I Don’t Hate America!

Right now, tears are flowing freely and words are very difficult to come by, but I figure since I have this medium to let out feelings, I might as well take advantage of it.

Tonight we lost Jared Stene, Student Senate president at Winona State University, and more importantly to me, one of my best friends. I have never felt the loss of someone so close to me, coupled with the suddenness of the whole situation make this a very hard evening to get through, let alone post to complete, so bear with me.

I had learned of his condition just more that 48 hours ago, late Tuesday evening. Since that time we were all on a scary roller coaster ride hearing his condition change, for better and worse. Tonight that ride came to its end when we heard of Jared’s passing.

Jared was a special person; absolutely one-of-a-kind. The energy and passion he brought to every aspect of life, whether it was an affair concerning student issues, political action, simply entering the Student Senate office or one of the many nights at Schyde’s for wings, drinks and darts won’t be filled anytime soon.

He was someone who attracted a ton of friends and for good reason. His kindness, warmth and unique sense of humor (if you’ve never met him you have no idea how funny he was!) made him a natural magnet for people to want to be around him.

I first met Jared in the Spring of 2005 when he was on a committee in charge of the Mr. WSU competition; I had been hired as event host. Jared’s chief task was to coordinate games for the audience in the spirit of “the Price is Right.” It was through our work on that project which we got to know each other and I got to instantly know his love of that show. It was his love for that show which eventually lead to an effort to create a recognized student group, “the Price is Right Club” on the WSU campus.

He had an endless passion and ability to firmly grasp issues facing students. Tuition, parking, textbook prices, ability to vote in elections, and consultation with campus administration are issues that on the surface may not be glamorous, but are nonetheless important and Jared was a tireless advocate for them. For the final two years of my college career, I got to spend countless hours in committee meetings and office hours with him, and every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Purple Rooms: Student Senate meetings. Every minute of that time I was able to feed off of his energy and passion.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Minnesota State University Student Association (Jared had been serving as a member of that body’s board of directors) conferences with him, including a week-long lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. March of this year, and sharing many hotel rooms with him at these conferences. I had the displeasure of hearing him snore in these hotel rooms, but really, who’s perfect?

He was passionate about issues which even fewer people would find important, such as WSU food services’s bastardization of Minnesota culinary tradition by labeling a dish “Tator Tot Casserole” and his fight to ensure that someone would water ski on Lake City 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Oh, and the mochas (coffee drink consisting of steamed milk, espresso and chocolate). Boy, was he ever a coffee addict. He was a frequent visitor of Mugby Junction on Huff St., and was perhaps that business’s best patron. If not “best,” certainly “most frequent” fit the bill; once he requested a purchase history from his frequent customer card and the ensuing slip of register tape measured several feet. One day, Mugby even served a special drink in his honor: “the Jared.”

I feel blessed I had the opportunity to see him one last time on Wednesday evening. While it was difficult seeing him in the condition he was, we knew he was strong enough to fight and I know he did until the very end.

Jared has a very special family; parents Bruce and Char and sister, Caitlin (who is now at Winona State serving on the Student Senate). From my experience anyway, most people our age (early 20s and under) aren’t usually too comfortable having their parents meet their friends. Jared was, therefore I feel privileged to have gotten to meet and know them.

Stene family: my heart resides with you guys. I will keep Jared in my heart as long as I live.

For as hard as this is for me, I can only imagine how hard it is for many others those who got the special gift of being even closer to him.

Friends: Jared showed tremendous strength, and while this isn’t an easy time by any means, we all have the ability to rely on one another for our own strength to get us through this.

Yes, readers, the guy in the blue track-jacket with the neck-beard on the masthead of this blog is Jared. He was initially going to join us as a blogger here at IDHA, but his other commitments kept him from doing so. That’s not to say he never blogged; check out the archives of his personal blog he kept here and you will get a glimpse into the special human being we all loved, cared for and wished we could be.

Jared, as this box of Kleenex to my left is nearly empty, I want you to know that while it will not be possible to be as special of a person as you were, as futile of an effort it will be I will try my best to be as rock-solid of a person as you were. You left a void that will be impossible to fill in the Winona State community, and the world. I will forever be thankful for the friendship which you gave me.

Jared, I love you and will never forget the memories I had with you.

