I saw this little tidbit on the MPR website. Pawlenty leaves on trade trip to Israel
Here is the story if you missed it.
Minneapolis — Gov. Tim Pawlenty is traveling to Israel today for a four-day trade mission.
Pawlenty is leading a delegation of 37 business executives, community leaders and government officials, with stops planned in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
State officials say 100 Minnesota companies are currently doing business in Israel. During an airport news conference before his departure, Pawlenty said he hopes to expand exports to the Middle East country.
"We want to make sure we open as many doors and as many eyes to future trade and future friendship between Israel and Minnesota, both economically, culturally and otherwise," said Pawlenty.
Pawlenty is leading Minnesota's second trade mission to Israel. Gov. Arne Carlson traveled there in 1993. Israel is Minnesota's 21st largest trading partner.
I just have to wonder How much this trip is going to cost the citizens of Minnesota.
We as a state are looking at a 5.2 Billion Dollar deficit over the next 2 1/2 years. the Governor is talking about unallotment and cutting LGA to cities and counties which will cost the Tax payers more locally. Yet Gov Governor Pawlenty is able to find money to go to Israel with some of his Friends at the Minnesota taxpayers expence during the holiday season?
Give me a break!!!!
Here is the story if you missed it.
Minneapolis — Gov. Tim Pawlenty is traveling to Israel today for a four-day trade mission.
Pawlenty is leading a delegation of 37 business executives, community leaders and government officials, with stops planned in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
State officials say 100 Minnesota companies are currently doing business in Israel. During an airport news conference before his departure, Pawlenty said he hopes to expand exports to the Middle East country.
"We want to make sure we open as many doors and as many eyes to future trade and future friendship between Israel and Minnesota, both economically, culturally and otherwise," said Pawlenty.
Pawlenty is leading Minnesota's second trade mission to Israel. Gov. Arne Carlson traveled there in 1993. Israel is Minnesota's 21st largest trading partner.
I just have to wonder How much this trip is going to cost the citizens of Minnesota.
We as a state are looking at a 5.2 Billion Dollar deficit over the next 2 1/2 years. the Governor is talking about unallotment and cutting LGA to cities and counties which will cost the Tax payers more locally. Yet Gov Governor Pawlenty is able to find money to go to Israel with some of his Friends at the Minnesota taxpayers expence during the holiday season?
Give me a break!!!!
3 comments:
The trip is costing $37k according to news reports (crikey, don't you google anything before you blog?!?!?).
This barely rates as a drop in the swimming pool of the state budget, and since MN does $120 million in exports to Israel, yea, it probably does make sense for him to go and take business people with him (at their own expense, if you read the news).
Why don't you talk to the business guys going on the mission and find out how many jobs are generated from MN selling all that stuff to Israel?
I bet $37k will end up looking like a cheap investment if you bother to check the facts.
Your right Joe I should have checked a little more befor I posted I did find this little bit of info
Gov. Tim Pawlenty heads to Israel on Thursday, leading a 36-member delegation to promote Minnesota businesses and products.
The cost to taxpayers? $37,000.
Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung says the price tag covers travel expenses for the governor, the first lady and seven other state employees.
McClung says the other 27 members of the delegation are paying their own way.
They include business leaders and others seeking to strengthen economic ties between Minnesota and Israel, the state's 22nd largest export market in 2007.
Time will tell if it is a cheap investment but you failed to metion that we the taxpayers are paying the way for the first lady to go along at the states expense.
Pawlenty was asked before he left, that considering the economic plight that the State is experiencing, is now a good time for the trip? He responded “No” … but explained that since everything was already set-up so he felt it best to go. I will give him credit that he did not try to dodge the question and he was probably right to proceed with the trip.
But the real question is not Now, but Why Israel ?
According to
MSP Business Journal ,the trip was Pawlenty’s fifth trade mission since taking office in 2003. He previously visited India in October 2007, China in 2005, Poland and the Czech Republic in 2004 and Canada in 2003.
