gdp's Comments

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Point / Counterpoint: Gay Pride Edition

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:40:45 +0000

Wrong case Bob. Megan is referring to Hurley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurley_v._Irish-American_Gay,_Lesbian,_and_Bisexual_Group_of_Boston

I think the court's central thesis in Hurley is correct--that the right to free speech includes an implicit right not to have your message co-opted in ways that undermines your own message. Or, in other words, I get to say what I want to say. The only thing I feel a little uncertain about in Hurley is the degree of Government involvement; it was a private group organizing the parade, but the government (in my understanding) had basically handed them authority over a previous public parade. I'm fine with the ability to exclude for private, message-driven organizations, but not OK with allowing government sub-ins to exclude people from an event understood to be public.

You're talking about Dale v. Boy Scouts. I actually agree with the reasoning in Dale for the same reason I agree with Hurley. But that doesn't mean that I think the Boy Scouts aren't repugnant for holding to that view. They have every right to hold to the view and I have every right to condemn them for doing so.

Bottom line: Megan's right. If this guy wants to undermine the Pride parade with his own message, he can do so from across the street.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Live from the GOP Convention

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:39:23 +0000

I\\\'d say males only slightly outnumber females but a non-caucasion is a rare sight.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Emmer on Extremist Arizona Immigration Law: "A Wonderful First Step"

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:17:55 +0000

There have been some recent studies that have shown pretty conclusively that an influx of cheap labor (southwest and California) has actually increased the average wealth of average citizens, specifically white middle-class workers. I\\\'m not expert, but my understanding is that the studies conclude that the combination of cheaper labor for low-paying job that most people don\\\'t want and an increased batch of low-end consumers drives the economic growth of the areas from the bottom up. Of course, no one will ever believe this because it flies in the exact opposite direction of public perception, but sometimes the truth is worth spreading even if no one will believe it.

NYtimes,http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/us/16skilled.ht... :
\\\"Rather, the fastest economic growth between 1990 and 2008 was in cities like Atlanta, Denver and Phoenix that received large influxes of immigrants with a mix of occupations

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Tom Emmer Manages to Find a Running Mate as Crazy as He Is!

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:44:13 +0000

Dan, I think a lot of people are going to be with you if Emmer/Meeks is the ticket. Horner was probably happy to see MAK get the endorsement, and is likely praying for Emmer to win his endorsement and Dayton to win the primary. I don\\\'t mean that as a slight against MAK or Dayton or even Emmer, as much as it is a statement on their politics. As I\\\'ve said, and will continue to say, Emmer is just way out there. Rybak was to the center of MAK (and that may be part of the reason she won and he lost) but MAK is no where near the ideologue Emmer is. She\\\'s quite centrist on many issues and a little further to the left on others. Dayton is the most unconventional of the three--his tax the rich line puts him economically way to the left, but socially and otherwise, he\\\'s pretty centrist. I think Horner would like to run against Dayton more so than MAK because he positions himself as an economic pragmatist and social centrist--he\\\'s still Republican in many respects, but he\\\'s much more willing to compromise (at least rhetorically) on economic issues in order to benefit the greater good.

The problem with an IP candidate is the same as ever: it\\\'s really easy to run against \\\"politics as usual\\\" when you\\\'re an outsider, but then you get to the mansion and realize that you have no clue how to engage all those usual politicians--it\\\'s a recipe for 4 years of in-fighting and stagnation. But, hey, that\\\'s better than moving backwards, which Emmer guarantees.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : After MAK

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:32:15 +0000

Agreed.

100%

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : What Happened in Duluth

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:50:45 +0000

I\\\'m not dismissing the Range, I was just stating facts about Rukavina\\\'s expectations at the convention. I\\\'ve read Aaron\\\'s excellent post and agree with almost everything in it.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : What Happened in Duluth

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:48:12 +0000

From talking to renew people at the convention.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : What Happened in Duluth

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:46:23 +0000

I did consider that but I don\\\'t think it accounts for everything. I do think RT hid some delegates in Marty\\\'s pool, and MAK may have hid some with Rukavina, but the numbers don\\\'t quite add up in a way that makes that hidden pool incredibly significant. I\\\'m not sure, but I kept it out of the post because it\\\'s purely speculative and my gut says it doesn\\\'t account for everything anyway.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Live from the DFL 2010 State Convention: Day 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:52:53 +0000

Thanks again!

