A Bluestem Prairie

December 31 digest: Glad tidings of bipartisan cheer

Since the Minnesota legislature convenes on January 3,  several MN-01 daily papers take a look at their local lawmakers' expectations in this weekend's editions.

Winona Daily News: Let's be friends!
In Brian Voerding's article, Let’s be friends: The Legislature looks to get along in ’07, area DFL lawmakers hopes for concord and action.  State Senate version:

Bipartisan cooperation has been a talking point for Democrats, who took control of the House and widened their majority in the Senate in the November elections.

While DFL lawmakers now have the numbers to pass bills regardless of Republican opposition, they say they’re more interested in working together and setting a new tone in the statehouse. Sessions have been marked by bitter partisanship in recent years, including the 2005 session that caused a partial government shutdown.

Only time will tell whether relationships next year will be collegial, if not congenial, although a paucity of controversial issues could help. Some legislators, though, already have high hopes for cooperation across party lines.

Winona’s DFL Sen.-elect Sharon Erickson Ropes pointed to this year’s freshman orientation as an early sign that teamwork is a high priority. The orientation, both bicameral and bipartisan, was a first for the Legislature. Democrats sat next to Republicans. House members sat next to senators.

“It’s an indicator of an effort to reach out to everyone,” Ropes said. “You get to know your colleagues as people, because we’re all new, going through the same process.”

And, Ropes said, they all got along just fine.

20-year veteran House member Gene Pelowski concurs:

Longtime Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, has seen it all in his 20 years as a legislator and said he’s hopeful that next year will mark a new trend. As speaker pro tem of the House, he plans to use his influence to bring the same values of nonpartisanship that he uses in his model legislature program for high school students.

“I think (talks of cooperation) are real, and hopefully something that will permeate everything,” Pelowski said.

In Surplus is temporary; needs are now, the Winona Daily News' editorial board hopes that lawmakers will work on longterm property tax reform, rather than a one-year tax relief plan put forth by former speaker Steve Sviggum. The editors also think it's about time to attend to the state's needs:

. . .Recently, outgoing Minnesota Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum has made rumblings about introducing a bill that would give a one-time 15 percent break on state property taxes. While we doubt this bill would even make it out of committee in the upcoming DFL-controlled House, it is a very bad idea, one that’s been tried before and even one that other Republicans may not support.

One may argue that a state surplus doesn’t belong to the government, it belongs to the taxpayers. And that is certainly a legitimate point.

But throughout the campaign season, we heard about the dysfunction of our state education system. We were reminded that health care continues to gobble up resources. And we can’t forget that roads and bridges are crumbling right beneath our tires and feet.

With that much need, why would we give money back, especially when no one will feel the pocketbook pinch since the money has already been collected?

Maybe those issues were really just boogeyman tactics designed to scare voters last November. But will it take a bridge falling apart with motorists on it to get us to realize the state has needs, not just wants?

Property tax relief is also one of the issues we heard a lot about during campaign speeches and debates. But it seems to us that there was always an adjective before the word property — and that adjective was “permanent.” There’s a lot of merit to talking about permanent ways to decrease property taxes. However, a one-time relief effort just dodges an inevitable bullet. It doesn’t solve the problem, only eases the pain momentarily.

Furthermore, legislators on both sides of the aisle seem to have pretty long lists of things that must be done — money that must be spent — to make sure infrastructure like roads, police departments and schools are maintained in the future.

We seriously question whether giving what essentially amounts to a rebate could even do as much good as it can when Minnesota invests it in education, higher education, health care or even roads? . . .

Austin Daily Herald: Priorities, priorities
In Spam's hometown, Sparks, Poppe set priorities for 2007 Legislature.  A taste of those priorities:

. . .Sparks said that first and foremost, balancing the budget has to be “our No. 1 priority” . . .
. . .Poppe said she wants to improve communication with her constituents during her upcoming term.

“That is the key piece in being a good representative,” she said. . . .

. . .Poppe said she wants to stick to the basics this term: an education the public can feel confident in, affordable health care and good public transportation, which fuels economic development.

“I don’t think people want us to focus on things that don’t matter in their lives,” she said.

Mankato Free Press:  District sends newbies to St. Paul
The Free Press's Mark Fischenich writes that Mankato prepares to send a new crew to St. Paul.  All three legislators from Senate District 23 will be new.  Fischenich writes:

For years, when Mankato residents wanted something from the Minnesota Capitol, they knew who to ask. In the Senate, it was John Hottinger. In the House, it was John Dorn.

Including Rep. Ruth Johnson’s three nonconsecutive terms representing North Mankato, St. Peter and other parts of Nicollet and Sibley counties, the three lawmakers had a combined 42 years of legislative experience.

Starting Wednesday, Mankato/North Mankato’s three lawmakers will have a combined zero years of legislative experience. Along with being rookies, the three share enthusiasm for public service, a commitment to learning fast and a determination to do well for their constituents.

They also share interesting and winding roads from where their lives started to the limestone seat of Minnesota government in St. Paul.

But if the legislators are new, they are not without significant experience. They’re part of a new class of legislators who come to the Capitol not as young political operatives who won elections in districts where people mostly think like them, but are rather experienced “mature” people who bring broad experience and knowledge with them, says Sen. Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, who appointed Kathy Sheran to two budget committees — something he says is unheard of for freshmen legislators.

The rest of Fischenich's article profiles Kathy Sheran; tomorrow, he'll look at Kathy Brynaert.

Netroots: And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught
DailyKos diarist KKJohnson takes up Gil Gutknecht's statement blaming Condi Rice for the situation in Iraq. Gutknecht had pinned Iraq policy on Rice, and his political "demise" on that policy in the Rochester Post Bulletin interview published last week.  Make sure to read the DailyKos comments. Retirement balls, indeed.

We thank Norwegianity for the toast.  But the netroots' share in helping elect Tim Walz belongs to every blogger who pitched in and helped spread the word about a rising prairie progressive: raise a glass to all.  We'd like to give a special toast to two blogs gone dark: Backbone Minnesota and minvolved. Auld Lang Syne, bubs.

Good-bye 2006: Remembering Kenneth Ramage

In memoriam: Kenneth Ramage
It's a rare day that we don't get a visitor here via a Google search for "Kenneth Ramage," the young campaign worker who died in a tragic accident in late July on route for a meeting with Rochester-area legislator Andy Welti.

We never knew him, but articles about him could describe a lot of incredible young people we met while writing about this year's political scene in Minnesota's first congressional district:

Rochester teen wanted to make a difference

As Kenneth Ramage grew into his late teens, he craved knowledge about politics.

Even before he could vote, he sifted through political candidates' agendas, vowing to support those with his own ideals and values. He scoured newspapers and watched political TV shows with similar motives.

Ramage, 18, of Rochester, was riding his bike to a meeting with Rep. Andy Welti, DFL-Plainview, when he was hit by a vehicle on Hwy. 52 near Rochester. He died Thursday at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.

Ramage was a volunteer for the legislator's campaign.

He went door to door Wednesday, handing out campaign literature, then headed out on his bike to meet with Welti in Marion, southeast of Rochester.

Welti said Ramage was crossing Hwy. 52 when he was hit near a gas station.

"Kenneth was a wonderful young man whose goal in life was to leave a positive difference in the lives of the people he met," Welti said in a statement.

"I am deeply saddened by this and ask that you keep Kenneth's family in your thoughts and prayers."

Ramage's father, Timothy, said his youngest son had drive beyond his years. On the day Kenneth Ramage turned 18, he was eager to donate blood. Volunteering at a food shelf with his mom gave him a sense of satisfaction, but the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina inspired him to major in emergency management at North Dakota State University in Fargo, where he would have started classes this the fall.

