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Republicans are sensitive to the
considerable power of the legislature to pass laws that violate
citizens' rights and unnecessarily intrude into their lives and
believe that that power should not be used capriciously. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. Bill Hilty
(D-Finlayson) wants to change business laws to create “socially
responsible corporations,” into which the Attorney General may
intervene for failure to meet social goals. (House File 404) (1) |
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Right: |
Yet another example of
how elected Democrats employ the power of the state to coerce
individuals and businesses into conforming with Democratic ideology.
This kind of interference in business operations harms the ability
of companies to produce products and services and provide jobs. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. Andy Welti
(D-Plainview) wants to impose severe criminal penalties if you
“carry, use, or possess” a glass container on a watercraft or along
Minnesota’s public waters. Under this bill, you could get 270 days
in jail if you have a picnic on the lake and bring glass bottles of
ketchup, mustard, and relish. If you have a six-pack of Buddy’s Cola
from New Ulm on your pontoon boat, you would face 540 days behind
bars, because each bottle would be a separate offense under the
precise language of the bill. If you bring a jar of cold cream when
you go sunbathing, you could do 90 days for that misdemeanor.
Criminal possession of ketchup? Rep. Welti later said he introduced
the bill as an anti-littering proposal, but his bill outlaws mere
“possession” of the deadly glass containers. (House File 522) (1) |
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Right: |
Another Democrat seemingly unconcerned about the
harmful impact of his proposals on law-abiding citizens.
Republicans believe that laws should not
punish people for perfectly legitimate activities in which no illegal
activity (littering) has occurred. |
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| Wrong: |
Rep. Neva Walker
(D-Minneapolis) wants to require people who braid hair for payment
to go through 30 hours of instruction, and then to register with the
state. Oh, and the instruction should be available in foreign
languages. (House File 1844) (1) |
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Right: |
Unlike Rep. Walker, Republicans do not
spend their time looking for people to regulate in order to solve a
problem that does not exist. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. Al Juhnke
(D-Willmar) wants to create a “Food Defense Council” with
ill-defined missions to educate the public and state agencies about
“food safety and defense.” (House File 1869) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans are
convinced that Minnesotans are perfectly capable of learning how to defend
themselves from food. |
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Wrong: |
GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN
INNOCENT, PART 1: Rep. Paul Thissen (D-Minneapolis) wants to
authorize “robo-cameras” to send tickets to owners of vehicles, who
will be presumed to be the guilty drivers unless they can prove
otherwise. (House File 1058)
GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, PART 2: Rep. Paul Thissen
(D-Minneapolis) wants to make the owner of a vehicle guilty of a
petty misdemeanor whenever a vehicle is tagged for parking or
standing violations. This is the same “guilty by ownership” standard
that Minneapolis wants for the robot-cop cameras at red lights.
(House File 2084)
GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, PART 3: Rep. Frank Hornstein
(D-Minneapolis) wants owners of cars charged if someone reports to
the police that a car with their plate is observed cutting off a bus
on a highway shoulder, even if the police did not see it and even if
there is no description of the driver. (House File 2326) (1) |
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Right: |
This sampling of
arrogant proposals illustrate how willing Democrats are to curtail
fundamental rights of citizens in order to appear tough on crime. Republicans
prefer to respect the constitutional rights of citizens and to
support laws that punish convicted criminals. |
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|
Wrong: |
Rep. Karen Clark
(D-Minneapolis) wants to make Minneapolis schools “fragrance free”
by banning perfumes, air fresheners, scented lotions, and scented
cleaning products. With half of the students failing to read or
cipher at grade level, this bill smells. (House File 2148) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans legislators do not spend
their time thinking of ways to control
every aspect of every school classroom in the state, preferring to
leave matters like this to those in charge of the classroom. |
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| Sources: |
| 1.
|
MN House Republicans, Marty Seifert's
office, 2007. |
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