I Don’t Hate America!

By now you may have heard the news that former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman has decided against running for governor in Minnesota.

While I am glad he has decided to finally get the hint from Minnesotans and stay away for a while, I’m quite disappointed as I would have been amused by the rioting that the hardcore conservatives surely would have started had he sought the endorsement at the GOP convention.

While pundits are predicting gloom and doom for Democrats this year, let’s not kid ourselves: the Republican Party of Minnesota is still fighting for its very soul. While I predict the Tom Emmer vs. Marty Seifert floor fight to be brutal, nothing other than perhaps a Jim Ramstad gubernatorial campaign speech would have launched the convention into armageddon quicker than a Coleman candidacy.  I’m sure sentiments from party activists like this one played into Norm’s decision to not take part in a probable blood bath.

This means we need to look to the past to find controversy from a Minnesota GOP convention. Purely for the heckuvit, let’s take a trip WAY back.

Dateline: June 20, 1986 at the old St. Paul Civic Center for the Independent-Republican Party convention.  Betty Wilson in the Strib reported:

The first fight at the Independent-Republican convention in St. Paul was over signs.

On Wednesday, the day before the convention opened, gubernatorial candidate Marion (Mike) Menning’s campaign staff put up what it contends is the largest sign ever hung in the St. Paul Civic Center. It is 84 feet long and 20 feet wide, bears Menning’s name in huge white letters against a blue background and is suspended from the ceiling and facing the delegate seats.

Another Menning sign, 30 feet by 20 feet, was also hanging from the ceiling to greet delegates as they came onto the convention floor. But the Menning people were told Thursday that they would have to take it down as a compromise to placate the other candidates.

After hearing about the Menning coup, representatives of the other candidates, David Jennings and Cal Ludeman, cried foul. The convention  rules prohibited putting up signs until 9 a.m. yesterday, according to the Jennings and Ludeman representatives. Party staff members told the Menning people that one sign would have to come down as the compromise.

Menning spokesmen explained that they had to have help from the Civic Center staff in putting up the signs, and staff members said they had to do it Wednesday. Tom Dahlberg, Menning’s campaign manager, said it took eight people more than two hours to mount the larger sign.

Menning also has about 8,000 balloons in nets above the convention floor, ready to be released today when he is nominated and his supporters stage a demonstration.

As we know, those balloons never needed to leave the nets as Ludeman, now Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s human services commissioner who infamously admitted T-Paw’s veto of General Assistance Medical Care would affect the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor, received IR endorsement.  Maybe it was because of his stellar outreach to underrepresented groups?

Not more than 10 of the 2,082 delegates to the Independent-Republican Party convention in St. Paul are minorities, according to IR chairman Leon Oistad.

He estimated that five or six Hispanics and three or four blacks are delegates.

“We have very active black and Hispanic (affiliates) with the party,” Oistad said. “For whatever reason, not a great many of them have been elected as delegates to this convention. We’re actively trying to recruit members of minorities into the party.”

Or maybe it was because of his choice to adopt a strategy of cutting-edge political fashion statements as opposed to cutting-edge political technology?

Menning will track delegate movement between ballots tonight with the help of two personal computers in his war room and one portable computer on the floor. A laser printer is standing by to generate personal letters, five per minute, to key delegates. The computer-generated information will be passed to Menning floor leaders via walkie-talkie.

Jennings plans to use one personal computer to help him make the same effort, said volunteer Vic Ellison. But Ellison downplayed the significance of the service the computer will provide. “A computer can’t help anybody now. We’re down to one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat now,” he said.

All three campaigns have distinctive identifications for their floor leaders. District floor leaders for Jennings are wearing orange cowboy hats, and about 100 unit leaders have orange caps with visors.

Menning workers have painter’s caps with Menning’s name and are wearing pins and carrying walkie-talkies.

Ludeman’s floor leaders have straw hats with Ludeman’s name and large buttons with his picture.

After surviving all of the sign shenanigans to get the party endorsement at the convention as well as the surviving IR primary, Ludeman went on to lose to Gov. Rudy Perpich.  This year I’m confident our DFL endorsed candidate will be able to hold off whichever candidate emerges from the GOP side.  Of course, I have my own idea of who that endorsed candidate should be, but that’s a discussion for another evening: specifically precinct caucus evening, which is approaching soon on February 2nd!

