I Don’t Hate America!

Following up from our previous post, our MN leaders successfully received disaster declaration for southern MN.

Via press release:

WALZ, COLEMAN, KLOBUCHAR ANNOUNCE PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DELCARATION FOR MN COUNTIES

Washington, D.C.—After sending a letter to President Bush supporting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for four southern Minnesota counties severely damaged by recent flooding, Senators Norm Coleman, Amy Klobuchar and Congressman Tim Walz announced today the President has responded and a declared major disaster for Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, and Mower Counties. The four counties sustained an estimated $8.3 million in damage due to the flooding. These counties are now eligible to receive aid through FEMA’s Public Assistance Program. Public Assistance is oriented to public entities and can fund the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replace­ment of a public facility or infrastructure, which is damaged or destroyed by a disaster. State officials, assisted by FEMA, will conduct Applicant Briefings for State, local and PNP officials to inform them about the assistance available and how to apply for it.

“All four of these counties have experienced their second serious flood in just a few short years. This presidential declaration allows affected cities to obtain hazard mitigation funding that can help prevent flooding in the future,” said Congressman Walz. “Businesses like Austin Packaging Company are counting on federal dollars to help make it possible for them to continue operations in our area. I believe this declaration will make the difference for APC and others who are trying to recover and plan for the future.”

“These communities have shown tremendous courage and resilience since the floods hit,’’ Klobuchar said. “But at a time like this local communities should not be expected to fend for themselves. The federal government has an essential role to support communities as they recover and rebuild, and I’m proud that we will be able to deliver help quickly.’’

“Southeastern Minnesota is in need of assistance right now, and this disaster declaration will help the region recover,” said Coleman. “After visiting the flood-stricken areas, I saw firsthand the toll the storms took on these communities. A Presidential Disaster Declaration will deliver the assistance these counties need to rebuild their communities and their lives. I applaud the President for this decision — it will make all the difference for an area of the state that has endured great hardship.”

The support letter sent by Coleman, Klobuchar, and Walz, followed an official submission for assistance by Governor Pawlenty who requested federal assistance to help respond to the flooding of June 7-8th and 11-12th that severely impacted Houston, Fillmore, Mower and Freeborn counties.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear President Bush:

As representatives of communities devastated by last week’s flooding throughout the Midwest, we are writing to request your assistance as residents of southern Minnesota begin to recover.

On June 7-8, 2008, up to 10 inches of rain fell across southern Minnesota, causing flash floods, mudslides, evacuations, power outages, and numerous injuries. Just three days later, severe weather, including several tornado touchdowns, again developed over southern Minnesota. These storms dropped even more rain on already saturated ground and caused creeks and rivers to overflow their banks. This too resulted in devastation and one fatality.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has declared a State of Emergency in Freeborn, Fillmore, Houston, and Mower Counties. Additionally, he has determined that this incident is of such severity that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State, and to that end, he has requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for these areas as well.

Given the degree of damage to the region, we strongly encourage you to issue such a declaration and allow FEMA to begin to supplement state and local recovery efforts in these flood-stricken areas.

Tragically, Minnesotans have faced several disasters in the past year, and nowhere has this been truer than in Southeastern Minnesota where less than a year after historic flash flooding, they have been hit yet again with massive rainfalls which have tested their ability to recover. We are confident that, just as they did with the floods of last August, the residents of southeast Minnesota will recover and rebuild, and we urge you to make the federal government a full partner in that effort.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your assistance in helping the recovery and rebuilding effort in southern Minnesota.

Via press release:

WALZ, KLOBUCHAR, COLEMAN URGE QUICK ACTION FROM BUSH ON DISASTER DECLARATION

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman Tim Walz, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Norm Coleman asked President Bush to quickly issue a Presidential Disaster Declaration for four southern Minnesota counties severely damaged by recent flooding.

The request by members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation followed an official submission by Governor Pawlenty that requested federal assistance to help respond to the flooding of August 7-8th and 11-12th that severely impacted Houston, Fillmore, Mower and Freeborn counties. The four counties sustained an estimated $8.3 million in damage due to the flooding.