Goodbye my friend.

A couple years ago I met an amazing man.  Jared had an uncanny smile and bright sense of humor that made everyone around him happy.  We served on the Winona State Student Senate together since 2006, but became great friends outside of it as well.  We lost a person last night that truly believed he could change the world.  Jared was a model citizen – if he believed something needed to change, he would write that letter, call the person up, and/or protest until it happened.  He was especially passionate about helping students and was elected student body president of Winona State this year.  Many people looked up to him.  I looked up to him. 

DJ and I were at the hospital the past two days.  It was a blessing to see thirty or more people come and visit Jared.  His family was so willing to embrace each and every one of us as we anxiously waited to see our friend.  So many people loved him.  Correction, so many people love him. 

I am truly at a loss for words.  I’ve spent an hour writing this… erasing, typing, erasing, typing.  The world is mourning, but he is in God’s hand’s now.  Jared, buddy… I miss ya and love ya man.  I’ll never forget our good times.

Jared (peach shirt) and I (Walz shirt) on our weekly visit to the bar to have a drink, eat a few wings, and throw some darts.

After the Virginia Tech incident, Jared spoke on behalf of the WSU student body to our friends at Virginia Tech during a vigil.
“Even though events like these occur, in the end, we are all standing here together, supporting each other.” - Jared Stene

All the IDHA! bloggers at one point. 
Back row - Jason Bauman, Jared Stene
Front row - Ian Galchutt, DJ Danielson

Today, I lost a great friend and mentor. Jared Paul Stene, the President of the Winona State University Student Senate passed away at the age of 22. Jared, was an amazing individual and lead a truly amazing life. I am honored to have known Jared in my life, for the short period of time that I knew him. Jared was always a joyful and caring person and went out of his way to do the right thing. The period of healing will not be easy, because we all wanted Jared to pull through. Jared fought until the very end, and in the end thats all we could have asked for. Jared, I know i’ll see ya one day up in the sky but I will remember you forever. Rest in peace my friend and god bless. If you wish to sign Jared’s guestbook please visit the following link…. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jaredstene

Note: I posted this on my graduate studies discussion board as an opinion piece.

Despite the tremendous cost that healthcare is in our country, I believe that it is still a basic human right to receive it. This includes everything in our healthcare system including, but not limited to medications, technology, long intensive care stays, neonatal intensive care units, and dialysis machines. I do not doubt that there are valid arguments on both sides, including the financial impact and quality of healthcare, but my basic fundamental belief in healthcare for all defines my position regardless of financial considerations. To put it simply, the premise of healthcare for all comes no matter what and it is up to us to figure out how to contain costs.

An analysis done by Smith, Cowan, Sensenig, Catlin, and Health Accounts Team (2005) of our current, predominately entrepreneurial healthcare system revealed an expensive system, costing 15.3% of our country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003. The same team found that the per capita expenditure was $5670 in 2003 (Smith et. al, 2005). This is an expensive investment considering 47 million Americans are still uninsured, with the number rising every year (U.S Census Bureau, 2007).

Government spending has been fluctuating recently in light of the Iraq/Afghanistan war. To compare spending, translating per capita expenditure for healthcare in 2003 to a family of four will yield $22,680 ($5670 multiplied by four) per year. A recent report from Senator Schumer and Representative Maloney from the Joint Economic Committee Majority Staff (2007) shows the total economic cost of the Iraq/Afghanistan war from 2002 to 2008 for a family of four to total $20,900 for these years.

Complaints about how much we spend in healthcare can be paralleled with complaints that we spend too much for war. Our priorities need to be questioned if we need to spend such large amounts in foreign countries when our domestic healthcare system is failing. Some may be surprised to hear that through our estimated family contributions of $20,900 to the government for the war, we have paid for universal healthcare in Iraq! The U.S has “spent nearly US $1 billion on Iraq’s healthcare system but more than $8 billion is required over the next four years to fund the current healthcare structure [in Iraq]” (IRIN, 2006, para. 3). The U.S is now burdened with two healthcare systems, both failing, and both needing more funds. The question is not only do we support certain proposals to cover all Americans, but instead, does our government have their priorities straight when it comes to our money.

