A Bluestem Prairie

Walz statement: Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy to Spur Green Jobs and American Energy Independence

Another Walz congressional press release from earlier in the week, this time about the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act (see what loyal readers miss when we're tracking down whodunits):

"Americans clearly understand that when it comes to resolving the energy crisis, we are all in this together," said Walz. "With oil prices reaching another record high of $102 per barrel today and families paying $3.15 a gallon for gasoline, the time for action on renewable energy and American energy independence is now."

"This bill is good for our environment, good for our economy and good for our national security," said Walz. "Ending our dependence on foreign oil and using renewable energy to help fight global warming will make our nation stronger. And at a time when our economy is struggling, these investments will help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs."

The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act makes new investments that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, increase renewable electricity production, create jobs and protect our environment. The bill extends and expands tax incentives for renewable electricity, energy and fuel, as well as for plug-in hybrid cars, and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances. Additionally, the bill includes solar energy tax credits that could reduce carbon dioxide pollution by 240 million tons.

The new investments in wind, solar, geothermal and fuel cell technology will also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help strengthen the American economy. The Geothermal Energy Association estimates that the geothermal provisions alone could create tens of thousands of new jobs and stimulate tens of billions of dollars of new investment in geothermal energy production.

Additionally, the legislation approved today is fiscally responsible. It pays for renewable energy tax incentives by repealing $18 billion in unnecessary tax subsidies for big, multinational oil and gas companies. The vote comes shortly after the big five oil companies recently reported record profits for 2007, with ExxonMobil earning $40.6 billion * the largest corporate profit in American history. While oil companies have profited, consumers have felt the pinch. Today, a gallon of gasoline in Mankato, Minnesota costs $3.06.

"Every day, families across Minnesota are feeling the pain at the gas pump and home heating oil costs are skyrocketing. All the while, big oil companies are making billions of dollars and receiving handouts from the government. It simply isn't fair," added Rep. Walz. "We can do better by creating great jobs, protecting the environment and leveling the playing field for renewable energy by ending the tax breaks for big oil. This legislation almost seems too good to be true, but the good news is that this is a reality and today it will pass the House."

Read the details of the tax incentives below the fold.

Walz works to ensure quality oversight at VA

While the three Republican candidates have been squabbling in their quest to be able to be their party's nominee, Representative Walz has been in Washington D.C. doing his job.  One of his committee assignments is on the House Veterans Affairs committee. 

Here's a press release from his office about the congressman's efforts to adequately fund VA'swatchdog agency, the Office of the Inspector General:      

This week, Congressman Walz continued the fight to ensure quality care and oversight at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by pushing to adequately fund the VA's watchdog agency known as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Walz, who organized the effort with the support of several of his House colleagues, said that the VA OIG monitors VA spending and contracts to make sure the taxpayers' money is being spent wisely. The OIG also evaluates VA clinics and reports any substandard care.

Walz and his colleagues sent a bipartisan letter to the Chairman of the Budget Committee, asking him to reject the budget cuts requested by the Bush Administration for the VA OIG.

"Last year, the Democratic-led Congress increased the budget for the VA's watchdog and in doing so, expanded its oversight and ability to protect our veterans," said Walz, a 24 year veteran of the National Guard. "This year, the President's budget request asked Congress to cut employees from the VA's watchdog office and reduce its ability to stop fraud and waste at the VA. That's unacceptable."

Walz said that the VA OIG provides a return of $11 for every $1 invested. By reviewing contracts between the VA and private businesses hired to assist our veterans, the OIG ensures that veterans are receiving the highest level of care from these contractors.

At a Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee hearing on January 29, representatives from the VA OIG testified that with more funding, their office would be able to more effectively evaluate the quality of care at VA facilities across the country. In short, the experts said, increased funding for the OIG would improve care at the VA, which all veterans deserve.

Walz concluded, "It makes no sense to cut funds from an office that both saves the government money and protects America's veterans. Our soldiers served this country with honor and distinction. We owe them nothing less than the highest quality care and the Office of the Inspector General is a key player in making sure that happens."

It's a Gesing game: Davis hires Iowa-based consulting firm

We noticed today that Monday's Post Bulletin article, Republicans hope to regain 1st District seat, that a photo is captioned:

"Melissa Gesing of Iowa, left, a campaign representative for Brian Davis, discusses politics with Lera Eggenberger of Marion Township during the Olmsted County Republican Convention on Saturday at Byron Middle School."

We googled her name and found this bio on the Victory Enterprises (headquarters Davenport, Iowa) website:

"Melissa Gesing has been with VE since September 2006. Melissa graduated from Simpson College in 2001 with a B.A. in Political Science. Melissa has worked for Elizabeth Dole for President (1999), Sukup for Governor (2001-2002), Thompson for Congress (2002), and the Republican Party of Iowa (2003-2004)."

Gesing has also served as a regional field coordinator for the Republican Party of Iowa and has been active in the Scott County (IA) Republican Women.

According to the disbursements in Brian Davis's FEC reports, the Davis campaign paid Victory Enterprises $37,766.01 for GOTV consulting and campaign literature.

Now, we definitely are not among those who object to out-of-state consultants being hired to work on campaigns in Minnesota. 

Instead, we think a look at the track record and style of consultants--wherever they are based--can help observers understand and perhaps even predict the shape of the campaigns and the contest ahead. What is the track record for Victory Enterprises?

We've heard in answers to inquiries that the firm enjoys a good reputation in Iowa. Using Nexis-Lexis to pull up Campaigns and Elections win-loss records after recent elections, we found that Victory has a fairly decent record with promoting school levies and other local efforts in Iowa (not to be sniffed at, as anyone who has ever worked to get one passed will tell you), but a somewhat less than stellar record in getting its House candidates sent to Washington D.C.

