Michelle Bachmann wins poll

The Steele County Free Fair for 2011 is winding down, and first estimates have attendance at over 350,000 people.  The Steele County GOP ran a Republican Presidential Coin Poll, inviting fairgoers to drop some coins for their favorite candidate, those in the race and those in the rumor mill race.  The slogan; 'Use your change to make Change.'

The results are in, and here they are:

Michelle Bachmann                    3,580 votes
Chris Christie                             3,260
Donald Trump                            2,798
Rick Perry                                  2,165
Ron Paul                                    1,922
Hermann Cain                            1,434
Sarah Palin                                 1,074
Mitt Romney                                 957
Allen West                                    812
Newt Gingrich                               300
Paul Ryan                                      205
Rick Santorum                              180
Marco Rubio                                 112
John Bolton                                     58
Jon Huntsman                                  10

By request, a jar was added for Obama (398) and None of the Above (186).

A total of $194.51 was collected, half of which will be donated to the Steele County Foodshelf.  Thanks to all those who participated, and thanks for a great fair!

Steele County Free Fair

The Steele County Fair is this week, and it looks to be a great year.  The weather will not be hot and muggy, no major rain storms are in the forecast, and politics is in the air after the Iowa Straw Poll.

The Steele County GOP will have it's own poll-a coin poll.  Drop a coin or two into the jar of your preferred Republican presidential candidate, and we will announce the results each day, with the proceeds going to the Steele County Food Shelf.

Also of note, Sue Jeffers from KTLK will be appearing in our booth on Friday afternoon.  Stop by and say hello, then catch Sue on AM 1130 from 4-7pm on Saturday night.

Sunday People's Press Letter to the Editor

As our state comes closer to a shutdown, some facts are in order for people to understand how we got to this point.

• The Legislature passed a balanced budget with a 6 percent increase in spending. The governor vetoed these bills because he demanded a 27 percent increase in spending.

• Since the bills were vetoed, the GOP has offered three compromises, including matching the DFL budgets for public safety and K-12 education, and removing more than $200 million in business tax cuts.

• The Legislature is waiting on the governor to be called back into session. According to the state constitution, no bills can even be considered until the governor calls the Legislature into special session.

• House Republicans have a bill written and ready to go that would fund the state government at current levels until a deal can be reached. This would avert a shutdown, but the governor still refuses to allow it.

A state government shutdown will be easy for some, painful for others, and an inconvenience to many. But one fact is clear: A state government shutdown is in the hands of the governor.

Dave Thul
Co-chair, Steele County Republican Party
Owatonna

Washing county says Dayton shutdown is 'ridiculous'

The Washington County Board unanimously agreed June 14 to send a letter advising Gov. Mark Dayton to accept a budget proposal as presented by the State Legislature. State government will shutdown July 1 if officials fail to reach a budget agreement.

It's fairly common to see cities wade into politics that is echelons above them, such as when the Berkley city council calls for an end to the Iraq War.  But Washington County is risking trouble here by taking a stand on the budget debate.  Washington County, like nearly every other county across Minnesota, receives aid from the state.  So when they vote unanimously to tell the governor he needs to compromise, they aren't just passing a motion to make themselves feel good.

District 4 Commissioner Autumn Lehrke said the governor could end the budget standoff if he signed a budget bill approved by the Republican-controlled State Legislature. Dayton, a Democrat, said the bill does not provide enough funding for state programs and proposed a tax increase on the state’s wealthiest residents to balance the budget.

“I don’t think it’s worth a government shutdown to increase taxes,” said Lehrke. “Overall (the Legislature) is increasing spending by 6-percent but they’re not increasing taxes.”

The DFL mantra has been that Minnesota would suffer under a GOP budget, but Washington County knows better-that a shutdown will hurt everyone and that we can't afford yet another tax increase.

