True North

The DFL dominated Legislature is set to turn Minnesota into a cold version of hell when it comes to Automobile emissions, or rather, make us just like California.

Governor Pawlenty's task force on climate change recommended that Minnesota consider adopting the standards, but there was considerable disagreement about the idea.

Now DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman from Brooklyn Park has introduced the measure at the legislature. Hortman says the standards would not only help Minnesota reduce its carbon footprint, they would save drivers money.

"Even though automakers and the California Air Resources Board estimate there could be an increased cost in purchasing of a new car, the amount of money that a consumer will save over the life of the car will more than make up for that."

"Oh, There you go again."

Let's just get this out of the way: Tim Pawlenty should be shunned at future Republican Party events due to assembling this task force, and barred from speaking. If Conservative Republicanism were a nation, Pawlenty could be charged with treason for this act in my opinion.

As for this actual bill being introduced by Nanny-slator Melissa Hortman (D Brooklyn Park) will force Minnesota to join a cult that is trying to destroy the American way of life. Yes, I said it, the main goal of the environmental movement and this California emissions law is to kill the American automobile industry and with it the American way of life by removing Freedom and Liberty.

Several committee members, including chair Kent Eken, asked the auto industry representatives why it was taking the industry so long to gear up to address climate change. Eken reminded Greg Dana, from the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, how quickly Detroit converted from cars to tanks during World War II.

First off, since automobiles are not the prime source of the so-called greenhouse gas problem, why should they be the ones forced to destroy their own industry, just because a few Nanny-slators want to have a clean green conscious? Secondly, the problem with "detroit" just abandoning their current products and switching to the new mandated tin cans, is two-fold.

1) The technology does not exist at an economical level to implement the feel good junk science.

2) No one want to buy a tin can, room for your ass and a gallon of gas cars.

Detroit has started to offer greener vehicles. If you look at GM's green lineup, they have been flooding showrooms with FlexFuel and micro cars, but sales are down. You see, feeling green, doesn't sell well in America. Most people, that is outside the liberal utopias, need a vehicle capable of carting kids, groceries, and supplies from here to there.

A Toyota Prius or Chevy Aveo is about as useful to a family of 4 with a dog as a little red wagon. It looks grand in parades and makes for good green talk at the PTA meetings, but just doesn't cut it for the daily life requirements of traditional American families.

And it gets worse, you see the Nanny-slators don't give a damn that their green guilt is going to set Minnesota behind another 8-ball in the Midwest. Not only is Minnesota near the top of the highest taxed states in the nation, we're quickly rac ing up the list of most oppressively regulated ones. This bill will make automobiles more expensive for Minnesotans to buy.

Other committee members wondered whether the standards would apply to snowmobiles or all terrain vehicles or airplanes -- they won't.

And they worried about Minnesota moving ahead of neighboring states and making itself uncompetitive.

Denny McNamara, Republican from Hastings, offered an amendment saying the law wouldn't take effect in Minnesota until all neighboring states enacted the same law. That amendment failed.

Our founders must be spinning in their graves. It is just amazing that common sense and wisdom are minority positions at the Capital. And worse, that these are the people entrusted with power. Or actually, it appears that Minnesota's Nanny-slators are going to entrust California policy makers to make laws in Minnesota.

Representative Tom Hackbarth, Republican from Cedar, said tying Minnesota to California's rules, including future decisions by the California Air Resources Board, is a bad idea.

"We're talking about an 11-member panel in California, that's going to be regulating the state of Minnesota. That's not the way to operate in our state. I don't think our legislature wants to give away that kind of authority," said Hackbarth.

In the end, enough members of this committee were willing to go with the California rules. The committee passed the measure, ten to seven. Bill author Melissa Hortman said she'd work with others to put what she called "comfort language" in the bill, so Minnesota could opt out of the California rules in the future.

Unconstitutional doesn't even begin to describe what these Nanny-slators are doing. Un-Democratic and Un-American seem a closer fit.

This is the sort of thing one expects in tyrannical and dictatorial regimes, not in a free America. This is one of those situations where the Republican Party of Minnesota needs to abandon their no-policy policy and fight back, for the good of the state.

I guess the American experiment has run its course, and now it is time to turn over freedom and power, so that the DFL and green Republicans can turn this in to a totalitarian state where decisions are handed down to citizens by the aristocracy, bureaucrats, and ruling class.

Crossposted at ResidualForces, go there to comment.