          [snip]

Ramage's father said knowing his son died helping someone is a bittersweet irony but also exemplifies who he was.

"He was a kid that would get involved and wanted to make a real difference," Timothy Ramage said.

Ramage's memory is the most bittersweet of a memorable year.

It's New Year's Eve. Drive safely.

News digest: Walz win in 2006 top stories and more

The Winona Daily News looks at top stories in its area for 2006.  Here's the write-up for politics:

Walz unseats Gutknecht

Tim Walz, the fiery-yet-affable teacher from Mankato, became the poster child of the Democrats’ sweep of both the U.S. House and Senate in the November midterm elections when he ousted six-term incumbent Congressman Gil Gutknecht, R-Rochester, in a close race that most pollsters and pundits ignored until September.

Within the state Legislature, DFLers widened their majority in the Senate and re-captured a majority in the House. The House takeover was marked by a number of tight DFL victories over long-time Republicans, including La Crescent Rep.-elect Ken Tschumper’s 52-vote win over Rep. Greg Davids, an eight-term Republican from Preston.

Of the five state legislators who will represent Winona and the surrounding area in 2007-08, four are Democrats. Prior to the November elections, three of the five were Republicans.

Minnesota Central: Best and worst list
McPherson Hall, whose Minnesota Central blog had been quiet for a while, reflects on the political year.

Mankato Free Press:  Tim Penny's radio show
Our fiscally moderate friend at Minnesota Central is a big fan of former representative Tim Penny. The Mankato Free Press reports on Penny's radio show, broadcast from Waseca's KOWZ.

After a long stint in politics, Tim Penny has discovered you don’t have to be in elective office to examine the issues and make a difference.

In Waseca, the 55-year-old former congressman is asking the questions he thinks people want answered as host of the weekly radio show It’s Your Call on KOWZ-AM 1170.

A few minutes before 11 a.m. on a recent Friday morning with coffee cup in hand, Penny climbs the steps to the cramped radio studio of KOWZ in the back of the Nelson Realty building in downtown Waseca.

“I try to ask the questions I’ve heard people asking around town,” Penny said. He invites a variety of local people to answer those questions on the air.

Since his first show in September, past and present government officials, the heads of organizations, high school students and other local notables have shared the microphone.

During a recent program, Penny shook hands with his radio guest, jotted a few notes on the back of his mail and adjusted the microphone, waiting for his cue from Bob White, the station’s sports director.

Chuck Noble, a CPA, gave listeners end-of-the-year income tax tips, prompted by a few questions from Penny. Mayor Roy Srp filled in the rest of the hour. Penny describes his radio slot as “somewhat political but low key.” While he tries not to throw softballs, Penny also notes he doesn’t set his guests up for a “gotcha” interview.

“I like the interviewing techniques Gary Eichten on (Minnesota) Public Radio uses,” Penny said. . . .

The show is being considered for a statewide audience.

Worthington Daily Globe: Swift & Co coverage
A fascinating pair of articles in today's Worthington Daily Globe.  One chronicles the contributions Swift & Co. makes to the Worthington area; the other looks at the effects on Worthington of a long-term decline in real wages in the meat packing industry.  Reporter Julie Buntjer wrote the pieces.

In Being a good neighbor?, Buntjer notes:

Throughout the course of the past two weeks — since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials conducted a sweep of Worthington’s Swift & Co. plant in search of identity thieves and illegal immigrants — comments regarding Swift’s impact on the community have been easy to come by. Yet the topic often overlooked in those conversations on the street or in letters to the editor are positives that Swift has brought to the region.

[snip]

More than just the name has changed at the Worthington facility in those 42 years, and that’s clear simply by driving past the plant on the northeast corner of town. Remodeling and expansion projects over the years — the latest completed in 2004 — have taken the company to new heights in Worthington. Today, Swift has 2,300 employees and an annual payroll of $64 million with two full production shifts and a third shift to conduct maintenance, clean-up and rendering.

Thanks to advancements in technology and expanded space, Swift today can process 1,100 hogs per hour — nearly four times per hour than when the plant first opened. Efficiencies in processing have opened the doors to the region’s pork producers to grow the steady supply of animals needed to keep the plant in operation.

“All of our hogs are purchased from within a 200-mile radius of the plant,” said Andersen-Martinez, adding that the company’s most recent data shows $661 million being paid per year to those pork producers. “That $661 million is 4.4 million hogs (processed) per year.”

The plant needs more than just pigs to remain in business, and that brings in an entire realm of economic benefits.

From Jan. 1, 2005 through Nov. 2006, Swift & Co. contributed nearly 30 percent of the share of the retail electric revenues taken in by Worthington Public Utilities. During that same time period, the company’s water fees made up close to 40 percent of the total water revenues taken in by the utility, according to WPU director Scott Hain.

[snip]

With a $64 million payroll, $661 million paid to local pork producers, $5.3 million paid in utilities, $6.3 million in state and federal withholding and $1.2 million in property and vehicle taxes, Andersen-Martinez said those dollars multiply throughout the region. According to RIMS (Regional Input-Output Modeling System) multipliers, Worthington’s Swift & Co. can be attributed to the creation of 14,000 additional jobs — above and beyond those within the plant — and another $251 million per year in economic earnings in the region.

Its employees buy homes here, rent apartments here, buy groceries and supplies in local stores and support community causes. According to Sean McHugh, spokesperson for Swift & Co.’s headquarters in Greeley, Colo., the Worthington plant provided more than $47,000 in cash and in-kind support for organizations including the local food shelves, Hospice Cottage and the Worthington Area United Way — as well as a special $52,000 contribution to support families of the ICE investigation. In addition, employees contributed $12,200 for the American Cancer Society’s Nobles County Relay for Life in 2006; and $52,200 for the Worthington Area United Way during the 2005 campaign.

Another side of the story in the companion article, Low wages change face of processing industry:

Some have said that when Swift Independent purchased the former Armour’s plant in Worthington, so began the town’s demise. Wage reductions and increased expectations forced people to leave the processing facility behind — to be replaced by workers willing to do the job for whatever pay they could get.

Back in 1983, one local man left his job on the line after 19 years with what he believes was a relatively good company in Armour’s. The union was strong — it had gone on strike several times seeking improvements in working conditions and increased wages — and everyone seemed to get along, whether they were line workers or office personnel.

Armour’s paid some of the best wages in town back then, and benefits were good, too.

“We had a waiting list when we worked there of people wanting to come work,” said the man, who spoke to the Daily Globe on condition of anonymity.

Teachers would sign up to work for Armour’s during their summer vacation, and the unemployed would show up each day in hopes someone called in sick or couldn’t make it into work, he said. But when Armour’s closed and Swift Independent came in two months later, the pay being offered was considerably less. It forced many, including him, to begin a new job search.

When he lost his job in 1983 due to the closing of Armour’s, he was making $11.75 per hour on a line that processed 550 hogs per hour. He can’t recall what Swift Independent was willing to pay, but remembers it was nowhere near the living wage he’d been earning.

Now, some 23 years and three changes in ownership later, the starting wage at the pork processing plant is $11.50 per hour — roughly 30 percent less when considering inflation — and it is processing 1,100 hogs per hour.

According to James Mintert, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University, meatpacking wages once ran 14 to 18 percent above the average manufacturing wage. Today, the wages are 25 percent below the average manufacturing hourly rate.

So who, or what, is responsible for the bubble bursting in the food processing business?

