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

Who put the "front" in frontiers; or, the one about those robocalls in the First

Several kind readers gave us the heads-up yesterday about a fundraising email that the Walz campaign sent out.  Like Kristin Gillibrand before him, Tim Walz has been hit by robocalls to his constituents asking him to support retroactive immunity for telecoms.

The appeal began:

A group calling themselves “Frontiers of Freedom” is calling voters in southern Minnesota. . . .

The group is telling voters to urge me to support retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in the President’s illegal wiretapping program. They want me to cave in to the President’s demands.

Despite the pressure, I refuse to give these phone companies a free pass. I won’t let President Bush decide when he can break the law. . . .

Readers asked us to look into the Frontiers of Freedom Foundation  (FOFF) to see what the group was about.  Posting has been light here on the Prairie while we combed through news articles and reports about the group.

While one interest of FOFF founder chair Malcolm Wallop placed him near the heart of one of former House Majority Leader Tom Delay's  less excellent adventures in Malaysia,this post will focus on FOFF's recent work for telecoms, since the calls brought up immunity.

Common Cause wrote about FOF when it was carrying telecoms'  water as they sought to break into the cable market:

Frontiers of Freedom is a think tank that advocates a free market, deregulatory approach to public policy.^[37]  It operates six policy groups, including a Center for Economic Liberty and Property Rights which handles telecommunications policy.

Frontiers of Freedom does not disclose its financial backers, but the Wall Street Journal reported in 2001 that the organization's main contributors were corporations such as Philip Morris, ExxonMobil and RJ Reynolds Tobacco.^[38] At the time, Frontiers of Freedom lobbied heavily against environmental regulations designed to reduce global warming,^[39] and also railed against plaintiffs who sued the tobacco companies after contracting lung cancer from smoking.^[40]

More recently, the Larstan Business Group accused Frontiers of Freedom of engaging in Astroturf lobbying on behalf of the telephone companies.^[41]  Larstan's report, it should be noted, was commissioned by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association,^[42] the main trade association for the cable television industry.

The report points out that Frontiers of Freedom has flip-flopped from being a critic of the telephone industry, to being one of its champions.  According to Larstan, in 2004, Frontiers of Freedom lambasted "the Bell monopolies" for not "do[ing] any of the heavy-lifting normally associated with a free market,"^[43] and instead relying on government regulation to build their business. But in 2005, the organization praised the merger of AT&T and SBC Communications^[44] - two of the telephone industries biggest players - and also endorsed^[45] the Bell-backed regulations designed to ease their entry into the cable television business.  Qwest Communications has alleged that Frontiers of Freedom accepts contributions from AT&T.[46]

And then there's the FOFF's involvement in opposing net neutrality as a partner in the Hands off the Internet campaign. PRWatch gave the industry and its shills (including FOFF) a Bronze Falsie for Neutralizing Net Neutrality:

In two reports, Common Cause exposed more than a dozen front groups for telephone and cable companies. These groups hide their industry ties and often "claim to represent huge numbers of citizens, but in reality their public support is minimal or nonexistent," Common Cause wrote. Such campaigns "deliberately mislead citizens, and they deliberately mislead our lawmakers, who are already charged with the difficult task of making sense of complex telecommunications policies."

A frequent target of the telecom front groups is net neutrality, the principle that Internet providers should not favor some content and applications over others. Industry-funded groups with nice-sounding names like Hands Off the Internet, FreedomWorks, Consumers for Cable Choice, Progress and Freedom Foundation and Frontiers of Freedom claim that net neutrality would increase costs and reduce choices for consumers. Verizon Communications hired pollsters to conduct a misleading opinion survey purporting to show that consumers oppose net neutrality. One leading poll question asked respondents which is more important: "the benefits of new TV and video choice" and "lower prices for cable TV," or "barring high speed internet providers from offering specialized services ... for a fee"? The National Journal reported that telecom companies were spending $850,000 per week to attack net neutrality in advertisements placed "anywhere a congressional staffer is likely to be — including the Washington area transit system" and "at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport."

Oh boy!  FOFF is so worried about freedom for telecoms Internet users. Just to remind everybody about Net Neutrality, we're swiping a YouTube from the Save the Internet Coalition:

Closer to home, on April 8, Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Monitor wrote about yet another coalition FOFF was working on in Phony 'grassroots' telecom industry group pushes back against cell phone reforms.
Birkey reported Mywireless.org was a blended brew of industry:

Though dominated by CTIA, the Mywireless.org coalition comprises more than 30 organizations that include 16 chambers of commerce along with sharply right-wing organizations such as the American Conservative Union, Center for Individual Freedom and Frontiers of Freedom. Mywireless.org has also spread its coins generously among some of the pillars of the anti-tax, anti-regulation right through its "grants."  . . .

