Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XIX -- Festooning in the Senate

The Vikings stadium bill makes it through the Senate with an unexpected, and unpleasant, surprise:

One change, which has Dayton's support, would require Internet retailers such as Amazon to collect state taxes when Minnesota customers buy online. Minnesotans are already supposed to pay state taxes for such purchases, but only a tiny fraction do.

The change would bring in just $3.5 million a year, but is a top priority for local retailers such as Target and Best Buy, who argue that existing laws give an unfair advantage to online retailers.

Call it a political payoff to Target executive John Griffith for services rendered.

There's more, of course -- with this story there's always more:

"The Vikings didn't get everything they wanted," Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the chief Senate stadium author, said before the final vote.

The team agreed.

Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley said after the vote that the team remains committed to paying $427 million toward a roofed stadium at the Metrodome site. He had said that spending $532 million, as the House wants, is unworkable and did not publicly warm to the Senate's call for $452 million from the team.

But Rosen said she believed the team would have to spend at least the extra $25 million the Senate proposed. "Oh, yes. I do. Yeah," Rosen said.

I would expect the conference committee to find a number between $452 and $532 million, probably right around $500 million. But there's more still:

But the Senate, in a close vote, reversed itself and instead settled for a less stringent set of user fees that, while still opposed by the team, would augment the state's desire to use electronic bingo and pull tabs in Minnesota's bars and restaurants to pay the state's stadium share.

The user fees ultimately adopted include a 10 percent fee on the sale or rental of stadium suites, a 10 percent fee on parking within a half mile of the stadium during NFL events and a 6.875 percent fee on team jerseys and other league-licensed products sold at the stadium.

They backed off the initial proposal, which was essentially 10% on everything -- tickets, concessions, merchandise, stadium signage and the Vikings share of National Football League revenue sharing. That would have paid for a lot more of this monstrosity, but the Vikings would have rejected it.

Now comes the fun part -- the conference committee that will iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Kurt Zellers and David Senjem can pick anyone they'd like to be on the conference committee. Because I believe in the spirit of bipartisanship, I'd strongly recommend Sens. John Marty and Dave Thompson be part of the Senate team. And since it's important that the voice of a Minneapolis representative be heard, Zellers really ought to appoint Frank Hornstein, the authentic voice of Linden Hills.

And while I'm ordinarily loath to do it, I have to give our own State Senator, Barb Goodwin, a heartfelt thank you for pointing out something that needed to be said:

 "They're great businessmen," Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, said of Vikings ownership, led by Zygi Wilf. "They certainly promised a lot of things here -- except the money."

Get used to it, Senator.

UPDATE:  I take the kind words back on Sen. Goodwin, who voted for the stadium anyway. Should have known better.

Meanwhile, on Tobacco Road

Gay marriage is banned. Civil unions, too:

A proposed amendment to North Carolina’s constitution which would make marriage between a man and woman the only legal union recognized by the state has passed a statewide vote, the Associated Press reports.

The referendum- North Carolina Amendment One- goes a step beyond outlawing same-sex marriage, which was already illegal in the state. The law decrees that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State”- meaning that civil unions and potentially other types of domestic partnerships will no longer be legally recognized.

What does it mean? Three things I can think of, at least for now:

• You won't hear much about Barack Obama's "evolution" on this issue, at least for the remainder of the campaign.
• Expect some pressure on the Democratic Party to move their convention from North Carolina, although it's likely too late for that to happen.
• The search is on for the Vaughan Walker of the Fourth Circuit.

Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin

The results are in for the primary for recall election for Gov. Scott Walker. And the Democrats can't be too happy with it. Walker, facing token opposition, racked up 626,538 votes. Combined, top Democratic challengers Tom Barrett and Kathleen Falk got 619,049 votes. It's worth noting that since it was an open primary, an unknown number of Republicans actually voted for Falk, trying to make her the winner.

Walker isn't universally popular in Wisconsin, not by a long shot. But I would be very surprised if Barrett, who lost to Walker in 2010, is victorious this time around. He has been soft-pedaling the real reason for the recall, which is the anger of the unions. The unions themselves could not deliver a victory to Falk, who was specifically campaigning as their champion.

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XVIII -- The High Price of Vaseline

So the Vikings stadium bill passes the House, 73-58. Yesterday I speculated that the DFL would need to deliver more than 34 votes to pass the thing and it delivered 40. So it goes.

