Minnesota Makes Sure Drivers Don’t Gouge Oil Companies

In this period of rapidly rising gasoline prices, you may feel relieved to hear that the state of Minnesota has focused on the pump prices to make sure that there are no shenanigans going on. However, that feeling might be fleeting when you find out that they’re keeping prices up:

With gasoline prices painfully high, it may be surprising for some to learn that state regulators are penalizing retailers for, well, for not charging Minnesota motorists enough for gasoline.
The Commerce Department snagged its first offenders last week under a 2001 law that aims to prevent predatory pricing by requiring gas merchants to charge 8 cents more per gallon than they pay for fuel.
Arkansas-based Murphy Oil was penalized $70,000 for violating the law prohibiting below-cost sales. The company operates 10 service stations in Minnesota on property it leases from retail giant Wal-Mart.

If the oil companies got together and decided to set a bottom limit to pump pricing at eight cents over cost, both the federal and state governments would immediately file charges for price-fixing, and possibly RICO violations at the federal level. We would hear about the evil oil companies keeping their profit margins high at the expense of the poor working stiffs just trying to get to their jobs.
However, if the state does it (especially in Minnesota), it somehow ceases to be bad for consumers. Suddenly, price-fixing protects consumers, even though the mechanism and the result is the same. State officials claim that the law allows small operators to compete with big (evil) oil (evil) corporations (evil) by restraining loss-leader prices that might drive Mom & Pop Petroleum out of business. Minnesota state officials must live in a time warp, though; when I drive across the metro every day, all I see are Super America, Holiday, Phillips/Conoco, BP, and Fina fuel stations, every single one of them outlets of the biggest players in the oil market. Occasionally I see a Mobil or Texaco station, but Mom & Pop seem to have retired and moved to the Caymans.
The most ludicrous part of the story is that the operator receiving the largest fine is Murphy’s Oil, which comes a lot closer to the small-company outfit that the law supposedly protects than any of the other companies I just mentioned. Murphy’s, however, committed the (evil) sin of winning a contract from (evil) Wal-Mart, known for its competitive pricing. The other repentant was a Kwik-Trip convenience store, another small fry in the business. So Minnesota claims to be protecting the small operator by fining them into insolvency, allowing the largest companies to continue to charge artificially-floated margins and forcing Minnesota consumers to pay more at the pump.
What a great program!

Did Any Drive Home Afterwards?

The Democrats in the Minnesota State Legislature had quite a time in the closing hours of its last session, when they fired Cherie Pierson Yecke just to show their solidarity. Apparently, the DFL fortified themselves with more than just a healthy dose of partisanship, as local station KMSP found out when a news crew looked behind the scenes in the session’s final hours:

Late at night, in the closing days of the legislative session, lobbyists, state workers and even some lawmakers gathered in offices at the State Capitol to drink beer, wine and liquor, KMSP-TV reported Wednesday night. The station showed trash cans full of beer, wine and liquor bottles and suggested that at least some the alcohol of might have been provided by lobbyists. Lobbyists are not allowed to give gifts to legislators. …
KMSP said state policy forbids state workers from drinking on the job, even during rest breaks and overtime work.

Getting wasted on the taxpayer’s time — that’s the new DFL motto in Minnesota. KMSP found a number of lobbyists in DFL offices while the Senate debated issues like the new lowered threshold for drunk driving. While the Senate made driving drunk easier to prove, they failed to pass any laws making legislating drunk illegal. On the other hand, it explains why almost nothing of consequence passed during the Lost Weekend of the Minnesota Legislature — not a new bonding bill, not any steps to close the small $160 million gap in the state deficit, not even any headway on combating sexual predators.
But our esteemed Senators had plenty of time to party on, dude. In fact, the party starts at the top and works its way down:

The station said it also saw lobbyists, state workers and lawmakers drinking in the office of Senate President James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul. KMSP said it never saw Metzen drinking, and that he did not respond to requests for comment, but Rep. Scott Wasiluk, DFL-Maplewood, came over to his office while the House was in a late-night session.
“I came to raid your whisky,” Wasiluk said.
“That’s what it’s there for,” Metzen replied.
The station showed Wasiluk back on the House floor for a vote on a health care issue, looking sleepy. It also showed him at another point misunderstanding what was taking place on the floor as he monitored the session on TV from Metzen’s office. Sleep expert Dr. Mark Mahowald said the combination of sleep deprivation and alcohol hurts decision-making ability.