Take a very recent example of a congressional primary in Illinois. Victory Enterprises was recently engaged by Jim McConoughey, a Peoria-area business umbrella group executive who was making his first political big for the open seat in the Republican leaning IL-18.  The firm's polling methods were called into question by the campaign coordinator for the eventual winner, Aaron Schock, after the campaign's polling indicated "a reasonably open three-way race."  Schock crushed his rivals in this month's primary, taking the contest by 71 percent, according to CQ Politics. 

Area media also looked at questions of Negative Ads Or Not and Dirty Campaigning? in the race. It's not possible from this distance to discern anything other than the usual campaign-as-usual accusations.

The firm appears to be most active in Iowa. Steve Grubbs, its founder, was a strategist for the Tommy Thompson's presidential campaign. In a press release that Grubbs released in January 2007 for Thompson's bid, he described himself:

Bob Dole’s state co-chairman in 1996, Chairman of  the Iowa GOP 1997-98, and state representative 1990-96. Grubbs will serve  as a consultant to the exploratory committee.

CNN reported in 1999 that Grubbs had signed on as Steve Forbes's point man for the 2000 Iowa Caucuses. George W. Bush won the 2000 Iowa caucus, though Forbes, a billionaire businessman making his first attempt at office, polled a respectable 30 percent to Bush's 41 percent.

The firm has also been subject to two complaints to the FEC for violating rules against coordination. The complaints were investigated and dismissed, but reveal creative approach to campaign and commercial advertising. 

Learn more about the dismissed cases below the fold.

This just in: Another GOP smear job emerges in New Mexico's First

The plot thickens in the whodunit of the anti-Demmer smear job. A friend just sent us a link to a post at f-Brilliant, New Mexico reporter Dennis Domrzalski's blog.  In Republican Party Smear Jobs, Domrzalski writes:

. . .The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is checking out allegations that state Sen. Joe Carraro, an Albuquerque Republican, was threatened with a vicious smear campaign—including threats bring up and 20-year-divorce case and attempts to embarrass his children—if he went through with his decision to seek his party’s nomination for the First Congressional District seat.

The AG’s office is analyzing information to see if it warrants a full-blown investigation, said office spokesman Phil Sisneros.

“He (Carraro) has talked to the Attorney General about his concerns and his concerns have gone into the hopper,” Sisneros said. “The usual process is that we determine if there is something actionable, if there is something we can do. It is an analysis of the information. It was just last week that we spoke to the senator.”

Carraro, who says the threats amount to extortion, has also taken the allegations to the FBI. He says the feds should be involved because some of the threats involved a former state Republican Party official who now works in Texas.

“These people should be in jail the way they’re threatening people,” Carraro said. . . .

Is this an isolated case, or the way politics gets played in today's Republican Party? We can't tell, but the pattern certainly looks familiar.

Mediawatch: KTTC stumbles on basic reporting in Demmer

We paused at this reportage from KTTC in the case of the anti-Demmer smear:

"Could it mean that Demmer is a serious threat to Congressman Walz's campaign?
 
Demmer responds, "When your opponents work very very hard to try to find a way to get you out, I suppose you cold take that as a sign that they don't want you in. And maybe the reason they don't want me in is because maybe they feel threatened. That's probably a fair characterization."
 
Demmer says he hopes to avoid issues that were settled 13 years ago, and move toward issues that need to be settled today."

Either KTTC has completely stumbled in reporting the basic facts, or Demmer has been on the receiving end of a severe "come-to-Jesus" lecture about the GOP's Eleventh Commandment. It's amazing what two days will do.

KTTC-TV's take--or Demmer's spin--is considerably different than the way the three-term Representative talked about the threats to the Post Bulletin on Tuesday.  The story that appeared on Wednesday morning:

Demmer said he suspects the effort originates in Republican circles, because he's not even the endorsed candidate to oppose Democrat Walz yet. He said he received a call from a Republican in Washington, an apparent ally, who had received a package with the information and called to warn him.

And the station also reports: 

Whoever did it sent a copy of the lawsuit to the Rochester Post-Bulletin which printed an article about it this week.

Well, no, that's not what happened, so far as we can tell from reading the Post Bulletin.  The paper reported:

. .On Monday, the Post-Bulletin received an anonymous telephone tip with information about the sexual harassment suit filed in U.S. District Court against Demmer, the three NAPA Auto Parts stores he then owned and a store manager in 1995. The paper also received an anonymous e-mail on the subject. . . .

Indeed, when readers open the Post Bulletin's pdf of the lawsuit that's posted on the paper's web site, the document's heading indicates that it was obtained--probably faxed--from the Dodge County Court on Feb.27. It appears that the paper was tipped, but obtained the copy of the lawsuit own its own after the slimester contacted it. We are contacting Matt Stolle to verify this sequence of events. It corresponds to what we were told by the Dodge County Court administrator.

Today's editorial in the Post Bulletin repeats Demmer's suspicion of the intra-party smear:

It's an ugly story of harassment, complete with threatening phone calls, hints of blackmail and shattered trust. People who read the description of what happened can't help but recoil at the overall sliminess of the whole incident.

No, we're not talking about the allegations of sexual harassment that were filed against Rep. Randy Demmer more than 11 years ago. Rather, we're disgusted by the way someone or a group of people -- fellow Republicans, according to Demmer -- tried to use that long-settled lawsuit to force him from the race for the GOP's 1st District nomination.

