Minnesota House and Senate Votes on Junk Science and Social Engineering

Records 1-20 of 22

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Votes

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Statewide High School Algebra End-of-Course Assessment

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 10 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Hann
Acting on: 2 Date: 05/17/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 16 - 45

The Limmer amendment would delete Section 6 from the bill. This Section would establish high school algebra end-of-course assessments with oversight by the Assessment Advisory Committee. This version of the controversial program is limited only to algebra and has a lower fiscal impact, according to bill author Sen. Stumpf. According to Sen. Limmer, the section is controversial because it requires passing a course, not a qualifying test. Not to mention the fact that Section 6 a bureaucratic nightmare. Click here and scroll down to Section 6 on page 11 of the bill. Vote Green on the Limmer amendment.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Final House Vote, Battery Handling Fee Doubled

Body: House | Journal Page: 10142 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Gardner
Acting on: SF2152 Date: 04/13/2010
Result: Bill Passed 96 - 31

SF 2152 addresses a discrepancy between the core charge retailers pay for batteries and the customer surcharge authorized by the state. The current surcharge limit of $5 means the retailer basically acts as the middle man, but without the incentive of a taste of the surcharge money. In fact, according to author Paul Gardner, retailers lose money as manufacturers are now charging a $10 core charge. SF 2152 allows retailers to charge a surcharge of "at least $10." One member referred to the new language as "quasi legislative price fixing." At best it adds a new wrinkle to the inventive fee provisions legislators like to offer. At worst it's a way for unscrupulous retailers to justify new revenues. And what about those retailers who want to charge less than $10? Or how about no charge and just trust people to recycle batteries all on their own? Vote Red.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Repeal the Energy Importation Ban

Body: House | Journal Page: 10151 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Sertich
Acting on: SF2519 Date: 04/13/2010
Result: Point of Order Well Taken 70 - 51

Like several previous amendments to SF 2519, BillsandVotes.com also failed to snag this amendment from the House website before it was ruled not germane and extracted from the public record. Rep. Emmer indicated that the amendment would repeal the state's carbon tax and allow the importation of energy from neighboring states. We can't be sure, but we think the amendment may have been similar to this one offered by Rep. Westrom. Not scored.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Final House Vote, Roads are for Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Body: House | Journal Page: 9854 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Kahn
Acting on: HF2616 Date: 04/08/2010
Result: Bill Passed 97 - 32

Rep. Kahn indicated that the bill came back from the Senate with an immediate effective date and no other changes. Current law allows a person ticketed for going through a red light on a motorcycle to use as an affirmative defense the fact that his motorcycle was too light to trigger the left turn lane signal. The rider can still be ticketed, but if he meets all of the conditions in MS 169.06, subdivision 9 the judge might dismiss the fine. Rep. Kahn's HF 2616 would allow the same affirmative defense for bicyclists.

America is not a third world country. We get around in vehicles that are powered by internal combustion engines, not stinky, sweaty humans. Bicycles have no business on the streets to begin with, let alone in the left turn lane. Bicycles should be on the sidewalk or clinging as closely as possible to the curb so as not to slow traffic. Vote Red.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Final Senate Vote, Battery Handling Fee Doubled

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 9117 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Kelash
Acting on: SF2152 Date: 03/29/2010
Result: Bill Passed 56 - 11

See: Final Senate Vote, Battery Handling Fee Doubled. Vote Red.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Feasibility Studies for Ceiling Fans

Body: House | Journal Page: 9757 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Drazkowski
Acting on: HF2695 Date: 03/29/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 40 - 92

The Drazkowski amendment deletes from the bill three sections related to the new green energy programs known as the Voluntary Energy Improvements Financing Program for Local Governments and the Qualified Green Building and Sustainable Design Projects Program. When government steps into the marketplace all sorts of weird things happen. The availability of government loans removes the incentive to reduce costs, for example. The need to qualify for the loan means products and technologies must conform, thereby killing ideas that may be more efficient, but that don't meet the politically gerrymandered list of government specs. Also, companies invest in products if those products are likely to sell - if green energy products are popular in the marketplace, government has no business incentivizing the market.

