Arkansas Blue Dog Mike Ross is to be trusted on healthcare reform. On a wisdom basis. Such business acumen. He must be super smart - or - something.

Sell a business, for perhaps a million, sell a non-compete covenant with it for perhaps half a million. And then stay in the driver's seat running the business.

That's special.

It was a pharmacy in Arkansas bought by a pharmacy chain.

Mike Ross. This link for this Arkansas Rep.

Olberman, on Ross, "And so far in your career, Congressman Ross, your total [campaign contribution and not personal] haul from the health sector is $921,000. That's 90th in the combined list of donations for the House and the Senate, sir, 90th out of 537," in context; this link. And that context is informative, so please have a look. People with probable agendas, spending, or call it investing - investing in their futures?

And Ross is shocked, shocked! that some speculate that influence peddling was part of the deal, with him now being the leading voice of Blue Dog posturing on what's to be done about healthcare in the US of A. As if the one is connected to the other. Sheer character assassination, obviously, is at play; and the question of how a growing pharmacy chain can grow doing business that way - if every purchase of an existing operation is that cozy to sellers - well, that question must be irrelevant. I would bet and give odds that Ross believes it so.

Form your own view, the online record is mainly:

Politico first reported details of the business deal. This link.

The buyer: an Arkansas-based pharmacy chain with a keen interest in how the debate plays out.

Ross sold Holly’s Health Mart in Prescott, Ark., to USA Drug for $420,000 — an eye-popping price for real estate in a tiny train and lumber town about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

“You can buy half the town for $420,000,” said Adam Guthrie, chairman of the county Board of Equalization and the only licensed real estate appraiser in Prescott.

But the $420,000 that USA Drug paid for the pharmacy’s building and land was just the beginning of what Ross and his wife, Holly, made from the sale of Holly’s Health Mart. USA Drug owner Stephen L. LaFrance Sr. also paid the Rosses $500,000 to $1 million for the pharmacy’s assets and paid Holly Ross an additional $100,000 to $250,000 for signing a noncompete agreement. Those numbers, which Mike Ross listed on the financial disclosure reports he files as a member of Congress, bring the total value of the transaction to between $1 million and $1.67 million.

And that’s not counting the $2,300 campaign contribution Ross received from LaFrance two weeks after the sale closed.

Holly Ross remains the pharmacist at Holly’s Health Mart under USA Drug. Neither she nor her husband agreed to speak with ProPublica for this story.

At the time of the 2007 sale, the county assessor’s office valued the pharmacy’s building and the land on which it sits at $263,000 — nearly $160,000 less than the Rosses got for it.

Because an assessor’s valuations don’t always reflect true market value, ProPublica hired Guthrie to appraise the property. He placed the current value of the lot and building at $198,000, substantially lower than the county’s assessment, which was raised from $263,000 to $269,000 this year. Guthrie explained the difference between his appraisal and the county assessment by saying county assessments have been running higher than actual market value.

Mike Ross frequently speaks for the coalition of House moderates known as the Blue Dogs, a group that helped force changes to the version of the health care reform bill drafted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The role has lifted him to national prominence in recent months.

Ross issued a statement, Politico included it and brief rebuttal detail. This link.

If you want more -- this Google.

For myself, I would never mistrust a guy like that. Just a smart businessman, after all. Savvy. Knows how to negotiate and close a sale. And Holly Ross, look at her dilemma - she cannot leave the pharma-purchaser paying her whatever the salary is, to go elsewhere in that tiny town to run a competing operation. A noncompete.

You have to give up something in any deal. But follow the Ross Rule.

Price it favorably.

In any event, no one is accusing Mike Ross of saying, "But what have you done for me lately."

I have not read any story, either, raising accusations of biting any hand that feeds him.

Mike and Holly. An all-American couple. Will they next be together, on Dancing With the Stars?

HuffPo, here, heaps scorn on Ross.

I say it's not just Ross.
It's Arkansas.


[Mike Ross photo, this link.]

Tim Pawlenty -- Not a moderate, you say?

You say that if you are Jeff Fecke, at MN Progressive Project.

This link.

It is a worthwhile read.

I thought about doing a post, "Tim Pawlenty is not a poseur and an empty stuffed shirt, nor a disaster as Governor of our State."

Not having too much to say that way, I ended up not doing the post.

_________UPDATE_________
Tim Pawlenty is not insincere. I thought of that one as a post. In each instance, saying it was easy enough, the GOP does that after all, so I could too. Each time, it was disturbing. I kept running into the evidence. Into the truth. One of those Jeff Fecke quotes, for example - the praying teacher one. Bingo. That's the man. Oh Timmy Boy, the Pipes, the Pipes are Calling ...

What's next after value voter summit exposure? Dancing With the Stars? Survivor?

Some most unfortunate news. Canyon Grille in Coon Rapids is ceasing business for the present, at the present location.

[click the above image to enlarge and read]

Probably indicative of the declining economy for years, the decision has been made quite recently, and for now the restaurant is closed but the phone line is open for anyone wanting to wish the people there good luck into the future.