As I suspected would happen, the bill did get amended in some important ways yesterday. The Star Tribune has the complete list, but there are three provisions that I find especially interesting:

• While increasing the cost to the Vikings/NFL by $105 million, and taking a chunk out of naming rights will get the headlines, I think protecting the city of Minneapolis and the state from cost overruns is pretty significant. Since the DFL and its allies pointedly voted down a provision that would have exempted the project from "prevailing wage" (a/k/a union wage) rules, there are almost certainly going to be cost overruns to this project. I would imagine that, after all is said and done, the cost to the Vikings/NFL actually went up closer to $200 million yesterday. That's a lot of money. I also think the provision could lead to litigation later on.
• Increasing the term of the lease from 30 to 40 years is a big deal. If you look at the history of such things, the NFL doesn't like to stay in the same place for 40 years. About the only stadium that I can think of that the NFL has occupied for that length of time without significant changes is the stadium in San Diego. I fully expect that if this thing gets built, the NFL will get restless well before 40 years elapse, so this could be a bit of a poison pill.
• Closely related is the cost increase imposed on the Vikings if the team changes ownership after the stadium is built. The Wilfs are making good money now and should, theoretically, be making better money if the Vaseline Dome comes to fruition, but long-term economics of the deal could start to look shaky if the NFL has to pay out a lot of money to former players because of concussions and other traumatic injuries. The gunshot that killed Junior Seau resounded throughout a lot of boardrooms. The Wilfs would be committing themselves to some major financial risk if the deal goes through as it currently sits. They may not be willing to do that.

Now, it's possible that some of these provisions may not be part of the final bill and I'm certain that the Vikings will be trying to get most of the amendments stripped out if the bill passes the Senate and goes to a conference committee, but I don't think they'll be able to get rid of all of the changes. Yesterday was a very expensive day for Zygi Wilf.

il miglior fabbro

I was going to write something about the elections in France -- no really, I was -- but First Ringer has it covered. Click the link.

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XVII -- To the Floor

After all this time, and after essentially tossing most of the regular business of the government to the side, the Vikings stadium bill finally hits the floor of the House today. A few thoughts:

• One thing worth remembering about what will happen today is that it will be possible to add amendments to the bill during the debate. I fully expect stadium opponents to use that possibility and would strongly encourage its use. For example, they could make funding contingent on a referendum in Minneapolis, or they could add in provisions from bills that the governor has vetoed. The key will be keeping the Republican caucus together on this, which could be tough, given the beating that Kurt Zellers has taken (and earned) in recent days. One wonders how much of the anger over Gov. Dayton's behavior in recent days will be expressed today.
• If the bill passes, there is going to be litigation against it and the public record of the debate will be very useful to the plaintiffs. 
• In the end, I think that the Republicans will lose their nerve and the bill will pass, by a vote or two. It will be interesting to see if the DFL brings more votes than the 34 they promised. They may have to.

Time to go home, Pete

Oops:

It was a revealing moment for California Rep. Pete Stark, the irascible East Bay liberal who has forged a reputation as a firebrand during four decades in Congress.

The 80-year-old Democrat, in a meeting with Chronicle editors and reporters this week, appeared to be confused about Solyndra, the Fremont solar power company whose collapse has fueled Republican criticism of the Obama administration's energy policies this election year.

"I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said, after being asked about the company. "They run $60,000 to $90,000."

To their credit, the San Francisco Chronicle did feel compelled to point out what was wrong with ol' Pete's statement:

Solyndra doesn't make electric cars - or anything else. It declared bankruptcy and shut down last year after receiving $535 million in government loan guarantees. The electric car company in Fremont is Tesla Motors, which took over part of the abandoned Nummi plant and will release its next car, the model S, this summer.

Of course, Pete's been known to say other things, too, some of which are at the link. My personal favorite is this, recounted in a George Will column nearly a decade ago:

During the House debate on authorizing the use of force against Iraq, Rep. Pete Stark, a paleo-liberal from northern California, cried, ``Rich kids will not pay; their daddies will get them deferments." He meant draft deferments. It is almost unkind to awaken Stark from his dogmatic slumbers to notify him that there has not been a draft since 1973. And the Beatles have broken up.