But the provisions to be deleted from the bill by the Drazkowski amendment turn local governments into lending institutions and as such taxpayers are on the hook each time a homeowner defaults. Besides all that, green government programs are a clumsy solution to a problem that simply doesn't exist - the air is getting cleaner, we are discovering more coal and oil all the time, energy production technology is better and safer, and most importantly, the science of global warming has been completely discredited. Turns out the Humans aren't killing the planet after all. Qualified ceiling fans are not our salvation. Vote Green.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Minnesota's Waste Management Hierarchy

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 9119 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Dibble
Acting on: HF3061 Date: 03/29/2010
Result: Bill Passed 54 - 12

HF 3061 amends the current statutory preference order for waste management techniques by modifying the composting preference, which is number three on the list. The author pointed out that there is no funding attached to the preferences and the list is merely a statement of the Legislature's preference for waste management practises. Meaningless and not scored. Ditto for the Senate.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Final Senate Vote, Roads are for Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 9091 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Carlson, J.
Acting on: HF2616 Date: 03/29/2010
Result: Bill Passed 60 - 3

Current law allows a person ticketed for going through a red light on a motorcycle to use as an affirmative defense the fact that his motorcycle was too light to trigger the left turn lane signal. The rider can still be ticketed, but if he meets all of the conditions in MS 169.06, subdivision 9 the judge might dismiss the fine. This bill would allow the same affirmative defense provision for bicyclists.

America is not a third world country. We get around in vehicles that are powered by internal combustion engines, not sweaty, stinky humans. Bicycles have no business on the streets to begin with, let alone in the left turn lane. Bicycles should be on the sidewalk or clinging as closely as possible to the curb so as not to slow traffic. Vote Red.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Minnesota's Waste Management Hierarchy

Body: House | Journal Page: 9588 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Hornstein
Acting on: HF3061 Date: 03/25/2010
Result: Bill Passed 93 - 39

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Roads are for Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Body: House | Journal Page: 9574 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Kahn
Acting on: HF2616 Date: 03/25/2010
Result: Bill Passed 94 - 37

Current law allows a person ticketed for going through a red light on a motorcycle to use as an affirmative defense the fact that his motorcycle was too light to trigger the left turn lane signal. The rider can still be ticketed, but if he meets all of the conditions in MS 169.06, subdivision 9 the judge might dismiss the fine. Rep. Kahn's HF 2616 would allow the same affirmative defense provision for bicyclists.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Metropolitan Council Best Value "Environmental Considerations"

Body: House | Journal Page: 9595 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Hornstein
Acting on: HF3286 Date: 03/25/2010
Result: Bill Passed 124 - 9

HF 3286 expands the Metropolitan Council's authority to purchase transit vehicles by allowing that in addition to price, the evaluation criteria can include an item called "environmental considerations," a vague term that probably means whatever the Met Council says it means. "Best value" purchases require that "price must be one of the evaluation criteria." So when wasting tens and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on trolley car technology, the Met Council must at least consider that price thing. The bill defines "transit vehicles" as "buses and coaches, commuter rail locomotives and coach cars, light rail vehicles, and paratransit vehicles." We're talking about big bucks here. This sheet from the American Public Transportation Association shows average mode costs by type. Transportation experts know that not only are buses and vans an incredible value when compared to trolley cars, they are not limited to tracks. The ability to change routes in response to demand is what makes vehicles that travel on roads, not tracks, by far the best deal for public transit. Not scored pending further review.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Nuke Power Amendment is Germane!!!