My expectation is a quality independent restaurant in north metro will be a winner, at some point, some locale, in an economic rebound.

The website does not presently indicate the decision to close, but it deserves a look from anyone unfamiliar with the restaurant to know what they did, and what they might be if and when they make a reopening or relocation decision.

The website link is here.

City of Ramsey's Mayor, Bob Ramsey, has an informational blog, worth checking out.

The link is here, with the most current item referencing mention of the city in a Strib report of municipalities that are cutting budget for next year. It also lists budget cutting steps the city has taken.

Have a look.

I have a comment to that post, currently under review, basically asking whether City of Ramsey still employs a legislative lobbyist. I have been highly critical of how past Ramsey officials have used lobbying regarding a presently defunct "Port Authority" that some in the city tried to foist off on the citizens during the James Norman tenure as City Administrator. See this prior Crabgrass post, for some history.

After wrapping up this post, I will put another comment into the moderation queue at the mayor's website, about whether there will ever be a Port Authority during his term of service if he can do anything to prevent it. I have been assured that the thought is disfavored by some on council, but I think it should be said on record.

Finally, I applaud Bob Ramsey's choice to open this communication channel. He runs a business and being mayor consumes much time in meetings and in document reviews prior to meetings, so taking the additional time to open an information channel outside of the official city website is praiseworthy. Perhaps others on council might follow the precedent.

Carl Jung and the Red Book.

There are these items returned by a Google News search = Jung Red Book. Actual publication of the facsimile edition will be in October.

Please follow the links for it is a beautifully illustrated work of a man with a cult following, and hence also with detractors.

Coincident with the item being published, Rubin Museum of Art will have it on display. This link.

NY Times has a ten page report of the anguish and doubts within the Jung heirs on whether to maintain the privacy of the work, or to allow it to be published despite the possibility of Jung critics being even more scornful and despite feelings of some in that set that the Red Book was a private work of agony that the man himself intended to always keep private, as a therapeutic thing helping him wrestle with his own unconscious. This link for the text. This link for images of a few pages.

IF that link gets you a registration filter page, the initial Google News link above should bypass that allowing unimpeded access.

Google, being Google, when returning news hits has the lead sponsored item, linking here, which indicates Amazon willingly will sell you the item and you can sign up for an email notice of when it will be publicly available through their distribution channel.

Whatever Angst the Jung family had over the item's privacy, commerce has hold now. In a way, the charm of a book withheld for decades from public and scholarly review, by family, has been lost and traded for the chance to see this thing. It is interesting to me, and pivotal to Jungians, and their lust for revelation will be fulfilled.

Being largely ignorant of Jung, an additional item for me was the Wikipedia page, where one sentence struck me, in context:

Jung returned to the United States the next year for a brief visit, and again for a six-week lecture series at Fordham University in 1912. He made a more extensive trip westward in the winter of 1924-5, financed and organized by Fowler McCormick and George Porter. Of particular value to Jung was a visit with chieftain Mountain Lake at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico.

Another noteworthy Swiss, Paul Klee, was reputed to say that he never had a complete sense of color until being in North Africa. It must be the quality of light there and New Mexico.

Is Michele Bachmann hurting the GOP?

That's the question. Here.

Then you can read about the Value Voter Summit. Here.

Bottom line: The GOP is hurting.

The GOP is hurting the GOP.

Bachmann is part of the implosion, on the freak show part of the GOP spectrum.

One comment at the first link said Bachmann speaks from the heart.

I see her entire act as being phony as a three dollar bill. All posing. A publicity hound, with a trained voice and a vacuous mind. Barbarians can be cunning, but little else. She belongs on one of those Capital One credit card commercials.

Asking, what's in my wallet? And, what's more for there? That's an impression, a feeling, and we all can disagree. I welcome any reader comment saying he/she would buy a used car from the Bachmanns. Good luck, if you ever do.








Here is my vision of art created with the GOP in mind [click to enlarge].











The Dems have their own disarray. They cannot cast first stones [click to enlarge].







Perhaps my view is politically incorrect by not choosing sides. By seeing demons and fools all over.

No. That could not be.

_________
GOP image, from here. Dems image, from here.

Kathy Tingelstad is a nice person. But she is not worth $87,500 plus benefits. No way.

There's a duel on the web about Tingelstad, who declined to run again for her house seat in the north metro after getting a ration of chickenshit from the local GOP knuckleheads for her veto override vote on the politically motivated Pawlenty transportation tax veto. Then after a period of months took a lobbying job.

First the right wing challenge, read details at this link, the gist being discord and thinly veiled insinuation over Tingelstad's salary as if it were payback for a vote:

There was outrage among Republican Party faithful that GOP lawmakers might go against their Governor and their party on such a key vote. Of the six Republican House members that sided with the Democrats against the Governor, two chose not to run for re-election, two were defeated at the polls, and two won easy re-election.

Of the two who chose not to run, one stepped aside with little fanfare, seeming to willingly accept responsibility for her transgressions. No one suspected that a little more than a year later she would receive an almost $90,000 a year job offer: a plum position with Anoka County—a metro county that would gain tens of millions in additional transit funds with the passage of the bill.

