U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., knows voters aren't
always patient, though. He learned that after he won his first election
two years ago.
"I was sworn in
on January 3, and on January 10 I was getting calls about why the
troops weren't out of Iraq," Walz said.
Walz predicts
it will be relatively easy for Obama to push through new energy
policies and stricter regulations on financial markets.
"I think one of
the more difficult ones -- it always is just because of the massive
nature of it -- is health care reform," he said. "That's going to be
very difficult, but not impossible."
And Walz is
optimistic about Obama's first hundred days as president. But he says
for Obama to keep the public's trust, the president-elect needs to be
careful not to marginalize congressional Republicans.
"I think the
American people aren't advocating that the only way to do this is a
Democratic President, a Democratic agenda," Walz said. "I think
President Obama is going to have to make sure that Republicans,
although in the minority, are given the opportunity to have their ideas
heard and have them incorporated in to what we do. I think that's what
the public is hopeful about as much as anything."
While the nation's economic woes are creating greater need, First District residents are stepping up to help when they can. The Owatonna People's Press reports that local high school students raise over $11,000 in Food on the shelf: Annual Cash Drive benefits local food shelf.
The New Ulm Journal says that the New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf accepts donations of over 2,500 pounds of food in the last week, but the group will be serving a greater geographic area since the food pantry in Lafayette has recently closed.
In Giving thanks, giving back, the Waseca County News tells the tale of the Waseca Area Neighborhood Service Center teaming up with the Lions and Thrivent to provide Thanksgiving meals for 200 families.
Private charity is a good and blessed thing, but we're hoping that Congress moves on President elect Obama's plans for an economic stimulus package that focuses on jobs creation. CQPolitics says that's exactly what's in the works in Congress Will Work Through January to Send Obama Economic Stimulus Package:
Democratic leaders intend to break with
tradition and put members of the new Congress to work as soon as they
arrive in Washington, in order to prepare the huge economic stimulus
plan President-elect Barack Obama intends to request.
Normally,
a new Congress convenes on or shortly after Jan. 3 and then leaves town
until the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. In 2001, when President
Bush took office, the House didn’t cast its first vote until Jan. 30.
And in 1993, when President Bill Clinton took office, the first vote
was on Jan. 26.
But not this time. The 111thCongress
will officially convene on Jan. 6. “It is my hope that the new Congress
will begin work on an aggressive economic recovery plan when they
convene in early January so that our administration can hit the ground
running,” Obama said at a Chicago news conference Monday.
Senators
have already been told they will be in Washington throughout January.
The House also plans to get to work right after its swearing-in. Aides
confirmed Monday that the House hopes to have the stimulus ready for
Obama around the time he takes office.
“We are already tired, and he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet,” one aide said.
The
110th Congress isn’t necessarily through yet, either. Leaders have told
members to prepare to return around Dec. 8 to discuss aid to the Big 3
Detroit automakers in a continuation of last week’s lameduck session.
In Minnesotans disagree over Obama’s team, the Bemidji Pioneer reported that Congressman Walz looks for investments in infrastructure, modernized schools, energy-efficient cars and alternative energy technologies:
“People in southern Minnesota and around the nation are suffering
and they are nervous about the future,” Walz said. “Congress, working
together with the Obama administration, will address that crisis with
bold and effective action.”
Walz said the Obama economic team is
“an impressive group of intellectual heavyweights with a healthy
diversity of views about how our country can best move forward.”
But
the congressman said he is awaiting details of the Obama economic plan,
which the president-elect said on Wednesday would come only after his
new advisors have a chance to weigh in.
Walz said he expects the
plan to rebuilt the economy “by investing in infrastructure,
modernizing schools and building more fuel-efficient cars and alternative energy technologies.
The nation's automakers have asked for a bailout, and many critics are suggesting that conservation and alternative fuels should be proscribed as part of the funding mix. Consumers in Southwestern Minnesota are ahead of the curve; the Jackson County Pilot looks at soaring demand for flex-fuel vehicles and biofuels in the War on ethanol, part 2.
Thanks to PW at Mercury Rising for Rule Number One: Do Not Mess With Ollie Ox. and Jeff at the Twin Cities Daily Liberal Eric at LILOCfor including our media criticism in his Daily Romp. Grandma always said that you could sleep in the barn, but don't bother the cow. To those readers who have inquired, none of those involved in this accident are among our relatives. Thanks for asking.
