Bluestem Prairie: news about Tim Walz (MN-1)

MN-01 Saturday: Change in the weather for Bush--and Gutknecht?'

Weather folks are talking about a change as we settle into the fall campaign season. The political climate seems to be changing as well in the Fighting First.

MANKATO FREE PRESS
The Mankato Free Press editorial board gives a thumbs down to a $20 million PR campaign for Iraq happy news:

Thumbs down

To the U.S. Senate for approving a $20 million expense in the Department of Defense budget for a public relations contract to generate positive news out of the war in Iraq.

Senators had proposed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would prohibit spending the money for the public relations contract that had already been awarded.

While it’s important the American public be informed about Iraq, and there may be a need to highlight some positive things that are happening, $20 million seems like an awful lot of money to spend on spin.

Such public relations also would most likely not portray an objective picture of the war in Iraq to the American people since those who would be getting the $20 million might have a tendency to provide the buyer (the Bush administration) what it wants.

An amendment offered by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called for a prohibition on the spending. The Senate voted 51-44 to table (kill) the amendment.

The Senate also voted, 54-44, against requiring the administration to report every three months to Congress on whether Iraq was in a civil war and detail the U.S. plan to protect soldiers from the crossfire.

Sen. Norm Coleman voted to spend the money and Sen. Mark Dayton opposed the spending.

Coleman voted against the requirement for the administration to report to Congress on civil strife and Dayton voted in favor of it.

Reader Carl Meyers of Eagle Lake believes "We need facts about 9/11, not movie that distorts them":

How sad it is that any major network would chose to outright lie about what happened on 9/11. These falsehoods are in a movie designed to distort the facts and created by a group of right wing supporters. [read more]

FILLMORE COUNTY JOURNAL LTE
A doctor in Preston sets the record straight about a comparison of Lincoln and Truman with Dubya:

When I first read Dr. Olson's letter (Aug. 28, Fillmore County Journal) comparing G.W. Bush to Lincoln and Truman I thought it was a parody of Rumsfelds' flight from reality before the veterans. Then it came to me that he was serious. [read more]

WINONA DAILY NEWS LTE
Readers in Winona don't seem any happier with the Bush administration, which it's curious that Gutknecht is bringing Bush liegemen like Hoekstra and Gingrich into the state for fundraising and incumbency campaigning.

Though correspondent Michael Bowler penned his epistle in support of a local DFL state senate candidate, he begins his letter "Going right over the cliff" with a pointed contrast between the Bush and Clinton policies in nation building [emphasis ours]:

In an era of monumental right-wing failures including Iraq, a huge federal deficit, collapsing health care and spiraling local taxes, Stan Gudmundson (Sept. 13) needs to learn that the old lefty scare goes nowhere. Indeed for most Minnesotans, lefty has come to have a pleasant association as we think of our most celebrated Minnesota Twin, Johan Santana, making us all proud in spite of anti-immigrant, right-wing rhetoric. Gudmundson only adds expensive gasoline to his fire by bringing up President Clinton’s Kosovo policy — that in fact halted hideous and rapidly spreading ethnic cleansing without our soldiers losing their lives —because it invites comparison with President Bush’s Iraq policy that has bred civil war, terrorism, global instability and massive casualties, American and Iraqi, but uncovered no weapons of mass destruction.

As the Rochester Post-Bulletin's editorial noted yesterday:

. . . So, yes, Hoekstra was here for Gutknecht, but he was also here for President Bush.

The issue

The future of Gutknecht and Bush are somewhat connected because the issues in Gutknecht's 1st District contest against Democrat Tim Walz are part of the midterm election battle some are trying to make into a referendum on the terrorism agenda of President Bush.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: Digby looks at the parallels between the ramp-up to the Iraq War and the current Iran alarm sounding in First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Worse Tragedy.

D M & E NEWS
The PB's Government Center blog has more DM & E news: the Mayo Clinic's letter to the WSJ in response to a column supporting the loan and a press release from the railroad showing how past upgrades have led to improved rail safety.  The Rochester Coalition responds with its own press release noting that New Rail Isn't Panacea for DM&E Derailments. 

Vox Verax raises an unpublished letter from its comments:  "Is the USDA relying on faulty data to support DM&E?"  The Marshall Independent reports on the crusade of the director of economic development in Tracy, MN, for DM & E loan approval.

NETROOTS
Oldie but goodie: we can't get enough of these Bush-Gutknecht bumperstickers.  OLLIE UPDATE: Look, Binky, here's another one. Jeepers.

