A Bluestem Prairie

Rural Caucus seeks White House Office of Rural Policy

A friend forwarded this press release and letter. Walz is one of the leaders of the Rural Caucus:

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Howard, cosigned a letter that was sent to President Obama today, encouraging him to create an Office of Rural Policy within the White House. This request comes on the heels of the newly formed White House Office of Urban Policy.

“Rural America, like urban America, faces unique challenges, and having a coordinated effort within the White House to manage the federal programs in rural communities is critical to the revitalization of small town America,” said Thompson, Vice Chairman of the Congressional Rural Caucus. “By creating an Office of Rural Policy, it will ensure that rural America has a seat at the table when important policy decisions are made.”

The Congressional Rural Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators who are committed to addressing the needs of rural America and represent rural communities. The Caucus will host speakers and experts on a wide range of issues to help educate the members on the constantly changing face of rural America. Its membership currently stands at 68, and is led by Congressmen Travis Childers (D-Miss.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-Pa.).

Below is the text of the letter:

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House

Dear President Obama:

As members of the U.S. House of Representatives from rural congressional districts, we have noted with interest your creation of a White House Office of Urban Policy. This letter is to encourage a similar and equivalent White House office to work on rural issues which affect Americans who live in less densely-populated areas of the country. The unique policy matters faced in rural America include, but are not limited to, specific concerns regarding agriculture, conservation, economic development, education, health care, information technology, and transportation infrastructure, among others. We are sure your administration would benefit from an office devoted to the effect of federal regulations on rural Americans and our communities.

Even broad policy measures can have specific, severe ramifications in rural areas. For instance, a recent proposal would reapportion the federal gas tax based on miles driven rather than gallons of fuel consumed. In rural areas, where the consumption of gasoline is more efficient on long commutes over un-crowded highways, many of our constituents commute more than 60 miles each day. Such a shift in policy would have a devastating effect on rural families’ budgets and the bottom lines of our businesses, and we applaud you for rejecting the proposal. We hope you will continue this commitment to addressing the needs of rural communities.

As you work to elevate the concerns of rural Americans in your administration, the members of the Congressional Rural Caucus are ready to work with you on a bipartisan basis to provide input and information about the many issues with specific importance to our constituents. Thank you very much for your consideration of creating a White House Office of Rural Policy to directly address these topics. We look forward to working closely with you on the matters of concern to the millions of Americans in the rural congressional districts we represent.

Image: "Ploughed Fields" by New Ulm native Wanda Gag.

Tuesday digest: from earmarks to energy edition

 The Washington Post reports Congress Passes Huge $410B Spending Bill. The bill includes earmarks for the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System, Upper Mississippi navigation and environmental improvement, flood migration projects, child safety training, cancer research, and other projects in Southern Minnesota.

The Pipestone Star reports in City supports wind energy legislation:

The City Council voted unanimously Monday evening in support of legislation that would make it easier for municipalities to harness the power of wind.

The council vote followed a presentation by Dan Juhl, founder of the publicly-traded Juhl Wind, based in Woodstock. Juhl Wind pioneered community-based wind farms and has completed 11 wind farm projects to date. Juhl’s goal is to keep wind dollars within the communities where the wind is generated.

“It makes absolutely no sense to give away our energy dollars to France and Spain,” he said.

As he told the councilors Monday evening, Minnesota house bill 357 and Senate bill 399 would enhance existing C-BED (community-based energy development) legislation by leveling the playing field among small community wind projects and large international firms.

Juhl is a frequent panelist in discussions of green energy in Southern Minnesota and a pioneer in the region's wind industry.

The Tri-County News is Rushford reports Ehler impressed with events, treatment in D.C. The local public school superintendent attended President Obama's address to Congress. Unfortunately, the Senate removed money for new construction from the recovery bill, as the paper notes in a separate article.

In Waseca, Mayors gathered to talk passenger trains, the Waseca County News reports. Walz staffer Matt Wohlman attended the meeting.

And since there's been such important labor news today, we dedicated this Ruthie Foster cover of a Lucinda Williams' song to everybody who organized to enjoy the fruit of their labors. There's no good YouTube of the original, but Foster is pretty good:

SE MN labor leaders applaud Klobuchar and Walz for co-sponsoring EFCA

 Russell Hess, Political Coordinator for the Laborers District Council of MN & ND, sent us this statement praising Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Walz for supporting the EFCA:

Southeast Minnesota Labor Leaders Applaud co-sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act Congressman Walz and Senator Klobuchar

Southeast Minnesota labor leaders and union members expressed excitement over the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act today in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation would strengthen the middle class by giving workers the right to choose how they form a union. “Corporations and their CEOs have been attacking the retirement security, health care, wages and worksite safety of the middle class for years. Enacting the Employee Free Choice Act will be the first step towards leveling the playing field between the average worker and corporate CEOs,” said Russell Hess, Secretary-Treasurer of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council.

