It's no secret any longer: the secret ingredient in Congressman Tim Walz's first place "Hermann the German" hotdish is Schell's beer, brewed in New Ulm, Minnesota. Walz's hearty meal won Senator Franken's annual Hot Dish-off today.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, the Minnesota Democrat and former comedian,
will host his third annual Capitol casserole contest today in
(appropriately) the Senate Agricultural Committee Hearing Room in
Washington.
Franken will be joined by Democrats Sen. Amy Klobuchar
and Reps. Rick Nolan, Collin Peterson, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison
and Tim Walz and Republicans Eric Paulsen and Michele Bachmann.
Franken
started the friendly competition in 2011 as a way to bring the
delegation together to put partisanship aside and celebrate a Minnesota
culinary tradition. This year’s event will be judged by former Minnesota
congressmen Vin Weber and Gerry Sikorski.
Just as the contest began, Walz press secretary Tony Ufkin tweeted:
Walz's "Hermann the German" hotdish is in place. Secret ingredient from New Ulm... pic.twitter.com/fQ8Y4h1rAc
We guessed beer and Ufkin confirmed. The secret's also out on Franken's website:
Walz's Hermann the German Hotdish
Ingredients: 1 package of brats 1 bottle Schell's beer 1 onion 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 cup of chopped celery 1 can cream of cheddar soup 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1/2 cup milk 1 cups sharp cheddar cheese 1 package tater tots.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add beer, onions and garlic powder.
Submerge the brats into the pot and reduce heat to medium and cook for
10 min. Remove and let cool. Butter the casserole dish. Combine
remaining ingredients into a separate bowl, minus the tots. Chop up the
brats into bite sized pieces and add to the other ingredients. Pour the
mixture into the casserole dish, top with tater tots and bake for 1 hour
at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with cheese for the last 10-15 mins of baking.
Photo: The hotdish prior to judging. Twitpic by Tony Ufkin.
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Norm Coleman recently kvetched that Al Franken is seldom around in the state of Minnesota; Bluestem observed that the one-term wonder United States Senator probably doesn't read the same newspapers we do.
Farmers, residents and local leaders met with Sen. Al Franken
Saturday to discuss various agriculture issues during the legislator’s
visit to Albert Lea.
Franken discussed the farm bill issue in both
Albert Lea and St. Charles Saturday, though the talks also touched on
other agriculture issues like conservation and biodiesel. Franken said
he enjoyed that other topics came up and said he enjoys speaking with
constituents in informal settings.
“The reason I’m here today is to hear from you,” Franken said. “There’s very little that doesn’t impact people in rural areas.”
Read the rest at the Tribune. Franken took a side visit to the building where he once attended grade school:
But his visit to Albert Lea wasn’t all business — Franken also
visited the school where he went to kindergarten
But his visit to Albert Lea wasn’t all business — Franken also
visited the school where he went to kindergarten, which is now Abbott
Apartments. The building that’s more than a century old was formerly
Abbott Elementary School, where Franken attended kindergarten and part
of first grade before his family moved to St. Louis Park. Franken said
he has fond memories of the school.
Albert Lea-Freeborn County
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Randy Kehr said he appreciated
that Franken took the time to talk with Freeborn County residents about
farm issues.
“He was a good listener — it was a very good
meeting,” Kehr said. “The people in Freeborn County, it’s important he
hears what they have to say.
Photo: Franken goes back to his old school, now reused as an apartment building.
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About $11,000--a fraction of the estimated $70,000 the primary and special elections will cost county and township governments--remains in Morrow's campaign treasury.
Dayton, Walz, Clark Johnson GOTV rally Monday
Baring blocked roads and blizzard conditions, Governor Mark Dayton and Congressman Tim Walz will stump for DFL endorsee Clark Johnson at Gustavus Adolphus College's Alumni Hall in St. Peter on Monday, February 11 at 5 p.m., the St Peter Herald reports in Rally for Clark Johnson to be held at Gustavus.
New Ulm Journal: Forums and fundraising
The candidates have met in one public forum and one two-day radio debate. Josh Moniz covers the wide-range of questions at the former in 19A candidates offer diverse, divided views. Go check it out at the New Ulm Journal.
The Journal also checked out the campaign money chase in 19A fundraising reports show divergent campaign emphasis. Johnson and Quist are nearly evenly matched in the dollar game but are spending their cash in much different ways. Read how in the Journal.
