Over at Residual Forces people are continuing to debate the Taxpayer's League Statement and Krinkie's campaign piece criticizing Bachmann's campaign for making false claims about Bachmann's record vs Krinkie's record on taxes.
Eva Young Says:
March 30th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
The Taxpayer's League has come out with a statement condemning Bachmann for this nonsense.
Margaret Says:
March 30th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Actually, I think that it's a stretch to say they condemn her. But her campaign literature is in error, it's wrong and the League has set out the relevant statistics to show that. The League isn't going after her, it's clarifying the stats, if people want to start throwing them around. Campaigns will come and go. The League has to protect its institutional integrity if it is to live to fight another day.
StillwaterGOP Says:
March 30th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
The Taxpayers League is also very critical of Senator Bachmann for lying about her ratings compared to Representative Krinkie. You can see David Strom's sharp words on its Web site at http://www.taxpayersleague.com/PR/2006/03302006.htm. And on the other issue, Jim Knoblach put out a mail piece saying Phil Krinkie doesn't want to harshly punish sex offenders. This, of course, is totally ridiculous and reprehensible on Jim's part. I agree that we have to get back to the issues, but as long as Michele is putting out demonstrably false information (and persists in doing so) and Jim keeps telling people Phil likes Sex Offenders, is it any wonder that Phil is forced to respond?"
6th District Watch Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 12:15 am
The literature is not in error. . .
In the 2004 Taxpayers League Scorecard (at http://www.taxpayersleague.org/pdf/legscorecard2004.pdf), Michele Bachmann showed a lifetime rating of 96. Phil Krinkie showed a lifetime rating of 95, while Jim Knoblach's rating comes in at 75. In 2000 (before Sen. Bachmann was elected), Rep. Krinkie had a TPL rating of 92.
In 2005, Michele’s Taxpayer League lifetime rating was affected because she voted for a life issue (Fetal Pain Protection Act) which was bundled with the cigarette tax. Do not forget, Michele stood up in the legislature and fought the tax increase, attempting to seperate it from the HHS bill. For this leadership, she was dismissed from Senate minority leadership. What did Mr. Krinkie do during the special session? When things got tough, he quit the Tax Working group…
What Mr. Krinkie did today was reprehensible. A campaign should be about ideas. A campaign should not be about threats. Leadership is not about tossing around legal threats. It's not about running away when things get tough. It's about standing and fighting for what you believe in.
Eva Young Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 12:24 am
The literature is in error - because the Taxpayer League lifetime rating was rating the years 97-2004 - NOT 2000 - 2004 as Michele Bachmann claimed. It’s also disingenuous to leave out 2005 from the Taxpayer League ratings in Michele’s piece.
Margaret is correct, if the TL allows Michele Bachmann to misrepresent her Taxpayer League record, then their integrity is diminished.
Andy Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 12:44 am
That's ridiculous!
tony Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 9:18 am
How did Bachmann get her numbers? I can't figure out how the data for her claim were manipulated to even produce a less than 100% rating for Krinkie, much less a rating for her ever being above his.
Marcus Esmay Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 10:37 am
I thought this was the 6th District, not the 5th. . . This he-said/she-said character assassination crap needs to stop. This isn't about advancing a political career; it's about electing the person who is best prepared to serve in Congress. Republican infighting only serves to bring Patty Wetterling one step closer to the halls of the U.S. House of Representatives. Remember the 11th commandment…
Margaret Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 11:36 am
I think the Bachmann campaign took the 2004 scorecard and just reported the Lifetime scores for each person in 2004. The problem is you can't compare Krinkie and Bachman head to head with those scores because Bachmann wasn't there in 2000, which as it appears, was a fairly low scoring year. We don’t know how she would have fared that year. We do know how she voted last year, which gave her a lower score, and the lit piece drops that year. Apples to Apples, folks.
I agree with Marcus, I think all this negative stuff is really bad for Republicans. It's the last thing we need. Nevertheless, I can't fault Krinkie for defending his own record.
David Strom Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Let me clear something up: Bachmann makes claims in her piece about scores during a specific time period, and claims to have outperformed her competitors during that time period.
The scores she used did not reflect that time period at all. The "Lifetime Score" she quoted for Krinkie and Knoblach reflected votes from 1997-2004, NOT 2000-4 or 2001-4, as she stated (she actually used both time periods in her piece, for reasons very obscure to me).
In NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM can you argue that the statements on the lit piece were accurate. None. So 6th District Watch, you are in error.
Dwight Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 1:30 pm
The reasons Bachmann used deceptive statistics in her literature shouldn't be "very obscure" at all, as Strom claims. This is Bachmann’s M.O. She’s a fraud, and Krinkie and Strom have correctly called her on it.
tony Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Personal Political Resume above principles. . . this explains EVERYTHING she does.
Marcus,
In an above-the-board campaign Bachmann would not have drawn first blood in the ugliness. The fact that she is doing it all behind the scenes makes responding a little more difficult. However, since the GOP has been saying that character matters for how many years the need to call Bachmann's ugliness out into the open is necessary for the sake of the party, the sake of the principles that the party preaches and for the sake of the integrity of our positions when we criticize Clinton, Kennedy, etc.
The 11th Commandment is ONLY a shield to protect the slimeballs of the party. Sorry, I would rather a slimeball lose than to hold my nose and let them win. Character matters, and in Bachmann's case she is showing more and more how little character she honestly has.
I have no doubt that if she dropped out tomorrow the race would be cleaned up again and focused on facts, issues and truth.
So there you have it, the soap opera continues. I just find it interesting that David Strom and Margaret Martin have held Governor Pawlenty to account (as they should) on tax issues. For example Margaret wrote this on their blog at the end of the session and Pawlenty said he was done signing pledges (apparently referring to the Taxpayer's League pledge).
In a piece in today’s strib, by Pat Lopez, Pawlenty said "he is done signing pledges."
Well, fine. He said much the same thing on Almanac last Friday. Maybe he thinks this makes him sound like a tough, independent leader. Actually it makes him sound more like a whiner because he is saying this after he signed the pledge and broke it. Even if he signed it again, what weight would his signature carry this time? Less than one of my cockatiel's feathers. He also seems to forget that signing the pledge helped him win the endorsement and the election.
You'd think the Taxpayers League would be concerned about Michele Bachmann claiming that TABOR is one of her big initiatives at the legislature, while leaving out the fact that she refused several opportunities to have the TABOR bill heard in committee. |
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