IRIN. (2006). Iraq: Country’s healthcare system rapidly deteriorating. Retrieved on November 27, 2007, from link

Schumer, C. E., Maloney, C. B. (2007). War at any price? Retrieved on November 27, 2007, from link

Smith, C., Cowan,C., Sensenig, A., Catlin, A., & Health Accounts Team. (2005). Health spending growth slows in 2003. Health Affairs, 24(1), 185-194.

U.S Census Bureau. (2007, August). Household income rises, poverty rate declines, number of uninsured up. Retrieved November 27, 2007, from link

6:29 p.m.: LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD, I mean, live from Roosevelt High in South Minneapolis, welcome to I Don’t Hate America’s liveblog coverage of the debate between DFL candidates for U.S. Senate (Mike Ciresi, Jim Cohen, Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer) to take on incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008. I entered the building a short time ago after working my way through the crowd of supporters, predominately those for Ciresi and JNP. That makes for great visibility on 28th Ave.

(Full disclosure: I took a cup of coffee from JNP’s table. Sue me; it’s freakin’ cold out!)

Back with full coverage in about 25 minutes.

6:47 p.m.: I’ve seen Ciresi, JNP and Cohen all glad-handing around the auditorium and at their tables set up by the entrance to the building.

Mega thanks to Charley Underwood and SD 62 for the great set-up for press and the bloggers. Questions are coming in from the audience, which is filing into the almost already completely full auditorium.

7:07 p.m.: Franken has appeared, followed by Brian Melendez, DFL State Chair who will be moderating the debate. The candidates have been called to the stage and we are about ready to begin. Each candidate is seated behind one of their campaign signs. The candidates are seated as follows, left to right: Cohen, Ciresi, Franken, JNP.

Ann Friedrich, chair of DFL SD 62 has welcomed us. So far, like the last debate, I am the only one with a laptop. Friedrich introduces Dave Lee, DFL CD-5 chair, to announce the rules. Two minute opening statements, closing statements and response time. Lee has asked audience members to hold their applause until the end, which didn’t happen in Savage. We have a standing room only crowd; don’t tell the fire department.

7:09 p.m.: Cohen is giving his opening statement. He gives a loud first statement saying how he is the one who will return Paul Wellstone’s seat to the Democrats, which gets mild applause. Goes over his background in advocacy. Talks about how we have to listen to others with different ideological principles and knows we have to work together; says he is the only one who realizes that of the four. Sounds like he is giving a stump speech.

7:10 p.m.: Bad microphone feedback…EEEK! Ciresi says every night he and his wife get on their knees thanking God we only have 14 more months of this administration. Says it is time to redo the tax code. Says we need to return to constitutional principles and get back to the common good to build this nation for all of our children. Talks about the debt we pass on to our children. Says the GOP believes we shouldn’t have a death tax, he believes we shouldn’t have a birth tax.

7:12 p.m.: Franken is up and says Bush is driving us into a ditch. Says we know Bush is leaving soon, but his enablers like Coleman should too. Talks about health care, affordable education, etc.

7:14 p.m.: JNP is introduced to an absolutely deafening roar from the crowd. Says he will hold Coleman accountable. Says he can’t believe it when he hears Democrats say impeachment is off the table, which gets a roar. Talks about how we can’t just slow the car down, but must get on a different path way. All of these introduction speeches have been similar to the ones given in Savage. Over half of this crowd goes nuts for JNP.

7:17 p.m.: All candidates are asked the first question, yes or no, if they will abide by the endorsement. All candidates say yes, while Cohen adds that there must be an endorsement. Confusion with the mics as there are three for four candidates.

7:18 p.m.: Next question is about health care. Franken says he would mandate that every state goes to universal health care in the way they like and that they would goto single payer for kids. More mic trouble EEEEEKKK. Franken says kids are cheap compared to seniors as he points to Ciresi, perhaps unintentionally as it seems he doesn’t know why people are laughing. Franken seems lost among the mic confusion and laughter and ends up struggling with the question.

7:21 p.m.: JNP says he will work with “every ounce of his being to get to single payer health care” which gets applause. Says if we go Al’s route we will have the Mississippi-Minnesota divide again and that we shouldn’t compromise before we fight. Says he would have supported the vetoed S-CHIP bill and mentions the total cost of the bill is less than three months of war spending. The mic problems are irritating AHHH.