Israel was Minnesota’s 22nd-largest trade partner in 2007, importing $121 million in manufactured goods from the state, including transportation equipment, machinery and computer products. That was down 19 percent from $149 million in 2006.
During Pawlenty’s tenure as Governor, Minnesota's export shipments are up 60 percent ($6.8 billion) from the 2003 total of $11.3 billion to $18.1 billion in 2007. Minnesota exported to 204 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007, by far, was our NAFTA partner Canada, which received exports of $5.1 billion, or 28 percent of the 2007 total. Canada was followed by Ireland ($1.1 billion), China ($1.0 million), Japan ($935 million), and Germany ($788 million).
So that begs the question again, Why Israel ? He’s visited #1 Canada and #3 China … but why slip all the way down to #22 ? If you are wondering about #4, Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau was assigned to go on a trade mission to Japan in September 2008 (Pawlenty was probably busy campaigning.)
Why chase a country’s business that is shrinking when the overall export business is increasing? Actually, that may be a good reason for a trade mission … but does the Governor have to lead it ? After all, the State has a Department of Economic Development that is staffed with people just focusing on trade.
During his trip, Pawlenty met with Israeli President Shimon Peres to discuss renewable energy and with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert concerning the state of the U.S. auto industry and the development of electric cars. Most of the Minnesota companies sending delegates are in technology and manufacturing, including a firearms distributor and a law-enforcement-technology developer. A number of local law firms (as well as the Science Museum of Minnesota) sent delegates. Minnesota’s largest exporters 3M and Cargill did not send representatives.
For any trade mission, there are a number of questions that should be asked prior to approving a State-sponsored trip :
What targets (dollars and business opportunities) were anticipated prior to the trip?
Since completing the trade mission, did those targets change?
When should a follow-up review be performed to determine if those targets were achieved (would two years be reasonable?)
So the question goes back to why the Governor ?
How about politics … after all, doesn’t everybody to Israel ? Governor Patterson (D-NY) was just in Israel last week. And Congresswoman Michele Bachmann just completed her second visit to Israel in less than two years … but then again she is in the Top Ten member of Congress receiving political contributions from Pro-Israel PAC. (And who is paying for Mr. Bachmann to tag along?)
Trade is good. I have no problem with Minnesota supporting export business … but I don’t know if the Governor needed to be personally led the mission. I also do not think the taxpayers should be paying for Mary Pawlenty travel expenses. (That should prompt a question whether this is a taxable income for her … Todd Palin and his family faced the same questions after it was reported that they traveled with Governor Palin.) When my wife traveled on business trips with me, I had to pay for all her travel expenses … why is Pawlenty any different ? Would Israeli businesses have not done business with Minnesota companies if Mary Pawlenty wasn’t there ? What could she offer in terms of economic value ?
IF Pawlenty wanted to help Minnesota farmers he would have followed Ventura’s lead and visited Cuba. The new Obama administration may be more open to changing trade restrictions with Cuba (but that may come at a political price for Pawlenty, so he goes the safe route to Israel.) In the spring of 2008, Pawlenty sent a Minnesota delegation, led by his Commissioner of Agriculture, on a trade mission to Havana, Cuba. In 2007, Minnesota saw a $110 million increase in U.S. farm exports to Cuba. (Therefore Cuba is higher on the export list than Israel.) The Governor's Commissioner of Agriculture, Gene Hugoson, applauded the mission, saying, "The good relationships we have established will help Minnesota companies." Cuba is undergoing significant political transformation, unfortunately, during the 2008 session, Pawlenty vetoed a legislative resolution urging Congress and the President to end trade and travel restrictions to Cuba.
On a related point of foreign travel by governors, I wonder when Pawlenty will visit our troops again ? Iowa’s Governor Chet Culver just returned from Afghanistan. Pawlenty and Culver traveled together to visit troops in Kosovo in April of this year. Why didn’t Pawlenty divert a day from the seven day mission and visit our troops in Iraq ?
There are more questions than answers that the Governor needs to address now that his mission is over.
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