The National Nurses United (NNU) updated their number of RN volunteers in the RN Response Network (RNRN) to 7,000 today.  These nurses are from all across the U.S. and are anxiously waiting for the go ahead to  to travel to Haiti for the relief effort.  The issue of course continues to be the need for funding to make this happen.  I am proud to say I am one of the 7,000 nurses waiting to go, but the NNU is still in the process of collaborating with multiple organizations while working on coming up with enough donations to start sending us.  When I eventually get to go (crossing my fingers), I promise to capture pictures, videos, and stories from the frontlines as I use my nursing skills to aid those who desperately need care.

Today, the NNU set up a “Send A Nurse” Disaster Relief Fund.  Please go to their website and donate any amount so we can start sending nurses to Haiti as soon as possible.

The Star Tribune wrote an article today about how Minnesotan’s are ready to support the relief, but barriers are keeping the help from reaching Haiti:

Across Minnesota, as a large outpouring of volunteers and aid takes shape to help Haiti, Minnesotans are worrying that they are in a race against time.

Will emergency supplies arrive fast enough to save lives? Is there a place for volunteers to sleep? Is there food and water?

Feed My Starving Children, in the Twin Cities, is scrambling to get 1 million meals to Haiti in the weeks ahead. A White Bear Lake nonprofit is rushing its director there to check on the fate of its school and orphanages. A St. Cloud bank executive is writing a check for $50,000 to spur other donations to the tragedy.

But people — even doctors, nurses and engineers — need to wait for the right time.

Food, water, and housing are in such short supply that only skilled volunteers working with large international relief organizations are welcome at this moment.

“It’s going to be very unpredictable,” said Monte Achenbach, one of two staffers from the Minneapolis-based American Refugee Committee who flew to Haiti Thursday. “The first things that need to be done are to clear the roads, clear the people trapped in the buildings and offer food, water, sanitary services — the things people are literally dying for.”

In the same article, nursing colleague and close friend Cassandra Hamilton, RN was also interviewed:

In the Twin Cities, Cassandra Hamilton was among the Minnesota nurses who responded to a call by National Nurses United to help the injured in Haiti. Hamilton is a family care nurse who works with children at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

“I feel like nursing is a way to give back to people,” said Hamilton, who also has volunteered in Colombia. “I feel it’s my obligation.”

A University of Minnesota bioethicist outlined what needs to happen for the Haiti relief efforts to be successful:

As urgent as it feels now, Minnesotans should realize the crisis in Haiti will be with us for a long time, said Steve Miles, a University of Minnesota bioethicist who has participated in many medical relief missions.

“What’s really needed now is food, diggers, dogs and materials,” Miles said. “The best approach right now is to send money to large organizations … that can move on a swift and large scale.”

The next phase, he said, will include erecting “MASH-style” hospitals, clinics and feeding stations, as well as massive public health services.

The final phases include the rebuilding of roads, libraries, schools, and telecommunications systems, he said. This is where Minnesotans should consider lending a hand.

The NNU held an almost hour and a half long conference call yesterday led by executive director Rose Ann DeMoro with more than 1,800 RN’s and other national callers (including the press).  This was one of the largest, if not THE largest ever conference call held by NNU or CNA/NNOC, with the purpose of outlining the current plan for nurse deployment to Haiti.  From my notes, here is what I’ve gathered for those interested in where we are at.

Disclaimer:  Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of what was said during the conference call.  Despite being an NNU member myself, the following is not meant to represent any official statement from the organization.  Please visit their website for the latest news and for all official statements.

