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THE FALLOUT BEGINS FOR THE OVERRIDE SIX
By Michael B. Brodkorb | February 26, 2008
"At least two of the dissenting Republicans will be leaving leadership posts on committees. Rep. Rod Hamilton, of Mountain Lake, said he voluntarily resigned as the lead Republican on the House Agriculture Committee. Rep. Bud Heidgerken, R-Freeport, said he was asked to step down as the lead Republican on the House K-12 Finance Committee." Source: Star Tribune, February 25, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
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"There have also been repercussions within the House Republican caucus for those GOP members who voted to override. Rep. Rod Hamilton, R- Mountain Lake, voluntarily gave up his lead role on the agriculture committee. Rep. Bud Heidgerken, R-Freeport, lost his GOP lead spot on the K-12 finance committee. But Heidgerken said he didn't get a choice.
'I was told that if I don't fall in line, this is what is going to happen,' he said.
Minority Leader Marty Seifert of Marshall said the House GOP caucus will review leadership positions as well as the staff resources available to its members later this week." Source: MPR, February 26, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
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"The Republican House caucus may also review staffing and committee positions for the six lawmakers. At least two of the dissenting Republicans will be leaving leadership posts on committees." Source: KARE 11, February 26, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
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"GOP Minority Leader Marty Seifert said his caucus will review staffing and committee positions held by the six Republicans who broke ranks. He said Rep. Rod Hamilton resigned as lead Republican on the Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Committee before the vote.
The six could also face trouble getting the GOP endorsement in their races for re-election. Abeler said his endorsing convention is coming up in 12 days." Source: Associated Press, February 26, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
Topics: Marty Seifert, Override Six | 25 Comments »
25 Responses to “THE FALLOUT BEGINS FOR THE OVERRIDE SIX”
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February 26th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Good. Looking foward to March when Abeler is also not endorsed.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Read Mary Lahammer’s blog on Pawlenty. There are some questions he needs to be asked by our GOP Leadership too.
The Republican Leadership actually wished Pawlenty had not attended their caucus meeting about the veto override last week? WOW.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Why not burn out your own incumbents? After all, that just creates more glorious opportunities for Dem pickups.
This is precisely the outcome which works best for Pawlenty: he evades all blame for the taxes and directs the wrath of the “MDE constituency” towards the GOPers that actually did their jobs.
Besides, do you think Abeler cares? He can sleep well… and like he said, it’s not his career. Lose him and put in another dull ideologue, nice work, grassroots GOP. Your leverage will continue to wither.
Abeler, Tinglestad, Hamilton, all of them will be able to deliver huge benefits to their districts, which is their real responsibility. Face it, people: the Mary Liz Holberg ’starve the beast’ transportation philosophy can’t deliver anything at all. Ideological rigidity is a recent and dumb development in your party. Have fun campaigning for McCain!
February 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
What a bunch of crap.
How is it any better for these Reps to be bullied, threatened or bribed by Ron Carey and Marty Seifert than by lobbyists or one of the evil Special Interest Groups.
Regardless of your take on the gas tax hike (I happen to think it’s about time even though I am a Republican), how can you not have respect for elected officials doing what they believe is right despite all the personal ramifications?
We say we want elected officials who value service and integrity over their own careers – and yet when they show a little mettle and independence, the party beats them back into submission.
I read Tinglestad and Abler’s quotes in the Strib last night, and to be honest, I was really proud of them. These are two very socially conservative Republicans. They’re not McCains; they don’t regularly flaunt the party’s platform for headlines. They just believe we need to build more roads – that it’s a core function of government, an honest public safety concern, and they stood by their convictions despite the Party wielding its mighty sword and vowing to retaliate.
I say they’re good Americans. They have a right to disagree with the Governor and they have a right to vote their conscience. They ought not be shamed for taking into consideration more than the views of 30 delegates and Ron Carey.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Is it just me, or does Mary Lahammer turn you on, too?
Those 6 D-bags already have a party, it’s called the DFL. Let them leave/kick them to the curb so that real conservatives can take their place.
I’m moving. i can’t stand this state anymore. the people who vote these retards in…why would i want to live here amongst a bunch of imbeciles?
February 26th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Ron Carey and Marty Seifert can threaten and blame all they want the 6 House Republicans for doing what they thought was the right thing to do.
This goes to show that Carey and Seifert care more for their “unified image” of MNGOP leadership than the actual fissures that have been building over the years within the State party.