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 8964 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Anderson, E.
Acting on: SF3046 Date: 03/24/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 32 - 31

The Vandeveer amendment not only lifts the ban on new nuclear power generation, it also mandates "the retirement of up to 50 percent of electric generation capacity of the oldest and most polluting existing coal electric generating plants in the state unless the commission finds that the retirement would jeopardize a reliable supply of electric power." Sen. Anderson, a devout Environmentalist, moved that the amendment was not germane. Outgoing Senator Steve Dille, acting as the presiding officer, found the amendment germane and upon appeal of the decision, the ruling that the Vandeveer amendment was germane was upheld by the body. Will wonders never cease...

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Legalize Energy Smuggling

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 8957 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Rosen, J.
Acting on: SF2971 Date: 03/24/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 29 - 34

The Rosen amendment is similar in effect to the Westrom amendment as offered in the House and ruled not germane. This is an attempt by responsible politicians to rid the statute books of laws based on junk science - in this case provisions related to the Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act as passed in 2007. The amendment would get rid of a bizarre law that essentially makes it a crime to import power from outside of Minnesota from a new power plant. Last December, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said his state is considering a lawsuit against Minnesota over the plan. Under current law, it is a crime in Minnesota to "import or commit to import from outside the state power from a new large energy facility that would contribute to statewide power sector carbon dioxide emissions." The pseudo-science around global warming has been proven to be absolutely groundless and it is wreaking economic havoc on power companies, their investors and the people who use electricity. Which is a rather large group. Vote Green.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Green Collar Democrats vs Blue Collar Workers

Body: House | Journal Page: 9193 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Buesgens
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 43 - 91

Priorities, man, priorities. The Buesgens amendment transfers money out of the bill's green energy programs and the renewable development account and restores the $15 million the DFL wants to cut out of the workers compensation assigned risk pool. Taking money from the assigned risk pool is a bad idea as liabilities in 2009 were only about $50 million below the fund's assets. The $15 million being used to balance the budget puts the worker's comp program in peril. Restoring the fund and de-funding government programs based on the discredited science of global warming is the responsible thing to do. Vote green.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
LGA: The Government Happiness Formula

Body: House | Journal Page: 9199 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Magnus
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 55 - 79

The Magnus amendment redistributes income by reducing local government aid (LGA) that goes to the impoverished and downtrodden masses in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth and shifting those funds to the apparently even more impoverished and downtrodden masses in rural parts of the state.

This sort of bellyaching is a common theme on the House floor, and every regional group of legislators - rural, Iron Rangers, suburbanites and those from cities of the first class - engage in it from time to time. Few legislators are able to get a full night's sleep for worrying how those other bastards are going to steal money from their district.

In opposing the amendment, DFL Tax Committee Chair Ann Lenczewski once again recited her Marxist philosophy for distributing tax money via LGA: "That is the formula we live under. And it does its best to recognise need, measure need, measure capacity, measure the ability to raise revenue and then distribute assistance." According to Comrade Lenczewski, "the numbers do look big to Members sometimes when they look at Duluth and Minneapolis and St. Paul, and why is that? Because they're relatively needy! And what is LGA? LGA exists to provide affordable government services at the local level at affordable prices. It equalizes tax base. It measures need." Not scored.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Not Germane: Repealing the Ban on Safe, Clean and Affordable Energy Production

Body: House | Journal Page: 9204 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Hackbarth
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 87 - 47

The Hackbarth amendment (LINK) would repeal the Legislature's irrational ban on new facilities that produce safe, clean, affordable energy in Minnesota. Despite the excellent track record of nuclear power production in the US and the vastly improved technology of clean coal, the DFL just can't bring themselves to do the responsible thing and repeal the ban. It's 2010. We have the technology. Had it for years. Global warming has been thoroughly discredited.

