I Don’t Hate America!

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this post.  I normally hate excessive amounts of snow, but since “we’ve no place to go” today, the weather conditions which gave the appearance of a snow globe were welcome.

I hope everyone enjoyed their day, as I know our family enjoyed our Christmas of double smoked ham from Krenik’s Meats in Montgomery (turkey on Christmas? Shame!), bottles of Grain Belt Premium (from New Ulm, nope, not doin’ egg nog!) and the continuous loop of the Yule Log on KSTC 45.

Later this week I will have a post reflecting upon the year 2007.

…and Franken laughed.

I have three questions:

WHO CARES?! (not counting these people).

SO WHAT?!

And, perhaps most importantly, from a figurative perspective anyway: is it really untrue??

A week ago today Bill Habedank of Red Wing experienced one of the main consequences of having Rep. John Kline in office: zero constituent service.

Habedank and others tried to visit Kline’s office last week and he tells his story in a letter to the Red Wing Republican Eagle:

You are told no one is ready to discuss your issue even though you called ahead. The young lady has you fill out a form.

As 13 of us wrote down our issue and contact information, each knew that was as far as this would go. Why? Because that is what happened all the other times you have done this.

Treatment is the same whether you visit, send an e-mail or call. You are always treated courteously, but you could (or should) get that treatment in any office. You came to be heard even if your message was contrary to the representative’s views. That is his job.

This wasn’t the first time he had to deal with this runaround.

We asked when we could speak with someone of authority. We are told the congressman’s and his assistant’s schedules are not to be revealed, so it becomes a guessing game. We are then told issues of this magnitude are best brought to the Washington, D.C., office.

I did that last March. I asked at least two weeks in advance to meet with Kline. I did get an appointment and get beyond the front desk. I had a 20-minute meeting with a young man in Kline’s plush office. As I relayed my issue, I found the man to be slightly argumentative. Is that his job?

You would think if Kline is unable to hold a decent town-hall meeting his taxpayer funded staff would at least show an effort to listen to constituents. I have an experience lobbying Kline in Washington D.C. as well and while the legislative assistant with whom we met wasn’t argumentative, it was clear from the start of the meeting that the congressman’s position on higher education (the issue about which we were lobbying) had already been established.

Steve Sarvi was able to teach democracy over in Iraq; it looks like we will have to elect him in order for Second District citizens to be able to see it in action here in America.

Over at Bluestem you can see video of Rep. John Hall, D-New York, speaking at a gig in Mankato this past weekend. Hall gave great insight into his work with Rep. Tim Walz on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Unfortunately however, the video lacks any footage of Hall, a founding member of the 1970s band Orleans, performing any music.

Thanks be it to me, at least, you will all not have leave to the blogosphere empty handed today without your fix of members of Congress performing on stage.

Going way back to 1988, here’s Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, rockin’ out on stage. (Yes, WordPress is being stupid with embedding, so linking it is)

This was certainly nominated at the MTV Awards back then, right?

Peterson went on to stardom as the front-man for the Second Amendments.Just to clear up any residual confusion that may be present, John Hall was NOT a member of Hall & Oates, which is the most successful duo in the history of recorded music.

That duo was comprised of Daryl Hall and John Oates.

Speaking of H&O, almost two months ago I suggested that the duo’s tune “Adult Education” may be applied to Congressional candidate Randy Demmer.

Yesterday, I thought sufficient evidence was present to declare one of Demmer’s opponents for the GOP nomination to take on Tim Walz next year, Dick Day, out of touch.

Perhaps this Hall & Oates hit can be used by Day’s campaign as a theme song.

While I was in Winona this weekend visiting to catch fall graduation ceremonies at the ole’ alma mater, Winona State, I missed quite a bit of news concerning transportation issues, especially those surrounding US Highway 14 in southern Minnesota.

With a h/t to Bluestem Prairie, the Star Tribune shows us it has the ability to publish thoughtful stories about the First Congressional District, as opposed to those based nearly solely on press releases from ambitious GOPers, with a thorough piece about the deadly stretch of road around Owatonna.