The U-DFL blog reports Facebook At It Again:

Facebook is at it again. They've added a new feature called "Election Pulse" which tracks how many facebookers are supporting each candidate in each state. A brief summary of a few results from Minnesota:

For Senate, Amy Klobuchar over Rep. Mark Kennedy, 63%/34%
In the 1st Congressional District, Tim Walz over Rep. Gil Gutknecht, 69%/31%

We've got Facebook access, and we took a look. Some pretty impressive students supporting Walz, and the percentage of Walz supporters originally from or attending college in MN-01 is quite high.  This looks to be genuine grassroots for Tim Walz.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: The Vast Leftwing Conspiracy notes how Al Franken put in a pitch for two Minnesota candidates during a live appearance at a showing of "God Spoke":

Franken made a big pitch for people to support two Minnesota Democrats running for Congress, Patty Wetterling and Tim Walz. He asks that you contribute what you can, even if it's just $15 dollars, because these are great candidates for winnable seats.

MN-01 Sunday in Rochester: Gingrich and Murtha

The Rochester Post-Bulletin carried a news brief about a fundraiser tomorrow:

Former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will appear Sunday at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht.

The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Rochester, 150 S.Broadway, with a dinner and a photo opportunity with Gutknecht and Gingrich costing $1,000 per person.

Speeches are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.; the cost is $50 per person.

Gingrich and Gutknecht go way back, ace-boonies from 1994, when Gutknecht was first elected in the  GOP wave that took control of Congress that year. Gingrich is now nurturing Presidential ambitions after leaving Congress in disgrace; Gutknecht is trying to hold on to his seat.

There's much more online about Gingrich. It's important to note that while the two agree on many issues, Gingrich and Gutknecht do have some major differences.

For instance: Wikipedia. Gutknecht earned bad press when staff tried to remove his Contract-For-American related term limit pledge, then scorned the online source as unreliable. Gingrich differs:

During a 2006 CSPAN interview with Alvin Toffler, Gingrich referred to Wikipedia as a model of how people spontaneously organize information en masse and praised it for its accuracy and its being a "people's encyclopedia." Gingrich referred to it as being a model of future organization.

On a more serious note, Gingrich has also been an outspoken critic of Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, who will be in Rochester on Sunday as well, at a Veterans for Walz fundraiser at 4 p.m. Detailed information here.

Nor was Gingrich alone in attacking Murtha, as Taylor Marsh demonstrates at the Patriots Project in "The Swiftboating of John Murtha."  More here at SourceWatch. Murtha's crime? Calling for redeployment of American troops in Iraq.

Yet Gingrich's own position on Iraq has also evolved.  See Even Gingrich wants to cut and run in the Carpetbagger Report from April, which references this ThinkProgress article "September 2004: Gingrich Blasts Critics of Iraq War Who ‘Complain We’re Not Winning Fast Enough’"   Digby analyzed Newt's war planning in "Future Shock and Awe" back in 2003.

Perhaps Gutknecht had Gingrich in mind in when he warned that it wasn't time to go wobbly on Iraq in June; maybe Gingrich's wobbling was on his mind later in the summer when Gil changed his own position on the Iraqi war.

But now Iran is the new Iraqi, as one U.S. counterterrorism official recently told the press. And  by bringing in Hoekstra and Gingrich, Gutknecht does appear to be allying himself with American neo-cons beating the war drums against Iran.

MN-01 Opinion: Rochester Post Bulletin Editorial

We mentioned Pete Hoekstra in our morning's post; his committee's report on Iran is being criticized as dishonest.

Today's Rochester Post-Bulletin editorial recalls Hoekstra's visit as well:

Last week's guest appearance in Rochester by Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., indicated that Gil Gutknecht has important friends in Congress who will go to bat for him in a tough election. So, yes, Hoekstra was here for Gutknecht, but he was also here for President Bush.

The issue

The future of Gutknecht and Bush are somewhat connected because the issues in Gutknecht's 1st District contest against Democrat Tim Walz are part of the midterm election battle some are trying to make into a referendum on the terrorism agenda of President Bush.

The editorial reviews Bush's anti-terrorism agenda that includes coercive interrogation, allowing hearsay in trials,  denying the right of terrorism suspects to review evidence against them under certain circumstances, and spying on U.S. citizens without cuort approval.

Hoekstra said he will support the president on these issues. Gutknecht said he would follow Hoekstra's lead.

[snip]

Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee, saw the president's proposals as clear dividers between parties and opposing candidates. Walz said he opposes Bush policies and believes they have weakened the country's security.

[snip]

Our view

The debate over national security proposals has spilled over into district congressional races. Even though Gutknecht indicated his positions are open for change, voters appear to have a clear choice between Gutknecht and Walz.

MN-01 Friday Night: Hoekstra on train derailments and much, much more!

HOEKSTRA: A TRAIN WRECK IN ROCHESTER?
Polinaut reports that Peter Hoekstra is coming to the Twin Cities for a fundraiser for Gil Gutknecht this  weekend, not just dodging a visit to Michigan by President Bush.