There is no reason seniors on fixed incomes should have to turn the heat down in the winter and up in the summer because their utility bills are too high. No reason but junk science and social engineering. Not only would repeal make Minnesota a better, more affordable place to live, it would create thousands of high-paying jobs. The Hackbarth amendment was ruled out of order by Speaker pro tempore Pelowski and on appeal to the Body, the ruling was upheld. The correct vote is a NO vote against the ruling and in support of a direct vote on repeal of the ban.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Not Germane: Repeal the Ban on Outstate Power

Body: House | Journal Page: 9207 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Westrom
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 86 - 48

Under current law, it is a crime in Minnesota to "import or commit to import from outside the state power from a new large energy facility that would contribute to statewide power sector carbon dioxide emissions." The pseudo-science around global warming has been proven to be absolutely groundless and it is wreaking economic havoc on power companies, their investors and the people who use electricity. Which is a rather large group. The Westrom amendment is another attempt by responsible politicians to rid the statute books of laws based on junk science - in this case provisions related to the Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act as passed in 2007. The Westrom amendment (LINK) would get rid of a bizarre law that essentially makes it a crime to import power from outside of Minnesota from a new power plant. Last December, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said his state is considering a lawsuit against Minnesota over the plan. Long story short, Rep. Hilty raised a point of order under House Rule 3.21, on germaness, and Speaker pro tempore Pelowski found the point of order well taken. A red vote is the correct vote to overturn the Pelowski ruling and allow a direct vote on the Westrom amendment.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
First House Vote, HF 2624, Omnibus Woodland Critters Appropriations Bill

Body: House | Journal Page: 8912 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Wagenius
Acting on: HF2624 Date: 03/15/2010
Result: Bill Passed 91 - 39

Welcome to Minnesota, where Nature is a government program and HF 2624 is its omnibus bill!

By the time the last amendment had been offered, HF 2624 had been stripped of most of the money for taking private property. The House approved a Rukavina amendment (by voice vote) to reduce funding for takings and use the savings to create and maintain jobs. Jobs, presumably, to be doled out by DNR Nature Bosses for the maintenance of all the stuff sitting around on their 5.6 million acres of land.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Talk About Your "Liberal" Interpretations of the Law!

Body: House | Journal Page: 8906 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Anderson, S.
Acting on: HF2624 Date: 03/15/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 41 - 90

The section being deleted in the Anderson, S. amendment seems marginally justified if you accept for a moment that the entire bill is not a complete waste of money. The section is titled, "Demonstrating Sustainable Energy Practices at Residential Environmental Learning Centers (RELCs)." How do environmentalists demonstrate sustainable energy practices? Windmills? Those cool rotating solar panels that automatically follow the sun? Bamboo bicycles like Gilligan used so The Professor could run the radio?

Nope. New windows and doors for some environmental learning centers. In other words, regular old building maintenance. Boring!

When asked to justify the project in light of the Sacred Environmental Trust Fund Principals, Rep. Wagenius made her case slowly and carefully so all the dunderheads in the House Chamber could follow along: "You awsked about the Constitution and here are the words: 'protect air, protect fish.' If you burn less energy you are going to protect...be protecting... And thwat's what this does. Making buildings efficient, very efficient, burns less energy, protects the air. If you are burning coal for your energy, you're emitting mercury, and if you reduce that you're protecting your fish. So constitutionally I don't have a problem. I don't see a problem with this."

Hmmm... One begins to understand delicate, almost imperceptible connectivity between new doors for the Director's office and the very survival of Fishkind. One supposes, then, that the educational curricula to be developed as part of this appropriation is inspired by the fact that fish travel in schools? It is all clear now.

The irony here is that the LCCCMR may have sneaked something worthwhile into this $26 million atrocity. Trying to get government bosses to fully fund the upkeep of their incomprehensibly large inventory of stuff is nearly impossible. There's no payoff in being a responsible steward of aging, "old growth" buildings. New construction is easier than remodeling and upgrading. But still - vote green on the Anderson, S. amendment.

Junk Science and Social Engineering
Trust Fund Project Peer Reviews Made Public

Body: House | Journal Page: 8911 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Hackbarth
Acting on: HF2624 Date: 03/15/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 58 - 73

The science of environmentalism has about as much credibility these days as Adrian Peterson's ball handling skills. The Hackbarth amendment simply requires that the peer review information for Trust Fund projects "shall be public information and made available upon request or on the commission's Web site."