Several years ago, as newcomers to Winona State, my colleagues and I would light-heartedly write off Highway 14 as a possible route getting to the metro area (instead sticking with I-90) as it is likely to become stuck behind a tractor and limited to traveling at 15 mph. Later we would find out 14’s problems go beyond inconvenience into the realm of real danger. From the Strib:

The highway, a mix of old two-lane and reconstructed four-lane sections, has blind intersections, heavy truck traffic, narrow shoulders and unexpected curves. It may be the deadliest highway in the state.

Since the mid-1980s, more than 145 people have been killed on the highway, which winds through 265 miles of farmland from Winona to the South Dakota border. On average, someone dies on the road every two months. And 75 percent of the deaths between 2000 and 2005 occurred on the two-lane stretches, state rec­ords show.

Instead of investing in transportation projects such as Highway 14, we keep getting empty political rhetoric from Republican officials. On TPT’s Almanac last month, John Kline called this year’s House Transportation bill, which had funding for Highway 14, the I-35W bridge and other projects, “fiscally irresponsible.” What’s really fiscally irresponsible: fixing the infrastructure now, or continuing to clean up wrecked vehicles, bringing accident victims to the hospital and taking the pieces of wrecked bridges out of the river?

On that same program, Rep. Tim Walz asked Kline why he should have to give up Highway 14 for his district when the President Bush won’t compromise on anything. Kline’s response: “We should all have to give.”

Meanwhile, GOP state Sen. Dick Day, who represents a district bisected by the highway, shows signs of being out of touch with what’s really going on. From the Owatonna People’s Press (I know I’m late here, but other stuff was on our minds when it came out):

Day and Ruth, both members of legislative committees concerning transportation, told the audience that transportation has been a low priority in Minnesota. The pair said they hoped to bring more funding and attention to transportation issues in Southern Minnesota.

“[Highway] 14 isn’t ever on the radar, yet,” Day said. “Everybody said health care, education are more important. The Bridge had to come down before a certain group of people would say that transportation is important.”

Barring a presidential veto, Highway 14 will soon be in line for federal funding. U.S Representative Tim Walz has sought funds in the 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for the expansion of the highway.

According to Meredith Salisbury, Walz’ press secretary, Walz earmarked $850,000 for Highway 14 in the current version of the bill. The revised bill still has yet to pass through the U.S. Senate. President George W. Bush threatened to veto the first version of the bill in October.

Day and Ruth did not mention the bill pending in the U.S. Congress, but explained to Chamber members that they hope to pass a comprehensive transportation plan and find state funding for Highway 14 and other road projects without resorting to a gas tax.

This is a classic article in the sense that Day forfeits any credibility even before reality is presented.

Not even on the radar? Was Day awake in the Senate chamber this legislative session (before the bridge collapse) when Sen. Steve Murphy, Senate transportation chair, spoke clearly about “Highway 14 in Sen. Day’s district” multiple times (among countless other things)?
Funny too is how Day says people think “education and health care are more important” when he’s made it clear his campaign theme is rounding up illegal immigrants.

Well, he convinced the Strib’s Mark Brunswick of that anyway.

As this photo shows, Day should put the toy glasses he got early from Santa away and worry about the issues important to southern Minnesota such as education, health care and oh yeah, transportation.

I hate writing posts about parliamentary procedure basically because people hate reading it due to the sometimes complicated “inside baseball” nature it possesses (and I guess it’s a pretty boring subject, too).  Certainly, reading about the procedure behind passing legislation isn’t as appealing as reading about rhetoric or the issues.

Unfortunately, Republicans have a nasty way of taking advantage of the general ignorance about which formal steps actually occur in the halls of Congress to further their mission of making Democrats look lazy and out of touch.

Yes, American people: how dare you not understand, much less care about, every nuance dealing with Mason’s Manual, Jefferson’s Manual, the Book of Hoyle and the rules of the US House of Representatives?!  Well, I guess mandatory C-SPAN viewing wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

Case in point: this press release from Ron Carey, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

“Tim Walz promised to stand up for the middle class during his campaign but it’s clear he didn’t really mean it. With his vote against bringing a clean Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch to floor of the House, Walz once more sides with national liberals and against the interests of the First District.”

I’m enraged! Wow, the nerve of that Waltz guy.  He’s a real restaurant-quality SOB to put a dull knife right in the back of the middle class like that.  And how he’s putting those evil, prominent national liberals over his constituents! I bet totally forgot where he came from. What’s that I feel? Based on this quote it sseems like he’s physically sticking his hand right in my pocket and taking the contents! Ugh, I don’t want to talk about Washington Waltz anymore!

