downs than the home team, 17-7.
West Central Area took a 14-8 lead after one quarter on an eighteen yard touchdown pass from Colton Blascyk to Toby Weigand and a three yard TD run by Blascyk. Both extra point kicks were good. They trailed 22-21 at the half as Warroad connected on two long passes for touchdowns and had a third TD on a ten yard run. WCA’s third touchdown of the night came on a ten yard run by Blascyk in the second quarter.
WCA is now tied for 4th place in the Heart O' Lakes Classic standings with Pelican Rapids at 2-2.
Warroad fell to 2-3 overall.
Read more on the game in next week's October 7 issue of the Herman-Hoffman Tribune.
WCA ran for 144 yards and passed for 156 yards, giving them 300 yards of total offense on the night. Warroad had 336 (107 rushing, 229 passing). The Knights had just one turnover to three for the Warriors and also had ten more first downs than the home team, 17-7.
West Central Area took a 14-8 lead after one quarter on an eighteen yard touchdown pass from Colton Blascyk to Toby Weigand and a three yard TD run by Blascyk. Both extra point kicks were good. They trailed 22-21 at the half as Warroad connected on two long passes for touchdowns and had a third TD on a ten yard run. WCA’s third touchdown of the night came on a ten yard run by Blascyk in the second quarter.
WCA is now tied for 4th place in the Heart O' Lakes Classic standings with Pelican Rapids at 2-2.
Warroad fell to 2-3 overall.
Read more on the game in next week's October 7 issue of the Herman-Hoffman Tribune.
Friday, October 1, 2010
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