• Nurses have historically been extremely valuable resources during relief efforts given their multiple skills & specialties, ability to assess situations in the environment and with the patient, carry out skilled treatments, and work under difficult conditions night and day.  Nurses organized through the RN Response Network were well recognized for their work during Katrina and in Sri Lanka.
• NNU is preparing a systematic process to roll-out nurses in waves.  Miami will act as the homebase for RN’s to travel to first, before they are transported to Haiti by either air, or potentially sea travel depending on what partnerships are made.
• The first priority is SAFETY for our nurses.  We will need security set in place at all times by groups such as the military, national guard, UN, or other security groups from other countries.  We will not put our nurses at risk by going if we can’t ensure constant protection.
• RN’s need to be prepared and properly oriented before deployment.  Vaccinations need to be up-to-date due to potential exposure to many infectious diseases.  Typical exposure includes food and water-borne disease, E. Coli, typhoid fever, HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis A and B, worms, tetanus, measles, malaria, malnutrition, and dehydration for example.  Sanitation is a problem in the country, as well as clean water and shelter (we will likely have to sleep in sleeping bags and potentially on the streets).  Aftershocks are still occurring which makes it dangerous to stay in unsteady buildings.  RN’s also need to be prepared mentally and emotionally as they will see a numerous amount of trauma patients, broken bones, dead children and adults laying in the street, kids without parents, and significant pain and suffering.
• NNU is hoping for cooperation from the health insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies to offer discounts, or even free vaccinations for RN’s going to Haiti.  Some of the vaccinations take up to 2-3 weeks before they are fully effective, thus delaying immediate deployment for some.  This is another top priority for NNU so we don’t have many more delays, however.
• RN’s will also need passports, but we are hoping that the White House may be able to waive certain travel requirements based on this being declared an emergency.  This would prevent more unnecessary delays holding qualified RN’s back because lives are at risk in Haiti!

From the NNU press release related to the conference call, Rose Ann DeMoro added:

“We are asking the hospitals to provide paid time off for the nurses who wish to join this effort. We are also asking the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies to provide free vaccinations for the nurse volunteers, and others to donate medical supplies for the nurses to bring with them,” DeMoro said.

It will be very important for nurses to work with their healthcare organizations to arrange days off.  The deployment waves will likely last 7-10 days according to the conference call.  So far I’ve contacted the Allina Hospitals & Clinics, one of the largest healthcare organizations in MN and was directed to the following news post by them:

Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief

Jan. 14, 2010

The devastation in Haiti caused by the recent earthquake has people around the world asking how they can help. Many Allina employees have asked if they can donate Paid Time Off (PTO) to disaster relief efforts, as was the case in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  Current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that PTO donations of this type be taxed — however, we are hopeful the IRS will suspend this requirement soon, which will enable employees to help in this way. We will communicate the process for donating PTO to Haitian relief efforts as soon as the IRS acts.

 Additionally, Allina representatives are coordinating with relief agencies to identify a process for deploying clinical personnel, supplies and/or equipment to Haiti. We will communicate additional detail on this as plans come together.

  We know that Allina employees are anxious to help, and we will provide additional information as soon as possible.

The American Red Cross and OxFam are accepting donations for Haiti relief efforts.

Hopefully they will recognize the “Send A Nurse” Disaster Relief Fund is in need of money to send our nation’s nurses.  Additionally, this and any other healthcare organization could be recognized internationally if they work with their nurses schedules to give them time off and use the donated PTO as charity pay to RN’s who take off from work to go to Haiti.  It would be a win-win situation for everyone, especially for the lives potentially saved in Haiti.

IDHA! will continue to cover the Haiti situation and update everyone on the status of nurse deployment as well as my own hopefully soon.  Please keep checking back.

The recently formed National Nurses United (NNU) union which represents approximately 150,000 direct-care RN’s across the country has activated their volunteer RN Rapid Response Network (RNRN) in the hopes to immediately send the support of our nation’s RN’s to the disaster areas in Haiti.  The national organization, aptly named an RN “super union” became a major force when three major nursing organizations merged under the NNU umbrella in December of 2009 through a historical vote that took place in Phoenix, AZ.  These groups consisted of the 85,000 member California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), the 23,000 member Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), and the 45,000 member United American Nurses (AFL-CIO) with all their affiliates.  The NNU board consists of an elected co-president from each of the three major nursing organizations listed above, several elected vice-presidents from represented state nursing organizations, a Secretary Treasurer, and Rose Ann DeMoro who was elected executive director, a position she held while leading the CNA/NNOC since 1993.

The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) with its 20,000 members has a major stake within the national union.  A press release sent out by the NNU to their members was being circulated to all NNU affiliates yesterday including here in MN calling for volunteers to aid those in the devastation areas in Haiti.  The formal call to action press release is presented here:

Largest RN Union Issues Urgent Call for Nurse Volunteers

To Assist Earthquake Ravaged Haiti
Nurse Volunteer Group to Coordinate Emergency Nursing Mission

The nation’s largest organization of registered nurses tonight activated its nationwide disaster relief program to recruit nurse volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake devastated Haiti, the National Nurses United announced Tuesday night.