Since Moniz turned in that report, Clark Johnson's committee has taken in $2000 more in large donations, all from terminating DFL committees; the old SD 23 DFL and Linda Pfeilsticker's 2008 state house campaign each gave $500 and former DFL rival Karl Johnson's committee ccontributed $1000. SEIU's MN state council endorsed Johnson today, so it's possible an addition contribution will be posted.
None of the other candidates report new large contributions.
With only the drafty notion of Minnesota Senate Minority Leader David "Yertle the Turtle" Hann at hand, the state's political junkies are scouring the land looking for signs that there will be some sort of gubernatorial race when Mark Dayton comes up again in 2014.
Dayton won a squeaker of a race against Tom Emmer and Tom Horner. One opponent ventured into talk radio. Yesterday, the other 2010 contender went to St. Peter.
In other 19A news, 2010 Independence Party gubernatorial candidate
Tom Horner spoke on behalf of Gieseke at an Independence Party
fundraiser in St. Peter.
Horner addressed a crowd of approximately 20 people . . .
Horner did not
rule out a 2014 run for governor, but said he needs to see the ability
to raise serious money early in the campaign. He said an Independence
candidate must define himself or herself early and move into at least
second place to avoid fears of wasted votes as DFL and Republicans pull
apart on positions. He said he is not interested in being the "Don
Quixote of ideas."
That's at least a bit more decisive than Erik Paulsen's tepid answers about potentially challenging Franken for U.S. Senate.
Photo: 2010 IP standard-bearer Tom Horner so doesn't want to be the Man of La Mancha.
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While Minnesota's U.S. Senators and the Democrats on the House Ag Committee argued throughout the summer and fall for the need to pass a new Farm Bill,many of Bluestem's friends didn't pay much attention to their warnings.
That is, until they realized one consequence might be outrageously priced milk.
It's not them, Bluestem must admit. It's the complexity of a bill that deals with food, from farm to fork, that got mired in what Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives thought was a winning message about SNAP, or food stamps. While that narrative of "takers" didn't pan out in November, the GOP still controls the House, and the bill, approved by the Senate and the House Ag Committee, languished without coming to the floor.
The deal only prolongs the 2012 saga over farm programs. The Senate
and House Agriculture committee in 2012 both passed five-year bills to
replace the 2008 farm bill. While differences remained over how southern
crops were treated and how much food-stamp benefits were to be cut, a
compromise long appeared at hand. The deal guarantees that those
five-year bills are dead and lawmakers will have to start over again
once the new Congress convenes Thursday.
The deal simply extends the 2008 farm bill, which expired Sept. 30, for one year.
Efforts
to craft a new farm bill will in turn be affected by the
debt-ceiling-sequester-continuing-resolution-tax-reform mess that is
coming in late winter and spring.
Extending the old bill--without reforms either the Senate or House versions--is more expensive than passing those versions, but would have left less for House Republicans to bicker about.
One proposed House Republican version on the dairy extension already causes the bickerfest to go on at the expense of farmers, Bloomberg Businessweek's Derek Wallbank reports in Budget Deal Add-On Would Stop U.S. Milk Prices Doubling:
House and Senate agriculture committee leaders said they backed a
different one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill. Representative
Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture
Committee, said he would oppose the short- term dairy-only bill if it’s
brought to the floor, calling a one-month extension measure a “cruel
joke” on American farmers.
The Senate "fiscal cliff" bill may be no gift for farmers in the Upper Midwest either, if David Rogers' report in Politico is to be believed.
The giant New Year’s tax package rushed through the Senate Tuesday
morning includes a nine-month farm bill extension that forestalls ill, even some of Bluestem's best informed friends didn't start paying attention.any
immediate spike in milk prices but also represents a bitter blow for
farmers who had hoped for long-sought changes in the dairy support
program.
In the final hours, Senate Agriculture Committee
Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) found herself pushed aside in favor
of legislative language generated by the office of Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a bit player and frequent “no” vote when the
Senate adopted a more comprehensive five-year farm bill last June.
The upshot is a victory for Southern agricultural interests with the
greatest stake in a costly system of direct cash payments to often
already profitable producers. In the dairy arena, giant processors like
Dean Foods Co. come out ahead while the outcome is a major blow for the
National Milk Producers Federation, which watched with disbelief from
the sidelines on New Year’s Eve.