The Post Bulletin editorial gets it right in the editorial 1st District GOP race takes nasty turn.

Update: We have contacted KTTC-TV reporter Chris Hrapsky to see if Demmer has indeed changed his story since being interviewed by the Post Bulletin. If so, that change is a major shift on Demmer's part and we'd be curious to learn why.[end first update]

Second update: KTTC's Reporter Chris Hrapsky responses and with his permission, we're posting it below.

The questions that I wrote in the article are the questions I asked in the report, and if you click on the video link you can actually see me ask those questions and get his quoted response.

Demmer said what he said, but he really didn’t want to speculate, to me, who was behind the attack.  That quote came out of his mouth.  By opponent, I’m not sure who he was talking about.  He never suggested that it was from Congressman Walz . . . he just said the threat was being passed through an intermediary Republican buffer in  Washington . I’m sure in any race of this magnitude you can have opponents from both sides of the aisle. 

It was not my intention to edit in any sort of subjective way, for that would be unethical.  But Rep. Demmer simply stressed the fact that he wanted to meet these threats head on and wanted to move toward real issues affecting people in this district.

Thanks for the email!
Chris Hrapsky

[end update]

Evening news digest: counting small-boned bodies edition

The Pioneer Press reports that Robert Bly is state's first poet laureate. We take our title tonight from one of his most famous poems, from the Vietnam War era.

It's the Festival of Owls this weekend in Houston, according to the Winona Daily News.

The Albert Lea Tribune's acting publisher writes that Knocking down snowmen is no funny matter. We agree.

The New Ulm Journal praises The Transportation 6, while the Owatonna People's Press gives Senator Day Kudos to his decision to skip the endorsement and go straight to the primary. The editorial board scolds the GOP:

. . . But what southern Minnesota's Republicans are doing and what they ought to do are two very different things. They ought to recruit and support candidates who have the best chance of representing their views in office. Instead, they are throwing a political tantrum because one candidate had the audacity to suggest that voters, not just a few party insiders, should have a say in an election. . . .

The Rochester Post Bulletin reported on a meeting where Flood victims try to get answers. Walz staff members were there.

In a letter to the Cottonwood County Citizen, Richard Peterson writes that Hamilton's transportation vote took courage. A DFLer, Peterson opposed Hamilton in the race for House 22B in 2004 and 2006.

Transportation of another mode is an issue on the Mississippi River, according to the Winona Daily News in Delta Queen future still in balance; Walz puts support behind exemption.

The Worthington Daily Globe reports ICE pays Worthington another visit.  This time it's a search for specific individuals, rather than a sweep through the Swift hog plant..

Finally, a YouTube of  Tim Walz and George Miller discussing textbook prices on the House floor earlier this month. The amendnment under debate was part of the College Opportunity & Affordability Act.

Factcheck.org: Fear and false claims in television ad

On Newsweek's website, Viveca Novak of Factcheck.org presents an extensive analysis of the Defense of Democracy ad that's been playing in heavy rotation on the First District's television station. In the summary to  Playing the terrorism card, a GOP-linked group twists facts about a controversial electronic surveillance bill, Novak writes:

Summary             

A widely-seen ad pushes a White House-backed bill that would make it easier for the government to wiretap Americans. It also would give retroactive legal immunity to telecom companies that cooperated with Bush's secret, post-9/11 warrantless wiretapping program.

Sponsored by Defense of Democracies, a group with GOP connections, the ad  takes the House to task for not passing the bill, as the Senate has. The ad appeals to fear, with its image of Osama bin Laden and similar ploys. But we find that it also makes several misleading claims.

Specifically, the ad says that:

    * "The law" allowing government eavesdroppers to intercept al Qaeda communications has expired. But the main, 30-year-old law that lets them listen in, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is still on the books. It's a law amending FISA, making it easier for intelligence-gatherers to eavesdrop on communications that might include Americans, that has expired.

    * "[T]he House refuses to vote" to replace the lapsed law. Actually, the House passed its own version of the legislation months ago. The House and Senate are now in conference to resolve the differences in their bills, which is the normal legislative process.

    * "[N]ew surveillance against terrorists is crippled." The administration has admitted that surveillance authorized under the expired bill will extend at least into August. It has also admitted that when a new member of a known terrorist organization is discovered, that person can be surveilled via authorizations granted under the expired law. And at any rate, FISA itself hasn't expired, and any time the government has strong evidence that someone is a member of a terrorist organization, it can still get a court order to eavesdrop on that person.

Go read the entire four web-page article. Its detailed analysis confirms the reaction Southern Minnesotans have had to the fear-mongering.

                                                           

Dodge County Court: No deposition by Randy Demmer in court files

This morning, we looked into a troubling element in the unfolding story of the use of a decade old lawsuit to smear Randy Demmer, who is one of three candidates seeking the Republican endorsement to run against Congressman Tim Walz.

We just got off the phone with the court administrator at the Dodge County Courthouse.  At our request, she had examined the files in DESIREE PETERSON et al. vs. HAYFIELD PARTS DEPOT, INC., A MINNESOTA CORPORATION et al. (Case No. 20-C3-96-000115).

No deposition by Randy Demmer is in the case files at the Dodge County Courthouse.

Her perusal of the files confirmed our lawyer friend's hunch. We posted about this in the morning:

After looking over the list of court documents online and reading comments at MDE, an attorney we know emailed an interesting observation: a commenter quotes from Demmer's deposition in the case and yet no deposition from Demmer is listed among the court documents.