Local unions see the Employee Free Choice Act as an important part of the country’s economic recovery. The latest employment statistics show that union members are fifty-two percent more likely to have employer provided health insurance than non-union workers. They are also nearly three times as likely to have a guaranteed (defined benefit) pension plan. Finally, union workers’ median weekly earnings are twenty-eight percent higher than non-union workers and studies show that union workers are more productive than non-union ones. “The numbers don’t lie,” said Al Stork, who represents nearly 1000 electrical workers in southeast Minnesota, “When workers have a voice in the workplace they do better and the companies they work for do better.”

Laura Askelin, President of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council praised Congressman Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar for being co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act. “By co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act, Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Walz have again demonstrated their commitment to the best interest of working families in southeast Minnesota. We look forward to working with them to make sure it becomes law.”

For more information, go to www.employeefreechoice.org

Photo:  SE MN Labor Council President Laura Askelin (left) and her AFSCME sister Audra Waylett (right) at the Minnesota State Fair. This definitely isn't my father's union movement. Guess Audra got the bill's introduction for an early birthday present.

Winona County Historical Society awarded NEH grant

A press release from the Walz congressional office:

WALZ ANNOUNCES $39,000 NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES GRANT

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Walz is thrilled to announce the Winona County Historical Society, Inc is the recipient of a $39,177 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant. The grant will fund their Identities in Brick and Stone: Society and the Built Environment on the Mississippi.

“This grant will invest in a long-term exhibition, audio walking tours and a website on the built environment of Winona County,” said Walz. “Identities in Brick and Stone is a great project because it will teach young and old about the human geography of Winona County.”

“The Winona County Historical Society is very excited about this project and having the seal of approval from the National Endowment for the Humanities mean a great deal,” said Mark Peterson, Executive Director of the Winona Country Historical Society. “Their grants are extremely competitive and only projects of the highest quality get funded. We are honored that our project was selected.”

The NEH announced $20 million in awards for 197 projects. A complete list can be found here.

Statement from MN AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron thanking EFCA co-sponsors

We just received a copy of this statement about the EFCA:

Statement from Minnesota AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron applauding Minnesota Congressional Co-Sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act

Today is a banner day for working Minnesotans – thanks to six members of Minnesota’s Congressional Delegation who are co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar and US Representatives Collin Peterson, Jim Oberstar, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison and Tim Walz are standing with working Minnesotans to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers’ freedom to negotiate for fair wages, job security, better health care and secure pensions.

The Employee Free Choice Act is legislation that makes good on a simple promise: If a majority of employees in a workplace want a union, they should be able to form a union and bargain together for a better life. The Employee Free Choice Act has broad public support. Independent polling shows that 73 percent of the public supports it .

Wealthy corporations oppose the bill and are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat it. But hard working Minnesotans, like their counterparts across the country, are mobilizing and calling on Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers to have a voice at work, lift their standard of living and build stronger communities as well as stro nger families.

For more information, go to www.employeefreechoice.org

Photo: Ray Waldron. via Workday Minnesota.

Congressman Walz is a co-sponsor of the EFCA

The Washington Post reports that The Employee Free Choice Bill Battle Is Joined. According to Tula Connell, Managing Editor of the AFL-CIO, Congressman Walz has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, thus closing the door on speculation by the president of a local chamber of commerce that Walz might not support the bill again. We had emailed Connell to see if Walz was among the co-sponsors of the bill in the 11th Congress.

Walz was an original co-sponsor of the bill in the 110th Congress and voted for it when the bill came up for a vote in that session. The legislation later stalled in the Senate. The issue raised by Walz's Republican opponent during the 2008 campaign, who received 32.9 percent of the vote in November.

More bout the bill from the House Education and Labor Committee.

Laura Askelin, president of the Southeast Minnesota Labor Council, obtained copies of the letters that the Walz congressional office has been sending out to constituents who contact him both for and against. Read the letters below the fold, from an email we received from Askelin

House Veterans Affairs Committee hearings on VA's FY2010 budget today

While the front now coming in doesn't look as if it's going to serve up the foot of snow predicted yesterday, WCCO reports that things will get dicey in Western Minnesota and the Worthington Globe relays news of a winter weather advisory warning of bad driving conditions.

What better day to stay in and watch a congressional hearing? The House Veterans Affairs Committee will hear important testimony about the VA Budget request for FY2010 today at 1:00 p.m. Central time. The committee will provide a live webcast of the proceedings. The webcast can be viewed at the time by clinking on the icon on the upper left hand corner of the page.

For those more comfortable with conventional television, CSPAN will also cover the hearing.

If you miss it live, the committee archives its footage on the site.

