Truth Surfer

Minnesota's GOP like to make promises through very simple statements and slogans that mislead the public into believing in 'happily ever after' endings without them having to invest anything....like magic...if you do nothing and pay nothing then.. poof! wahaalaa... look what can happen: But that's not reality in the adult world we live in today nor has it ever been. Keeping America safe, healthy, independent and successful takes an investment. Those 'do nothing' policies, slogans and promises don't fix our roads, fund schools, keep the military trained, provide hospitals, turn on lights, allow for safe drinking water, or give us jobs.... As easy as it is to believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa, we all grow up at some point and assume the responsibilities of being an adult...isn't it time for the GOP and teabaggers to do the same and join the real world? Promising slogans don't give you freedom or make you live better......Want freedom or a better li...

Made fresh daily with Boehner crap that was soaked overnight in political Beelzebub lard, then deep fried in the House and then again in the Senate with a sprinkling of Obama 'lite' salt and slapped on a staled but lusty onion roll with extra hot turd sauce and served with tea. Urban Dictionary defines it as: “The chiefest of hell’s dark delights, it is said that just one bite of it arouses an unspeakable lust of terrific potency.”... Higher interest rates, no jobs created, fewer services... $2.5 trillion in total cuts and $2.4 trillion in debt limit extension with nothing, nada, zero, zitch addressing the real problems of the economy or jobs ... Hell you can cut the budget from here to eternity, but that won't solve the problems and put Americans back to work! Pass the deviled eggs of no viable options please while the rest of the American public bends over.

This new study just released....scientific proof from the Michele Bachmann's batcrap lab of excuses....that her high heel shoes are causing weekly incapacitating stress induced headaches... The dog ate my ...er...I t's the shoes ! "If I gave you everything that I own and asked for nothing in return Would you do the same for me, as I would for you? Or take me for a ride and strip me of everything, including my pride But spirit is something that no one destroys"

 The Minnesota GOP traded away their social agenda items like voter ID, no abortion funding, no stem cell research, union busting, and school vouchers, along their belief in downsizing the state government and their stance against raising 500 million in bonds to successfully protected 7700 millionaires from being taxed their fair share over the well being of the rest of Minnesotans! BTW, of those 7700 millionaires only 3,800 even reside in Minnesota, the rest live out of state. The only winner from the Minnesota budget...one of the 7700 millionaires! In fact it looks like the only winner in the Minnesota budget deal is the 7700 millionaires! Way to compromise MN GOP! Rather than stand by their right-wing ideology issues, and rather than consider a tiny tax increase on the very wealthy .2% top income earners, and rather than shrink state government... the MN GOP traded it all for the rights to the mantra 'cut taxes for the wealthy' ...that's it...move along, nothing ...

The Minnesota GOP controlled legislatures has shut down the state government by neglecting to pass a budget. They were intent on making this happen. There was no plan to compromise...but instead to enact an unacceptable social agenda filled with fringe ideology over sound budget planning and compromise. While many marched in fourth of July parades , still enjoying their salaries, perdiem-mileage- lodging reimbursements... many more Minnesota state workers are wondering how now to meet their basic necessities. For the poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans, the GOP shut down will leave them without resources to deal with daily needs. This is because the GOP rank and file go to a state shutdowns as a way of bullying their ideology on issues like stem cell, abortion, and voter id. So let's take a look at a couple of the budget sticking points: Governor Dayton: Raise taxes on the top 2% fairly. "That is not Minnesota. That is not why the people of Minnesota elected me their Govern...

The Minnesota GOP still doesn't get it. Even after adjourning without balancing the budget, the GOP are still talking about cuts to services to pay for the tax cuts they gave to the wealthy at the start of the session....Give me a break! Is it too much to say...EVERYONE should share the pain of economic downturn and the cost of fixing government? And oh yeah, that shared cost should be equally distributed among us all not just the poorest! Long ago the GOP traded reasonableness and the ability to negotiate in exchange for a far right ideology serving only special interest and corporations. While many feel the Minnesota GOP have lost their way if you call them on it, they react like children, no, not by smashing things or holding their breaths til blue, but by making everybody else as miserable as possible to get their own way...can you say government shut down? Just like their WA.DC. counterparts, the MN GOP will tell you to not expect anything from government but then corporatio...