Our legal eagle said that unless a document is listed in the court records, it's not a part of the public record and thus only the parties to the lawsuit and their attorneys would have access to the documents. They might pass these documents on others, although the attorneys would risk being disbarred for doing so.

The call also revealed that no one who works the public seeking case files can remember anyone seeking a copy of the lawsuit within recent memory---before this week, when the newspapers and new media began following up on the anonymous tipster's suggestion to look at the lawsuit.

The list of records--but not the documents themselves--are available online to anyone with a computer, Internet connection and Internet Explorer browser who agrees to the terms of access.

Thus this sliver of the mystery deepens.  Who is posting text that is purporting to be in Demmer's deposition at MDE and the Rochester Post Bulletin? Is the text authentic? If so, how did the individual posting obtain a document that is NOT part of the public record of the lawsuit?

Is this malicious individual in any way connected to the threatening phone call to a Republican ally of Demmer in Washington DC--the call that warned Demmer to drop out or face dissemination of the lawsuit's contents?

Now, we cannot tell Michael Brodkorb nor the Post Bulletin how to handle the user information they have at their disposal since the person or people posting would leave some sort of tracks. IP addresses, that sort of thing.  Unless someone is fairly good at masking his or her identity online, this information might be used to trace the identity or at very least the location of the commenter.

Brodkorb and the Post Bulletin might consider conducting a bit of joint IT forensics in order to discover the identity and location of the individual or individuals who are claiming knowledge of the contents of the deposition.

That individual or individuals may not be connected with the original threats made to Randy Demmer and his campaign. However, it is clear that this individual or individual is acting to harm Representative Demmer's reputation.

It is just plain ethically wrong to do so. Whether it is legal depends upon the relationship of the unknown scoundrel to the court.

We have placed the comments from MDE and the Post Bulletin that make claims about the contents of the deposition beneath the fold.  We want to stress that this is for reference purposes only.  Since the alledged deposition is not in the public record (according to the court administrator) we have no way of knowing whether the text is accurate or that Demmer was deposed at all.

Opinion in the First: fear and anger shouldn't drive debates

Newsweek's look at Scare Tactics gets a write up at the Post Bulletin's Political Party blog today in the post Fear-mongering in the 1st District. The judgement?:

"If you've seen the ads, you might agree with Walz's press secretary that they're fear-mongering cheap shots, trivializing an issue on which patriotic people on both sides of the issue can reasonably disagree."

The Mankato Free Press editorial board decides Immigration not the issue in bus crash, rejecting attempts to use emotional appeals to sway the debate on immigration:

It was an unfortunate contribution to an already awful tragedy when it was revealed that the driver of a vehicle that slammed into a school bus, resulting in the deaths of four children, is an apparent illegal alien.

Added to the grief was anger, fanning an already divisive immigration debate. . .

. . .As for the woman in the center of the storm, she is now a reference point for those who argue she represents a more compelling argument for the state to seek a more aggressive solution to the illegal immigration problem. The bus incident does serve to remind us that undocumented aliens pose a variety of risks. How many drive without licenses? How do we measure the impact on communities as illegals resort, essentially, to living underground — avoiding contact with authorities, mistrusting them and many of their neighbors to hide their illegal status?

Most do their best to fit in and become valued members of the towns they live in. But as some among them avoid the responsibilities of citizenship (continually aware that they are not, after all, citizens), how do they increase the chance that an incident of the type that occurred near Cottonwood last week, can occur?

These are hard issues to quantify.

Perhaps we should refrain from even attempting to tie the bus-van accident to immigration issues at all. There are enough bad drivers in this state for us to know that they come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, legal status and levels of sobriety. Bad driving is no respecter of persons, on either the giving or receiving end — as we were reminded again last week.

Read the entire editorial at the Free Press.

Sadly, there are people living in the district who began to tie the bus crash firmly to the debate over immigration policy rather rapidly. Take Ruthie Hendrycks,  the leader of Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform, an incorporated association that's a subchapter of the Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction.

Before the children were mourned and laid to rest, Hendrycks, a candidate for the GOP endorsement in Minnesota House District 21B,  was already working to organize a rally exploiting the tragedy. From a posting on Saturday, February 23:

NEVER FORGET THE COTTONWOOD FOUR

Members - MINNSIR will be taking a leading role in educating the public to the  "Human Costs"  of illegal immigration and this tragedy. We are also working with other organizations on this horrific, PREVENTABLE and senseless crime.

In rememberance.............

Hunter Javens, Jessie Javens, Emilee Olson, Reed Stevens

A rally in the wake of this tragedy is being planned.

MINNSIR will be working in coordination with another group on this rally and information will be provided when all details are arranged. - Please plan to attend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can only hope that Republican activists in HD 21B have the good hearts and good sense to reject this style of "leadership."

UPDATE: At the Minnesota Monitor, Steve Perry listens to The sound of two jaws flapping: Bachmann and O'Reilly on the scourge of criminal aliens.  The article concludes with the notice of an interesting study:

Bachmann and O'Reilly's fevered vision of marauding illegals committing crimes and endangering public safety all across the country stands in stark contrast to the findings of a study released this week by the Public Policy Institute of California. In culling through arrest and incarceration statistics from the state, the authors found that immigrants were far less likely to commit crimes than native-born residents.

"For example," they write in the study abstract, "among men ages 18-40 - the age group most likely to commit crime - the U.S.-born are 10 times more likely than the foreign-born to be in jail or prison. Even among noncitizen men from Mexico ages 18-40 - a group disproportionately likely to have entered the United States illegally - the authors find very low rates of institutionalization. Such findings suggest that longstanding fears of immigration as a threat to public safety are unjustified."

Read the PPIC study.

