A Quick Analysis

Yesterday, the discussion was how - to the Republican Party of Minnesota – “some” can actually be a whole bunch. And the point was that Ron Carey has been thoroughly and completely discredited, because he’s a hypocrite.

Well, today, we’re going to try to put all those Amended Federal Elections Commission Reports into perspective, by comparing how Ron Carey ranks with other states for sheer number of amended reports. And after looking at FEC Reports for 7 states, Ron’s Number 1!!! Let’s look!!!

First, I’d like to point out that the FEC website is none-too-easy to pull info out of, even for a college grad with a poly-sci degree like me (yes, I’m a college graduate, even if I talk (and write!) like a jack-pine savage). And once data is pulled, ya still gotta do something with it. Here’s the deal – the FEC doesn’t rank states by ineptitude, er, ‘scuse me, “Filing Amended (and in republiCon Ron’s case, ‘Amended to the AMENDED’) Reports.” Ya gotta download ‘em, copy ‘n paste ‘em to MS Word, and then count ‘em. And that takes time, especially when you’re tryin’ to pay attention to Howie ‘cause there’s a whole buncha suitcases with big numbers in ‘em, on the right side of the board. But, I digress. The point is, it's time consuming. Here are Minnesota’s results, for Amended Reports, since 2001: GOP = 283, DFL = 102. Yep – when it comes to filing amended returns, republiCon Ron leads by nearly 3 to 1.

So, I did that, for 6 more states – both the GOPers, and the Democratic Party, because I wanted to prove that ol’ saw, “numbers don’t lie, but republiCon Ron sure seems to be a lying liar that can’t count.” And I say that, because yesterday I demonstrated that republiCon Ron thinks 70 – SEVENTY – is “some.”

I started out with Texas, because just as Ron Carey seems to be a lying liar that can’t count, Tom DeLay of Texas sure seems to be a crook that ought to be in jail. And I know that, because I used to read Molly Ivens (God rest her soul). And since I read Molly, I knew that Tom DeLay and the Texas republiCons came up with a scheme a few years ago to redistrict the recently redistricted Texas, to game the system and take a few seats in Congress away from the Democrats. Ron Carey, Amending The Amended Returns; Rom DeLay, Redistricting the Redistricted Texas – seemed like a no brainer to me! Plus, I figured, the Texas Democrats probably didn’t have many Amended Reports, because they fled Texas for Oklahoma so there wouldn’t be a quorum in the Texas lege for DeLay’s Redistricting Scheme. And here’s the results: Texas republiCons, 150 Amended Reports, Texas Democrats, 67 (not to mention, chalk one up for the ol’ TwoPutter’s intuition!).

Then, I figured take a look at Iowa – close state, just like us (without the lakes, and the trees, but with a lot more corn fields). The results? Iowa Republicans, 52 Amended Returns; Iowa Democrats, 111. Hmmm – republiCon Ron must not exert much influence, down there….

Next up, Florida! I figured any state that would cover up for Mark “What’s Your IM Name, Little Page?” Foley, let alone elect Katherine Harris, probably would have a shoddy paperwork problem. Well, imagine my surprise when the results from the FEC website indicate the Florida GOPers only have 45 Amended Returns, while the Florida Democrats have 133. Then it hit me – Florida Republicans don’t like recounts!!!

I turned to Missouri, because it’s the home of noted republiCon Congressman Roy “I love lobbyists so much I divorced my wife and married one” Blunt, currently the Republican Whip. Plus, he’s got his boy in the State House Mansion, so it kinda reminded me of the Bush Family. So, anyway, I had a sneaky suspicion that the Missouri republiCons might be a little loose with their paperwork. Was I correct? Yep! Republicans 149, Democrats 117.

Next, Maryland, because the Democrats got Steny Hoyer as Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, and they got Chris Van Hollen as head of the DCCC. So I figured since these guys are good guys, their state probably is, too. The results? Maryland Republicans 152, Maryland Democrats only 106.

Finally, because it was gettin' late and I wanted to watch the news, I checked one more state, West Virginia. Now, this is where I normally make some inappropriate West Virginia joke, like how everyone knows the toothbrush was invented at the University of West Virginia, because if it was invented anywhere else, it would be called the “teeth brush”. But, I won’t, nor will I make any snide comments how West Virginians count by 3’s (field goals), and 7’s (touch downs) – because they haven’t figured out yet that the extra point is actually worth a point. Anyway, I figured if any state was bound to have counting problems, it would be West Virginia. But, to my surprise, the Republicans only filed 99 Amended Returns, and the Democrats 40.

Let’s recap, by party, with Democrats first: WV, 40; TX. 67; MN, 102; MD, 106; IA, 111; MO, 117; for an average of 96.57 Amended Returns per state.

Here’s the GOP’s results: FL, 45; IA, 52; WV, 99; TX, 150; MD, 152, republiCon Ron, 283.

TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE??!?

Yep – 283. Over SIX TIMES the Amended Returns of Florida. Wait – can’t use Florida; they don’t do recounts. How ‘bout this? Over FIVE TIMES the Amended Returns of the Iowa Republican Party. FIVE TIMES. Hey - think about this - republiCon Ron has filed more Amended Returns (and most of 'em are reports Amending the Amended Returns) in the last three weeks, than Iowa has filed in 7 years.

With republiCon Ron’s results, the overall Republican State Party average is 132.85. Without republiCon Ron’s results, the average is 107.83.

Folks, I think I’m onto something, here, and I’ll do some more digging to find out: is the Republican Party of Minnesota, under republiCon Ron’s "stewardship", the most incompetent state party in the country, as evidenced by Amended FEC Reports?

Stay tuned!!!