February 26th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Can anybody tell me where the DFL’s claim to 33,000 new jobs comes from? Who originally made this claim, and where did they get this number?
February 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Hey Vagabond-
They also have to listen to their constituancy! They cannot just go out and flaunt that they know better than the people they elected. That is arrogance to the highest degree. There are other ways to pay for the roads than taxing us to high heaven. I think somewhere in our states nearly 35 BILLION dollar budget they can afford to pay for some roads. No wonder NWA and other major corps are moving businesses out of this state, along with members of our state. Recently there was an article published about how California is taxing all of the wealthest citizens out of their state and wondering why they are coming up short time and time again in their budgets. Just wait for the same thing to happen here.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
On February 21, 2008, MDE took & published a photo of Representatives who happen to be Republican in Districts 41A (Edina) & 41B (Bloomington).
At least one of those Representatives [who are Republican] voted to override the Republican Governor’s veto on February 25, 2008.
There were four (4) other Representatives [who are Republican] who also voted that way.
This party discipline thing that MDE is trying to impose [after 20 years of not having a raise in the gasoline tax] is exactly why Barack Obama has struck such a unity chord with the American people.
Americans are weary of the political parties holding the “We the people. . . ” hostage.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
We’ve all bought what the media has fed us about road funding. We’re already spending a fortune on maintaining roads that largely reflect the effects of weather on concrete and asphalt. Our roads suck every year at this time. Moreso in the metro. The bill passed yesterday is all about transit funding. Gobs of it. Trains are the future apparently. There were other ways to fund transportation. No one on the right was saying no to road and bridge funding. In fact, republicans offered an alternative that dedicated a lot more to roads and bridges than the leftist bill. The bill was corrupt and the way the dems got it done was corrupt.
The party and the caucus can do whatever they want within the law to censure the mutineers. Doing nothing would hurt the party and caucus credibility. Especially since leadership told teh caucus that there would be consequences for voting to override.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
This action speaks volumes about the Republican Party in Minnesota. It’s a disgrace and just one more reason why the state party is falling apart.
All this action does is to help those six incumbents, because if their constituents hear about it they will be outraged, regardless of how they felt on the gas tax. They may be challenged for the endorsement, but come primary time they will triumph.
Instead of destroying his Caucus, Seifert should have sat down at the table to find a compromise, instead of throwing bombs and injuring everyone.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
[...] « THE FALLOUT BEGINS FOR THE OVERRIDE SIX | Home [...]
February 26th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
As a DFLer, I find this post hilarious. MN Publius has a post up now saying “Republicans Punish the “Override Six.” The MDE headline is: “THE FALLOUT BEGINS FOR THE OVERRIDE SIX” So, Publius and MDE agree?
You have lost your compass. You are not “exposing” Democrats with this post are you? The right-wing wing nuts on here will say you are exposing Republicans that act like Democrats. But my point is the same.
MDE has lost it’s way. This site is now more about pushing an agenda then “exposing Democrats.” I thought the posts about the Jeff Johnson Hennepin County race were odd. Then you provided a stump from which Ron Carey attempted to blackmail Republicans on this issue.
Michael, you have taken your eye off the ball. In order to regain majorities here Minnesota, keep your US Senate seat, retain the White House and win majorities in Congress, you are going to haved to get back to what you do best.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Dear George:
Please drop dead. Now. I’ll dig the hole.
Now, onto another little issue I have with the Override Six. Has anyone looked at how they voted on the Twins Stadium Porky gift to Smilin’ Carl? Oh, let me help you all out:
5 out of 6 voted IN FAVOR of the porky treat to a guy worth over $2 BILLION. I was shocked that Airhead Earhardt was NOT in favor of that.
So when you people hear me a-bitchin’ about that vote, just remember…5 of these six slimy slugs also rammed that sucker down our throat.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Yes, Georgie…we know what you really want. You want more “house Republicans” that know their place. Good, obedient little toadies that don’t make trouble and sit in the back of the bus while the DFL drives this state off the financial and moral cliff. And for being good little toadies, maybe they might get a couple extra bucks for a yard of pavement here or there. These six turds sold their souls, and they now need to be exorcized from the House.
The GOP has played “DFL-lite” politics for the last four years and see what’s happened? When the GOP was on the rise, they were LEADERS in protecting the principles of the party. Now, they are lost.
Listening to you, Georgie, would only deepen the hole that they are in. Hence, please drop dead.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
“…Americans are weary of the political parties holding the “We the people. . . †hostage.”
