Center of American Experiment lobbyist to share Met Council obsession with SW Metro Tea Party

Yesterday's frigid temperatures kept the doors of Chanhassen's Rec Center closed, another example of government intrusion on our God-given right to frostbite and death by hypothermia.

Nonetheless, the SW Metro Tea Party soldiers on, sharing a jaunty "Thanks for the night off Governor Dayton! See you all next week!" on its Facebook page. Bluestem hopes this chill-out session gave Elroy, the SD33 GOP Communications director, a little more time for his volunteer art projects (yes, he's that Elmer Beauregard).

That gives more time for the SW Metro Tea Party to prepare for the arrival of Center of the American Experiment lobbyist and once-a-month Star Tribune columnist Katherin Kersten, whose boilerplate attacks on the Met Council repeat the horror of being forced to live in a “condo above a coffee shop on a transit line.”

The line's used here in her August column andhere in her December column, although she leaves it out of her November column. All three plow the same snow job.

The SW Metro Tea Party's promo for next Monday's event, "Met Council Power Grab: How Unelected Government Planners Intend to Transform Your Town and Your Life" promises much, much more of the same copy:

Come hear Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten describe “Thrive MSP 2040”, the Met Council’s 30-year plan to impose its vision of a “perfect society” on the Twin Cities region. The plan threatens to:

· Impose “transit-oriented development”—designed to move us into high-density “stack and pack” housing; wean us out of our cars; and push us to walk, bike or take public transit to work and leisure activities.

“Do we all have to live in a 1500-foot condo above a coffee shop on a transit line?”

Go read the rest at the SWMTP's page.

As Bluestem has noted most recently in State Policy Network received $40K grant request from Center of the American Experiment to debunk MN public pension "myths", the CAE is part of the State Policy Network, an organization spawned from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Other CAE interests beyond Kersten's Met Council Obsession

Sourcewatch notes a few of CAE's other connections:

Attempting to Influence Legislation in Minnesota

Minnesota Senator and candidate for Governor Dave Thompson proposed a constitutional amendment (SF 1705) to make Minnesota a "Right to Work" state. The amendment was strikingly similar to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bill the "Right to Work Act," as a November 2013 report by Alliance for a Better Minnesota points out. The report continues, "Piggybacking on Thompson's ALEC-based efforts to pass Right to Work in Minnesota, CAE released a report in support of the measure. Not surprisingly, the SPN-written report was shown to be both duplicative to reports from other states and inaccurate."^[1]

CAE also released a report in support of a 2012 constitutional amendment that would have codified language very similar to ALEC's "Voter ID Act."^[1]

Political Contributions of CAE Staff and Directors

According to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota report, "CAE staff and directors contributed at least $289,430 to federal candidates and committees between 1998 and 2012. Nearly all contributions were made to conservative or Republican organizations and candidates. . . .^[2] CAE staff and directors contributed at least $656,718 to candidates and committees at the state level from 1998–2012. As with the federal contributions, nearly all contributions were made to "conservative" organizations and candidates."^[3]^[1]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

SPN is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Additionally, CAE board member, John Gibbs, represents Comcast Corporation on the ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force.^[4]