MPR's Midday broadcast yesterday's speech at the Humphrey Institute:
U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., says America's foreign policy has become so focused on the goal of security that it has given short shrift to other important goals like human rights.
Walz argued for a broader view of foreign policy and a departure from the "dichotomies" of American politics in a speech Thursday at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute.
It's quite literally heating up in Minnesota's Fighting First. We enjoyed an afternoon of birding in the Minnesota River Valley and the Swan Lake area yesterday. Thousands of red-winged blackbirds were flocking near the north public water access on the lake; a pair of bald eagles sat in the high cottonwoods above a massive, miles-long ice jam on the Minnesota River between Courtland and Judson.
A friendly farmer on a four-wheeler stopped to chat while we were surveying the eagles and ice jam. Apparently, that bend of the river hadn't had an ice jam for at least twenty years.
Later, we enjoyed a chat with a great horned owl as dusk fell across the flood plain.
Watching ice pile up and hooting it up: activities we find far more rewarding than being a conduit for Chuck Schumer's DSCC. Those who don't understand why Tim Walz wants to stay U. S. Representative for the First should consider coming out to Southern Minnesota for the spring warbler migration and an introduction to the politics of service and humility. Some damn fine birding.
Mankato Free Press: Mankato officials return from D.C. trip
The gravel roads lining the Minnesota River Valley were muddy going yesterday as the frost goes out. That's natural--but the district's major roads need attention. The Free Press reports on a trip to DC by city official to lobby for transportation needs:
City Manager Pat Hentges and four city councilmen met with Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tim Walz as well as staff from Rep. Jim Oberstar’s office during the National League of Cities trip.
Highway 14 was front and center.
“The biggest need of the region right now is just a better maintained and operating transportation system,” Council President Mike Laven said. . . .
. . .Also at issue are needed upgrades to the city’s rail line, Hentges said. Namely, those are the rail crossings that interrupt traffic flow and the lack of crossing improvements. Those improvements would allow trains to go through town without blowing their whistles.
“Even if the project doesn’t go ahead,” Hentges said, referring to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad’s expansion plans, “we still have a railroad problem.”
Walz is a political newcomer, but he sits on the transportation committee, which Oberstar chairs.
Rochester Post Bulletin: US Reps Walz, Kline explain views on upcoming Iraq vote.
The PB reports on the contrasting views of two area congressmen in
US Reps. Walz, Kline explain views on upcoming Iraq vote. It's a fair contrast:
Reps. Tim Walz and John Kline represent adjoining southern Minnesota Congressional districts, and both served in the military, but on the issue of troop withdrawals from Iraq, they are far apart as the House moves toward a vote next week. . . .
. . .Their differences offer a preview of the upcoming debate over the bill, which will be the Democrats' strongest push against the war since last month, when a nonbinding resolution opposing a surge in troops was passed.
Read the whole thing at the PB.
Bloomberg: Democrats' New Military Veterans Lead House Charge on Iraq War
Bloomberg News take a look at Walz's role in
Democrats' New Military Veterans Lead House Charge on Iraq War. Walz section:
`Very Comfortable'
Walz also backs the troop-withdrawal timeline. ``As a soldier I'm very comfortable with it,'' he said.
When House Democrats passed a nonbinding resolution expressing disapproval of Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, Walz and Murphy were invited to join Pelosi and other House leaders at a press conference after the vote.
Walz said that House members often come up to him and ask what he ``as a soldier'' thinks of war policy. He keeps a military e-mail account and gets about a half-dozen messages each week from soldiers with whom he served. His unit is currently deployed near Baghdad and this year has had its deployment extended until as late as September as part of Bush's plan to secure the city.
`End the War'
``Our goal needs to be an end to the war,'' Walz said. ``I've always thought this thing is going to be taken care of by Iraqis on the ground.''
Dodge County Independent: Local rural leaders attend leadership program in D.C.
More on the 2007 Minnesota Agricultural and Rural Leadership class trip to Washington in the Dodge County Independent. A large group of MARL members from Southern Minnesota meet with their representative, who merited his own paragraph:
Another member of Minnesota's Congressional delegation heavily involved in Farm Bill debate is freshman member Tim Walz of the 1st District. Walz also sits on the House Committee on Agriculture. A large delegation of participants from his district met with Walz.