There are a lot of people like Pete Stark in Congress, who have been there for a very long time -- he first went to Washington in 1973. I think it's time for him to go home, but there's a chance they've taken away the keys to his Solyndra.

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XVI -- Chicken and Chicken Droppings

I'll say this for Mark Dayton -- he's a thoroughly nasty piece of work. His veto of the tax bill that was the top priority of the Republicans, on the eve of the Vikings stadium vote was one of the more cynical things I've seen in a while.

His reasons are even more cynical -- see if you can follow Dayton's logic here, as reported by Jim Ragsdale at the Star Tribune:

Dayton said the tax breaks would add $145 million to a deficit already projected at $1 billion in the coming budget cycle and was tilted too heavily to corporations, with only limited support for homeowners.

However, he does support building a stadium that will be a drain on state coffers for years and years. Not surprisingly, Republicans aren't pleased:

"We have a governor that's called us unfit to govern, he's called us liars, said we're sneaking around him," said normally amiable Senate Majority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester. "That gets a little tiring."

I imagine it would. But what's worse is this -- Dayton assumes he can get by with it.

Dayton is counting on the Republicans being intimidated by the likes of KFAN radio guy Dan Barreiro, who turned House Speaker Kurt Zellers into an incoherent puddle of goo in a hostile radio interview on Thursday. He's also counting on the purple face-painted hordes who have been hanging out in the Capitol to add to the intimidation.  And Dayton knows that if the Republicans actually show some spine and vote down the Vaseline Dome, they'll get Barreiroized by every bobo with a microphone on the public airwaves and drowned in bad ink from the nakedly self-interested Star Tribune. Thuggery often works on Republicans, especially when you have Republican leaders who hate negative publicity more than they hate hoovering the wallets of their constituents.

So what do you do? Roll over and die? Here's a modest suggestion:

Dayton may have his cynicism and his various praetorian guards, but the Republicans have one advantage -- they control the calendar. So what they should do is schedule a veto override vote before the stadium vote. Then you put the DFL legislators on notice; if you sustain Dayton's veto, the stadium bill dies. And if the stadium bill dies, immediately adjourn the session. And if Dayton tries to call the lege back into special session, the price becomes not only the governor's signature on the tax bill, but one or more other bills that he's vetoed. Some combination of tax relief and maybe, say, the teacher tenure bill, or tort reform, would do nicely.

Would the Republicans be denounced everywhere and by everyone if they did that? Of course. But that's going to happen anyway. If they just take it and roll over for Dayton, they'll get no credit for doing so either -- the headlines will crow that Dayton's leadership saved the day. If you've been assigned the black hat, you might as well wear it proudly and get something out of the session that will actually help the state.

There's been a game of chicken going on all along in this session. So play.

Lightning Round - 050412

Haven't done one of these for a while:

• I haven't written about the Amy Senser case, but now that the verdict is in, I would say this: it's just a very sad story all the way around.
• Brian is following the strange case of Chen Guangcheng and makes the right point over at his place. We back the Obama administration a lot here, on merit in most cases, but it's difficult to see any good options in this case.
• I hope that Mariano Rivera's career didn't end yesterday. He's had an amazing run.
• It took me a while to get to it, but I just finished reading Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism the other day. I don't know that I agree with his conclusions, but I'll say this -- you'd be amazed at how many admirers Benito Mussolini had back in the day.

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XV -- Back to the Unicorn

So yesterday's plan is gone and we're back to the pull-tabs:

House and Senate Republican leaders said lawmakers will vote on a Minnesota Vikings stadium bill on Monday and they've taken their last minute plan off the table.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers said that they will take the vote even though he doesn't know that the plan -- which would use gambling revenue to pay for the state's share -- will pass and he personally "cannot" support it.

Back to you, Mark Dayton:

The fate of the stadium is now in the governor’s hands...This is his top priority," said Zellers, who spent months refusing to say how he would vote on the plan.

Gov. Mark Dayton said he was just fine with the responsibility.

Of course he is -- he's the one public official involved in this thing who doesn't have to face the voters in November.

“I am very pleased that the Republican legislative leaders have agreed to my request for up-or-down votes in both bodies on a new “People’s Stadium” that would provide jobs for several thousand Minnesotans and keep the Vikings here.  Now everyone will be able to hold legislators accountable for that momentous decision," Dayton said in a statement.