7:23 p.m.: Cohen says he too, advocates for single payer. Says quality and affordable health care should be a constitutional right. Says insurance companies are milking the middle class. Says we need a leader who is a statesman and who is responsive to the American people. Says we have been talking about universal for 57 years and it can’t last any longer.

7:25 p.m.: Ciresi says he wouldn’t accept health care Senators get until all citizens get it. Ciresi says it has been his responsibility to make sure people get quality health care. Says we need good preventative health care. Advocates for a federal health board to require all health care to cover all preexisting conditions, be portable and cap administrative costs. Realizes a lot of people here love single payer but that Minnesota has great health care and we don’t have it here. I think we have figured out the audio issue whooo.

7:28 p.m.: Next question asks about sub prime mortgages. JNP talks about how this is what he talks about when the country is unraveling. Says the foreclosures are linked to the fact that we allow predatory lending and we need to stop it. Says wealth lately is going to the richest fraction of 1% and with that inequality pressure goes on poor families but middle class people aren’t exempt either. Says 40-1 was the pay ratio with CEOs to employees in 1980, now it’s 485-1. Says we need a progressive tax system and allow unions to form to ensure equity.

7:29 p.m.: Cohen says this is the result of companies involved in corporate greed and that we need to look at it through those stark terms. Says it is a similar situation to the fuel crisis. Says with wages stagnant we can’t fix it. Says the common citizen is not moving forward. Says we need to enforce the law and send predatory lenders to jail to make an example that this shouldn’t happen in America. Says 78% of citizens would join unions if they didn’t have management pressure against it.

7:33 p.m.: Ciresi says Coleman’s fix is to invade your pension…if you have one. Says we have securitized mortgages. Says lenders can renegotiate but they are only looking at certain areas, IE treating north Minneapolis differently than New Prague. Says we should look at those engaging in fraud. Says next October more adjustable rate mortgages are coming due and it isn’t over.

7:35 p.m.: Franken says Fannie Mae should renegotiate as many of the loans are they can. He too advocates that predatory lenders should goto prison. He too speaks of inequality. Says there is a hostility towards unionization from the “conservative radicals.” Says the price of oil is going up because of demand and we should decrease demand on oil by having a green economy. Says when consume confidence goes down, the dollar goes down. Says we create jobs by creating a green economy.

7:38 p.m.: Next question is about the major presidential candidate’s views on Iraq that we will be there till 2013 and if they agree or not. Cohen says he has a plan to bring home troops. Says we should renounce Iraqi oil, which is why we are there in the first place. Says we should convene an international peace conference with all of those in the mideast. Says Iraq is a senseless, moral tragedy with an occupation against the will of the Iraqi people. Says we could take the Iraq budget and put every child through college for free. Talks too of the green collar economy.

7:40 p.m.: Ciresi says it isn’t his plan to keep troops till 2013. Advocates timetables for withdrawl. Says this is an issue of separation of powers and that article I of the constitution is the Congress and says a reason we are in this war is because Congress didn’t fulfill it’s role in oversight. Says he is the man with the leadership to do that.

7:42: p.m.: Franken rhetorically asks “two minutes on Iraq?” Franken says we have a responsibility and we shouldn’t have a precipitous withdrawal. Says we need an international conference under the UN security council, but says it isn’t a plan, but a goal. Says we need to start withdrawing. Says this is very complex and isn’t about choosing from column A or column B, but is something that needs to be discussed for more than two minutes.

7:44 p.m.: JNP talks about how he debated Jim Ramstad about the war and how he advised Paul Wellstone on foreign policy. Says the reason the U.S. isn’t leaving Iraq is because it was never the administration’s intention to leave. Says the international community has a willingness to help fix Iraq, but won’t if it’s America’s desire to have permanent military bases. Says we need to help the Iraqi refugees and we haven’t. Says we can’t do that until we pull out.

7:47 p.m.: Next question is if the candidate would support convening a new 9-11 commission. Ciresi doesn’t understand the question and wants to talk about Iraq more. Says we can’t just get out right away which upsets a couple of audience members who are vocal about their displeasure. Says the administration has done nothing to fix mideast issues, and now they call a conference.

