Speed Gibson

Don't want to put it to a vote? Write a check for the $478 million, Mr. Pohlad.

Short of that, a referendum is clearly called for here. The only option the voters have is to vote out those for whom democracy is void where prohibited by law. But the deal will likely be crafted in an irreversible fashion. The damage will be done.

And it is damage. Several studies have shown that these sports complexes are net (fiscal) losers for their communities. Every one of them.

But as regards this proposal, it is just one such proposal. It is not a choice between no stadium and no baseball. This market is too big for Major League Baseball to ignore. And it is clearly not the only such option. But if we don't get to vote, we won't see any others.

This is a big commitment, financially and otherwise, that will then spill over into football and other sports. It was developed safely after the 2004 elections, conveniently unveiled near the end of the 2005 Legislative Session, to be enacted before the 2006 elections.

This is beautiful political design. Since most Legislators do not represent Hennepin County, it's a "free" vote for them. The Hennepin County Board gets to vote first, so theirs is not the "final" decision.

Our increasingly inconsistent Governor Pawlenty is of no help here, either. He called it a "reasonable" plan.

The only place we opponents have a chance is at the next Hennepin County Board meeting on Tuesday. Of course, the meeting is at 1:30 pm, making it difficult for those most affected to attend. But I just might.

It's been about a month since the Hennepin County smoking ban went into effect. As I posted earlier, our ten-year Saturday morning breakfast cafe went dark in just ten days.

I can report that another such independent diner says they haven't seen a difference yet. Another said business is off maybe 20-30% and it looked like it. The radio news this morning quoted an owner that his business is down 25%, partly because even his non-smoking business has gone down.

That's been the national experience of course. There is no pent-up demand for pure non-smoking bars and restaurants among the non-smokers.

Well, we have found a new site for Saturday mornings, in Anoka County. And yes, their business is up. So chalk up several hundred dollars worth of business no longer being done in Hennepin County.

Make the ban state-wide, we'll stay home. I'll cook.

Minneapolis Police Chief William McMannus has proposed the licensing of panhandlers. The Minneapolis Star Tribune assumes that all panhandlers are poor. They are mistaken.

The Twins are pan-handling as we speak, trying to get a new stadium with mostly public funds. Where's their license?

The Gophers are pan-handling for a football stadium where we might see two big ten victories a year. Where's their license?

The Vikings have been pan-handling since perhaps five years after the Metrodome was built to theirs and Sid Hartman's specifications. Where's their license?

McMannus's idea is that "abuse" of the "right" to beg can be used to legally remove, maybe prosecute them. Shouldn't we the voters have the same right here?

Oh, but they aren't panhandling on the street. That would bring them dangerously close to polling places and ballot boxes. Somebody might ask for a referendum.

I for one am happy that April is done tonight. It's been a strange confluence of work, family events, taxes, etc, that have kept me off the air too long. But I still managed to lose another pound.

My original goal was to be 21 pounds down by now, and I'm now two behind that goal. Maybe I can make it up in May, maybe not, but forward I go.

And now, on with the news...

Another Powerline classic takes us back in time. Ten years ago, the Minneapolis Star Tribune railed against a U.S. Senate filibuster the Republicans used to block President Clinton's Emergency Stimulus Bill. In fact, back then they would clearly welcomed the end of all filibusters.

As we know, the Star Tribune's hard left Editorial viewpoint is by definition largely emotional, not rational. Without any foundation in reality, such viewpoints often vascillate with the times. It was not at all surprising for whoever did the research to have found these 1994 Editorials opposing filibusters. Indeed, it was to be expected.

Also to be expected is the lack of perspective. Today we are talking of appointing Federal Appellate Court judges and Constitutional process. Back then, the Star Tribune was upset over a post-election pork bill.

The Emergency Stimulus Bill you may remember was simply a payback to the big city mayors that helped Bill Clinton get elected. The amount of money was relatively modest and would have had no significant effect on the economy which was already rebounding without it. When this bill died, that pork simply moved to the "100,000 cops" Crime Bill which did pass. So as it turned out, the filibuster was really unsuccessful.

Ten years from now, expect the Star Tribune to again call for the end of filibusters, an unacceptable tyranny of the minority!