The Winona Daily News reports on the trip, too, but fails to note the visit to Walz's office by members from the district.
Waseca County News: Deteriorating track may have led to derailment, DM&E says
The paper reports that a very minor derailment of a train hauling ethanol took place near Janesville, and Kevin Schieffer uses the incident to explain why he needs money to fix his track and that it's more than just about hauling coal. Coleman, Klobuchar and Walz have said that rail needs for ag in the First are important. Update: We just learned of another DM & E derailment in South Dakota via KELOLAND TV: Train Derails Near Pierre.
HyVee Saturday Store Stop in Owatonna
Phoenix Woman asks Does Tim Walz EVER Have An Off Day? in writing about his Saturday morning visit to Owatonna's Hyvee. Great day to visit Owatonna: there's also a big farm show on as well.
Albert Lea Tribune editorials: Thumbs down to I-90; treatment of veterans
DOWN — To the shoddy condition of Interstate 90.
Fans of Albert Lea sports teams find themselves driving to Rochester for games and tournaments. The stretch of I-90 between the Rochester exit and Austin is bumpy and neglected, particularly on the westbound lanes. We know the state’s metrocentric leaders have let the state’s rural roads go, but to let an interstate freeway get this bad shows just little St. Paul cares about southern Minnesota.
This might be a job for the First district's congressman to work on, since he sits on the transportation committee. The paper joins others in the district in decrying the Pentagon's plan to reclassify the military mission in Kosovo:
DOWN — To cutting pay for troops.
Just as area members of the Minnesota National Guard are about to be shipped to Kosovo to support the Kosovo International Security Force, the Pentagon declares its intentions to remove Kosovo’s designation as a combat zone. There remains unrest in Kosovo, and sure it’s not like Iraq or Afghanistan, but if America weren’t fighting two wars, the Pentagon would clearly keep Kosovo’s combat designation. It would be the most dangerous location in U.S. military service. The soldiers — who, by the way, already don’t get paid well enough — deserve the combat pay.
We have friends whose kids have served in Kosovo and even before the pay cut was announced, they lamented how easy forgotten their service in the Balkans was.
Washington Post: House Democrats build support for war plan
The WaPo's article, House Democrats Build Support for War Plan, notes what Congressman Walz wanted in order to sign on with the democratic strategy on Iraq:
Through closed-door meetings, pep rallies, private phone conversations and horse trading, Democratic leaders are moving outward from the 180 solid votes in the party's political center to win the votes on the party's left and right that will be needed to pass the bill later this month.
For Nadler's vote, it meant a provision for enforcement. For the backing of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), it was language prohibiting an attack on Iran without congressional authorization. For the support of Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), a National Guardsman who trained troops for Iraq, it was the inclusion of a waiver that the president could invoke to get around strict standards of troop readiness.
We're hoping to get into the Cities for the Darfur Town Forum today at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis from 2- 4 p.m.
Strib: Walz backs Democrats pullout plan
by 11:30 p.m. last night, the Star Tribune figured out what the Mankato Free Press already knew:
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., said Friday that he would vote for the House Democratic leadership's proposal to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq if the measure stays in its current form. . . .
. . ."It would sure be easier, and I think a lot of people think it would be easier if you didn't have to cast this vote," Walz said. "Well, you do. You're in charge, and you got to prove that you can govern. I'm totally comfortable casting that vote."
The withdrawal proposal would be attached to legislation providing nearly $100 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for some other programs. Walz said he preferred a cleaner bill with funding only for the war and veterans' affairs.
Preston-Fillmore County Journal: It's time for Cheney to resign
Editor John Torgrimson writes in his weekly column that It's time for Cheney to resign. Torgrimson concludes:
Some will argue that Cheney is a patriot by doing whatever it takes to defeat those who would harm us.
I would argue otherwise. Cheney is a thug in the Slobodan Milosivic mold - willing to use his power to serve his own views and biases, believing that the end justifies the means, even if it means trying to smear another American in an effort to alter the truth.
Dick Cheney's actions have discredited the office of the vice president. It is time for him to step down.