Last week former State Representative Kathy Tingelstad of Coon Rapids was appointed Anoka County’s Chief legislative lobbyist with an annual salary of $87,500 per year. Not exactly Madoff money, but with healthcare, vacation, and an Anoka County credit card, certainly a step up from the $31,140 a year she made as a legislator.

Any skeptic would say this hardly amounts to a payoff. But consider that the Anoka County Board made this appointment without a job posting or candidate search. Was a position with Anoka County a done deal from the day that Representative Tingelstad pushed the “green” button? Or did Representative Tingelstad truly believe that Anoka County needed millions in additional transit funding each year?

There is nothing illegal about what Representative Tingelstad did or the Anoka County Board’s action. However, it is hard to believe this deal wasn’t hardwired. She was looking for a paycheck after she left the legislature and the Anoka County Board seemed more than willing to give her one.

Of that diatribe, the factual content, the nub of things is:

Last week former State Representative Kathy Tingelstad of Coon Rapids was appointed Anoka County’s Chief legislative lobbyist with an annual salary of $87,500 per year. Not exactly Madoff money, but with healthcare, vacation, and an Anoka County credit card, certainly a step up from the $31,140 a year she made as a legislator.

For the Tingelstad appologists, there is this link, stating in relevant part:

In a vile personal attack, Krinkie blatently accused former House Representative Kathy Tingelstad of trading her transportation override vote for an Anoka County job.

Incredible. And frankly, I think Krinkie owes Ms. Tingelstad a public apology.

Former Rep. Tingelstad accepted a position as chief legislative lobbyist for Anoka County recently and she will receive an $87,000 salary -- a significant increase over her compensation as a legislator (but then what private sector policy job wouldn't be).

But, as for Krinkie's accusation that, somehow, this was a quid pro quo deal...well, let's just say the facts don't begin to add up.

Aiming up wind, perhaps, but "vile" is opinion, and again the factual nub of the appologists is:

Former Rep. Tingelstad accepted a position as chief legislative lobbyist for Anoka County recently and she will receive an $87,000 salary -- a significant increase over her compensation as a legislator

There is agreement on the facts, [the applogist left out five hundred bucks of salary the attack piece mentioned along with a plush suite of benefits that might or might not be there]. Certainly the attack piece was more correct in mentioning benefits - raising the question of what the benefit package is, and how much it might be worth - on top of $87.5 grand. More gravy.

More importantly, if any reader thinks Kathy Tingelstad is worth $87,500 per annum plus benefits - please in a comment or email explain why.

She's a nice woman and tried to do her job diligently and in an informed manner while a legislator, and I will not dispute she earned that pay, given that running periodically is a cost off the top for that job, one absent from a lobbying job.

But what makes anyone believe her best effort is in the 90 grand ballpark?

She's smart enough to say "Yes," but that alone is not hitting the 90 grand level. Certainly she will have to wheedle bozo-brained legislators, but then that's what she did for much less, while in that group.

Give me a break. The question of whether the pay level is justified or wasteful was totally blown away by the anti-tax mavens, being too intent to sling accusations than to raise the question a thinking taxpayer would ask - is that wasteful, or wise?

________UPDATE________
Tingelstad was in the legislature for a decade, never reaching a high leadership position in the GOP, that can be said in her favor. For the county and her district, she pulled her weight, for example being lead author of this bill. That fits with the veto override vote, which one-tune wonder Krinkie continues to bristle over, that being his real basis for wanting to see Tingelstad an outcast. Her steadfast support of Northstar and having the sense, rare in the GOP, that if you want spending on a local pet project you have to raise revenue for it, and that means you either borrow [the Bush and Reagan way putting future generations in hock] or you tax, which is the responsible way to get matching revenue to fund your pet project and everyone else's. There's no bill without back-scratching.

Here is her legislative page, where committee memberships, bills sponsored, and bills authored can be reviewed.

Sponsoring Highway Ten lane expansion, touting Northstar, then voting responsibly to assure funding would exist for the transportation expansion she supported in line with Dan Erhart's views and aims, that is in the resume; and she got a ninety grand job, doing whatever, probably largely continuing what she did while in the legislature; but for three times the pay and without a vote. I am certain that Dan Erhart and many more of the old boys feel she is worth the "recognition" she is receiving. I am equally certain none will be posting a comment under their name explaining the wisdom and reasoning behind the appointment.

Hopefully, her having that job means Tinklenberg Group would not be getting a parallel lobbying contract, for doing the same thing.

______FURTHER UPDATE______
The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board lobbying pages, beginning link here, do not yet show that Tingelstad's been employed, unless I read things wrongly. Did you know that Anoka County had so many lobbyists as shown, here, here and here? It's news to me. It seems wasteful. That's eleven warm bodies unless I miscount, with Lona Schreiber double dipping (for the HRA and the county in general with a William Schreiber for the Rail Authority who might be kin). Are any worth a plugged nickel?