“The deal is blatantly anti-reform,” said Ferd Hoefner, policy direct
for the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. “Many smaller, targeted
programs to fund farm and food system reform and rural jobs…were left
out completely.”
“The message is unmistakable - direct commodity subsidies, despite
high market prices, are sacrosanct, while the rest of agriculture and
the rest of rural America can simply drop dead.”
The impact in the House is still unclear.
Coming into Tuesday, Republicans were scheduled to bring up their own
short-term solution to the milk crisis . . .
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the House
Agriculture Committee, had warned the White House that it must tread
carefully on the dairy and farm bills issues or risk a backlash. But at
this stage, given the size of the Senate vote, milk producers risk being
swept away with the tax cut surge.
Beyond dairy, the outcome is a wake-up call to the entire farm lobby
of its weakened political standing in Washington and need to avoid so
much infighting.
Update: The Politico story has been revised to include the reaction of Peterson to the passage of the bill, which he voted against:
“Upset is an understatement,” Peterson told POLITICO. “I’m not going
to talk with those guys. I’m done with them for the next four years.
They are on their own. They don’t give a sh-it. about me, anyway.”
“This is crazy, “ Peterson said of the tax package itself. “The farm
bill is one thing, but there’s just no way I’m going to add $4 trillion
to the deficit. … We’re not doing anything. We’re making it worse.”
In Minnesota, farm groups from across the production and political spectrum had urged the House to pass the 2012 Farm Bill (the Senate bill had already been approved) to no avail. However, a least one farm leader called for the passage of the nine-month extension so that farmers, processors and consumers would have some measure of certainty.
"With Congress at an impasse, a
nine-month extension may be the only path to a five-year farm bill in
the new Congress,” said Doug Peterson, MFU President. “An extension must
be responsible and protect baseline
funding and continue vital farm and consumer programs such as the Milk
Income Loss Contract Program (MILC), crop insurance, child and elderly
nutrition, and conservation.”
Since Minnesota has so far been spared the worst of the nation's drought, agriculture has remained a bright spot in the state's economy. In December, CBS Minnesota reported that Minnesota Agricultural Exports Hit Record $6.8B for 2011.
Photo: Farming in Minnesota.
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Now the media is widely reporting a consequence of the Republican leadership's inability to bring the Farm Bill to the floor: the return of the Agricultural Act of 1949. This will be a disaster for both milk drinkers and producers. Back in September, Collin Peterson to Julie Rovner of National Public Radio:
"At that point, we'll have $38 milk," Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.,
told a rally at the Capitol last week. "So what do you dairy farmers
think about that?" (That $38 refers to the price per 100 pound weight —
the wholesale pricing unit. Basically, it works out to nearly four times
what dairy farmers are guaranteed now.)
That's a temporary boon. As a Southeastern Minnesota dairy farmer told Winona Daily News reporter Nathan Hansen in US heading toward a ‘dairy cliff’:
Shelly DePestel, partner at Daley Farms near Lewiston, Minn., said
the increased price levels wouldn’t be good for dairy farmers if it
disproportionally impacts consumers.
“If the support price
doubles, consumers are going to feel the brunt of that,” she said.
“Consumption will go down and the price will also go down. It’s a
vicious circle, that won’t take care of itself.”
But farmers still shudder at the thought of any prospect, even
remote, of reverting to an old system under which milk could surge to $6
a gallon.
The Agricultural Act of 1949 contains the basic
provisions for setting milk prices. The act is superseded every time a
new farm bill is passed, but if no new bill or extension is passed the
old act goes back into effect.
That law includes a mechanism
for guaranteeing a minimum milk price that covers producers’ costs. The
government guarantees to buy their milk products at that price, but
producers can usually do better selling on the consumer market. But if
the old mechanism were applied to current market conditions, the
government price could be double the current rate, industry officials
say. Farmers would sell their dairy products to the government instead
of the private market and store prices would surge. Then prices might
collapse as the government eventually sold its dairy stockpiles.
“I certainly feel like I have been screaming into the wind for months
now,” said Rep. Tim Walz. “This thing has been done, passed out of the
Senate with almost a two-thirds majority. Just like so many other
things, it’s just kick the can down the road.”
It's hard to fault Walz for his anger. Passing a Farm Bill was a big issue in the First Congressional District contest between Walz and Republican opponent Allen Quist, who blamed the food assistance title in the bill for everything from America's divorce rate to single ladies voting for Democrats (seriously).