I like my potatoes fully loaded...butter, bacon bits, sour cream, chives, salt, pepper, even a little cheese...such is the things that dreams are made of...Minnesota's own favorite wack case, world teabagger queen and soon 'to decide' Presidential candidate...Rep. Michele 'Ms. PotatoHead' Bachmann is velling about the federal government (yes again...sigh) proposal to limit the use of potatoes in school lunches. "Where in the Constitution does it say the fed. government should regulate potatoes in school lunches?" she tweets. "It doesn’t." She's right it doesn't...nor does it limit setting standards/safety/health in any of the following industries: education, medical, construction, flight, agriculture, manufacturing...but that doesn't make regulation wrong, immoral, against the government or more importantly against the public good. It's done all the time for the good of all. In this case...our kids are fat...they got that way for ...

My youngest child was born on a Friday the 13th. I wanted to name her Erie but it was vetoed by my hubby... so she ended up being named Raven (which still suited the Friday the 13th mystic)...but she really doesn't... Raven is a shiny light of sweet, sweet goodness with a heart of gold. Needless to say...with her birth, no Friday the 13ths has a bad connotation for me....in fact I think of them as rather lucky because of her. But if you use the darker, more sinister meaning as a guide, then every day in Minnesota has turned into a Friday the 13th. Templar Knights aren't being hunted down and killed (yet)...but it is indeed dark days in Minnesota. With only ten days left in the regular session, the GOP house/senate has yet to pass on to Governor Dayton a balanced budget. Instead the GOP representatives spend their time working on breaking every last one of their campaign promises. Last year most the GOP ran on... Creating jobs ...Jobs created so far... ZERO No spending without t...

I'm usually not so forgetful but for the life of me...I can't remember what exactly President Obama did to win the Nobel peace prize other than replace Bush Jr. While that alone could have accounted for it, the fact remains that commander and chief Obama has hit the trifecta of war...not to mention kicking in doors and killing bad guys without due process... Has the prize ever been rescinded? Should be. Really they should just kick in his door and take it with out any trial, hearing, due process...just saying...Democracy isn't just for special occasions when we feel like it, it's unconditionally for all occasions. That's the only way it will work. IS America Trickling Down? In these very hard economic times profits at largest 500 corporations grew by 81% in 2010 . So much for Obama's plan to destroy capitalism...Did your income grow 81% in 2010? Did it even keep up with inflation and rising gas prices? Still that won't stop Obama from farting more rainbow ca...

I answered the call that Howard Dean put out...'take back your country'...and with 'stars in my eyes' I jumped into the frying pan hoping to 'make a difference'. But these days, I'm more than a little frustrated...right now my head feels like it will explode given the mindless, doodling crap that passes for news stories, important human interests, and political legislation... Dead but terrorism is still here: I got a record amount of emails and twitters last night telling me Bin Laden was dead...mostly celebratory in nature...but a small of degree of introspect by some... First: Wouldn't our closure have been more complete if Osama Bin Laden had been brought back and put on trial. It would show the world that our justice system still works regardless of his attempts to destroy our form of government. Some small part of me feels he died on his terms instead of ours. And yes I've been told it would have cause too much of US targeting ...but then aga...

Can we just create some jobs? Apparently not! So instead let's deal with issues that don't balance the budget, remove the deficit, correct wrongs, or create jobs...yep that's what we're doing... taking steps back into caveman times... Voter IDs ...This will cost the State of Minnesota millions to enact, cost citizens to get necessary paperwork,disenfranchise voters, resolves nothing (virtual no fraud and wouldn't eliminate the very little fraud that does exist)... Marriage Amendment ....This won't bring in additional revenue, doesn't create jobs, may affect the business community in a negative way (sales), and is just morally wrong to take away civil rights. Come on people, the Minnesota budget needs to be in and finalized within 4 WEEKS! Don't you have more important things to do besides waste time, resources, and money that the State doesn't have on NON-issues that don't create jobs? Where's the jobs! One More Time... WHERE'S THE JOBS !

Thank You Governor Dayton, Thank Yo u Governor Dayton, Thank You Governor Dayton, Thank You Governor Dayton...Oh and yeah, Thank You Governor Dayton! Where are the jobs that the newly elected Minnnesota House and Senate promised us? We've had lots of legislation on limiting our freedoms, but no job creation! On KARE 11 this morning, they touted McDonald's hiring a new 50,000 Jobs about 50,000 times over (world's longest free commercial?)...they forgot to mention that while McDonald doesn't post their pay (embarrassed?) and it varies from state to state...overall, they offer minimum wage entry level McJobs . Wikipedia says 'McJob is slang for a low-paying , low-prestige dead end job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement.' The jobs are good starting points for teens and 'special' adults, but offer little incentive, advancement, money or perks for the general workforce. With few exceptions, McDonald's McJobs...