Registered Nurse Response Network sent more than hundreds of nurse volunteers to the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. RNRN has also sent volunteers to Sri Lanka after the South Asia tsunami and to help following huge Southern California wildfires. RNRN is affiliated with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the national union and professional association for Registered Nurses.

Details are still being worked out, but nurses can sign up at the web form that follows for more details. http://www.calnurses.org/rnrn/rnrn-volunteer-form.html. NNU will also provide follow up information at www.twitter.com/nationalnu

rses <http://www.twitter.com/nationalnurses> for details and plans.
The 150,000-member NNU was formed last month through the unification of California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Through RNRN, the organization hopes to send nurses to provide emergency short term and long term medical support, as it has in previous major disasters. Following Katrina, for example, RNRN volunteers worked with local healthcare and emergency agencies and officials in mobile clinics, area hospitals, and other healthcare settings in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

“We are calling on nurses throughout the U.S. to join us in this critical effort,” said NNU Co-Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.

“Nurses will be fundamental to the disaster relief process, to provide immediate healing and therapeutic support to the patients and families facing the devastation from this tragic earthquake,” DeMoro said.

If you are interested in donating to the National Nurses United (NNU) union of 150,000 direct-care RN’s, but more specifically to the fund for the RN Response Network (RNRN), please do so here.

According to the NNU, 1,500 RN’s have already responded in less than a day’s time to volunteer. The RNRN relief fund would help send these incredible nurses willing to to provide assistance in Haiti.  A new press release outlines information regarding a conference call for volunteering RN’s that will happen today:

National Conference Call Thursday For 1,500 RN Volunteers for Haiti Relief Effort
Press Can Dial-in or Visit Local Offices in TX, FL, MA, NV, IL, CA and DC

Nurses Issue Urgent Appeal to Public to Support Nurse Relief Efforts

More than 1,500 registered nurses from across the U.S. have responded in less than one day to the call by the nation’s largest organization of registered nurses for volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake devastated Haiti —leading the RNs to now issue an urgent appeal for the public to support these efforts with donations of funds to support travel costs and medical supplies on their upcoming emergency nursing mission.

Press and nurses are invited to a conference call Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time for an overview of the efforts and their logistics, including the details on the first teams of nurses traveling to the area.  Press can call in for the briefing at (866) 320-4709 using the access code 143135, or gather with local nurses and representatives in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Miami.

The relief efforts are being coordinated by the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a project of the 150,000-member National Nurses United (NNU), formed last month through the unification of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses and Massachusetts Nurses Association.  RNRN/NNU is hoping to have nurse volunteers on the ground in Haiti within the next few days and is coordinating with Haitian nurses on the effort.

Details are still being worked out, but those able to support the efforts of these nurses can get involved via:

• www.NationalNursesUnited.org to sign up to volunteer or donate
• @NationalNurses on twitter or by following: #haitiRN
• Call the RNRN hotline: 1-800-578-8225
• Support the RNRN/NNU disaster relief effort in Haiti by sending checks c/o California Nurses Foundation, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94612. Charitable contributions will be used to pay for travel/related costs and medical supplies for volunteer RNs on their emergency nursing mission in Haiti.

RNRN sent hundreds of nurse volunteers to the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. RNRN has also sent volunteers to Sri Lanka after the South Asia tsunami and to help following huge Southern California wildfires. RNRN is affiliated with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the national union and professional association for registered nurses.

“The need for help has never been so acute.  We need financial support to transport them,” said NNU Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.  “Nurses will be fundamental to the disaster relief process, to provide immediate healing and therapeutic support to the patients and families facing the devastation from this tragic earthquake,” DeMoro said.

Follow the latest news related to NNU & RN involvement at:
http://www.twitter.com/nationalnurses
http://www.nationalnurses.united.org

Follow me as I attempt to go to Haiti:
http://idonthateamerica.com/category/jason-b/
http://twitter.com/Jason_RN
I will keep everyone updated here on I Don’t Hate America! as I am attempting to arrange to go to Haiti as part of the RNRN relief efforts.  My availability is dependent on my pleas to switch my hospital shifts which is still pending as of early Thursday, January 14th.  For those who do not know, I have a  Master’s in Nursing specializing in Leadership & Management (MSN), currently work in acute care, and am also a certified public health RN.  Please donate to the RNRN cause and/or volunteer if you are an RN able to go on such short notice.