We're back from a fun Minnesota Farmers Union convention and are placating the kittehs, who are insisting that their legendary independence is overrated.
lauded the efforts of U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, DFL-7th
District, who steered the farm bill through Congress as chairman of the
U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
“MFBF sincerely thanks Chairman
Peterson for his outstanding leadership on this legislation,” Paap
said, also citing Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Amy Klobuchar,
DFL-Minn., and Reps. Jim Oberstar, DFL-8thDisrict, Tim Walz, DFL-1st
District, John Kline, R-2nd District, Keith Ellison, DFL-5th District,
and Betty McCollum, DFL-4th District.
Readers can readily ascertain which of Minnesota's representatives are left off that list. Former Congressman Tim Penny writes the Mankato Free Press to say Area is ready for energy push. The reitred dean of engineering at MSU-M says A bold energy plan is necessary.
District 1--It's been amazing seeing how fast Rochester, Minnesota's
third-largest city and formerly known as "the heart of soul of the
Minnesota Republican Party, has changed. The first signs of GOP
softening came in 2000, with a Mark Dayton victory over Senator Rod
Grams and a soft four-point margin for Bush over Gore. After several
cycles of shifting, Rochester completed it's transition to a
Democratic-leaning community having voted for Barack Obama by nine
points. Considering that most of the rest of the district has been
more politically competitive, having the population anchor of the
district trending Democrat gives MN-01 a decidedly blue tint, at least
unless the Republican party moves back towards the kind of political
moderation that was the hallmark of the state GOP in decades past and
was embraced by Rochester.
Tim Walz mowed down third-rate competitor Brian Davis even more
lopsidedly than I could have imagined. Walz won all 23 22 counties in the
district, a feat I wouldn't have imagined possible this year given that
Pipestone and Rock Counties in the southwest corner are shut out of the
Minnesota media market (and thus tend to vote party line on essentially
every non-national race) and have populations that are more than 20%
evangelical that vote so overwhelmingly Republican that it makes nearly
any Democratic victory unattainable. I think Dick Day had the
potential to mount a stronger challenge to Walz had he won the primary,
but still would have likely fallen far short. Walz' rock-solid
30-point victory gives me confidence in his ability to weather more
defensive political cycles that may emerge in the years ahead.
Other thoughts.....Worthington, formerly a Democratic
stronghold in southwestern Minnesota that has been trending Republican
in the last couple of decades, had another pretty good year for
Democrats, following an upwardly mobile 2006. College towns Mankato
and Winona saw dramatic improvement for all Democrats on the ballots.
Traditional Republican strongholds like New Ulm and Owatonna were, for
the second election cycle in a row, softer than usual across the
ballot. That leaves Fairmont as the district's only population center
that remains unflinching in its allegiance to the GOP.
Tonight's video is Bob Marley singing (in part) about planting corn; we dedicate it to Kat the Warrior Princess:
Earlier this morning, we posted about a federal grants workshop that Congressman Walz is sponsoring in Rochester on December 3. One area covered in the breakout sessions is alternative energy. Judging from the district papers today, renewable energy continues strong in Southern Minnesota economic mix.
The
wind has long been used as a legitimate power source, but capturing and
storing that energy has been a missing piece of the puzzle.
Now
researchers believe they've cracked the code to wind energy storage,
and it is being tested on the local Minwind Energy turbines near Beaver
Creek.
On Monday Xcel Energy hosted tours of a battery test site
at the Beaver Creek substation and offered public information at the
Rock County Community Library.
The $4.5 million technology is the first of its kind in the United States to be used for direct wind energy storage.
The
battery module -roughly the size of two semi trailers - has the
capacity to store about 7.2 megawatt hours of electricity. It can
discharge one megawatt of wind power that can be moved to the
electricity grid when needed.
Fully charged, the battery could
power 500 homes for more than seven hours. Developers say it will be
key to expanding the use of renewable energy. . . .
Renewable energy isn't the exclusive franchise of the wind industry. In Madelia Model seeks alternative crops for energy, the New Ulm Journal reports:
Pieces of the Madelia Model project that would create alternative energy from alternative crops are moving forward.
The
model involves locally-grown biomass including natural and industrial
feedstocks within a 25-mile radius of rural Minnesota communities.
The
project creates rural jobs, improved water quality, carbon
sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, improved wildlife habitat and
crop diversity.
The Madelia "fuel shed" would include Winnebago, Mankato, New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and St. James areas.
Sponsored
by Rural Advantage of Fairmont - which promotes the interconnection of
agriculture, rural communities and the environment - the Madelia Model
is built around crop initiative. . . .
