I Don’t Hate 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.

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.

Over two months after Minnesota Reps. Tim Walz and John Kline .ast squared off on the big blue couch on Twin Cities Public Television’s Friday night staple Almanac (that time about the Iraq war) the two will return to the program to discuss this week’s House vote to approve transportation and housing funding. Included in the bill was funding for the reconstruction of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, the Northstar commuter rail corridor and funding for US Highway 14 in southern Minnesota, which is, well, in craptastic shape.

Walz voted for the bill; Kline voted against it.

From the Almanac Producer’s blog:

Congressional Tussle Over Funding the New 35W Bridge
U.S. House members John Kline and Tim Walz took different sides on a big House Bill that would fund –among other things– the final construction costs of the new 35W Bridge in Minneapolis. They join us live to explain their positions.

7:00 p.m. on KTCA 2.

It appears pre-cut/pre-packaged meat is under fire for its use of carbon monoxide to maintain redness in Congress.

While preserving sales along with the meat’s bright pink hue, the practice is coming under fire from a rival business and consumer groups.

The CEOs of Hormel and Cargill, who testified in Congress on Tuesday, say there’s no public health risk, a conclusion which gets significant backing from the scientific community and the government, which has approved the practice.

But in political terms, this is a battle between industry rivals that have each recruited their state’s congressional delegation to help advance their cause.

On one side are Hormel and Cargill, who have turned to Minnesota Democrats Collin Peterson, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Tim Walz, whose district includes Hormel’s Austin, Minn., headquarters.

On the other side are Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Democrats from Michigan, the home base of Kalsec Foods, a rival company that is marketing a patented rosemary extract that keeps red meat from turning brown on the grocery store shelf.

If only it were as simple of an issue as “carnivores want their steak bloody red!!!”

Of course the manufacturer can package the precut meat in an oxygen proof tray but then the meat wouldn’t turn red until after opening, and really, who wants to buy dark meat?

It isn’t just about redness, though.  It’s about screwing blue collar workers out of good jobs at the retail level and reducing cost by cutting, trimming, traying, wrapping, weighing and pricing at the processing plant.

In the effort to squeeze every last penny out of expenses, retailers (starting with Wal-Mart all the way down) have decided that customer service isn’t important in the meat department and that the manufacturer knows best which thickness of steak a customer should have, not the customer him or herself.

I’ve worked in retail meat departments, so I know a thing or two about this subject (I know everything, too, but that’s irrelevant). Do I think legislation banning CO in meat should be in order? Probably not, but there probably should be stricter legislation on shelf life.  As an alternative to legislation, if American consumers don’t want meat products packaged in carbon monoxide they should tell the major retailers that by supporting smaller meat markets and grocery stores that still cut steaks and roasts fresh off the primal in the store.

If consumers are  satisfied with mediocrity, why should the retailer provide anything more? There may be a premium at the checkout for a while, but if the larger supermarkets are throwing away more of the prepackaged crap than they are selling, they will be forced to return to selling fresh meat cut on-site.  Of course, as the Wege noted Saturday, even service counters have to produce quality fresh looking products.

Of course then Wal-Mart might be forced to hire meat cutters again (risking unionization, history lesson here) or simply getting the hell out of the fresh grocery business.  Neither possibility would be bad.

Ollie Ox has declared she shuns pre-packed meat already.  Since her name indicates she is a heifer, I find it a bit of a conflict of interest that she is tying to blog about beef issues.

Regardless, when she speaks about liquid being pumped into to meat, that happens with just about all Hormel pork, prepackaged or not.  Advertised as a “solution to add tenderness and juiciness” or something similar, the sodium phosphate based solution prevents bacteria from developing which, while also increasing the saltiness on the taste buds, increases shelf life, which then increases benefit to the bottom line.

As Steve Sarvi’s campaign for Congress from Minnesota’s Second District slowly but surely picks up steam, so too does the mainstream media’s coverage.

This Ed Felker article from yesterday’s Rochester Post-Bulletin illustrates strong parallels to Tim Walz at this stage of the race, particularly, National Guard service and lack of experience in partisan office:

Sarvi, 42, hopes his own military background and local connections, combined with another strong Democratic election wave, will be his trump card against the seemingly entrenched Kline. Like Walz, Sarvi is married and has young children. Both he and Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard and worked in the public sector.

Likewise, neither Walz nor Sarvi had much political experience before declaring their bids. Sarvi wasn’t active in partisan politics previously, holding the nonpartisan posts of mayor in Watertown; city administrator and clerk in Lanesboro; and his current full-time job as city administrator of Victoria.