Here's the list of witnesses testifying before the committee:

• Hon. Bob Filner Chairman, and a Representative in Congress from the State of California

Witness Testimonies

• Panel 1

• The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs



• Panel 2

• Carl Blake, National Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America
• Kerry Baker, Assistant National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans
• Dennis M. Cullinan, Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
• Raymond C. Kelley, National Legislative Director, American Veterans (AMVETS)

• Panel 3

• Steve Robertson, Director, National Legislative Commission, American Legion

• Richard F. Weidman, Executive Director for Policy and Government Affairs, Vietnam Veterans of America
• Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
• Paul Sullivan, Executive Director, Veterans for Common Sense

Once the witnesses' prepared statement are available, they'll be accessible via the links on each name in the above list.

Congressman Walz serves on the House Veterans Affairs committee.

Photo: VA Secretary General Eric Shinseki (ret.).

BREAKING NEWS! DNC INSIDER CHILI WIN HITS MEEKER COUNTY MEDIA

 In a must-read blog post, Larson cooks up another chili win, the editor of the Litchfield Independent Review writes about the hotly-debated win:

Meeker County DFLers have a chili cooking contest every year, an event that helps raise money for the party. Apparently, it also serves as a training ground for some in the party to export their culinary talents to other parts of the state.

It seems that Merle Larson, husband of Democratic National Committee member Nancy Larson, captured first place in the Senate Districts 29 and 30 DFL Chili Cook-off in Rochester Saturday. , ,

Loyal readers will recall that Bluestem Prairie broke the story in our post BREAKING NEWS! DNC INSIDER WINS SD 29 & 30 DFL CHILI COOK-OFF!

Photo: Adorable local cook and union goon Liz McLoone and her mild chili (with a secret, local ingredient) were robbed of overall champion honors by Merle, spouse of superdelegate and power broker Nancy Larson. Some are calling for reform to return local control to the district cooks.

Employee Free Choice Act to be introduced tomorrow in both houses of Congress

Politico has the story:

Tomorrow, Democrats in both houses of Congress plan to introduce a union-organizing bill that is labor’s top priority for the year, Democratic officials said.

The result could be a high-decibel, high-stakes brawl between business and labor, which strongly supported President Obama. Unions have been getting impatient for attention to the issue, and the push to introduce legislation is a way to ratchet up pressure on Congress.

We look forward to seeing who the bill's sponsors and co-sponsors will be.

Cornerhouse Comments: Amber's Journey

This isn't a political story, at least not in the conventional sense, but Amber’s Journey is a great story over at Cornerhouse Comments. 

And, knowing Dale, we're not at all surprised that it's his story to tell about family, love, and a little girl now secure in both.

A note from the MFU on Walz and Peterson staff changes--and a Happy Note

As a Minnesota Farmers Union member, we receive the weekly email Notes from MFU Director of Government Relations Thom Petersen. This week's note included the following news:

D.C. Changes for Walz

Jeremy Bratt has announced that he has left Congressman Walz’s office to take a senior professional staff position on the House Agriculture Committee. Bratt added that he “greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work for Congressman Walz and my home district for the last two years and I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue working for Minnesota from my new position on the Agriculture Committee with Chairman Peterson”. Chris Schmitter, who has been with Congressman Walz for several years, will be serving as the Congressman’s new Legislative Director.

Congratulations to both Jeremy and Chris.  Petersen closed his email with a mention of this worthy cause that we want to pass along to our readers:

I never do this, but….

Maybe nothing to do with agriculture, but I had to write this after hearing about it yesterday in committee. As an agriculture lobbyist, I sit through some veterans issues due to the fact that in the legislature the veterans and ag committees are combined. Yesterday I saw a heartwarming presentation by Operation Happy Note, which is a volunteer effort to send musical instruments to deployed service men and women throughout the world. Steve and Barb Baker from Fergus Falls, MN, who run Fergus Music and started Operation Happy Note in March 2005 after their son was deployed to Iraq. They sent him a guitar and one to his friend, too. These soldiers were so pleased to have instruments while deployed that they found a way to get more instruments to our troops hence: Operation Happy Note. Check it out: http://www.operationhappynote.com/

BREAKING NEWS! DNC INSIDER WINS SD 29 & 30 DFL CHILI COOK-OFF!

NOW UPDATED WITH REVEALING PHOTO!

Loyal readers of Bluestem Prairie report that Merle Larson, spouse of DNC member Nancy Larson, won the Senate Districts 29 and 30 DFL Chili Cook-off in Rochester early this evening. In the divisions, Elaine Mayer won the vegetarian. Jason Askelin, the hot category and Liz McLoone, the mild category.

McLoone's secret ingredient was bacon hamburger from the Waseca meat market, the activist admitted on her Facebook page.

