I Don’t Hate America!

On March 5th, an agreement was made between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL leaders to extend the GAMC program that was set to end on March 31st, 2010 and would have transitioned tens of thousands of low-income Minnesotans to a more expensive MinnesotaCare plan. Although the plan will continue coverage for many, the payments are slim from the state, instead shifting much of the costs to hospitals.  According to MPR and Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL), 77% of the program’s funding from the state is being cut.  Hospitals such as HCMC will still need to deal with picking up the cost to ensure all their patients receive the appropriate care.  From an RN that works at HCMC, staff have already been facing cuts that affect patient care.  Patient to nurse ratios have now increased on medical/surgical units up to 8:1 on nights.  With less reimbursement to hospitals and a shifting of costs such as this GAMC deal, patient care will still negatively be affected until legislators pass safe patient handling bills, or increase funding to programs for the uninsured.  This will be an interesting topic to continue following in the coming months.

From Minnesota Public Radio (MPR):

GAMC deal shifts costs to hospitals, health providers

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio

March 5, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL legislators have reached a deal over funding for a health insurance program for the poor.

The deal will preserve coverage for most current General Assistance Medical Care recipients, but will shift costs onto medical providers.

GAMC provides health insurance for more than 30,000 of the state’s poorest residents. The program was scheduled to end on March 31, after Pawlenty cut its funding last year to balance the state budget.

The new plan will extend GAMC for two months. Starting June 1, a new system, funded with block grants, will replace it.

Instead of paying providers for each service provided, the new plan will provide hospital-based coordinated care systems with capped block grants to provide health care to eligible residents. Most former GAMC recipients will be eligible under the new plan.

“The hope will be this will be a more efficient, comprehensive, and continuous care,” Pawlenty said in a press conference this afternoon.

DFL legislators said they’re glad to have reached an agreement, but said the plan will hurt medical providers. Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, said the plan cuts the program’s funding by 77 percent.

“The health care providers are taking a huge cut,” said Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth. “That makes the state budget look good, but some hospitals may collapse, and other hospitals may just raise their rates to everybody else to make up for the loss of this money, and that will be put on your insurance bill.”

The state’s General Fund will provide $71 million in capped block grants to hospital-based Coordinating Care Organizations in the current 2010-2011 budget, and $131 million in 2012-2013.

The plan also establishes a separate method to reimburse CCOs for prescription drug costs. The deal caps drug reimbursements at $45 million from the General Fund in the 2010-2011 fiscal years, and $83 million in the 2012-2013 fiscal years.

GAMC recipient Robert Fischer expressed relief that he won’t lose his coverage. Fischer, who is 51, has sleep apnea, depression, and a degenerative back condition. His only income is $203 a month from the state’s General Assistance program.

“From what I’ve heard, I’m very, very happy,” Fischer said.

Negotiators have been working on a solution for GAMC for about nine months. The plan was set to expire later this month.

“We knew when we began this endeavor nine months ago that we were going to be putting together legislation that was going to be less than lovely,” said Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. “We were working very hard to protect the safety net for those who get their care in GAMC, and we’ve protected that commitment.”

Murphy added, “I think the safety net is a little thinner. It may be a little bit more like a lifeboat.”

The state had planned to transfer many current GAMC enrollees into another state health insurance program, called MinnesotaCare, once the program ended.

But many recipients say they would not be able to afford MinnesotaCare’s monthly premiums and higher co-payments.

Issue background:

The General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) fund is a MN healthcare program run by our Minnesota Department of Human Services (MDHS, 2009) that covers “low-income adults, ages 21-64, who have no dependent children under age 18 and who do not qualify for federal healthcare programs” (para. 1). The services offered include a comprehensive benefits package focused on preventative care and one for those who want coverage in case of an emergency hospital visit with a specific co-pay amount. A recent veto and line-item cut from MN’s budget by Gov. Tim Pawlenty took away $381 million from the GAMC (Perry, 2009). According to Share (2009), these “cuts to GAMC will leave 33,000 low-income Minnesotans without healthcare” as the labor review editor quoted the MNA.

One of the major hospitals in the Twin Cities, the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is one of the most affected by the line-item cut to GAMC as they will lose “$43 million in 2010 and $50 million in 2011” (Newmarker, 2009, para. 5). This has forced the one in only four Level 1 trauma center’s in the state to face many program cuts as they deal with a $550 million budget compared to a $600 million one in 2009 (Newmarker, 2009). Protesting nurses do not want to be a part of potential cuts, or see vulnerable patients turned away especially as we already face issues regarding safe staffing. HCMC’s major cuts highlight how payment increases to insurers must happen in order for healthcare organizations to stay afloat. Payment increases to insurers means payment increases to their customers, the ones who pay for health insurance. This is one element of the greater healthcare reform issue that needs to be addressed as the national debate continues.