What would we do without sleep experts? Perhaps next session, the good doctor could testify to that, along with the breaking news that drinking too much causes hangovers and that we should all take a shot whenever anyone says, “Hi, Bob!”
So what do our honorable representatives have to say for themselves? It’s all KMSP’s fault for catching them:

The station taped someone carrying a cooler into the office of Senate Majority Whip Linda Higgins. The Minneapolis DFLer was on the Senate floor at the time, in the final hours before adjournment, but several people were in her office drinking. KMSP said most of them were lobbyists. One lobbyist was sitting behind her desk, drinking a beer.
Higgins issued a written statement to KMSP saying it was unfortunate that its news team was “failing to focus on the dedication of members and staff who work round the clock … to pass important legislation.”

I’d say that the members and staff passed a lot that evening, but I’d hardly call it legislation. (Legislation in Minnesota usually resembles the product of another bodily function, as demonstrated by the drunken firing of Yecke.) Speaking of legislation, though, Rep. Wasiluk suggests a bill for the next session:

Wasiluk issued a statement to the station saying: “I sincerely apologize for my recent behavior. If the public feels additional laws should be passed to improve public confidence in the work of legislators, I would vote for it.”

Unfortunately, Minnesota already has laws against drinking on the job, as well as accepting gifts from lobbyists. Perhaps no one thought to make sure that the law covered both situations occuring simultaneously, but I’d guess that the Attorney General can work around that difficult situation, if he chooses. However, since our Attorney General happens to be the uberpartisan hack Mike Hatch (DFL, natch), I’d say that Norm, Cliff, and the rest of the gang from Cheers probably won’t get too much flack from the law.
The guys at Fraters Libertas, no strangers to the drink themselves, have a few pointed things to say about our Leshisslayyshure. The Elder gives it to them straight up:

I’ve been to enough conventions and election night affairs to know that most of the best political conversations and insights are shared over a cocktail. It’s all part of the game.
But not while you’re debating the pressing the issues of the day, discussing compromises, and casting votes. One of the yahoo legislators in this case was actually kicking back and drinking while voting was being conducted on the floor. As a representative you have a responsibility to your constitutes to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. You cannot allow your faculties and judgment to be impaired by alcohol .
The other disturbing aspect of this story was the fact that most of the drinking taking place in the legislative offices was being done by lobbyists. I usually tend to dismiss the claims that lobbyists run the government and they’re ruining democracy, blah, blah, blah, but the idea of a pack of cackling lobbyists sitting around and pounding wine coolers in the office of the Senate Majority Whip while she’s on the floor gives one pause. That’s just a little bit too cozy for my comfort.

Saint Paul, on the other hand, is reminded of a Seinfeld episode called The Red Dot, in which George is caught by his employer having sex with the cleaning woman in the office. The Saint has the transcript of the scene, but sets it up with this observation:

Actually it might not be such a bad idea to outlaw legislating while drunk. It seems only fair since the government has already outlawed the citizens from voting while drunk. Seems to me if we can’t ease the pain of Minnesota government by drinking ourselves numb, they shouldn’t be able to either.
Getting back to Wasiluk’s laughable reaction to the allegations, the parallels are striking with the Seinfeld episode where George gets confronted by his boss about having sex with the cleaning room at his office. (Yes, there is a direct reference to all significant human endeavors in either the Simpsons or Seinfeld). … Lord knows the DFL won’t take any substantive remedial action on Wasiluk. But here’s hoping the folks in his district in Maplewood have the same good sense as George’s boss, who responded to ridiculous excuses in the only appropriate manner:
Boss: You’re fired.

Now the DFL wants Governor Tim Pawlenty to call a special session in order to pass a bonding bill, which would allow them to add pork to the booze. Pawlenty should instead close down Animal House/Senate and consider some way to put Otter, Bluto, and the rest of the Senate boozehounds on double-secret probation. While he’s at it, he should check into a special prosecutor to look into all that free booze — and anything else — supplied by the lobbyists to the DFL.
UPDATE: Senate DFL leader Dean Johnson says this about a special session:

He continued to emphasize that any special session must be limited in its agenda and be only a few days long. “We’re not interested in spending our entire summer and fall here in St. Paul,” Johnson said.

No kidding. The detox expenses from a summer-long binge would be enormous.

Mark Dayton, Partisan Political Hack

Mark Dayton, our illustrious senior Senator, managed to make a name for himself again today in the hearings regarding the abuses at Abu Ghraib. While the rest of the Senate asked questions of Maj. General Antonio Taguba, who spent months investigating the incidents, Dayton could not be bothered to ask one single question. Dismissing the opportunity to actually get information from an important witness, Dayton instead spewed forth with his partisan posturing during his entire ten minutes, making clear that the purpose of the public hearing was to score as many points against the military and the administration:

On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Mark Dayton of Michigan [sic] never asked a question during his time, instead using it to accuse Pentagon officials of sanitizing the abuse and obscuring the truth.
“That’s why the pictures have been so important,” he said. “The pictures showed us the truth. … We were told there were papers and orders … and everyone followed those orders except for a few people who did very bad things unbeknownst to anyone else who were all doing what they were supposed to be doing to save American lives.”
“Those pictures were disruptive,” he added, “because they defy that sanitizing.”

Someone please tell me any purpose served by opening these hearings to the public? So far with this Senate Armed Services Committee and the 9/11 Commission, public hearings have delivered counter-productive behavior from panelists, and in this case, the volatile rhetoric tossed around so carelessly will cost American lives in the field. Now we have senators (ours, unfortunately) who don’t even bother with the pretense of asking questions before drawing conclusions.
Mark Dayton has exposed himself as a partisan political hack, as well as a dullard, twice in the past week. Minnesotans need to keep this in the forefront of state politics for the next two years and commit to replacing him with an intelligent and serious individual in 2006.
NOTE: I just realized that CNN put Dayton in Michigan instead of Minnesota. Normally, I’d make fun of that, but under the circumstances I’m inclined towards gratitude instead.
UPDATE: H-Bomb sounds pretty darned happy to have CNN move Dayton to the Motor City. Check out his blog; he’s a 23-year-old Minnesota conservative, an endangered species at times. I’ve blogrolled him under the Northern Fleet.

Let’s All March … Somewhere

I don’t often do this, but I perused the local Minneapolis Star-Tribune due to acute boredom this afternoon. After getting past the fact that the Strib managed to bury most of Mark Dayton’s appearance at the Hill yesterday — which means they understand exactly how poorly he fared — another headline caught my eye: 1,000-Man March Planned May 21. I suppose these days a protest just doesn’t count if you can’t tag “[round number]-Man March” onto it in the same way that a scandal without a “-Gate” suffix gets relegated to page A-32, but the number seems to be pretty low, compared to the Million-Man March (that attracted about 800,000) and the Million-Mom March (which drew 150,000). I figured that a thousand-man march might draw something like, oh, twelve guys and thirty-three reporters for their true and noble cause.
Of course, on this point, the whole notion falls apart. Take a look at the entire article, which I will helpfully reproduce here as it only comprises three sentences:

Community leaders and activists will hold a 1,000 Man March beginning at 4 p.m. May 21 at New Salem Baptist Church, 2519 Lyndale Av. N., Minneapolis. The march will proceed through several blocks in north Minneapolis. For more information call New Salem at 612-nnn-nnnn or The City Inc. at 612-nnn-nnnn.

For more information? How about any information? I assume from this invitation that the entire point is to find 1,000 men to walk several blocks in north Minneapolis. Apparently, walking only a couple of blocks (or a few miles) is strictly prohibited and probably indicates a corporate/Republican/male-power-structure oppression.
If you live in the Twin Cities or plan to visit on May 21 and have nothing better to do on a Friday evening except walk a limited distance, this event is for you. Perhaps a more accurate title for the protest would be “1,000-Loser March”. That’s the kind of group I could support, if for no other reason than pity and an appreciation for their honesty.

More Apologies from The Gopher State

After yesterday’s performance by our intellectually- and historically-challenged Senator, Mark Dayton, Minnesotans have felt the need to abjectly apologize to the rest of the nation in general, and to the military specifically. Hugh Hewitt challenged us to demonstrate our contrition, which I did on his show yesterday and here at CQ as well.
One of my readers, a fellow MN-blogger who operates the Intergalactic Capitalist blog, also apologizes in a humorous and R-rated rant that discusses Dayton’s intellect, his grasp of history, his neurology, and his potential for becoming an Enzyte spokesman. StarBanker notes this Power Line entry by Rocket Man, who reported on Dayton’s “homily” to a Roman Catholic audience at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis last summer:

Our country has moved decidedly to the right. Our citizens, many are less involved. Our social system is less compassionate, government is less effective and liberalism is more distrusted….Where is God in the midst of all this injustice? I don’t have a clue. I don’t know if He, or She, or Whatever doesn’t exist, died, is incompetent, doesn’t care, is laissez faire, or has a master plan I don’t understand.

Does that sound like a stable and intelligent speech to give to Catholics? The only part with which I could agree is this: “I don’t have a clue.” He certainly demonstrated that yesterday in his performance on national TV.

Minnesota Senate Pulls The Switcheroo on Social Studies

The Minnesota Senate, working against time to complete their business before a mandated adjournment date, thumbed its nose at the House by passing an alternate set of Social Studies requirements that conflict with those passed weeks ago by the House:

The DFL-dominated Senate gave its approval Thursday to a set of social studies requirements for all Minnesota students that goes lighter on the facts and heavier on the analysis than its more knowledge-based counterpart passed by the House in March. … The chief author of the policy bill, Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, said he didn’t think differences in the general principles of what’s required in the two versions were that big.
But a major difference is in the number of people, places and events kids are required to know. In the Senate social studies standards, those are generally left up to the teacher, though numerous examples are provided. The House version, which has stirred up controversy over what critics contend is its Republican-white-male bias and Trivial Pursuit-like emphasis on meaningless facts, has a more extensive list of specifics that kids need to know.

For a detailed analysis of the competing policies, read Prof. King Banian’s excellent series at SCSU Scholars. However, the article tells us all we need to know about the sellout job the Senate passed yesterday. First off, the “requirements” wind up being nothing but guidelines that don’t require teachers to instruct anything specific regarding people, places, and events. I understand the effort to teach to grand themes, but unfortunately you cannot build the comprehension needed to cover grand themes unless you have at least some grounding in the people, places, and events. Try teaching about the evils of American slavery and its eventual bloody end, for instance, when your students don’t understand the significance of the Missouri Compromise, Harper’s Ferry, or any of the economic issues that fed slavery for generations.
But even more than the specifics, the process used to develop the Senate version fall back to the typical, corrosive paternalism that the education industry demonstrates on every issue. The House used citizen groups and education professionals alike to develop their proposals, giving parents significant input into the final product. The Senate, engaging in a political war to discredit Governor Tim Pawlenty’s education commissioner Cheri Yecke, instead had their proposal drafted in a short period of time by UM professors, without any formal process of review by the communities that will wind up bound by them. It is a naked partisan ploy with no purpose except a tactical method of keeping pressure on Yecke and Pawlenty, and it rejects the long and grueling effort by their constituents that led to the House version.
Arrogance and paternalism have been the hallmarks of the DFL’s engagement with state politics and the Minnesota electorate. Perhaps their constituencies will finally understand that the DFL stopped listening to parents on education issues a long time ago, having sold them out to the teachers’ union, and make some long-overdue changes in November.