“Time and again, the residents and businesses of southern Minnesota have had their communities turned upside down by severe flooding,” said Rep. Tim Walz. “Some residents of this area are still recovering from last year’s floods, only to find themselves back in the same position. Help from the federal government is essential to getting residents of these communities back on their feet.”

“At a time like this, local communities should not be expected to fend for themselves,’’ Klobuchar said. “The federal government has an essential role to support communities as they recover and rebuild. The people and businesses in this area are clearly going to need some assistance and we need to get it there as soon as possible.”

“Severe weather has once again hit Southern Minnesota extremely hard, and federal assistance is greatly needed,” said Coleman. “Between last fall’s devastating floods and last week’s massive rainfall and tornados, these communities have had considerable personal and material loss, in addition to significant agricultural damage. It is my hope President Bush will listen to our concerns and issue a Disaster Declaration in order for FEMA to start supplementing state and local recovery efforts in these flood-stricken areas.”

The text of the letter follows:

Dear President Bush:

As representatives of communities devastated by last week’s flooding throughout the Midwest, we are writing to request your assistance as residents of southern Minnesota begin to recover.

On June 7-8, 2008, up to 10 inches of rain fell across southern Minnesota, causing flash floods, mudslides, evacuations, power outages, and numerous injuries. Just three days later, severe weather, including several tornado touchdowns, again developed over southern Minnesota. These storms dropped even more rain on already saturated ground and caused creeks and rivers to overflow their banks. This too resulted in devastation and one fatality.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has declared a State of Emergency in Freeborn, Fillmore, Houston, and Mower Counties. Additionally, he has determined that this incident is of such severity that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State, and to that end, he has requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for these areas as well.

Given the degree of damage to the region, we strongly encourage you to issue such a declaration and allow FEMA to begin to supplement state and local recovery efforts in these flood-stricken areas.

Tragically, Minnesotans have faced several disasters in the past year, and nowhere has this been truer than in Southeastern Minnesota where less than a year after historic flash flooding, they have been hit yet again with massive rainfalls which have tested their ability to recover. We are confident that, just as they did with the floods of last August, the residents of southeast Minnesota will recover and rebuild, and we urge you to make the federal government a full partner in that effort.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your assistance in helping the recovery and rebuilding effort in southern Minnesota.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar            Tim Walz                   Norm Coleman

United States Senate   Member of Congress    United States Senate

We’re back here catching up following a long weekend/start to the week.

Friday Jason and I had the privilege of attending the reception for the Minnesota Farmers Union annual convention in Minneapolis. While there were certainly some people who asked “What’s that mean?” when we told them we were bloggers, there was also a tremendous amount of interest from the people with whom we spoke in using this medium to connect rural Minnesota.

As far as the political discussion went, the theme throughout our stay was the sheer frustration people have with the Republican’s obstructionism relating to moving the Farm Bill forward in the U.S. Senate.

Other, prior obligations kept Jason and I from sticking around for Saturday’s festivities which appeared to include most of the weekend’s fun.

Setting aside who actually spoke to the convention, elected officials such as Rep. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (each a member of his/her respective chamber’s Agriculture Committee), and candidates such as Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, the day seems to be more notable for who didn’t speak: Sen. Norm Coleman, who serves with Klobuchar on the Senate’s ag. committee.

(A) Bluestem Prairie reports that while Coleman’s people snubbed the MFU, despite repeated calls, emails and faxes, his people picked the same freakin’ hotel, the Four Points Sheraton, for a fundraiser at the same time with some dentists.

Others may see this as more of an issue of Coleman snubbing a major constituency. I see it as more of an issue of blatant “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” on the part of the individual(s) responsible for scheduling this event and not making sure Coleman was scheduled to speak in front of those farmers.

Sure, the dental people may have scheduled the event at the Sheraton over the heads of the Coleman campaign. That would simply be a gaffe.

For Coleman’s campaign scheduler to not partition 10-15 minutes to talk to the MFU considering he would be within a few measly feet of the convention? That is pure incompetence.