OPP lays the blame at Dayton's feet

From the Sunday OpEd-

When it comes to pointing fingers and passing blame for the budget stalemate in St. Paul, Gov. Mark Dayton has done well. In fact, it has become for him almost an art form. But the truth of the matter is that if anyone is digging in his heels and not budging in the budget negotiations, it is the governor himself.

Consider: On Thursday, GOP legislative leaders presented the governor with yet another proposal. In an effort to solve the budget crisis and avert a government shutdown, the Republicans offered to drop their call for $200 million in tax cuts if the governor would abandon his call for $1.8 billion in tax increases. What’s more, they said that if the governor agreed, the money raised from eliminating those tax cuts would be spent on Mr. Dayton’s priorities — education, the environment, transportation, Local Government Aid, and flood and disaster relief.”

The governor’s reaction? No deal.

In fact, the governor went so far as to call it a “non-proposal” and compared the Republican’s actions to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Well, if the GOP leaders are rearranging the chairs, then surely Gov. Dayton must be the iceberg itself — frozen to a proposal and not willing to change.

The whole idea of negotiating is that one side offers something, and the other side offers something in return.  The GOP gave up a fundamental component of conservative principles (cutting high taxes is good for the economy) and Governor Dayton couldn't even be bothered to look at the offer.  If Dayton follows through on his threat to shut the government down (if he actually has the courage) the blame for the pain will be all his.

Facts on the Dayton shutdown

From the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses

Budget showdown

When asked why he robbed banks John Dillinger is often quoted as saying “Because that’s where the money is.” When government gets involved where do they go to get that money? To us, the taxpayers. There has been no budget agreement between the legislature and the governor. Both sides have decided to stand their respective ground and yet another not-so-special session looms in the near future. The problem as always is how much of the people’s money should we spend? The governor says more, the legislature says less.

The house and senate have emptied the wallet, broke open the piggy bank, once again shifted payments and even rifled through the couch cushions and have managed to come up with a little over thirty four billion dollars to spend.  That’s a lot of money, but not enough for Governor Dayton and others in the legislature. They want more, and they will come to us to get it. I for one think it’s time those who thirst for more and more money to spend learn an important fact. Not every dollar earned by the people of Minnesota is the governments. We should not have to be thankful that government is gracious enough to let us keep a portion of it. The government should be thanking us, but what do we get? Threats of a shutdown.

Governor Dayton, there is a check for thirty four billion dollars sitting on your desk. All you have to do is sign it and deposit it like we do with our paychecks and the people of Minnesota can get back living their lives on much, much less than that. If not, we know who to blame.

Aaron Lindekugel

Owatonna

Letter to the Editor

From Aaron Lindekugal, a letter in today's OPP-

The DFL and GOP are arguing over how to solve a five billion dollar budget gap. A similar issue is being contested in Wisconsin and many other states. Gas and food prices are spiking while job creation is being very stubborn. While these tough issues are being debated, the U.S. House of Representatives and US Senate are involved in a battle over whether we should cut one hundred billion dollars or four billion dollars of spending out of the current budget cycle. For anyone paying attention this is akin to debating whether we should bail out the Titanic with a one gallon pitcher or a five gallon bucket. The budget deficit for the current year is 1.6 trillion dollars and projected to be 1.65 trillion dollars for 2012. The Republican solution is to spend 6 percent less and the Democrat solution is to spend .25 percent less to finish out the year. Next year we have the same problem. The President Obama is requesting a 3.7 trillion dollar budget and our elected officials think shaving 100 billion dollars might help. It almost makes you wonder if Bernie Madhoff and his lawyers argued if they should eat at Applebee’s or McDonalds before he went to prison. For those of you who think Minnesota’s five billion dollar shortfall is hard to stomach consider this. At current spending levels the United States will spend four and a half billion dollars more than it takes in every day for the next year. EVERY SINGLE DAY! Cut spending, reduce entitlements, print money, whatever. Something needs to be done, and be done soon. But most of all it should be done wisely.

Aaron Lindekugel
Owatonna