Yeah, they’d rather have politicians who smile at them while they’re robbing them blind.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
To all those chastizing the Republican Party for removing the goang of 6 from leadership I’ll assume that it’s out of concern for the Republican party?
Right.
You’re probably unaware but the Republican party has a thing called a platform. Shocking I know. Even more shocking, we expect our members to adhere to it.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Now bragging about eating your young! Way to go with the big tent thing guys…
February 26th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
We’re acting the exact same why you DemocRATS do when someone has the nerve to say abortion is wrong. You lynch them. Same principle applies.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Maverick Republican’s overturn Pawlenty VETO…. Irony breaks out at Minnesota State Capital!!
Startribune
By Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
Last update: February 26, 2008 – 5:20 PM
“These are people who are good Republicans who left the reservation on this issue. This was a critical watershed issue, this is the largest tax increase in the history of the State of Minnesota. To have Republicans not stand against the largest tax increase that’s really baffling. It should have been an easy vote for these Republicans to have taken.â€
Rep. Bud Heidgerken, R-Freeport, said he would have stepped down if he believed he did anything wrong but believes he did right for his district.
“The message they are sending to me is that ‘We don’t want any independent minded people,’†Heidgerken said. “I’ll always stand up for what’s right. If that means my election than I don’t deserve to be here.â€
February 26th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
OUT! OUT with ye turncoats, ye blackhearted moonbats! Back to the fever swamp with ye!
February 26th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
If anybody else calls the Transportation Bill a “gas tax”, I might puke. After 2 years you idiots still can’t figure out what the bill is all about? It’s more than a “little gas tax” increase. Get a clue! It’s a 7 billion dollar tax grab while the Feds are “trying” to give us “stimulus” by sending us rebate checks! We are staring a billion dollar deficit in the face along with a nationwide recession. Great time for a 7 billion dollar tax increase that isn’t going to prevent congestion, pot holes or traffic deaths. And it won’t prevent local units of Government from continuing to raise your property taxes either. It will however, build some more train tracks.
This whole thing is a joke! I’m entertained by the libs defending the rogue Republicans. Even the so-called independents or self proclaimed moderate republicans. If you have a team and members of the team go against the team on a major pillar of your being, they don’t retain their captain status and I’m surprised they aren’t simply given walking papers. And if those rogue Republicans feel they are so in the right, they should walk on their own perrogative.
I wish this was a joke.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:03 am
I disagree with the notion that the “fallout” is because these 6 Republicans exercised free will. The reality is that the DFL and these 6 legislators made the largest tax increase in the history of Minnesota possible. It is a tax that will affect every Minnesotan. It is a piece of legislation that did not alter the way in which these funds will be disbursed. Consequently 60% of the people of Minnesota paying 70% of the burden of this tax increase may only see 20-25% of the return from this tax onto a road system that we all could likely agree is not what it ought to be and is in need of work.
More fundamentally, however, their vote went against the party platform. In voting the way that they did, those legislators thumbed their noses at one of the critical principles that define Republicans in Minnesota. It’s like being Catholic but not believing in the divinity of the Virgin Mary.
I think that we all agree that there are times and places where one should and likely must compromise in order to make the wheels of government work. It is unreasonable to expect people to dig in and fight every time. However, there are also times when a particular issue arises that goes against a core belief. An issue that defines you as a person or group. At those times, there can be no compromise, no surrender. In those moments, one must fight for those beliefs with all of the passion and heart they can muster.
If you are a Republican and believe in the platform, then this tax increase was one of those issues, one of those times. A number of Republicans stood their ground and fought for their core beliefs. Six of them betrayed those values when it came to taxation. How can they be called Republicans if they are so ready and willing to betray the core values of Republicans in Minnesota.
This has nothing to do with the stifling of free will in the Legislature. I know a few of the legislators that serve with Marty Seifert. I can guarantee that none of them are mindless drones of the Republican party. None of them had frontal lobotomies as part of their orientation. However, all of them are dedicated Republicans who are committed to upholding the platform of our party. I don’t know who these six people who betrayed our party are or what they believe. I don’t know what they were promised (if anything)to get them to turn against our beliefs and Republicans in Minnesota. I do know that they are not members of the same party that I am. I hope that they can find they have the integrity to leave the party that they just betrayed.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:37 am
[...] I just received this press release from the House Republican Caucus. The Override Six have been removed from their leadership positions within the House Republican Caucus. [...]
April 5th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
thats it, bro