"Republicans won a promise from Senate Democrats to schedule next week's votes on two bills — one defunding Title X and Planned Parenthood and another to defund the 2010 healthcare reform law — at the same time as consideration of the spending deal. Democrats also agreed to reinstate a ban on taxpayer funding for abortions in Washington, D.C., for the next six months."

Many of us believe our government shut down a long time ago when our elected officials stopped representing our interests and now dance to special interests. Come on people, don't act shocked, this is not new, or different or out of the ordinary. It's business as usual in the USA. We (the poor, middle class, seniors, children, minorities, women, unions, gays)...have been under siege for the last decade and more. We've seen our government hijacked and taken over by one percenters and corporations, and just like frogs slowing being boiled to death in water, we too are being COOKED! As Robert Scheer eloquently says in his column: "Instead of taxing the super rich on the bonuses dispensed by top corporations such as Exxon, Bank of America, General Electric, Chevron and Boeing, all of which managed to avoid paying any federal corporate taxes last year, the politicians of both parties in Congress are about to accede to the Republican demand that programs that help ordinary ...

Earthquakes, Buddha Statues laughing, Radiation Fallout, Oil Spills, Green Grass growing in the Antarctica...Is the End Here? Today's headlines are full of monstersized disasters and unexplained events like how Darth Walker got elected as Governor. And, with so much attention on the Fukushima disaster, there seems to be a recent jump in omens foretelling the end of humankind, the earth, the world, extraterrestrials, Wisconsin democrats, teachers, and unions. Having been raise by a mother who believed in omens to the point of weekly consulting a fortune teller before deciding what to have for dinner and never ever, ever, ever stepping on a crack to cross the path of a black cat under a ladder with spilled salt...wellugetthepicture. Although a Jew, mom also would even vell endless about Zionist bankers, magical and secret cabals, and apocalyptic manifests. She used omens (good and bad) as the roadmap to living. She would post up on our kitchen calendar daily warnings about the 'e...

April Fools...NOT! In Minnesota the wealthy still get a better tax break ! Now don't you feel special! Also, look for the new Viking stadium bill ...while I don't think the GOP are joking...it's another tax joke on us. At a time when they are cutting resources and money from educations, transportation and state medical programs, shouldn't we be tabling a stadium? Bachmann Joke Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) at a roast of his colleagues at the Congressional Correspondents' Dinner joked he wasn't sure if Minnesota's US Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) was at the dinner, "she's probably not -- she's campaigning Iowa and organizing in that important caucus state because she's running for president. That's really all I have for that joke." TPAW Joke U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, again a 'potential contender', ranks well ahead of Ex-Governor Tim Pawlenty with her 52 percent name recognition among Republicans compared to his 41%...

Slash and Burn the Middle Class and Poor, and Oh Yeah, Lie about it! The MN GOP know their budget is not good news for Minnesota communities, cities and citzens...so they decided to use fantasy numbers ...as if the truth won't come out eventually. Come on GOPers, let Minnesotans know based on real numbers what to expect with your budget instead of using the 'good ole boy' numbers taken from lobbyist that stand to gain from our pain. On Monday the Minnesota Department of Revenue let Republican House Taxes Chair Greg Davids know his omnibus tax package would raise property taxes for homeowners and businesses across the state while making the tax system more regressive. In other words, thier budget would make families feel more tax and fee pain while those making over $100,000 a year would receive tax breaks. In their own words : "... reductions for the wealthiest Minnesotans are substantially greater than for average Minnesotans" In the GOP alternate universe, the...

Education: In the old days they would burn books, now they just cut education funding . In Minnesota the GOP are proposing to cut $411 million from higher education funding. In effect, they are burning books. Shorted sighted, ignorant and opportunistic comes to mind...guess they want our children to be like them! Health care: Gallup reports today on which states have the highest and lowest rates of residents without health care coverage. Minnesota is ranked as the third best state in the country for the lowest rates of uninsured. But if we enact the GOP cuts, look for Minnesota to topple into the bottom states...sigh... 1. Massachusetts, 4.7% uninsured 2. Connecticut, 9.9% uninsured 3. Minnesota, 10.5% uninsured 4. Hawaii, 10.6% uninsured 5. Pennsylvania, 11% uninsured 5. Vermont, 11% uninsured Energy: Not saying we should necessarily label all nuclear power as bad...but what's going on in Japan should all give us (including the MN Reps!) pause to rethinking and evaluate the ris...

