Rudy Takala's Columns

Mark Dayton

W(i)lfare for Billionaires

Rudy Takala: Posted on Monday, January 16, 2012 4:56 PM

Written for Americans for Tax Reform. Cross-posted at www.atr.org/wilfare-billionaires-a6687.

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“State [of Minnesota] not rushing to act on Vikings stadium,” fretted the January 13 headline of a column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. New Jersey billionaire Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings, is seeking about $700 million in taxpayers’ money to build his team a new stadium in the state.

The $700 million would be roughly split between state and local taxpayers.

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Mondale, Carlson Out to Save Minnesota

Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2011 6:45 PM

In another lesson on why bad Republicans simply are not worth electing, former vice-president Walter Mondale and former Republican governor Arne Carlson formed a "budget commission" in the last couple of days to make up their own budget for the state of Minnesota.

According to Mondale, Governor Dayton called him over the weekend and asked him to create his own budget with the help of Arne Carlson. According to Politico (the duo is already making national news), Carlson described Mondale's offer by saying, "I cannot think of any treasure Minnesota has that is greater than that of the vice president.

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From Minnesota Conservatives - "The Budget: How Republicans Failed Themselves"

Rudy Takala: Posted on Friday, June 10, 2011 11:07 PM

Attorney & blogger John Gilmore wrote an excellent analysis of the Minnesota budget situation and the Republicans' handling of it.Click hereto find it on his Website, Minnesota Conservatives, or scroll down to read it. I have bolded his best points for your reading convenience.

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The Budget: How Republicans Failed Themselves

The early warning sign that dealing with GovernorMark Dayton would not be as easy for the republican legislative majority as it assumed came early on: at a signing ceremony to foolishly opt in to federal Obamacare funds, he let the leaders of the assembled opposition speak.

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"Centrist Republicans Could Play a Pivotal Role in the Budget"

Rudy Takala: Posted on Friday, June 10, 2011 6:28 PM

The following is an article by Briana Bierschbach with Politics in Minnesota. You canclick here to read iton PIM's Website if you have a subscription, or scroll down if you do not. It provides a good who's who of which Republicans are most likely to vote with the Democrats in raising taxes during the upcoming special session.

House Republican commitee chairsJim AbelerandRod Hamiltonare rightly pointed out as being the most likely to break. They both voted to override Tim Pawlenty's veto in 2008 of the transportation budget; they are also the only two of those six Republicans who were not thrown out of office that year as a result.

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Terry McCall's "Don’t be intimidated, stick to principles"

Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 3:46 PM

Terry McCall, a friend with whom I would almost always agree, wrote an eloquent commentary that appears in the Red Wing Republican Eagle. Terry sits on the board of the Republican Liberty Caucus with me and is the chairman of Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District Republicans. You mayclick here to view in the newspaperor scroll down here.

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Don’t be intimidated, stick to principles

I am one of those people who try to live my personal life by a set of principles — principles that infuse my political beliefs.

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MNGOP Increases Spending $110 million; Guaranteed to Increase by $1 billion Before Summer

Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 11:44 AM

In order to decrease the gap between budget proposals from the GOP and Governor Dayton, the GOP agreed to raise spending on education and the courts by another $110 million. However, the governor still wants the GOP to raise spending by another $1.7 billion.Unfortunately, the GOP's choice for legislative leadership right now is not very adept at dealing with the media, and they are too fearful of losing their political positions to be effective. They are virtually guaranteed to raise spending by the full $1.

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