This is the best they can do?
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6:11 PM | Posted in , ,
Really? Josh Behling? Is the Republican Party in 15B so weak and feeble that it cannot find anyone even remotely capable of defeating Larry Haws? Well, if it is the weak and feeble they wish to bring forward, let us see what new and amazing things Josh has to offer District 15B that will bring Haws to his knees.

How about Taxes?

Josh believes...
Taxes and Spending
• Government should live within its means, just as Minnesota families have to do every day.
• Minnesota families should decide how to save and spend their money, because they know what's best for their needs.
• Taxes should be fair to all people.
• Property tax reform
• Reduce taxes on small businesses and encourage them to stay in Minnesota. (Minnesota places in the top five highest for all 50 states in it's business tax rate.)

*I am not going to take all of these because for the most part they are platitudes that few people would argue with (as we all know the devil is in the details!). However, the last bullet caught my eye. I could not find the statistic mentioned about the business tax rate, but I did find a few tidbits that seem at odds with Mr. Behling's contention that Minnesota is bad for businesses.

Check it out: http://www.deed.state.mn.us/whymn/bestInBus.htm
How about Health Care?

Josh believes...
Health Care
• Patients and doctors should make ALL health care decisions, not the Government.
• Reduce/eliminate governmental mandates on our health care system.
• When purchasing insurance allow additional pooling of small businesses to achieve more economical health care premium rates. Therefore reducing the costs employees’ pay for health care insurance.
• Eliminate fraudulent lawsuits against doctors therefore reducing the cost of medical malpractice insurance, and saving EVERYONE more money.
*My first thought, what government mandates are you proposing we eliminate? My second thought, if you feel additional pooling is a good idea, why not have the entire state of Minnesota in a state pool thereby achieving the maximum reduction we pay for health insurance?

How about Education?

Josh believes...
Education
• Children are our future. A strong understanding of core academics is essential to educating our children.
• Reform the education funding formula to make sure ALL Minnesota children have an equal opportunity to learn.
• Schools are a place for learning, let's make sure the money we pay to fund education goes to the classroom first where it can most positively effect our children's learning.
• Good educators deserve to be paid well. I support pay plans that encourage educators to teach our children to succeed to their highest potential in school.
• Eliminate excessive ascetics on schools and focus bond money on building a functioning educational environment.
• Do not extend "in-state" tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.
*Not to be a grammar Nazi, but if you are going to discuss your goals for EDUCATION, shouldn't you be able to write in grammatically correct sentences and be able to use the proper form of 'affect'?
  • "core academics ARE essential" not "core academics 'is' essential"
This is reminiscent of the Bush line: "Rarely is the question asked, IS our children learning?"

Anyway, Josh also seems to support the 70% Solution of Governor Pawlenty. Someone really ought to tell Josh that Minnesota Schools on average spend 69.2% "in the classroom" and that people deemed "outside the classroom" include librarians, social workers, and psychologists. If Josh is prepared to tell the people of District 15B that these positions are unnecessary his candidacy will be even less successful than we could possibly imagine. One last thing, we already have ATPPS (Alternative Teacher Professional Pay System) in Minnesota so it seems you missed the boat on that issue.

How about Life?

Josh believes...
Life
• Innocent human life, born and unborn, must be protected from the time a baby is conceived.
• Stop any public funding of abortions.
• Allow families to make decisions for loved ones when a living will is not present, not the Government.
• Partial birth aboortions should be banned.
• I support parental permission laws, that would require parental permission before a minor can receive an abortion.
*I don't know what a partial birth aboortion is so I am afraid I cannot address it. However, if he means partial birth abortion, I am pretty sure the United States Congress has already addressed the issue. Also, Larry already addressed public funding for abortion with HF0992. He certainly cannot be hit with the rabid Pro-choice label so you may have to do better than running on a strictly Pro-Life agenda. Do you have anything new to set you apart from a guy who received the Legislator of the Year Award from the VFW?

HAWS RECEIVES LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD FROM VETERANS

ST. PAUL – The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. Department of Minnesota presented the 2007 Legislator of the Year Award to Representative Larry Haws in recognition of his outstanding support of Minnesota Veteran issues. The award was presented to Rep. Haws at the State VFW Convention by Tate Doom, State Commander of the Department of the Minnesota Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"We, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, took great pride in honoring Rep. Haws for his diligence and dedication to the Veterans of Minnesota," said State Commander Doom. "We gave him what to some may seem a small honor but to us he gave us the gift of hope and excitement. It was only right we honored him as Representative of the Year."

"As far as Larry is concerned, we were extremely grateful for the hard work he put forward on the Veterans Committee," said Al Loher, State Legislator Chair of the VFW. "He was the person who brought us the needed approval for legislation supported by the Governor."

State Commander Doom final words of praise concluded, "I think Rep. Haws put it best when he said, 'veteran’s issues are not and should not be a partisan issue'. Thank you Representative Haws for your unselfish dedication to the veterans of this state."

June 27, 2007


*Good Luck, Josh, you're going to need it! Oh, and fix your website so you can at least have a modicum of authority on issues of education.
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Comments

2 responses to "This is the best they can do?"

  1. Gary Gross On September 14, 2007 at 8:59 AM

    According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, hardly a rabid right wing group, Larry Haws voted against their agenda 10 of the 12 times they voiced an opinion on a matter.

    This begs a question: Why doesn't Larry Haws like small business? He voted for every economy-killing tax increase when we had a $2 billion surplus.

    When I attended the DFL roundup the day after the regular session ended, Haws said that we should've gotten alot more done. My suggestion then is the same as it is now: If the DFL had tried working with Gov. Pawlenty and the House GOP more often, they might've gotten real property tax relief done. They might've gotten a better transportation package done.

    Instead, the DFL ignored Gov. Pawlenty's and the House GOP leadership's proposals in an attempt to show them who's boss.

    Larry Haws voted with the DFL leadership to ignore good policy. I'll be so happy to see Larry's carefully crafted 'Grandpa Larry' image exposed as a sham.

    More importantly, I look forward to having someone with common sense core convictions representing me. That someone is Josh Behling.

     
  2. Political Muse On September 14, 2007 at 4:47 PM

    "This begs a question: Why doesn't Larry Haws like small business? He voted for every economy-killing tax increase when we had a $2 billion surplus."

    Come now Gary! First, Larry voted with the Chamber on what I would imagine was their most important goal: defeating the creation of a new income tax bracket. So to say he voted for every economy killing increase is disingenuous at best. Second, three of the votes were transportation bills with user fee type increases on tabs, gas, etc. which Pawlenty seems to support now anyway.

    There you go again with the working with me stuff. When the DFL works with you, they are chastised, and when they follow their own agenda, they are chastised. You don't have to support them but don't continue to chastise them for not compromising when you are unwilling to consider and compromise on their proposals.

    My overall contention stands! The 15B Republicans are going to have to do better than Behling, a candidate with unremarkable positions, to defeat Haws. If he wants to try paint him as an Ultra Liberal go ahead but I don't see how it could possibly work.

     
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