There's something immoral about Rep. Doug Wardlow (R-SD38) not wanting to pay taxes while receiving a salary from those same government taxes as a Minnesota Representative from Eagan. And something is really wrong when Doug Wardlow goes out of his way to imply that government providing for the poor, sick, seniors, children, veterans denies the opportunities for churches and neighbors to help them....How's that moral gobbledygook worked so far ? Brian Rusche of the Joint Religious Legislative Council does a good job of fielding Wardlow's leading questions. Doug Wardlow is trying to imply some kind immoral behavior if the Government helps it's own citizens. Wardlow wants the religious community to agree with his flawed logic that creating more poor for the wealthy to have an opportunity to help them is better than paying taxes. Just another outrageous spin of nonsense... if Doug Wardlow was serious than he'd be advocating fair taxation across economic groups instead...

When things don't add up, I do the math....and while I've always had a knack for math... apparently others find it more challenging... The Prince of Mythical Statistics Minnesota Ex-Governor Tim Pawlenty told Fox network " You have public employees making more than their private-sector counterparts . They used to be under-benefited and underpaid. Now they're both over-benefited and overpaid...it needs to stop." I'm just guessing that Timmy got confused among other things by the percentages as a report from the Labor and Employment Relations points out: "on average, state and local government workers are compensated 3.75% less than workers in the private sector ." Professor Jeffrey Keefe of Rutgers University revealed that public employees are under compensated compared to similarly skilled private sector counterparts. This study joins numerous other studies with the same finding. But really it's like arguing about the volume of water in a raind...

Low pay, long hours, dwindling resources, constant threats of layoffs and defunding, lowering standards for teaching (alternative licensing), attacks from parents, elected officials, school boards, labeled the 'villain du jour' of education ...Are there incentive for teaching today? Given the current all out assault on the public school system and teachers especially... there will be teacher shortages . Who hasn't gotten the message that being a teacher is a bad and lowly career choice ? The media, elected officials, special interests and general public have all attacked teachers for poor performances, missed marks, failed grades, and labeled them as 'bad apples' wasting taxpayers money. We've ask teachers to be beholden to test scores, and abandon significant curricular content, after all ...the only resulting value to their jobs and salaries is testing outcomes . Then wonder why our kids can't compete in today's market place beyond passing a standard...

We can't grow the economy by destroying jobs and attacking the middle class...it just won't work. We need to focus on the ubber urgent crisis of our broken economy and creating jobs instead of being obsessed with imposing ideology and exploiting social issues. The number one goal for any elected official should be creating jobs while balancing the budget. Period, end of the story... Corporate profits are up. Stock prices are up. So why isn't anyone hiring in America? The paradox of record-high corporate profits and extremely-high unemployment doesn't seem to be breaking anytime soon. Also the longer the unemployed go without work, the greater the damage to their future employment and earnings potential as well as to our economy. How much longer can the 15.1million unemployed wait ? Looking at the rash of bills introduced since January this year in Minnesota, Wisconsin and beyond, how many jobs have they created ? Will voter ID laws create jobs and reduce the budget? W...

As Wisconsin Goes...so goes Minnesota What his staffer learned under Walker's mentoring tutelage ...'LA-LA-LA-I Can't Hear You' You mean there is a worse Governor than Pawlenty ? Wow, just wow. Naturally, T-Paw supports Walker unconditionally. ( say isn't that man on man love ?) I hear that Scott “ I take phone calls all the time ” Walker is still taking calls ...lol, call him at (608) 266-1212. Say hello from Prince Albert in a can! Ask if there's a Butz there? Seymour Butz? Better yet, suggest he let calls go to voicemail like I do...but then again the Koch Brothers aren't bankrolling me ! BTW, part of Wisconsin's deficit is $58.7 million debt it owes Minnesota for income tax collected from Wisconsin residents who worked in Minnesota. Taking out the trash: I don't care if Ms. Palin goes to India...I do care if she returns. About Time Obama administration dropping its legal defense of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act isn't so much as a win as a...

