BillsandVotes.com Top Issues for 2010

Here are the top legislative issues BillsandVotes.com will be monitoring during the 2010 legislative session. These policy areas are not normally highlighted by the media, and it remains to be seen whether the Legislature will actually deals with these issues in any meaningful way.  Stay tuned...

Issue One: Taxpayers Versus Government Workers

Guess who's fixin' to retire? The Baby Boomers! Finally, the members of the far-from-the-greatest-generation are shuffling off into the sunset. Great news, right? Well, there's a catch: many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many Baby Boomers work in government...

And when government workers retire they have a wonderful thing called a "defined benefit pension." You don't have one because you work in that dreadful place known as the "private sector." However, you do get to pay for these awesome benefits through a funding stream called the "employer contribution." It comes down to this: The government worker pension funds are writing checks their assets can't cash! The votes...

Issue Two: Clean and Fair Elections

In Gangs of New York, the Boss Tweed character does a good job of summing up a modern day DFL tactic for winning elections: "Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don't make the results, the counters make the results. The counters. Keep counting." In 2008, Boss Tweed was smiling down on Minnesota. Votes for Al Franken mysteriously materialized in heavily DFL precincts and 17,000 more votes than voters cast ballots that year.

Things haven't gotten any better. Election laws are the rules of the political game, and DFLers are hellbent on rewriting the rules to favor their side. But for a veto override-proof House and a determined GOP governor, Minnesota would be well on the way to permanent one-party DFL ownership of government.  The Votes...

Issue Three: Private Property Rights

It is politically out of fashion these days to talk about private property rights. Government undermines property rights in so many ways that legislators are hard pressed to support any legislation if they take property rights into account. A major player in the property rights game are the members of what we refer to as the Sportingperson and Arts Community.  These people are the beneficiaries of the Legacy constitutional amendment that the stoopid voters passed in 2008.

That dedicated pot of taxpayer dollars is bad news for Americans who believe in private property rights.  For members of the Sportingperson Community - who don't love the outdoors nearly as much as they love government control of the outdoors - the free money is all about acreage.

The Legislative Auditor reported earlier this year that the DNR has been busy hoarding 5.6 million acres of land.  Like most hoarders, the DNR is more about acquiring, than managing:  "Our evaluation found that, while its long-range plans propose significant future land acquisitions, the Department of Natural Resources appears to lack adequate resources to manage and maintain its current land holdings."

Even the Strib is uneasy with this arrangement.  On Feb. 21, 2010 they vented, "This is the new money-hustling maze at the State Capitol, where the Legacy constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2008 is providing hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh revenue for some at a time of shrinking budgets for most others. A lucky few can dip not only into the pot dedicated to the outdoors, clean water, arts and parks and trails initiatives, but may also tap the state's bonding bill for a double dip." The votes...