Overwhelmed by mass mediocrity

Sorry for not keeping up -- it's just not possible, these days. The amount of wrong-headed policy and regulation being output by the state's officials is so large there's just not enough to time to point it all out and comment on it. I often think of just throwing in the towel. People are just too into their own individualistic pursuits to bother noticing that they are being turned into a society of willing slaves by oligopolistic groups in power.

Quid Pro Appointum

In another joke on the citizens (you know, those people singled out in the Constitution as being the only ones who have the power to vote), the Pawlenty administration has made a mockery of the concept of government for the people, instead preferring government for the benefit of wealthy corporations. In this instance, he appointed Vicki Grunseth to chair the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), a woman who has virtually no qualifications for the job whatsoever other than being a party-line Republican who knows how to take marching orders from Pawlenty or Northwest Airlines, as they see fit. Virtually every adult I know is ten times more qualified than this sycophant. Of course, Northwest Airlines is very happy with the selection -- so happy one wants to know how much money they dumped into the Pawlenty campaign (of the $520,218 they donated in the 2001-2002 election cycle, ignoring, of course, the personal contributions of its executives). However, someone should coach Northwest CEO Richard Anderson on improving his spin, since the goals of government versus the goals of private enterprise are quite different. Anderson comments on Grunseth's position by saying, "the airport commission is going to run more like a business." -- as if this were a Good Thing. He's missing the fact that private enterprise strives to make profits for its owners, while government strives to provide representation for all citizens and to provide them with cost-effective services as they so require.

He's probably right that MAC will be run as if it were NWA's own business from now on, now that those pesky citizens are out of the way.

No wonder suburban Republicans think we need to pave every last inch of the inner cities. They are so geographically challenged that their idea of a 45-minute drive during afternoon rush-hour traffic takes them on an indirect route through both downtowns. State Rep. Lynne Osterman, R-New Hope, trying to get from the Capitol in St. Paul for a speaking engagement in Bloomington decided it would only take 45-minutes leaving at 3:15pm, driving via I-94 through St. Paul and then Minneapolis to I-35W to I-494 in Bloomington, 6 miles further than taking I-35E south to I-494, and 7 miles further than the shortest and quickest route of taking West 7th Street / Highway 5 and/or Shepard Road from St. Paul to 494.

Rep. Osterman is obviously not the only person who has made or will make such a navigational mistake. But one has to wonder when legislators and politicians take on micro-managing our transportation infrastructure as if they were experts, when they clearly are not.

How much is that politician in the window? The one with the lobbyist tale?

The Tim "King of the Suburbs" Pawlenty administration is showing that it knows some Latin, specifically quid pro quo. Turns out they have given a big break to a Florida insurance company that made a hefty donation to their campaign. For a mere $15,000 contribution, the American Bankers Insurance Group was able to cut their fine for illegal business practices in Minnesota by more than a million dollars.

Nice, when you're a company facing legal action in a number states. Besides Minnesota, Massachusetts, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., Washington state, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin have all pursued legal remedies and have been financially compensated.