A lot of people and organizations are calling on Target to "make it right" by giving an equal amount to an off-setting recipient.
Sorry. There's no way to off-set this. Giving money to an LGBTA cause won't take back the publicity and air-time that Tom Emmer is getting from Minnesota Forward. It also won't help out science education, immigrants, choice, the environment, or facts. The opposite recipient would be a PAC that is running ads for Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, who is the Democratic Farmer-Laborer (DFL) endorsed candidate for Minnesota governor, and clearly, that would be a ridiculous thing to do.
This is still a hot topic here in Minnesota, and it's getting national play, too, from the Human Rights Campaign and Moveon.org.
Something that's missing from the debate, as I have been hearing it, is that it's not just about gay marriage and equal rights for LGBT individuals. It's much broader, and it concerns other issues that are equally important. Tom Emmer does not believe in evolution or anthropogenic global warming. Tom Emmer is anti-choice. Tom Emmer wants to continue the same economic policies of Tim Pawlenty, who is leaving us with a 5-6 billion dollar budget deficit problem.
Not to mention the insinuation that the other candidates for governor are pro-business, the false dichotomy that one cannot be pro-labor and pro-business, which is tied to the mistaken idea that jobs do not, somehow, equal people.
My boycott of Target continues, and it took me to Goodwill on Friday, where I got some cute clothes, including a shirt that originally came from Target. It's reminding me that when I go to Target, so do millions of other people, and we wind up with the same stuff. Also, when I only go to Target, I keep seeing the same brands, over and over again. It's nice to branch out. I am feeling liberated because I am not stopping at one place; I think it will re-open my city, at least in the material sense.
Showing posts with label tim pawlenty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tim pawlenty. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
I give you, our governor
Apparently, Governor Pawlenty's long-term solution for education funding involves the fact that public employees are over-benefited and over-paid. Got that, teachers? It's your salary and benefit packages that are to blame.
While I readily admit that our benefits at my public institution are excellent, it's also apparent that, were they not so excellent, the state would have wound up paying, one way or another, when our son was born extremely premature and the bills started to pour in. $385,000 would have had to come from somewhere. Medical assistance, bankruptcy, total ruin, take your pick. What kind of contributor to society would I be without those benefits? With those excellent benefits, I continue to work, pay my bills, and even do my patriotic duty by both saving and shopping.
While I readily admit that our benefits at my public institution are excellent, it's also apparent that, were they not so excellent, the state would have wound up paying, one way or another, when our son was born extremely premature and the bills started to pour in. $385,000 would have had to come from somewhere. Medical assistance, bankruptcy, total ruin, take your pick. What kind of contributor to society would I be without those benefits? With those excellent benefits, I continue to work, pay my bills, and even do my patriotic duty by both saving and shopping.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thanks, Mr. Pawlenty!
What you have done in your terms as governor of Minnesota doesn't equal balancing the budget without raising taxes, though I am sure that will be in your stump speech in the run-up to 2012.
Many of us are poorer due to your decisions, and not just the unallotment.
Our school districts have to borrow this year specifically because you would not work with the legislature. They are borrowing to pay their teachers, costing them even more money.
That's not the least of it. Just ask the 33,000 people laid off of health care by your cuts to the General Assistance Medical Care program. Those people will either suffer or have to access care at higher rates to the system and, therefore, to the taxpayers. Someone always has to pay.
Spin it all you want. The buck stops at your desk, though it does make for a stunning trophy to show your financial supporters. Too bad it crapped all over the citizens before it got there.
Many of us are poorer due to your decisions, and not just the unallotment.
Our school districts have to borrow this year specifically because you would not work with the legislature. They are borrowing to pay their teachers, costing them even more money.
That's not the least of it. Just ask the 33,000 people laid off of health care by your cuts to the General Assistance Medical Care program. Those people will either suffer or have to access care at higher rates to the system and, therefore, to the taxpayers. Someone always has to pay.