The Post Bulletin reports in Rochester's health sector makes up for manufacturing job losses that employment is up by 600 jobs from a year ago, almost entirely because of the Mayo city's robust health care industry. The health sector growth masks losses in maunfacturing.
Photo: The kitteh isn't the only one basking in solar energy on the prairie. Last April, the New Ulm Journal reported on a solar project in Cottonwood County.
Since it's a cold November day on the prairies, here's a little music for the chilling economy:
U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., was hesitant to support anything yet.
“Until
we see details about an assistance package for the auto industry, we’re
just speculating about what might be included," Walz said. "But I would
be very hesitant about any package that does not include strong
protections for the taxpayers who are being asked to foot the bill.”
The Globe also reports on the first wind-to-battery test project in the United States. In Capturing wind:
Roughly the size of two semi trailers and weighing nearly 80 tons,
groundbreaking wind-to-battery technology was unveiled in the middle of
farm fields northwest of Beaver Creek Monday morning.
The battery,
the first of its kind to be tested in the United States, will help
partners Xcel Energy and Luverne-based Minwind Energy capture and store
power produced by the 11.5-megawatt Minwind Energy wind farm. . . .
. . . Minwind Energy is comprised of 360 local investors who raised the
capital to construct the wind farm. They each have a stake in the
ownership of the turbines. Willers said the group is “very interested”
in what’s going on in regard to energy production.
Minwind
recently completed a two-year test project with Xcel Energy on a
biodiesel peaking plant, in which a 99 percent blend of biofuels was
used to power the wind turbines when Mother Nature didn’t provide
enough wind for them to operate.
“We’re locally owned and we
understand what energy is,” said Willers. “As Minnesotans, we want to
have an understanding of where our energy dollars are going and coming
from. Being an agricultural community, we’re always on the forefront of
environmental issues.” . . .
The 2008 Southern Minnesota Federal Grants Workshop connects local
government and non profit leaders to federal grant opportunities with
the goal of enhancing opportunity and prosperity. Come hear from
experts from federal agencies and local foundations about how to
research grant opportunities, review best practices in grant writing,
and discover current trends in funding priority projects in southern
Minnesota.
The Lakefield Standard reports dire need in Lakefield, Jackson and Heron Lake in Food shelf shortage: ‘Not nearly enough’. Demoand is up and giving is down. How far down? The Jackson County Pilot reports contributions are off by 50 percent.
The Rochester Democrat has posted Tim Walz's letter asking Democrats to volunteer to help with the recount in the U.S. Senate race.
Salon analyzes the pathos of lolcats, while it's International Laugh at Lieberman Day. Personally, we're fluffing up our Droopy Dog routine in Joe's honor. For now, here's the first Tex Avery cartoon in the Droopy series, since the Democratic leadership doesn't want to shake this guy:
. . .Using scare tactics and worse-case scenarios, leaders in Congress
including Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman and Wisconsin
Rep. Ron Kind told us that we simply must ship billions of dollars as
quickly as possible to the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke or else the economy was going to crash and burn.
Even worse than it already had. . . .
. . .The bailout package has been a textbook example of how many wrongs by
the government doesn’t make anything right. The administration, along
with a Democratically controlled Congress, scared the American people
into signing a blank check with a few vague promises. The
administration insisted that too much oversight on people like Paulson
and Bernanke would only hurt the American economy. And now the American
public isn’t even getting what it was sold — help to homeowners and
taxpayers who got tangled up into this strange mortgage crisis. . . .
We're surprised that the paper doesn't remind its readers that their own Congressman voted against the bailout--twice. Re-reading Walz's October 6 column, Why I voted against the bailout bill, reminds us that the Congressman noted the very problems that the WDN board inveighs against. Walz wrote in early October:
The plan we voted on is a bad deal for the American taxpayers on several fronts:
•It lacks taxpayer protection, and there is no guarantee the
American people will get their money back from Wall Street. The
legislation simply requires that if, after five years, we have not
gotten a good deal on our investment, the president must make a
proposal for doing so. That proposal is not binding and will likely go
nowhere.
•It offers no real help for homeowners. As the New York Times
reported on Saturday, the way the plan is structured makes it highly
unlikely that more than a handful of struggling homeowners will end up
with more manageable mortgages.
•It continues to permit excessive CEO compensation by instituting
so-called limits on compensation and golden parachutes that are
essentially all bark and no bite. As the Washington Post puts it,
"executive pay experts said the regulations are too weak to spark major
reform in the way companies compensate top officers, and too narrow in
scope to change the pay structure that encouraged finance executives in
boom times to take on enormous risks."