Those who have worked in the industry blame it on non-unionized companies.

[snip]

In 1980, about 46 percent of meatpackers were unionized. Today, about 21 percent are, including Worthington’s Swift & Co.

In Worthington, the inability to find enough people willing to work at the new, lower wages offered by Swift Independent forced the company to find new tactics to bring in employees. In the years that followed, a slow yet steady stream of immigrants — both legal and illegal — came to town to fill the jobs.

Some may argue that they took jobs away from local residents, but what many don’t consider is the declining number of people who want to work in a processing facility. As the former Armour’s employee pointed out, the work isn’t glamorous. Employees stand, often in one place, for up to eight or 10 hours a day on a concrete floor. In addition, their work is repetitious and typically involves yielding dangerous equipment such as knives or saws.

Today, immigrants make up 50 percent of the workforce, according to data from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.  . . .

Washington invitations
Tim and Gwen Walz invite those who can make it to Washington D.C. on January 4 to a couple of receptions.  It's our first duty day for the semester, alas, so we are staying put in Minnesota, but we anticipate Representative Walz's cheerful communication staff will supply details on all the fun.

Rochester Post Bulletin: Interview with Gutknecht
The Post-Bulletin's Ed Felker interviews the Republican leader  in Gutknecht reflects on 12 years in the House.  In this interview, he attributes his "demise" to the Iraq situation:

Do you still support the president's approach to the war?

A: I'm not sure I know what the president's approach is. One of the real problems this administration had is they are just miserable communicators. If they had expressed from the beginning a clear vision, the American people would have stood behind that vision for a very long time. But the vision has been somewhat misunderstood, that's the term I would use. ...

The White House indirectly sowed the seeds, I might say, of my demise, by things that they did early on that didn't prove to be correct. Not that they're evil, or whatever, but they didn't think about the consequences down the road if that wasn't correct. ...

I would put under a bigger umbrella, the whole notion, the whole theory, and I have to blame (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice for this, the whole theory was that they would be so pleased to be out from under the yoke of Saddam Hussein that they would put aside their secular differences and unite behind the banner of secular democracy. Well, the Iraqi people do want democracy, but they first want justice. The Sunnis and Shias have scores that they want to settle, and I don't think we thought through what those scores were and how violent that could become.

It's easy for me to be critical today because I didn't see that and didn't understand that. ... I did not understand how deeply rooted the secular differences were in Iraq, and it would continue to fester and in some respects flare up 31/2 years later. No one could have predicted that, I shouldn't say that, no one was predicting that four years ago, but we certainly understand that today.

 

KARE 11: Walz win among top stories of 2006

KARE 11 reports:

In the 1st District, a first time politician "taught" a lesson to a long term incumbent. High school teacher and military veteran Tim Walz upset Republican Gil Gutknecht.

To be honest, this description is typical of what's wrong with much news coverage.  Cuteness over substance: Walz wasn't out to "teach" Gutknecht a lesson; he sought to provide better leadership and representation for the district's voters.

Since being elected, Walz has been engaged in a whirlwind of activity on issues ranging from the DM & E dispute, renewable energy and immigration.

Mankato West and community send-off on public access tv

Mankato-area residents with cable can now watch last week's send-off for their new representative, according to a media alert from the city and school's public information director:

The Mankato West High School and Community Send-off for U.S. Congressman-Elect Tim Walz will begin airing on public access television channel 12 Saturday at 5:30 p.m., and can be seen through Wednesday, January 31:
 
Saturdays at 5:30 p.m.
Mondays at 9:00 a.m.
Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m.

Quotes of the year from Albert Lea: Gutknecht and Walz

Memorable Quotations from Albert Lea
Sandwiched in with residents' exclamations about lakes burping methane gas and giant puffballs growing on lawns, notable quotables from the contestants in the Fighting First's congressional race appear in the Albert Lea Tribune:

“I’m just out shaking hands and kissing babies.” — U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht in Albert Lea in October. The Republican candidate failed to win a seventh term as the 1st District representative.

“I definitely never planned my life around doing this. But my life prepared me to do this. People were asking for a real citizen with leadership capability.” — Mankato teacher Tim Walz in February at the Albert Lea Union Center. DFL candidate Walz defeated Gutknecht to win the 1st District congressional seat.

AP: DM & E wins another court battle

The Associated Press, via MPR, is reporting that the appeals court in St. Lousi has ruled in favor of the DM & E expansion:

Opponents of the planned expansion of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad lost another round on Thursday when the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the federal Surface Transportation Board legally approved the project.

Minneapolis, Minn. — (AP) -  The opponents of the DM&E railroad, including the Mayo Clinic and the city of Rochester, argued the transportation board didn't properly evaluate the environmental impact of the plan to expand rail traffic from Wyoming's coal fields to eastern Minnesota through Rochester.

The court ruled that the board had based its latest approval on expanded environmental studies and imposed mitigating conditions on the project, some regarding quiet zones where the coal trains wouldn't sound their horns.

"We're obviously very pleased with the results today," said Kevin Schieffer, chief executive officer of the DM&E. "It's important from the standpoint that, obviously, it's another milestone that has been passed."

The board first approved the project in 2002, and the case has bounced back and forth between the regulators and the appeals court in St. Louis ever since.

The Rochester Coalition, which includes the clinic and the city, issued a statement saying it was reviewing the court's decision and considering its legal options. It said would continue to fight the expansion.

"We remain firmly committed to doing everything possible to protect the people of Rochester and the many thousands of patients who visit our community to seek care at Mayo Clinic," the statement read.  . . .

 

In other news on the planned expansion, Bill Boyne, the retired editor and publisher of the Post Bulletin, writes in his weekly column:

Rep. Tim Walz deserves credit for seeking a congressional investigation into the proposed $2.3 billion loan to the DM&E railroad.

The newly elected First District representative joined with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in seeking the congressional oversight hearings on the controversial proposal. In a letter to the House Committee on Government Reform, they said that the proposed loan is "one of the worst examples we have seen of government waste" and that the DM & E "appears to be a poor credit risk."

[snip]

Those are fully justified reasons for opposing the project. However, U.S. citizens, wherever they live, also are justified in taking a critical look at the costly expansion.

There are many reasons for doing so:

• The loan, by the Federal Railroad Administration, if approved, would be one of the largest loan guarantees every made to a private company.

• The loan would be 100 times larger than the average amount of 12 existing FRA loans to other railroads. Those loans average $23 million each.

• The DM&E has an existing FRA loan of $233 million -- 10 times the average loan to other railroads -- on which it has made no payments.

• The railroad would not have to make any interest or principal payments for six years, would not be required to make a down payment and would provide no collateral.

• The railroad has not been able to obtain private funding for the project.

• If it gets the loan, the railroad would have a total debt 23 times its total equity.

• The loan payments would exceed the company's annual revenue.

There are also many other legitimate reasons for opposing the loan. One is the suspicious circumstances which preceded the loan application.

The first step was passage of legislation authorizing the Federal Railroad Administration to issue loans totaling $35 billion. This was 10 times the previous authorization of $3.5 billion.

That legislation was introduced by Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. Just prior to his election, Thune was a lobbyist for the DM&E and was paid $220,000 for his services in 2003 and 2004. The $35 billion loan authorization was passed without public debate.

There is no way to learn all the circumstances.

However, the DM&E's chances for borrowing an additional $2.3 billion obviously improved after Thune's success in delivering an additional $32.7 billion to the FRA for loan authorizations.