Spin it all you want. The buck stops at your desk, though it does make for a stunning trophy to show your financial supporters. Too bad it crapped all over the citizens before it got there.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Dear Mr. Pawlenty
Today on his radio show, our governor, who wants to be Your President, made the following comment:
"Right now, they can't even reasonably and efficiently live up to their promises for the manufacturing and distribution of vaccine for the flu. Doesn't that foreshadow problems with them try to take over even more of your health care decision making? If you can't even manufacture and distribute flu vaccine in the manner that you promised, do you really think they should take over more of the system?"
Not only is he wrong and, oh, by the way, lying, he's apparently getting talking points from an ad being run by The American Future Fund. Which is also wrong and lying.
It's a further example of the irresponsibility of the modern GOP. And it's a further example of the morphing of our supposedly once moderate governor into a tea party fundie.
Assertions like Mr. Pawlenty's are irresponsible contributions to the hysteria surrounding both this virus and the debate about health insurance reform. As I am willing to wager that he is well aware of the fact that the government is not manufacturing the vaccine or distributing it but has instead bought the supply in order to provide it free to the public, then I am forced to conclude that it is indeed his intention to lie in order to win support and PAC dollars. While it is true that the American voter has come to expect such distortions from politicians, it seems that the GOP of the 21st century has made this its modus operandi: win through fear, by any means necessary.
I am also willing to bet that he knows that the government will not be taking over health care, let alone the ability of individual citizens to make decisions.
This sort of rhetoric is neither helpful nor useful; it is only a means to power for its own sake. Mr. Pawlenty's continued transformation into an example of the worst element of the Republican Party is embarrassing to me as a Minnesotan and should be shameful to him as a human. I expect more out of a leader, but clearly, this is not what Mr. Pawlenty is.
He either knows he is lying and is doing it on purpose, or he is ignorant. Neither of these possibilities are virtuous.
p.s. I won't even get into the gross misunderstanding of the vaccine manufacturing process evident in his comment.
"Right now, they can't even reasonably and efficiently live up to their promises for the manufacturing and distribution of vaccine for the flu. Doesn't that foreshadow problems with them try to take over even more of your health care decision making? If you can't even manufacture and distribute flu vaccine in the manner that you promised, do you really think they should take over more of the system?"
Not only is he wrong and, oh, by the way, lying, he's apparently getting talking points from an ad being run by The American Future Fund. Which is also wrong and lying.
It's a further example of the irresponsibility of the modern GOP. And it's a further example of the morphing of our supposedly once moderate governor into a tea party fundie.
Assertions like Mr. Pawlenty's are irresponsible contributions to the hysteria surrounding both this virus and the debate about health insurance reform. As I am willing to wager that he is well aware of the fact that the government is not manufacturing the vaccine or distributing it but has instead bought the supply in order to provide it free to the public, then I am forced to conclude that it is indeed his intention to lie in order to win support and PAC dollars. While it is true that the American voter has come to expect such distortions from politicians, it seems that the GOP of the 21st century has made this its modus operandi: win through fear, by any means necessary.
I am also willing to bet that he knows that the government will not be taking over health care, let alone the ability of individual citizens to make decisions.
This sort of rhetoric is neither helpful nor useful; it is only a means to power for its own sake. Mr. Pawlenty's continued transformation into an example of the worst element of the Republican Party is embarrassing to me as a Minnesotan and should be shameful to him as a human. I expect more out of a leader, but clearly, this is not what Mr. Pawlenty is.
He either knows he is lying and is doing it on purpose, or he is ignorant. Neither of these possibilities are virtuous.
p.s. I won't even get into the gross misunderstanding of the vaccine manufacturing process evident in his comment.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
However you look at it, someone has to pay.
Our governor (watch out, America) refused to negotiate on the budget this year, again. If anything includes tax increases, he won't listen to it at all, but he blames the democrats for everything. Since they know he will just veto it, they should not even bother. Thing is, it's Mr. Pawlenty who is being recalcitrant; playing politics instead of being sensible.