Read reactions to the PPIC study (Reuters). 

Minnesota State Senate fires MNDot commissioner Molnau

One of today's distractions has been the debate over the confirmation of Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau in her role as the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The body just failed to confirm her in a straight party-line vote of 22-44. Jeff Fecke has the live blog at the Moderate Left and Zack at MNPublius.

Senator Day made a rather remarkable floor speech about not seeing any crumbling infrastructure as he drove around the state. Then he spoke again about transportation being underfunded. We'll have more on this when we can review the video.

Over at Flash's place, the moderate made the case to Save Molnau.

And then it was on with business in the button-down State Senate.

Post Bulletin posts Demmer complaint and letter

We're slowly working through the district newspapers this morning as well as attending to other business. In the meantime, a bit of reading material.

The Post Bulletin has had some of the court documents in the old lawsuit against Demmer faxed to the newspaper and posted them here in a pdf file.  This is the first appearance the court documents online, as no bloggers, right or left, had yet posted them.

Although we haven't had any contact with the parties or attorneys in the lawsuit, we're inclined to accept Demmer's explanations about it. The suit was settled out of court, with the plaintiffs accepting very small settlements compared to the damages requested.  In our non-legally educated opinion, had the merits of  the case been stronger, we doubt the accusers would have settled for so much less.

Again, we think the story here is the whodunit: Who contacted Demmer's Republican ally in Washington DC to make the threat? Who tipped off the Post Bulletin and--presuming it was the same individual or group of individuals--MNPublius?

Update: Here's what Matt at MNPublius has posted about their source in the comments section:

. . .I assure you that the informant is entirely benign. This information has been circulating around in the 1st district since Monday (and some have known about it for longer, as Bluestem Prairie pointed out). The guy who sent it to us was one of many who had become conscious of the story since the dirt was kicked up. The real question is who originally kicked the dirt up…[end update]

After looking over the list of court documents online and reading comments at MDE, an attorney we know emailed an interesting observation: a commenter quotes from Demmer's deposition in the case and yet no deposition from Demmer is listed among the court documents. 

Our legal eagle said that unless a document is listed in the court records, it's not a part of the public record and thus only the parties to the lawsuit and their attorneys would have access to the documents. They might pass these documents on others, although the attorneys would risk being disbarred for doing so.

The Dodge County Court administrator confirmed that information and added that usually depositions are identified as such in the public access records.  She is checking to see if a Demmer deposition is indeed somewhere in the case files.

We asked if anyone had been to the courthouse (or contacted the court) about the lawsuit in the recent past, before the news stories broke in the Post Bulletin. She did not recall any interest in the case before this week's press requests, but is asking if anyone who works with the public accessing the records remembers recent interest in the lawsuit.

If not through the court itself, how might this smear's perp obtain detailed knowledge of the case? A curious question indeed.

We're not inclined to believe it was someone working alone who was involved in the lawsuit and had nursed a grudge against Demmer, for how would that person know who to contact among Washington Republican insiders?  Perhaps Demmer might name the person who took the original threatening phone call--having his or her account directly might help track the source down.

From Newsweek to CubeZoo: Scare Tactics

Just like the annoying "Defense of Democracies" fear-mongering ad that had played in heavy rotation on the First's television stations, the story of its sponsor and its motives keep going and going.  About an hour ago, Newsweek's weekly Terror Watch column wrote up the story in Scare Tactics? Are White House allies playing election-year hardball on eavesdropping?  A piece of the column:

. . .The group, run by Clifford May, a former communications director of the Republican National Committee, has not disclosed the names of its donors. May told NEWSWEEK that he launched the campaign for the express purpose of ratcheting up pressure on House Democrats. (The ads call on voters to contact specific Democratic members and demand that they vote "to keep us all safe.") "I think it's important for Democrats to hear from their constituents on this issue," May said. "This is a national security issue."

Democrats complain that the administration is trying to politicize the electronic surveillance issue and use it for partisan advantage this fall. "If you look at these ads, they are not too different from the ads they ran against Max Cleland in 2002," said Meredith Salsbery, press secretary to Minnesota Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, whose district has been targeted in the advertising campaign. (Those notorious ads impugned the patriotism and national security credentials of the Democratic senator from Georgia, a Vietnam veteran and triple amputee who wound up losing his re-election bid.) "To a lot of our constituents, these ads look like fear-mongering and scare tactics designed to persuade the public that the Democrats are soft on national security."

While we don't quite see so close a comparison with the old ad, the new one does utilize an unjustified appeal to emotion, with fear being the sole emotion played upon.  We hearing that our reaction of disgust is pretty widespread.

Take GeistX's response in Rochester at CubeZoo:

. . .In politics, last night KTTC ran a commercial, and I really wish I could remember the name of the organization that paid for this, it had one of those innocent sounding names, yet the organization is pure evil type things like Americans for a Democratic Society.

UPDATE:  Found it, the group is 'Defense of Democracies'. Here is the FUD ad. WARNING, this ad contains Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt as well as unhealthy amounts of Jingoism with no facts. . . .