In a ditch effort to look like a fiscal conservative, regardless of the record spending growth during the first seven years of his administration, President George W. Bush vetoed the Water Resources Development Act.

Too bad this was a bill full of projects which are important, and in some cases crucial, to home districts of those in Congress, including those of Republicans.

With all members of the Minnesota delegation voting to override the veto (will Bachmann get the opportunity to get smoochie-smoochie with Bush anytime soon?), the House re-passed the bill 361-54; the Senate 79-14.

Remember Gov. Tim Pawlenty saying something along the lines of “welllll ya just because ya  don’t get as much local government aid as yall want, ya don’t neeeeeed to go araising property taxes and local fees!”

While all nearly all municipalities provide services people generally like such as fire, police and schools, others have unique challenges.  One of those is Goodview, Minn., which was told to reduce radium levels in its drinking water.  To help pay for the $4 million treatment plant when other funding fell through, they had to goto the federal government.

They asked Rep. Tim Walz and Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar to secure funding under cries from fiscal hawks like Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, of “NO! NO EARMARKS! NEVER! IF THEY WANT IT BAD ENOUGH, THEY CAN PAY FOR IT THEMSELVES! FISCAL CONSERVATISM AND ACCOUNTABILITY!!!!!!!”

Yes, the sprawling metropolis of Goodview, already saddled with tremendous hardship following this year’s flooding and with a booming population of just over 3,000 is going to afford to pay for a $4 million treatment facility to meet an otherwise unfunded mandate on its own?

That brand of conservatism is quite compassionate, indeed.

Walz, who has shown his list of earmarks with almost unmatched transparency, released the following statement today.  We say “Well done!” for coming through for a community in your district.

“I am pleased by the overwhelming bi-partisan majority that voted to override the President’s veto on this important legislation. President Bush has shown he is not serious about addressing the significant infrastructure problems facing this country.  This is the first WRDA bill in more than seven years and this legislation authorizes important projects like an upgrade to the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River and a water treatment facility in the City of Goodview.  I’m thrilled to see this important legislation become law.”

A cloture motion to proceed with the DREAM Act in the Senate failed today on a vote of 52-44.  60 affirmative votes were required to continue.

The DREAM Act, championed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, would give a path to citizenship those undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors, have attained a high school diploma or GED and intend to begin college or join the military.

The opposition to this and similar bills remains deeply rooted in ideology and excuses.  They want immigration reform, yet it seems unless it’s a 500 ft. high fence on the boarder it’s not worthy of consideration.

Marisa Trevino at the Huffington Post looks at some consequences of such rigid opposition:

These students are graduating as bilingual teachers, nurses, engineers, business administrators — the list goes on.

Yet, this country would rather slap these young people in the face by not acknowledging the fact that these students, who may not be native-born but are “home-grown,” have a ready command, in most cases, of two languages and an intimate knowledge of the history, the traditions, the culture/pop culture and the issues of this country.

The further insult is that school districts facing a shortage of bilingual teachers are bypassing our own qualified graduates, albeit undocumented, to import teachers from Mexico, Spain and other South American countries to teach in a school system that they are unfamiliar with and where they should be role models in modeling both English and Spanish to their bilingual students, inevitably need to either learn English themselves or are naturally stronger in Spanish.

Hospitals are bypassing qualified nursing school graduates who are bilingual to recruit nurses from such countries as the Phillipines. Nurses who must learn U.S. routines and patient care that is unique to this country.

But because our graduates who are undocumented cannot legally work, they must stand idly by and watch their rightful jobs go to people who have a steep learning curve when it comes to knowing the culture and people of the United States.

With such unreasonable reactions from folks such as Tom Tancredo to the proposition of even listening to undocumented students and their stories, it’s no wonder this type of legislation isn’t advancing and immigration policy will remain exactly as it is and everyone will remain unhappy.

Dick Day hanging out with minutemen will surely get us somewhere, though.

Both of Minnesota’s Senators, Norm Coleman, R, and Amy Klobuchar, D, voted for the measure.

