This morning Minnesotans were forced to muddled through another daily dose of predictable propaganda from the StarTribune. Letters to the editor read like a promotional package from the group of lobbyists and special interests that made the transportation bill happen this year. Lori Sturdivant criticizes any scrutiny of the six Republicans who abandoned their party and sided with the Democrats to override the Governor's veto.  Driving to my office this morning I heard a few different radio ads sanctifying the heroic victory for the people that the transportation bill passing so "definitely" represents.

Once again, media playing it's critical role in managing public opinion rather than reporting on it. The choreography is precise and the playbook shrewdly crafted. And it's all made to look like what happened last week in the legislature was the result of some organic grassroots effort to remedy our sick transportation system. If the people only knew the truth.

Surely every Minnesotan deserves to know the real players behind the power and influence exerted in Minnesota. This is all public information so it can't be corrupt, right? Weigh the details for yourself. Make up your own mind.

Let's take a look at the "powers that be" behind the scenes on this shrewdly crafted outcome "for" Minnesota.  Let's start with the Transportation Alliance.

Ames Construction
Parsons Brickerhoff
Bonestroo
HDR
HTNB
Short Elliott Hendriksen
SRF Consulting
3M Worldwide
WSB
Ayers Associates
Bolton & Menk Surveyors
Amalgamated Transit Union
URS Corporation
MN Building Trades Council (AFL-CIO)
International Union Of Operating Engineers Local 49
Jacobs, Edwards & Kelsey
Teamsters Local 120

Now lets take a look at the massive mob of organizations under the advertising campaign I heard this morning under the Progress In Motion moniker:

Professional Associations

The Minnesota Transportation Alliance
A statewide coalition of approximately 275 public and private sector organizations involved in the development, construction and operation of Minnesota’s transportation system. Alliance members include most of the 87 Minnesota counties, cities, the highway industry, transit organizations, unions and other transportation advocates.

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota
The AGC is a non-profit professional trade association consisting of 450 members that is dedicated to promoting opportunity and excellence in the building and highway construction industry.

Minnesota Public Transit Association
Statewide Association consisting of over 60 transit systems statewide and other transit advocates.

Minnesota State Patrol Troopers Association
City Engineers Association – Represents 142 cities
County Engineers Association – Represents all 87 county engineers
American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota - ACEC/MN’s 150+ member firms represent over 4,500 employees and over $350 million in annual gross billings.
Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association - Approximately 29 asphalt producers along with 7 asphalt nonproducers and 95+ associate members.
Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota – Represents approximately 70 member companies
Aggregate Ready Mix Association
Minnesota Utility Contractors Association
North Central Cement Council

Local Government

Minnesota Association of Townships
Minnesota Inter-County Association
Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities
North Metro Mayors Association
North Metro I-35W Corridor Coalition
Highway 14 Partnership
Highway 52 Freeway Partnership
Highway 55 Coalition
City of Hutchinson
City of Minneapolis
City of St. Michael
Beltrami County
Blue Earth County
Lyon County
Ramsey County
Agricultural Groups
Broiler and Egg Association of Minnesota
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Land Stewardship Project
Minnesota Association of Cooperatives
Minnesota Barley Growers Association
Minnesota Farmers Union
Minnesota Food Association
Minnesota Land Trust
Minnesota Turkey Growers Association
Minnesota Wheat Growers Association
Northern Plains Potato Growers Association