Hoekstra was in Rochester today talking to first responders about homeland security which:

isn't just responding to terrorist attacks, but to other serious situations including train derailments and chemical spills.
 
So, he's talking with first responders in Rochester about hazards that could happen in your own backyard.
 
And, he's getting feedback on what the area thinks about federal funding and working with the national level on integration.
 
"Integrate working as a team that they are prepared to work as a team if there ever any incident here in Minnesota," Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra says, "And, then they need to work with us to be open of what's working and what's not."
 
Of course the group did talk about terrorist attacks, and the chairman says the nation is much better prepared to stop an attack from ever happening than it was five years ago.

Meanwhile, Hoekstra told a slightly different story to the Grand Haven Tribune, a newspaper in his home district:

West Michigan's congressman, a key U.S. intelligence insider, says America should be prepared for the inevitable terrorist attack that could rival the horror of Sept. 11, 2001.

With that event looming on the horizon in Grand Haven, Michigan, train derailments and chemical spills in Rochester are just another national security risk.

No word on whether the discussion turned to "found" WMDs in Iraq or lost promises about term limits.

IS THAT A TIGHT RACE IN GIL'S POCKET, OR IS THE MAYO CLINIC JUST GLAD TO SEE YOU?
In breaking news today, Senator Norm Coleman announced that he:

has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for a plan to address concerns of those who fear an expansion by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad would harm the Rochester community and the Mayo Clinic.

Coleman, R-Minn., told reporters Thursday in Washington that he is waiting to hear from the department about his request.

"I have specifically asked the Department of Transportation to come up with a mitigation plan," Coleman said. "We need a mitigation plan, so I've asked them to study it and present something to us. They understand this is what's needed."

He said he believes the department will put "something on the table."

Steve Kulm, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said the department will review the letter before commenting.

Opponents of DM&E's expansion plan say the project could endanger patients and staff at the Mayo Clinic and harm its reputation. They also say the city would be adversely affected. Kevin Schieffer, chief executive of the railroad, has said upgrading the tracks will increase safety, and that critics are unwilling to come to an agreement.

The project has the potential to send up to 34 trains through downtown Rochester daily.

Coleman and Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., put the study request in writing Thursday in a letter to Acting Transportation Secretary Maria Cino.

Good to see Representative Gutknecht in a leadership role--after so many passive months.

KEYC CHURNS GOP CHARGE
Channel 12 in Mankato reports that "GOP Group Levels Charge at Walz Campaign."   MNPublius offers some perspective, while Evil Bobby schools himself for his future swiftboating.

NETROOTS
Minnesota Central continues his probing of Gil Gutknecht's health care proposals. Today's subject: Health savings accounts.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA) have been portrayed as the panacea for all that ails the health system.
HSA is a great program … if you’re healthy and wealthy. On the other hand, even the Government’s website states : If you have significant medical expenses that do not approach catastrophic limits, you are probably better off in a traditional plan.

So who does take advantage of a Health Savings Account?

Let’s say you have a net worth of $20.9 million dollars, would you want a Health Savings Account ? Well, one of the advantages is that it offers tax-preferred aspects. According to The Washington Post, President Bush disclosed in his annual financial report a health savings account worth as much as $15,000 … and I thought he got health coverage as part of his job !

HSA by design are a high deductible insurance program which allows the individual to also invest up to the deductible amount into an investment vehicle. Let’s say, you’re a family and select a policy with a deductible of $5,450, then you could also put away $5,450 (assuming that you have the available cash) into an investment fund that would grow tax-free. The monies could be invested much like an IRA - including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit. The value of the HSA at death is income to the estate or other entity.

Essentially, this is a catastrophic health insurance plan – since you pay all expenses until the deductible is satisfied. Catastrophe plans may make sense for home owners insurance since we do not normally experience disasters every year (unless you live in the hurricane belt) … maybe once in our lifetime; but most of us have health expenses every year.

The unanswered question cited by Gutknecht and the Kaiser Family Foundation is, does this make insurance affordable ? Yes, the insurance premium is less than a traditional policy with a lower deductible, but you are responsible for the medical expenses. These types of policies were available before HSA … the big new feature is that you can establish your own savings account for future medical expenses. But if you didn’t have the monies before, how does this help?

HSA do not address the underlying problems of rising healthcare costs in the U.S.

Read the rest here. See earlier installments here and here.  Bottomline, according to Minnesota Central:

In summary, . . . establishing Health Savings Accounts as the solution is non-responsive to the problem ... just another tax break for those that may not need it.

Thinking Outside the Closet reports that the National Journal thinks the MN-01 race has cooled from #39 to #41.

The Blog House takes back its praise of Republican operative blogging. Different race, same blogosmear  M.O.  The Strib on speeding story. Minnesota Monitor has an overview.