It's hard to separate the wires of ideological and corporate interest here, but FOFF's concern for national security has tended more toward pimping missile shield defenses over wiretapping. In fact, in the 1990s, the group fought against President Clinton's attempt to expand the government's powers to wiretap following the first World Trade Center bombings and Oklahoma City (see the text below the fold).

Sourcewatch and ExxonSecrets have more on FOFF. Why, it looks like another center of interest for FOFF is denying the link between human activity and climate change;  The Science and Public Policy Institute (formerly the Center for Science and Public Policy) also takes on those who think mercury being released into the environment might be a bad thing.  We could swear we've seen these cats cited already in First District energy policy discussions. 

Telecom and oil company money being used to influence public opinion in Southern Minnesota? Who'd have thunk it? Isn't this debate supposed to be about the global war on terrorism? Or trial lawyers? Or....maybe this what congressman Walz means when he's says he's been representing his constituents rather than outside special interests.

Maybe the calls are simply about telecom immunity. 

The comic brilliance of Randy Demmer: SMIF flood relief fund

We're developing a keen appreciation for the wit and wisdom of State Representative Randy Demmer (R-Backbench). Just yesterday, the Dodge County Independent published Demmer's latest column, Additional flood relief assistance coming from private sector, a small gem of conservative ideology, shiny as an ancient bee preserved in amber.

The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation has set up a Business Recovery Fund for Southeastern Minnesota businesses afflicted by August's deluge.  It's a good thing, one more example of how people take care of each other.

However, it's not enough for Demmer to applaud the SMIF's fund. Randy is such a kidder. He simply can't help himself in using the SMIF's generosity to illustrate an anti-government ideology:

. . .This is a textbook example of the private sector working with non-profits to assist their neighbors, without the need for government involvement. . . .

Demmer's nod to "no need for government involvement" is a brilliantly understated ironic gesture, given the conditions of the SMIF's grant program.  When we were studying its details, we'd noticed one of the eligibility criteria on a SMIF factsheet about the grant program:

Business is registered with FEMA

There's also the sticky matter of the preference given to businesses that are working with the federal Small Business Administration and the Minnesota Investment Fund.  From  the  same SMIF factsheet:

While all businesses are eligible to apply, preference will be given to:
• Businesses that are working with the Small Business Administration or the
Minnesota Investment Fund through their city or county.
• Businesses that have been in existence five years or more
• Businesses which are able to retain multiple employees.
• Businesses which provide a unique service that contributes to the local
community.
• Businesses which are locally-owned.

There's also the small matter of this statement on the grant application form [Word document here]:

You have my permission to release information with this application to Federal, State, Local or private organizations that provide relief for disaster related purposes. This is to avoid duplication of funds.

The grant application form budget section includes the SBA and MIF as possible revenue sources. The form also requests two bits of information:

Describe the other funding agencies involved in your recovery process:
Specify what kind of financing gap exists:

We too applaud the SMIF's program: it's a textbook example of the private sector, non-profits, and state and federal government disaster aid programs working together with local government to assist their neighbors without duplicating funds. From the looks of the details, the non-profit's generous grant program isn't intended to replace government involvement, but to fill in gaps.

What's more, a look at the SMIF's annual report shows that the Foundation receives financial support from cities and counties in its area, as well as aiding local governmnet. It also has a hand in a number of Americorps programs.  The public-private-non-profit partnerships are truly impressive.

We wonder if Karl Rove discovered Demmer's gift for irony when the dapper legislator skipped two days of the session to fly out to DC last spring for the NRCC's candidate training school.

 

The Draz is a special guest at Mark Olson's Family Picnic today

Steve Drazkowski campaigned on rural values in the recent special election in 28B, and so we're curious to find him listed as a special guest on the handbill promoting Minnesota House Representative Mark Olson's "Old-Fashioned Family Picnic."

Minnesotans may recall that Mark Olson was convicted in July of one domestic abuse complaint and sentenced in mid-August:

A Sherburne County judge on Thursday sentenced Olson, an eight-term Republican from Big Lake, on one count of domestic assault. A jury in July convicted Olson of causing his wife fear of bodily harm during an incident at their home.

Judge Alan Pendleton sentenced Olson to 90 days in jail, but stayed the sentence and put Olson on two years probation, fined him and required him to complete a 12-week group counseling program.

There was talk of the legislature taking action against Olson at the time of the sentencing, who was suspended from the GOP House caucus after his arrest:

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, and House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, have conferred about Olson's case, but no legislative action has taken place, said Andy Wittenborg, a spokesman for the DFL caucus.