——–

Barack Obama issued these remarks from a transcript released from The White House yesterday morning:

Remarks by the President on Rescue Efforts in Haiti
Diplomatic Reception Room

10:20 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  This morning I want to extend to the people of Haiti the deep condolences and unwavering support of the American people following yesterday’s terrible earthquake.

We are just now beginning to learn the extent of the devastation, but the reports and images that we’ve seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching.  Indeed, for a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with the many Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives.  The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine  — that Haitians will need in the coming days.  In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.

Right now our efforts are focused on several urgent priorities.  First, we’re working quickly to account for U.S. embassy personnel and their families in Port-au-Prince, as well as the many American citizens who live and work in Haiti.  Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888/407-4747.  I’m going to repeat that – 888/407-4747.

Second, we’ve mobilized resources to help rescue efforts.  Military overflights have assessed the damage, and by early afternoon our civilian disaster assistance team are beginning to arrive.  Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow, and more rescue and medical equipment and emergency personnel are being prepared.

Because in disasters such as this the first hours and days are absolutely critical to saving lives and avoiding even greater tragedy, I have directed my teams to be as forward-leaning as possible in getting the help on the ground and coordinating with our international partners as well.

Third, given the many different resources that are needed, we are taking steps to ensure that our government acts in a unified way.  My national security team has led an interagency effort overnight.  And to ensure that we coordinate our effort, going forward, I’ve designated the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, to be our government’s unified disaster coordinator.

Now, this rescue and recovery effort will be complex and challenging.  As we move resources into Haiti, we will be working closely with partners on the ground, including the many NGOs from Haiti and across Haiti, the United Nations Stabilization Mission, which appears to have suffered its own losses, and our partners in the region and around the world.  This must truly be an international effort.

Finally, let me just say that this is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share.  With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home.  So we have to be there for them in their hour of need.

Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to whitehouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute.  We must be prepared for difficult hours and days ahead as we learn about the scope of the tragedy. We will keep the victims and their families in our prayers.  We will be resolute in our response, and I pledge to the people of Haiti that you will have a friend and partner in the United States of America today and going forward.

May God bless the people of Haiti and those working on their behalf.

Thank you very much.

The U.S government has set up a website located at The White House Blog, Help for Haiti, which should feature regular updates from Obama and the White House staff.

Americans looking for family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at (888) 407-4747.

The Center for International Disaster Information also set up a site with more ways for people to donate to the “Haiti Earthquake Humanitarian Emergency.”

——–

Groups that are in Haiti already, or en route include the International Medical Corps, Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, UN Peacekeepers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, University of Miami School of Medicine, Oxfam International, and so many more. Hopefully the NNU will be there within a few days. Keep following their site at http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is there. According to CNN who quoted this group, “the most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue, field hospitals, emergency health, water purification, emergency shelter, logistics and telecommunications.”

According to WCCO local news in the Twin Cities, MN,
MN aid group’s that are assisting include Kids Against Hunger of New Hope, Haiti Outreach of Minnetonka, Feed My Starving Children of Coon Rapids, HealingHaiti.org of White Bear Lake, World Wide Village of St. Paul, and likely many other organizations that are sending food and other sorts of aid who deserve to be recognized.

——–

From the International Medical Corps, another great medical organization that could use donations as well sent out a mailing from the frontlines in Haiti:

Dear Jason,

We arrived in Port-au-Prince this afternoon. The airport is so full of people trying to evacuate that it is difficult to find transportation into the city.

We traveled about 35 minutes by car to a hotel called Villa Creole. It is complete devastation here. Most of the city does not have electricity. Crowds of people are standing in the streets, taking care not to get too close to shaky buildings. Many in the crowds are injured, and dead bodies are lined along the roadside. Injured people are sleeping next to people who are dead. The streets are littered with cables from downed power lines, as well as cars and buses that crashed or were abandoned when the earthquake and aftershocks hit.

The hotel here has been turned into a small makeshift hospital. About 90-100 people were standing in the hotel driveway, waiting for help. We instantly began conducting triage and treating patients alongside a Haitian doctor from Hope for Haiti. Medical supplies — such as IVs, pain medicines, and bandages — are extremely limited. Most patients that we have seen so far are suffering from broken bones, fractures, and ruptures. Some are in more critical condition, but there is no hospital we can refer them to. Our team will sleep outside tonight. Like everyone else, we are afraid to sleep inside a building. The aftershocks are still coming.

