Eva – do you live in the Sixth District?

But to create a variance, you have to ask the question: What about this case makes it worthy of exception. The law is on the books, but you want to deviate.

To this day, there is only ONE reason for the State to create a variance. They DAMN WELL KNEW that the voters of Hennepin County would have KILLED that referendum if it came onto the ballot for a vote. That’s it, boys.

So what Laura BOOB and her gang of GOP turncoats did was allow a variance to avoid the voters. That’s all.

You’re right. Except that state statutes are crafted by the legislature and signed by the governor. The legislature and the governor can change, modify or otherwise provide exceptions to statutes through the legislative process. This is what happened when the passed the Twins bill. I understand how people in Hennepin County don’t like it. But I don’t like it when Pogemiller and others steal my tax dollars and route them into Minneapolis and St. Paul essentially screwing the communities in the rest of the state.

As I demonstrated, the extra property taxes I have to pay to fund my school district (because Pogemiller took millions and millions of dollars out of the formula and into the coffers of the Minneapolis school district) amounts to $357 a year. As a resident of Hennepin County, you would have to spend $238,000 a year in Hennepin County to pay $357 for the stadium.

I have NO problem. That’s called local control.

BUT…the STATUTE CLEARLY states, and was SPECIFICALLY written to include: a REFERENDUM! That means, for you Laura Brod lovers out there, that the elected officials can ASK for the tax, but the VOTERS have to APPROVE IT.

That’s the way this works. But what Laura BOOB and her other turncoats in the House did was subvert the Statute and SCREW the VOTER! Period.

Again, she deserves VENOM for this, not praise.

You said Laura Brod voted for a $1.1 billion dollar tax increase for Hennepin County. Well, I can tell you that Larry Pogemiller voted to tax me $357 a year when he took money out of the state education formula to give to Minneapolis schools. That is the dollar amount I pay that my school district had to levy in a special referendum. If I lived in Hennepin County, I would have to spend $238,000 a year to pay $357 in stadium taxes.

Yes, LGA is basically a welfare program. I don’t know why you’re sick of people bitching about Minneapolis. Minneapolis is one of the worst offenders in the whole state in terms of sucking off of the state government. If Minneapolis pulled its own weight instead of stealing LGA and classroom funding, our taxes could be lower across the whole state. I resent paying income taxes from where I live knowing that a huge chunk of it is going to Minneapolis instead of coming back to where I live.

EY: In other words it’s a welfare program – I don’t mind that welfare program – but when those area legislators constantly bitch about Minneapolis, it irks me.

I’d encourage people who live in Minneapolis to talk to their city council member about Limmer’s legislation. Get this on the legislative agenda. Same thing with Hennepin County.

The Twins stadium legislation was about giving an exemption to a state law requiring referendums for this situation. Several cities (though not Minneapolis) came out publicly opposed to the Hennepin County plan – and the vote was narrow – 4-3.

We didn’t get rid of county commissioners, but Stadium boondoggle support deep sixed Steve Kelley’s candidacy for governor and AG. He under-performed in Hennepin County.

“She knows this director very well.”

What do you mean by that?

This is a family friendly site. Your comments aren’t appropriate and are actually pretty filthy. What people do behind closed doors is not the issue here. Stick to the issues and remember that kids read this blog too.

LGA is a necessary program for small communities that don’t have a property tax base that’s large enough to support infrastructure needs. LGA should not be welfare for our largest cities like Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Mankato and Rochester. Your idea about the sales tax is fine, however it will not help small towns that don’t have a tax base.

You did not comment about my tax dollars going to support Minneapolis and St. Paul schools at twice the rate of schools in the rest of the state.

Dave has it exactly right.

If you believe Minneapolis pays more in taxes than they receive, you’re crazy. Not only do they receive tens of millions in LGA, they also get $13,000+ per student in their schools. Not to mention the Guthrie, the Schubert building and a host of other pork barrel projects paid by the state year after year. You complain about the stadium. I ask a more important question: Why can’t the biggest city in the state support itself instead of leeching money off of taxpayers from hundreds of miles away that get zero benefit from Minneapolis?

Krinkie, Wilkin and many other strong fiscals are gone. Rather than take this as a directive to go left, Brod has picked up their work and moved to the right in a leadership position.