The "People's Stadium." Yep, the one you'll be able to enjoy for only $100 a ticket. Or more. Let my friend and fellow blogger, Brad Carlson, ask the right question:

The one thing that has rankled me throughout this whole process is how Gov. Mark Dayton has called this the "people's stadium." Well if that is really the case, why not have "the people" who use it actually pay for it?

Why not, indeed? Most of the time, the answer appears to be "because shut up," paired with a slap across the face with dangling Helga braids.

I'm not going to stay long on the topic, because I've already pointed out, repeatedly, what you need to know about the proposal that will get the vote on Monday. There is no way that charitable gambling will come close to covering the costs of the deal. Legislators who support the bill are spending money they don't have. If this thing goes through, it will be very interesting to see how the state of Minnesota markets the bonds, which would be backed by a revenue stream that has never been used before. In other words, it's a billion dollar bet.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Barack

While I'm not sure how much value there is in rereading love letters that Barack Obama sent nearly 30 years ago, this much is certain -- they are funny as hell:

I haven’t read “The Waste Land” for a year, and I never did bother to check all the footnotes. But I will hazard these statements—Eliot contains the same ecstatic vision which runs from Münzer to Yeats. However, he retains a grounding in the social reality/order of his time. Facing what he perceives as a choice between ecstatic chaos and lifeless mechanistic order, he accedes to maintaining a separation of asexual purity and brutal sexual reality. And he wears a stoical face before this. Read his essay on Tradition and the Individual Talent, as well as Four Quartets, when he’s less concerned with depicting moribund Europe, to catch a sense of what I speak. Remember how I said there’s a certain kind of conservatism which I respect more than bourgeois liberalism—Eliot is of this type. Of course, the dichotomy he maintains is reactionary, but it’s due to a deep fatalism, not ignorance. (Counter him with Yeats or Pound, who, arising from the same milieu, opted to support Hitler and Mussolini.) And this fatalism is born out of the relation between fertility and death, which I touched on in my last letter—life feeds on itself. A fatalism I share with the western tradition at times. You seem surprised at Eliot’s irreconcilable ambivalence; don’t you share this ambivalence yourself, Alex?

Forget Eliot, Yeats or Pound -- this is Joycean. It's the Portrait of the President as a Young Bullshit Artist.

Then again, this precious paragraph from a letter Obama sent to his then-current girlfriend, Alex McNear, captures a few things that have come true during his presidency, to wit:

• The "choice between ecstatic chaos and lifeless mechanistic order" is a pretty good description of the difference between Obama's 2008 campaign and what he's attempting to peddle this year.
• Like his administration, this paragraph has a bunch of words and little meaning.

Now, to be fair, this sort of sophomoric rambling is part of the game in college -- if you're trying to make time with the ladies, one way to do it is to spout off nonsense like this. I can think of one young woman who received letters of this sort from me back in the mid 80s, and I can only hope that she tossed those letters and those words never see the light of day. Still, one can't help but think that Eliot had Obama figured out:

There will be time, there will be time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;

There will be time to murder and create,

And time for all the works and days of hands

That lift and drop a question on your plate;         

Time for you and time for me,

And time yet for a hundred indecisions,

And for a hundred visions and revisions,

Before the taking of a toast and tea.

We'll be serving toast and tea in November.

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XIV -- Finally, Clarity

A day after all hell breaks loose, now we have an idea of what the Republicans in the legislature are really proposing -- an end to the Kabuki:

House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said the new plan would use a more stable form of state financing – general obligation bonds – than the charitable gaming revenue Dayton wanted to use to fund the state’s $398 million stadium contribution.  He also added that using general obligation bonds meant the project would need a roof.

“We hope this is fruitful,” Dean said of the sudden talks at the state Capitol surrounding the new Republican stadium plan. “We’re trying to find a solution that the Legislature can agree to.

“If it’s not productive and it’s not helpful, then we can move on to other solutions to try to get done to get out” and adjourn this year’s legislative session.

What Dean and his colleagues are proposing, at long last, is honesty. General obligation bonds are issued by the state and the state promises to make good on the bonds using whatever means are needed, up to and including taxes. So yes, with this proposal, the state would be on the hook for the bonds. And yes, if the stadium were to be approved and built, taxes might go up.