Without the context of the true procedure on the House floor (I’m sure just conveniently accidentally omitted by Carey, sure) a reaction like the above paragraph could be completely understandable.  With the context though, Carey is grasping at straws, at best.  He maybe is even fiddling with reality.  To call him a liar in this instance wouldn’t be too unreasonable.

As Bluestem Prairie points out, the underlying bill was the energy bill, not one dealing with the Alternative Minimum Tax.  Carey seems to think the House should have allowed this amendment to be considered, regardless of the subject’s relevance to the bill.

You see, the subject of the song was “I’m Just a Bill,” not “How a Motion to Recommit Gets Put to a Vote” or “How an Amendment Gets Through the Rules Committee” (though I am sure both would provide for excellent educational fodder for our nation’s children).  As far as I am aware, since the Schoolhouse Rock video was produced, the main vehicle for which legislation is passed is still a bill.  And yes, amendments to these bills can and do come up for discussion.

Almost always though the amendment offered is germane to the bill at hand.  Not so in this case: the Republicans wanted to make an amendment to the energy bill essentially wiping it out and replacing it with Alternative Minimum Tax language.  Walz and the majority then voted for the rule prohibiting such an amendment.

Yes, how dare that elitist liberal majority use its power in such as way as stopping non-germane amendments.  Personally, I am not a very big fan of closed rules such as the one used for the energy bill, but the obstructionist tactics (such as this proposed amendment) the GOP has employed time and time again make their use necessary.

This isn’t the first time the GOP has used press releases about a “gotcha” vote to try and make Walz appear in poor light: Randy Demmer used loaded rhetoric, eerily similar to that used by Carey, in October to describe a Walz vote on a motion to recommit. 

Remember when the GOP grandstanded on SCHIP during debate on the agriculture appropriations bill?  Same thing all over again.  This is classic “gotcha” from the GOP, but lucky for you, we’re here with the truth about what happened.

The Senate has passed AMT-patch legislation.  If the House brings up similar legislation and Walz or any other member votes against it, then we would hope if Carey or another GOP member authors a press release that it be based on the merits of the vote on such legislation.  Until then, we hope Carey stops trying to recreate reality.

Hello everyone. Many of you will not know me, but my name is Terri Burke, and I was one of Jared Stene’s roommates. The loss of such a young, promising, positive life is nothing short of a tragedy. In searching for peace of mind during this difficult time, I began a reflection on Jared and his role in my life; the following post is the result. Please take it for what you will:

“As I sit here writing this I still can’t believe what has happened. As many of you know by now, my roommate Jared passed away Thursday night. His passing was unexpected and has caught us all off guard. I certainly never thought that at 22 I would be burying my best friend, brother, and mentor. Jared was unbelievably caring and kind, with the most amazing outlook on life. His dynamic personality and sense of humor just naturally drew people to him. He was the heart of Winona, and he made a difference in the lives of all who met him. The Caring Bridge website in his name has received nearly 12,000 hits, which alone speaks to how loved and respected he was.

I know that I will never meet anyone quite like Jared, he was unique in every sense of the word and it’s the reason most of us fell in love with him. I am forever indebted to Jared for the lessons he taught me and the values he helped to instill in me. I know without a doubt that I would not be half the person I am today if not for him. These last few days have been the most difficult and challenging I’ve ever experienced. Jared was such a large part of who I am, that losing his larger-than-life personality has left a void that cannot possibly be filled. I still haven’t fully come to terms with the fact that he has passed away; I still find myself waiting for him to walk through the door full of jokes and crazy schemes. Jared was the one person who could have made this situation bearable, but we must now draw on the gifts he has bestowed upon us and come together in strength to celebrate his life.

Your kind words and messages have meant so much to me these last few days, so I wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation for your thoughtfulness during this difficult time. Just know that, though I cannot individually respond to you all, the countless messages and posts I’ve received have meant more to me than I could ever put into words. Please continue to keep Jared’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, as this difficult time has taken its toll on us all. Remember that life is fleeting, enjoy every moment you spend with the people you love, and remind them how much they mean to you each and every day. Again, thank you for the amazing support you have provided me with during this difficult time.”