Minnesota Department of Human Services. (2009). General assistance medical care. Retrieved
on October 15, 2009, from http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService
=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=id_006257

Newmarker, C. (2009, September 25). HCMC lists programs facing cuts. American City
Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/09/28/story4.html?b=1254110400%5E2162231

Perry, S. (2009, October 1). Employment stimulus will dominate session, as well as bonding bill.
Finance & Commerce, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://legal-ledger.com/item.cfm?recID=12318

Share, S. (2009, October 12). Nurses march on capitol, call on governor to restore general
assistance medical care. Workday Minnesota. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4205

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!

In his reporting of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s deer hunting opener, Bob Von Sternberg unintentionally, perhaps, describes the situation as a perfect analogy of T-Paw’s last seven years in office:

Pawlenty, who has more often than not failed to shoot a deer during the opener, shot a small buck while hunting north of Thief River Falls Saturday morning.

But the deer ran off into the brush, apparently badly wounded.

Hunters who were with Pawlenty started hunting the blood trail the animal had left behind, but Pawlenty had to leave for Iowa, where he was headlining a Republican Party fundraiser.

Yes, this is just like what Gov. Pawlenty did to the state of Minnesota by refusing to negotiate with the legislature in order to craft a balanced solution to the state’s budget woes.  Instead, he eventually took his axe to important programs like General Assistance Medical Care, recklessly.

It’s just like how he  shot this deer, let it slowly bleed, and left it behind as he departed to Iowa for the same reason as he kicked thousands off of health care: to further his own political ambitions.

And just like the deer, Pawlenty won’t be around to have the responsibility of cleaning up the mess he created.

This week, the Georgia gubernatorial race brings us an internet advertisement which is going viral and potentially will end up as the worst political ad of all time.  Currently, the “Willie Horton” ad from the 1988 Presidential election is widely believed to hold that title.  Floyd Brown, the man responsible for this ad which aided in bringing down Michael Dukakis, has been hanging out with our own absentee Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but that is neither here nor there.

This brings me to the ad which I consider to be the worst I have ever seen. Let’s rewind to 1994, when super-mega-ultra right winger Allen Quist was endorsed by the Independent Republican party for governor over incumbent Arne Carlson.   The primary would prove to be a no-holds-barred affair, which featured Quist in his attempt to use his brand of conservativsm to “retake” the party (which would in the not-too-distant future after that shed the word “independent” from its name) by taking down Gov. Carlson, generally judged to be a centrist.

Quist lost to the popular Carlson in a landslide.

I was only the age of 10, however one advertisment from that bloody primary struck me as particularly farcical despite my young age. In fact, I still remember it to this day in all of its inflammatory glory.

Here’s how Dane Smith explained it in a September 3, 1994 story in the Star Tribune:

Video and audio (Ad  1): Throughout this 30-second ad, a man wearing a suit and a President Clinton  mask dances with another suited man, who has his back to the camera and is supposed to be Gov. Arne Carlson.  Their dance opens with children’s voices singing to the tune of “Love and Marriage.”  The lyrics are: Clinton  and Carlson, Carlson and Clinton, go together on a lot of issues.”  As the men dance on, a narrator says: “They’ve raised your taxes.  They support government-run health care that will lead to rationing.  They support gun control as an answer to crime.  They favor legalized abortion into the ninth month.  And neither Clinton nor Carlson has ever been endorsed for governor by the Independent-Republican Party.  On Sept. 13, elect the real Republican.  Vote for Allen Quist.”

Bill Clinton: never endorsed by the IR party for Governor.  That might have been the most obviously absurd assertion in the ad, but Smith’s analysis shows it wasn’t the only one:

But the ad ’s claims on gun control and ninth-month abortions have been criticized as distortions by IR Party chairman Chris Georgacas. Carlson and Clinton did raise taxes, but Carlson also cut spending programs and balanced the state budget. And although Hillary Rodham Clinton lavishly praised the MinnesotaCare program, which Carlson helped initiate, Carlson has been critical of Clinton ’s health care proposal. The ad is supposed to be humorous and light, but the Clinton mask, the shadowy background and the disembodied dancing shoes give this ad a strange and ominous quality. Quist’s campaign manager, Leon Oistad, offered the unsolicited disclaimer that the dancing has nothing to do with the gay rights issue, which has become a symbolic dividing point between Carlson and Quist.

Yes, in perhaps an unprecedented move, the state chair of the IR party publicly criticized his own endorsed candidate in a separate Strib story saying the ad “stretches the truth to the edge of credibility” and could cause the losing side in the primary to “sit on its hands, won’t vote, or worst of all, support Democrats.”

Now it’s developing that, having already registered a domain name, Allen Quist is a likely candidate for congress against Rep. Tim Walz.