The key is this: now the politicians have to admit it. The problem all along, which those of us who have been critical of the deal have been arguing consistently throughout, is that the proposed revenue streams were fanciful at best. Think about all the dodges that are involved in "charitable gaming" as a revenue stream:

• It assumed that Minnesotans would want to gamble more than they already do
• It meant relying on something that was totally unproven as a revenue source to back the bonds, which would have meant paying higher interest rates to the bondholders
• It was a scheme to get around the reality that one political party is utterly beholden to current gaming interests
• It was a scheme to get around the perception that the other political party automatically eschews all taxes all the time, which has never been the case

In short, the entire discussion, especially for the past few months, has been dishonest to the core. I have written over 50 times on this topic over the past year and I've said the same thing, over and over. The decision comes down to this -- do we, meaning the citizenry of Minnesota, value having the Vikings around enough to pay for a new stadium? It is the only question that really matters because all of us will, in one form or another, pay for the thing if it gets to the floor and is approved.

There was only one way to avoid having to pay for the stadium with tax revenue and that was to allow the White Earth Band to have a casino in the metro area, in a prime location that would be disadvantageous to the existing tribal casinos. Because one political party would never allow that, paying for the stadium with general obligation bonds is the only real recourse available. Racino has always relied on revenue projections that are dubious as well. If you were interested in gambling, why would you go to Canterbury anyway, when you'd only be a short distance away from Mystic Lake? Canterbury would have to spend millions to have a facility as nice as what's already available down the road. And let's be honest -- for most metro area residents, by the time you reach Running Aces, you're a good part of the way to Hinckley already.

Now, finally, we have a clear choice. Do we want a new stadium for the Vikings or not? And if you do, are you willing to pay for it? If you are, tell your legislator that you support it. If you don't think it's worth the cost, tell your legislator that. 

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XIII -- The Roof and the Ceiling

Back in the 70s, Parliament sang it. Nearly 40 years on, the legislature is saying it. Tear the roof off the sucker:

A Republican plan for a cheaper, roofless Minnesota Vikings stadium took DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Democrats by surprise Tuesday, leading to another dramatic breakdown in talks.

The proposal, which also lacks the support of the Vikings, would rely on about $200 million in long-term borrowing to pay the state's share, with the cost of a roof negotiated in later sessions.

Meanwhile, Mark Dayton wants the funk, or maybe he was in a funk:

At a hastily called news conference, Dayton decried the plan as a political "gimmick" that "destroys the People's Stadium" that could be used year-round for concerts and other events.

The Vikings quickly announced their opposition, too, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city would not be a partner in the new plan.

You have destroyed ze People's Stadium! But Dayton was just getting warmed up:

Flanked by DFL legislative leaders and Rybak, Dayton accused Republicans of going behind his back to secretly negotiate with the Vikings, noting that they withheld information from his administration about the plan even as they all met to cut a session-ending deal on tax breaks, bonding and the stadium.

"It's cynical, underhanded politics," Dayton said.

I dunno, it's no more cynical than using a funding mechanism (electronic pulltabs) that's certain to fall well short of expectations, Governor.

So what are the particulars of the plan?

Under the emerging proposal, about $200 million in stadium infrastructure costs would get lumped in with a larger state bonding bill that would pay for repair of roads, bridges and buildings, including restoration of the Capitol. Republican leaders said the details would be worked out in coming days.

In addition:

The new proposal has some elements that could make it more politically palatable. It would not rely on expanded gambling to pay the state's share. Many Republicans and Democrats have opposed new gambling and harbor strong doubts that an expansion of electronic pull-tabs and sports-themed tip boards would bring in enough money to pay the state's share.

The proposal could inflate the size of the bonding bill, which might appeal to Democrats pushing for state-backed construction projects as part of their jobs agenda.

The debt would, however, be repaid with general tax dollars. As recently as mid-April, Zellers said relying on general fund dollars for stadium costs was "a huge problem," and requested backup funding plans that would eliminate that prospect.