7:49 p.m.: Franken says he actually understood the question. Says there is a small minority of people who believe 9-11 was an inside job, which gets a few cheers. Says he would support an ongoing 9-11 commission. Mentions Sen. Bob Kerrey who was on the 9-11 commission and that the CIA wouldn’t allow the commission to interview key suspects. Says the 9-11 commission had to submit questions to the CIA and the questions came back from them. Says it is am important question and only has the insight because Kerrey came in and they discussed it.

7:51 p.m.: JNP says he understood the question, too. He says he is staying with what he can prove which is this administration planned this war against Iraq long before 9-11, which was “America’s Grand Strategy.” Says the neo-cons had a plan for control and used 9-11 “shamefully to lie us into a pre-planned war.” Says we aren’t sure what we would find out from the commission but if what Bush did wasn’t an impeachable offense, he isn’t sure what is.

7:53: p.m.: Cohen says we were lied into the war on false assumptions and that we lost an opportunity to get Bin-Laden. Says we must say this occupation makes no sense for America or the middle east and we should find a way of leaving sensibly. Says the 9-11 commission’s bi-partisan recommendations need to be implemented. Says we need to get out on a timetable which the Democrats haven’t voted for yet. (Is this true?). Says Senators and Congressmen need to come together to find a common good together.

7:55 p.m.: Next question is on what needs to be done about global warming. Franken says scientists have proven the earth is warming up and it is caused by humans. Says it needs to be addressed with great urgency, which gets applause. Name drops Al Gore. Ugh. Says there is no silver bullet but there are silver buckshots. Says we should build wind turbines. Says he met with the UAW and says we should build electric cars at the Ford Plant. Says we need commuter rail, light rail, and solar energy. Talks about the UM-Morris biomass plant and that they will have zero carbon footprint by 2010. Says this will help America be great again.

7:58 p.m.: JNP says this is the greatest issue causing him to enter the race for Senate. Give his “most important decade” spiel. Mentions how he has talked to Will Steger lately. Says we can’t talk about cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050 if we aren’t doing anything to get there now. Mentions his opposition to nuclear power.

8:00 p.m.: Cohen says global warming will affect every aspect of our life if we don’t do something now. Mentions Will Steger as well. Says we know global warming can be addressed and that it’s an opportunity to reduce CO2 by 15-20 percent in the next 10-12 years and it will show we are serious about this if we begin with that.

8:02 p.m.: Ciresi says his law firm has come up with a green plan. Says we need to educate people what they can do as far as conservation. Says the environment is not just about protecting the environment but is about creation of middle class jobs and helping national security. Says experts say if global warming continues we will have flooding requiring military intervention. Says we need to take away the tax incentives of oil companies.

8:05 p.m.: Next question is about global economic competitiveness. JNP says we need a plan to build an infrastructure based on the renewable energy economy. Says we should manufacture solar panels here, and we can’t even outsource the jobs putting them on our houses. Says we need to stop “these free trade agreements which are ruining our country” to applause. Talks about how Wal-Mart can have a huge trade deficit with China while manufacturing jobs are eliminated here.

8:07 p.m.: Cohen Says NAFTA and CAFTA need to be redone and the recent agreement with Peru should also be questioned. Says we have the power and ability to make a level playing field. Says we can do that by allowing unions to organize and unions will be critical to create a green collar economy and bring hundreds of thousands of jobs here. Says we can create new kinds of jobs here and make sure the trade deficit is turned around.

8:09: p.m.: Ciresi says with CAFTA and NAFTA there was no one at the table for the environmental and labor issues, just people protesting. Says we need to reform them with these protections. Says if China is going to produce steel for America, for instance, they should be faced with the same environmental standards steel produced in America is.

8:11 p.m.: Franken says the new Peru agreement will be enforced by the Bush administration. Says Congress should have oversight of them instead. Says global warming is “global” but India and China are building the equivalent of one coal plant per week. Says this is one of the reasons we may have to find clean coal technology and sequester the CO2 and sell the technology to China and India. Says the CO2 those countries produce is an “absolute crisis.”

8:13 p.m.: Next question is what do you think about no child left behind? Cohen says “all children have been left behind by no child left behind!” Says we should allow mentoring of teachers because teachers leave within the first five years. Says if it isn’t revamped it needs to be scrapped, now. Says he is a teacher and doesn’t like the way the act is implemented.