If Quist ultimately decides to run, my only hope is that he will run ridiculous, off-the-wall TV ads again.  We can never have enough whacky spots like Quist’s from 1994, especially in this age of YouTube and viral video.

Oh, and seeing Walz win with 70 percent of the vote would be cool too, I suppose.

By the way, does anyone have video of the “Dancing Carlson and Clinton” ad? If so, please upload it to YouTube immediately; the “new generation” must see it!

According to a Rasmussen phone survey, Gov. Tim Pawlenty trails the field of GOP presidential hopefuls with less support than “some other candidate” and “undecided.”

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 14% of the vote while Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty gets 4%. Six percent (6%) of GOP voters prefer some other candidate while 7% remain undecided.

My first thought was “Ah, well. It’s still early and ole’ T-Paw prolly still’s got plenty o time to build name recognition and gain support within the GOP base.”

He did lead the field in one category, though, and it unfortunately doesn’t appear Pawlenty’s problem is name recognition. While obviously not as well known as the rest of the candidates, 28 percent of respondents said T-Paw is the candidate they would least like to see on the the ballot.

The numbers for Huckabee and Romney look even stronger when GOP voters were asked which candidate they would least like to see get the nomination. Pawlenty came on top in that category with 28%. Palin was second at 21% while 20% named Gingrich. Romney and Huckabee were in the single digits with 9% and 8% respectively.

Tim Pawlenty: less popular than, ahem, Sarah Palin? I suppose it is early, but at this stage our lame duck, absentee governor might need to start managing expectations for his presidential ambitions.

Indeed, from his perch utop the Governor’s Mansion on Summit Avenue, perhaps T-Paw should, rather than aspiring to move to Washington, D.C., or even Iowa for the caucuses, look toward moving closer: his home in Eagan.

To think here in Minnesota we just speak about our beloved Gov. Tim Pawlenty being absent from the real work of governing as figurative speech.  Maybe he can take a hint from South Carolina’s Mark Sanford about how to get lost for real:

The governor went missing four days ago and his state is in a tizzy.

Sanford ditched his security detail on Thursday, missed Father’s Day weekend with his family, and didn’t show up at work Monday.

Neither his wife, nor the state’s lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.

But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn’t worried.

“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” she said while vacationing with the couple’s four sons.

Cute.  Nothing says “family values” like getting away from the kids on Father’s Day!

Earlier today, when the S.C. legislature overrode ten of his vetoes (ouch!), it was discovered he was somewhere off on the Appalachian Trail.  Hopefully on the trail for the GOP presidential nomination, likely candidate Sanford will eventually give likely candidate Pawlenty advice on how to take a hike. 

Ha Ha! I’ll be here all week.  Be sure to tip your bartender!

Hi everyone.  Remember me?  Well, if you don’t, it’s okay.  I logged into this site for the first time in a about a year-and-a-half a few days ago.  Tonight, I saw something on Facebook which told me “Gosh darnit’ DJ, you should resume blogging.” Especially in an age of “new media” and “Web 2.0″ I had to mention it here.

Inserted below is that image:

Yes, Facebook, via automated suggestion, thinks I should add the man who brought me arguably more fun and enjoyment than any other subject during my time blogging here at IDHA! as a friend.

If you need a refresher, Dr. Brian Davis was the Republican nominee for Congress from Minnesota’s First District in 2008.  He went on a remarkable roller coaster of a race from political neophyte/Olmsted County GOP officer to credible candidate against a supposed vulnerable incumbent to competitive candidate for the GOP endorsement to GOP endorsed candidate to GOP front runner in a heated primary to fledgling nominee following said primary to struggling for dollars and hope to, finally, what I considered him as all along since my first introduction to the man: sacrificial lamb.

After all was said and done, Dr. Davis lost by nearly 30 points to the very capable Congressman Tim Walz.  Throughout the campaign, while recognizing why the CD1 GOP needed to nominate him, I still regarded Dr. Davis as someone who would lose with the incumbent getting 60% of the vote.  I regarded him as a sacrificial lamb running too ineffective of a campaign to beat a very effective federal legislator.

By individuals involved in important campaigns, activists in CD1, and informed, interested observers, I was told I was crazy.  I was told that as a freshman, Rep. Walz had no ability to win by such a large margin.  The district, I was told, was much too conservative.

“Nonsense,” I continued to say.  In response, I would point to very ominous underwhelming performances/mistakes throughout calendar year 2007 Jason B. and I documented on this very blog.  Here are some examples:

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/08/16/dr-brian-davis-candidate-against-walz-is-questioned/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/10/30/do-southern-minnesota-republicans-support-brian-davis/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/03/brian-davis-goes-trick-or-treating/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/05/of-tricks-and-treats-but-mostly-tricks-brian-davis-for-congress-math-struggles-for-the-doc/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/07/breaking-news-davis-shows-chuckle-impressive-chuckle-fourth-quarter-in-state-fundraising/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/08/brian-davis-negative-toward-gop-opponents-already/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/14/dfl-senate-debate-observations-dj-meets-davis/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2008/01/11/team-3-d-debate-in-rochester-day-demmer-davis-try-to-pull-away-from-pack/

In fact, while trying not to sound too arrogant, Jason and I absolutely destroyed Dr. Davis in this series of political wrestling matches.

Okay, too arrogant?  Sorry, there’s no way to sugarcoat it.  When he engaged us in battle, we destroyed him.

The end of the election would see Walz winning handily on election night with 62.5 percent to Davis’s 32.9 percent, while taking every single county.

The purpose of this post is to say this:

Dr. Davis, if you are in ear shot of this message, I kindly give you the encouragement to run a second time for Congress.  In a midterm cycle with only the constitutional officers as statewide candidates on the ballot, your effort would provide a much needed occasional laugh in the realm of electoral politics.  Please, I beg you: run again.  Also, if you feel the need to engage lefty bloggers for Round 2, Uncle DJ will be right here waiting.

As far a taking up Facebook on the friend suggestion? Ah, shucks, I already hit the X button.  Oh well, there is one politician whos friendship I have requested that has continued to ignore me:

Good Strib article out today. Let’s hope T-Paw answers with a little more can-do optimism. An important issue that needs to continually be addressed is the freedom of Advanced Practice Nurses (APRN’s). APRN’s need less restrictions when it comes to writing prescriptions and also need better recognition for reimbursement through insurers. This will help improve healthcare for all Minnesotans by providing better access and quality. Key legislators helping the cause for nurses: Rep. Paul Thissen, Rep. Tom Huntley, Rep. Erin Murphy, Rep. Diane Loeffler, Rep. Maria Ruud (she is a Nurse Practitioner), Sen. Tony Lourey, Sen. Linda Berglin.

*Update 2/10/08* Corner House Comments writes his analysis of H.R. 676, the most well-known push for universal healthcare at the federal level. 

Minnesotans could save billions in health care costs, task force says

A report recommends a wide range of ways to improve care and trim costs by $12.3 billion.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said there’s much he likes in the wide-ranging recommendations he received Tuesday from a task force he appointed to find ways to improve health care in Minnesota.

But he stopped short of endorsing some of the panel’s recommendations, such as requiring Minnesotans to buy health insurance or raising the cigarette “health-impact fee” to discourage smoking.

“I think we’ve done enough to smokers for now” by banning smoking in most bars and restaurants and adding the 75-cent fee, he said. And requiring everyone to have insurance might “criminalize poor people” who can’t afford it, he added.

Still, Pawlenty said the task force report “can be the framework for a significant health care reform initiative in Minnesota.”

The broad range of recommendations would link doctors, hospitals, employers, patients, insurers, schools, communities and policy makers in initiatives aimed at paring $12.3 billion from health care costs otherwise projected to soar from about $30 billion now to $57.4 billion by 2015.

“Maybe we can do that without mandating health care coverage or the tobacco fee,” said Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, co-chair of the task force.

“But we’ve got to start now,” Huntley added. “Paying docs to keep people healthy and reducing the number of uninsured can make a huge difference.”

Pawlenty and legislative leaders said they will try to hammer out a proposal to present to the Legislature, which convenes next week.

But the task is daunting at a time when Minnesota faces a budget deficit and the Legislature will focus much of its attention on bridges and other transportation issues, Huntley and others said.

The task force recommendations are similar to those due later this week from a legislative commission. Both groups spent the summer analyzing the health care system and seeking ways to change how health care is delivered and paid for in Minnesota.

‘Can’t do this piecemeal’

“I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get together [with the governor] on a plan, but we can’t do this piecemeal,” said Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, co-chair with Huntley of the legislative commission and a member of the task force.

Huntley said the most expensive immediate need is about $57 million for a public education campaign to reduce smoking and obesity, and to educate Minnesotans about the new system.

Among the task force recommendations:

• Set statewide standards for physical activity in schools and require them to offer meals that exceed federal nutrition guidelines to fight obesity.

• Offer health-insurance subsidies to low-income people. For instance, a family of two earning less than about $3,400 a month — three times the federal poverty guideline — should pay no more than $238 monthly for insurance.

• Eliminate insurance premium variation based on health status, but allow differences based on age, smoking and where someone lives.

• Allow doctors and hospitals to set their own prices, but stop negotiating discounts with insurers so that a patient would pay the same regardless of insurance plan.

• Set up ways for consumers to easily compare costs of different providers, including costs of “baskets” of comprehensive maternity care and other conditions.

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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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.”