This week we had another "ringer" on KSTP AM's "Next Big Thing" series. Dan Pilla is known to many of us, as author, speaker, and radio guest. I believe he has hosted a radio program before, but give me a "uhh, we don't know that!" please.

I therefore think pass/fail grading is appropriate, and Dan earned a solid "P" for his effort. He clearly had done his show prep, spoke well, managed the calls well, did everything well, really.

Now Dan is a paid tax consultant and therefore the subject was taxes - both hours. Again it was well done, and with minimal self-promotion.

The trouble is, there aren't enough nuances or changes to keep a weekly "tax show" interesting. Many of the questions are really too deep for short radio answers, let alone accurate ones. I could see Dan filling in for someone in early April, but a regular show, no. Investment shows at least have the changing markets.

So while Dan was very good, the concept is a bit like the desperate Vaudville performer who douses himself with kerosene, lights a match and says "... but I can only do it once!"

John Gunyou has yet another opinion piece in Wednesday's Minneapolis Star Tribune. Did I hear that he was running for Governor in 2006?

He chides Phil Krinke on a general budget claim that is off 1 or 2 percent, and even that assumes the context is as Gunyou infers. And note that Gunyou quoted the general fund; Krinke did not.

But then his reasoning collapses into non-sequiturs like using tobacco settlement money somehow made the budget gap worse. In fact, the $2 billion increase in revenue/spending is only $1 billion as a result? Why? Because we have to repay the tobacco fund? No explanation in given.

That said, he now calls Phil Krinke a callous liar with a personal tale that he twists into a broad indictment. He is not to be trusted, this, this, Tom DeLay of Minnesota!

I don't trust John Gunyou, except to raise taxes. He has published many flawed articles in the MST recently, some of which I have debunked.

In fact, Phil Krinke could write almost exactly the same article about Jim Gunyou. Start by showing how Gunyou got a figure or two wrong, however slightly. Make some confusing statements about his proposals, then trot out the homily about truth and BS. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Only this article might be closer to the truth.

I didn't know how long it would take to move over my archives, partly because I didn't realize how many posts I had written.

But it's done now, and the flag has been transferred to the new masthead here at Powerblogs. So far, Powerblogs continues to impress me, and no outages to date. Blogger has been out briefly twice during the conversion.

I decided having "powerblogs" in the URL is just fine for now, so please feel free to update your blogrolls accordingly.

The Alternative Minimum Tax is becoming ever more well known to us, at both the Federal and State level. It puts a floor on just how much you can really deduct from your Gross Income to reduce your income tax due.

How about putting a ceiling on it, too, the Alternative Maximum Tax?

Currently, Minnesota's State and Local tax burden is about 11% overall. Part of this we don't see directly, such as the employment taxes not shown on your pay stub. Another portion is due to the many small sales tax payments we make every day, difficult to sum. Leaving these out, the sum of our income, property, and major sales tax payments such as for a car should easily be below 10 percent.

Therefore, let's have a form where you can list your total gross income, your Minnesota income and local property taxes, and verifyable major sales tax payments. If the total taxes are over 10 percent of your income, the State of Minnesota writes you a check for the excess. They in turn can bill the local units of government, pro rata.

If I were in the Legislature, I'd author such a bill, just to get the reaction. I'd sure like to hear why not.

April continues to be a slower month than planned, but I'm still headed in the right direction. I clearly can't reach my April goal on time, with 3 pounds left for the remaining 11 days. I will have to use May to get back on schedule.

The good news is that I'm past Easter and some other social occasions, so the temptations will be fewer. And the weather will no doubt have me out walking many more miles.

I see a few posts regarding tax reform out there. Here's my view:

1. All taxes are basically income taxes.

The more you make, the more you generally spend. Simply shifting to a consumption tax doesn't change all that much, except to exclude "unearned" income like dividends.

Regardless, spending levels are too high now to make a national sales tax work. The tax rate would be so high that even though we now would receive our gross pay, extensive smuggling and black marketing would occur.

The Income Tax model basically works. All other excise and hidden taxes should be eliminated, added to the Income Tax.