8:15 p.m.: Ciresi says he would introduce a bill to immediately scrap no child left behind. Says NCLB assumes all children start from the same place. Talks about the importance of early learning and benefits such as vocabulary. Talks about how children of color are behind and there should be support services locally, and our education system isn’t doing that.

8:17 p.m.: Franken tells his story about her daughter quitting her job teaching in the Bronx because of NCLB. Talks about McNamara’s Fallacy which says the things that will be easy to test will be tested, such as reading, writing, arithmetic and test taking. Says her daughter now teaches children to cook, which also teaches things like counting. Talks about how reading to children improves things like vocabulary. Says NCLB doesn’t measure progress.

8:21 p.m.: JNP says NCLB takes creativity out of the classroom. Says education funding depending on property taxes needs to stop. Says special education kids should be mainstreamed. Says with a 10% reduction in military spending and cutting the tax breaks to the richest one percent will fund education.

8:22 p.m.: Next question is whether you favor force or diplomacy in Iran. Ciresi wants to talk about education more and that he is opposed to the probation elements of NCLB. Says he is infavor of diplomacy in Iran. Talks about mideast peace. Says Iran has a fairly young population and they don’t like the government which is taking all of the economic gains for themselves. Says we need to engage in forceful, sustained diplomacy with Iran.

8:25 p.m.: Franken says we have a very dangerous situation in Iran. Says we need sanctions but we are getting them from Europe, not Russia. Says due to oil exportation, Russia likes instability in the middle east. Says Congress should not give the president any authority to bomb Iran.

8:26 p.m.: JNP says he doesn’t want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, but we can stop it with diplomacy. We also need to be aware of the US’s covert program concerning Iran, he says. He says we should work to make it a nuclear free zone. He says we also need to know that the lesson Iran learned was that you’re safer if you have a nuclear weapon, considering Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. Says we better not fall for the fear again.

8:29 p.m.: Cohen goes back to NCLB and says teachers should have a minimum salary. Says he shares the views of the other three. Says we need a surge in diplomacy. Says if they are a threat, we need to find a way to bring them to the table. Says if we are going to have multilateral discussions we need to have leaders that respect the people’s interests and the people are ahead of the politicians. Says we should build the coalition to make sure Iran doesn’t become a threat.

8:31 p.m.: Next question is about GLBT issues. Franken says they should have the right to marry which gets applause. He says hes been married for 32 years and its the best thing thats happened to him and doesn’t think others should be denied that right. Says we used to have laws against whites marrying Filipinos and blacks. Hopes we can look back and think that preventing gays marrying was that ridiculous. Talks about how Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate which shows it isn’t a threat.

8:33 p.m.: JNP can’t fathom how we are discriminatory against certain groups of people. Says he is concerned that because the Republicans can’t run on their record, they will run on this issue. Says he laments the use of religion to discriminate. Says they will also run on the politics of fear relating to terror, and the politics of fear relating to immigrants.

8:35 p.m.: Cohen says love is love is love. Says marriage is just a divisional word. Supports total non-discrimination against gays. Says we need to make sure there is no discrimination and we need to take action against it. Says he supports civil unions, but would support marriages as well. Says we should fight for love in all parts of our community, which gets his biggest applause of the night.

8:37 p.m.: Ciresi says there shouldn’t be a constitutional amendment for or against gay marriage. Talks of his all inclusive support for ENDA. Thinks the main wedge issue will be immigration. Says it is unbelievable we have not passed an immigration bill in a land of immigrants. Totally blew off the question, wow!

8:40 p.m.: Next question is about abortion. JNP is for legal abortion and talks about how a large killer in Nicauragua was illegal abortions. Is in favor of expanding adoption and family planning funds. Says Bush’s first act was to cut off family planning funds for the UN due to a concern of abortion. Says this led to more abortions. Says population growth is a concern and it’s due to women not being empowered.

8:42 p.m.: Cohen says he is pro choice without restriction. Says those decisions are private and should not be intruded upon. Says family planning is essential. Says he was active for Zero Population Growth. Says it is an issue about the resources we have available. He too thinks we need a fair immigration plan with a path to legal citizenship.