If you have already sent a donation to support our emergency response team, we thank you for your compassion. If not, we hope you will join us in responding to this devastating earthquake. Your donation will help us bring in the medical personnel, supplies and equipment we need to save as many lives as possible here. Donate now.

Thank you for your support,

Margaret Aguirre
Director of Global Communications
International Medical Corps

——–

More information to come as available.  I will update after the NNU conference call with the 1,500+ RN volunteers.  The press is invited to this call as well.  Again, the information to call in is as follows from the NNU press release:

Press and nurses are invited to a conference call Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time [12:00 p.m. Central, 1:00 p.m. Eastern] for an overview of the efforts and their logistics, including the details on the first teams of nurses traveling to the area.  Press can call in for the briefing at (866) 320-4709 using the access code 143135, or gather with local nurses and representatives in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Unless you’ve been under a political rock, you’ve likely heard there is a special election for the 26th District in the Minnesota Senate. Yes indeed, now former Sen. Dick Day resigned to lobby for Racinos, a topic long near and dear to his heart.

I spent this past Sunday doing some doorknocking for Faribault school board member and St. Olaf atomic physics professor Jason Engbrecht (DFL), and the reception was terrific.  I’m confident Jason’s tremendous knowledge of  education finance and his innovative ideas for job creation will see him to victory, but that’s not why I’m writing this post.

There are two other candidates though, and all three debated last night in Faribault. Republican candidate Mike Parry’s “misguided” postings on Twitter have been widely reported, but the Independence Party candidate and Waseca Mayor Roy Srp said something last night that bothered me.

At 9:53 of this video from the Fairbault Daily News, the question about Racinos popped up, and Srp said “I want you to know, people are afraid to talk about this. What goes on with the tribal gaming in the State of Minnesota is absolutely a crime!” What Srp references is the share of revenue the State of Minnesota gets from tribal casinos, which amounts to a just a few thousand dollars to the Department of Public Safety, mostly for inspection of the slot/poker machines.

But Roy, this isn’t a crime.  In fact, the State of Minnesota negotiated and signed compacts with the tribes as authorized by Congress starting in 1989.  Srp should feel free to take issue with those who negotiated these compacts on behalf of the state, but to use loaded words like “crime” to describe the actions of Native Americans in carrying-out their part of legal compacts is simply irresponsible. Srp continued by saying that he looks forward to Dick Day’s advocacy of the Racino in order for the state to gain leverage to get more money from the tribes.

Even Sen. Day himself explained on Paul Allen’s KFAN show on Dec. 20 that his efforts are not a result of disdain toward the tribes, as such he went no where near making criminal accusations.  Rather, it was Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2004 who tried to take tribal gaming revenue hostage by suggesting that “other gambling options” would be explored if the tribes refused to play ball with him by renegotiating the compacts.  The tribes, as expected, flat out refused. I can’t imagine this would change much in 2010.

Let me explain further: I like spending time at Canterbury Park. There are few things I enjoy more during a nice summer day than walking around the facility, checking out the horses, making a small wager, and plopping myself close to the rail to watch an exciting race. Occasionally, I will pull up a chair at a card table.  Heck, I’ve even ran into and chatted with Sen. Day one evening over by the winner’s circle. Day, Canterbury, horsemen, and other Racino allies make very fair points to advocate their proposal, and reasonable people can debate its pros and cons.

Personally,  I question whether this is the most responsible way to fund ongoing governmental expenditures, even during a budget crisis.  I also question whether this proposal satisfies the constitutional requirements in regard to the environmental trust fund.  It’s questions such as these which should be the focus of debate about Racino or other gaming proposals, not ones which seek to stigmatize Native Americans.  While no one can question the financial success some tribes have had as a direct result of these compacts, a legislative candidate such as Srp throwing around rhetoric suggesting they are criminals (especially when, ahem, it was their land which was taken from them) should not be taken lightly.  If Srp didn’t intend to make this charge, he should be more careful with his language in public forums.  This isn’t a matter, as Mike Parry would probably suggest, of political correctness, either.  This is a matter both of law and responsible discourse.

Note: some information cited was obtained from this excellent House Research report (99 page PDF).