So let's look at what all this means:

• The first thing that needs to be said is this: the gambling money that's been proposed isn't going to come close to covering the costs of the stadium. It might not be enough to cover the debt service, let alone the actual construction cost. The game here has always been to get the thing passed and start work. When the money would come up short, then future politicians would face the prospect of dealing with a sucking chest wound of debt, as has happened in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and elsewhere. What the Republicans are saying, if not directly, is that they don't want to play that game. If that makes them cynical and underhanded in the governor's eyes, so be it.
• The issue isn't really about building a roof, it's about establishing a ceiling. A ceiling in the costs involved in this project, that is. Building a "People's Stadium" that will charge more for events than most people can afford? Now that's cynical.
• One thing should be evident -- the Metrodome may be unloved, but it's still plenty adequate for most of the secondary events that happen there. If the stadium were built somewhere else (about which more in a moment), the Dome would still be available for high school football championships, early season Gopher games, rollerbladers and the like.
• I can't prove this, but I suspect some of the impetus for this proposal stems from lingering animosity over the power play that Minneapolis and its supporters pulled in dragging the stadium project away from Arden Hills. It was always too convenient that certain politicians, including the governor, were only willing to pony up $300 million for the Arden Hills site, but were somehow able to come up with an additional $100 million for Minneapolis. I would also guess that it's been galling to watch so many members of the Minneapolis legislative cohort oppose the stadium. It should tell you something that outstate politicians, especially Morrie Lanning and Julie Rosen, have been the ones who have had to do the heavy lifting in the legislature. Should such machinations matter? Perhaps not, but folks tend to notice such things.
• Could a roofless stadium be built elsewhere? Of course. We have one not far from the Metrodome already, so it can be done. It's also worth noting that many of the northern teams in the NFL, including the Packers, Bears, Bills, Patriots, Giants, Jets, Browns and Bengals, all play in outdoor stadiums. Somehow these teams all manage to survive, often quite nicely, without having a "People's Stadium."

As for what will happen next? It's difficult to say, but one thing is clear:  the plan seemed close to passage is probably dead. And we'll probably be hearing from Eric Grubman and Roger Goodell soon enough.

Forward?

It's the state motto of my home state of Wisconsin and now, it's the slogan of the Obama campaign:

Forward

It's also a term with plenty of Marxist implications.

We could have a lot of fun with this one. And I think we will.

Water Under the Board?

Nancy Pelosi has some 'splainin' to do:

In an explosive memoir released today, former CIA counterterrorism chief Jose Rodriguez provides new evidence that Rep. Nancy Pelosi lied when she declared she had not been briefed about the use of waterboarding.

Recall that in a Capitol Hill news conference three years ago, Pelosi (D-Calif.) vehemently denied being told about the use of waterboarding at a CIA briefing in September 2002. “We were not — I repeat — were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used,” Pelosi said. She later changed her story, telling reporters, “We were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used.” She claimed she learned about the use of waterboarding the following year, only after other lawmakers were told by the CIA. “I wasn’t briefed, I was informed that somebody else had been briefed about it,” she said.

So, what did she know and when did she know it?

In his new book, “Hard Measures,” Rodriguez reveals that he led a CIA briefing of Pelosi, where the techniques being used in the interrogation of senior al-Qaeda facilitator Abu Zubaida were described in detail. Her claim that she was not told about waterboarding at that briefing, he writes, “is untrue.”

“We explained that as a result of the techniques, Abu Zubaydah was compliant and providing good intelligence. We made crystal clear that authorized techniques, including waterboarding, had by then been used on Zubaydah.” Rodriguez writes that he told Pelosi everything, adding, “We held back nothing.”

Speaking of holding back nothing, Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen offers a good solution:

There is a simple way to settle this once and for all. Pelosi should formally request that the Obama administration declassify the cable that was sent from headquarters to the field reporting on the details of her Sept. 4, 2002, briefing. If she refuses to do so, it should be taken as an admission by Pelosi that her account of events is a fabrication.

As Justice Brandeis said, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Blog comment of the day

So we learn the following from the British press:

A majority of doctors support measures to deny treatment to smokers and the obese, according to a survey that has sparked a row over the NHS's growing use of "lifestyle rationing".

Some 54% of doctors who took part said the NHS should have the right to withhold non-emergency treatment from patients who do not lose weight or stop smoking. Some medics believe unhealthy behaviour can make procedures less likely to work, and that the service is not obliged to devote scarce resources to them.