2. Income is Income is Income

There should be no exclusions. Not your pre-tax benefits, not your capital gains, etc. Earned and unearned income are the same, except that the basis of capital gains are indexed to inflation. And don't give me that "hurts investment" argument - you're engaging in social engineering just like the liberals. There are no more tax-free bonds, either. And no more 401-K exclusions for contributions. The interest in the 401-K can accumulate tax-free until withdrawal, however, like any other investment.

Interest income is NET interest income. If your net interest income is negative, you can't deduct it - you're simply spending money on interest. But this gives considerable room for young investors, whose interest income won't like exceed their credit card or mortgage interest.

3. Income is taxed only once.

No more estate tax, the most egregious case of double taxation. The corporate income tax must also die, since dividends are taxed twice in today's system. Besides, it's regressive and in effect taxes your after-tax dollars as you spend them.

4. All taxpayers with the same income pay the same tax.

There are no deductions or "credits" of any kind, since these subsidies can be paid directly outside of the tax system. There are no dependents. The only exception is marriage, where joint filing is the only option. It should make no difference if one spouse makes almost all of the income or if it's 50-50.

Note that this does not preclude a graduated bracket structure.

This week we heard Malcolm Cloud, the Barstool Philosopher. By weekday, a truck driver, by weekend an amateur talk show host.

I gave him a B+, the best I've heard so far, with all due respect to the many others. He provided a common man perspective, starting with the smoking ban. When others begged for callers and got few or none, he got several, many of them very good callers. He showed great balance as well.

The only thing that kept him out of the A range was that he kept cutting off those interesting callers with abrupt "thanks for the call" responses, moving on before any dialog could occur.

What I think I heard was the basics of a good weekend show, that needs only a regular producer to make it work.

Good job, Malcolm!

Why is that when the Republicans are in one of these messes like the judicial confirmations, Senator John McCain is somehow involved, usually in the role of an irritant?

McCain says that if we use the "Constitutional" option, well, someday, a liberal President and Senate might put extremely liberal judges on the court. The Republicans could do nothing without the filibuster option.

First of all, there is no precedent involved here. This is all new political ground being plowed by desperate Democrats.

Second, experience shows that the Democrats could not be counted on to return the "favor" if the White House and Senate change hands.

But third, so what if the Democrats later did put an ultra-liberal judge on the court with 51 votes? If the people put the Democrats in power again, that's their right. It's called democracy. The country has survived many "extreme" judges of both stripes over the years. The sky won't fall.

The GOP leadership has been putting off this showdown with McCain far too long. The hour has come.

Having taken the day off, I cruised home from the Capitol on Univesity Avenue. I tuned in KSTP to see if Ron and Mark were discussing the rally. They weren't, so I punched up Air America to hear The Wendy Wilde Show. She was, so I listened, for an hour and a half.

I hadn't heard her before. I was stunned. My friends, I've heard many talk show hosts over my many years and my over many travels around the country. I cannot think of anyone like her.

I can't express it one word. Egoist? Sure, but most talk show hosts are; it goes with the job. But she's full tilt narcissistic. Self-absorbed? You bet! Open to new ideas: None needed, she has it all figured out. Considerate of others who disagree? Openly hostile, I'd say. Honest? Not if it hurts her causes.

Elitist might work, in the Laura Ingraham sense.

Leaving aside deliberate fire-bombers like Ed Shultz and Michael Savage, she is the worst talk show host in the Twin Cities market. Worse than Nick Coleman. Worse than Ron Rosenbaum. She's certainly in the top five nationally in my experience.

Truth clearly means nothing to her. Other people's points of view, even their hopes and dreams clearly don't matter to her. You have value in her world only to the extent you agree with her.

She's as blind as she can be
Just sees what she wants to see
Nowhere gal, can you see me at all?

After grabbing my ankles on April 14th (sending in my taxes), this morning's rally at the Capitol was just what I needed.

Jason Lewis was, well, Jason Lewis! David Strom had a big smile on his face. Governor Pawlenty and a number of speakers were all pretty good. The only disappointment was that Phil Krinke was apparently unavailable.

Thanks to everyone involved! I needed that!

That's what a radio spot I heard this morning claim. With someone wheezing in the background, a stern voice lists the contents of second hand smoke including acetone, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and arsenic. These are trace amounts, of course. The four largest components are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor, deadly poisons all.