•The plan proposes only weak oversight by putting enormous power in
the hands of the treasury secretary, leaving an oversight board that
can critique but not halt any of his actions.
Too many public opinion leaders, including those in the media,
committed the cardinal sin of panicked policymaking and fiscal
recklessness: They fell prey to the delusion that just throwing a lot
of money at a problem would solve it. . . .
Despite a lame-duck Congress and a nearly useless president, our
leaders should show some kind of leadership and ask the tough
questions. What are we getting for our money? Why are homeowners still
aching? And who’s looking over Paulson’s shoulder?
We’re not
sure what’s worse, not getting what we paid for or no one in Congress
willing to speak out about how the bailout money is being used.
We understood that politicians were distracted by the recent campaigns — now what’s their excuse?
Walz wasn't distracted by his campaign--far from it. On September 24, he sent Treasury Secretary Paulson a letter including eight questions about oversight and transparency. When these questions weren't addressed to his satisfaction, he voted against both versions of the bailout package. The Strib reported that his no votes (the Strib's board favored the biils) put him in the spotlight.
We'll have his current position (not much has changed, although the guy's looking pretty prescience these days) in the article we're working on that's based on Friday's interview. We understand that the news staff and the editorial board aren't one and the same, but if the WDN wants the opinion of Winona's congressman about these things--he'll be quite happy to talking to a reporter about issues, campaign or no campaign.
These sorts of governing and policy-making issues are why we care more about what Cognressman Walz is going to do as a U.S. representative about drafting the new transportation bill, creating a job stimulus package and the like, than we do about handicapping the gubernatorial horse race.
Oversized semitrailers carrying wind turbine parts are becoming a common sight in central Minnesota.
From
June through September, the Minnesota Department of Transportation
reports granting more than 2,400 permits for oversized wind loads.
That kind of travel frequency is causing some safety concerns.
Ted
Coulianos, a MnDOT permit supervisor, says people aren't sure how to
drive when sharing the road with a semi carrying huge wind turbine
parts.
But Coulianos says motorists should be prepared to see
more such loads in the coming years as the demand for wind energy keeps
going up.
Much of the turbine parts in the Upper Midwest arrive
by ship at the Duluth port before being transported to other parts of
Minnesota, Iowa and other states.
We've personally encountered at least ten of these transports in the last few months. We never had a problem figuring out how to share the road with the transports. We were far more perplexed by our questions about why the turbine parts were being shipped from Europe rather than being manufactured here in the Upper Midwest. Not only would local fabrication create jobs, but it also might serve to reduce the equipment's carbon footprint.
Workday Minnesota's article Euphoria over Obama win tempered by Senate recount cites the work done by Rochester-area labor leader Russell Hess and Southeast Area Labor Council field representative Liz McLoone in getting out labor volunteers and the vote. Hess was co-director of Minnesota Labor 2008.
Members said he had a phenomenal knowledge of their districts, and he
kept up to date well after the campaign ended. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.)
said one of his supporters wrote a letter to the editor of a small
paper in his district, complaining about his vote on a rewrite of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Walz mentioned the letter to the editor to Emanuel on the floor and was stunned by his response.
“You
mean the one about how you should caucus with the Republicans?” Emanuel
shot back. “That’s a good letter. Makes you look bipartisan.”
To this day, Walz is still amazed. “He had read the letter.”
While we at BSP are trying to focus on the coming policymaking by the 111th congress and President Obama, others in the blogosphere are looking at the 2010 Minnesota governor's race. Mankato Free Press night editor Doug Wolter ups the stakes by proposing a Sarah Palin--Paris Hilton presidential ticket for 2012 in Celebrity politicians: It's the wave. The silly season never ends.
Image: how quick the WDN editorial board forgets. A photo of Congressman Walz talking to constituents about the bailout appeared above the fold in the October 2 Star Tribune. The Strib chastized Walz for being "reckless" in voting against the bailout. Okay then.
We thought our readers might want to see a meme from Paris that's hot. You'll have to use your own judgment about whether La Meme is work safe:
Congressman Walz visited a class of meddling kids (his favorite kind) on Wednesday, according the Austin version of the Post Bulletin in Students grill their Congressman:
Congressman Tim Walz, who last week was re-elected to the U.S. House
of Representatives for a second term, faced tough questions Wednesday
from some of his biggest critics: students at Grand Meadow High School
who wanted to know what he was going to do to secure their futures.