Owatonna People's Press: Keep Combat Pay
The Owatonna People's Press keeps its copy behind a subscription firewall and demands permission for all quoted material, so we'll paraphrase yesterday's editorial here. Basically, the paper's editors concur with the consensus that troops being deployed to Kosovo receive combat pay and benefits.
One claim in the final paragraph of the editorial does stick out, however. The editorial praises members of Minnesota's congressional delegation for speaking out against Defense Department plans to downgrade the mission status in Kosovo. The paper notes that the protests are bipartisan.
For the Republican voices in Minnesota's delegation, the editors must be thinking of Senator Coleman, as we could find no record of Representatives Kline, Ramstad and Bachmann speaking to this issue, either in a Google News search (which yielded press accounts of Klobuchar, Coleman and Walz speaking up), or their web sites, or in Lexis Nexis's Acaddemic or Congressional database. We'll continue to look, but are surprised that they have been silent about this issue.
Representatives McCollum, Ellison, Oberstar and Peterson signed the letter Representative Walz sent to Secretary Gates about the matter.
Rochester Post Bulletin: Coleman to talk DM&E Saturday in Rochester
We weren't able to attend this event but will share reports from our friends in Rochester as they come in:
Sen. Norm Coleman is scheduled to join representatives of the Rochester Coalition in downtown Rochester on Saturday for what is billed as an open forum to discuss the future of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern railroad expansion project.
. . .Friedrich said the event is not intended for Coleman to claim credit for the recent rejection of the $2.3 billion federal construction loan sought by the DM&E. Rather, the Senator planned a southeastern Minnesota schedule this weekend and sought to meet with the coalition and the public on the project, which could still go forward if the railroad can raise funds privately.
Was Representative Walz invited to this open forum, coordinated by the Rochester Coalition and its public relations firm with Coleman's office?
Last night, we looked at Representative Walz's push to keep combat status for the U.S. military in Kosovo. Should the Department of Defense follow through on its plan, Minnesota Guard members would lose $225 per month and other combat benefits.
This morning's Strib reports that U.S. may cut pay of troops in Kosovo. Sgt. Douglas Weigel of Albert Lea, who was deployed to Kosovo in 2004, uses incidents from that earlier deployment to explain why combat status is warranted.
Minnesota's elected leaders, including Tim Walz, are concerned:
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who spent 24 years in the National Guard, pledged to organize congressional support for maintaining combat pay for soldiers in Kosovo.
"Remember, these are soldiers that have already been in Afghanistan or Iraq. They're going again," he said. "Now they're telling them that a grenade attack, a rocket attack, a few land mines or ethnic unrest doesn't warrant a little extra pay."
The article gets picked up by the AP; various versions are online at the Pioneer Press and the Fargo Forum.
The Owatonna People's Press reports that as many as 40 soldiers from Owatonna may be part of the deployment in Guardsmen among those slated to be sent to Kosovo this autumn. The paper notes Representative Walz's efforts to maintain combat status for the mission. 1,500 Minnesota National Guard soldiers are currently serving in Kosovo.
Election 2008: Keep Your Day Job
The Hill notes that two candidates have filed with the FEC as Republican challengers to freshman Tim Walz. A wag among our friends suggested that the GOP will need two contenders to keep up with Walz.
Walz cosponsors PROGESS Act
Our email has been acting up a bit; we just received this March 6 press release:
Rep. Tim Walz announced today that he is cosponsoring the Program for Real Energy Security or PROGRESS Act, which would initiate a major national effort - in the spirit of the famed "Manhattan Project" - to make our nation energy independent and advance our economic, national and environmental security.
"The PROGRESS Act is the next logical step in reforming the way we generate and use energy resources. During the 100 hour agenda, we began to address the need for clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency by passing H.R. 6. We can give our children a safer nation, stronger economy, and healthier environment if we commit ourselves to the goals outlined in the PROGRESS Act," said Rep. Walz.
"Throughout history, America has always risen to the challenge and found a way to address its more pressing problems," added Rep. Walz. "Our dependence on foreign sources of oil is a threat to our national security. In addition, it is clear that the continued use of energy sources that emit greenhouse gases is damaging our environment. The so-called Manhattan Center created by this bill will fast track American research into renewable fuels and renew our commitment to building vehicles that use technologies to dramatically improve fuel efficiency."