According to Anderson Kelliher, a complaint signed by at least two members would have to be submitted to the House ethics committee before formal punishment could be considered.

"Members from both sides have said they're ready to bring a complaint, but none has been filed yet," Wittenborg said. Olson, who is serving his eighth term, was suspended from the Republican caucus after his arrest.

He is unlikely to be removed. At the time of his sentencing, the St. Cloud Times asked him to step down, as did a Republican blogger at he time of the conviction. His wife, who is divorcing him, discussed Olson's personal family values in Family dynamics prove destructive. Dump Mark Olson contrasts this year's guests with those Republicans who attended Olson's annual picnic last year. We're astonished that Draz is breaking with the consensus of the GOP Caucus in the House and appearing as Olson's special guest. Taxpayer League head former rep Phil Krinkie is a special quest as well. 

Thanks to the archives at Dump Mark Olson and IDHA.

Mankato Free Press LTE: Cameron Olafson is a handsome devil

And boy, can Cameron Olafson write letters to the editor!  The Mankato Free Press has published one today: Farm Bill touted by Walz squashes family farmers.

It's not Cameron Olafson's first letter to the Mankato Free Press scolding Walz.  Last December, he sent in this epistle:

Walz should be working on DM&E issue 

After reading a recent story in The Free Press about the city of Mankato’s remaining concerns over the possible DM&E railroad expansion, I asked myself a few questions.

Isn’t Tim Walz from Mankato? Didn’t he campaign and get elected on this issue? Shouldn’t he do some real work on this now that he was elected? I would say the answer to all those questions is yes, which is why I found it quite odd that he was not even mentioned in the story.

Cameron Olafson

Mankato

Okay then. The handsome devil tried to spin the absence of Walz's name in an article as proof that his congressman-elect wasn't doing "any real work"  on the DM & E issue.  Awkward.

In today's letter, Cameron Olafson concludes:

The Farm Bill, which Walz is so proud of passing, props up huge corporate farms while squashing the family farmers in his district already struggling to get by. Maybe Walz should be reminded that he works for us, not the lobbyists in Washington with bottomless pockets.

It's good that Cameron Olafson is as concerned about family farms as he was about the DM & E railroad. As for those lobbyists in Washington with deep pockets, he must mean Blue Earth County farmer Kevin Papp, who travelled to DC to lobby Walz about the Farm Bill.  Or somebody.

Like the National Farmers Union and Land Stewardship, Papp's organization  was happy with the Farm Bill:

"We are pleased with the passage of the House version of the Farm Bill," said MFBF President Kevin Paap. "Congressman Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, showed exemplary leadership and a genuine commitment to agriculture in crafting this legislation in committee and leading it through the House."

"This fiscally responsible bill expands benefits to all sectors of agriculture and makes some significant policy reforms," said Paap. "The bill continues to provide an all important safety net for farmers, while at the same time provides a strong nutrition, conservation and energy title."

"We thank Congressman Peterson for his leadership," said Paap. "We also thank our members of Congress James Oberstar, Tim Walz, Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison for voting in support of this bill."

We must also wonder what Mr. Papp thinks at being accused of helping to squash family farms. He has some explaining to do to the 40,000 members of the Minnesota Farm Bureau. Maybe not.

Cameron Olafson also writes letters to the Minnesota State University, Mankato Reporter.  This one is typical:

PROJECT VOTE SMART: GUTKNECHT AD MISUSES PVS NAME AND REPUTATION

Project Vote Smart has released a public statement (now available at the Walz campaign site::

RELEASE DATE:  October 18, 2006 
FOR INFORMATION:
Adelaide Kimball:  406-859-8683
 
PUBLIC STATEMENT

Gil Gutknecht, a candidate for the 1st Congressional District in Minnesota, has attacked his opponent, Timothy Walz, with misleading information and used Project Vote Smart’s name to give his accusations credibility.  This kind of negative campaign activity is precisely the sort of tactic that the Project attempts to counter with its factual database.  By using the Project’s name to give credibility to these attacks, Gil Gutknecht is cheating the public out of their need for trusted, abundant, accurate, factual information.

The Project prohibits the use of its name and programs, including the National Political Awareness Test (NPAT), in partisan political advertising.  All candidates in Minnesota have been notified of this policy in writing.  Additionally, this policy is posted prominently on the Project Vote Smart website.

This kind of behavior occurs in less that 00.05 percent of all races nationally.  It is our policy to condemn this misuse of Project Vote Smart’s name and reputation and to alert the public to any misuse of our name or programs for negative political activities.

More on this story later.