I've had a couple of exchanges with PinkMonkeyBird where I asked him how many Death Certificates list second hand smoke as the cause of death or even a contributing factor. After all, 38,000 deaths a year - and the spot didn't mince words - 38,000 deaths a year equates to 1 death per 7,500 population. Your annual chance of dying from a car accident is about 1 in 5,000.

If these figures are true, we should have no trouble finding the thousands of Death Certificates I asked for. Otherwise, you in the second hand smoke faithful need to restrain these chicken littles before they dissipate what little creditibility you have left.

I've been busy with my wife's birthday, a new grandson, taxes, etc, but I did record KSTP's "The Next Big Thing" last Sunday, which featured Dan "the ox" Ochsner.

Dan's a professional broadcaster and currently Program Director at KNSI in St. Cloud. As such, I have to use Pass/Fail grading, giving him a P.

No fair, Joe O'Brien! This is supposed to be someone's big break, not a professional audition.

George Will wrote of an interesting proposal, and I see Bogus Gold has also seen it.

A referendum in Arizona will require that 65% of public school spending actually be spent in the classroom. The current national average is 61.5%, but just those 3.5 percentage points are worth 13 billion dollars.

It sounds great, but why? What is it you really want?

If you have followed the education issue, you know that those 13 billion won't make much of a difference. Further, the activist courts will make a number of districts put the money back in the administration, in effect raising taxes. Finally, within two years, the budgets will be gerrymandered as to make this requirement moot.

No, admit it. You (and I) just want to watch the union heads and school superintendents squirm. It's a nice fantasy, and Lord knows a number of these people deserve such a fate. But it doesn't really solve anything.

Better still would be to design and mail out a simple, audited breakdown of the current spending, 2-3 pages at most. Outrage at the ballot box is a better outcome.

I will be writing three checks tomorrow. One to the IRS, one to Minnesota Revenue, and one to The Taxpayers League.

I had already taken April 15th off to attend the taxpayer rally. What a bonus to find that Jason Lewis - Jason Lewis - Jason Lewis will be there! I was at every one of his past rallies. It should be deja vu all over again.

Come and join me!

It has started. A mom and pop diner my wife and I have enjoyed almost every weekend for at least ten years abruptly closed just ten days after the Hennepin County smoking ban took effect. This is unofficial until we reach the owners, but it's the way to bet.

We then went to another small locally owned restaurant, and their staff is clearly worried and with good reason. They appeared at least a third less busy. I'll be watching a few others.

I wonder. Could the big franchises like Perkins, IHOP, and Denny's have something to do with these smoking bans? They would have the greater efficiency, advertising, and financing to transition better than a sole owner/operator. They pick up the non-smoking business and at least a portion of the smoking business that is willing to endure an hour of deprivation.

Maybe someone should check the political contributions of Big Food.

This is my first post in Powerblogs. I decided not to get my own domain name just yet, but hopefully that won't matter once you set up a link or bookmark.

My first action is to thank Blogger.com for nine months of service. Yes, it had quirks, slowdowns, and outages now and then, and yes that finally did prompt my move here. But I will always be grateful for the fun and intellectual exercise I've enjoyed for free courtesy of Blogger.com. It's still a great way to get started.

My second action is to educate myself on how to work this more robust service. Priority one is to get my blogrolls copied over. Later, I'll look at embellishing beyond the "blogger green" theme I elected to start with.

My third action is to bring over the archives, which I will do selectively. Some posts are trivial, some are very topical, but those that have continuing relevance I will copy over as time permits, to be completed by April 15.

Wrapped around a picture of Ayn Rand is a very thoughtful article by David Brooks of The New York Times. "Conservatives' feuding factions have found strength in their division" he claims.What caught my eye was this observation near the end, that "... modern liberalism was formed in government, not away from it."

I had never thought of it that way before, preferring the "ivory tower" and "I've got mine" explanations for cutting off the feedback so essential to rational thought and intellectual development.

For decades, Republicans were out of power, and had to talk - and bicker - among themselves. But now the Democrats are on the outside. They try to build think tanks like the Republicans, only they don't know how. Their model was a committee hearing with a gavel to silence any reactionary opposition. Our conflicts generate insight; theirs only policy.

We debate income vs consumption taxes based on their relative ease of collection and disruptive effects on the economy. They say raise all taxes because the total is falling as a percent of perrsonal income, as if that's a reason.