[snip]

It is clear that the House Committee on Government Reform has an opportunity to perform a great public service. It can do so by conducting a diligent and uncompromising investigation into an excessive and suspicious public expenditure.

Worthington Daily Globe: ICE raids temporarily lower hog prices

Around the time of the ICE raids in Worthington, we'd noticed semi hog carriers scrurrying along rural highways in patterns far different from their usual routine. Today's Worthington DailyGlobe provides a possible answer in the article ICE action catches up with industry:

Adverse impacts are, however, being felt by the region’s pork producers who have had to ship pigs farther distances for slaughter or keep them on the farm a bit longer, resulting in bigger pigs and potential price docking by packers.

David Preisler, executive director of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association, estimates the cost to pork producers as a result of ICE’s actions at $6 per pig.

“That would be for all producers, not just producers that market to Swift,” Preisler said. “If Swift cannot be at full capacity, pigs are still in the system and still need to be marketed.”

Brad Freking, owner and managing partner of Jackson-based New Fashion Pork, said Swift’s inability to process at full capacity resulted in a direct loss to farmers because of the amount of pigs available to other packers.

“We saw the cash market erode by over $12 per pig,” Freking said. “You put that into account, and this is probably impacting at least two weeks worth of production.”

Freking, who did not have pigs scheduled for delivery to Swift during the ICE investigation, said the hog market on Dec. 6 in Iowa and Minnesota was $61.52 per hundred-weight (cwt). One week later, on Dec. 15 — three days after the ICE sweep — the price had dropped to $55.46 per cwt. Prices have fluctuated since Dec. 16, rebounding to approximately $60 per cwt. on Tuesday.

“There’s this hard, two-week impact to the producer,” Freking said.

Nationwide, hog slaughter runs approximately 2.2 million head per week. At the reduced market prices being paid, it amounts to a $40 million to $50 million loss to producers. That money is instead captured by processing companies — facilities other than Swift.

“When Swift pulled out of the market, all of the other processors filled up. They didn’t have to bid for the pigs because they were available, and that led to the erosion,” Freking said.

Preisler said he sees the impact as being short-term and should settle itself out soon.

While ICE has taken heat for the timing of its actions at Swift & Co. — just before Christmas — Preisler said producers were fortunate that operations were shut down, albeit temporarily, when they were.

“If it had been 90 degrees or 10-below, we would have had losses of pigs in trucks,” he said. “There were pigs on trucks for longer periods of time that had to either wait or go other places, and there were pigs that were enroute when farmers found out about this.”

Overall, Preisler said the actions were unfortunate.

“There are multiple levels of people that get affected in this,” he said. “The action that was taken, from our standpoint, was very disappointing. You have the communities, the workers that were involved, the company and also the farmers. There’s a multiple level of folks that get affected when these things happen, and we’re disappointed that wasn’t taken into account.”

Freking said the actions of ICE have proved the need for some sort of compromise.

“I think everybody needs to be an advocate … in promoting congressional leaders to come forth with some type of immigration reform,” he said. “The impact of this is so widespread. We’re being indirectly impacted — Main Street businesses and social services are all impacted. There has to be a better method.”

The Globe has also published the letter calling for immigration reform from Minnesota's Catholic Bishops.

Wednesday digest: A new Congress and more

The new Congress
The Rochester Post Bulletin editorializes about the need for the new Congress to pass well-crafted legislation:

It's a sign of how far things have gone askew when people are shocked at the news that the U.S. House leadership intends to put in a full work week.

Democrat majority leaders have made plans to actually work Monday through Friday. This, opposed to the last session of Congress where work days were Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- with two out of three being only half days of work.

In total, the last session was engaged for just 103 days. It is a dubious record that raises the eyebrows of 1st District U.S. Rep.-elect Tim Walz as well.

"If government is working right, it takes time," said Walz. "You don't just craft legislation and ram it through just because you are in the majority. That is the same problem the Democrats got in 1994 when they got thrown out, and it's the same problem we had this year."

The two problems Walz identified could cut into the aims of the Democrats' aggressive January agenda.

The first is the dangerous option to use the power of the majority to muscle through legislation without paying attention to the process. Democrats need to remember that the right process can incorporate minority concerns and in doing so, gain public support for their overall aims.

Two, by saying good government takes time, Walz was restating the saying, "What's worth doing is worth doing well."

Democrat leadership intends to gallop into the coming session with a bugle charge. They want to do a lot. That's good, but if success becomes measured by the number of approved bills then there will be a temptation to cut corners by watering down legislation or resorting to power politics (see Problem One).

As Americans, it almost is in our blood to be more efficient, but efficiency is a dangerous sword. It's a trait that propels our economy, but things can go astray when efficiency becomes either the measure of success or a tool to push for quantity over quality.

The Post-Bulletin also reports that only two projects in Southeastern Minnesota are in danger of being cut by the elimination of earmarks.  Walz's position on earmark reform is spelled out:

Under the Republican-controlled Congress, the use of earmarks, sometimes called "pork" projects, mushroomed and became synonymous with out-of-control spending. Although the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war was seen by analysts as the primary reason for the GOP's downfall in the last election, public disgust over earmarks was viewed as a contributing factor.

Rep.-elect Tim Walz, a Democrat who rode into office on that wave of public dissatisfaction, is a supporter of earmark reform. Walz spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said Walz believes the process needs to be brought into the "light of day," so each earmark has a readily identifiable author. In the past, earmarks were slipped into bills without acknowledgment of the author.

72-hour requirement

Walz also supports a 72-hour requirement that gives legislators time to read about bills before they're forced to vote on them.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported  Democrats Pledge to Restrain Spending: Critics Say Party's Goals Are Too Lofty

Determined to banish their old tax-and-spend image, Democrats want to shrink the federal deficit, preserve tax cuts for the middle class and challenge the president to raise money for the Iraq war when they take control of Congress next week. But it won't be easy. . . .

New Walz and Klobuchar office in Rochester
Kiger's Notebook, a journalist's blog at the Post-Bulletin, reports on the new Democratic congressional office in Rochester:

U.S. Rep. Elect Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. Elect Amy Klobuchar are opening a Rochester office in the Northgate Shopping Center next to Diva Nails. Look for it to open when they are sworn in on Jan. 4.Three to five staffers will work in the office

The Retention Club
The PiPress reports that Walz is on what the New York Times called "the retention club" for potential vulnerable Democratic representatives. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza sees a slightly different lineup (sans Walz) in last Friday's Fix.

DM & E in the news
The PiPress published a shortened version of this article from the Sioux Fall Argus Leader.  DM & E President Kevin Schieffer throws down the gauntlet, accusing th Mayo Clinic of wrongly exploiting its nonprofit status:

Schieffer claims the Mayo Clinic, as a nonprofit institution, is disingenuous for questioning the railroad's request for a federal loan at the same time it is using tax-free money to underwrite that inquiry.

Walz says he wants any congressional investigation fast-tracked to be done in concert with the FRA's timetable, so the DM&E project is not delayed by Congress.

Schieffer says "if it can be done in a way that didn't delay things, I would absolutely relish the opportunity to have a very public hearing about the influence peddling that is going on in this case. What you would find is tens of millions of dollars from a nonprofit being spent on lobbying."

Another potential source of opposition is the 97 landowners in western South Dakota and Wyoming whose land would be crossed by new DM&E tracks if the railroad were built out to the Powder River Basin.

"The majority of those are working with us," Schieffer says of landowners. "There is a pretty small minority that is vocally opposed, and then there is a middle group that is bigger than the opponents and smaller than those who are working with, and they're doing sort of a wait and see," he said.