. . .The commercial is a FUD piece saying the Senate had shown true leadership and concern for the safety of this country by voting FOR the new FISA bill (which is the bill the Bush Administration wants that include Telecom immunity), while the House ducked its responsibility and went on vacation. It showed a whole bunch of scary images and pro-American jingoism, terrorist bad bullshit common in these times thanks to the Bush Adminisration. The end put up Tim Walz's picture and contact information (which isn't on the YouTube version, and must have been added regionally for each member of Congress targeted) and urged people to call him and tell him to vote YES for security! Vote FOR the FISA bill (now with new and improved Telecom Immunity!). I won't go into why this ad is wrong on so many levels, as it makes me so enraged I get even more incoherent. But sufficed to say, the new FISA bill will not make us safer, the old FISA legislation (which had been updated) protects us and our civil liberties by requiring judicial oversight and review (even after the fact if time of the essence) and the new bill weakens civil liberties and expands the power of the Administrative Branch by weakening the checks and balances. The fact this ad could give no facts and only provide push-button emotional rhetoric should illustrate why everyone when they see something like this should, in the words of Buffalo Springfield, 'there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear...stop children, what's the sound? Everybody look whats goin down...'

Go over to CubeZoo, watch the ad, and let GeistX know your response while the Buffalo Springfield classic plays. Then, if you're one of Walz's constituents, call his office and tell him what you think about the ad, too.

We did catch an error of fact in the Newsweek column. It noted that Democratic board member "resignations were first reported by Spencer Ackerman in the Washington Independent."  That article--which is very fine--was posted today.

Not quite first place. On Monday, Bluestem reported a tip from the ACLU about Eliot Engle's resignation, and moments later, Matt Stoller at Open Left was first to report Charles Shumer's departure from the board and to post Donna Brazile's statement condemning the ad and removing herself from the board.

 

Corner House Comments: the posts we hoped to write

What with the breaking elephant fight today,  we didn't get around to writing about the local response to the veto down in the Southwestern corner of Minnesota. Fortunately, Corner House Comments is on it, writing a couple of posts. In Fixing roads, putting people to work, CHC concludes:

The Daily Globe also opines about the tactics the Minnesota GOP is using on the members of their party who voted in favor of addressing our infrastructure needs. In Party Presure Pressures, the dilemma facing Rep. Rod Hamilton(R) is discussed. Here is the last paragraph from the Daily Globe editorial:

It should trouble all of us when parties attempt to hold elected officials hostage, thereby making it increasingly difficult for them to do the job they’re supposed to be doing — serving the people who elected them. Why do we elect representatives in the first place, then?

Rod Hamilton voted to override the Governor's veto. The reward for people in his district? Work on Highway 60, which is crumbling. The reward for Hamilton? Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Monitor has the story in Six moderates out, six conservatives in: GOP changes leadership in wake of override vote.

Yesterday, CHC wrote Independent in Marshall has different view than Seifert.

Photo credit: MnDOT.

Post Bulletin: Randy Demmer defends his honor

The paper provides more information about the sneak attack in Demmer goes on offensive to defend his name Demmer: Dredged up lawsuit is simply dirty politics (the PB changed the headline; corrected to reflect that):

A couple weeks ago, state Rep. Randy Demmer received an ominous call. It was a warning, delivered through an intermediary from Washington, D.C.: Drop your candidacy for U.S. Congress or information about a sexual harassment lawsuit settled a decade ago would be dredged up to damage your campaign.

On Tuesday, Demmer, a three-term state representative from Hayfield, decided to deal preemptively with the threat by going public, telling his story to the Post-Bulletin. He also has sent out hundreds of letters to the delegates and alternates who will endorse a Republican candidate to run against 1st District Rep. Tim Walz.. . .

. . .On Monday, the Post-Bulletin received an anonymous telephone tip with information about the sexual harassment suit filed in U.S. District Court against Demmer, the three NAPA Auto Parts stores he then owned and a store manager in 1995. The paper also received an anonymous e-mail on the subject. . . .

Despite a comment in the Post, this doesn't look like a story driven by Demmer's Democratic opponents, but rather an internal partisan battle. After all, there would have been no incentive for the DFL to ask Demmer to drop out before the Republican endorsing convention at the end of March.

We had received notice last night that the material was being brought forward, but we didn't know--and still don't know--who used Representative Demmer's Washington D.C. contact to try to coerce him into dropping out.

Perhaps the Post Bulletin or Randy Demmer might be willing to share the identity of the Beltway middle man in the interest of discovering who exactly is playing hardball here. 

In the other article today about the attempted smear, Demmer does make an educated guess about the source:

Demmer said he suspects the effort originates in Republican circles, because he's not even the endorsed candidate to oppose Democrat Walz yet. He said he received a call from a Republican in Washington, an apparent ally, who had received a package with the information and called to warn him.

Update: MnPublius revisits the story in a post about the intra-party fight. Whodunit?

Second update: Welcome to those readers who are coming to this site via the links our kind friend Flash provided in the comments section of another site.

While that site's owner is frantically trying to make the pressure put on Rep. Demmer to somehow be the fault of lefty bloggers at MnPublius, a brief consideration of how the Stolle articles were investigated and published demonstrate how foolish this spin is.

Mr. Stolle most likely began researching the story no later than Monday, when the unknown cad placed a cowardly and anonymous call and sent an anonymous email to the Post Bulletin. The reporter contacted the Demmer campaign, which has demonstrated sound judgment and went on the defensive. Stolle interviewed Demmer on Tuesday and Demmer sent out his response that day as well. We're willing to bet that his campaign had been preparing that response since the first contact via Washington D.C.

Given the Post Bulletin's publication schedule, it's likely that Stolle handed in the story before the MNPublius write-up was posted.

BSP learned very late Tuesday night that material about the lawsuits would be forthcoming, but we were not among those contacted by the person or persons distributing the smear. Had we been so contacted, we would have directed our research abilities toward discerning their identity.