Reached by phone, Mr. Larson admitted that his win was accompanied by charges of carpetbagging, since the long-time Meeker County Chili Champion drove a few hours south to claim the SD 29 & 30 chili crown. Rumor has it that a certain labor leader may demand a recount.

Developing. . . .

Last year, Bluestem Prairie reported on the impact of Larson's cooking in our post George Clooney's Greater Minnesota heartbreak: from supermodels to super delegate.

Photo: Merle Larson accepts the overall winner award last night at a union hall in Rochester. We found the image in an album here.

Saturday digest: police and vets edition

More recovery act funds are coming to Southern Minnesota. Yesterday, we posted the Walz congressional press release about Byrne Grant funds that were part of the legislation coming to law enforcement in the area. The Austin version of the post Bulletin reports in Stimulus could mean more squads in Austin:

The Austin police department is set to receive more than $54,000 from the federal stimulus package, according to figures released Friday.

The Mower County Sheriff's Office will collect $14,625.

First District Rep. Tim Walz announced that the economic recovery package Congress passed last month will provide $482,000 in funding allocations for southern Minnesota law enforcement and criminal justice assistance, available through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. . . .

. . .The focus of the money is for multi-jurisdictional drug task forces, anti-gang efforts, specialized prosecutors and other crime-fighting initiatives. . . .

But many police officials at this point aren't entirely certain how the dollars can be doled out.

"It is pretty broad, we don't really have specifics yet," said Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson. Rochester is set to receive $189,854.

"Of course, anytime somebody's going give you $190,000, it's not bad news," Peterson said.

Peterson said area police departments should have more details by early next week.

The money will be awarded in the form of "Byrne grants," which had suffered widespread cuts in recent years.

The Austin Herald takes note of the grants in Allocation from stimulus to help APD.

A reader writes the Post Bulletin Walz is keeping his promises:

Rep. Tim Walz demonstrates a trait not usually found in a politician: consistency.

When campaigning in 2006 and 2008, Walz promised to put what is best for southern Minnesota ahead of everything else in Washington. This is a promise he has kept.

One has to look no further than his votes on the Wall Street bailout and the recovery package. Both were supported by his party leadership, but Walz opposed the Wall Street bailout and voted for the recovery package.

Why vote for one and not the other? Well, the Wall Street bailout did not benefit southern Minnesota -- it only increased our nation's debt.

Walz voted for the recovery package and it is creating thousands of jobs in southern Minnesota right now.

I am proud to have supported Tim Walz in two elections because it is clear he is fighting to put southern Minnesota first.

Jennifer Harveland

In Legionnaires visit Hill during DC Conference | The American Legion's Our Voice included the following:

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn. - a Legionnaire, retired National Guard command sergeant major and highly honored high-school teacher - gave a spirited talk that focused on VA's budget.

"The idea that we have been late 22 out of 23 years in delivering the budget for VA is absolutely unacceptable," said Walz, a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. "Your commitment to sufficient and timely budgets for the VA is something I think is exactly right on. If we can't deliver that budget on time, how can we expect to keep faith with our veterans? We can get that budget in on time. We can deliver it forward, and the VA can then plan accordingly. The whole purpose of doing that is something very simple: to provide the best quality of care to those who are willing to give all for this country."

Walz said that most of America shares his views on how to treat veterans. "When members and their families serve us, the rest of the population wants to do what they can do," he said. "They don't see it as giving something away for free. These warriors earned the right to come back and get an education. They've earned the right to come back and make sure they get their jobs back."

Walz also takes the role that he and the Legion share - as watchdogs over VA - seriously. "When Gen. Shinseki came before our committee a few weeks ago, I made sure to tell him to turn around and see who was sitting behind him," Walz said. "It was representatives of the Legion sitting right there. Let him understand we will be the strongest supporters of Gen. Shinseki and VA that there are. But he needs to realize, and everyone needs to realize, that because we are their strongest supporters, we will be their harshest critics. We will be there to make sure they do not make mistakes that will harm our veterans."

The Owatonna People's Press notes in Mayors, DM&E discuss passenger rail in region on Owatonna:

Matt Wohlman of Congressman Tim Walz’s office, said a statewide rail study is needed to see how “it all comes together” with current federal funding. The recovery bill and highway bill are exciting possibilities, Wohlman said.

He advised the city leaders to get in touch with their local House and Senate representatives to ask for a study that looks at the options.

In the netroots,Liberal in the Land of Conservative writes in A Little Late To The Game..:

I noticed an interesting piece in the Star Tribune Politically Connected Section. Titled, GOP Sen. Vitter tries to eliminate automatic pay increases for Congress, I have to wonder if the writer realizes that Senator Vitter is a little late to the game.

Nearly two months ago, Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie detailed legislation cosponsored by Representative Walz and others that would do this very same thing.