Voters and ag leaders rejected Quist, signaling they want Congress to quit dawdling. Sadly, it looks like Boehner, Cantor and company will continue to dawdle until the cows come home--and head to the auction barn as the dairy industry suffers.
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You'd think that someone who literally parades around the metro with a pot-bellied pig--and who wants to chair an indebted and divided Republican Party of Minnesota--would have the sense of humor to understand that guests on Jon Stewart's Daily Show routinely get made the butt of jokes.
It's actually quite interesting that you started with a clip from the Jon Stewart Show. In April, they flew me out to actually be on the Jon Stewart show. Did anyone here watch it? Ok, one person did.
That was actually the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life. I applied to be a national delegate and I had to fill out on the forms "Is there anything I've ever done that could be used to embarrass the Republican Party?" and I had to put "Yes" (I lead a very boring life) but I did have to do that.
They went out of their way to make me look stupid. They invited me to come and they wanted to have a show, it was the young man in I don't remember which suburb it was but he invited a porn star to prom and they wanted somebody to say "You know what, high school kids shouldn't be dating porn stars and it seemed like I was the only woman--they wanted a woman to do it--I was the only woman in the nation willing to say, "Yah, that's not a good thing," and they made me look very stupid.
But at least I had fun, I had a good trip out there.
Perhaps more worrisome for the Republican Party? Third Congressional District Congressman Eric Paulsen's ability to get upstaged by a pig--and one that supported Rick Santorum for President, no less. Will this lack of star quality might end up factoring into power brokers decision making about whether Paulsen challenges Al Franken, who hasn't lost any of his talent for stand up comedy as he's gained a reputation for thoughtful policymaking (and Secret Santa parties) in the U.S. Senate.
Finally, Bluestem downgrading Holsten's perfect "Hat Tip" ranking, since she failed to get a laugh from September's Tea Party crowd when she joked about how the Supreme Court decision upholding "Obamacare" was all her fault. Holsten blamed herself, she said, because she had been praying for court swing vote Anthony Kennedy to make the "right" vote, but she neglected to pray for Chief Justice Roberts, since she thought he'd take the "right"decision.
Photo: Pot bellied pig "Taylor Swine" is fed a Cheerio by
its owner Marjorie Holsten of Maple Grove before the start of a rally
for Republican Rick Santorum in Blaine, Minn. Ben Garvin
/
Getty Images
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Covering the pity party that was the first MNGOP state central committee meeting to come after the Republicans' disaster in Minnesota's 2012 elections, the Associated Press's Brian Bakst reports in Minn. Republicans look ahead after 2012 drubbing:
The other big electoral prize that year is the seat occupied by
first-term Democratic Sen. Al Franken. He won the spot in 2008 by 312
votes after a lengthy recount and court battle.
No one has
formally announced a challenge, though plenty of names are floating
around. Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen are considered possibilities,
as are some rooted in the private sector. Among them is Bill Guidera, an
attorney who has been the state Republican Party's finance chairman. He
attended Saturday's gathering but said he's undecided.
Bill Guidera is much more than a simple lawyer helping out the local Republicans. It's surprising that Bakst puts it this way, since last November, the AP reported in GOPer Guidera won't challenge Klobuchar for Senate:
A Minnesota-based executive with the
parent company of Fox News has decided not to run as a Republican
against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar next year.
Bill Guidera is an attorney and a senior vice
president with News Corporation, and has been a prolific fundraiser
for the Minnesota Republican Party. He decided several months ago
not to challenge Democrat Klobuchar, but reconsidered in recent
weeks after further encouragement from some party leaders.
But Guidera isn't just a simple senior vice president for Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. He's the one who works of public policy. His Linked In profile states:
As a public policy executive with Microsoft and with News Corporation, I
have managed legal matters and advocacy on some of the most significant
policy issues facing those companies: Antitrust; intellectual property;
Internet privacy, safety and security; tax and workforce development.
News Corporation announced
today the expansion of the Company’s Washington, DC office, adding Kathy
Ramsey and Kristopher Jones to the government affairs team and promoting
veterans Bill Guidera and David Fares. . . .
. . . Mr. Guidera has been with News Corporation since 2007, leading the Company’s
state public policy initiatives relating to the Company’s film, Internet,
print and television businesses. He works particularly closely on Internet
safety issues, where he is a national policy leader. He previously served as
an attorney and policy counsel with Microsoft Corporation, where he drove
state, federal and international policy development on safety and security.