This story isn't about bloggers. Having researched sexual harassment law and policy making for clients back in the time of the lawsuit, we don't think the lawsuit is the real story here, either. Rather, it's the discovery of the identity of the individual or individuals who set the ball rolling with the contact in Washington several weeks ago. Is that the same person who contacted the Post Bulletin on Monday and the bloggers at MnPublius as well? Since the dirty trickster didn't contact us, we don't know.

We do not know how MnPublius got wind of the story, but we think it safe to say now that they, too, are probably looking to discover who sent this material to them. 

Crooks And Liars: more on the attack ads

Another popular blog get on the case of the ads running in the First. Crooks and Liars is the latest with “Defense of Democracies” Fear-Mongering Attack Ads Targeting Freshman Democrats. Video available and some more analysis.

Closer to home, Jim Klobuchar looks into the ads at Vox Verax. The group blog is headquartered in Mankato. Out on the Coast, Robert Cruickshank at the Courage Campaign writes FISA update - will the House fold or stand?

Brian Davis: is there a rat in the GOP's kitchen?

Update: Demmer tells his side of the story in today's Rochester Post Bulletin. He's not pointing any fingers, but we are speculating.  Demmer does suggest a general direction for the source of the attacks:

"Demmer said he suspects the effort originates in Republican circles, because he's not even the endorsed candidate to oppose Democrat Walz yet. He said he received a call from a Republican in Washington, an apparent ally, who had received a package...."[end update]

One of our favorite songs by the 1980s UK reggae band UB40 is "Rat in Mi Kitchen." For a few weeks, we've been thinking of GOP candidate Brian Davis whenever we hear these lyrics shuffled up by our iPod:

There`s a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?
There`s a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna go?
I`m gonna fix that rat thats what i`m gonna do,
I`m gonna fix that rat.

When you open your mouth you don`t talk, you shout
And you give every body the blame,
But when they catch you up,
They will shut you up
And you got no one to blame

We had noticed that Davis tended to send us disparaging things about his rivals for the GOP endorsement--most recently calling our attention to Day's coming absence at the candidate debate at Rochester Mayo High. As it turned out, Senator Day was with his family welcoming an adopted grandchild to this country.

Now, like several of Minnesota's lefty bloggers, most noticeably the Wege, we were raised in Republican households. And one vestige of that upbringing in Southern Minnesota is to look askance at those Republicans who run to the other side with reports of ill doing on behalf of members of their own party. It's rather the way we feel about Democrats who pass information on to MDE.

Thus was that we were not surprised to read the post today at MnPublius, Exclusive: Randy Demmer Sued.  We had known about the lawsuits--a federal case filed in 1995 but dismissed before it was re-refiled in the Dodge County Courts in 1996.  It's old stuff and not material that makes Demmer look like a monster. He isn't.

And in our educated judgement, it's likely  being spread now by none other than Brian Davis or his allies in his attempt to gain the nomination to run against Tim Walz. [Update:] perhaps Day could be doing this, but it doesn't strike us as his M.O. As one commenter posts at MNPublius:

This is the type of crap you get when a candidate hires a guy like Brad Biers to be his campaign manager. To me, this type of politics says more about the judgement of one of Demmer’s opponents than it does about Demmer. [end update]

It strikes us as the latest effort to twist a situation to Davis' advantage--a twisting that repeatedly happens with a certain recklessness toward the facts.  Thus we have seen Davis exploit an important milestone in the Day family and--perhaps--a decade old lawsuit against Demmer.

Against Walz?  Davis continues to claim that Walz was silent about the MoveOn ad attacking General Petraeus, despite the fact that Walz was one of the first members of Congress to criticize MoveOn's actions--on Fox Radio on September 10, no less.

Why these sleaze tactics would make anyone inclined to support Dr. Davis--especially his fellow Republicans--is somewhat beyond our understanding. Why their use would impress any voter of any party to cast a ballot for Davis is equally baffling.

We don't know if Demmer or Davis tipped off a lefty blogger about the lawsuits. But the story isn't the lawsuits: it's the  strong possibility of Davis' dirty campaigning--while publicly claiming victimization at the county convention last weekend.

PDf of the federal docket here: FederalDocket-95-0092.pdf 

Update: another Post Bulletin article about the lawsuit: Demmer: Dredged up lawsuit is simply dirty politics.

Washington Independent: your tax dollars at work at FDD?

The Minnesota Monitor's Beltway affiliate, The Washington Independent, picks up on the unfolding story behind the Defense of Democracies ad in 'Bipartisan' Think Tank Attacks Democrats. Spencer Ackerman writes:

A neo-conservative but ostensibly bipartisan counterterrorism think tank has lost all its Democratic board members by running an attack ad in Democratic congressional districts through an affiliated enterprise.

The think tank, called the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is a 501(c )3 -- meaning it was incorporated as a non-profit and non-partisan organization, barred from political activity. Last week, it established Defense of Democracies, a 501(c )4 "non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization," that ran an advertisement urging the House of Representatives to pass the Senate's version of a bill providing retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that collaborated with the Bush administration's constellation of warrantless surveillance programs. The arrangement is probably legal, experts say, but the parent think tank receives several grants from the State Department -- at least one is worth $487,000 -- for democracy-promotion programs, making its political activities questionable.

On Friday, Defense of Democracies ran an ad in 15 congressional districts that erroneously stated, "the law that lets intelligence agencies intercept Al Qaeda communications expire[d]." In fact, the intelligence community has the authority to intercept Al Qaeda communications under other laws; the expired Protect America Act allowed the National Security Agency to intercept communications between any two persons of interest to a foreign intelligence investigation, even including U.S. citizens, without a warrant. Featuring ominous music, it showed a picture of Osama bin Laden before saying -- again erroneously, according to members of the intelligence community -- "new surveillance is crippled." In the 15 districts, Defense of Democracies got specific about what it wanted. In one of them, for instance: "Tell Tim Walz that Congress must do its job and pass the Senate's terrorist surveillance bill."