MN-01 Gil Gutknecht's "grip and grin" Part I

DOUBLE-PLUS GOOD: GUTKNECHT RECEIVES "SUPER FRIEND OF SENIORS" AWARD FROM 60 PLUS
There's a new press release up at the Gutknecht campaign site that salutes the congressman for receiving the "Super Friend of Seniors" Award from a group called 60 Plus:

Gutknecht Named "Super Friend of Seniors"

Washington, DC - First District Congressman Gil Gutknecht today received the "Super Friend of Seniors" award from the 60 Plus Association (60 Plus) for his work during the 109th Congress.

"I would like to thank the 60 Plus Association for recognizing my work, but the real award should go to Southern Minnesota seniors," said Gutknecht. "I have been honored to be a part of an open dialogue with our seniors. That's why I continue to fight for affordable health care, and for always keeping the patient-doctor relationship at the forefront of public policy."/p>

60 Plus is a non-partisan seniors' advocacy group with a free enterprise, less government, less taxes approach to seniors' issues. 60 Plus has set ending the "death" tax and saving Social Security for the young as its top priorities.

Just what kind of a seniors' group is the 60 plus Association?

Not much of one, online sources suggest. Public Citizen's The New Stealth PACs: Tracking 501(c) Non-Profits in Elections, provides an overview of the 60 Plus Assocation. Long and somewhat dated, but worth a read intact :

60 Plus Association was formed in the early 1990s with help from Richard A. Viguerie, a conservative direct mail guru who has had ties to two other purported senior citizens' advocacy organizations that have served the causes of Republicans and the pharmaceutical industry in recent years: United Seniors Association and the Seniors Coalition.^{1 2 3}

60 Plus sent direct mail or broadcast radio messages in at least 24 federal election contests in the months leading up to Election Day 2002. In nearly every case in which the content of its direct mail or radio advertisements was reported, 60 Plus communications concerned prescription drug benefits for senior citizens.⁴

The group appears to have coordinated its 2002 electioneering efforts with at least two other 501(c) organizations believed to be at least partially funded by the pharmaceutical industry: America 21 and the Seniors Coalition. The three groups chose to advertise in many of the same contests. In Colorado's 7th District congressional contest between Republican Bob Beauprez and Democrat Mike Feeley, all three groups sent out direct mail pieces that misspelled the Republican's name identically as "Beuprez." The mailers had similar or identical type faces, and each promoted Beauprez's support for a Medicare prescription drug benefit.^{5 6 7 8} 

Read the rest below the fold.

Can Gutknecht look forward to headlines like this?

Gil Gutknecht has much to look forward to in terms of press coverage of the October 12 visit of House Majority leader John Boehner. 

Other Boehner stumping trips are producing memorable headlines. Take this one, ripped from the website of North Carolina's leading newspaper: "As scandal festers, Boehner plumps for Jones."

The News-Observer  article beneath the headline reports on a Boehner visit to Raleigh, North Carolina on behalf of  Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones.  Here's the lead to the article:

U.S. House Majority Leader John Boehner was in Raleigh Wednesday night, but he apparently didn't want to talk about the unfolding scandal in Washington.

Boehner blew by a reporter as he entered Caffe Luna for a closed fund-raiser for 3rd District U.S. Rep. Walter Jones of Farmville.

And some choice coverage for Jones himself:

Jones was in a delicate position. He criticized the GOP leadership while not blaming Boehner, who was raising money for him.

There's just nothing like earned media these days.

Rochester-Post Bulletin: Hot/Not

Three items in yesterday's Hot/Not list at the Post-Bulletin:

Not

• No new exhibit at the Rochester Art Center. That means we're stuck with Blinking Out of Existence for another three weeks.

• Gil Gutknecht staying on the ballot. After voting the Republican congressmen into office for six terms, voters would finally have to learn how to spell the Guter's name as a write-in.

• Blasting work on U.S. 52 North is causing lane closures and detours.

The Guter?

 

Star Tribune: Momentum meter

The press can be so negative sometimes.

Sandwiched between news of other races, we found this item in the Strib's "Momentum meter":

Lasting damage may not result, but it was a somewhat awkward week for veteran First District U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht. A lawsuit surfaced attempting to remove the Republican incumbent from the primary ballot over alleged technical problems with his nominating petition, and news reports described an attempt by his staff to edit and spruce up Gutknecht's biography on Wikipedia, an Internet reference site.

Too bad the Star Tribune didn't have a reporter at yesterday's debate in Owatonna; it would have been able to report on positive momentum--for Tim Walz. Go give Walz a reward for a job well done.

Winona Wiki Whacking!

Reader Max was kind enough to post about today's story in the Winona Daily News: What term limits?: Gutknecht caught attempting to edit Wikipedia biography.  The front page of the online version of the paper is down for repairs and we had missed it.