What's more, Guidera is the fellow who shows up at corporate bill factory ALEC's meetings, fronting for Fox News and Murdoch. In May, PR Watch reported in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Is an ALEC Member:
At the meeting April 2010 meeting attended by Guidera, the task force
hosted a panel on the Federal Communications Commission's National
Broadband Plan. The Reason Foundation's Steve Titch, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's (NCTA's) Rick Cimerman, and AT&T's Hank Hultquist discussed the National Broadband Plan. Intuit's
Jim Ruda presented on and introduced a proposed "Resolution on
Government Tax Preparation & Electronic Filing." The resolution was
approved by the legislative and private sector members of the task
force. (Intuit subsequently dropped ALEC this spring in the wake of the
Trayvon Martin shooting and other controversial information about ALECs
agenda and operations, as documented by CMD/ALECexposed.) . . .
. . . News Corp. is a multinational, multi-platform media conglomerate. The ALEC Communications and Technology Task Force,
on which News Corp. has a seat, has long had a far-reaching agenda to
deregulate the communications industry and has opposed key protections
of the public's airwaves for ordinary citizens, such as "net neutrality"
and the "Fairness Doctrine." However, News Corp.'s particular business
interests in the jurisdiction of this ALEC task force are not fully
known.
“At times a bill is seen as the easy solution to a tough
problem, yet that bill may create even more problems. Todd (Kruse) and
his team cut through the puffery to reach the core issues with clear,
conservative policy solutions,” said Bill Guidera of News Corp, an ALEC
member based in Minnesota.
There's also the possibility that Guidera could run for governor as well. Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Star Tribune tweeted from the Republican SCC meeting:
Bill Guidera,current MN GOP finance chair,says he won't run for chair but didn't say no when asked if he would run for gov or sen in #mn2014
Photo: News Corp Group (above) An anti ALEC banner (below).
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The hum of a new motor pumping water is a sound that Red Arndt has waited decades to hear.
Arndt is the chairman of the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System board. The project that started in 1990 flipped the switch Monday and started pumping water to 11 communities.
"We had our groundbreaking and we started construction and that was in 2003. Now in 2012, we're starting to deliver water which is unbelievable. This is really great," Arndt said.
Arndt is from Luverne and joined the project in 1990 when pumping treated Missouri River water to communities in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota was just an idea.
Even though Luverne is not one of the 11 communities that started receiving water Monday, he is still proud that Lewis and Clark is now delivering water more than two decades after the project started.
Most other Siouxland communities will have to wait for their taste though. Places like Hull, Sibley, Sioux Center and Sheldon, in Iowa, may not see water from the new system for years.
Auen says that's because congress doesn't see the system as a high priority. So, the project lacks the nearly $200 million of federal funding needed to build 200 miles of pipeline. Right now, they've secured a drop in the bucket, just $4.5 million.
Auen says they could get more in fiscal year 2013, but wont know for months.
"Traditionally Congress, for the last five or six years, they've not passed a budget in a timely fashion. So, it could be as late as January or February of next year until we know," said Auen.
A 2011 ban on Congressional earmarks eliminated a tool LCRW proponents in Congress had regularly used in the past to get around austere federal budgets for rural water projects and keep enough construction money coming to LCRW to make meaningful progress toward completing it. Without recourse to that, after Rock Rapids is hooked up, communities like Madison and Worthington and Luverne MN. and Sheldon, Sibley, Hull and Sioux Center, IA. are left with an uncertain future.
“The federal funding being provided to Lewis and Clark is not even enough to keep up with inflation, let alone make any meaningful construction progress. Under this continued scenario, the project would never be completed,” says LCRW Executive Director Troy Larson.
“It’s beyond frustration. It has turned into anger,” Hull City Administrator Les Van Roekel says of the mood in his community. Hull has been forced to declare a water emergency and restrict nonessential use of water this summer, and Hull, like all the LCRW members and the states of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, has already pre-paid the $153.6 million state and local match in an effort to keep LCRW moving forward.
“Now we see the federal government out there approving projects when previously approved projects,” like LCRW, “aren’t getting a funding level to ever be completed,” says Van Roekel.
LCRW is expected to drive hundreds of millions of dollars of economic develop in a three-state, 500-square-mile region, populated by 300,000 people. But as the project drags on, some of that development is held hostage, as well.