The citizens of Minnesota's First Congressional district already have a means to promote democracy. It is called an election.  We hope that the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies--and the taxpayer-funded grants it receives--butts out.  Go read the details at MinMon.

We at BSP have had to watch the attack ad on Walz air repeatedly on KEYC-TV 12. To the station's credit, it ran Congressman Walz Strikes Back, a news story about Walz's pushback.  Our more ambitious readers might consider contacting Defense of Democracies to share a piece of the District's views about the ad.

Help Firedoglake's email campaign push back against the spin machine

In Prominent Liberal Blogger Takes on the AP, CQ Politics Ground Game's Eric Pfeiffer covers Jane Hamsher's heavy lifting over at Firedoglake:

Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher has launched an email campaign directed to local and national newspapers against the Associated Press' Nedra Pickler, for her recent story documenting conservative attacks questioning Barack Obama's patriotism.

Pfieffer observes that Hamsher isn't the first to pay attention to Pickler's kneepadding for the right-wing spin machine. Whatever on that. We suspect that Hamsher's drive to enlist readers in policing the AP may prove to be more efficacious than earlier efforts.

Hamsher suggests to her readers:

It's incredible that a news source which purports to be legitimate would embrace and perpetuate this kind of stuff; common sense dictates that it should stay where it was birthed, in the right wing sewer. Nevertheless, we're in a rather fluid time, when the boundaries are being established about what is going to be regarded as acceptable for the rest of the race, so it's time to come down hard and set the limits. What Pickler did is out of bounds. 

Aravosis:

AP knows damn well that Obama doesn't hate America. This isn't a he-said-she-said. It's a case where AP is genuflecting to the Republicans and regurgitating their crap in a way Pickler and her fellow reporters wouldn't dare do if the victim were Republican.

As Glenn Greenwald notes, Obama's response was superb, but the fact remains that he should not be subject to these kinds of open smears in the first think.

The AP probably doesn't care a whole lot about what you think, but it does care what the papers who subscribe to their wire service think. So we've set up a page where you can plug in your zip code and automatically send an email to the papers in your area who syndicate the AP and let them know this is beneath what you expect their coverage to be -- for this election cycle and beyond.

This would be a good use of Bluestem readers' time.  Let our fine newspapers know that we expect the same high standards from material used from the wire services as from our local reporters.

DailyKos: McJoan on the FISA Fear Factor

Over at DailyKos, McJoan provides an overview of the story so far in FISA Fight: The Fear Express rolls on. She quotes the Walz response after pointing out pertinent information from an LATimes report:

It's the same false charges, claiming that the lapse of the Protect America Act has meant that "new surveillance against terrorists is crippled." What it doesn't say is that the PAA lapsed because Republicans refused to extend, and even if they had voted to extend it, Bush would have vetoed it anyway. Then there's the whole part about the fact that it's just a lie, that the administration has been forced to admit that no intelligence has been lost and we are thus no less safe than we were before the law expired.

Update: The Liberal Media Elite weighs in.

Delta Queen update: Will Walz's support put columnist at risk?

Last year, conservative Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten turned the parlor drapes at Tara into a splendid new frock and rushed into print to save the historic legacy of the Delta Queen.

That was then, this is now.

Elephant fights are going on in the Republican Party of Minnesota. Moreover, given the danger for any Minnesota Republican who says an encouraging word for DFLers and their policy (like "yes" votes for overriding Governor Pawlenty's veto), we fear for Katherine Kersten's standing in her community.

Nay, we fear for her security--if she reads this press release and reacts cordially to it--considering the last paragraph:

At a press conference today, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) called on House leaders to act on legislation to save the Delta Queen. The historic steamboat faces an uncertain future due to the pending expiration of a congressional exemption which currently allows the Delta Queen to operate as an overnight passenger vessel. 

"The Delta Queen is an experience you can't get in a museum or from the history books - you have to live it and it's worth preserving," said Congressman Chabot. "I know that the American people do not want this national treasure to be forced ashore and Congress needs to act before an important chapter in our nation's history is closed."

Joining Congressman Chabot at the press conference today were Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Mr. Jay Webster, the former Director of Engineering for the Delta Queen, also spoke at the press conference about the numerous safety features that have been added to the Delta Queen to ensure the safety of the passengers while maintaining the boat's traditional look and feel.

"The Delta Queen is more than an irreplaceable historic vessel, it is also a symbol of the bold American spirit that had the courage to tame the continent and make us one nation, from sea to shining sea," said Congressman William Lacy Clay. "This is the right thing to do for the Delta Queen. And it's the right thing to do for future generations of Americans and international visitors who deserve the chance to travel on this magnificent vessel."

The Delta Queen began operating as a sternwheel river steamboat in 1926 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.  For the last 40 years, the Delta Queen has operated within the rivers of the U.S. under a congressional exemption because the paddle wheeler maintains a wooden superstructure and does not meet certain regulations specified under the 1966 Safety at Sea Act.  Recognizing the difference between boats operating within rivers and those operating at sea, Congress established the exemption in 1968 and has renewed it on nine separate occasions to allow the Delta Queen to continue overnight passenger cruises.

"It would be a terrible loss if the Delta Queen was unable to continue operating," stated Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN) in a prepared statement."The Delta Queen is a National Historic Landmark and the last operational overnight steam-powered sternwheeler in the United States."

More after the intermission.