It is great to see one of the Democrats main platforms when they took over Congress has now passed both the House and Senate.  The vote, pending administration approval, will increase aid to students in a few ways.  The maximum for Pell grants increases from $4,310 a year to $5,400 by the year 2012.  Federal loan interest rates have been slashed from 6.8% to 3.4% over the next four years. Democrats claim this will help students because it cuts $20 billion in government subsidies to banks that give out the loans, despite objections from Republicans and those in the banking industry to the cost-saving measure.  The vote passed 79-12 in the Senate and 292-97 in the House.  All 97 were Republicans.

“The bill also sets up a loan-forgiveness program for college graduates who work for 10 years in public service professions, such [as] teaching or nursing.” I am curious to see how this will pan out.  With the nursing shortage ever increasing, my hope is that recruitment will accelerate by hiring more educators and allowing an increased number of students to get through qualified programs.

College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, Roll Call 864.  Tim Walz, Jim Ramstad, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson, and James Oberstar all voted FOR the measure.  John Kline and Michele Bachmann voted AGAINST the savings for students.  In the Senate, both Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar voted FOR the measure.

 Source and quote from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5117233.html

Senate OKs legislation increasing aid to college students

WASHINGTON  — Congress sent President Bush legislation today to boost financial aid for college students by cutting some $20 billion in government subsidies to banks that make student loans.

Bush has indicated he will sign the legislation, despite previous objections to parts of the bill. Specifically, the administration has criticized a student loan interest-rate cut and a new loan-forgiveness program, among other things.

House Democrats had made the popular interest-rate cut a priority during the run-up to the last election in which they regained control of Congress.

The House voted 292-97 for the student aid bill today. Earlier in the day, the Senate approved the measure 79-12. All the lawmakers who voted against the bill were Republicans.

The boost in financial aid to college students was one of half a dozen domestic priorities Democrats set when they took control of Congress this year. Two others — an increase in the minimum wage and mandatory air and sea cargo inspections — already have become law, and a third, ethics reform, is awaiting Bush’s signature.

“This is an exciting day for parents and students who struggle to put together the financial means to pay for college,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chair of the House education committee.

The bill would increase the maximum Pell grant, which goes to the poorest college students, from $4,310 a year to $5,400 a year by 2012.

It also would cut interest rates on federally backed student loans to poor and middle-class students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next four years.

California Rep. Buck McKeon, the leading Republican on the House education committee, criticized the rate cut. He said students will go back to paying the higher rate in four years or taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the cut to continue.

“What once was a campaign promise has become a trap that will ensnare either students or taxpayers,” McKeon said.

Democratic lawmakers say the roughly $20 billion in cuts to banks are aimed at excessive government subsidies to lenders. The subsidies were established to ensure that banks enter and stay in the college loan business.

Banking industry officials have objected to the cuts and have said they could adversely affect services provided to borrowers.

Nearly all of the cuts would go toward making college cheaper, but $750 million would be spent on federal budget deficit reduction. The legislation is part of a must-pass bill needed to meet spending targets in the federal budget.

The bill also sets up a loan-forgiveness program for college graduates who work for 10 years in public service professions, such teaching or nursing.

It also would cap annual payments for students at a percentage of their income, which lawmakers say would prevent people from having to pay back more than they can afford.

“Today, with this bill, we’re sending a message, and that message is that no qualified student will be denied a college education because of cost,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate education committee.

Once signed by the president, the legislation will begin taking effect Oct. 1.

It’s been a while since we have discussed higher education funding here at IDHA, but the US Congress is taking up the issue this week.

An amendment offered by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) and Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) to the Higher Education Budget Reconciliation which would have restored $2.4 billion in cuts in subsidies to student lenders (down to a total of $15 billion) failed today in a wide, bipartisan fashion. Insiders thought the vote would be close, but that ended up being very untrue as it did not even get 40 votes in the affirmative.

Both Sens. from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar (D) and Norm Coleman (R) voted against the amendment.

Critics of the cuts said that they would force smaller lenders out of the market and lobbied against the cuts, but student advocates have thought it is time for more money to go directly to students, not lenders.

We will have more on this throughout this process.