Silly Muse: the Star Tribune never acknowledges the existence of Bluestem Prairie, perhaps because we're so often completely uncouth as to discuss the paper's reporting about southern Minnesota.

And so we conclude with a song from Joan Jett:

The Hill: Walz's "common sense" legislation to ban congressional insider trading

Public Citizen legislative representative Craig Holman writes in The Hill's Congress Blog:

Apply Same ‘Insider Trading’ Restrictions on Members and Staff of Congress

It should come as a shock to most Americans, but members of Congress, their staff and many employees of the executive branch may conduct legal “insider trading” on the stock market, that would otherwise be illegal for you and I.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not have the authority to hold employees of Congress or the Executive Branch liable for using non-public information gained from official proceedings for insider trading. Under current law, “insider trading” is defined as the buying or selling of securities or commodities based on non-public information in violation of confidentiality — either to the issuing company or the source of information. Most federal officials and employees do not owe a duty of confidentiality to the federal government and thus are not liable for insider trading.

There is some evidence that insider trading by government officials may already be a problem. As part of his plea agreement on corruption charges, Tony Rudy, former staffer to then-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), acknowledged making 500 stock trades from his Capitol Hill computer in 1999 and 2000, profiting handsomely from the day trading. In another incident, stock prices for companies with asbestos-related liabilities rose dramatically in 2005 just before former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) proposed a $140 billion public bailout for asbestos liability claims, raising suspicion that the information had been leaked to lobbyists or “political intelligence” consultants beforehand.

What are “political intelligence consultants”? They are lobbyists or stock traders who hang around the halls of Congress eagerly seeking information on the stock and commodities markets from congressional staffers, who may have learned of insider information in the course of congressional oversight proceedings. This non-public information can then quickly be turned into a gold mine of stock trading.

Reps. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) have introduced common sense legislation to apply the same insider trading restrictions we face on members and staff of Congress and the federal government. The “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act” (H.R. 682) would prohibit congressional and executive branch officials and employees from using non-public information for personal gain. It would also prohibit private individuals and firms that attempt to mine this information from using it for insider trading. The legislation would also require members of Congress and their staff to disclose stock transactions of $1,000 or more within 90 days, and require “political intelligence consultants” to register under LDA and disclose their financial activities.

This legislation is long overdue. And it has become all the more critical today as the Congress and the federal government assume an even greater oversight role of Wall Street.

Photo: Congressman Walz and constitutent in Luverne. Courtesy of Dale at Cornerhouse Comments.

Walz voted against tabling PMA Group investigation resolution

Over at the appropriately named Hot Air, conservative blogger Ed Morrissey writes in House votes to ignore PMA pay-for-play scandal:

Jeff Flake tried his best to get the House to clean up after itself in the wake of raids on the lobbyist group PMA and some of its clients.  Flake got a vote on a resolution to begin an investigation into PMA and the hundreds of millions of pork dollars that has flowed to its clients from Representatives who have financially benefited from them.  Unfortunately, only 21 Democrats went along with Flake — and a few Republicans defected (via Instapundit)...

Morrissey's source article in Politico doesn't link to the Roll Call vote on this one. Congressman Walz was one of the 21 Democrats who voted to begin the investigation. With the exception of Representative Kline, who voted "present" because he is on the ethics panel that would hear the evidence*, the rest of Minnesota's delegation voted along partisan lines.

In Firm with Murtha Ties Got Earmarks From Nearly One-Fourth of House, CQPolitics explains part of the issue fairly well. Over 100 current and former House members secured earmarks for clients of the lobbying firm (no current or former Minnesota representative is on the list). The article notes:

“It shows you how good they were,” said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The sheer coordination of that would take an army to finish.”

PMA’s offices have been raided, and the firm closed its political action committee last week amid reports that the FBI is investigating possibly illegal campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers.

No matter what the outcome of the federal investigation, PMA’s earmark success illustrates how a well-connected lobbying firm operates on Capitol Hill. And earmark accountability rules imposed by the Democrats in 2007 make it possible to see how extensively PMA worked the Hill for its clients.

In the spending bill managed by Murtha, the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriation, 104 House members got earmarks for projects sought by PMA clients, according to Congressional Quarterly’s analysis of a database constructed by Ashdown’s group.. . .

The Washington Post focused on the FBI probe of PMA in Despite Listing, Donors Don't Work for Firm Being Probed:

These errors, along with other unusual donations linked to the firm, come as the Justice Department examines allegations that PMA may have violated campaign finance laws. The offices of PMA, which ranked last year as the 10th-largest Washington lobbying firm by earnings, were raided in November by FBI agents and Defense Department investigators.