8:44 p.m.: Ciresi says he was pro choice in 2000 and is now. Is tired of the Republicans saying they will get government out of our lives but on these issues they have gotten even more in people’s lives. Says we should have a politics of hope and politics of vision. Let’s dictate the agenda to them, not the other way around, he says.

8:46 p.m.: Franken says “safe, legal, and rare” concerning abortion. Says abortions went down every year Bill Clinton was in office. Says abstinence only education doesn’t work. Talks about how they made the surgeon general change his report. Says abortion went down in the Clinton years because poverty also went down. Says if health care is universal, abortion will go down. Mentions briefly about suppressing science. Says there is nothing conservative about suppressing science, and that has to stop.

8:46 p.m.: Melendez thanks the timekeepers. Closing statements, JNP is up first. Says we should be enthusiastic for the opportunity to make the changes it is time for. Says it wasn’t his life plan to run for the US Senate. Talks about his international experiences, writing and fighting for economic justice. Says these with his skills teaching conflict resolution make him qualified. Wants people to join him in a partnership to organize and put aside the politics of fear for a politics of hope and defeat Norm Coleman. Deafening roar from the crowd.

8:51 p.m.: Franken gives a joke about Bush’s articulateness. Says he found himself being a cheerleader to students on his college tour, saying we can be a great country again. That means not torturing people. Says we need to work diplomatically with adversaries. Says when he was eight years old Eisenhower did a victory tour and in every city around the world he was welcomed. Spoke about how now Bush can’t even goto Mankato without kicking out two of Tim Walz’s supporters. Says we change things by kicking out Bush’s friends like Coleman. Loud cheer.

8:53 p.m.: Ciresi said his father had a seventh grade education and lost his mom at 12 to breast cancer. Ciresi says the college students he has spoken with are optimistic. Says we should use our moral might not military might. Says people come here to America for opportunity. Says he dreams of people getting good educations, good jobs, a constitution that is upheld. Says he has taken on powerful industries and delivered for Minnesotans for 35 years. Loud cheer.

8:56 p.m.: Cohen says he has worked for Americans for 40 years with his relevant leadership experience. Says one of our challenges is that Washington is gummed up with politics and the kind of polarizing that goes on leading to no S-CHIP, no Farm bill, no immigration policy and we’re still in Iraq. Says its because we donit have leadership with guts. Says if we listened to common sense of Minnesotans we would be out of Iraq and have single payer health care. Goes over his time but still gets a good cheer.

8:59 p.m.: This concludes IDHA’s liveblog coverage. Come back for a recap, and drive home safely.

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Looks like Canadian Pacific, soon-to-be the new owners (pending Surface Transportation Board [STB] approval) of the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) had a good meeting with the Mayo Clinic and allies.  Press release below:

Canadian Pacific and Mayo Clinic Build Understanding and Commit to Ongoing Dialogue

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic and Canadian Pacific (CP) conducted their first face-to-face meeting yesterday in Calgary and made a commitment to ongoing dialogue among their two organizations and the community of Rochester as CP progresses through its transition planning and the implementation of a safety integration plan for the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern (DM&E) Railroad.

Both CP and Mayo Clinic officials are optimistic about the common ground that was established and the increased understanding each party gained of the other’s business and expectations.

“We had a very open and constructive dialogue and we left with a mutual understanding of each others needs and concerns,” said Glenn Forbes, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic in Rochester. “We both expressed a strong and firm commitment to work collaboratively, both together and with the community of Rochester, to ensure the highest degree of safety moving forward.”

CP recently acquired the DM&E. The transaction must be approved by the Surface Transportation Board before CP can influence any operational decisions or practices.

Mayo Clinic, on behalf of the community of Rochester, and CP outlined their respective priorities and expectations for rail operations in the Rochester area, should the STB approve the transaction.

During the meeting, and separate from aspects relating to the existing railway and customer base, CP again emphasized that it has made no decisions about its potential to access new coal haulage business in the Powder River Basin area.

“CP has a best-in-class process for relationship development and issues resolution with neighbors and communities in the areas through which we operate,” said Fred Green, President and CEO of Canadian Pacific. “Our solid community reputation is fundamentally based on CP’s commitment to operational safety and environmental stewardship. We were pleased to share this with the Mayo Clinic representatives.”