Walz,
DFL-Mankato, spoke to students about his role in Congress, and about
their own roles in the country's future. Students asked a range of
questions, from where Walz lives when he spends his weeks in
Washington, D.C., to what he plans to do about the national debt,
failing economy and job losses. Many of Walz's responses emphasized the
importance of education.
The version posted under a tamer headline, Students quiz Walz, includes an interesting Q & A session. Our friends who speculate about a potential gubernatorial bid may latch on to this item:
Walz also remained mum on whether he plans to run for governor in 2010.
"Right now I'm focusing on getting through this re-election, so no decision yet," said Walz.
Mostly, Minnesotans can't help but think about last week's election because of the Senate recount. The Mankato Free Press editorial board notes that the Acrimony over Senate race grows. Conclusion:
Voters and average citizens probably thought the
political fighting and acrimony should have ended Nov. 4.
Unfortunately, there appears to be a few more weeks or months of
political nastiness they will have to endure.
Discourse simply isn't what it used to be in the Key City. The Free Press has shut down its online forum, the paper reports in Forum shut down after users go too far. Money quote:
“I don’t want to tell people they don’t have a right to
swear — they do. Just not at my party.” — Free Press Publisher Jim
Santori, explaining the reasons behind the decision to shut down the
forum on this Web site.
We'll miss the insanity.
Coleman supporters often imply that only Franken can benefit from the recount. Not all votes will go Al's way; some shifts occurred in the recent pre-recount audit. The Cottonwood County Citizen reports in Routine audit yields extra vote for Coleman in county:
After a few
days of seeing vote corrections land on the Franken side, Republican
Senate Candidate Norm Coleman received some good news from Cottonwood
County--he gained one vote.
The error was found during a routine
audit of county scanning equipment on Wednesday. Cottonwood County
Auditor Jan Johnson said a voter used a pencil (instead of a pen) and
didn't mark the ballot dark enough.
Consequently, the vote was not read by the scanner. Only two of the county's 28 precincts were tested on Wednesday.
However, Johnson says the public should not expect a major change, once next week's local recount is complete. . . .
Since election night, [Nobles County Auditor Sharon] Balster has had to meet special requests from
both the Coleman and Franken campaigns — including making copies of all
of the tapes from the counting machines, providing information on the
number of absentee ballots mailed out, returned, accepted and rejected.
Both political parties had representatives present at last Friday’s
board of canvass meeting and Monday’s post-election review.
“My list of things to do is enormous,” Balster said.
Newly elected GOP state rep Greg Davids puts his narrow rematch victory over Ken Tschumper into perspective for the Rushford Tri-County Record:
"We
feel very fortunate (to win) because the congressional candidate
(Republican Brian Davis) got 33 percent in the district, the
presidential candidate (Republican John McCain) got 42 percent, and I
got 51 percent. So we're excited."
The 2006 margin was so close that it triggered an automatic recount in the state house district. A
Republican friend in the First shared news that Davids has been mentioned as
a potential candidate to run for the congressional seat in 2010, but
we've heard no more about this rumor. Since Davids retains his
seniority in the Minnesota House after sitting out a term, it is likely
that he will garner his share of earned media.
The 2008 GOP congresssional candidate in the First questioned the emergency food shelf aid in the Farm Bill; this may not have been the cycle to challenge such programs. Federal aid to food pantries is not enough to meet the need and is intended to be a supplement to private support. The unfortunate need for emergency food assistance is clear as we read the district's papers.
The Owatonna Peoples Press notes that about ten percent of Steele County's population is getting helping from the food shelf in Boy Scout food drive kicks off this weekend. Steele County residents should give what they can:
On Saturday, Boy Scout troops from all over Steele County will be out
in the county collecting food donations from people’s door steps
beginning at 9:30 a.m. All donated food will be sent to the Steele
County Food Shelf.
Tom Barry, district executive for the Game
Haven Council (which oversees Steele, Dodge and Goodhue counties), said
they are looking for a variety of different foods, including canned
fruits and vegetables, soup, pasta and flour, to name a few.
“We hope that people have their food out by about 9 a.m. this weekend,” Barry said. . . .
. . .If people miss putting out the food for Boy Scouts on Saturday, there
will be two other drop-off sites. They include the Steele County Food
Shelf or at the old Century 21 Building at 1836 Cedar Ave., located
next to Godfather’s Pizza. Both drop-off sites will be open from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Trom added they are looking for
additional volunteers to help sort food donations at the old Century 21
building and then bring it to the Steele County Food Shelf.