In response, over at Hot Air, a commenter said this:

Well count me among the anti-fat and anti-smoking bigots. You choose to poison yourself (while also advocating that significantly less harmful stuff like weed should be illegal) then I could really care less about you. Get off the damn couch, turn off the damn TV, put down the greasy pork leg and do some friggin cardio already. And really, I blame the people who let fat men get laid. If women would stop sleeping with fat men, this obesity epidemic would be solved.
libfreeordie on April 29, 2012 at 10:19 PM

Do you agree?

Vikings to Plot of Land East of Metrodome XII - Chicken

Nothing happened yesterday at the Capitol. In nearly every instance, that's a good thing. And considering the mistake that's likely to come out of this session, it's a very good thing:

A chief author of the Minnesota Vikings stadium plan said Sunday it was "very questionable" that the project would win approval unless Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders first reach agreement on other issues.

"Without a global agreement, without an agreement on a bonding bill and a tax bill," said Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, "it's very questionable whether there will be a vote on the stadium."

The tax bill is something the Republicans want.

Republicans want the elimination of the statewide business property tax, a move the governor has resisted because it could require dipping into the state's emergency budget reserves.

Or worse, it could even lead to reductions in the size of government, something Dayton can't abide. Meanwhile, once again John Marty says something that is (a) true and (b) politically inconvenient:

But a plan to instead rely on user fees, placing charges on everything from tickets and stadium signs to the Vikings' share of television revenue, will likely be offered on the Senate floor.

If user fees replaced public subsidies for the stadium, "I would guess 99 percent of the public opposition [to the stadium] would go away," Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, a longtime critic of stadium public subsidies, said Sunday.

However, the one thing that the Vikings and the NFL can't abide is the idea that the people who actually use their palace would pay for it.

Only Money

Two stories, seemingly unrelated.

First, the Wall Street Journal notes that Illinois has a few issues to deal with:

Illinois is an object lesson in why firms are starting to pay more attention to the long-term fiscal prospects of communities. Early last year, the state imposed $7 billion in new taxes on residents and business, pledging to use the money to eliminate its deficit and pay down a backlog of unpaid bills (to Medicaid providers, state vendors and delayed tax refunds to businesses). But more than a year later, the state is in worse fiscal shape, with its total deficit expected to increase to $5 billion from $4.6 billion, according to an estimate by the Civic Federation of Chicago.

Rising pension costs will eat up much of the tax increase. Illinois borrowed money in the last two years to make contributions to its public pension funds. This year, under pressure to stop adding to its debt, the legislature must make its pension contributions out of tax money. That will cost $4.1 billion plus an additional $1.6 billion in interest payments on previous pension borrowings.

Business leaders are now speaking openly about Illinois' fiscal failures. Jim Farrell, the former CEO of Illinois Toolworks who is heading a budget reform effort called Illinois Is Broke, said last year that the state is squandering its inherent advantages as a business location because "all the other good stuff doesn't make up for the [fiscal] calamity that's on the way." Caterpillar, the giant Peoria-based maker of heavy construction machinery, made the same point more vividly when it declined in February to locate a new factory in Illinois, specifically citing concern about the state's "business climate and overall fiscal health."

I have a college friend who is a teacher in Illinois and he seems amazed that the pension he's been promised seems to be swallowing up the state budget. Math is hard.

Next, our old pal John Marty, in William Proxmire mode, has been running the numbers on the Vikings stadium:

If the bill for the Minnesota Vikings new stadium passes the cost to taxpayers will be $77.30 per ticket, per game, for 30 years, according to an analysis by state senator John Marty, who submitted his findings to his colleagues yesterday. . . . If the taxpayers of Minnesota think $77.30 is too much, Marty has even worse news: the real cost is much greater because his calculation does not include the value of the property tax exemption on the stadium and the parking ramps, nor the value of the sales tax exemption on construction materials.

To be fair, there will be many more events than 10 Vikings games a season in the building, so that cost will be less, potentially substantially less, than $77.30 per ticket. At the same time, Marty is correct about the property tax exemption and there's also the likelihood that the project costs we've heard are seriously lowballing what a stadium would actually cost. So, while the $77.30 per ticket subsidy is probably overstated, it may not be overstated by much.

The larger issue is this -- beyond the crushing amount of debt the federal government runs up each year, many states are looking at equally crushing debt loads. More importantly, there seems to be no understanding of how screwed we really are already. The money that so many people have assumed would be forthcoming simply won't be, for a variety of reasons. So when I see Mark Dayton and Paul Thissen braying about Republican obstructionism, I only wish I were more confident that the Republicans would actually do some obstructing.