He likes to talk about how government needs to live within its means, just like a family. Well, I am thinking that no sane family would sit down to talk about solutions and, out of hand, reject something like, oh, I don't know, raising revenue. Like us. I was cut to 75% at work. Should I have refused the freelance editing project I was offered over the summer?
Someone will always have to pay. Mr. Pawlenty made his own cuts, and many of them will require that my family pay in the end. And most likely, we will be paying more than we would have under the democrats' plan, which raised taxes.
The governor cut 730 million in spending and made up the rest of the 2.65 billion deficit using massive accounting shifts.
I don't know about your family, but massive accounting shifts are not going to help us in any real way here in the McCauley household. I thought that we had pretty much decided that these accounting shifts are gimmicks and are not good for long-term financial health. I could be wrong.
Minnesotans lose 100 million more from state colleges and universities, disabled Minnesotans will receive fewer hours of in-home care, renters' credits drop by 30%, and chemical dependency, emergency housing, and child support grants will be cut, among other things.
Um, no.
It's pushing expenses down and abdicating responsibility, which is what Mr. Pawlenty has been doing for his two terms as governor due to his no-new-taxes pledges. It's all about being able to say that he did not raise taxes but still balanced the budget. It's all about being technically right, which is all you need be when all you need is a soundbyte on the national political stage. Meanwhile, my property taxes go up 12-16% a year or more, even while the value of my house goes down. My school districts have to have referenda to raise money. Tuition goes up for students, and both our jobs are at risk.
And my family is in relatively good shape. What about the people who need health and human services aid? What about renters who rely on that credit? What happens to those who need the help? They will get it somehow, or someway. At some point, the system will have to pay. The need does not go away, it just gets shifted.
He likes to talk about how government needs to live within its means, just like a family. Well, I am thinking that no sane family would sit down to talk about solutions and, out of hand, reject something like, oh, I don't know, raising revenue. Like us. I was cut to 75% at work. Should I have refused the freelance editing project I was offered over the summer?
Someone will always have to pay. Mr. Pawlenty made his own cuts, and many of them will require that my family pay in the end. And most likely, we will be paying more than we would have under the democrats' plan, which raised taxes.
The governor cut 730 million in spending and made up the rest of the 2.65 billion deficit using massive accounting shifts.
I don't know about your family, but massive accounting shifts are not going to help us in any real way here in the McCauley household. I thought that we had pretty much decided that these accounting shifts are gimmicks and are not good for long-term financial health. I could be wrong.
Minnesotans lose 100 million more from state colleges and universities, disabled Minnesotans will receive fewer hours of in-home care, renters' credits drop by 30%, and chemical dependency, emergency housing, and child support grants will be cut, among other things.
The accounting shift is $1.77 billion in education, and is money that will have to be paid back at some future date. Some future date when Mr. Pawlenty is no longer governor.
Here's the thing: if you cut health and human services, does that mean the fewer people need them? If you cut aid to local governments, does that mean that they won't need it? If you cut aid to universities and colleges, does that mean that nothing changes for the students and employees?Um, no.
It's pushing expenses down and abdicating responsibility, which is what Mr. Pawlenty has been doing for his two terms as governor due to his no-new-taxes pledges. It's all about being able to say that he did not raise taxes but still balanced the budget. It's all about being technically right, which is all you need be when all you need is a soundbyte on the national political stage. Meanwhile, my property taxes go up 12-16% a year or more, even while the value of my house goes down. My school districts have to have referenda to raise money. Tuition goes up for students, and both our jobs are at risk.
And my family is in relatively good shape. What about the people who need health and human services aid? What about renters who rely on that credit? What happens to those who need the help? They will get it somehow, or someway. At some point, the system will have to pay. The need does not go away, it just gets shifted.
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