If
people don’t have food to donate, Trom also said monetary donations
help. Because the food shelf is a non-profit, Trom said the
organization is able to pay for more items at a store compared to the
average dollar.
Photo: Walz returning to his Mankato West classroom in his first term. Washington's got nothing on the tough crowd in the public schools. Photo cribbed from the NYTimes.
Instead of a speech, Mondale and Congressman Tim Walz spent Saturday
just speaking individually to voters and eating hamburger steaks at The
Kitchen. It was part of a tour around southern Minnesota to energize
voters about getting out the vote.
“The case is pretty well
made,” he said. “We think we’ve made a strong case to them and now
we’re just into executing the get-out-the-vote effort.” . . .
. . .As a newcomer to the world of politics, Walz earned 46 percent of the
Steele County vote compared to the 53 percent garnered by his
Republican opponent Gil Gutknecht, the incumbent who Walz managed to
unseat.
But in his first term, Walz described Owatonna as
pragmatic, with voters wanting to see effectiveness. He considers the
city as a “solid, middle-of-America middle-class town” and believes he
can have a better showing here.
“We want to give them a good look and let them know where we stand,” Walz said.
Walz was also campaigning in Republican Dodge County yesterday, as well as Mankato and Rochester. His campaign stops contrast with those Davis has chosen, which seem to be aimed at shoring up the GOP base. Walz's schedule for today, which includes another stop in Owatonna, is here.
Brian Davis was hitting his base in Pipestone, Martin and Brown Counties, with a stab at Nobles County, the New Ulm Journal reports in Davis on the road. He does his usual denial about the down side of privatizating Social Security, while backing away from his earlier, extended flirtation with the national sales tax. Davis would still like voters to believe that the issue only came up once, but BSP readers learned better in our post Brian Davis and Minnesota's flat tax organizers.
He also said he’s opposed on principle to the
numerous tax credits available to individuals and businesses, something
he considers government micro-managing of the economy
was out touting a few tax credits in Brown County, according to the Journal article:
Asked about the record third quarter profits ($14.8 billion) that Exxon
reported this week, Davis said he thinks the investment tax credits oil
companies received for drilling should end. But there should be
incentives to encourage oil companies to go after the large amounts of
U.S. oil that exists in oil shale.
He also favors a John McCain style of tax credit that can be used to
purchase health insurance that goes from job to job, rather than
expecting employers to provide health coverage.
In an email, the Franken campaign tells us that Al will be in Rochester for a little GOTV on Monday:
MONDAY
WHO: Al Franken, Sen. Ann Lynch and former Congressman Rick Nolan WHAT: Franken Joins Rochester GOTV Phonebank WHEN: 9:45 am, Monday, November 3 WHERE: Rochester DFL Office
401 16th Ave NW
Rochester
Wags in the Waseca County News comment section suggest that anybody who mows corn has to be plowed, though at least he wasn't stalking anyone. One wiseacre thinks the perp must have been drinking Grain Belt.
The property damage to the corn was greater than that of the signs--on the other hand, stealing a person's right to political expression dampens democracy. All puns aside, we hope the farmer recovers the lost income and Rice County throws the book at the sign stealer.
Photo: If our selfish feline friend can do his bit, you can help get out the vote, too. Volunteer via the DFL or your local candidate. Sign up to help Walz here.
And now a little White Stripes; if this tune doesn't make you want to get up and at 'em, we don't know what will:
Who's in charge of our children's education? Parents should be in
charge and have their voices heard. Brian Davis is the only one
listening to them in our congressional district. He does not want to
eliminate the Department of Education.
He also said he’s opposed on principle to the
numerous tax credits available to individuals and businesses, something
he considers government micro-managing of the economy.
So we can't fault the letter writer when we consider the source: Davis himself.
Xcel Energy will seek regulatory approvals to develop a 201-megawatt project in southwestern Minnesota's
Nobles County, called the Nobles Wind Project, and a 150-megawatt
project in Dickey and McIntosh counties in southeastern North Dakota,
called the Merricourt Wind Project. The projects are expected to be
operational by the end of 2010 and 2011, respectively. Together, the
projects will produce enough electricity to power approximately 110,000
homes.
Congressman Walz praised the project:
"Xcel Energy's
innovative project is one piece to the solution of moving our nation to
energy independence. This is a great example of how green jobs will put
people to work in our communities while producing clean and renewable
energy to power our country."
Back to campaign news. It's Halloween, and we're hearing grim rumors from the right side of the district. In honor of the walking dead, a classic from Concrete Blonde:
