Saint Paul news conference / media availability: 1:00 to 2:00 PM, Capitol press area

Carney's commentary article on unallotment, the Minnesota budget, and "corrupt conduct in office" was published in today's Star Tribune (full text follows news release)

Carney will attend and videotape at today's Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation meeting, and plans to raise issues concerning the city's Internal Audit

Contact: Bob Carney Jr. -- (612)-824-4479 (home and business) -- bob@republicancontract.com

For immediate release                                                                              

Minneapolis, MN, January 13, 2010 -- Minneapolis Moderate Progressive Republican candidate for Governor, writer, inventor, consultant, political and social entrepreneur Bob Carney Jr. will have two news conference / media availability events Wednesday, January 13, 2010.  Carney will comment on and answer questions regarding unallotment, and specifically Judge Gearin's dismissal Monday of his Political Contribution Refund lawsuit.  The first will be in the Capitol press area at the State Capital, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM.  The second will be by "Father of Waters" at Minneapolis City Hall, from 3:15 to 4:15 PM, and will also be open to questions regarding the city's Internal Audit function, including the recent blue ribbon panel report.

Carney met with his attorneys yesterday regarding his Political Contribution Refund unallotment lawsuit.  "All meritorious options, including an appeal, are being considered," Carney said.

A copy of this news release is being sent to most members of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate.

Carney will announce some initiatives, including petition drives, related to his work to preserve and protect the Political Contribution Refund program.  "We must also undo the damage already done by the Governor's unallotments," Carney said.

Carney surveyed Minnesota's unallotment and budget puzzle in a Star Tribune op-ed article published today: "State's budget is a puzzle that can be solved".   Carney outlined a two step solution:

"First, the governor and Legislature should agree on a revised version of the last revenue bill, including the $900 million in tax increases. This will retroactively balance the budget as of the start of the biennium."...

 

"Second, the governor and the Legislature can and should negotiate on the additional $1.16 billion shortfall. But this must be understood: If Pawlenty follows the letter of the unallotment law, he has the power -- per Gearin's order -- to unallot the full $1.16 billion if he and the Legislature can't negotiate a solution."

Carney's article went on to say:

"But what if the governor refuses? Then we have to look at the final piece."

"The Legislature can impeach -- on noncriminal grounds -- for "corrupt conduct in office." If the House impeached Pawlenty, he would immediately be suspended from his duties. On the day Gearin heard arguments in the unallotment case, I testified before the House Rules Committee. I recommended that a study be commenced of how the phrase "corrupt conduct in office" should properly be understood."

Carney is writing a book about unallotment, in the context of recent Minnesota political history and his own activism in the Republican party.

Carney will also attend the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation Annual Meeting at City Hall, Room 103, starting at 4:30 PM, and plans to videotape part of the meeting.  He plans to ask questions about Minneapolis Internal Audit issues.  Carney was critical of Mayor Rybak's failure to safeguard city assets and funds during the recent Mayoral election, and plans to continue his work to hold the Mayor accountable.

"Hot Dish Politics" ring tones in

The following was also published today by the on-line Star Tribune:

Carney might need donor for phone bill

By Baird Helgeson

Some people probably know Robert Carney Jr. as the latest Republican addition to the Minnesota gubernatorial race.

Others might know him as the man who filed a lawsuit challenging Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision to stop funding a program that reimburses people who give to political campaigns (a judge ruled against Carney on Monday, but he’s considering an appeal).

In asking for Carney’s cell phone number, Hot Dish discovered he might need some taxpayer-funded campaign donations himself.

“My cell phone is currently not in service,” he wrote in an e-mail. “However, I'm seldom away from the house for more than a few hours. Feel free to call any time -- I get up very early."

Carney responded: "I typed this news release the old fashioned way -- on a keyboard, with ten fingers.  That's a five to one advantage over the Blackberry crowd (to say nothing of the bigger screen).  Part of the trouble with this country is that it is being run by people who are -- literally -- all thumbs.  I heard about a competition that was held between telegraph operators and text messengers -- the T-tappers won.  Maybe that's just a signal,... or maybe it's a sign."