Photo: via Keloland, the massive pumps that have begun to supply water in South Dakota.
While sharing a political culture that loathes Hollywood and big corporate news media, they both aspire to starring roles in the beast. Envy? Stupidity? Projection? Those aren't mutually exclusive answers.
That's great and all, but if the trailer is any indication, then Bills' Staring at the Future film promises to be absolutely, horrifyingly awful. Produced by Vaughn Juares, the trailer introduces the story of somebody named Riley Thomas, a young man who in the video appears to sit across a table from a grotesque future version of himself.
The piece is certainly generating more buzz than the addition of two vehicles to Bills' fleet of repainted school buses (how Wellstone ever managed to pull off a victory in 1990 with only one seems to have escaped the Bills campaign strategists).
Carlson's business partner in Blue Diamond Strategies is Republican operative Abdul-Rahman Magba-Kamara, whose Linkedin profile lists his experience as Field Staff at MN House Republican Campaign Committee, Field Staff at Seifert for Governor and Chairman at Minnesota College Republicans. A.K. Kamara on Facebook, he lists climate change denier group Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow as his employer in addition to Blue Diamond Strategies. In short, a made man of the anti-Emmer faction of the MNGOP; Gilmore carries a card as well.
Celebrity is no stranger to Minnesota politics: witness Governor Ventura and Senator Franken. Both Ventura and Franken, however, earned their chops in the entertainment world before seeking office.
Bills and Carlson have managed to skip all the intermediate steps, collapsing career aspirations and political campaigns into the small, small screen of Youtube and the micro-Variety of twitter feeds. The small scale of both men's personae on the iPhone--and the rise of John Gilmore as the Twin Cities' media Republican go-to guy on twitter are indeed emblematic of today's Republican Party of Minnesota.
A double feature of the two guys who are on the top of the statewide Republican primary ticket in Minnesota:
Bills:
Carlson:
Photo: Republican Party of Minnesota spokester Rod Sterling.
The collapse of MF Global is sending shockwaves across rural Minnesota, where grain elevators and some farmers are stunned to find their commodity accounts threatened by the distant scandal.
Although relatively few Minnesotans directly used the trading services of MF Global, the failed derivatives broker played a larger behind-the-scenes role in commodities futures trading. That has spread the fallout from the collapse, and some Minnesotans are alarmed to find a portion of their commodity accounts have been frozen - and seem to be at risk.
"Minnesota's farmers, co-ops and grain elevators trusted this company with their accounts, and it appears that their money was mismanaged and possibly lost," said Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken.
In a letter to federal regulators, Franken said Minnesota elevators are worried that those losses "could put them out of business" and that any "large loss of equity for grain elevators would have cascading effects on rural Minnesota's economy, affecting everyone from large cooperatives to small farmers."
Fortunately, Bob Zelenka, executive director of Minnesota Grain and Feed Association, reports that 86% of the money in commodity accounts has been released, although the Pioneer Press reports that he still has plenty of worries.
A solidarity rally for locked-out American Crystal Sugar refinery workers drew hundreds of people to the streets of Moorhead, Minnesota, the Associated Press and other news sources report.
Hundreds of American Crystal Sugar workers and others showed up in Moorhead with signs, banners and even guitars Thursday in a rally for employees who have been locked out for 11 days.
About 1,300 union workers have been locked out of five sugar processing plants in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa in the company's first labor impasse in 30 years. The largest beet sugar processor in the U.S. had offered a 17 percent pay increase over five years, but workers were upset about provisions covering job security and health care costs.
Management had nothing to say, Kolpack reports, other than word that no talks were scheduled. But the guitar-toting workers had a sing-able message:
The rally started near the company's Moorhead headquarters, where workers chanted pro-union slogans and targeted company vice president and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Talley. "Pink slip Joe," they yelled.
The group walked several blocks to a bridge over the Red River separating Minnesota and North Dakota, where one of at least two guitar-playing marchers, D-Roy Anderson, played the Jimi Hendrix song "Hey Joe." Anderson made up his own version Thursday when he saw buttons and signs about Talley.
"Hey Joe, where you are going with that big knife in your hand? Hey Joe Talley, when you going out and backstabbing union workers again?" Anderson sang.