ICT raids: response to Holy Family Project
Giles Schmid writes the Winona Daily News to praise Bishop Harrington's support for families affected by the ICE raids:

Congratulations Bishop Harrington!

My hat is off to true leadership in the Holy Family Project for displaced families resulting in the government immigration raids. The project is reminiscent of the church’s help to the immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s — be they Irish, German, Polish, Italian, etc. The only difference is today the church officials are not of the same nationality as the immigrants — sounds Catholic.

The Holy Family is a project worthy of widespread support.

Tim Walz, Fair Trader
In this PiPress article about incoming Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Tim Walz is cited as an advocate of fair trade.

Netroots
Our friends at Across the Great Divide name Tim Walz as one of the winners of 2006:

Tim Walz. The newly elected representative from Minnesota's First Congressional District was a breath of fresh air — quite possibly the most appealing candidate in the state this year. All sorts of media called his victory a surprise, thereby betraying their failure to actually cover the race and learn what an authentic human being running for office really looks like. Keith Ellison has been handed Paul Wellstone's mantle, based on his progressive politics and firey speaking style. But I see a bit of Wellstone in the good-hearted teacher and coach from Mankato, too.

Newsworthiness: The Strib trails in covering call for DM & E loan hearings

Last week, beginning on December 19, the Rochester Post Bulletin, the Mankato Free Press, MPR and other media outlets reported on Tim Walz and Carol Maloney's (D-NY) letter to Henry Waxman asking for oversight hearings on the DM & E loan.

A full week later,  the Star Tribune's Kevin Diaz gets around to covering Tim Walz's call for oversight hearings on the DM & E loan. 

Well, sort of.   Diaz's news brief makes it sound as if Walz is following the lead of other Democrats, rather than setting the pace:

The proposed railroad to who knows where

Forget the proposed $223 million "Bridge to Nowhere" (Gravina Island, Alaska -- pop. 50). Congress' new major pork controversy runs right through the heart of southern Minnesota, in the form of the proposed Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E), connecting Wyoming coal mines to points east.

The Federal Railroad Administration is expected to rule any day now on a DM&E's record $2.3 billion federal loan request.

Visions of new coal trains in Rochester became a big issue in this year's congressional race. Challenger Tim Walz, who unseated incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht, has joined Democratic colleagues in calling for congressional hearings.

With decision time coming, the rhetoric is also heating up. Citizens Against Government Waste, for example, has taken Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to task as "Porker of the Month." He helped secure the loan in Congress.

Citizens Against Government Waste took Thune to task in November, as BSP reported at the time.

The text of the Walz and Maloney letter are found here.  Read the PiPress's editorial on the oversight hearings request from Dec 21.

It's good to see the Strib get out in front with its coverage.

Doug Wolter/Mankato Free Press: Raid leaves "prairie melting pot" badly shaken

Mankato Free Press night editor Doug Wolter turns in a thoughtful column today about the ICE raids in Worthington.  Until he was hired by the Free Press last summer, Wolter spent 22 years in Worthington, working at the Daily Globe.  He had a ring side seat as the town began to change:

I’ve seen the beginnings of the cultural experiment, when letters to the editor included hurtful comments directed at minorities, but I’ve also seen how most of the community bought into the concept of disparate groups living together in harmony.

At first, minorities came and went. Few of them put down actual roots in Worthington, and many who stayed chose not to fully integrate. We all knew the town contained people with immigration issues, and I spoke with local law enforcement leaders who were very concerned about identity theft and the widespread problems associated with false identity. But I was proud to note the local police were still serious about helping minorities to feel as safe and as comfortable in Worthington as any lifetime resident.

Not surprisingly, I suppose, as minorities appeared in greater numbers, Worthington began to get a reputation in some circles as a crime-ridden gang-infested community. A regrettable percentage of area residents believed the public school system contained an unacceptable level of violent students.

But Worthington’s so-called high crime rate was never true, and that was verifiable through statistics supplied by the local police.

On the positive side, after several years, new minority-owned businesses began to transform a dull and lifeless downtown. It was particularly refreshing to see various minority-owned restaurants thrive and to see the way in which traditional Worthingtonians became regular customers of those establishments. As longtime residents began to accept the newcomers, more of the newcomers began to reach out to the community at large. And more of them stayed. More of them began to give of themselves to make Worthington a better place to live and raise a family.

The change was in part by design, Wolter writes:

In the 1990s, the city embarked on a grand experiment in multiculturalism, welcoming minorities by the hundreds to save what was becoming a dry, stagnant town. Most of the newcomers were lured by low-paying jobs available at the meat-packing plant. And together, traditionalists and newcomers began a long and winding road toward acceptance.

Worthington is a unique place. It is basically conservative in its politics; its senior citizen population is large, and the soul of the city consists largely of responsible church-going types who embrace traditional values. Yet, there is a progressive strain that has cascaded through the town like a ribbon, infusing the place with a prairie populism that achieved national prominence during the farm crisis of the 1980s. Worthington remains a mixture of stoic traditionalists and forward-looking progressives, struggling together to solve an economic picture that, all too often, appears stuck in neutral.

Read the whole thing for a glimpse into the changing faces of rural Minnesota.   The column fills in the details for some of the content of the letter from Minnesota's Catholic bishops about the raid:

The raids did nothing to advance needed reform. Instead, the raids heartlessly divided families, disrupted the whole community of Worthington and undermined progress that that city had made toward bridging racial and cultural differences.

Providing historical background about the changes Worthington faced, the Strib examines the transformation of the American meatpacking industry:

A wave of automation in the 1970s cast off jobs such as skilled meat cutting. That was followed by the crumbling of powerful unions in the 1980s -- not just in meat plants, but at air traffic control towers, auto plants and steel mills. Minnesota was briefly a stage for the union battle: The National Guard descended on the Austin, Minn., Hormel plant for several tense weeks during the worst of the strikes there in 1985 and 1986.

In the decades since, immigrants -- legal and illegal alike -- have filled the void as U.S. workers flocked to better-paying jobs. The meat industry now makes some of the cheapest food on the planet, with Americans spending less of their total incomes on food than those in almost any other country.

But the Dec. 12 immigration raids that nabbed 1,282 workers at six Swift & Co. plants nationwide -- 230 of the workers at the company's pork processing plant in Worthington, Minn. -- have exposed the strains of the system, prompting a fresh round of finger-pointing. Who's to blame? Meat companies? Illegal workers? Or consumers?

The effect of this on Worthington:

The loss of coveted jobs led to an exodus of young people from rural communities such as Worthington, said Katherine Fennelly, a professor of public affairs at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Even worse for the meatpacking companies is that the state's 3.6 percent unemployment rate is considered full employment by most economists, so there are few people looking for work.

A study last year by the Pew Research Center estimated that about 27 percent of all butchers and food processing workers are illegal immigrants.

Overall, immigrants make up 50 percent of the workforce today, according to the union.

Recent immigrants, many of whom are Mexicans fleeing a languishing economy at home, have remade places such as Worthington over the past 15 years.

While the state's population remains overwhelmingly white -- about 89 percent, according to the 2000 census -- these newcomers have made their mark on schools and churches and on main streets. At Worthington-area schools, the enrollment of minority students grew by 547, or 189 percent, during the 1990s. One out of three Worthington kindergartners is a minority student.

On Friday, the town's mayor was still grappling with the fallout from the immigration raids.

The meat company has not replaced all of the workers it lost in the raid, and has told Mayor Alan Oberloh that it wants an immigration reform bill to provide guest workers. Oberloh, who met Friday with representatives for Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Rep.-elect Tim Walz, D-Minn., said everyone agreed on the need to bring in legal workers. Now they just have to figure out how.