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Note: Carney uses the phrase: news conference / "media availability" to designate an event that may start as a news conference, and may continue as on the record and/or off the record background sessions.  In any case, Carney will be available at the designated site for at least the designated time. 

-----  Below is Carney's Commentary article, published in the the printed Star Tribune 1/13/10 -----

State's budget is a puzzle that can be solved

There's even what might be called a nuclear option, but let's not use it.

By BOB CARNEY JR.

Last update: January 12, 2010 - 7:26 PM

Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin, in her recent ruling rejecting Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment of a nutrition program, has given us another piece for our Minnesota budget puzzle. Can we the people solve this puzzle?

Here are the pieces -- and one solution:

•Gearin's ruling: The judge held that Pawlenty "crossed the line" with his end-of-session unallotments. She wrote that unallotment "is not meant to be used as a weapon by the executive branch to break a stalemate in budget negotiations with the Legislature."

•However, here's a less publicized excerpt from the judge's opinion: "It would be improper for this court to revisit the constitutionality of the unallotment statute itself. It is constitutional. It was the specific manner in which the governor exercised his unallotment authority that trod upon the constitutional power of the Legislature."

•Pawlenty's record and agenda: He appears to be running for president, as a tough-minded fiscal conservative. Here's a fair question: Might the imperative of presidential fundraising be a corrupting influence on the governor?

In the 2006 campaign, Pawlenty did not renew his 2002 "no new taxes" pledge. At the 2006 Fifth District convention, I handed the governor a contract that included this point: "The governor will not be bound by any economic special interest pledge." Pawlenty said he would read it, and his campaign manager wrote to me that "the governor has decided not to sign any pledges for interest groups or individuals at this time." That included the "no new taxes" pledge -- and this remained his position through the campaign.

Here's his record (like it or not): For four biennial general-fund budgets, spending has increased an average of 2 percent per year -- half a point less than inflation.

•The June/July unallotment: Pawlenty vetoed the last revenue bill, which would have balanced the budget with $900 million in new taxes and $1.8 billion in shifts to the next biennium. The governor unallotted the same $1.8 billion in shifts, but without means to repay them.

According to the most recent forecast, in November, the state faces an additional shortfall of $1.16 billion for the biennium.

Here's a reasonable two-step process for putting this puzzle together:

•First, the governor and Legislature should agree on a revised version of the last revenue bill, including the $900 million in tax increases. This will retroactively balance the budget as of the start of the biennium.

There will probably be continuing legal battles about unallotment -- but with a focus on statutory interpretation, not constitutional questions. The governor will not have violated any promise made in the 2006 campaign. And his eight-year record of general fund spending increasing at less than inflation will be virtually unchanged.

•Second, the governor and the Legislature can and should negotiate on the additional $1.16 billion shortfall. But this must be understood: If Pawlenty follows the letter of the unallotment law, he has the power -- per Gearin's order -- to unallot the full $1.16 billion if he and the Legislature can't negotiate a solution.

• • •

This puzzle can be solved. But what if the governor refuses? Then we have to look at the final piece.

The Legislature can impeach -- on noncriminal grounds -- for "corrupt conduct in office." If the House impeached Pawlenty, he would immediately be suspended from his duties. On the day Gearin heard arguments in the unallotment case, I testified before the House Rules Committee. I recommended that a study be commenced of how the phrase "corrupt conduct in office" should properly be understood.

In the final analysis, wouldn't we all rather see the Legislature and the governor use their "institutional competencies," as Gearin termed them, to solve this puzzle -- rather than dragging the Minnesota Supreme Court into the mud?

Impeachment is a malady with a high fever, but the constitutional provisions are clear. And we have a way to break impeachment fever: elections. We the citizens of Minnesota can, should and will hold legislators accountable -- up or down -- if they conclude impeachment is necessary and proper.

This puzzle looks a lot better without that final piece.

Bob Carney Jr., of Minneapolis, is a candidate for governor. A separate lawsuit he filed challenging Pawlenty's unallotment of the state's Political Contribution Refund program was dismissed on Monday by Gearin.