"We cannot put this challenge off until tomorrow. The time to act is now - for our national security, for our children, for our economy, and for our environment," added Rep. Walz.
The PROGRESS Act would launch a national effort to make substantial gains in technology, conservation, vehicle efficiency, and the use of alternative fuels. The proposals in this legislation are designed to complement the House Democrats' Rural Working Group's Biofuels Plan. Rep. Walz is a member of the Rural Working Group. [click here to read the RWG's Biofuels Plan]
The PROGRESS Act has five major components:
· Establish a National Energy Security Commission that would bring together government, industry and academic leaders to develop national goals that respect regional energy solutions and develop recommendations that Congress would have to act upon under expedited rules. Right now there is no entity that brings such experts together in common cause.
· Establish a New Manhattan Center for High Efficiency Vehicles that would result in the widespread availability of technologies to double the current average vehicle efficiency, diversify types of fuels, and continue to develop the future of fuel cells and hydrogen. The Center would ensure that Americans drive more efficient cars and have a choice of fuels and energy sources.
· Establish a National Biofuels Infrastructure Development Program that would promote development of wholesale and retail biofuels pumps, tanks, and other related distribution equipment. Vehicles that run on ethanol and biodiesel are being produced. But we must develop biofuel infrastructure to make them practical and widespread.
· Promote Transit Use & Develop a Rail Infrastructure Program that would create a stimulus package to promote public transit and infrastructure investment that upgrades the "pipeline" for biofuels - the freight rail system - in order to get an affordable and reliable supply of biofuels to market.
· Ensure Federal Government Leadership in the Use of the Alternatives to Oil by increasing the use of alternative fuels in federal and state fleets, developing biofuel plants in every region of the country, and speeding development of standards that are needed to promote alternative fuels use. The federal government is one of the leading owners of vehicle fleets and consumers of petroleum products. The government must lead by example.
The PROGRESS Act focuses on transportation and its contribution to our dependence on foreign oil and damage to the environment. More than 65 percent of the oil our nation consumes goes toward transportation.
A couple of items related to funding the Guards & the Reserves and veterans' care just came to our attention.
Recently, a friend had shown us pictures from her tour of duty in Iraq; her National Guard unit had fitted her Hummer with "Hillbilly" up-armor. A distressing sight: too many of the soldiers in the unit ended up going through Walter Reed for treatment of injuries.
Thus, when we read something like the Associated Press report below, it's not entirely surprising, though no less outrageous. In Reserves Need Better Resources and Planning Role, Panel Says , we read:
The National Guard and Reserves do not get enough money or equipment and are left out of important planning for national emergencies, an independent panel concluded Thursday, long after the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina exposed serious stresses on the services.
The report, from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, reinforces earlier criticism of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005. The 151-page report found a significant lack of communication between reserve officials and other military leaders, the Homeland Security Department and United States Northern Command, which is responsible for the military’s national defense.
Guard and reserve troops have been under increasing strain since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq while also patrolling the border with Mexico and responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters. At times in 2005, the part-time soldiers made up nearly half of the American forces in Iraq, with some facing repeated deployments.
At the same time, Guard units have struggled to get the equipment and training needed to go to war, often swapping armored trucks, radios and other equipment between the states to meet battle and disaster requirements. The report said 88 percent of the Army National Guard units in the United States are considered poorly equipped. . . .
In its print edition, the Mankato Free Press has published an interesting comparison of Representative Walz and Senator Coleman's views on veterans' care.
Download the article here: Download vetscaremfp.pdf
While busy assembling a morning news digest, we came across an editor's column in the Spring Grove Herald, a weekly newspaper in Southeastern Minnesota, that we think warrants its own separate post for its passion.
Managing Editor Heather M. Gray writes in Gray Matter that Mr. Cheney, you and the President are the ones aiding the enemy.
Strong words, indeed.
Gray begins:
I had scheduled myself to write an editorial on education, in particular on some of the ideas being floated by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But after sitting down to relax for a half-hour on Friday night and catching up on events with the world news, I had to change my focus when my blood pressure went up.