Officials from both sides consider the meeting a success. “This meeting was the beginning of a long-term constructive relationship based on open dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise,” said Dr. Forbes. “We look forward to hosting CP officials here in Rochester during the first quarter of 2008 to build on the progress made in this first meeting, and the opportunity for CP officials to meet with other members of the Rochester Coalition and other key stakeholders on this critically important issue.”

I’m about ready to take off with the ole’ lappy to Washburn High School for another debate between Mike Ciresi, Jim Cohen, Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, all vying for the DFL endorsement to take on Norm Coleman for the US Senate in 2008.

Stop over and say “hi.” Even if you’re a GOP candidate for Congress!

When: TONIGHT, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Where: Roosevelt High School, 4029 28th Avenue S.,
Minneapolis

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Today, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his appointment of state Sen. Tom Neuville, R-Northfield, to serve on the bench of the Rice County District Court.

Neuville’s rambling Senate floor crusades against the smoking ban and global warming legislation will be sorely missed.

This now sets up a special election yet to be called by Pawlenty. According to Mary Lahammer at Almanac, Ray Cox, a former state representative from Northfield, intends to seek the Republican nomination for this seat. No DFLers have yet announced.

The seat, SD 35, has been competitive the previous two elections. Neuville defeated Rice County Commissioner Jessica Peterson 52-48 in 2006 and beat Jim Mladek 53-47 in 2004.

This seat will be no means a shoo-in for the GOP, regardless of the candidate.

Cox, a moderate, should be a strong candidate for the GOP if endorsed. He had been in the House for two terms, succumbing to the DFL whirlwind in 2006 losing to DFLer David Bly by 60 votes. In 2004, Cox beat Bly 51-49. In 2002, Cox won the initial match-up between the pair by just 46 votes.

Knowing this, Cox should do better for the GOP in the DFL-leaning half of the district, but considering this is a special election, would the GOP be better served by having a more conservative candidate, one which the base would be more willing to work for, such as perhaps Rep. Laura Brod?

In Democratic times nationally, the DFL should do well but can by no means be lazy. The western part of the district especially, served by Brod in the House, is quite conservative. It will also make a difference when on the calendar the special election is held. If it is held while college is in session, following the winter break, the DFL would be able to take advantage of the added base, students, that would likely be less interested in the contest if they are home with mom and dad and away from SD 25.

This should be an interesting race to follow, as special elections usually are.

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This info was passed along from Mike McIntee, familiar to viewers of the Uptake and listeners to Inside Minnesota Politics, who will be guest hosting the Mark Heaney Show on AM950, Air America’s Minnesota affiliate.

When I first interviewed Steve Sarvi he was in Iraq helping people in rural Iraq rebuild their roads, buildings and other infrastructure that has been destroyed in the fighting there.  It was his last assignment in a 19-year military career that had included successfully mentoring people in war-damaged Kosovo on how to set up their own local governments.

At that time Sarvi indicated he was ready for his next assignment: coming home, taking on Rep. John Kline in a run for Congress, and then helping us fix our own war-damaged government.

Today Steve will be a guest (and I’ll be the fill-in host) on Air America Minnesota’s Mark Heaney show.  We’re going to talk about what Steve has heard in his 13-stop listening tour through Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.  By the way, that’s 12 more open face-to-face meetings than Rep. Kline has held with his constituents this year.  I’ll be opening the phone lines so you can ask questions of Steve too.

So as you’re driving home, or cleaning house today for Thanksgiving, turn your radio to AM 950 and participate.

Three ways to listen.  On the air live on AM950, on line live, or if you miss the show there’s a podcast available usually by the next day.

I had the opportunity to attend two of Sarvi’s listening sessions last week, and he has said that part of the reason he decided to run for Congress is because of Kline’s lack of open meetings.  Listen in at 5:00 p.m.

I’d like to take this time to extend a warm greeting to new visitors from MNPublius (which has noted our “respect” for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer), Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer’s own campaign (which noted that “the bloggers are talking” about the campaign in an email) and the Rochester Post-Bulletin’s new blog “Political Party,” which looked at how Dr. Brian Davis deals with bloggers such as us.

So, welcome.  Stick around.  Have a good time.