A MinnPost Reader Sets Me Straight

I've been fortunate that my blog posts regularly appear in other places, especially True North. I also have been a regular participant in the "Minnesota Blog Cabin" section of MinnPost, which picked up a piece I wrote last week concerning the role that Ron Paul acolytes are playing in the Republican Party.

MinnPost tends to attract a very different readership than my other haunts -- it's largely an online competitor to the Star Tribune and employs a lot of ex-Strib and ex-Pioneer Press writers. It's also a place that tends to be, like the Star Tribune, leftish in its orientation and its readership. As a result, the commenters there are often critical of what I write. That's fine, although it sometimes leads to some strange exchanges.

I had the following exchange over there this week with a gentleman named Paul Udstrand, who is also a blogger. I thought it was interesting enough to share here.

Udstrand, whose blog is named "Thoughtful Bastards," asked what might be a rhetorical question:

What is it with you Republicans and music? Why do you keep grabbing music from liberal musicians? (the title of this article is from Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue"). Aren't there any flag waving country music songs you can use?


Well, I like music and song lyrics often make dandy headlines for blog posts. And while I have no animus against Lee Greenwood, I prefer Bob Dylan. So I responded thus:

Actually, Mr. Udstrand, I prefer Bob Dylan to "flag waving country music songs." By your leave.


Which led to the following response, which is simultaneously condescending and 100% wrong:

Mark, I'm afraid you have seriously misinterpreted Bob Dylan, for one thing, it's not country, it's folk music. At least we share something in common however... we like Bob Dylan.

Whenever I'm instructed by a liberal that I've misinterpreted something, it's likely because I famously lack the nuance for which liberals are justly celebrated. But since I'm not a "Thoughtful Bastard" and am actually an ornery cur, I couldn't let that one go:


Really, Mr. Udstrand? I've "seriously misinterpreted Bob Dylan?" Where did I say Dylan was a country music artist? He certainly dabbled in it, from "John Wesley Harding" in '68 and his subsequent sojourn to Nashville, which was some 4 years after he essentially left folk music behind. Or have you not heard about the breaking news of Dylan's appearance with electric guitars at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and the subsequent outrage that greeted that performance, some 47 years ago now? Dylan was a crucial figure in folk music, but only for a brief time. The vast majority of his career and his songbook resides elsewhere. Dylan belongs to rock as much or more as he belongs to folk or any other genre.


As I'm guessing you know, "Blood on the Tracks" was released in late 1974, a full decade after Dylan went electric with "Bringing It All Back Home." As such, it's a rock album.


Now, I do like country, but my tastes in that genre run more to Bob Wills and Hank Williams Sr., although I like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, too. And I also like Marvin Gaye, the Clash, the Drifters and Django Reinhardt.


In other words, I like a lot of music. I'm not especially fond of condescension, though.


Maybe that was an uncharitable response. I guess I should be grateful that my instructor is a "Thoughtful Bastard" and not a heartless bastard. Because then I'd have really been in trouble....

Bully Pulpit

It would be both churlish and dishonest to deny that bullying exists, as it always has. Human nature being what it is, it's unimaginable that it wouldn't. In the same way, human nature being what it is, most people are willing to accept the idea that the impact of bullies and bullying be limited when possible.

In that spirit, I call your attention to the commentary of one Dan Savage, best known for his exhaustively detailed advice to the lovelorn, which is printed amongst the adverts in the transactional sex sections of City Pages and similar urban publications. He's also a bit of a Biblical scholar, it turns out and offered some deep thoughts on the subject recently at a student journalist convention in Seattle. Stacy McCain shares a report:

“People often point out that… they can’t help with the anti-gay bullying because it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong,” Savage tells the crowd in a short video posted on Tumblr by a student attendee.
“We can learn to ignore the [expletive] in the Bible about gay people the same way we have learned to ignore the [expletive] in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation,” Savage said.
At this point, student Jenny Patterson yelled “That’s bull,” and walked out. As other students followed, Savage called them “pansies,” she said.

Pansies? If I didn't know better, one might think that was a little bullying of Mr. Savage, no?