On the future of his town though, he was unequivocal.

"There are people who say Worthington is a defeated community," Oberloh said. "To them I say, 'Look down the street at all the activity. There's not a parking spot on the street.'

"The people who have jobs here, stay here," he said.

The Strib also published a very short article about federal immigration reform that's shallow on details: Lawmakers gear up for new bill on immigration.  The sketchy outlines suggest that the Congress may be thinking along some of the same lines as these guys.

Could be worse.

The debate over immigration policy seems stuck between two ways of thinking. On one hand, some argue that both documented and undocumented immigrants pose security and health risks, as well as being dangers to public safety and "our way of life" and burdens to taxpayers.  Others see the economic benefits of having a larger work force from which to drawn, along with the cultural and economic vitality immigrants create themselves.

Could this be a false dilemma? Little public discussion gets directed toward other perspectives, especially those that seek to examine the broader economic and trade policies that have brought about the hardships so many undocumented immigrants flee.

Nick Coleman: Minnesota Guard tops '06 'People' awards

Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman had asked readers to vote for man and woman of the year, with the Minnesota National Guard up for people of the year.

We'd guessed it would be no surprise who'd win that contest.  We were right:

Americans are against the war in which these people fight. Few, if any, signed up for this kind of thing. But few, if any, have grumbled about it.

Now almost 3,000 are overseas, far from home and family, in a war that officially is out of control while the politicians look for escape routes. And while the troops, in an echo of another era, just want to serve honorably and come home.

All of which is why the citizen soldiers of the Minnesota National Guard are the 2006 Minnesota People of The Year.

In a moment, we'll name a Minnesota Man and Woman of the Year, too. But no individual achievements can compare with the group dedication and service of our fellow citizens in the Guard, at least six of whom have died this year in Iraq.

The fallen may be somewhere among the 4,000 troops in the accompanying photo of the men and women of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division. The photo was taken last March at Camp Shelby, Miss., during a rehearsal for the departure ceremony that took place when the Guard was deployed to the Middle East. Not all the troops are from Minnesota, but most of the Minnesotans now in Iraq are in the photo formation, which depicts the 34th Infantry Division's Red Bull shoulder patch, with a "1" inscribed to represent the 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The picture says more than words can about the service and sacrifice of our fellow Minnesotans. We wish them well, and we wish them home.

We have friends in that picture and know other National Guard soldiers who served in earlier deployments to Iraq: Jen D., Amy, Caleb,  Jen B., Annie.  There are others, spouses and siblings of our students.  We wish them well, and we wish them home.  The war isn't so abstract for us and our neighbors.

Bloggers on Walz and Colbert Report: A wag of the finger?

Update:  Apparently, Stephen Colbert believes that having Walz in the segment, "In Your Face, Nancy Pelosi" counts for the First's inclusion as a district that has been covered by "Know Your District."  It shows up on the show's map as a district that's been known.

Looks as if Tim Walz's remarks to the Post Bulletin about Stephen Colbert's interest in the Fighting First have stirred the blogosphere's dust up on this barely-white Christmas weekend:

. . .You mentioned that Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" has been after you to be on the "Your District" segment. Are you going to do it?

Nah. It was sort of funny to consider. If it was just me, I might try. I mean, when you're me, you have to laugh at me. But I don't want it to be poking fun at the district. I don't want people laughing at our district, and that's some of what that segment is.

You'd mentioned that Colbert tried to call you out with some humor?

Yes. We were at Harvard for some sessions after the election, and he was talking to our group. My face flashes on the screen, and he says 'Representative-elect Walz, you represent a district that makes Spam. You have a moral obligation to explain this to the country.'

Guyermo, a diarist at DailyKos, agrees with Colbert:

Indeed, Mr. Walz, you do.  I've been having to explain this to everyone I meet who finds out I grew up near Austin, MN.

Those posting in the diary's comment section riff on the combination of Spam and Mayo.

The No-Fact Zone chimes in as well.

Will the fact that the Colbert Report is on Christmas hiatus save Tim Walz from the pundit's wagging finger? Will Walz be placed on notice?  Stay tuned.

New Ulm Journal: Bishops' letter on immigration raids

Today's New Ulm Journal has published a letter from Minnesota's Catholic bishops concerning the ICE work raids in Worthington:

TO THE EDITOR: As the Catholic Bishops of the State of Minnesota, we are distressed and disheartened by the work place raids that took place in Worthington, Minnesota and other communities this past week. To add insult to injury, immigration officials chose the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of the Americas, as the day to target these workers and their families.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers justified these raids as part of their investigation of a largescale identify theft scheme. In fact, few of the workers arrested at the Swift plant in Worthington were charged as perpetrators of the identity theft scheme.

The U.S. and Mexican Catholic bishops have called for an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. Criteria for reform include:

• a broad-based earned legalization program (permanent residency) for the undocumented of all nationalities;

• a reform of our family-based immigration system to allow family members to reunite with loved ones in the United States;

• a reform of the employment-based immigration system to provide legal pathways for migrants to come and work in a safe, humane and orderly manner; and,

• a restoration of due process protections for immigrants.

The raids did nothing to advance needed reform. Instead, the raids heartlessly divided families, disrupted the whole community of Worthington and undermined progress that that city had made toward bridging racial and cultural differences.

We call for an end to such raids which violate the rights of workers and the dignity of work. These men and women are our brothers and sisters; as workers, they provide our food; as residents, they support our local businesses and communities. We must always remember that their dignity as human beings must be foremost in our thinking as we address the critical issues surrounding immigration. Our faith calls us to overcome all forms of discrimination and violence so that we may build relationships that are just and loving.

Comprehensive immigration reform, including a broad legalization program, should be a policy priority when Congress meets in the new year.

Archbishop Harry Flynn
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Bishop Richard Pates
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Bishop Victor Balke
Diocese of Crookston

Bishop Dennis Schnurr
Diocese of Duluth

Bishop John Nienstedt
Diocese of New Ulm

Bishop John Kinney
Diocese of St. Cloud

Bishop Bernard Harrington
Diocese of Winona

Read more about the Catholic Church's Justice for Immigrants campaign.

The Worthington Daily Globe reports that Representative Walz visited Worthington on Friday to meet with local officials about the sweep and its effect on the local community:

Representative-elect Tim Walz visited Worthington Friday in the wake of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep of Swift & Co.

“It’s a really unfortunate situation,” Walz said. “We all know it’s because of the failure of the federal immigration system.”

Walz met with Mayor Alan Oberloh, Worthington Police Chief Mike Cumiskey and Nobles County Attorney Gordon Moore to discuss how the sweep and how immigration in general had affected the area.

Walz also visited Newport Labs and stopped by the YMCA to learn about its expansion plans.

“There’s so many good things happening in Worthington,” Walz said. “Worthington’s a dynamic city. It’s a city on the go. It’s a city that’s dealing with immigration.”

Walz would like to reform the immigration process by reexamining the number of legal immigrants who should be allowed to come into the country. He also favors a system in which it wouldn’t take people 15 to 20 years to legally immigrate.

He does not favor a system of guest workers without a path to citizenship being provided for them.

“We need comprehensive reform,” Walz said. “This is a federal issue, and I think people need to continue to hold the federal government accountable for this.”

To Walz, biometric identification could solve the problem of unidentified illegal immigrants.

At Swift & Co., the federal pilot program that checks workers’ social security numbers doesn't tell whether the person matches the number, Walz explained. Using biometrics like fingerprinting would sharply reduce the incidence of identity theft.