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Live from the DFL 2010 State Convention: Day 2

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:49:07 +0000

Thanks Dan, it was exhausting but it was still fun.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Live from the DFL 2010 State Convention: Day 2

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:33:35 +0000

Nope. And it\\\'s really obnoxious.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Are They Stupid?

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:56:10 +0000

Setting aside the ridiculousness of your underlying assertion... If any of the companies looking to perpetuate securities fraud would like to put their plan in writing and present it to the American people in the form of a bill first, I would be more than happy to give it a read.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : I'm With Neil: Obama's NASA Plans Suck

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:08:19 +0000

I guess what I\\\'m really trying to get at is: where are my hover cars and space elevators!? It\\\'s 2010, I\\\'m pretty sure I was promised one of each by this point!

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : I'm With Neil: Obama's NASA Plans Suck

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:07:11 +0000

This is fair.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : I'm With Neil: Obama's NASA Plans Suck

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:27:29 +0000

There\\\'s obviously more than enough room for disagreement here, but I would argue (without taking the time to find the numbers to back up anything I\\\'m about to say...) that it\\\'s precisely the big projects that provide the best return on investment. No private enterprise in the country would have taken on the substantial cost and risk of the Apollo program, but the technologies it brought forth, and private companies further developed, made this country leaders in dozens of fields for decades. These businesses brought in billions of dollars to the United States economy and it\\\'s all because we dared to push into the unknown. Plus there\\\'s that little side-effect of inspiring thousands of students to go into scientific and technological fields--further advancing our lead in tech sectors. (As a quick aside, I\\\'m obviously not asserting that all of our technological lead was owed to the space program; just an amount that is significant both economically and politically)

The manned spaceflight of today is, indeed, expensive, but that\\\'s not the loss I\\\'m bemoaning here. The constellation program, flawed as it was, was an encouraging return to the \\\"big\\\" projects of old. A more focused program with a defined, and this next word is really important, longterm goal that was sure to reap technological benefits along the way.

I certainly don\\\'t mean to belittle the less exciting, more routine scientific missions (both manned and unmanned), but as cost-effective as their mission goals may be when compared to the mission-goals of larger projects like constellation, I sincerely doubt that the total net effect of the programs are more cost effective when considering the technological by-products of the larger missions coupled with their inspirational effect (as hard as that is to quantify or qualify).

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : DFL Guv Endorsement: Where We're At

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 20:51:54 +0000

Dan, I sincerely think she\\\'s done a very good job as speaker. I won\\\'t comment on the DFL leadership in the Senate, because that\\\'s a different story. But trying to get a bunch of DFL legislators together to speak as one voice against the Governor is like herding cats, and I think she\\\'s done a commendable job of doing that. Have we gotten the smack-down from Pawlenty, yes. But there is only so much one can do as speaker to confront that; he not only has the power of being a unitary actor with a veto pen, but there\\\'s also the huge advantage of having one message from one voice from one person.

I think there\\\'s room for disagreement here, and what I thought was \\\"out of line\\\" wasn\\\'t the fact that you were criticizing a DFLer, it\\\'s that you were making a broad statement (\\\"her gender is about how all she has going for her\\\") without explanation. When you make a statement like that, you better put some arguments behind it. Your follow-up comment did that, and I appreciate your viewpoint, but I also happen to disagree.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : DFL Guv Endorsement: Where We're At

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 15:18:23 +0000

Dan, Kelliher has WAY more going for her than just her gender. She wouldn\\\'t have become Speaker of the House if that were the case. And then look to her commendable performance in that role. I think your comment is a bit out of line.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : DFL Guv Endorsement: Where We're At

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 20:45:25 +0000

Ha! I know, it\\\'s a terrible habit.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Could Taxpayers End Up Making Money on the Bailout?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:49:18 +0000

I will note that I\\\'m a big Elizabeth Warren fan. She\\\'s been warning about the failures in oversight—things that could have and should have been corrected in order to make the bill work better for the American people. I don\\\'t think she ever said we shouldn\\\'t have taken action in the first place.

As you say, the bill was faaar fromm perfect. Well, if Congress had taken Warren a little more seriously, it could have all gone much better.

MNpublius.com -- Your Source for MN Political News : Rybak Presser at 2:15 [UPDATE x2]

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:58:34 +0000

Good call. That\\\'s a real possibility.