One of Scott Walker's first action as the newly elected Wisconsin Governor was to post signs along the Wisconsin/Minnesota borders, saying Wisconsin was 'open for business' . Now two months later, residents are seeing first hand how very prophet-like that single action was to their futures. Governor Walker has put the state of Wisconsin up for sell to big business at the cost of it's independence and workers souls. The question is why Walker would trade the State of Wisconsin away to thugs and thieves? My mama always said to 'connect the dots' and 'follow the money' to find the answers..easy enough to do in this instance. The Koch Brothers, an energy conglomerate involved with oil, coal, and gas contributed significant funds to Governor's Walkers election. Within 24hrs of Walker being elected, the Koch Brothers 'set up shop' in Madison, Wisconsin. Walker pushes for the Budget Repair Bill with a provision for selling off state owned utilitie...

The GOP both locally and nationally continue to push bills against women, immigrants, GLBT, minorities, non-christians, the poor and unions. They've become emboldened by each others chest thumping and back slapping and see it as a mandate to pass hot-button bills against 'we the people'. In lieu of creating jobs, balancing the budget, or reducing the deficit, they are passing a plethora of bills meant to restrict and repress 'we the people' and repeal all safeguards meant to protect 'we the people' against big corporations. They have empowered the wealthy while taking our pennies. The injustice and lost of liberty makes their actions unAmerican. They have failed America. “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” -RFK Each of us need to start creating ripples unt...

The local Minnesota legislature has taken on the tough issues like fair pay for women (they're against it), how to stop Minnesota's record voter turnout (they're against it), and dismantling social services like Minnesota's Children's Protective Agency (apparently abused children are okay as long as taxes get cut for Corporations)...all-in-all it's been thirty six days since Republicans have taken control of the Minnesota legislature, and the number of new jobs created: 00000 Perhaps the Republicans are better on the federal side ...er..nevermind, move along nothing to see here! Taking a day or two off...enjoy the weekend, let's dance and sing, and otherwise pray for warmer weather...at least a warm up to zero...

Minnesota has historically prided itself on a large voter turnout. Typically we have been among the top few states in the nation with a large voter turnout. In addition, voter fraud has been extremely rare (26 cases out of hundred of thousands of voters last election!). Naturally, the MN GOP feels a need to address this pressing and overwhelming 'non-existing state problem' of lots of voters and a statistically non-existing voter fraud of less than 100th of a percent! The GOP propose to protect Minnesotans against this 'non-existing problem' by spending more of our tax dollars. They want to mandate voter IDs while adding ID machines to every vote location. Really?! What state are they living in? Has Minnesota become California? Where's the common sense in this kind of worthless legislation? What's not to love here...spending tax dollars on imaginary problems. Our State budget is in need of balancing with a projected 6 billion dollar deficit, jobs need to be cr...

While cutting taxes for big corporations and trying to impose government ID's on Minnesota's voters (wonder who's paying for that?), the GOP has been too busy to answer question regarding their own offered up slash and burn budget for partially balancing Minnesota's state budget; Wonder why that is? Senator Ted Daley ran on "I will bring greater understanding of how to properly balance our budget ..." It would be nice (some say even expected by his elected position) if he shared some of that 'understanding' with other Minnesotans...sigh... Here's an example of how that greater understanding, accountability and transparent government is working for the GOP: They won't even answer questions about their own budget...shameful but not surprising. Sen. Ted Daley (MN-R-38) facebook page said he" Toured the Delta Airlines facility yesterday to learn more about how we can attract, retain and grow jobs here in Minnesota "...wonder when he's...

Remember the campaign promises from the newly elected Minnesotan Republican representatives? Apparently many of them have already forgotten those campaign pledges or an open and translucent government by the people including public debate. What we have seen is the GOP making cuts at any expense including those of the Child Protection Agency without any public input. Again, the Minnesota Republicans are using the 'whack a mole' cutting edge decision process (sigh!) and thereby not asking for debate which would bring to light some of the effects of their outrageous decisions. When elected officials have no values but money and no morals but power , Minnesotans can expect their quality of life to suffer, their families to pay, and their children to be at risk. This is the Minnesota GOP . Thier decision to cut the budget will impact the lives of Minnesota children that will last a lifetime . All children should to be protected and feel safe but not anymore in Minnesota. All I wa...