“People want to come in legally,” Walz said. “If this economy is going to continue to grow, it’s going to need workers."

Walz believed Swift was “bending over backwards” by using the pilot program to try and comply with federal laws.

Though he agreed ICE had done a good job, Walz said they simply wouldn't have the manpower to solve illegal immigration through additional enforcement actions.

Walz ranked immigration high on his list of priorities for his upcoming congressional term.

"I think this thing is solvable. This is not the puzzle that has no end to it," Walz said of immigration reform. "If we just get serious about it I think we can get it done."

Walz was proud of the way Worthington had handled the enforcement action by quickly acting to support people affected by it.

"The city responded as well as you could ever hope a city would respond," Walz said.

Book meme

Book meme (tagged by The Great and Powerful Santa Wege at Norwegianity).

   1. Grab the book closest to you.
   2. Open to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence
   3. Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog
   4. Name of the book and the author
   5. Tag three people

Wege ordered me not to cheat, even though page 123 was the last page of text in the first book I grabbed*, and there was only one last sentence left:

Many them, of course, are imagined in contexts far removed from early medieval Ireland.
                                                                                    S H
                                                                                    1984
Seamus Heaney. Station Island. New York: FSG, 1985.

I tag Jason, Bill, and Chris.

*Other books in the same stack with perfectly serviceable page 123s were Jonathan Carver's Travels Through The Interior Parts of North America, Mari Sandoz' Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, Witter Bynner's translation of The Jade Mountain,  Riverbend's Baghdad Burning, the Norton Anthology of Post Modern American Poetry, and Father O'Reilly's Martyrs of the Coliseum. 

Blame the Wege's policing my integrity that you missed out on some choice passages, especially Frank O'Hara comparing himself to a pile of leaves or a young bishop about to get torched like one.

                                                                            

 

Strib: Kelliher reaches across party lines for committee heads

Despite the huge majority her caucus won in November, Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher has chosen to share power with Republicans, the Star Tribune reports:

Promises of bipartisan cooperation in the Legislature next year moved a step beyond lip service this week as four veteran moderates in the newly disempowered House Republican caucus were appointed to committee leadership posts by DFL Speaker-designate Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Rep. Dennis Ozment, R-Rosemount, will be House chairman of the joint legislative Claims Committee, and three other Republicans will be vice chairs of House panels.

It is an unusual development, especially with the GOP reduced to a weak minority of 48 -- just over one-third of the 134-member House -- by election losses and the expulsion from the caucus of Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake, who is facing a domestic-abuse charge.

"Even though we have 85 members, we want to reach out and pull on the expertise of the Republican caucus," Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, said Friday. "There's more of an interest in working together."

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert just can't quite bring himself to behave:

Republican leaders hailed the appointments, plus what they described as other gestures of bipartisanship from the incoming DFL majority, which voters returned to power after eight years of Republican House rule. Still, new Minority Leader Marty Seifert couldn't resist slinging a few trademark barbs across the aisle.

"There's so many committees, maybe they ran out of DFLers," he joked. The burgeoning 38 committees, subcommittees and finance divisions, 11 more than in the old GOP-led House, may signal similar growth of government, said Seifert, R-Marshall.

He also noted that the Claims Committee, hardly a plum assignment, spends much of its time rejecting damage claims against the state. "Maybe that's why they put a Republican there," he said. "DFLers can't say no to anybody."

But Seifert also praised Kelliher for honoring most of his GOP committee assignment recommendations and giving Republicans proportional or better presence on most panels. "She's treated me fairly well," he said. "The communication has been good."

Let's see here: before the session convenes, Seifert snorts and snarks to the Twin Cities media; the preemptive conflict allows reporters to fall back on hackneyed conventions.

Kelliher, meanwhile, acts professionally and cordially toward everyone in the chamber.  The contrast is clear, and we're not wondering much which leader will be inclined to pull stunts and play to the press rather than conduct the people's business.

Rochester Post Bulletin: Interview with Tim Walz

Wednesday, Tim Walz was in Rochester for a Chamber of Commerce lunch; he also spent some time  talking to the PB's Mike Dougherty. Some highlights:

. . . You mentioned that Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" has been after you to be on the "Your District" segment. Are you going to do it?

Nah. It was sort of funny to consider. If it was just me, I might try. I mean, when you're me, you have to laugh at me. But I don't want it to be poking fun at the district. I don't want people laughing at our district, and that's some of what that segment is.

You'd mentioned that Colbert tried to call you out with some humor?

Yes. We were at Harvard for some sessions after the election, and he was talking to our group. My face flashes on the screen, and he says 'Representative-elect Walz, you represent a district that makes Spam. You have a moral obligation to explain this to the country.'  ...

You've had some national exposure.

Yes. It's been interesting. I think for some folks they see that this race was unique. Something happened out here. It wasn't a targeted race. Maybe this is the new face of Congress. . . .

When you're going around the district now or out in Washington, do you have those moments where you just stop and marvel at where you're now at?

During the campaign, Congressman Gutknecht said something very insightful. It was about the honor he felt of being among just a small number of people in the history of the country to serve in this body. He understood the incredible honor of it. And it hits me, making me realize that there are so many people I want to draw into this experience. I want to spread it and share it by trying to meet with as many groups as possible who come out here. But I find myself being very self conscious of it all. The magnitude of it all is amazing. I have to guard against just stopping to marvel at it all. The institution really humbles me.

That's also a strategy to stay elected. Have you started your campaign for 2008?

I didn't go after this to look over my shoulder and try not to get beat. Tim Penny said there are ways for a member of Congress to play it safe, not put your name on legislation and keep getting re-elected. But that's not me. I think what we're going to do is show what we can do with constituent outreach. I'm going to speak my mind, but I'm also going to listen. You won't hear me talk talking points when I'm back here. And you know, if I don't do what I said and I don't represent the district as I should, then I should lose next time. That's the system and how it works. . . .

How are things going to work out with the DM&E Railroad? Some say your position or Congressman Gutknecht's position on this is what helped you win.

I'm hoping we'll be able to have hearings on this with Congress. I think it's a false choice to say it's either 'yes' or 'no' with the railroad. I think what people said is that they wanted some questions asked and answered publicly. I've been entrusted to represent the district. I realize that when you get elected to Congress, you can make sure the questions get asked about this project and debated in the open.

So what do you see as your role in Congress?

I see myself as the salesman for the area. I need to share the vision of people in this region for their projects and ideas.

Does that mean bringing more pork projects home?

I think what you'll see in the upcoming Congress is a change in how projects are proposed. I'd like to see it where if you propose something, your name is on it from the beginning and tracks through that way. The projects should be lined up on their merits and debated. That's what's been the problem sometimes. It was hard to find out who proposed some of these projects and how they got in there.

How do you get Congress to change instead of just being more of the same with a different party in charge?

I think that's the message that we bring to Washington: the people want good government. I'll bet half the people that I just spoke with in that room (the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce meeting) probably didn't vote for me. Politics is one thing, governing is another. They all expect us to come in and get this thing back on track. It's a big job and a challenge, but it's also an opportunity. . . .

Read the whole thing here for more on the family bible, the kids, a potential DC roommate, and Walz's hopes for the Vikes.

Update:  Apparently, Stephen Colbert believes that having Walz in the segment, "In Your Face, Nancy Pelosi" counts for the First's inclusion as a district that has been covered by "Know Your District." It shows up on the show's map as a district that's been known.