Other Supporters

Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
Brain Injury Association of Minnesota
Growth & Justice
ISAIAH
League of Women Voters Minnesota
Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce /Transportation Committee
Minnesota Consortium For Citizens With Disabilities
Minnesota Public Interest Research Group
Minnesota Senior Federation
Transit for Livable Communities
Unions
AFSCME Council 5
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 49
Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Minnesota State Building & Construction Trades Council
North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
Teamsters Local 120
United Transportation Union
Environmental Organizations
Alliance for Sustainability
Conservation Fund
Conservation Minnesota
Fresh Energy
Friends of the Mississippi River
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
Institute for Local Self – Reliance
Izaak Walton League – Minnesota Division
Lower Phalen Creek Project
Mankato Area Environmentalists
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
Minnesota Conservation Federation
Minnesota Council Trout Unlimited
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Minnesota Food Association
Minnesota Land Trust
National Environmental Trust, Minnesota
Sierra Club
Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota
Will Steger Foundation
Windustry
Businesses
Aggregate Industries
American Engineering Testing
Ames Construction
AVR
Bituminous Roadways
Bolton & Menk Inc
Bonestroo
Braun Intertec Corporation
Central Specialties Inc
Century Fence Company
CS McCrossan, Inc.
Cemstone
CitiCapital Construction Equipment Finance
Cobb Strecker Dunphy & Zimmerman Inc.
Dahl Trucking Inc
Duininck Brothers Construction
Eagan Connection, LLC
Edward Kraemer and Sons
Erickson Engineering
Frattalone Companies
Geyer Signal
Hardrives
HDR Engineering Inc
Highway Technologies
HNTB
Hoover Construction
Intex Corporation
Jacobs Edwards and Kelcey
J.D.P. Safety Consulting LLC
Kadrmas Lee & Jackson
KGM Contractors Inc.
Knife River Corp
L.H. Sowles Inc.
LHB Inc
Lunda Construction
Martin Marietta Materials
Master Engineering, Real Estate and Construction
Mathiowetz Construction Company
McCarty Group
Midwest Asphalt
R and G Construction
Rachel Contracting
Riley Brothers Construction Inc.
Road Machinery and Supplies Company
Robert Schroeder Construction
Ryan Companies US Inc
Sellin Brothers
Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc
Simcote Inc.
SRF Consulting Group Inc
Stellar Contracting Inc.
TCC Materials
TKDA
Tiller Corporation
Tower Asphalt
Ulland Brothers, Inc
Valley Paving
WSB and Associates
Ziegler Inc.

How cool is it that you can lobby for legislation that delivers beefy state contracts to your business?  And in the case of many of these organizations, using taxpayer money to do so.  Minnesota taxpayers should be outraged.

Centralizing health care under a government-controlled system management is shaping up to be a hotly contested issue in the 2008 Minnesota legislative session.  Liberal advocates of socialized medicine are trying to convince us that our health care system is broken. They claim that 47,000,000 Americans are without health care coverage.  But does their propaganda meet the smell test?

The Census Bureau has acknowledged their 2007 report stating that there are 47 million uninsured Americans is grossly overstated.  The fact is that 17,800,000 of that 47,000,000 used in the liberal argument are actually able to afford their own private coverage, but choose not to buy it for themselves.  Another 10 million of the 47 million are not citizens of the U.S.  Another 10 million do not work at all.  When you sort through all of the fuzzy math, at most there are 19 million people in America without health care coverage.  That's 7% of the total population.  What was the percentage of uninsured in 1987?

As immoral as the concept of amnesty for illegals is in the minds of most Americans, Congress is poised to deliver economic stimulus cash into the hands of illegal aliens. Have vote hungry liberal politicians lost their minds?

According to Fox News, "The $146 billion stimulus package intended to jolt the economy by giving taxpayers rebates up to $1,200 includes cash returns for illegal immigrants who pay taxes.

Under the plan passed by the House, illegal immigrants who qualify as “resident aliens” and earned a minimum of $3,000 would be eligible for rebates of between $300-$600.

Only those illegals who have been assigned an Individual Tax Identification Number (TIN) that allows them to file income taxes would be eligible. The basic issue comes down to how the IRS has defined "resident aliens". The IRS defines a resident alien as somone who satifies one of two tests. The "green card" test is used for individuals who are in the United States legally. The problem is with the "substantial presence" test which defines a resident alien as someone who spend a “substantial” amount of time in the U.S. and have not been deported -- illegal aliens.  The Center for Immigration Studies issued a white paper entitled "Giving Cover to Illegal Aliens" in 2002 discussing how the IRS is undermining US immigration law by issuing Individual Tax Identification Numbers to illegal aliens. 