It also helps explain why the liberal versions of conservative media don't succeed. They have no roots in the real world outside government.

If you've nothing better to do, try counting the "producers" of your favorite TV program. One of mine is Desperate Housewives.

In the fifties, there were only producers, at most two per program or picture. But the sixties soon featured executive producers like Sheldon Leonard, Quinn Martin, and Aaron Spelling. Another, Gene Roddenberry, insisted on being Star Trek's Executive Producer, because that's where the power to truly create truly resided.

So last Sunday, I noticed there were three "consulting producers" followed by two "producers" and a "produced by" listed, not mention its two or three executive producers and one or two co-executive producers, depending on the episode. Just how much producing does a show like this need? How did Cecil B. DeMille ever get along with just an associate producer or two?

Obviously, most of these people are not really producers in the classic sense. They are gophers and ankle-biters who imagine that these titles will shine brightly on their resume when they try to move up to Co-Managing Creative OberReichProducer on their next gig. And I bet they work for scale.

The weather was beautiful and I was out walking this afternoon, so I listened live to KSTP's "The Next Big Thing" program on my Walkman. This week featured Butch (Howard) Swintek, a retired 27 year veteran of St. Paul's finest. He appears now and then on the Ron and Mark program, but today went out on beat alone.

I'll start right out by giving him a "D" as in "Chris Krok" on my scale, mostly because I felt that his heart wasn't in it. Show prep? Not that I heard, other than to pick up a copy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He had the right idea - the local spin on a larger story like the passing of Pope John Paul II, but other than say he thought such an article could wait a couple of days, he simply waited for calls. Then he discussed the Medal of Honor being presented tomorrow to the son of the late Paul Smith, veteran of the first gulf war. About time he said; the rest was too much inside baseball. The second hour wasn't much better.

Instead of lecturing us on what we already know (gun locks), how about discussing the new smoking ban, and what the cops will be doing about it if violations are reported? His expertise and insight would have made for much better radio, indeed a perspective not generally available elsewhere.

It's tough picking on a veteran and retired cop, but what counts here is radio. It's not what Joe O'Brien is looking for.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune's One Death / The Lessons that Terri taught us Editorial, "... this fracas was never about facts." Neither was this Editorial, the largest error being the characterization of Terri's parents as the villians. This wouldn't be the first time the Star Tribune got the heroes and villians mixed up - remember when Minneapolis Police Officer Melissa Schmidt was fatally shot?

All of this was completely unnecessary. All Michael Shiavo had to do was get a divorce and walk away, leaving Terri with her parents. Period.

But no, Michael insisted on killing her. Far from the sober, responsible husband the Star Tribune imagines him to be, we continue to find, even after her death, that the man is an ass. He didn't win because the medical and legal issues were clear. These debates are far from resolved. No, as Hugh Hewitt observed, the parents got out-lawyered. Without quality opposition, Michael Shiavo's ghoulish lawyer was able to frame the case and manipulate a less-than-impressive judge for whom talk of impeachment has now begun.

We also now find that there are some "follow the money" questions to be answered. I'm assuming and hoping that someone like Gerald Posner will conduct and publish a thorough investigation and history of this tragic case.

Left of Dial Radio Doing All Right wrote Deborah Caulfield Rybak yesterday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. As the troubled new liberal talk network begins year two, she claims that Air America is now "one of radio's biggest success stories in recent history."

The headline and first part of this article confirm that by all accounts, the odds of success are low." The burden of proof therefore lies with the Rybak to prove otherwise. But other than cite how Air America is now "available to be heard" by 55% of Americans and climbing, she provides none.

Michelle Malkin documented Air America's Lousy Ratings early last month. Their ratings are not surging, let alone acceptable. The target goal of profitability is nowhere in sight.

Consider also that our local affiliate, WTNF (950 AM), who does not carry Air America's morning programming, which is actually far better than the local host so beloved of the NARN, MOB, and MAWB community.

Everything Rybak wrote in support of here assertion that Air America is now a success story is true. But she obviously, and deliberately one might think, omitted the facts that matter - who's listening, not who's broadcasting - information that is but a Google away.

Score this as another puff piece that should have been in the Opinion pages.