. . .Federal investigators are focused on allegations that PMA founder Paul Magliocchetti, a former appropriations staffer close to  Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), may have reimbursed some of his staff to cover contributions made in their names to Murtha and other lawmakers, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. PMA has long had a reputation for securing earmarks from congressional appropriators, particularly for defense contractors, and it has donated generously to influential members of Congress. Magliocchetti personally gave $98,000 in campaign donations last year, according to campaign records.

Federal election laws limit the amount of money individuals may contribute to candidates, but lobbying firms often show their clout by collecting and bundling contributions. It is illegal for employers to reimburse donors for their contributions.. . .

Walz received one $1000 in 2008 from the group's PAC ( none in the 2005-2006 cycle), but did not receive any contributions from individual PMA Group employees as near as we can tell by looking at the FEC database by the employer search feature of the advanced search option. 

Looking  for Minnesotans in the committee's giving in the 2007-2008 cycle, we see that former Senator Norm Coleman, and Representatives McCollum and Oberstar received contributions. None of the potentially scandalous earmarks or suspicious individual giving involved Minnesotans serving in Congress--at least as far as we know.

We think the investigations of the PMA Group should lead not so  to partisan gotcha, as to calls for the continued reform in the process of earmarking and transparency. We're guessing this vote didn't come easy for Walz, but we're pleased that he's walking the talk about reforming congress.

One additional Minnesota connection with the story: former representative Tim Penny is on the advisory board of Taxpayers for Common Sense.  Unlike Morrisey, this group doesn't use the word "pork" to describe earmarks, one staff member told us at last weekend's Transparency Camp noted that calling appropriations "pork" oversimplifies the issue and impedes real earmark reform. An interesting point we're inclined to agree with. Congress is charged by the Constitution with appropriating money for the federal government: what is the best method for funding worthy projects in districts and regions (such as public works like the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System) while avoiding corruption?

As the CQPolitics articles points out:

earmark accountability rules imposed by the Democrats in 2007 make it possible to see how extensively PMA worked the Hill for its clients.

We hope Congressman Walz continues to work for accountability and tranparency.

*The Yahoo/CQ Politics article contains some minor inaccuracies about the vote, so we're relying on the official House Roll Call.

Southern Minnesota to Receive $482,000 in Byrne Grant Funding

 From the congressional office:

Southern Minnesota to Receive $482,000 in Byrne Grant Funding

Walz says funding is critical to keep neighborhoods safe

(Washington, DC) – Today, Congressman Walz announced that the economic recovery package Congress passed last month will provide $482,000 in funding allocations for southern Minnesota law enforcement and criminal justice assistance, available through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. More than $29 million is coming to Minnesota to help local communities through this economic crisis.

“This funding will help cities like Austin and Worthington keep their neighborhoods safe with new video cameras and faster computers for patrol cars,” said Walz. “By making sure our local law enforcement agencies have the necessary tools to keep us and our children safe, we are laying the foundation for healthy communities for generations to come.”

JAG Program funds can be used for a variety of efforts such as hiring law enforcement officers, supporting drug and gang task forces, funding crime prevention and domestic violence programs, and supporting courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives.

To see the breakdown of JAG allocations for states, territories, and units of local government, visit http://www.recovery.gov/.

Attached is a spreadsheet of the funding for southern Minnesota communities.Copy of ARRA Byrne

MinnPost leads the way in quality local journalism again (updated)

MinnPost - High-quality journalism for people who care about Minnesota is at it again.

We had to laugh at Minnpost's title of its repackaging of the press release announcing his district and communications director's additional duties Southern Minnesota has an economic recovery guru. When did coordinators become gurus?

We wonder if anyone from the MinnPost ever sets foot  in Southern Minnesota. On Monday, for instance, the same repackager posted a rewrite of an article from the Mankato Free Press under the headline, Mankato merchants worry stimulus highway project will hinder commerce and first paragraph:

Sure, the stimulus bill will pump money into the economy and fix some glaring infrastructure problems, but some Mankato business people worry that one of the projects -- reconstruction of Hwy. 169 as it goes through downtown -- may create new problems.

“We’re excited, we’re jazzed for the city to look better and more friendly,” business owner Tia Summers told the Mankato Free Press. “But it’s just really scary. Six months without our bread and butter? We might not be here in six months.”

The problem? As a commenter pointed out on Monday:

This article is solely about St. Peter merchants and businesses that are affected by a potential Hwy 169 reconstruction in St. Peter. The headline and first graph incorrectly refer to Mankato, not St. Peter.

We were born in Mankato and attended St. Peter's public schools from second grade through high school graduation and can attest that the Greater Minnesota cities are two different towns separated by miles of countryside. Most travelers on Highway 169 have probably noticed the same thing as they roll along the Minnesota River Valley.

Minnpost has had five days to correct the errors.