In 2006, Republicans got killed in the suburbs, particularly by women who voted DFL, and in many cases for DFL women. Brod is a strong new voice and face that can help reverse the freefall republicans are currently suffering. She is public enemy number one for the the Speaker and we should appreciate her talent at least as much as the Dems do.

From what I have seen, she would be a lot more conservative than our curent Governor and would get more votes. Not a bad combination.

First, for the MORONS who said “why don’t you help get rid of the commissioners”…you are absolute idiots. The timing on this is important. Randy “F-cking RINO” Johnson started the Twins crapola in early 2005…RIGHT AFTER HE WAS RE-ELECTED. By the time the next election rolled around, it was 2006 and the deal was done. So you can stuff that arguement up your arse.

Next, “economic benefit”? Huh? Let’s see, we have a Twins stadium now. There is NO economic benefit, EXCEPT TO THE TWINS AND CARL POHLAD! Go look at Block E and see how that good old “economic benefit” is working. Nothing like closed shops, huh?

Oh, and we were sold this “economic benefit” line of BS before. When the MetroDump was built, we were told how all kinds of restuarants and shops would SPRING up around the Dome. Name one, besides Huberts?

Lastly, Rino-not-a-Rino…you are EXACTLY right. Laura BOOB was able to get that stadium for FREE (assuming you buy nothing in Hennepin County).

It was a GUTLESS, PUSSY vote, which RAMMED a tax down Hennepin County’s throat. She is 100% UNACCOUNTABLE for this vote, as we poor schmucks in Hennepin County CAN’T VOTE TO GET RID OF HER. Something like Taxation-Without-Representation.

What she did was take the power away from the People. That is NOT what the Republican Party is for. The Party is NOT for centralizing power and taking away the voice of the People.

She deserves no credit, only venom.

Right now, Minneapolis and St. Paul use LGA to fund their emergency services, but divert money they should also be contributing to those functions to social programs. LGA is not intended to subsidize bullshit socialist policies, but that is in effect what is happening in those cities.

Let her have the stadium in her district.

I will trade you the three cents on twenty dollars for lowering my income taxes that goes to LGA in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Laura Brod would probably be thrilled to have a Twins Stadium in her district. The amount of revenue coming to the County will be enormous.

Laura Brod doesn’t get off the hook though – non-Hennepin County Legislators are the worst of the worst. How would they feel if we increased taxes in their county to build a new stadium.

What a deadbeat. Feeding off the Hennepin County Taxpayer.

Blame your county commissioners. They were the ones who pushed this deal. If you’re so upset, why don’t you get rid of them?

Brod can make this all good, by introducing a bill to substitute her county from Hennepin County for the stadium tax liability. See how her constituents feel about that.

Ron Erhardt in Edina – who is often derided as a RINO voted against the Stadium boondoggle – and he gave a good speech on the matter.

My own State Senator – Linda Higgins – voted for the stadium boondoggle – unfortunately the district is too strongly DFL to do anything about that vote.

Aside from the stadium, Rep. Brod had been a very solid conservative legislator. She has a very refreshing down to earth personality, and as not_now pointed out, she indeed is very smart and attractive. If you are hunting RINOS, go to Anoka County or Edina, not to New Prague!

People voted for incumbent county commissioners mostly because they had all the advantages and name recognition of incumbents – and county commissioner races get little coverage (especially from the Strib – which had a vested interest in keeping these characters on).

She happens to know the execuative director of the organization that got rid of an 80 million dollar contract with Blue Cross last year.

She knows this director very well.

AS DOES JAMES BROOM WELLSTONE who created the best prescription drug plan in the country on behalf of the good teachers K-12 in America.

As a matter of fact, Broom, Brod, and this exeutive director were all from the same small town.

Makes me wonder what this small town puts in their water???

Thank Laura for helping continue the slide of the Republican Party in Hennepin County, infuriating voters. Don’t think that’s true? Man a phonebank and find out.

Thanks, Laura. Your help in electing John Benson and other freshman DFLers due to the repulsion of the suburban voters against the Republican Party was essential!

Let Laura know how much we appreciate the fact she was one of the RINOs that drilled my wallet, and will CONTINUE to drill my wallet for years to come.

Thank Laura for TAKING AWAY OUR RIGHT, UNDER STATE STATUTE, TO VOTE FOR/AGAINST A REFERENDUM!

Thanks, Laura. Doin’ a hell of a job.