Several hundred union workers and their supporters gathered at the Moorhead Center Mall about noon today for a rally intended to show support for union members locked out on Aug. 1 by American Crystal Sugar Co.
From the mall, they marched down both sides of the Veterans Memorial Bridge between Moorhead and Fargo, chanting union slogan[s] and carrying signs like one that stated: "Stop the war on workers!" . . .
The Herald's mother ship, the Fargo Forum posted a story and video:
One important suggestion that I have for the community is to go speak with the American Crystal Sugar workers about why 96 percent of the voting workers disagree with the contract written by American Crystal Sugar.
The workers explain it best, and they have made themselves available 24 hours a day. Listening to these workers, one would find that the contract impasse is not about money, but rather workplace safety, job security and reasonable health coverage so they are not saddled with excessive health care costs in hard economic times.
In comparison, American Crystal Sugar executives convey the message that they cannot believe workers would turn down such a “fair contract,” but this is a standard public relations ploy from the union-busting consulting firm — Strom Engineering — hired by American Crystal.
It surprises me that American Crystal Sugar would introduce and welcome Strom Engineering into our communities, a firm that according to a Star Tribune article from last Sunday, “has been criticized in the past for hiring ex-cons, misleading job applicants and running grueling, 12-hour shifts seven days a week without so much as a bathroom break.”
It is not the Minnesota way, nor the North Dakota way, to bring firms into our communities that have in place poor labor practices and hire replacement workers who have no connection to the community. . . .
Read them all at the Herald.
Franken talks to management and union representatives
Senator Al Franken says the lockout of union workers at American Crystal Sugar is not something he wants to see drag on.
Franken has spoken with Crystal President David Berg and his staff has met with union representatives. Crystal locked-out 1,300 employees on August 1st. The union says contract language and added health care costs are among its primary concerns.
American Crystal Sugar has brought in replacement workers for union workers. Management has also taken on some of the work at Crystal's five Red River Valley Sugar processing plants.
Franken is right; this shouldn't drag on. The company must end the lock out, let the workers go back to what they do best, and join the union negotiators at the table.
. . .The key phrase is "locked out." We have heard daily that workers are "on strike," but, no, they have been turned away. . . .
. . .It is very clear that employees of the co-op want to work. Nobody wants to be idle when scraping to meet the cost of food, shelter, transportation and education-related items. The economic impact on just the Fargo-Moorhead area could be devastating if the lockout continues. . . .
Incidentally, the workers have solidly stood with farmers and the company to work for federal laws that have protected the industry from being undercut by foreign imports. They've worked together on numerous farm bills that have created prosperity for the industry.
Farmers could put some pressure on their own "employees" who sit at high levels within the company. They could tell them, "We don't want to risk losing a bumper crop because replacements from South Carolina don't know how to perform essential tasks.
Let's face facts. The spirit behind co-ops is basically why such agriculture-related organizations as Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, Grange and National Farmers Organization have been created over more than 100 years. Are they unions? Of course not. They have diligently sought a good income for farm families. So why should union workers NOT have good benefits when processing and promoting farm products?
The old Nonpartisan League in North Dakota, along with other groups, made farmers strong enough to fight railroads and milling companies who would have had power over prices paid for grain and the charges paid for shipping by farmers. . . .
Management should stop and think - with "think" being another key word - about how the unity and loyalty of union workers in the past benefited everyone and raised the profit level of American Crystal Sugar by leaps and bounds. . .
This co-operation and sense of community is part of the texture of northwestern Minnesota. That's why the locked-out workers are finding such community support. Why does management want to tear that fabric?
Photo: Workers and allies marched across Veterans Memorial Bridge between Moorhead and Fargo to protest the lockout. Via Facebook.
A small item at the bottom of Queen Miranda reigns over WE Fest, an article in the DL-Online about the annual country music gathering:
* WE Fest has some friends in high places. Rep. Collin Peterson from Minnesota’s Seventh Congressional District, which includes Moorhead and Detroit Lakes, was out here Friday. Apparently Peterson is a country music fan and a regular at the annual event. Festival owner Rand Levy said Peterson and Minn. Sen. Al Franken wrote letters supporting Levy’s offer to hold a future Farm Aid concert, organized by Willie Nelson, one of Friday’s performers. This year’s Farm Aid will be held in Kansas City. [link added] The event has never been held in Minnesota.
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, served as a New Media training and strategy consultant for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from October 2009 through mid-April 2010. She now serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors.
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