Is this geographic ignorance (and failure to correct a glaring mistake) what MinnPost is using the $105,000 it received in November from the Knight Foundation to "expand the local reporting capacity of MinnPost.com and provide a viable alternate local news site"?  Kimball has expanded Mankato's boundaries to include St. Peter. That's one strategy for expanded coverage.

No doubt the citizens of Mankato and St. Peter cheered this development, and will be heartened to know that Knight's CEO praised the venue in a January article with these words:

In announcing the grants, the president and CEO of Knight, Alberto Ibargüen, said: "At Knight Foundation, we firmly believe that you cannot effectively manage the affairs of a community in a democracy without the free flow of information. That's why we believe that information is a core community need, as critical as any to a healthy community.

Without the MinnPost--and the foundation support to fund it--Minnesotans would simply be in the dark about the miasmatic jungles of Southern Minnesota. Why, they might have to turn to unpaid bloggers who are willing to post about local coverage and who know where to find towns like Mankato and St. Peter.

Funny how that goes when the MinnPost hired someone to scold bloggers when we didn't get our facts right, as we noted in Minnpost to battle fellow citizens' reckless blogging.  As the new blog nanny wrote then:

Now, being a blogger with a worldwide audience also comes with a lot of responsibility. We've all heard at least one story about a blogger who has misled, misrepresented or flat-out lied on their blog.
 
Simply put, there's a lot of garbage in the blogosphere and I won't hesitate to call out a Minnesotan who blogs recklessly.

The people-powered media revolution is knocking at our door, friends. It's time to peek between the curtains.

How much of the Kinght funding helps out with that?  Or does it all go tohelp MinnPost make its own mistakes? For now, we're simply not asking MinnPost for directions.

(And yes, we have a screen shot).

Update: A member of MinnPost's team contacted us to let us know that the post is being corrected.

Now if we can just convince the e-democracy.org team that we're not remotely interested in spending our gas money on a trip to Duluth where we can pay $99 for a hotel room and $35 for the privilege of participating in an "unconference" in which the  Blandin Foundation-funded Minnesota Voices Project gleans what we know (just how many of those voices in the project actually live outside of the Twin Cities?).

We don't need help getting our voice heard online. And we certainly don't need to pay for the privilege of giving away our expertise to a funded grant project. [end update]

Gun rights: committee hearing on state-level bill cancelled

Tomorrow's hearing on H.F. 953 by the Minnesota House  Crime Victims/Criminal Records Division Committee has been canceled.. The proposed bill, which would regulate firearm sales in a number of ways related to gun show, is sponsored by Representative Paymar. Prior to the cancellation of the meeting, Paymar reportedly asked to have the bill removed from the committee's agenda.

As a gun rights supporter, we oppose the bill (more about it here at a rightie blog) and had written to our state representative expressing our opposition to the measure.

It's our understanding that the likelihood of the hearing being rescheduled is very low; a source says that the bill is probably dead for the session. We hope so, but will be keeping an eye on things. We only regret that arguments from both sides won't be getting a public hearing in the committee, since sunlight is the best way to deal with controversial legislation.

We encourage readers to write their  state legislators about this bill--and any other that they are concerned about. Democracy only suffers when citizens see it as a consumer item or spectator sport.

Thursday digest #1: clean congress and recovery request edition

Over a month ago, we posted about Congressman Walz's support for legislation to prevent members of congress and their staff from profiting from "insider" information. The Post Bulletin and other venues picked up on it. The Washington Independent notes that watchdog groups are picking up on the bill in A Congress of Inside Traders?:

You might think that members of Congress and their staffs would be prohibited from using their privileged access to nonpublic information to cash in on Wall Street. But you’d be wrong.

Congressional insider trading is not, in fact, illegal. In a letter to lawmakers today, several watchdogs groups offer explanation:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not have the authority to hold employees of Congress or the Executive Branch liable for using non-public information gained from official proceedings for insider trading. Under current law, ‘insider trading’ is defined as the buying or selling of securities or commodities based on non-public information in violation of confidentiality — either to the issuing company or the source of information. Most federal officials and employees do not owe a duty of confidentiality to the federal government and thus are not liable for insider trading.

The letter — signed by Public Citizen, Democracy 21, Common Cause, U.S. PIRG and the League of Women Voters — was drafted in support of legislation to prohibit congressional and White House insider trading. Introduced in January by Democratic Reps. Brian Baird (Wash.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) and Tim Walz (Minn.), the bill would prevent policymakers from profiting from their access to nonpublic information. At the time of the unveiling, Baird pointed to a 2004 Georgia State University study indicating that investments made by members of Congress return 25 percent more than those made by other Americans.

The watchdog groups point out another reason they say Congress should consider the bill quickly: The hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout cash coming out of Washington will provide wonderful investment opportunities for policymakers who know where the money is going before the public does. . . . .

