[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Minnesota's Progressive Republicans

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Minnesota's Progressive Republicans
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1229916771.shtml


   I'll be celebrating my 60th birthday early next year. I remember when
   KTCA first began broadcasting on channel 2 in 1957. I remember "Don
   Miguel" being shown on TV in my elementary school in the 60's. I've
   watched a lot of what's now called "TPT" programming since then. And I
   cannot remember anything so partisan, so boring, and so silly as their
   tribute to "Minnesota's Progressive Republicans" that aired last
   night.
   It was co-produced by [1]Growth & Justice, the new home of Dane Smith,
   former "dean" of the political reporters at the Minneapolis Star
   Tribune.
   Mostly, this is just some droll footage of speeches given by former
   Congressman and Governor Al Quie, former Governor Arne Carlson, and
   retired Congressman Jim Ramstad. These were given at the St. Paul
   College Club during the 2008 Republican National Convention. Quoting
   Dane Smith's opening remarks:

     [Growth & Justice is] a non-profit, non-partisan organization
     dedicated to both prosperity and fairness. We disagree with those
     on the left and the right who think those goals can't be achieved
     simultaneously. Today, we really want to emphasize the positive and
     the possible, what's happened in the past with the suggestion that
     it can happen again, take a look at great progressive role models
     who like us both pro business and pro government.

   Growth & Justice is non-partisan? Not in any meaningful sense, not
   even from a moderate Republican point of view. Disagree with the left?
   Only when the Democrats try to be moderates. Growth & Justice's
   solutions are all hard left, starting with large tax increases. (Real)
   Republicans need not apply.
   What's particularly amusing is the praise heaped on Governor Carlson.
   Has Mr. Smith forgotten? Carlson was hated by the DFL throughout the
   1990's. The papers ripped him constantly, mostly for not spending
   enough, with all sorts of green eyeshade jokes as I recall.
   The first few minutes would have you believe that the Republicans have
   gone bad. Moderates are being pushed out, leaving behind only us
   Neanderthals who dare to ask for a tax cut, hate kids, and embrace
   what they call religious intolerance. The real truth, the real problem
   of course is that the Democrats have "progressively" stopped being
   moderate. Ronald Reagan used to be a Democrat. So did Dennis Prager.
   So did Mitch Berg. Who left whom?
   No, if there's been a shift, it's been in the DFL. Democrats and
   Republicans, yes, used to get along much better. Government was much
   smaller then, so most of the issues revolving around how to best spend
   the money. The modern DFL seeks only largess now.
   It was not the fall of "Minnesota's Progressive Republicans" that got
   us in yet another huge budgetary hole. It was the rise of "Minnesota's
   Regressive Democrats."

References

   1. http://www.growthandjustice.org/