He acknowledged in an interview that he attended Republican caucuses around 2000, but said he was “always more of a moderate” to Republicans, and said he is now “probably a little left of center, because of some social issues.”

So far, the race has yet to attract national attention, and political observers haven’t placed the Kline-Sarvi match among races to watch.

Congressional Quarterly still lists MN-2 as “Safe Republican,” but after Walz’s win in 2006 we know that those ratings aren’t the end all be all of candidate’s fate.

Want to find out more about Sarvi? Check him out at these remaining dates and locations as part of his district-wide listening tour:

Today, 5 – 6:30 p.m. : Chanhassen, American Legion Post 580, 290 Lake Dr. E. , Chanhassen; 7 – 8 p.m. : Senate District 34 DFL, Chanhassen Library, 7711 Kerber Blvd. , Chanhassen.

Thurs., Nov. 15, 5 – 6:30 p.m.: Prior Lake , Prior Lake Public Library , 16210 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake; 7 – 8:30 p.m. : Burnsville , JoJo’s Rise & Wine, 12501 Nicollet Ave., #100 , Burnsville.

Fri., Nov. 16, 5 – 6:30 p.m. : Eagan , Community Center, 1501 Central Pkwy. , Eagan.

Sat., Nov. 17, 10:30 – noon: Northfield, Northfield Library, 210 Washington St., Northfield; 12:30 – 2 p.m. : Faribault, Java Live, 313 Central Ave N. , Faribault ; 2:30 – 4 p.m. : Montgomery, Montgomery Public Library, 104 Oak Ave. E. , Montgomery.

Below is a screen shot from Brian Davis’s official campaign website which illustrates a quote prominently placed on the front page:

“Instead of re-electing professional politicians, we need to return to a system of electing citizen legislators…”

I can interpret this to be nothing but a subtle dig at his three opponents for the Republican nomination to take on Rep. Tim Walz in Minnesota’s First Congressional District.

The three all are currently in elected office while Davis never has. Dick Day of Owatonna has served in the State Senate since 1991, Randy Demmer of Hayfield has served in the House of Representatives since 2003 and Mark Meyer of Lake Crystal serves as chair of the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial board of education.

Walz, elected in 2006, had no prior elected experience. If Walz, who unseated six-term member Gil Gutknecht, is indeed the target of this quote it is borderline dishonesty on the part of Davis.

I must wonder: why would Davis take up prominent real estate on his home page going negative toward his Republican opponents as opposed to using that space for something which would highlight his ultimate goal: defeating Tim Walz?

As we have previously pointed out, Davis has struggled to collect campaign contributions within the First District. Will delegates to the GOP First District convention appreciate Davis’s negativity?

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.”

Dr. Brian Davis, Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s First District, asserted that his third-quarter individual contributions under $200 help show the “whole story” of his supposed rock-solid support from within the district (this was in response to our report that just 15 of Davis’s 80 third-quarter individual donors were from Minnesota). We went on to blow his “whole story” claim out of the water by showing that a mere 5.7 percent of his total contributions were under $200. Thats barely a chapter or passage of the story let alone the whole book.

Now Davis is claiming another “victory” in his little battle to unseat Tim Walz (right here in the comments at IDHA! mind you!).

Hi DJ,

Twenty-nine percent of the contributions have come from Minnesota as of the conclusion of business yesterday (50 of 175 contributions). Twenty-six percent of the total originates from our State.

Wow. Get the man a cocktail!

29 percent!

Geez. He really showed me!
I wonder: if he gets 29 percent of the vote at the First District GOP convention for the endorsement, will he will brag about that, too?

All snarkiness aside, this figure is worthless for two simple reasons:

1. As I foreshadowed by with my sarcasm above, can anyone give me a situation in which 29 percent of contributions coming from inside a candidate’s home state could be impressive? Let alone impressive enough to brag about on a blog published by someone on that candidate’s opposing side of the political aisle?
2. Maybe the figure could be relevant but only after all of the fourth quarter reports are actually filed (mid-January)! Brian Davis has 29 percent of his contributions coming from within Minnesota. So f’ing what?! If he is going to use that figure as a benchmark to judge success, how can that be done without comparing it to those of his opponents?

Davis went on in the same comment to invite me to join the campaign as a volunteer.

Well, Dr. Davis, thanks, but no thanks. At the risk of sounding arrogant as you, I must say: continuing to dominate this game of intellectual ping-pong is much too fun quit playing in the middle of the game.