Read the whole article at the Washington Independent. Closer to home, KEYC-TV reports in Walz Office Flooded With Stimulus Requests:

The nearly 800 billion-dollar stimulus plan was laid out in a bill totaling more than one thousand pages.And now Congressman Tim Walz has set up a point person to help decode the massive piece of legislation.News 12's Ryan Gustafson has the story.Meredith Salsbery has been coordinating the numerous requests from city and county administrators for projects ranging from school repair in Rushford to handicap accessible sidewalks in Slayton . . ..

. . .Salsbery wants to encourage Congressman Walz's constituents to call with any questions, because in a thousand page document, it's easy for things to get overlooked.Meredith Salsbery says, "The recovery package also includes a one-time payment of 250 dollars to people who receive social security disability or veterans disability - a lot of them don't know about that."The checks are expected to arrive in May and June. . . .

Sadly, the Senate's reluctance to include money for school construction has left the Rushford-Peterson district out, the Rochester Post Bulletin reports in No construction funding for Rushford-Peterson included in stimulus bill:

Rushford-Peterson school district won't receive stimulus money to help build a new school.

The school district had hoped to receive some money to build a $25 million replacement for its century-old high school, but the money wasn't included in the final stimulus bill.

Superintendent Chuck Ehler had traveled to Washington, D.C., with 1st District Rep. Tim Walz last week to lobby federal education officials for funding, but no money was set aside for new school construction.

"It's a little disheartening, but we are hopeful that our new school initiative will move forward," Ehler said. "We're not real optimistic about the stimulus funds, but we'll explore other avenues."

Ehler said when the House and Senate met, they had to compromise and the Senate advocated for the removal of new construction funding. . . .

According to the New Ulm Journal, Stimulus funds go to roads, bridges rather than the local short line rail, but Senator Klobuchar and Cognressman Walz are working on securing other federal funds to assist the rail rehab:

On Feb. 26, Minnesota House File 660, authored by Morrow, appropriated $10 million in bond proceeds for a grant to the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority (MVRRA) to rehabilitate track.

He added that a separate pot of money will be available for nationwide rail projects.

Morrow said Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Congressman Tim Walz helped appropriate $950,000 in federal railroad improvement funding.

He said his office expects to receive federal guidance on funding criteria and application procedures in the next few months.

The project is already attracting businesses to the area. According to the article, Land O' Lakes will be building an 80,000-square foot distribution facility in Winthrop.

Not all job losses are cuased by cuts; some are triggered by off-shoring work. In Moving to China?, KTTC looks at the corporation's transfer of jobs to other countries:

In the last month, hundreds of high-paying jobs have been slashed at IBM/Rochester. Tonight, how jobs with very similar descriptions are now popping up a half a world away.  In places like China, India, and Brazil.

IBM stands for International Business Machines, and IBM has facilities around the globe.

So it should be no surprise that a world-wide company would come up with something it calls "Project Match."

It's a program that offers those recently laid-off in Rochester and other U.S. sites a chance at jobs opening up in countries that have developing markets. . . .

. . .If you would leave IBM Rochester to go to IBM China, you would be paid at the IBM China rate.

"It's a real concern. We're not opposed to trade but one of the problems we see in this country is that if we have a race to the bottom on wages, we aren't going to beat the Chinese to the bottom. They're going to continue to undercut us," said U.S. Representative Tim Walz.

"It's the job you thought you would retire from but now have lost," said President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama addressed the issue of offshoring jobs in his address to Congress, promising to restore a sense of fairness and balance to the tax code by ending tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

It's certainly not illegal for a company like IBM to bulk up its work force in China or Brazil, but it might seem like the "end of the world" if you've lived and worked at IBM Rochester for decades and then suddenly see your job popping up on the other side of the globe.. . .

Read the whole article at the station's web site. We'll be back later with part two of the news digest.

New Ulm Journal editorial: Fairness, not perfection, is issue in recount

The conservative New Ulm Journal endorsed former Senator Coleman in 2008, but now the editorial board is rejecting Camp Coleman's call for a redo. In Voting fairness, not perfection is the issue, the paper observes:

Wednesday was the 4-month anniversary of the November election. About this time four months ago, Minnesotans realized we were heading for a recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

Today, Coleman's slim lead turned into Franken's slim lead following the recount, and a three-judge panel is hearing Coleman's challenge in a courtroom in St. Paul.

Coleman's attorneys are disappointed with the way the case is going, and suggested earlier this week that since there are disputed ballots that aren't being counted, and a some that may have been double counted, and no way to tell which is which, the whole election should be thrown out and done over.

Without proof of voter fraud or systemic unfairness, the court should ignore the call to overturn the election. We will never get a perfect recount. Let's just be sure it is fair.