Mankato Free Press: Thumbs up to Walz on DM& E oversight request

The Mankato Free Press gives Tim Walz a thumbs up for requesting oversight hearings for the DM & E loan:

Thumbs up

To Congressman-elect Tim Walz for urging a House oversight committee to call hearings on the DM&E’s $2.3 billion federal loan application when the new Congress convenes.

Walz isn’t wasting any time bringing top issues of his district to the forefront. And he is being strategic about his plan as well. Walz, D-Mankato, has recruited a veteran member of the House Committee on Government Reform to ask committee chairman-designate Henry Waxman to hold the hearings on the taxpayer-financed loan. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., co-signed a letter with Walz that outlined concerns about the loan and asked that more public scrutiny be applied to the application process. The loan, if approved, would be the largest federal loan to a private company in U.S. history.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune had earmarked money for the $2.3 billion expansion loan in the 2005 federal transporation bill. The Republican senator had been a lobbyist for DM&E.

The DM&E expansion is an ongoing controversy in the 1st District, which includes Rochester and Mankato. When Thune tucked the loan money into the transportation bill, a lot of people shook their heads in disgust that taxpayers would be expected to finance the expansion.

Walz is pushing for long overdue scrutiny on the DM&E loan. We hope Waxman gives the Walz-Maloney memo the serious consideration that it deserves.

Austin Daily Herald: Walz on ag committee; briefed by Minnesota Project

While it's fairly old (though important) news that Tim Walz will be serving on the House Ag committee, the Austin Daily Herald adds a new piece to the picture in today's story Walz appointed to agriculture committee:

. . .As the year comes to an end, [Walz] has, of course, been preparing to take over the congressional seat, which is the fifth-largest producer of agricultural products in the nation.

Walz has been getting a lot of  advice, but one source may stand head and shoulders above others: The Minnesota Project.

Tim Gieseke, Minnesota Project agriculture and environmental policy specialist, briefed Walz's staff on agriculture's role in production resources and natural resource management.

With the 2007 Farm Bill on the horizon, Gieseke set goals for the far-reaching farm legislation to come.

They include:

- Agriculture and agribusiness accept the leadership role to develop environmental standards, resource assessment procedures, accountability indices and natural resource management goals.

- Agricultural Professionals obtain the knowledge, skills and abilities to deliver resource management plans in conjunction with their agronomic plans.

- Agriculture producers develop resource management plans either on their own or through their professional advisors.

- The value of Production and Natural Resource Management Plans is increased via financial incentives, regulatory protection, market-based conservation opportunities, and through providing a practical and efficient approach for the farmer to interact with all governmental conservation agency staff and programs.

That's Gieseke's gospel for the new congressman.

Now that the congressman is about to take office, he has food for thoughts about the 2007 Farm Bill from The Minnesota Project.

The Minnesota Project notes Gieseke's background:

Agricultural and Environmental Policy Specialist of The Minnesota Project where he has been employed since April, 2004. He most recently has been the manager at the Carver Soil & Water Conservation District in Waconia, MN developing conservation implementation programs for the diverse natural resources in Carver County that includes land uses ranging from dairy and crop farming, to rural residency and rapid urban development in the eastern portion of county. As an office holder in both the state and national employees associations, he was involved with the numerous efforts in developing state and national policies such as the USDA 2002 Farm Bill and MPCA NPDES Program. He has also served on the MEI’s Impaired Waters Stakeholders’ G40, MPCA Funding Option Workgroup, EQB’s Water Resource Committee, and as a BWSR Advisor for the MACDE. He holds a Masters degree in Environmental Sciences from Minnesota State University-Mankato and a BS in Biology. His wife and two sons reside at and operate a small and diversifying farming operation in Nicollet County.

Looks like another local kid done good.

We also think that the Minnesota Farmers Union will play an important role in advising Walz on ag policy, but then, that fact doesn't contradict the newspaper's report.

The MFU and the Minnesota Project have long enjoyed cordial relations, working together on projects like the Midwest Ag Energy Network.  The network recently hosted the Midwest Ag Energy Network Summit in St. Paul, which is still news in ag circles.  The Western Farm Press reported today:

With unprecedented unity, creativity and political will a congressmen, a senator, the Minnesota governor, farm groups, and environmental advocates joined together at the Midwest Ag Energy Conference to declare that it was time that Minnesota, the Midwest and the Nation embrace a twenty-first century energy system based on renewables like wind, solar, biomass and biofuels.

Democrat or Republican the reasons were compelling and urgent: We must achieve energy independence for national security, rural economic development opportunities, and to reduce global warming emissions.

“We knew that the people of the Midwest wanted action on renewable energy. Resoundingly and unanimously Governor Pawlenty and the Minnesota Legislature are ready to deliver clean renewable energy,” said Mark Lindquist, energy specialist for The Minnesota Project and organizer for the Midwest Ag Energy Network. “Again and again we heard that the future of energy for the nation starts here in Minnesota, the Midwest.”

Gov. Pawlenty (R-MN) announced his Next Generation Energy Initiative calling for more renewables, more efficiency and less carbon. Former CIA Director James Woolsey connected the dots between dollars spent on oil and dollars in the hands of active enemies of America. To begin to solve the terrorist problem we must cut off our addiction to foreign oil and expand production of clean domestic energy resources.

Senator-elect Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) called for swift action to facilitate the transition to domestic energy sources, and pledged to make it a top issue.

Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN-7), incoming chair of the House Agriculture Committee, pledged to work with Sen. Harkin (D-IA), incoming chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to strengthen energy provisions in the next farm bill through an open, transparent, and inclusive process. He expected passage by fall of 2007.

“There has been a real sea change right here, right now on renewable energy. It is clear that substantial advances will be made to increase renewable energy, increase energy efficiency and green building, and reduce global warming gases. This is great news,” said Lindquist.

Lakefield Standard: These are taxing times for everyone

Byron Kroeger, at the Lakefield Standard, writes that These are taxing times for everyone, some more than others. After reviewing the situation in Jackson County, he concludes with what we read as a call for a more progressive tax structure in Minnesota:

. . . I note what is happening right here in Jackson County...

The county board continues to investigate spending some $15 million on projects that offer no financial returns to the taxpayers. The school district was asking for millions, as well, I guess because the school board, administrators and teachers can’t make ends meet.

One can only imagine what the tax consequences would be if they all got their wish. I figure if they did I would be paying over $60 a month in property taxes, just on my little hovel in Lakefield.

So, what can we taxpayers do to stem the tide? I suppose we could start by continuing the trend that might have started with the November elections – let our representatives know we aren’t happy and if they refuse to take note they will lose their opportunity to represent us.

I think that the state should be the first target because they are withholding the funding to local governments causing an imbalance in the tax burden. By placing the tax burden on the property owners you remove the burden from the people and corporations who make the most money.

In other words, you not only make it more difficult for the average John Q. and Jane Public to own property, you also take away their ability to buy even the basic necessities of life. In other words, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Yes, I realize that you don’t want to put roadblocks in the way of the economy but what good does this do when more and more consumers get locked out of this economy?

No, it’s not an easy decision for our representatives to make but, gee whiz, why do you want to chase people out of our state? So the people who have the wherewithal to live comfortably can have it all to themselves?

I say it’s about time everyone in America comes to their senses. Our government types should pay more attention to the reality of the increasing number of people who can’t afford the high cost of living; business types should realize their businesses cannot survive without customers; and the taxpayers should speak a little louder so their deafened representatives can hear them more clearly.

Wake up America!

The mainstream media rarely broaches the subject of progressive and regressive tax structures, so we suggest you visit our friends at Across the Great Divide for more on this topic here,  and here.