For those of you who know me personally, you know I have been against the war in Iraq since the day we entered. Most of the time I keep my mouth shut about it, but enough is enough.
Our vice president is running off at the mouth again how Democrats are aiding the enemy and being unpatriotic by questioning the latest drivel coming out of his and President Bush's mouth - the value of the troop surge.
Whether you agree with the politics presented by the Republicans or the Democrats I think most citizens are intelligent enough to realize what we are doing isn't working in Iraq and a new path must be explored wherever that leads us. The election spelled that out.
As a person too young to remember Vietnam, I had prayed that when we started down this misguided road that we would not end up in another unwinnable war.
To find out how, go read the rest.
We hear a lot from Twin Cities Republicans about what the people of the First District believe, but we often conclude that they do not read the same First District newspapers that we follow. To be sure, there is a range of opinion, from support of the Bush administration to Gray's perspective, but there's no monolith of belief and values among the opinion leaders in the district.
Our news digest will be posted as soon as it's done
The Rochester Post-Bulletin is an afternoon daily. A couple of items in the new edition caught our interest.
Steve Forbes: DM&E loan reeks of pork politics
The Post Bulletin reprints an op-ed piece that appeared in the February issue of the eponymous magazine Forbes. The lead:
The routine abuse in the congressional appropriations process is highlighted by an ongoing effort to force the federal government into granting a multibillion-dollar giveaway to a small, private railroad, the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. The owners want to expand the line to carry coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin to the Midwest.
Editorial: Forbes enters DM&E debate
The Post-Bulletin's own editorial reflects on Forbes' entry into the DM & E fray. The editorial's conclusion gives a fair sense of its tenor:
All Americans ought to be outraged. Experts have predicted that the proposed DM&E loan, if approved, would likely not be paid back. Taxpayers would be stuck with the bill.
There are strong arguments that the DM&E proposal, which would run right through the middle of Rochester, is unsafe. Yet, while strong, the safety argument loses energy the farther away from Rochester it is made.
What does unite all Americans against this loan is the way it came into being and high possibility that taxpayers will have to cover the tab.
This reality has angered money man Steve Forbes, and it should outrage each and every American.
Walz talks policy among the produce at Hy-Vee Barlow
The Post Bulletin's Matt Stolle reports on the latest Saturday shopping stop:
A day after voting in support of a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's planned deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops to Iraq, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz was in Rochester on Saturday, standing in the fresh produce area of the Barlow Hy-Vee Food store talking with shoppers about the significance of the vote.
Walz, a Democrat from Mankato, said the resolution does two things: It expresses disapproval of a military escalation that "the experts, both political and military, do not believe will solve" the problem. And the language of the resolution shows unequivocal support for the troops. He was in Rochester as part of a weekly program where the congressman meets with people in grocery stores or out shopping.
"It sends a strong message to the president that we're asking him to change his policies," Walz said.
David Shaver: War without diplomacy won't work
In Stolle's article, Walz mentions the need for robust diplomacy and involvement of area countries in Iraq. The Post Bulletin's oped page carries a column by retired U.S. Army officer and former tenured Army War College faculty member David Shaver.
Tomorrow's Hospice Platform Discussion
Even as remarkable a place as the Mayo Clinic cannot prevent our final hours. In the 1960s and 1970s, the hospice care movement grew out of a growing recognition of the very human desire to die with dignity.
According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, this common sense approach faces federal budget cuts. Bush's FY 2008 budget proposal included a .65% rate reduction in the amount of reimbursement through Medicare for hospice funding. T
Nationally, that reduction translates to a $1.14 billion cut nationally. For Minnesotans, it means over $14 million in cuts to hospice Medicare funding over the next five years beginning in 2008.
Heartland Home Health Care &
Hospice, Mayo Hospice and Seasons Hospice of Rochester will come
together with Tim Walz for a platform discussion tomorrow from 1:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. in Conference Room 104 at the Rochester City Hall Building.
We just found this You Tube video clip of Tim Walz at the VoteVets press conference about the surge earlier in the week. The Star Tribune mentioned the presser in its Friday edition.
On last night's 10 p.m. broadcast, WCCO looked at the Iraq resolution vote, in a clip featuring Representative Walz several times. Video available here.