Tom Tancredo picked up on it here and here. The Politico has picked up on it here. Now some politicians are running around like their hair is on fire trying to figure out "how did THIS happen?" News flash to the politicians... It is called the law of unintended consequences.

You can weigh-in on the issue by contacting your U.S. Senators and asking them to be sure not to adopt the House version of the stimulus package.

This afternoon Governor Tim Pawlenty held a press conference detailing his vision for immigration reform and enforcement in Minnesota.  Appearing with Department of Public Safety Commissioner and Minnesota Homeland Security Chief Michael Campion, Pawlenty issued four Executive Orders for immediate implementation and five legislative proposals to be acted upon as soon as the legislature is called to order in February.

This is arguably the boldest exertion of executive power by Governor Pawlenty in recent memory.  His vision for immigration reform was met with fierce opposition from liberal reporters and an incensed hispanic legislator, Patricia Torres-Ray (DFL, Minneapolis), who held her own impromptu press conference in the hallway after the Governor's presentation.

Pawlenty issued the following four executive orders with his signature today:

1. Minnesota law enforcement officers will work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help enforce immigration laws.

2. New state emplyees and contractors doing business with the state will be required to verify citizenship through an Internet-based system operated by the federal governmnet.

3. Department of Public Safety will conduct a review of Minnesota driver license database to catch duplicate photos and examine for possible fraud.

4. Department of Public Safety will coordinate law enforcement summits to coordinate training in targeting criminal activity related to illegal immigration.

The five legislative proposals include prohibition of city "sanctuary" ordinances, strengthened human trafficking laws, enhanced penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, increased penalties for identity theft and establishing the crime of "aggravated forgery" of underlying documents used to obtain legitimate identity documents.

Nine states have passed laws allowing illegal immigrants to attend colleges and universities for the same cost as a legal in-state resident.  Are American students being unfairly biased by this arguably "illegal" competition for a coveted slot in class?

California, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Washington currently offer illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates.  American citizens that attend school outside of the state of their primary residence are, in many cases, required to pay almost twice as much tuition as illegal immigrants.

Under U.S. law, illegal immigrants may not hold any job in the United States.  That raises the question as to why we would offer educational advantages to the very people we prohibit from having a legitimate job in our country.  Students without legal immigrant status continue to be ineligible for federal financial aid, although states are required to provide K-12 public education as a result of a 1982 Supreme Court decision.

The Wall Street Journal raised the possibility that the whole in-state tuition benefit for illegal aliens issue has been nothing more than a vote buying ploy for politicians appealing to hispanic illegals:

"Promoters expect few students to actually take up the benefit. Dropout rates are high and academic scores generally are low among Hispanics, who account for the majority of illegal aliens. "

 In-state tuition for illegal aliens is a violation of Federal Law.  Federal Law Title 8, Chapter 14, Sec. 1623 states:

"an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State... for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit."

In-state tuition for illegals is in fact a form of amnesty masquerading as an incentive for education.

Colorado pro-life activists recently made significant progress in challenging the validity of the 1973 U.S Supreme Court rulling of Roe v. Wade.  The Colorado Supreme Court voted unanimously to allow a group called Colorado for Equal Rights to conduct a petition drive for a ballot initiative to establish personhood for the unborn.

The right to life is a fundamental principle of the U.S Constitution.   Minnesota's constitution likewise states, "Government is instituted for the security, benefit and protection of the people..." (Minnesota Constitution Article I).  Most Minnesotans support the idea of banning public funding for abortion, if not outlawing the procedure entirely.

Although Minnesota is not an initiative and referendum state, this victory in Colorado is clearly a harbinger of a new wave of optimism for the defenders of the unborn in Minnesota.   We will keep a close eye on the progress of this initiative in Colorado and inform you of additional developments as they occur.